The crew worked short one day, but on the second day two new hands joined them. Bobby Brossard was a very likeable man in his mid-thirties. A newly qualified lineman from Quebec, he was a friendly, happy-go-lucky man, and everyone liked both him and his thick French accent. He was probably the oldest man on the crew besides Chief. The other new addition was Elmer Gault, a sixth period apprentice. Elmer was the younger brother of Henry Gault, who had shown a day late for the Cascade job, then drug up with the first bunch that left for the longer days.

          Elmer seemed a little reserved and somewhat argumentative. Chief was right on his case and left no doubt they were working as a team. Things were quiet for the better part of two weeks, but something of a rivalry emerged. Bobby and Elmer were landing steel together, and Elmer began to hurry to get his spud in first. Bobby immediately recognized Elmer’s action, and he was quicker and smarter than Elmer. Bobby consistently beat Elmer to the hole.

         None of this was lost on Chief. He watched carefully as Elmer became more and more aggravated. This competition was even more active the next day and Chief was very concerned. The second piece of steel that was raised that day brought it to a head. Bobby quickly secured his end and Elmer had a real strain getting his aligned. Elmer began cussing Bobby loudly.

         Chief immediately shouted, "Bring that down here, boys!" The unwritten rule had always been ‘take it to the ground’. This had the same meaning as ‘let’s go outside’ in a bar.

         Both men rapidly descended. Bobby was first to the ground and immediately dropped his tool belt. Elmer hit the ground a couple of seconds later and removed his belt as well. Bobby moved away from the tower to a clear area and waited.

     Elmer charged, swinging wildly, tackling him to the ground. They rolled and scuffled briefly, and Bobby was on his feet. He backed a short distance and waited until Elmer was up and rushing him again. This time Bobby caught Elmer squarely in the nose as the younger man came charging in. Elmer dropped to his knees, stunned, his nose obviously broken. Bobby stood over him, just to make sure he was ready if Elmer tried to come at him again. Elmer lifted his left hand and made a little sideways wave as if to surrender. Brossard just watched a half-minute, then turned and walked to where he’d dropped his tool belt.

     Gault slowly got to his feet, his nose streaming blood. He also walked to his tool belt and picked it up. To everyone’s horror, Elmer pulled his spud wrench from his belt and lunged at Brossard. Bobby heard something coming and turned just as Elmer smashed him in the head with the spud wrench.

    Bobby Brossard went down like a sack of wheat, totally still. Chief had seen Elmer start and moved like a cat. He was too late to stop the blow, but before Bobby hit the ground, Chief threw a powerful punch, hitting Elmer Gault in the left temple. Elmer Gault lay crumpled beside his own victim.

        The entire crew instantly attended to Bobby. As they rolled him over, he was breathing but unconscious. He had a horrible gash on the left side of his face, extending from under his hair all the way to his chin. His cheekbone was plainly visible and the gash met the corner of his mouth. Teeth were lying loose on the ground and the lower left side of his lip fell open like a flap.