Sharp County record., 1881-05-05
ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD.


b ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD.
4 We had gone up into the wids of northern
y Maine. equipped with snow-shoes and rifles,
u IN search of winter sport. Ned Hal iday, my
comrade had a slight pretext for the trip IN
1 the shape of business his father own ng a large
& amount of laud in the AroOstook which needed
!, looking after. Ny excuse for what seemed to
y strike my friends as an eccentric pleasure trip
to be taken in the dead of winter, was that my
b health had become impaired by the tolls and
trials of nv rofeSsiOn-Which consisted prn-
cipally of industrious waiting for clients who
= never came.
Y Our Journey had not been free from those
Is obstacles which are supposed to give Zest 10
any pursuit. We were "snOwed up" on the
q, railroad until food and fuel were exhausted;
the stage, which appeared when the railroad
ended, relieved the monotony of the proceed
Oh ings several times by standing on its head in
snow drift; and the driver, who was totally
II ipsensible to the claims of the Maine law,
ended by imitatipg this acrobatic feat and
Ned and | reluctantly dug him out. But when
the horses were fired into noble rage to dis
tingush themselves in the same way, we con-
cluded to abandon the whole eccentric estab-
lishment to its own devices and struck across
the country on our snow-shoes Just as we
were becoming thoroughly tired we overlook
an ox-team and on this primitive conveyance,
" drawn by two beasts in whom the phlegmatic
N temperament of their kind was abnOrmaly
deyeloped we rode ten miles with the ther
i mometer at twenty degrees below zero. Our
n driver was large, loose-jointed youth with
l. an astonishingly prominent Adams apple and
bony grin. He was loquacious but non-com-
initial, after the fashion of the rural New En-
d glander. The first time that he committed
% himself to a decided opinion was when be de-
lr clared that " them critters haV'n't two forty
gait,n and that riding on an OX-team isn't
- gon' licketty-s split, the best way you can fix
IL it.n Which statements could not be said to
N afford opportunity for argument.
, Continued inquiries respecting the game in
~ the woods only elected the information that
u it ant so skurse as it was some winters, but
ID skurser than it was some others.n
r Hereluctantly admitted that his Christian
M name was Leander, but seemed to 6e possessed
!, Of stern determination never to be so fool
= hardy as to reveal his surname. He asked us
Z two hundred and seventy-nine questions (Ned
at counted them in peculiarly indirect manner,
u they being invariably prefacedby the announce
MI ment that he didn't ''calkilate' that it was So
~ Having exhausted the subjects of our aims
y and destination, occupations and family his
lE tory, style and cost of our clothing, political,
religious and temperance opinions, price of
an wood and provisions "Our way" probable fu-
ture progress of the potato bug and the re-
construction policy he remarked that he didn't
calkiate' that we set no great by hunk
m of raw salt pork.n
hi We assured him that his calculation was
4. quite and waited for an explanation
" without manlesting any undue curiosity.
ap After penslye silence of some minutes he
i explained that it was the staple article of diet
"a, In the logging camps, and it would therefore
;, be prudent for us to provide ourselves with
u crackers and " canned stuff before venturing
ali out to the camp. He was kind enough to
" further explain that these luXuries might be
hi. obtained in his fathers store at Jonesville.
1t was joyful news when Leander calll-
latedp that at the top of the next hill Jones'
y vile would 'heave in sight;n cheerful sight
g1 to see the lights from its windows twinkling
through the gathering darkness.
= 1t was not a thickly settled village. "Scart-
terin',' the adjective which Leander applied
'N to it, was appropriate. 1t seemed to be cling
J y ing to the skirts of the forest primeval and
eT was sheltered by it from the north wind; un-
A der the shadow of the mighty pines and half
~ buried in the snow drifts the houses looked
~ as If they must be inhabited by pigmies The
1t school ol-house-whi Leander facetiously
Icalled the " education shop,n-with one tail
bp hemlock standing directly in front of it,
=. ~ looked as if it had just come out of toy vii
~ y iage. The graveyard, on the slope of steep
t'hill upon which the last, cold, pale-yelow sun
l. set rays cast weird light, gave us an uneasy
impression that the sleepers were lying in yery
uncomfortable positions
The taryernn was a small farmhouse with
en very large barn overshadowing it and a tall
Cd pine tree standing sentinel at its front gate.
Ou There was no sign signifying that it afforded
entertalnment Tor travellers, but relying upon
Leander's assurance that " Uncle 'Biiah Jonesn
sI would - eat us and sleep us, we walked boldly
r up TO the door. An old man, his head haloed
slf py toDacco smoke, opened the door. His man
NM ner was very much like Leander's on short
~ neutrality-suspicious. but wary.
'u Our inquiry whether his house was tavern
pp seemed to plunge him into profound perplex-
ani ity. he took his pipe out Of his mouth and
Al Knocked it meditatiyely against the door be-
fore he replied:
~ Vel, folks kind o. calkilate that It is. We
DO put 'em up some, to obleege 'em.n
We signited that he would " obleegen ia
ir extremely by putting US up"
ths Mebbe you'd better step in and talk to
!, Mis- Jones. Mis- Jones, she don't like to hey
IS folks come unbeknownstn
NJ But can't We see Mr. Jones, the pronr,s-
ll tora' asked Ned, impatently Standing in
Il; tne teeth OF the north wind with the marrow
u, freezing in ones bones, the indecisiye Jones
l0I VILE manner is trying to the patience.
ie' Pm MIR. Jones, but Mis- Jones sho-she-
tbt she's terrible smart" Mr.. Jones had evident
eD Y been on the point of acknowledging that
ND tAto voueo was lHe proprietor, but had remem-
n' eered his dignity just in time.
INNS embarrassment forgot to delay long
er and ushered us at once into large room
az u one end OF which was a blazing wood fire,
J,r ID tne other end an unsightly air-tight stove
~ You jest set down in the company eend
hD+ MIS- ZONES, she,d be terrible put out if let
liD! {ou set down in the common folks eend
III nlrSnuy, she takes on because we don't give
up the fireplace, bein' it's so ongenteel, and
nev another stove hut Grazza Grazza sSi5 WuIji,in5t
E ,ssl % home without the fireplace, and she's
N ninety nine-will be hundred come snrinr
! herr Il We u ousn'er nuilor
we mad espied tiny old woman almost hid
pei S Sen N the depths of cushioned rocking chair
sne Soro kind of skull cap of black silk onlv
partially covering her head, which was entire
Sd KY tgalltess OF hair and looked as if it were pol
,sneo bone. pair of little; sharp black ewes
)s' peered at us from yellow, bony face. ace She
Re looked like nothing so much as the witches
~ Tor the head "''n walnut