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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30010 ***
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+    _The trees on Mars are few and stunted, says old Doc Yoris. There's
+    plenty of gold, of course--but trees can be much more important!_
+
+
+ TREES
+ _are where
+ you find
+ them_
+
+By Arthur Dekker Savage
+
+Illustrated by Philip Parsons
+
+
+You might say the trouble started at the Ivy, which is a moving picture
+house in Cave Junction built like a big quonset. It's the only show in
+these parts, and most of us old-timers up here in the timber country of
+southwest Oregon have got into the habit of going to see a picture on
+Saturday nights before we head for a tavern.
+
+But I don't think old Doc Yoris, who was there with Lew and Rusty and
+me, had been to more than two or three shows in his life. Doc is kind of
+sensitive about his appearance on account of his small eyes and big nose
+and ears; and since gold mining gave way to logging and lumber mills,
+with Outsiders drifting into the country, Doc has taken to staying on
+his homestead away back up along Deer Creek, near the boundary of the
+Siskiyou National Forest. It's gotten so he'll come to Cave Junction
+only after dark, and even then he wears dark glasses so strangers won't
+notice him too much.
+
+I couldn't see anything funny about the picture when Doc started
+laughing, but I figure it's a man's own business when he wants to laugh,
+so I didn't say anything. The show was one of these scientific things,
+and when Doc began to cackle it was showing some men getting out of a
+rocket ship on Mars and running over to look at some trees.
+
+Rusty, who's top choker setter in our logging outfit, was trying to see
+Doc's point. He can snare logs with a hunk of steel cable faster than
+anyone I know, but he's never had much schooling. He turned to Doc. "I
+don't get it, Doc," he said. "What's the deal?"
+
+Doc kept chuckling. "It's them trees," he said. "There's no trees like
+that on Mars."
+
+"Oh," said Rusty.
+
+I suppose it was just chance that Burt Holden was sitting behind us and
+heard the talk. Burt is one of the newcomers. He'd come down from Grants
+Pass and started a big lumber mill and logging outfit, and was trying to
+freeze out the little operators.
+
+He growled something about keeping quiet. That got Rusty and Lew kind of
+mad, and Lew turned around and looked at Burt. Lew is even bigger than
+Burt, and things might have got interesting, but I wanted to see the
+rest of the picture. I nudged him and asked him if he had a chew. They
+won't let you smoke in the show, but it's okay to chew, and most of us
+were in the habit anyway, because there's too much danger of forest fire
+when you smoke on the job.
+
+Doc laughed every time the screen showed trees, and I could hear Burt
+humping around in his seat like he was irritated.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At the end of the show we drifted over to the Owl Tavern and took a
+table against the north wall, behind the pool tables and across from the
+bar. Doc had put his dark glasses back on, and he sat facing the wall.
+
+Not that many people apart from the Insiders knew Doc. He hadn't been
+very active since the young medical doctor had come to Cave Junction in
+1948, although he never turned down anyone who came for help, and as far
+as I knew he'd never lost a patient unless he was already dead when Doc
+got there.
+
+We were kidding Lew because he was still wearing his tin hat and caulked
+boots from work. "You figuring on starting early in the morning?" I
+asked him. Rusty and Doc laughed. It was a good joke because we rode out
+to the job in my jeep, and so we'd naturally get there at the same time.
+
+Then Rusty sat up straighter and looked over at the bar. "Hey," he said,
+"Pop's talking to Burt Holden." Pop Johnson owns our outfit. He's one of
+the small operators that guys like Burt are trying to squeeze out.
+
+"Hope he don't try to rook Pop into no deals," said Lew.
+
+Doc tipped up his bottle of beer. In Oregon they don't sell anything but
+beer in the taverns. "Times change," he said. "Back in 1900 all they
+wanted was gold. Now they're trying to take all the trees."
+
+"It's the big operators like Burt," I said. "Little guys like Pop can't
+cut 'em as fast as they grow. The companies don't have to reseed,
+either, except on National Forest land."
+
+"That Burt Holden was up to my place couple weeks ago," said Doc. "Darn
+near caught me skinning out a deer."
+
+"He better not yap to the game warden," said Rusty. "Them laws is for
+sports and Outsiders, not us guys who need the meat."
+
+"He wanted to buy all my timber," said Doc. "Offered me ten dollars a
+thousand board feet, on the stump."
+
+"Don't sell," I advised him. "If Burt offers that much, almost anyone
+else will pay twelve."
