The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1875-12-17


see our way through the winter. Oh,
dear!"
1.-THE Lord helps them that help
themselves p" snapped Madge. "Come,
Sam and Harry" she continued, 81
want you to go with me to the woods"
'But the panthers ~ suggested Alice.
"Panthers! Fudge! who cares for
'em. If they'd eat US we'd have no
more trouble over rainy days. But no
danger. Them that's born to be hanged
will never be killed by wild beasts.
Come on, boys"
The twins, thus importuned, or,
rather, commanded, did as they were
hidden, and the three proceeded to the
forest in the gulch, where an infant
growth of fir trees, tall, straight, and
about ten inches in diameter, grew as
thickly set upon the bosom of the earth
as quilts upon the back of poreupine.
"See W said Madge. "One of these
trees will make half dozen house logs.
I'll chop it down, and you may play
till it falls. Then We'll cut 'em in
lengths of fifteen feet or so, and get 'em
ready to be hauled"
"But how'll we haul 'em ?" asked
Sam.
"Haven't we got oxen, and log
chain, and can't we snake 'em ?" asked
the girl, as she proceeded to attack a
tree, a little apart from the others,
chosen with view to its falling toward
the prairie.
Her skill in wood-chopping was not
the best, but her perseverance and
strength proved an equivalent for prof.
cheney.
In little while one tree was down,
and the little boys sawed it into the re-
auired lengths with comparative ease.
Another and still another followed, and
before it was fairly noon the children
returned to camp, reporting that they
had one wall of the new house ready for
hauling. They were wet through with
the constant rainfall, but hard work eff
faced the usual effects of it, and they
were not uncomfortable.
|. In few days the logs were ready for
the four square walls of the house, and
yet nobody came along whom they
could secure to assist in its erection.
"Somebody'll come, kRooO, for see
'em g' cried Madge, one day, whereon
her mother reproved her, and the Others
derided, and Madge skulked away
abashed.
''If she hadn't seen me when the tree
fell the panthers would soon have had
meal" remarked her father, when she
was out of hearing, and he, in lucid
interval of a few moments, compre.
hended the situation.
'I know" replied the mother "She',
a good child; but there's something sc
strange about her; and then, she's sc
wayward and saucy sometimes that she
frightens me-"
"Where have you been, Madge ?"
1t was almost dark, and Madge came
back to camp dragging after her small
bushy, resinous tree-top, which sht
placed upon the outdoor fire, and the
sudden blaze lit up the gloom like {
promise of future brightness.
'T've been hunting a suitable tree fo
shakes, mother. Have you got any
thing 1 can eat? I'm as hungry as ;
wolf.n
"There's bread and bacon. Plenty
such as it is; but what on earth do yol
mean by ShdkeSS"
"Clapboards, s'pose you call 'em
He called 'em shakes"
"And who's hep"
az don't know"
"Madge, you're crazy"
"I know it."
''Did anybody ever see such a child?'
thought the mother.
"Have we an auger ?" asked Madge
abruptly.
"What in the world do you want will
an auger?"
"For what should I want it, except t.
bore holes ?''
"What do you want to do ?"
} "Burn down tree to make shakes
"Do you want the auger to-night?"
mo; tomorrow. Have we one?"
"Yes; but how will you burn down
tree?"
) "Bore holes in it from two sides, S
) there'll be draugnt, and then set th
holes a-fire."
"HOw do you know that will work !?
al can see it with my eyes shut"
"Nonsense w
Again Madge was angry. But he
fathers agony was intolerabIe, and sh
soon ceased to think of anything exceI
his condition.
"That bone has slipped can .fe,
it! 1t grinds and crushss w and Madg
seemed to be suffering as acutely 8
j though her own limb were broken. q
could fix it if you'd let me-" she e1
claimed, impatiently.
But nobody believed her, and she lii
= tened long to her fathers agony with
D suffering almost equal to his own.
By morning the old delirium had rt
turned, and her father, though sufferin
e beyond human endurance, had happil