Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-12-07


be an assault on him. but | don see
anything to hinder you from getting n
team of oxen and some rollers handy
and the first time he comes up to Lu
culus to buy groceries you can move
his house back on to his own land and
he can find any fault wi tn you
Squire Gibbs was first class law
yer, and | knew I'd be fool if | didn t
follow his advice after paying So for it
So | hired a tent that | could sleep in
till such time as could run mp another
house, and | laid in provisions and a
yoke of oxen and some rollers, not for
getting small hydraulic jack. When
] got back to my farm, | pitched the
tent right in front of Martin shanty.
so that / could keep good watch on
him. and | went TO work with the help
of n couple of men from Lucullus to
huild me another house You see, the
full force of the cyclone had passed over
Just where my house had stood, while
only the outer edge of it had struck the
captains premises That accounts for
the fact that my house had been carried
clean away. while his had only been
picked up and carried few rods AS
for the mules and the Norwegian they
were scattered all over Minnesota 1t
was said that some of the Norwegian
was picked up about 80 miles from
here. but it wasn't ever satisfactorily
identified
Captain Martins house happened
TO he planted in such way that one
corner of it projected few inches on
to the highroad, and he was able to
get out of a window and into the road
without coming on to my property
However be didn t feel easy to leave
the house alone for fear that ! might
NEEDLE with it. so he staid at home for
the best part of a week when his pro
visions or his whisky or some other
necessary run short and he had to
walk over to Luculus to lay in fresh
stock This was what ! bad been wait
ing for though | never limited it to
him He used to come out on lis We
rauda and remark in general way
without addressing himself to me or
any one else that he was nightly
pleased with his new location and
wunldn t change it for any other build
inG lot in the whole state | never said
anything to him. except to remark. al
go in q general sort of way that if any
rascally old sailor should set foot on my
land he would have hole bored
through him so quick that he would
never'know what hurt him Neither Of
us felt that it would be Judicious to
quarrel. you understand and SO we
confined ourselves to remarks that
neither Of US was obliged to take any
notice of
81 waited ahout an hone after the
captain had gone. thinking that he
might turn back in hopes Of catching
me in the act of meddlng with his
house At the end of an hour | felt safe
enough, for it was certain that he must
have gone on to Lucullus and that he
cOuldn get back before dark So |
called the men that were working on
my house and we lacked Martin
shanty mp with the hydraulic lack and
bad her on rollers in next to no time
Then | hitched the oxen to her with q
double OK chain and started her toward
the road In the course al an hour |
had her planted square across the mid
die Of the road so that nobody could
possibly get by her and ! had my fence
put uT again and the = uund smoothed
out where it had been cut up by the
rollers and then sat down and waited
for the captain to return
/ at was II o clock, and the night WIS
pitch dark. when | heard Martin com
ing along the road and singing knew
from his style of singing that he had
filed himself up with whisky and
calculated that he would be consider
ably surprised when he found out what
had happened He never saw the house
till he had walked bang up against IT
with considerable Of crash Presently
he SAYS to himself Here a huuse an
chored right in the fairway and with
no riding right displayed Thishyer "a
pretty state of things Then he halls
the house in his loudest voice and wants
to know how she is, and where she in
from, and where she Is bound to, and
what sort of an everlasting fool her
captain might call himself Not get
ting any answer, be swore he would
NlillID dDpulN anu NdhC luc dlCHOl
watch with Delaying pin But after
tumbling around for some time and
hammering on the door and smashing a
few panes of glass a new idea struck
him 'Thishyer derelict That s
what it is. said he IN Just stand by
her till daylight and see if a salvage
JOB can be made out of it That was
the last that 1 heard of Captain Martin
that night He lay down in the road
close alongside of the house and was
asleep and snoring the snore Of the Just
in less than d minute Then | went to
bed myself, considering that there
wouldn't he any more performances
that night
THE captain woke Mp before | did
the next day, and when | came ont of
the tent he was nowhere to be seen,
having unlocked his door and gone into
his house About noon he came ont on
the veranda, looking pretty savage, and
| remarked to one of my men that no.
body but born fool would put his
house in the middle of the public road,
for he would be certain to be fined for
obstructing the road Martin didn t
say anything, which sort of riled me,
g. | said to the man who was nearest
fr Ilt fEot | wanted him RI on strai U Ii Z