+
+Doc looked at me. "I'd never sell my trees. Not at any price. I got a
+hundred and sixty acres of virgin stand, and that's the way it's gonna
+stay. I cut up the windfalls and snags for firewood, and that's all."
+
+"Here comes Pop," said Lew.
+
+Pop sat down with us and had a beer. He looked worried. We didn't ask
+him any questions, because we figure a man will talk if he wants to, and
+if he doesn't it's his own business.
+
+He finally unlimbered. "Burt Holden wants to buy the mill," he said,
+wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.
+
+"Buy _your_ mill?" said Lew. "Hell, his mill is five times as big, and
+he's even got a burner to take care of slashings, so he don't have to
+shut down in the fire season."
+
+"He just wants the land," said Pop, "because it's near the highway. He
+wants to tear down my setup and build a pulp mill."
+
+"A _pulp_ mill!" If we could have seen Doc's eyes through the glasses I
+imagine they'd have been popped open a full half inch. "Why, then
+they'll be cutting down everything but the brush!"
+
+Pop nodded. "Yeah. Size of a log don't matter when you make paper--just
+so it's wood."
+
+It seemed as though Doc was talking to himself. "They'll strip the land
+down bare," he mumbled. "And the hills will wash away, and the chemicals
+they use in the mill will kill the fish in the creeks and the Illinois
+River."
+
+"That's why they won't let anyone start a pulp mill near Grants Pass,"
+said Pop. "Most of the town's money comes from sports who come up to the
+Rogue River to fish."
+
+Rusty set his jaw. "In the winter we _need_ them fish," he said. He was
+right, too. The woods close down in the winter, on account of the snow,
+and if a man can't hunt and fish he's liable to get kind of hungry. That
+rocking chair money doesn't stretch very far.
+
+"I ain't gonna sell," said Pop. "But that won't stop Burt Holden, and
+any place he builds the mill around here will drain into the Illinois."
+
+Doc pushed back his chair and stood up to his full height of five foot
+four. "I'm gonna talk to Burt Holden," he said.
+
+Rusty stood up to his six foot three. "I'll bring him over here, Doc,"
+he said. "We're handy to the cue rack here, and Lew and Simmons can keep
+them guys he's with off my back."
+
+I stood up and shoved Rusty back down. I'm no taller than he is, but I
+outweigh him about twenty pounds. I started working in the woods when we
+still felled trees with axes and misery whips--crosscut saws to the
+Outsiders. "I'll go get him," I said. "You're still mad about the show,
+and you wouldn't be able to get him this far without mussing him up."
+
+"There won't be no trouble," said Doc. "I just want to make him an
+offer."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I went over and told Burt that Doc wanted to talk to him. The three guys
+with him followed us back to the table.
+
+Burt figured he knew what it was all about, and he just stood over Doc
+and looked down on him. "If it's about your timber, Yoris," he said,
+"I'll take it, but I can't pay you more than nine dollars now. Lumber's
+coming down, and I'm taking a chance even at that." He rocked back and
+forth on his heels and looked at Pop as though daring him to say
+different.
+
+"I still don't want to sell, Mr. Holden," said Doc. "But I've got better
+than three million feet on my place, and I'll _give_ it to you if you
+won't put a pulp mill anywhere in the Illinois Valley."
+
+We were all floored at that, but Burt recovered first. He gave a nasty
+laugh. "Not interested, Yoris. If you want to sell, look me up."
+
+"Wait!" said Doc. "A pulp mill will take every tree in the Valley. In a
+few years--"
+
+"It'll make money, too," said Burt flatly.
+
+"Money ain't everything by a long shot. It won't buy trees and creeks
+and rain."
+
+"It'll buy trees to make lumber." Burt was getting mad. "I don't want
+any opposition from you, Yoris. I've had enough trouble from people who
+try to hold back progress. If you don't like the way we run things here,
+you can--hell, you can go back to Mars!"
+
+It seemed to me that it was just about time to start in. I could have
+taken Burt easiest, but I knew Rusty would probably swing on him first
+and get in my way, so I planned to work on the two guys on Burt's right,
+leaving the one on his left for Lew. I didn't want Pop to get tangled up
+in it.
+
+I don't generally wait too long after I make up my mind, but then I
+noticed Rusty reaching out slowly for a cue stick, and I thought maybe
+I'd better take Burt first, while Rusty got set. I never did see a guy
+so one way about having something in his hands.
+
+But Doc didn't drop out. "There ain't nothing but a few scrub trees on
+Mars," he said to Burt, looking him square in the eye. "And no creeks
+and no rain."
