Now, he was striving for something else to make Houston the newcomer, Houston, who was striving to succeed without the fundamentals of actual logging experience, disgusted with the business and his contract with the dead.
The first year and a half of the fight had passed,--a losing proposition; Barry could see why now, in warped lumber and thick-cut boards, in broken machinery and unfulfilled contracts.

Thayer wanted him to quit; his father's death had tied up the mill proper to such an extent that it could neither be leased nor sold for a long time.

But the timber could be bought on a stumpage basis, the lake and flume leased, and with a new mill-- "I understand the whole thing now!" There was excitement in the tone.
"They can't get this mill--on account of the way the will reads.

I can't dispose of it.

But they know that with the mill out of the way, and the whole thing a disappointment, that I should be willing to contract my timber to them and lease the flume.