The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-11-20
JACQUES,

~ HAAAtt, VI ruICOQE1nll Herr
iiesy Jacdues--heppy, frowsy little Jac
ques. He tsoes not know brit tbst n :.
fhe incest thing in the world to live gr
near she north pole that On the sh:,rt
surlmer nights the beautiful auror,
can spread her cold curtain of shiftine
silver over him; SO near that in winter
old North Pole himself can drop in in z
neighborly wav and bury the house In
snoT~drifts. Could ANYTHING be more
charm ing, except living hand in hand
WIN Jack Frost in his ice cave at tlie
top of the world? jacques and have
tender pity for any one who does not
live IN ChicOutimf, though JACQUES be-
gins to have misgivings that perhaps
Quebec, where the wonderful steamers
come from, may possess some points of
superiority.
Jacques lives in small square house.
perchod on the rocky river bank. Wby
the high winds that churn the Saguepay
TO mass of white froth do not blow il
away nobody knows. But, like huge
birds nest, there it clings to sIe top 0f
the rock. 1t is built of cough tSo,1Tpcb
planks piled one on .op Of another. and
capped bya steen ooard roof. Altogether
1t looks as IT giant had played at max
ing a co5-bOuse, and then clapped a
wooden tent on it. Though &c onIy
boasts of one story and enc room, this
iinity satisfies Jacques, for he is p social
lPSle fellow, and enjoys sleeping all in
one bed in the corner of the kitchen.
Then, too, the room is magnificent in
his eyes, for It's unblinded, wide,avake
windows are shaded with paper curtains,
gay with blue castles and red cavaliers
But his mother is ambitions, and
dreams of lifting the house up bodily
and tucking lower story under &c. as
IS the universal custom in Chicoutimi
when enc grows we'll to-dO in the world.
4hls gives all the hoases a iauntv, en-
terprlsImg air, as If they had lust got
upon their legs and were about to start
of around the town for dish of friend
ly gossip.
Jacques fstde2 earns five dollars
month by hooking in the logs that Goat
away trori the great saW-mill, a Quarter
OF a rLile above. It is mere pittanee
Any one but a Frenohman would stsrye
upon it, even in Chicoutimi. But there
the French live son nothing q week,
and that uncertain very" Fish and
onions form the chiaf of their diet, with
now and then, by way Of luxury, a soup
made of n bit of gristle and a potato or
swo. The children grow round and
rosy, but tho grown people have O lean
and hungry look. OF course. they have
bread Tor n standby and every other
morning see little Jacques 60 jumping.
vOilieking, singing by, with an immense
loaf carefully poised ON his tOwsIy pate.
or rightly squeezed against his dirty
blouse
TT you should say to him, as / did
& You love that bread, don't you ?" he
would reply, his brown eyes all aglow
Mals, que cs pain est bon VOus
naveE lamals WI rien CONNIE ca aux
Etats Pnis On ne Ia MULE part ex-
cepto a Chicoutimi. Nest ce pas que les |
pitts garCons chez vOus meurent de
faim sans ce pain ?" which is his way of
saying "Isn't this bread good, thought
You won't fine such anywhere in the
world except in ChiCoutimi. Don't the
little boys IN the United States starve
without this bread ?" If he were
Yankee boy, We should say this came a
little too near Dragging. But the inno-
cent Ignorance and anxiety of his last
question quite take away your breath.
And when he brings yOu thick chunk
OF this remarkable brea 7, in his little,
Grimy fingers, you wonder if it is really
made of musty sawdust, that it has such
n queer, oaken color and such dry, un-
palatsble taste.
One afternoon jacques father went
away 70 stay all night. His last words
to Jacques were: "Be sure not to 60
near the mill" For the mill was very
dangerous though very attractive place
to little folks. For awhile Jacques
amused himself playing on the logs that
were floating IN the water beside the
house. Lying in the river, loading with
lumber, were three ships-one from
Norway, one from Prove ce, and one
from South America. Jacques played
his log was each ship by turns, and
visited each country with his cargo of
chips. But playing alone grew monoto- !
nous. As dusk crept on, the saw mill
on the opposite side of the cove lit up
its lCug rows of windows, throwing |
broad lines of tremulous light across
the black water. To Jacques it looked \
like an enchanted palace, and it attract !
ed his Idle, disobedient feet with ire |
sistible force. \
Perhaps he did not mean to 90 in.
As he explained afterward, he only |
slough he would see il Guillaume were |
there, because he had something very |
particular to tell him. Guillaume's |
father was one of the night-workers in |
the mill SO Guillaume was often there |
in the evening. He had repeatedly said |
to jacques: "NGiS que c'eSt nl0gnif- |
que Dieyas done atm que .je tG Ia fdSsc
COir." Which is French for " How
splendid 1t is Do come and let me
shoE yOu round" This invitation was
continual spur to jacques curiosity.
Once he had been in the mill with his
father in the daytime but to go in
every evening, like Guillaume, was the |
dream of his life
Now, as he drew near the forbidden |
spot, the delicious smell of the fresh |
pine, the uuceasiDg motion of the noisy |
machinery, the bits of wood of all |
shapes, calling for iack-knives to cut |
them, tOlled him on, and he entered, |
remembering no longer his fathers com |
mands. For awhile he watched the |
sharp saws as they cut SHINGLES and |
laths and clapboards. He sat on the |
curling, sweet-scented shavings, and !
built forts of the bits of wood thrown
aside as useless. Notwithstanding his
dlsobedlencC, he had never been so
happy in his life. -
Then Guillaume found him, and in
sisted on taking him to the other mill |
to see the huge round logs sawed into !
planks. The dim light, the roar of the |
machinery, and the novelty of every
thing made one place as fascinating rs |
another to Jacques. So he willingly |
followed Guillaume. They entered a |
long, low building, full of saws banded |
in groups of four or five. These groups |
were placed all along at regular inter |
walls, and were all saving logs into |
planks with fearful, steady swiftness. |
Guillaume was so used to it that he had |
no thought of fear, and Jacques was too |
Ignorant to have tremor.
They stood and watched the men roll |
new logs on 10 the tramways, with long |
cr)wbars, and push the planks already |
made into deep black holes in the floor, /
wl ere a raceway of the stream took |
hem and carried them to the lower mill, |
to be sawed into shingles and clapboards. !
IU required great care to walk about