but it's a
fact."

Jerkline Jo blushed furiously. She who had withstood the ordeal of a
hundred proposals, she who had been raised where men were continually
twitting her about some man who was yearning to bestow his affections
upon her, was blushing at Tweet's harmless suggestions.

CHAPTER XIII

THE START FOR JULIA

Jerkline Jo walked ahead of Hiram Hooker and Tweet to the stables and
corrals, where her three-score horses and mules and her big wagons were
awaiting the start.

"We're all ready to go," she told the pair. "I was only waiting for
you. We'll start at once, whether you are jerkline skinners or not, of
course; but if you're not, I'm afraid we'll go without you."

Mr. Tweet glanced at Hiram and whispered: "I'm 'fraid this is where we
separate, Hooker. Still, I don't know. Maybe I'm a jerkline skinner,
after all. I'll never know till I try."

In front of the stable Tweet came to an abrupt halt and studiously
regarded one of the huge freight wagons.

"Just a moment," he began quaintly. "Was that wagon built to go, or is
it just an advertisement to show what the wagonmaker could do?"

Jo's wagons weighed nearly six thousand pounds. Each separate wheel
had cost her foster father seventy-five dollars, prewar price. The
investment that a single complete wagon represented was in the
neighborhood of six hundred dollars; and as there were seven of them,
besides the lighter trailers, the total outlay was no mean sum. The
spokes of the great wheels were as large as Mr. Tweet's thighs; the
hubs were larger than his waist; the tires were ten inches in width;
the entire running-gear looked as if a small forest of sturdy hardwood
had been felled for its construction.

"It is built to go," the girl assured him.

"Stutterin' Demosthenes! I didn't think there were enough horses in
the world to move the thing! Madam, I have swiftly reached the
conclusion that I am not a jerkline skinner. Are you, Hooker?"

Hiram smiled and spoke to Jerkline Jo.

"That's a fine wagon, ma'am," he said. "I never saw any as good as
that."

"We've six more just like it," she told him, "and some lighter
trailers. The man who made them is dead. I doubt if the world will
ever again see such wagons when these are gone. Now, I want you to
hook up, Mr. Hooker, and show me what you can do."

"Hook up, Hooker!" laughed Tweet, always ready to embrace the slightest
opportunity for a joke.

The girl led the way into