The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1876-01-07
CHAPTER ".

Widows, bereft of their loved ones
while in the hey-day of prosperity, who
have time and inclination to bestow
their thoughts upon intricate folds Of
bombazine and Grape, may prolOng to
their hearts content the acute luxury
Of active mourning. But one in Mrs.
Morrison's condition must smother
back her woe, and, facing the barest and
sternest realities of life, go forth to do
its battles as though no death-wOund
ranked in her bosom, no agony Of be-
reavement or loneliness found lodgmeut
in her heart.
November was fast giving way to on
coming and more rigorous December,
and Mrs. Morrison and her family must
have better shelter than the precari-
GUS one provided by the tent.
The logs and boards and poles that
Madge and the little boys had made
ready were "snaked," as Madge had
suggested, by the aid of oxen and log
chains, to the chosen building spot, q
grassy mound sloping every way, with
a small, solitary FIR tree in the door
yard, and a single cluster of oak bushes
hard by. 1t was an easy matter to raise
the pen-like building to a height of
six feet, but Jason Andrews, strong
and able-bodied as he was, could not,
without the assistance of other men, of
whom none were available, get it an
other round higher.
"Let's make steep rafters, and cover
'em with shakes" said Madge. 'T've
got plenty of nice poles peeled"
"But we haven't any nails, child"
"We've got augers."
"What can we do with augers
"Bore holes, of course"
"And then what?"
'tMake pins, like they do in building
bridges, and drive 'em in the auger
holes"
"Strange didn't think of that. Pity
you weren't boy, Madge."
"I'ne not a-grumblingp' was the
gruff reply. "Guess God knows best
what ought to be-"
"Well, Pll not argue the point"
because you can't"
"Shall we haul the poles ?"
"They're ready"
The work progressed slowly but
surely, and in few days the house was
up, a doorway cut, a roof on, and q
square opening left for a Fireplace,
which was to be made of sticks and
mud, and which Madge superintended,
as though accustomed all her life to the
work.
"Where did you learn your trade ?'i
asked her co-worker, who had learned
in the little time he had toiled with her
to ask her opinion and rely upon hel
judgment in everything.
'I never learnt it. just shut my
eyes and see how it ought to be done
and then do it. That's ALL"
81 b'lieve she's the Witch Of Endor
come back to earth again." thought ia
son Andrews, as he watched her fur
lively.
"No, I amt no WITCH" said Madge
as though she had overheard him.
Her companion hung his head, feeling
guilty and frightened.
The child took no further notice o
him or his thoughts, and began he
preparations for the mud fireplace ant
chimney, toiling away with an ab
stracted air, and giving orders now an,
then in short, imperious tone Of com
mand, as though she did not expect an,
interference with her plans.
make the throat of the chimne
arched and narrow, and the fire-plac
haring-this way" suiting actions t
words, as, with her sleeves rolled to he
shoulders, and her hands, face, an
clothing covered with mud, she toile
with all the skill and much more tha
the agility of beaver. ''The chimne
will smoke if the throat isn't narrow,
she continued, as Jason Andrews dew
sted somewhat from her well-laid plar
"How do you know?"
''It's got to have draught, like tbs
the auger holes make when we bur
down trees. That's what the chimney
for, sir. 1 don't see how q man ca
live as long as you have and learn 4
little"
'Madge! Madge! Don't be saucy
pleaded her mother.
'Beg pardon, ma'am. didn't kno
it was being saucy to speak the truth
replied the child.
The work went on, and in few day
the rude log cabin was completed.
rude door, composed Of the ''shakes,
was hung with hinges made from Il
cast-of top Of an old boot that had beG
Mark Morrison's property, and q whi
muslin cloth was tackled across Il
opening where window glass was nc
Boards, thickly rived, and we
smoothed with a cooper's drawin
knife, were made to do very fair duty
q floor; and bedsteads, which Mad
dignified by the title of ''stick-tights
were nailed against the mud-daub,
walls, the said walls being lined ov
the mud plaster by means Of ''shakes
fastened to their place, with much
Dor, by auger holes and wooden pins,