Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1882-12-29
THE NEW YEARS LOG-ROLLING

When it became known in Verdant Valley
that a Yankee had settled on the vacant quar-
ter over by the Lagoon, Uncle Billy Barker
expressed the sentiment of the community in
his terse disclaimer that, so far as he was con
cerned, he didn't have use for no Yankees
You putt Yankee into any range, and tharll
be bad blood right away They han't con
tent to leave things be as they found en- but
want to cram their free school, alb lishen down
everybodys gullet"
During the six years that Verdaut Valley
had been settled there hnd never been q dis.
sentiug vote cast at the polls 1t was the
boast of the district that this constituency
was solid for Bigler, aud that this was the
banner township of California. But now the
laurels were about to be wrested from them.
However, there the intruder wus. with bis
wife and daughter, and there he evidently in
tended to stay. A comfortable house and a
substantial barn bore witnesses to that. After
oil, Yankees are not so black rs they are paint
ed, and this particular offender had a sturdy
way of minding his own business which. with
his uniform aifability of greeting, soou began
to tell in his favor, so that, Notwithstanding
his denuciation Uncle Billy was the first to
visit the stranger and proiIcr his good ser
vices. For whatever Of pre- ejudice and mar
rowne,s might mark their minds, the class to
which he belonged had mono of those quail
ties in their hearts
Now this diplomatic call of the elder Bark
er had two important results In the first
place, Winthrop (the strange0 wanted to en-
ploy some one to help him clear away the
timber, and bargain was soon reached, by
which the pioneers son, Jim Barker, a fine
stalwayt fellow with a bit of schooling and
handsome face-just the stock, withal, by
which the world is replenished was engaged
for this work. Jim was not the least averse
to this arrangement, for-well, he had rea-
sons of his own. The second result was that
Uncle b lily, who had just enough learning to
spell out words, one letter at a time, aud who
was de1irous Of subscribing to a paper which
would keep him informed as to the stirring
events then impending, asked the advice of
the new conner, AMI was recommended to
take the Tribune. He read the first three
numbers painfully aud conscientiously, but
after that Greeley's phiiippics were lost upon
his remote subscriber, who regularly put the
paper, unopened into the fire, with the grim
remark
Serves me right for bein' such duru
fool"
Those Who saw the land adjacent to the
Lagoon before civilization had spoiled it will
remember that il was heavily wooded. Great
oak trees lifted their brawny arms and sought
with a hundred leafy fingers to clutch the de.
here and there in stately pride The madroho,
arstocrat of the forest, showed its saffron
bark and its olive leaves. The uudergrowth
was thick. The poisonivy was gorgeous with
a fatal beauty. The manZ4nita tossed its
ripeuei berries to the gregarious quail. Tuero
was no small work ahead in subdling the
forces Of nature. The field must be cleared
aud ready for plOwing by the first rains
Luckily the rains held OF There were fow
'.I .N,.
then for weeks the heavens were almost sky
less, one could see SO far into them.
By Christmas the underground was cleared
away, and about half the trees felled Jim,
who seemed TO have some plan of his own,
suggested that these be left where they had
fallen to be trimmed and chopped afterward
SO that as fast as ono tre- wen. down, anoth-
er was attacked. But the progress was slow
Christmas-day jim went home, and called
his father into council. After hearing his re-
port, the old man replied
"We got to give him log-rollin'. The
Lord has held the rains of about all Hes
goin' to- He hain't goiu to spoil the crops
for the sake of no Yankee He's done enough
already and we go. to do the rest Wen
have it on New Years. And, by the way
Jim"-after n pause--'you take care that
logs is the only things that gifts 'emselves cat
up over to the Yankees"
Jim's only answer was blush But, to
be sure, that was enough.
New Years morn, about half past five, there
was prodgious dog fight at the preG nptor's
front door Now the New Englander had but
one dog, and il stands to reason that one dog
isn't going to get up fight all by himself
that is, unless he is uncommonly pugnacious,
which this one was not. A glance through
the window revealed not only three dogs, but
two wagons, the horses already half unhitch-
ed from the traces. The occupants had
| alghted upon the ground Up the road sew
eral teams of oxen were advancing. The
house was evidently being put into a state of
siege. And in moment the voice of the
senior Barker called out:
''Youins had better git up. You're gon'
to have some company"
BY the time the family were dressed and
hasty breakfast snatched, the army of at.
tack had taken possession of everything
Every moment brought new arrivals, There
was a Kaleidoscope of men, women, children,
horses, dogs and oxen, The great festivals
of Western life are campmeetings, barbecues
aud log-rollings Those who believe that the
American blood is running out should strike
an average on the children present at one of
these occasions. Polly Winkle assumed COM
mand of the women aud children, by no 9TH
er right that / know of than that she most
nearly realized Napoleon's definition of the
greatest OF her sex. IL was soon evident that
the house was too small to accommodate so
many, and the Winkle contingent were led to
the commodious loft in the barn. Here from
each wagon was brought such an array of
daintics and sweetmeats as would have doub-
led up less hardy race for the rest of the
year. A table was improvised the stove was
removed 10 the loft, and by noon smoking
dinner was on the board.
Meantime more than fifty men were at
work in the field The November rain had
carpeted the ground with wild flowers but
these were unheeded. The lupine bloomed
in vain. The gaudy eschscholtzia Haunted its
colors unheeded The timid nemophila crept
closer to the sod, and hid its maidenly beau.
ties from PROCLAMATION. But all were alike un-
sought. There was mems work to be done
Great trees lay stripped and deformed like
torsos of mighty giants One-h half the force
were chopping at the trees yet standing.
Every few moments some monarch would
tremble, try to steady himself for a second,
and then fall with resounding crash to the
| earth A score of foes were upon him at
| once. His hundred arms were Topped from
his body. His blood sank into the thirsty
earth The place that knew him in his pride
| knew him no more. AS fast as the logs were
ready, chains were passed around them, the OK
en- were harnessed to them, and they were
drawn to designated spots, andarranged in Or
| derly piles When Alice Winthrop came down to
the field with dozen girls about her own age
and looked out of her great brown eyes upon
! the strange scene, what splendid feats of