text: As winter closed in, Grit once more took his axes and bought a rail ticket to be with his crew of lumberjacks on the Platte River. He found Jim Early, who reported that things were going good, and they were delivering lumber to the wholesalers at a record rate.
  
  "I've had to hire a few more men," Early said. "I hope that's alright."
  
  "If you need 'em to keep the lumber rolling, it's alright," Grit assured him.
  
  "I had to fire Frampton, just like you predicted," Early said.
  
  "What happened?"
  
  "One night at supper, he got in a fight with John Troup, and it was pretty nasty. I fired Frampton, and then he wanted to fight me because it was him getting fired and not Troup."
  
  "I refused the offer to fight him," Early said, "and the next morning he was gone."
  
  "It's just as well," Grit said. "I'm sure things are a lot more tranquil. At least you're not waiting for the next angry outburst."
  
  "You're right, and things are going well," Early said. "All our crews are working well together."
  
  "I see you're leaving some of the trees, as I suggested," Grit said.
  
  "Yeah, we could start clear-cutting, but..."
  
  "No, do it just the way you're doing it," he said. "I've got one other request. I'm thinking of building a house, and I want all the walnut you cut to be sent on the train to me. I'm going to use a lot of it inside my house."
  
  "Will do," Early said.
  
  Grit worked with the lumberjacks for a week, enjoying the hard, physical labor and having time to think. He thought about the changes that the baby would bring to his household. Would it be a boy or girl? Wouldn't make much difference, he supposed, but he had to admit that it would please him if he had a son, somebody to carry on the name... but not the name his mother had given him. No son of his would ever have such a name.