St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-08-07
ST. Sulmeburp Galrdonian.
.Johnsnu =. IT.. Friday. Aug. :. 1874.
The Board Fence.

CRITTERS. cIltu VT. BabcOck. WAVING
his arms rs he chased il dozen sheep amo
lambs through Il gap in the fence.
II was Il wooden fence. and when Inc
had succeeded in driving the animal,
the other side of it. he lifted it from it,
reclining position. and pr"pped it NJ
with stakes. This WAS an operation Ii,
had found himself obliged to repeat
many times in the course of that season
and of several previous >e;ISon>.
Yet Mr.. Babcock WIS neither slack
nor thrittlcsS: in fact he pridcd himself
on the orderly appearance of his farm
and not without reason. How, then,
shall we account for his negligence in
this particular instance!
The truth WAS that this fence formed
the boundary line between his estate
and that of Mr. Small and three gen
crations of men who owned these cs-
tatcs had been unable to decide ia
whom it belonged to rebuild and keep
it in repair. II the owners had Glanced
to be men of pcaceabe dispositions,
they had compromised the matter and
avoided il quarrel; but if, on the con
trary. they belonged to that much lar
ger class who would sooner sacrifice
their own comfort and convenience than
lntH Np-CdIl'u fVHtS. lHI> renee Hdl
been Il source of amending 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
records. but always with the same
result.
Il say it belongs to YOU to keep it in
repair; that's as plain as ii pike-Statf.
MI. Babcock would say.
"And say it belongs to you-any
fool might sec 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 damage from each others cattle,
had already amounted to IL sum Sutfi-
Client to have built II fence round their
entire estates. but what was that com
pared to the satisfaction of having thciI
own way !
There WAS not wanting in the neigh
borhood peace makers who would glad
~ have settled the affair 10y arbitration
hmt t" this neither of the beligercnt,
would listen for moment.
At last, one day. Miss Lctitia Gill {;
woman much respected III the village
and of some weight aS Landowner
and taxpayer, sent tnI Mr.. Bahcock {,
come and see her on business: IL sum
mons which he made haste to obey, II.
how could he do otherwise where II lady
WAS concerned
Miss Lctitia sat ut her window sew
ing up Il seam. but she dropped hrl
work and took off her spectaclcS when
Mr.. Eahc"ck made his appearance.
-" y"u got my message: thank Won
for coming. I'm sure. Sit down. do.
suppose my man Isaac told y"u want
ed To consult Nou on Il matter of bHSi-
Ness. matter of equity. may say 1t
cant hc expected that we women folks
should Ice the best Judges of such things.
you know there's Isaac. to he sure.
but then he lives on the place. and may
he he wouldn't Ice exactly impartial in
his Judgment about our affairs
''.JeS' So" said Mn Eah~ork
"Well. the state of the ease is this
When Isaac came up from the long
meadow to dinner. they're moving the
meadow to-day. aud an uncunmnnly
good yield there iS.-when he came up
to dinner. Ii" found that certain stray
COWS had broken into the vegetable
garden"
He did, hey -
lyon can fancy the riot they made :
] declare. Isaac was almost ready to use
protamc language. I'm not certain he
didn't say deuce. and I'm not certain
he did say darn and after all. |
couldn't feel Ia rcproHch him very So
vcrcly. for the pains he has taken with
that garden Is something" anIZin"
w"rkim" early and late. wedding and
digging. and watering. and now to see
II all torn and tIampIcd that You
woulu't know which Wa> hcct> and
which WAS curumhcr~. it'> enough tn
rouse anyh"dN'> temper
1T Is So" said Mr.. Hahcock
And that isn't all. for 10y the looks
of things they must have been ramplg
ing Il full h"ur in the orchard and clover
field before they had got into the gar
den. just N"u come and see" and
putting on her >uu-honnct. Miss Lctitir
showed Nj. Hahcock over the damage
precinct.
You don't happen t" know whose
animals did the mischief ," said Mr.
Sahcock.
"Wcll. didn't observe them in par
ticullr myself. but Isaac said there was
one with particular white mark
something like Il cross, on her haunch. -
'Why. that's Small's old Brindle.
cried Mr.. Bahcock. II know the mark
as well as | know the nose on my face.
She had balls on her her horns. didn't
she ?"
YES, 50 Isaac said
And IL Kind of hump on her back p
"A perfect dromcdary." said Miss
Lctita. Il noticed that myself
"Thcy were SmalfS coWS--no doubt
about it ut all" said Mr.. Bahcork,
rubbing his hands; NO sheep with
them; hey ,"
'Wcll. now think of it. there rcr,
sheep. they ran away us soon a> they
SIM Isaac. Yes. certainly there were
sheep" said Miss Letitia
Il knew it.-they always go with
the COWS: and what you wish of me-
'.l> to liz the damages" said Miss
Letitia. AS said before. women folks
are II" Judges about such Matters
MIR. Bahcock meditatcd IL moment.
and then said:
well. wouldn't take cent less
than Seventy-tive dollars, if | were
you-not il cent"
"SevcntN-iivc dollars, Isn't that IA
good deal. Mr. Bahcock You know |
don't wish To he hard on the poor man
all want is Il fair compensation for the
mischief done"
''ScventN five dollars is fair, ma am.
III fact. may say it is low: | wouldn't
have Il herd Of cattle and sheep tramp
ing through my premises i'll that way
for Il hundred"