The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1874-06-27
Miscellaneous.
The BssHssa Fes,ce.
ny RUTH CHESTERFIELD.

"Shn, shm! i'et home, yen
plagny critters! cried Mr.. lab
cock, waving his arms a. he chased
q dozen sheep aud lambs through
. gap III the 'elee. 1t was a w,a4len
fence, a,.l wleu lie l,ai sn,veeipl
in driving the animal, the other
side ofit, he lifted il from its re-
elining position AID proplai il up
witl,siakes. This was All operation
be had t,nwl himself obligel to re.
peat h'any times ia the cmrse ofthe
season, aud int 4ply Of that A'asM,,
but oi several previous seasms. Yet
Mr.. l'alr.ck was neither slack nor
thrittles>; il. tact, he rather prided
himself on the orderly appearance
Of bis arm, a~tnot without reason.
How tleI, shall we account for his
negligence III this particular ill.,
stalce?
The truth was that this fence
formed the boundary line between
his esiale and that of Mr.. Small
and three generations Of meh who
owned these estates had been un-
able to decide to whom it belonged
to rebuild and keep it in repair. II
the owners had chaIced To he men
Of peaceable dispositions, they had
compromised the matter and avoid.
ed a qnarrel; but it, on the contrary.
they belonged to that much larger
class who would sooner sacrifice
their own comfort and convenience
than their so-caled rights, this
fence had been a source uF' uleimilg
chickering's aid strife. And Of this
class were the present owners
Again and again they had consulted
their respective lawyers On the sub
jcct, aud dragged from their hiding
places muSty Old deeds and records,
but always with tile same result.
:" ! say it be'ougs to You to keep
It in repair; that's as plain as a
pike-Statf," Mr.. Babcock would
say.
" And ~ay it bel ngs to you--
any finl might see that" Mr.. Snail
would rcpy, and then high words
would follow, and they would part
in anger, more determined and oh.
stinate than ever. The lawyers
fees and the loss by damages from
each others cattle had already
amounted to a sum sufficient to have
built fence round their entire es-
tates, but what was that compared
to the satisfaction OF having their
own way?
There were not wanting in the
neiglhrl.oh peace-makers who
would gladly have settle the affair
by arbitration; but to this neither
Of the belligerents would listen for
. moment At last one day, Miss
Letitia Gill, woman much respec-
ted III the village, and OF some
weight as a landowner and tax
payer, sent for Mr.. I}abcock 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
l.etit'a sat at the window sewing
upa seam, but she dropped her
work aml took Off her Apectac'eS
when Mr.. Babcock made his ap-
pearallce.
:" 50 You got my message; thank
Eorcomirlg, I'm sure. Sit down, |
do. ! suppose my man Isaac told
you wanted to consult you on a
matter Of bnSincss--a matter of
equity, ! may say. 1t can't be ex-
pectei that we women folks should |
be the best judges abont such
things, you know; there's Isaac, to
oe sure, but then he lives on the
place, and may be no wouldn't be
exactly impartial in his Judgment
about our affairs"
"Jes' 50" said Mr.. Esabcock.
We'll, the state.of tile case il
this: When Isaac came up from the
long meadow to tlinner--they'r 70 |
moving the meadow today. asud