The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1886-04-01

On the empty clothosline. and 10 bring mp
10 the fence IN sn incidental and unpreme'
dated way.
Mr.. Talcott was working energetically
A pile Of eaten posts. pulled up by
the roots. and broken pickets. lay before
him. A little farther down Job Dyer Vas
amassing q similar heap.
/ Thought likely you'd think better Of
Il. Mr. Long observed With bis eyes fred
warily on tho other. THIS fence has been
wanting fixing for quite a'pell. ] don't
know As it's worth while tearing it down;
but / thought mebbs. little fixing up'd
do ii. Bot I'm willing 10 do my share. II
you be calculating TO build . new one
After an unresponsive pause: You're cal
calculating to build new one. s'pose'
Yes, be. Mr.. Talcott rejoined. with
acrimonious promptnesss.
Something in his voice shook his neigh
boris composure. But be carried of his
discontinue creditably.
Well. he said. it'll be good thing /
s'pose it ought TO been done before. He
pulled grass and chewed it undauntedly
for two or threeminutes before be went
into the house.
Well, said his wife. as she set the dish
Of pork on the table.
He's set out to build ANEW line fence,
said Mr.. Long. taking his seat and SHOW
ing his knife up and down between the
tines Of his fork.
His wife turned to look at him. Her
sharp intuition rooted out the dark side oil
the statement
You hain't had words with him. Elias'
she said, quick alarm in her pleasant face
Now you didn't have no trouble with him
Yesterday about them hens9
told HIM, said Mr.. Long, reaching for
the coffee.pot, his hens had teen making
tolable free in my garden. and the fence
better be fixed up. II he's mind to flare
up like fool, don't know as it's any OF
my concern.
He took swallow from bis cup. His
wife watched him wistfully. She looked
dazed.
She went about the hous that day with
an uneasy apprehension in her face.
l don't know what TO mtke OF it, she
kept thinking, in troubled way
j She knew by the next night. The new
line fence was done. 1t Was seven feel
high. There was nothing to be seen across
it except the upper half Of Mr.. Talcott'i
house, the tops Of the trees and the barr
! roof. 1t rose tall and stern and forbid
ding. Aud there was no gate. II was
, hostile. incorporating barrier.
1t was an effective monument to Mr.. Tai
colts wrath and resentment.
The summer passed on into the fall. ant
the fall became raw and windy, and even
tually snowy. Mr.. Longs tomatoes hst
not suffered again from Mr.. Talcott's hens
. They had been eaten raw and stewed
they had been made up in catsup, ant
, they had been pulled while green to d
J sliced and picked.
Mr. Talcott's fence had accomplished
! this, and great deal more. 1t had stoo'
, there like an evil monster, and had neve
been crossed. II bad come down like
curse from the skies, aud shut of all tn
old communication, and turned the oil
friendship into hard enmity, and the oil
trust into a fixed rancor.
|, 1t became rapidly known that the tw
. old neighbors were mot on speaking
: terms" and the causes and circumstance
l were not mystery. II was known, toe
that Mrs. Long and Mrs. Talcott were nc
active participants in the quarrel. Thei
d old pleasant companpnship seemed yirtu
' ally ended because, In their timid woman
: ly submissiveness, they obeyed the un
spoken commands OF their husbands rath
J. or than face the dispeasure which woui
have followed q defiance Of them. Bu
). they smiled when they met each othel
they fingered in the church vestibule :
, exchange good morning.
Q The autumn day filled the air with VI
dim. blue vapor and not unpleasant ode
0 OF bonfire smoke. Mr.. Talcott Was Ia'
s with his. He had put it of till fall cleai
9 ina was done-the garden freed OF drie
9 and empty bean. vines, aud raked of; th
weeds pulled up which had fourishe
: powerless for harm during the last mont
or two, and which now stood black an
0 frozea: few dead bushes cut down, an
the fruit trees trimmed here and there.
% was late 10 November when the pile Ia
n ready, low down in corner Of the pluu
o dercd potato.patch. In some OF u
n rough hollows lay the remains OF thi
~ snow.
v Mr.. Talcott lighted il directly after SUI
per. Now and then he replenished 1t;
p 3 o'clock ii was still burning. He D
! down on o stump TO look at II as II leapt
3 and aickered itself out. lighting mp
broad space around IL and and shining
n the fence.
o. Mr.. Talcott sat with his elbows on b
knees and his chin in bis hands. The
sc Was sort Of peace in the clear night, 81
lg in the early quiet which had settled dov
upon Il. He looked around at the sti
10 bare scene and the pale-gray sky. and Il
a an.