+
+Burt curled his lip sarcastically. "The hell you say! Is that why you
+didn't like it there?" You could see he was just trying to egg Doc into
+saying he'd come from Mars, so he could give him the horse laugh. The
+guys he was with were getting set for a fracas, but they were waiting
+for Burt to lead off.
+
+Doc didn't get caught. "But there's gold," he said, like he hadn't heard
+Burt at all. "Tons of it--laying all over the ground."
+
+I guess Burt decided to ride along. "Okay, Yoris," he said. "Tell you
+what I'll do. For only one ton of Martian gold I'll agree to drop all
+plans for a pulp mill, here or anywhere else. In fact, I'll get out of
+business altogether."
+
+Doc moved in like a log falling out of the loading tongs. "That's a
+deal," he said. "You ready to go?"
+
+Burt started to look disgusted, then he smiled. "Sure. Mars must be
+quite a place if you came from there."
+
+"Okay," said Doc. "You just stand up against the wall, Mr. Holden."
+Burt's smile faded. He figured Doc was trying to maneuver him into a
+likely position for us. But Doc cleared that up quick. "You boys get up
+and stand aside," he ordered. "Get back a ways and give Mr. Holden
+plenty of room." We didn't like it, but we cleared out from around the
+table. A bunch from the bar and pool tables, sensing something was up,
+came drifting over to watch. I could feel tension building up. "Now,"
+said Doc, pointing, "you just stand right over there, Mr. Holden, and
+fold your arms."
+
+Burt didn't like the audience, and I guess he figured his plans were
+backfiring when Doc didn't bluff. "You hill-happy old coot," he
+snarled. "You'd better go home and sleep it off!" I grabbed hold of
+Lew's arm and shook my head at Rusty. I wasn't going to interfere with
+Doc now.
+
+"You're not scared, are you, Mr. Holden?" said Doc quietly. "Just you
+stand against the wall and take it easy. It won't hurt a bit."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Burt Holden was plenty tough for an Outsider, and a hard-headed
+businessman to boot, but he'd never run into a customer like Doc before.
+You could see him trying to make up his mind on how to handle this
+thing. He glanced around quick at the crowd, and I could tell he decided
+to play it out to where Doc would have to draw in his horns. He actually
+grinned, for the effect it would have on everybody watching. "All right,
+Yoris," he said. He backed against the wall and folded his arms. "But
+hadn't you better stand up here with me?"
+
+"I ain't going," said Doc. "I don't like Mars. But you won't have no
+trouble getting your gold. There's nuggets the size of your fist laying
+all over the dry river beds."
+
+"I hate to be nosey," said Burt, playing to the crowd, "but how are you
+going to get me there?"
+
+"With his head, o'course!" blurted Rusty before I could stop him. "Just
+like he cures you when you're sick!" Doc had pulled Rusty through two or
+three bad kid sicknesses--and a lot of the rest of us, too.
+
+"Yep," said Doc. "A man don't need one of them rocket things to get
+between here and Mars. Fact is, I never seen one."
+
+Burt looked at the ceiling like he was a martyr, then back at Doc.
+"Well, Yoris," he said in a tone that meant he was just about through
+humoring him, "I'm waiting. Can you send me there or can't you?" The
+start of a nasty smile was beginning to show at the corners of his
+mouth.
+
+"Sure," said Doc. He slumped down in his chair and cupped his hands
+lightly around his dark glasses. I noticed his fingers trembling a
+little against his forehead.
+
+The lights dimmed, flickered and went out, and we waited for the
+bartender to put in a new fuse. The power around here doesn't go haywire
+except in the winter, when trees fall across the lines. A small fight
+started over in a corner.
+
+When the lights came back on, Doc and Pop started for the door, and Lew
+and Rusty and I followed. Burt's buddies were looking kind of puzzled,
+and a few old-timers were moving over to watch the fight. The rest were
+heading back to the bar.
+
+Rusty piled into the jeep with Doc and me. "When you going to bring him
+back, Doc?" he asked when we started moving.
+
+"Dunno," said Doc. He took off his glasses to watch me shift gears. He's
+been after me for a long time to teach him how to drive. "It only works
+on a man once."
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+    This etext was produced from _If Worlds of Science Fiction_ November
+    1953. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
+    copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and
+    typographical errors have been corrected without note.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Trees Are Where You Find Them, by 
+Arthur Dekker Savage
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30010 ***