The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1870-02-11
wretched nurderers expiated their
ofense on the scaffold.
written for the Fremont Journal
A WEEK IN THE WOODS.
THE FOURTH DAY.

/. suppose 1 slept, though 1 wa
II not conscious of it. One thing
know, however l dreamed.
/! thought 1 was school boy agar
and L seemed to live those golde
d days over in all their vivacitv an
: freshness. And how rapidly tn
d scenes, as well as the actors in them
changed. Now it was summer anC
}, earth had donned her gayest attire
i and number of boys was eniovi1c
a game Of e-ball; then again / wa,
d wrestling with a schoolmate who
sometimes "happed" me, and ther
l " hoored" him. Now it was Win
ter and earth was despoiled of hei
e charms, but nature had pityingly
r thrown a white veil over her face. hi
ding her homeliness. 1 was engaged
2 in mortal strife with an older plav.
mate by way of snow-balling. II
/ commenced in fun, but the excite
ment made us in earnest, and ]
} scOrned to yield, while my obstina-
/ ey nettled him to redoubled exeT ion.
threw oftener, but his balls were
harder and he took better aim. All
last with bruises on my back anG
neck and my ears stinging, l reluc-
tantly hauled down my colors. How
Imy fingers burned. In the heat OF
1.-THE battle l had not felt either the
lpain from the freezing, or the numb
mess that followed. How natural ii
all seemed in my dreams ! l was il
Itrouble Of some kind all night, and
awe ''ery little refreshed by my
slec
A. breakfast, we were starting
out ti, continue our work, we'll salts
fed w:th what we had accomplished,
when suddenly our congratulations
we-e. converted into chagfin and re
examinations. A man who was in
te- ested in the survey, but who hao
t1us far been unavOidablv absent.
had returned and come over to as
sist us. He stopped at the east quar-
ter-post, examined the traces of oul-
Operations there, shook his head dis
approvingly and called me to him
'' l am fearful you have made an rJI
here" was his gratifying greeUing
+" / guess not" replied yankee-hk,
&" Let us see," he continued thought
fully; "where did you commenceY
why, at that red bowlder, or rath
er some links south of it, to avoit
the fence" l answered, avoiding
the fence was all right, Of course,
he said, but as supposed, you die
not measure off from the right star
ting point; you should have takeL
this greeniSa hard-head." Are yoL
sure of that" l asked, "friend Con
tident here said he knew that reddish
boulder was the corner" Have
you examined that stone, with refer.
ence to its being the quarter-postY
he inquired "Well, no; l relied Oh
what / was told. ayes; let us SEE
about this matter" and he, taking
my Jacob-staff, thrust its sharp stee,
point under the reddish bowlder
which l had been so easily convinced
was the true corner, and readily dis
placing it, showed that it was only
small stone, and not likely to have
been placed there for the quarter
post. 1 was convinced, and yet the
little Of the mulish firmness, ahem
in me, (in another 1 should likely
call it obstinacy, if l did not use a Sc
we're term led me to pretend that !
yet had doubts, a sort of harmless
deception to be sure, and to give
some force to my pretense, 1 asked
one of the boys to dig around ana
see if he could find any traces or re-
mains Of roots; saying that the hick-
OFy must have left some evidence OF
its having once occupied the spot.
The ground was stony and hard to
dig, and the boy made slow progress.
He showed symptoms of a want OF
faith in future exertion, and / told
him to let me have the shovel. / had
no serious intention of prosecuting
the excavation much further, but
Just then my friend who had pointed
out the "greenish bowlder' as the
present quarter post, exclaimed rath-
er devisively, addressing me in prop
.er person.
1 thought you called yourself a
surveyor; and yet you keep pecking
at that spot just - Beecher's dog
noble did at the hole, and with about
the sane success. Come here and
dig awhile.
His aCvice was good but it was so
coupled with ridicule that 1 felt it
ould be an unwa.Tntable yielding, to
follow it just t1en, and braced my
elf in that wooI, like a baulky m le,
1 handled the shovel like ditcn-dig-
Eing Pat Lander, till l bethought me
Of pick, when l welded that tool, |
fully as industriously, making the |
earth and small pieces of stone fly |
like hail, and quarrying out chunks
of rock as large as my head. At last
my hands were blistered and the per
spirstion streamed down like warm
shower, and l thought that l had
punished myself fully enough to car
ry out my pretence. The tail-feath-
ers of my pride dropped and throw
ing down the pick and crawling out
of the hole l had dug, I remarked.
If any body else wishes to hunt
for the roots, he may, for all I shall |
do.
Roots" said my tantalizing
friend, in his provoking way; you
might as well look for the remains
of that old hickory on a barn-hOor, |
and done with it; there never was a
stump of any kind there. Let me
take the pick moment.
Imade no reply, but looked on,
as though I expected to see a pot of
money unearthed. My friend quiet
" removed the earth and stones that
had become packed around the bown-
der, then again striking the pick
down, he raised the "hord head,
from its bed, when pile of broken
earthen ware was exposed. This !
would ordinarily have convinced me
in fact l was convinced, but not |
quite ready to acknowledge it.
1 let him-he might have had one |
in each hand, for all ofme. He took |
the pick and struck it down beside !
the "greenish hard-herd" and the lat
ter was as firm as hill. That looks
more like it; don't it,"
That is all very nice I remarked.