Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-01-04
THE NEW YEARS LOG-ROLLING.
FPIeasant Tale, Appropriate to the
Season.

the community IN his terse disclaimer
that so far as he was concerned, he "didn't
have use for no Yankees. You put q
Yankee into any range, and thar'll be bad
blood right away. They hain't content
to leave things be as they found 'em, but
want to cram their FREQ school, ab'lishen
notions down everybodys gullet.
During the six years that Vcrdant val
ley had been settled there had never been
n dissenting vote cast at thepolls. 1t was
the boast of the district that this constitu-
ency was solid for Bigler, and that this
was the banner township of California.
But now the laurels were about to be
wrested from them. However, there the
intruder was, with his wife and daughter,
and there he evidently intended to stay.
A comfortable shouse and substantial
barn bore witness to that After all,
Yankees are not so black as they are
painted, and this particular offender had
sturdy way of minding his own busi-
ness which, with his uniform affability of
greeting, soon began to tell in his favor,
so that, Notwithstanding his denunca-
ton, Uncle Billy was the first to visit the
stranger and proffer his good services.
For whatever of prejudice and narrow
ness might mark their minds, the class to
which he belonged had none of those
qualities in their hearts,
Now this diplomatic call of the elder
Barker had two important results. In
the first place, Winthrop Ohe stranger)
wanted to employ some one to help him
clear away the timber, and bargain was
soon reached, by which the pioneers son,
Jim Barker, fine stalwart fellow with a
bit of schooling and a 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 Billy, who had just enough
learning to spell out words, one letter at
time, and who was desirous of subscrib-
ing to paper which would keep him in
formed as to the stirring events then i'm
lending, asked the advice Of the new
conner, and was recommended to take the
| Tribune. He read the first three num-
bers painfully and conscientiously, but
after that Greeley's philippics were lost
upon his remote subscriber, who regular
ly put the paper, unopened, into the fire,
with the grim remark:
Serves me right for bein' such a durn
fool"
Those who saw the land adjacent to
the lagoon before civilization had spoiled
it will remember that it was heavily
wooded. Great oak trees lifted their
brawny arms and sought with hundred
leafy fingers to clutch the delicious, i'm
palpable air. Firs were scattered here
and there in stately pride. The madro-
no, aristocrat of the forest, showed its
saffron bark and its olive leaves. The
underground was thick. The poison-ivy
was gorgeous with a fatal beauty. The
manzanita tossed its ripened berries to
the gregarous quail. There was no
small work ahead in subduing the forces
of nature. The field must be cleared
and ready for ploughing by the first rains.
Luckily the rains held off. There were a
few inconsequential showers in November,
and then for weeks the heavens were al
most skyless, 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
one tree went down, another was attacked.
But the progress was slow. Christmas
day Jim went home, and called his father
into council. After hearing his report,
the old man replied:
"We got to give him log-rollin'. The
Lord has held the rains off about all he's
goin' to. He hain't goin' to spoil the
crops for the sake Of no Yankee. He's
done enough already, and we got to dc
the rest. Well have it on New Years.
And, by-the-way, Jim'-after pause
"you take care that loGsis the only things
that gets emselyes cut 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 a prodigious dog-ight at the
pre-emptor's front door. Now the New
Englander had but one dog and it stands
to reason that one dog isn't going to ge
upa fight all by himself that is, unes
he is uncommonly pugnacious, which thi!
one was not. A glance throu gu the win
dow revealed not only three dogs, but tive
wagons, the horses already half unhitch
ed from the traces. The occupants has
alighted upon the ground. Up the roaC
several teams of oxen were advancing
The house was evidently being put int,
a state of siege. And in moment tn
voice of the senior Barker called out,
"You 'uns had better git up. Your
goin' to have some company"
By the time the family woro drcsse,
and hasty breakfast snatched the arm
of attack had taken possession of every
thing, Every moment brought new arri
walls. There was kaleidoscope of men
women, children, horses, dogs, and oxer
The great festivals of western life M
camp-meetings, barbecues, and log-rol
ings. Those who believe that the.Amer
can blood is running out should strike a
average on the children present at one
these occasions. Polly Winkle assume
command of the women and children, b
no other right that know of than til,
she most nearly realized Napoleon's DEF
milton of the greatest of her sex. 1t WI
soon evident that the house was too sma
to accommodate so many, and the Wink
contingent were led to the commodiou
loft in the barn. Here from each wage
was brought such an array of dainti,
and sweetmeats would have doubled up
less hardy race for the rest of the yea
A table was improvised, the stove was r
moved to the loft, and by noon a smo
ing dinner was on the board.
Meantime more than fifty men we're
work in the field. The November ia
nau caipeteu llle ground WIN via no.
ers, but these were unheeded. The Il
: pine bloomed in vain. The gaudy csc
scholtzia Haunted its colors uuheede
The timid nemophila crept closer to Il
sod, and hid its maidenly beauties fro
PROCLAMATION. But all were alike unsougl
There was mems work to be done. Gre
, trees lay stripped and deformed like tC
! sos of might giants. One-half the for
were choppin8 at the trees yet standin
Every few moments some monarch won
tremble, try to steady himself for 81
ond, and then fall with regonndi
crash to the earth. A score of foes We
upon him at once His hundred arr
Topped from his body. His life-b
sank into the thirsty earth. The plq
that knnIu Linn IL, L. -; L. L.. =.