Show 0 4 czi g ka 1 t 1 the ONlea ri 0 O n A TALE TA LE of the NORTH I COUNTRY in the TIME of 0 SILAS WRIGHT IT IRVING T TD Author of eben holden arl and 1 darrel of the by ady AK V aan jr BACHELLER blessed isles keeping up alth lizzle E etc tc etc 01 copyright by aing bacheller bachelier CHAPTER VI continued 7 one day in december of that year I 1 had my first trial tn in the full responsibility lity of mans mails work I 1 was wai allowed to load and harness and hitch up lip and go to the will mill without assistance my uncle and 11 urvis our hired man were busy with tile chopping and we were out of hour flour and meal it took a lot of them to keep the axes going so i I 1 filled two sucks sack is with corn and two with wheat and put them into the box bos wagon for the ground woo was bare baie and hitched up luy horses and set out I 1 ica reached clied the mill safely and before the grain was ground the earth and the sky above were white with snow driving down in a colo cold stiff wind vind out of the north northwest I 1 loaded my griets and covered thorn them ath with a blanket and hurried away the snow came so fast that it almost winded blinded me there were times when I 1 could scarcely see the road or the horses the wind came colder and soon it was hard work to hold the reins and keep my hands bands from freezing suddenly the began jumping over rocks the horses were in the ditch I 1 knew what was the matter for my eyes had bad been oiling filling with snow and I 1 lind had had to brush them often of course the team had suffered la in n like manner before I 1 could stop I 1 leard the crack of a felly and a front wheel dropped to its hub I 1 checked the horses and jumped out and went to lo their heads and cleared their eyes the snow enow was up to my knees then i how the thought of that broken wheel smote me mol I 1 it was aur our only heavy wagon and wel we having laving to pay the mort mortgage gagel I 1 what would my uncle say eay the query brought brou glit tears to my eyes I 1 unhitched and led my horses up into the eo cover er of the theoines pines how grateful it seemed for the wind was ans slack below but howling in the tree I 1 knew that I 1 was four miles from horne home and knew not how I 1 was to get there chilled to the bone I 1 gathered some pitch pine and soon hadn haan fire going with my flint and tinder I 1 knew that I 1 could mount one of the horses and lead the other and reach home prot ably but there was the grist X vr e c needed that I 1 knew that we x e should have to go hungry without tho the grist it would get wet from above and below if I 1 tried to carry it on the back of n horse I 1 warmed myself by the fire and hitched my team near it so as to thaw the frost out of their forelocks fore foi clocks locks and eyebrows I 1 felt in my coat pock ets and found a handful of nails nalls everybody ever body carried nails in one pocket in those days and I 1 re remember that my uncles pockets were a museum of bolts and nuts and screws and wash ers tho lucri occurred td me afe dint I 1 would make hakin a kind dof of was caller called a Jumper so I 1 got my ax out of the wagon twid soon found a couple of small trees with avith tho the right crook for th the a forward tend lend of a runner runder and cut them and viewed their bottoms as smoothly as il X could then I 1 made notches in them near the top crooks and fitted n stout stick into tife notches and scoured 1 it with nall nails driven by the i ilacad thus ig I 1 got 0 t qi d for my ev evelier erier that done I 1 chopped and hewed an to cross faiq middle of the runners and hold them apart and used all my nails jo to sure secure and brace it I 1 1 got the two baarda which were fas as bened tenca together and constituted roy my wagon scat and laid them over the arch and front brace how to make them f fast a was my worst problem I 1 succeeded in splitting a green stick to hold halt the biltof the evener just under its hend head while I 1 heated its lower i end in the fi reland kept its head cool gitil with snow with this I 1 burnt a hole bolo in the ond end of each eadi board and fastened them to the front braco with withes of moosewood t it was lato late in tho the lay day and there was tio ano time forthe for the slow process of burning more holes so I 1 notched the ends of the hoards boards and lashed them to the rear brace with a length of rny my lei alls then tempered Ire my bolt and brought up the grist jand and chain and fastened the latter beti between veen the boards tit in the bialle of tho the front brace etched my kam cam to the chain and set ant again sitting on the ilc bags it t was waa pitch dark and the horses ending to bellies and the snow kovl vc o when wo turned into hartleroad Rattle Hattle road soon I 1 heard a loud binl too loo and knew that it was the voice of uncle peabody Pc ile iio had bad started out to meet me in the storm and shop was with him shrink god ive found yell ye I 1 lie shouted im blind and tired out and I 1 keep a lantern coln to save me are ye froze tin im nil right but these horses are awful tired had find to let cm am rest every few minutes I 1 told him about the wagon tind anda I 1 how it relieved me ilic to hoar hear him say As long as youre all right boy I 1 aint gola to worry bout the ol at wagon not a n bit ye git yer juniper