Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1903-04-22
THE B00MH0USE
MAN STORY

Vi little lumber hamlet OF the hill re
10 gion of Kentucky. For momen
j. at least it was quite thrilling-ralh
E er too thrilling indeed to be usefu
4 as material to me with my straight
and simple art standards. have 4
Z groveling fondncss for reproducing
IS only the usual features of life, and
: this little episode, though it was
pitifully commonplace in its setting
: had about it something that was not
! only unusual, but nearly sublime.
: | had gone down to the village
in question with the ambitious de-
! sign Of seeing slide" in the river.
5 Tides are peculiar to wintry months.
They are useful to lumbermen and
; incidentally to writer's, but they
have their unpleasant features. My
little hill hamlet, having DOTTED its
green livery, was cowled in dark
mud. Rain sheeted the air. The
inn seemed to be saturated, and the
roar Of the river on the skirts of
the town corroborated the innkeep-
er's assurance concerning the mag
nitude Of the special eide" which
was in progress.
"She's booming for all that's in
her," declared the innkeeper, an eld-
erly man, who had enjoyed during
the previous summer the happy
privilege Of being useful to me in
many ways. "rhey look for the
boom to bust tonight. Thousands
of dollars ahoat. You see that man
by the stove? He's one of the big
timber fellers up north. Just come
down. He'll lose heavy if she buSts.
Say, miss, take look at that Teller
You remember me telling you about
the boomhouse mans daughter?
Well, that feller-he was the man
he was Idy's beau"
l remembered the story. On a
certain day in the previous June |
was standing at the head of a mill
shoot looking down at the sunken
river. Suddenly dugout shot round |
the bend. The man in the rude
thing seemed only half human. He
was bent and shrunken, with clay
colored skin, matted red hair and
such woebegone vaeuity of face as
startled one. The innkeeper had re-
lated that this poor creature lived
alone in the boomhouse, shed on
the river cliff, and that his duty was
to cook for the loggers in time of
tides.
"He's seen trouble" said the inn
keeper. used to own a nice little
farm up yonder and live we'll He
had an only daughter. Pretty as q
peach, Idly was-slim wasted, with
kinky red hair and big eyes. He set
store by Idly. Nothing was too good
for her. And one summer son of
one of the mill owners was down
here settling up the mill books, and
he took fancy to Idly, and folks
said it'd be a match. The BOOM
house man was proud as a peafowl,
and after the young Teller went
north again, why, Idy's paw he mar
rated around that the wedding was
20 come off on Christmas day and
low't Idly was going up north to
i've in great style. But the young I
'eller never came back. He never {
:ame back" repeated the innkeep- |
#, with a graphic sort Of pause.
And Idy-well, | always said if
he'd of had mother things would
AVE been different. | always said
he took the best way out of it, for {,
bout the time tongues was begin :,
ing to wag Idly was missing one q q
ay, and they found her tangled up II n
4 the river drift yonder where the !
and bar reaches across the shall d d
)ws." u
"And what did her father do?" v
"Do? Oh, he acted like he'd got y
between the eyes-kind of daft. 81
int been just right ever since" II
This tragic narrative, which the u
lnkeeper related with the equanim- VI
y of an epic poet, required to me IS
wildly as | observed the man by tp
lie stove. s.
He was middle aged. The story u y,
y fifteen years behind him, but he ~
i'd chin which made me believe
e innkecper an honest ehronicler.
He was stolid and well fed. APP Or
lrently life had laid no heavy pen bo
ty upon him. W,
He seemed too vulgar and heavy M,
type Of humanity to invite excep- II,
)na treatment of fate, yet | saw RI
IN that night III rather a notable di,
.uation. da
Just after dark the innkeeper and tal
s daughter and | set out across tic
e cliff path to see the river in ac- fol-
re operation. We walked in the so,
nd's teeth, with splitting rain ,xc
our faces. 1t was cold and bleak. thi
zen in an instant the river flashed me
sight. Its whole freshet swollen pet
trent famed with red from count
S fire baskets and lanterns. Long
ats of vermilion stabbed the
ckcd timber in the boom, struck .,-
ross the climbing banks and made th bl
ry lances of the pike poles in tho a." =
.gcrs' hands. noa :
Men were leaping about on the a. ~"
rs. In flare Of crimson saw on a.o
, wedgcd in float the man who wei
been Idy's lover. He was work. VIII,
!, sturdily as any logman about, tai,
- dino Tho boovv cohlaa and