The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-06-10

nelgnD0r, MIR. Blanchard, mad Quilt
their rude dwellings. One drizzly day
in August, just after David and his
wife had finished their dinner Of mush
and milk, Mrs. Lyford laid her wooden
| spoon in the squash. shell bowl and said,
David let's break the fax this after
noon y; he acauiescing, she went to
neighbor Blanchard's and borrowed the
hatchel.
One can almost fancy how the worthy
couple looked in their homespun APP
parel as they stood in front of their
cottage of logs, he plying the break
with steady stroke, she striking the flax
down and drawing it through the long
teeth of the hatchel, preparing the raw
linen for the wheel. After hours of
steady work the fax was finished, and
while the husband put the break away
the wife carried the hatchel home, re-
turning through the swamp that was
really a bit of forest. In passing
a short bend in the path she found
herself within reach of cub bear,
weighing, she thought, twenty pounds;
the same moment - at little dis
tance-she saw the old bear and an
other cub. Most ladies at the present
day would have tainted, but Judith Ly-
ford is not recorded as doing anything
of that kind. She is reported as not
being in the least inundated, but
rather, inspired with defiant impulse,
she snatched up the cub by the hind
legs and ran, the cub squealing and
scratching so vigorously that she swung
him into her stout tow apron and kept
on at her utmost speed, impelled by
hearing the old bear crashing through
the bushes behind her and knowing
that unless she dropped that cub she
must run a desperate race. With al
most superhuman effort she dashed
along the path, reaching the house she
rushed in through the open door, flung
the cub from her apron, closed the
plank door and dropped its bar into
place none too soon. The enraged
creature threw her great weight against
, the door, but it had been made for
emergencies and stood the test. When
, David came from putting away his flax
break he must have been astonished as
/ he caught glimpse of his wife darting
/ in at the door with full-grown bear
| but short distance behind her. Da-
, vid running to a window back of the
t house found Judith there before him,
t ready to pass out to him the gun, al
/ ways loaded for immediate use. One
3 wel-directed shot did for the bear, the
= cub in the house sharing the same fate.
; In conversing with people whose an
l cestors have passed through such thrill
, ling experiences, it is firmly impressed
| upon one that this present generation
r could face bears if they were called
upon to do 80. At all events, they
!, faced guns we'll at the time of our slate
l npleasantness."
The ten miles from Cabot to Dan
, vile we did not find quite so pictur-
esque as those we had already driven
= through, though man can not entirely
8 spoil the beauty of any part of this state
| by cultivation, for the hills will not
down and the valleys will not up. The
t little lakes here and there multiply
beautifully the trees, shrubs and bould-
3 ers along the margin of their limpid
f waters. But TO me the most beautiful
? portion of Vermont is where the foot of
3 man has most seldom "dared to tread"
= Reaching Danville just before sunset,
! we found it a beautiful village upon a
hill, $500 feet above the level of the
| sea, and commanding fine view of the
} White Mountains that stand "like
= frowning giants in the distance. We
g learned that the town was named Dan.
D vile in honor of the French admiral
4 D'Anville, and that to a remarkable ex.
4 tent the farm lands are still owned by
t the descendants of the first settlers
: Upon an old register 1 found the
! names Morrill,, Proctor, Everett, and
: other names that not only the state Of
y Vermont, but the whole United States
e delight to honor.
r From Danville towards Greensboro
!. Pond our road lay much of the way
} along the picturesque stream called
Y after an old Indian "Joe's Brook
t over whose shelving rocks the water
g and the fish gracefully glide. Driving
9 through beautiful sugar orchards, in
q down, fastened to each tree. We
j found by inquiring that the boards were
= to shelter receptacles for sap, to pro-
+. tect the sweet juices from being d.
e luted with rain and snow; a rude de.
i vice, but it answered every purpose.
: presume here in this state, as every
= where upon the habitable globe, the
i good people feel that they lack many
f things that would conduce to their
f happiness, but one thing they do moi
lack is brains.
e Still, like Jack on his bean stalk, "ur
v we co." and now imagine us at the
: pond. l can see that its margin il
: thickly dotted with cottages, some
!, nicely painted and others only adorned
s with weatherbeaten looks the winds Of
i. the lake give them. No one there
e could tell us why the village little be-
low the pond was called Greensboro
o and / did not wonder, for the trou
a were biting. We saw some fine speci
e mems landed. l was told, though, tina
e just across the pond was the highes
2 point of cultivated land in the state
8 Reluctantly we go from this charming
r spot via Wolcott over more and higher
g mountains to Woodbury.. This day.
f journey seemed much to me like riding
Q through the state of Pennsylvania, will