jumper made it with the ax as and and some i nails I 1 answered after we got to the barn door tit at last lie went to the house and lighted his lantern and came back with it wrapped in a blanket aud aunt deel carile came with him how proud it made mo me to hear him say ray peel 11 our boy Is s a man now made chloc tills cju jumper indor nit all lono iloilo by bi himself an lias has got through till all right she came and held the lantern up to my face and looked at my hands well my stars bartl sho she exclaimed in a moment coment 1 I thought yo ye would freeze up solid ayes poor boy ill we carried the grist in and aunt deel deal made some pudding how good it was to feel the warmth of the fire find and of the lie hearts of those who loved met how I 1 enjoyed the pudding and milk and broad and butter I 1 1 I guess youve gone through the second peril that flint ol at kate spoke of said aunt deel as I 1 went upstairs uncle peabody went out to look at the horses when I 1 awoke in the morning I 1 observed that uncle peabodys ys bed had not been slept in I 1 hurried flurried down a and nd heard hear that hint our off horse had died in the night of colic aunt deel deal was crying As he saw me uncle peabody began to dance a jig in the middle of the floor balance yer partners partner sIll I 1 he shouted you an I 1 aint gain to be discouraged if nil all the bosses die bowe be we bart I never I 1 answered the talk I 1 if well wel hitch purvis up with vother boss an I 1 git our haulon done lie ile and purvis roared with laughter and the strength of the current swept me along with them were the luckiest folks in the world anyway uncle peabody went on barts allye an theres three feet a 0 snow on the level an all more comin pill an its caldern col dern it was such a bitter day that iv we e worked only three hours and came back to the house and played old sledge by the 11 fireside rodney barney cable came over ova that afternoon and said that he would lend us a horse for the hauling 9 we had good sleighing after that and got our bark and salts salti to market and earned 08 but while we got our pay in paper bank money we had bad to pay our debts in wheat salts or corn so that our earnings really amounted to only my uncle said we gave the balance and ten bushels of wheat to mr grimshaw for a spavined horse after which he agreed to give us at least a years extension on the principal we felt easy then CHAPTER vil VH my third peril 11 air purvis took his pay in salts and stayed with us until my first great adventure cut him off on it came one july day when I 1 was in my sixteenth year ile he behaved badly and 1 I as any normal boy would have done who had had my schooling in the candle light we had bad kept grimshaw from our door by paying interest and the sum of SO 80 on oil tile the principal it had been hard work to lilii comfortably and carry the burden of debt again grimshaw had begun to press us my uncle wanted to get his paper and learn if possible when the senator was expected in canton so he gave mo me permission lon to ride with purvis to the post a distance of three miles to get the mall mail purvis rode in our only saddle and I 1 bareback on a handsome white filly which say my undo uncle had given me soon lifter after shw bho was fouled I 1 hail had fed and petted and broken ind and groomed liar her and site sho haa grown so fond of me that my whistled call would bring liar her galloping from the remotest reaches of the pasture I 1 had named tier her sally because that was the only name which seemed to express my fondness mr purvis was not an experienced rider my filly led him at a swift gallop over the hills alid I 1 heard many luany a muttered complaint behind me ine but sho she liked a free head when wo we took the road together and I 1 lot let her fier have bave liar her way coming coining back we fell in with another rider who had been resting at Se avora little tavern through the heat of the day ile ho was a traveler on ills his way to canton and had missed the right trail tind and wondered far afield no he had a big military saddle with bags and shiny brass trimmings and a i pistol in a holster olster li nil all of which appealed appeal eld to my oe eye mul interest the filly was a little tired and the stranger and andi I 1 were riding abreast at a walk while purvis trailed behind us wo we heard board a quick stir in tho the bushes by tho the roadside enli tits that purvis demanded in a half whisper of excitement we stopped T then lien prom promptly aptly a voice a voice which L did not recognize broke the silence with those these menacing words sharply spoken your money or your life I 1 sir air purvis whirled ills his horse rind and slashed him up the hill glancing backward I 1 saw him lose a stirrup and fall and pick himself up and run as if ills life depended on it I 1 saw tl the le stranger draw ills pistol A gun went off in tho the edge odthe of the bushes close by the flash of fire from its muzzle leaped ut lit tu tr apger f fah axle barst reared and plunged ani and mine threw tuo ino in a clump of small copples by tile the roadside and dashed down tho the hilt hill my fall fal I 1 on the stony siding had bad stunned roe me and I 1 lay for three ol 01 or four seconds as nearly as I 1 can estimate it in a strange and peaceful dream