The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-07-24
THE BOARD FENCE.

THE BOARD FENCE.
"Shoo, shoe, get home, vol plaguy
critters |" cried Mr.. Babcock, waving
his arms as he chased a dozen sheep
and lambs through gap in the fence.
It was a wooden fence, and when he
had succeed in driving the animals the
other side of it, he lifted it from its re-
clinipg position, and propped it up with
stakes. This was an operation he had
found himself obliged to repeat many
times in the course of the season, and
not only of that season, but of several
previous seasons.
Yet Mr.. Babcock was neither slack
nor thriftless in fact, he rather prided
himself on the orderly appearance of
his farm, and not without reason. How
then shall we account for his negli-
gence in this particular instance?
The truth was that this fence formed
the boundary line between his estate and
that of Mr.. Small and three genera
tions of men who owned these estates
had been unable to decide to whom it
belonged to rebuild and keep it in re-
pair. If the owners had CHANGED to be
men of peaceable dispositions, they had
compromised the matter and avoided
quarrel but if, on the contrary, they
| belonged to that much larger class who
would sooner sacrifice their own COM
fort and convenience than their so-called
rights, this fence had been a source of
intending chickering's and strife.
And of this class were the present
owners. Again and again they had
consulted their respective lawyers on
the subject, and dragged from their
hiding-places musty old deeds and re-
cords, but always with the same result.
{" I say it belongs to you to keep it in
repair that's as plain as a pike staff, !"
Mr.. Babcock would say.
"And 1 says it belong to you,-any
| fool might see that" Mr.. Small would
reply, and then high words would fol.
low, and they would part in anger, more
determined and obstinate than before.
| The lawyers fees and the loss by dam
ages from each others cattle had al
ready amounted to a sum sufficient to
| have built a fence round their entire
estates, but what was that compared to
the satisfaction of having their own
way?
There was not wanting in the neigh
borhood ace-makers who would gladly
have settled the affair by arbitration :;
but to this neither of the belligerents
would listen for a moment.
At last, one day, Miss Letitia Gill, a
woman much respected in the village.
and of some weight as landowner and
taxpayer, sent for Mr.. Babcock to come
and see her on business a summons
which he made haste to obey, as how
could he do otherwise where lady was
| concerned.
Miss Letitia sat at her window sew
ing up a seam, but she dropped her
work and took off her spectacles when
Mr.. Babcock made his appearance.
$50 you got my message; thank you
for coming, I'm sure. Sit down, do. I
suppose my man Isaac told you /
wanted to consult you on a matter of
b1siness,-a matter of equity, I may
say. 1t can't be expected that we
women folks should be the best Judges
about such things, you know; there's
Isaac, to be sure, but then he lives on
the place, and maybe he wouldn't be
exactly impartial in his judgment about
our affairs
"Jes' SO" said Mr.. Babcock.
| "Well, the state of the case is this
When Isaac came up from the long
meadow to dinner,-they're moving the
meadow to-day, and an uncOmmonly
good yield there is,-when he came up
to dinner, he found that certain stray
COWS had broken into the vegetable
"He did, hey9"
"You can fancy the riot they made.
I declare, Isaac was almost ready to use
profane language. I'm not sure that he
didn't say deuce, and I'm not certain
he did say darn ;; and after all,
couldn't feel to reproach him very
severely, for the pains he has taken
with that garden is something amazing;
working in it, Mr.. Babcock, early and
late, wedding and digging, and water
ing, and now to see it all torn and
trampled so that you wouldn't know
which was beets and which was cucum-
bers, it's enough to rouse anybody s
temper.
cit is so," said Mr.. Babcock.
"And that isn't all, for by the looks
of things they must have been rampag-
ing full hour in the orchard and clo-
VERIFIED before they had got into the
garden. Just you come and see ;" and
putting on her sun-bonpet, Miss Letitia
showed Mr.. Babcock over the damaged
precinct.
"You don't happen to know those
animals did the mischief p said Mr..
Babcock.
"WelI, I didn't observe them in par
ticular, but Isaac said there was one
with a particular white mark some
thing like cross on her haunch."
"Why, that's SmaH's old Brindle, "
cried Mr.. Babcock. 81 know the mark
as we'll as 1 know the nose on my face.
She had balls on her horns, didn't
she?''
eyes, SO Isaac said"
And kind of hump on her back %
GA perfect dromedary," said Miss
Letitia. 81 noticed that myself"
"They were SmalIs cows,-no doubt
about it at all, " said Mr.. Babcock, rub
bling his hands. "No sheep with them ;
"Well. now I think of it, there were
sheep-they ran away as soon as they
saw Isaac. Yes, certainly there were
sheep" said Miss Letitia.
81 know it,-they always go with
the cows and what you wish OF me-.
''Is to fx the damages" said Miss
Letitia. GAS / said before, women
folks are no judges about such matters. -
Mr.. Babcock meditated a moment,
and then said
| w ell, wouldn't take cent less
than seventy-fve dollars, if were you,
not cent"
Seventy-fve dollars Isn't that a
good deal, Mr.. Babcock? You know
don't wish to be hard on the poor man
all want if fair compensation for the
mischief DONE"
Seventy-fve dollars is fair, ma'am,
in fact, L may say it's low; wouldn't
have herd of cattle and sheep tramp
ing through mypremises in that way for
a hundred"
There's one thing I forgot to state,
the orchard gate was open or they
couldn't have got in that may make a
difference.
"Not a bit,-not bit You'd a
right to have your gate open, but
Small's COWS had no right to run loose.
hope Isaac drove 'em all to the pound,
didn't he ?"
81 heard him say he'd shut 'em up
somewhere, and didn't mean to let 'em
out till the owner calls for 'em. But,
Mr.. Babcock, what if he should refuse
to pay the damages? I should hate to
go to law about it. "
"He won't refuse if he does, keep