The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-04-30

planks were hoated up for use In the floor
and for making doors and tables. Cephas
went so far as to rig a sawpit, much to
the grif of the boys and young men who
occasionally had to work in it, but this
work was avoided by every device, and
the simpler power of the stream was
made to take its place. The days were
growing shorter, and at the very best
they seemed only too short to the indus
trious workmen. "You're all as hungry
as bears three times a day." said Mrs.
Titcomb good-naturedly, as her working
party came into her cabin after it was
finished. The reader understands, of
course, that one and the same room was
hall of entrance, kitchen-room, best room
and bedroom. At one end IN immense
fireplace of logs, covered thick with clay,
opened an immense chimney to the sky.
It never really happened that logs were
hauled into the kitchen by the horses, but
they were rolled up by crowbars, and
lifted to their places by the joined force
of two or three men. A fire once made
held to its work through the day and eve
ming, never went out, indeed, and, as the
great logs burned, the women threw in
light stuff enough to give the blaze or
special heat which they required, when a
pot wa to be brought to a boil" or
when a turkey was to be roasted. For
food there was constant stock of what we
call prairie hens, until the family tired of
the frequent luxury; there were as many
turkeys as people would eat. The gardens
of Marietta, as autumn drew on, furnished
already the white beans which replaced
those which Mrs. Titcomb had taken from
the barrels so carefully brought from
New England. The Marietta farms had
also produced enough Indian meal to
carry them through the winter. They
ground this in hand-mills, from time to
time, as they needed it. If anybody
complained of salt pork, be was told to
take his gun into the woods and bring in
a deer or a bear, and there wa no diff
Guilty in supplying the demand. 1t was
clear enough that they were not to die
Of hunger that winter.
At first there was no lack of society.
Almost every day there would be a mes
senger sent down to the town for this or
that which had been forgotten or which
was needed in the building. But this
changed as autumn came on. They were
themselves almost the last of the settlers
of that summer who came up the Mus
kingum. At first, from time to time, one
or another adventurer going farther, or
one or another surveyor returning,
stopped for their hospitality at night, or
at breakfast, at dinner, or at supper. But
such occasions became more and more
rare as October closed in, and now it
would happen that for a week at a time
no one spoke to them from outside their
own company. It might be that an In
dian tramp came to the door, and gave an
unintelligible indication that he was pres
sent and wanted something to eat. They
already knew that the presence of an In
dian meant that he was hungry. These
lords of the soil had established a certain
ground-rent, shall We say, by which the
new occupants were notified from time to
time that they were not the original pos
SCISSORS. There was o a woman, and
there was hardly a man who would have
dared refuse the application thus made.
And if a great Shawnee hunter did ap-
pear, Mrs. Titcomb and Sarah had learned.
before the winter came on, not to be
afraid of him. They knew that, like
other men, he was hungry, and they knew
that he expected to be fed. They knew
he would be quite Indifferent as to knife
or fork, but they knew that he would eat
more than they had conceived it possible
for a human being to eat, when they left
home.
On the other hand, they were not par
ticular as to what they gave him. II
there were dry and hard Johnny-cakes
laid aside, they were good enough for In
dians; if there were hominy only half
cooked in the pot, it was good enough
for Indians; if there were salt pork not
yet boiled or friend, it was good enough
for Indians; and they had no experience
of any warrior or hunter refusing any
thing that was set before him. If they
wanted to spend the night, a buffalo skin
was given him and he spread it where he
chose. No saiutes were exchanged on
the arrival of such guests, and none when
they departed.
Sarah Paris wondered with herself
sometimes, especially when the quiet
Sunday came, with an opportunity to look
in upon herself a little, that she was so
entirely satisfied with the life that she
was living. There was no writing in a
journal, there was no committing to
memory of MI. Cowper's poems or DR..
Young's sentimentalities; there, was no
chattering with other girls of her own
age, there was no cutting over of dresses
or matching of ribbons; there was abso-
lutely nothing of the life which had inter
ested her only a year ago. And yet, as
she said to herself again and again, she
was happier, stronger, indeed in every
sense, she was better than she was in
Salem. Sometimes, when she was in the
mood for analysis, she said to herself it
was because she was Of more use; some
times, she said to herself it was because
she was of more use; sometimes she said
it was because she dealt more with the
realities of things. Sometimes she tried
to persuade herself it was because she
was in the open air; sometimes, in her
reverential moods, she said she was
nearer God under His sky, than she was
in a lighted dancing room or in an elegant
p~arlor. OF a rainy Sunday, she would
bring out from her little chest one or an
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