Sit right down and get that hash inside you." The man protested that he had had his supper before they came in; whereupon the other seized him by the shoulders and thrust him down roughly into a seat at the table.
"Well," he said, "you've got to have a little more.

If it's good enough for us, boys, it's not going to hurt him." There was a murmur of concurrence when he looked around at the rest; and the cook, seeing no help for it, made a valiant attempt to eat a little of the greasy mess.

Then he revolted from it and glanced at his companions supplicatingly.
"I can't do it, boys.

You'll let me off ?" he pleaded.
None of the rest showed any sign of relenting.

They were inclined to be pitiless then, and the rude justice of the chopper's idea appealed to them.
"When you've cleaned up that plate," said one.
The victim made a second futile attempt, and, after waiting some minutes for him to proceed, they decided that it was too hot in the shed, so, conveying him outside, they seated him on a great fir stump sawed off several feet above the ground, with the plate beside him.
Then they took out their pipes and sat around to enjoy the spectacle.
As a rule there is very little cruelty in men of their kind; but they were very human, and the cook had robbed them of a meal somewhat frequently of late.