Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1894-12-13
EPHRaIn'S PINCH.
BY REV. s. BARTNG-GoULD.


Tavistock to Moreton Hampstead,
and thence to Exeter. is an ancient
tenement in the midst of the waste,
called Runnage.
Runnage lies i'm very lonesome
spot; the hills that fold about it ia
the back and west afford sufficient
shelter for sycamores to have grown
to a considerable size-sycamore, the
one tree which will hold it's own any
where.
The tenants OF these holdings en-
Joy great right by custom. The heir
of each and every one, on the death
Of each and every tenant, has by
custom the privilege of inclosing
eight acres of the forest or waste
ground, paying therefor one shilling
annually to the Crown and this in
closure is called new-take. No
wonder that the Duchy of Cornwall
does all in its power to rid itself OF
these encroaching neighbo-s The
new-take walls have wrought the de-
struction Of the rude stone monu-
ments; avenues of upright stones,
circles. cromlechs, kistvaens, have
been ruthlessly pillagcd, used as
quarrles which have been handy. In
great many cases the largest up
right ones have been seized upon as
gateposts, or thrown across leafs and
rivers as bridges, or have been util-
lied to prop up inhays, and the
lesser stones that perhaps comment
crate some insignificant tradesman
have been left, while the great men,
hir set up in honor of his chief has
disappeared. Sometimes the builders
Of the new-take walls threw down a
great manolith with the intention Of
breaking it up, and then abandoned
it because they found smaller stones
more handy; sometimes they trans
ported such big stones part way to
the new wall, and cast it down, it
being too heavy for their arms to
convey any further. The marvel is
that SO much still remains after
over thousand years of wanton
ravage.
Runnage tenement house is new.
The ancient farm dwelling has been
rebuilt in recent times, but at the
time Of our story the old dwelling
was standing. 1t was typical moor
house. A gateway in high wall Of
rude granite blocks built up without
mortar gave access to q courtyard
paved. very small, into which all the
windows of the house looked. Here
also, were the outhouses, stables,
pigstyes, the we'll house, the peat
store. the saddle and farm implement
houses. All opened inward, all could
be reached with very little exposure.
The main door of the dwelling did
not open into the kitchen, but into a
sort of barn in which every sort of
lumber was kept, with the fowls
roosting on the lumber This served
as workbouse for the men on rainy
or foggy days; here they could re-
pair damaged tools, hammer out nails
and rivets, store potatoes, nurse the
sheep in "yeaning time" prepare the
rushes for matching. Here at the
end were heaped up high to the roof
vast masses Of dry bracken to serve
Us bedding, and in this, in bad
weather, the children played hide
and seek, and constructed them
selves nests. At Runnage at one
time lived the substantial tenant,
Quintin Creeber, paying TO the Crown
a slight acknowledgment. and thriv-
ing on the produce of his sheep and
kline and horses. He titled little
grain, grew no roots. There was al
ways grass or hay for his beasts. II
the snow lay on the ground deep,
then only had he recourse to the hay
rick. What little grain he grew was
rye, and that was for the household
bread.
Quintin Creeber had daughter.
Cecily. or. as she was always called,
Sysly, pretty girl with warm com
plexion, like ripe apricot, very full
soft brown eyes and the richest au-
burn hair. She was 1.-the, strong,
energetic; she was Quintin's only
child his three sons were dead. One
had been killed In a niue, one had
died OF scarlet fever, and the third
had fallen into the river In time oil
flood, and had aquircd q chill which
had carried him of.
Sysly would be the heir to Quintin
inherit Runnage, his savings and
the right, on her fathers death, oil
inclosing another eight acres oil
moor. On the loss OF his sons, Quin-
tin had taken into his service one
Ephraim Weekes, a young man,
road-shouldered, strongly built, no.
ted as q constructor of ncw-take
walls. Ephraim had marvellous
skill in moving masses OF granite
which could not be stirred by three
ordinary mel. 1t was all knack, he
said, all done by pinching, that In to
say, by leverage. But he used more
than a lever--ie employed rollers at
we'll. Without other than read,
wit, and u keen estimation ofweights
and forces drawn from experience
Eplraim was able to move and get in
to place blocks which two and ever
three other men would avoid touch
ing. He was not tall man, but wal
admirably set and proportioned. HI
had fair hair and blue-gray eyes, {
grave, undemonstrative manner, ane
q resolute mouth.
Instead OF wearing hair about hi
face, It was Ephraim's custom Il
shave lip and cheek and chin; th'