Show Z 0 t 64 X jf w 00 it 1 it 1 ff I 1 fa IU once he turned around and observed a row of solemn and stern faced old lad es nervous and more nervous he grew the tree by james J montague R WILLIVER bought the farm M because of the tree the tree viewed in october was a blaze of red like a torch miles away it could be seen on the hill where it has stood tor for more than two hundred years looming like a bonfire when the sun cast its setting rays upon it but the very night that mr williver Will lver moved his goods and chattels into the farm house a black cloud arose in the west and came head on widening as it went till its murky depths were directly over the tree 17 rhen hen it seemed to swoop down as a hawk would swoop on a chick pheasant and when it had passed the tree was riven from topmost bough to deepest set root mr williver thanking providence that his cottage had weathered the storm went out early in the morning to estimate the damage from where the blasted leaves still clung to the splintered branches came winding a spiral gash down to the roots of his leafy monarch fragments of dead wood lay heaped up all about it still hoping that something might be save bavei from the ruin he drove over to the nearest town and returned with a tree expert one glance upward and the visitor said A good clean job the last sap has flowed through that old fellow can nothing be done about it in quiren mr williver nothing but cutting it down unless you want it to fall down and if it falls it won t do your roof much good aff how much will it cost to have it taken down the expert made some mental meas ure ments forty dollars we have to take it down in sections you can t get a couple of hundred cords of wood out of the sky all at once t I 1 chop it down I 1 need the exercise you could if you want to spend six weeks with an ax in your hand and then it might fall the wrong way I 1 suppose I 1 could take a chance S take one if you want to risk it IL im I 1 in busy on a lot of estates around here and I 1 might not be able to get at it tor for six weeks anyway but you 11 be hp lip against more trouble than you know the following day with a new ax mr williver Will lver stood by the tree select ing the side away from his house to make the cut so the giant would top pie on a field where there was nothing to damage he fell to work but before he had dealt the tree a hat halt a doz en strokes he was hailed from beyond the fence ye ain t goin to cut that tree down be ye inquired a gentleman who was leaning over the rail rall A certainly why not that s the oldest tree in the coun try that s why my great great grand father planted that tree but it its 9 dead now no little lick of lightning light nin could kill that tree you d know that if you wa at n t a city slicker well said mr williver Will lver a trifle net tied its my tree neighbor that tree may be on your property but it its s a county tree that s what it Is I 1 in just barnin you to save you trouble well risk the trouble and honestly I 1 im in sorry to have to cut the tree down you re coln to be sorrier said the other and walked briskly up the lane for por an hour mr williver Will lver continued to hew taking it easy so as not to get fagged too soon at the end of that time he rested against the huge bole and was startled to observe some sev en or eight women lined along the fence one of them instantly addressed him don t you know mister that only god can make a tree inquired the oldest among them we ask you not to lay your vandal hands on that mon arch of the forest what forest inquired mr williver looking about him the forest was here when it was born a helpless little sapling the for es est t it has outlived as it became the chief beauty of our village you 11 have to excuse me lad es I 1 regret to cut down the tree as I 1 have said but I 1 cannot see how a dead tree that tree mister will never die long before george washington and his band of patriots set toot foot on this soil flat tree was casting its shade over the landscape that tree s r was hack back hack I 1 said mr williver s re employed ax presently weary he looked about the women were sol soi emaly marching away down the lane he could not hear their conversation which perhaps was just as well two days he was left unmolested save by an occasional native who stopped expostulated energetically and moved on the third day the weekly newspaper of the place containing the informs don that it was a sample copy was tossed on his front porch on it its s first page he read historic leviathan of the hillside ruthlessly destroyed newcomer from city shatters our chief glory local grange notified and then this community does not seek the kind of new arrivals who do not re its traditions and conform to its practice of preserving its ancient and noble landmarks it has existed tor for more than a hundred years without the assistance of outsiders and it can ex tend no welcome and scant tolerance to one who has no reverence tor for its institutions enough said this pungent paragraph was tol fol lowed by the news of the pending de of the tree and a notice that a town meeting would be held thurs day week to take action the fact that the kind of action that was to be taken was not mentioned made mat seem more sinister mr williver had moved to the coun try for peace and quiet he ile was a well disposed person who believed in living and letting live but he was not to be cowed by people who did not know what they were talking about so every day tor for a week he contin aed steadily to chop and began to in bulge the hope that the same efforts expended for six weeks would lay the tree low rarely was he without an audience as he worked small boys probably sent by their parents hung on the fence and yelled tree murderer at him once he turned round and ob served a row of solemn and stern faced old lad es he turned to his task again and looked around but they were still there nervous and more nervous he grew and finally merely peered at them out of the tail of one eye still they stood immovable ani an fearsome he recalled mr air coleridge s lines like one that on a lonesome road doth walk in tear fear and dread and having once turned round walk walks on and turns no more his head because he knows a frightful fiend doth close behind him tread he ile had iad to buy his supplies in adoth er town for shop doors had a way of closing in his face if he stood before them and now and then as he passed along the street a mother would snatch up a I 1 atle child playing in a yard and carry it hastily into the house still he stuck it out until the night when the half hewn tree bent by a gale came crashing to the earth the following day the local icat on led its front page w th the headline providence VISITS TERRIBLE WARNING tree killer taught awful lesson who knows what next bolt from sky may do 0 then mr williver Wll liver packed his belong ings lags on a truck which he had to se cure from another village and depart ed A village public cant be licked 0 bell cate service |