why did I 1 dream of amob amoa grimshaw am corna T IA 1 1 I A L gun went off in the edge of the bu bushes ashes close by ing to visit me again and why above alli all should it have seemed to me that enough things were said and done in that little flash of a dream to fill a whole day enough of talk and play piny and going and coming the whole ending with a talk on tile the haymow again and ngach agal n I 1 haye wondered about that dream I 1 came to and lifted my head and my consciousness swung bac back kupon lupon the track of memory and lookup took up tile the thread of the day baythe the briefest remove from where it had broken I 1 peered through the bushes the light was unchanged I 1 could see quite clearly the horses were gone it was very still the stranger lay helpless in the road and a figure was bending over him it was baan n man with a handkerchief hanging over his face with holes cui cut opposite his eyes ile he had not seen my fall and thought as I 1 learned later that I 1 hod had ridden away ills gun lay beside him its stock toward me I 1 observed that a piece of wood had been split off tile the lower side of the stock I 1 jumped to ray my feet fee and seized a stone to hurl nt at him As I 1 lid did so the robber fled with gun in hund if the gun had been loaded I 1 suppose that this little history would never have been written quickly I 1 hurled the stone beono of nt the robber I 1 remember it was a 0 smallish stone acin about the size of a hens egg I 1 saw it graze the side of his head I 1 saw ills his hand touch the place which the stone had grazed ile ho reeled and nearly fell and recovered himself ani and ran on but the little stone had put the mark of cola cain upon pan him the stranger lay iny still in the road I 1 lifted ills his head rind and dropped it quickly qu k with a strange sickness the icel feel of it and the way it fell back upon the ground when I 1 let go seared beaded me for I 1 knew that he was waa dead the dust around him was wet wel I 1 ran down dowa tue me hill n i few stops and stopped and whistled to my faily I 1 could licar hear tier answering si v e r 1 rig whinny far down the du dusty aty qty road and then than tier hoofs us as she gal iodea toward me she camo within 11 few feet of ino ina and stood snorting I 1 caught and woun mounted her and rodd rod to the nearest house for help on OIL the ho way I 1 saw why she had find stopped A number of horses were feeding fc eiling on tho the roadside near tho the log house where andrew andraw crompton crampton lived andrew bad ciul just unloaded sonic some hay and was backing out of his barn I 1 hitched my filly and Jum tho the rack saying drive up tho the road ns as quick as aa you can A man luan lina has been murdered what a fearful word wand it was that I 1 lind had spoken I 1 what n panic it ninde made in tho the little dooryard I 1 the man gasped ald jerked tho the reins and shouted to his horses and began swearing tho the woman uttered a little scream and tho the children ran crying to liar her side tim tho physical facts which ore are further related to tills this tragedy tire arc of little moment to me ino now the stronger stranger was lend bend lind wo we took ills body to our homo and my uncle set bet out for tho the constable over and over again that night I 1 told tho the story of the shooting we went to the lie scene scano of the tragedy with lanterns and fenced it oft and put sonic some men iiren on guard there in the morning they found tho the rob bars footprints in tho the damp dirt of the road and measured i nea them the whole countryside was afire with excitement cit ement ind and searching scorching the woods moods and fields for the highwayman highway ninn the stranger was burled buried there was nathl nothing ag upon upon him to indicate its ills nn anino me or residence weeks passed with no news of the ann who had bad slain him I 1 hild had told of tho the gun with a piece ot of wood broker out of of its stal but dijt fie n 0 one know knew of any such weapon in or near one day uncle ceab 0 d and I 1 drove up to grimshaw s to make MR t a a payment of money I 1 remember it was gold and silver which we carried in a n little sack I 1 asked where amos was and mrs a timid tired looking bony batty little woman who was never seen seen outside of bf her fier own house sa said ild that lie he was working out on the farm of a mr Beak beakman mannear near Platts plattsburg burg lie ire had gone over on the stage late in juno june to lit hire r c out for the haying I 1 observed that my uncle looked very thoughtful lis as we rode back home and had little to say you never had bad any idea who that robber was did ye he asked by ond and by no I 1 not see plain it was so dusk I 1 said tile the swift words your money or your life came out of my memory and rang in it I 1 felt its likeness to the scolding demands of mr grimsh aw who was forever saying in effect your money or your homell homel ha shit was like demanding our lives because because we live without our home our till all was in it mr grim shows shaws gun was tho the power he had over us and what n terrible weapon it vast I 1 credit him with noler never realizing we came to the sandhills sand hills and then uncle peabody broke the silence by saying 1 I give fatty cents for as much ol 01 0 this |