The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1870-03-11
Original,
Written for the Fremont Journal.l
A WEEK IN THE. WOODS,
THE SIXTH DAY.

rain, will readily see that the NOR
rows work was far from enviable.
They need not be told about the dis
comfort and annoyance of walking
through underbrush thickets and re-
ceiving show baths at every step.
Water is a good thing-in its prop
er place-even n luxury; but in the
form of rain-drops upon ones clothes,
while yet he is wearing them-that
is not its appropriate sphere. 1t is
all important that things, yes, and
people keep in their sphere.
BY dint of hanging our outer gar
menrs around hot fire, and stand
ing comfortably near the stove for
the benefit of the inner ones, we had
become, late the evening before
completely dry. 1 use the last word
in its primal sense, l have seen mer
" dry" when their apparel was as
wet as the coat Of a drowned rat
and have known them to drink even
under such circumstances. slept
like a dozy log, and in the morning
the sky showed no, traces of the
storm that had ploiighed its face
And this finds a parallel with man
kind. How little the scene and smi-
ling countenance shows of the TEN
pest of passion which ragged there
hut n moment 400,
My neither garments-the outel
ones-were dry in the morning, bUt
shade of the goddess of style! how
distorted. looked enough like
winchel, the charicaterist with then
on to be his half-brother Two sizes
small; bottoms at the tepssof my
boots when ! had them 1.-THE boots
on; and that reminds me that | had
a time getting my llip-skins on. Sat
urated with water, l thoughtlessly
threw them by the stove the night
before; and now they were as dry
and hard and stiff as 4 board. How
shall / describe the time ] had get
ting them on, or trying to getsthn
on. for [ wish the reader to be ii
doubt as to the result. | cannot take
time to give the particulars, some o.
YOU remember well when boy
your morning struggles with YOU
cow-hides in which you had wadeC
puddles and streams the day before
You remember the various means tt
which YOU resorted (every one o
them a last resort) to conquer. You
know YOU warmed them q little anC
tried by working the heather, to sOf
ten it; then you got your toes in
THAT was as much as you could dc
at first; next YOU pulled, and pulled
till the straps cracked and your fin
gers burned and blistered; and YOU
heel was down to the stiff COIN
ter. How long your heel seenled--
for an instant you thought yoursel
a " Jim Crow" And, if there was ;
hole just above the counter, hoV
your heel persisted in tarrying there
and not till you bridged the opening
with a case-knife, could you pass the
lsticking-point-Rubicon is mor'
classic and high-sounding word, but
the allusion would not be happy
Rubicon is something that requires
bravery to pass; but a hole in the
back ofone's boot requires ingenuity
and strength to get by it.
l need say no more on this point
1t would be gross tautology to men
ton how the wet leaves saturated
our trowsers' legs and caused then
to stick to, or flap about, oufankles
and how every time We struck a sap
ling, we were shower-bathed. And
have already given you the modu
operandi Of surveying. So l vii
merely mention a few results an,
close. this paper After the last lin
was run and the last stake struck
we looked at consequences, and the,
were in some instances quite serious
All the time as we were going along
running the various lines, / hear
such remarks as these, whiehs by th
way, I have become used to hearing
"John will get the big whitewood,
"mv fence is on Jim's land" .
knew Jake was cutting wood on IN,
lside of the line" Hank gets the bi
/ Icoon-tree" " ~That bio sill Whic
Sam got out, belonged to me-" An
Ives. said one after another, -" it wa
thigh time our land was surveyed.
| And so it was, but some, of the owl
ers were twice disappointed. The
Ihad areediIy cleared and occupied q
| far as their elastic conscience woul
lpermit, and when our random line
Iran still further on their neighbori
ltheir eyes twinkled with ill-supprei
Ised satisfaction. You see they ha
had grave doubts as to their ownin
lall they were occupying, and now
their ignorance thnt a trial line
mot always, indeed is rarely if ever
correct one, they congratulate
themselves on their seeming goo
fortune. Sometimes, their rejOicln
was more demonstrative than acco
ded with due humility, not to sa
with neighborly magnanimity. Bu
when a correction of the line brougl
lit a couple rods within their bounds
nv fence sthe boot was on thesotl
err" the laugh was from the o.
pogite side of the mouth the
we're suddenly struck bat blind an
! deaf yes, and dumb, moreover
they didn't see it-their survey WI
, wrong; (possibly it was) they cou
not hear the good-natured jibes
their comrades, or if they coul
r their palsied tongue refused to pc
form its office work.
One instance Of tie kind was u
tie remarkable rather poor ma
? had purchased forty acres, more
less of another owner on the Sc
r ton, who was quite ''well to do
the world" to me q common bI
hard to be analysed phrase. The Ia
ter owned a stave-tactory, and tt
former sold him bolts (that
: blocks Of wood to be steamed al
cut into stayes) to help raise Il
e money necessary to make the pa
ments on the land Tne poor ana
gradually cut nearer land neareF-t q
: imaginary line between them, de
pite his neighbors remonstrance
and finally, cleared, fenced Al
3 plowed the ground. Our rando
line ran little upon the wealth
mans land, and his poor neighb
could not repress his joy, didn't
!