text: 3
  
  Each day Grit and Paulie worked from sunup to couldn't see, and the riverboats coming down bought all the wood they could cut until the Octavia arrived in mid-September.
  
  The mate came ashore and said, "We'll take 30 cords, and just so you know, we're the last boat comin' down the river this year from Fort Benton."
  
  "Is that right?" Grit said. "Well, I'm sorry to hear it and glad to hear it at the same time. We're a little tired. The wood's $7.50 a cord, and it's all the finest hardwood."
  
  Grit's clothes were hanging on him he'd lost so much weight. And Paulie was the same, though he'd grown taller and stronger.
  
  When the mate paid for the wood, Grit handed it to Paulie and said, "Put it with the other, Paulie."
  
  When the Octavia left, Grit said, "We're outta everything. We gotta go get some supplies, and I mean lots of supplies. We gotta get us a wagon and another horse. When we're in Yankton, I wanna file on this property as a homestead, and you should file on the one next to it."
  
  "I'm only 16 years old," Paulie said. "Be 17 in three months."
  
  "You look older, but it's up to you," Grit said. "Far as I'm concerned, you're a man doing a man's work, and that entitles you to it just like it entitles you to drink a beer."
  
  "Then I'll do it," Paulie said.
  
  "You're keepin' track of the money, Paulie? How much we got?"
  
  "Off the top of my head, $2,746," Paulie replied. "But that doesn't include what you just gave me."
  
  "Well, Paulie, that's almost $3,000. I don't have to tell you that's hard-earned money, and we got the calluses on our palms, and barks on our knuckles to prove it." Grit drew near to Paulie, placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "And I can't help noticing you're growin' like a weed and got muscles pokin' out all over."
  
  They both laughed and Paulie said, "It's all the hard work we been doin'."
  
  "Well, now it's time to spend some of our money. Let's clean up and store our tools away, then we'll walk down to Yankton. It's only about a hundred miles. We can make it in two days, three at most. We'll take the bay and see if we can get another horse with a sweet temperament like him."
  
  Two days later as the sun was setting, Grit and Paulie walked into Yankton. They dropped off the bay at the livery and walked down to 3rd Street, where they saw the Misery River Saloon.
  
  "Funny name, 'Misery River," Paulie said.
  
  "Yeah, I guess it is a misery for some, but not for us."
  
  They walked inside the saloon and Grit said, "Four beers, if you please."
  
  When they got their beers, Grit said, "Let's get a table, Paulie. Something in the back."
  
  They sat down at a table and had just finished their first beers when a man stepped up and said, "You fellas lookin' for work?"
  
  "No, can't say we are," Grit said.
  
  "Are you a fighter?" the man asked.
  
  Grit looked the man over and asked, "What kind of fighter?"
  
  "Bare-knuckle," he said. "We got a promoter that's in town, and he says his boy will take on all comers. If you beat his guy, you get a thousand dollars."
  
  "Not enough for me to do it!" Grit said. "No, we're not lookin' for work, even though we may look like we're down and out. We been workin' hard all summer. And no, we're not fighters." He winked at Paulie before saying, "And we're not wild bull riders either. Just a coupla guys enjoyin' a well-earned beer."
  
  Paulie laughed and said, "We wouldn't mind seein' some guys beat up by the bruiser who's takin' on everybody."
  
  "My name's Harris Sweat. I'm in charge of the Dakota Southern Railroad maintenance shop here in Yankton. One of our guys is gonna take him on. He's a tough customer... and big. But the real reason I'm stoppin' here is that I need a few more good men. We pay top wages."
  
  "Not us," Grit said. "We work for ourselves."
  
  "Can I ask doing what?" Sweat asked.
  
  "We're woodcutters," Grit said. "We've come down to stock up for the winter."
  
  "You could work here during the winter," Sweat said. "Winters are awful cold, and being out by yourselves might prove dangerous."
  
  Paulie was enjoying this interplay, so he asked, "How is it dangerous?"
  
  "Lots of violent snowstorms and blizzards," Sweat said. "A man could get lost and freeze to death out on the prairie." Paulie and Grit both chuckled. "Happens every year."
  
  "Maybe... but not to us," Grit said, "We're gonna cut wood all winter. By the time spring comes, we'll be way ahead of what the boats need. And besides that, we kinda like profiting from our own labor."
  
  "Sometimes there's renegade Sioux up the river," Sweat said.
  
  "We haven't had trouble all summer, but we're prepared," Grit said. "If trouble finds us, we'll handle it."
  
  "You got a cabin?" Sweat asked.
  
  "Not yet, but we'll get one built in the next few weeks," Grit said. "We've been working so hard cuttin' wood this summer, we haven't had time to work on a cabin, but we'll get 'er nice and tight before hard winter strikes."
  
  "Well... good luck to ya," Sweat said. "Maybe see ya at the fight."
  
  "Not fightin' you won't," Grit said with a chuckle.