The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1904-12-08


feet. accordin' to which way the wind
blows. A Worcester would blow thu
water out o. the bay so there wouldn',
be o foot o. water on my lot And
then a.in sou-wester for two day.
would make tide six or seven foo
high. Consequence is had to sinh
my piles at dead low water"
did you have piledriver to sinl
your foundation?"
"f!one o your guyin,' son." said thu
veteran. II chopped one end O. the
piles wedgeshaped and worked EN-
down into the mud and sand. til
surprisin' how that meadow sand does
stick to stick O. timber. One mar
can work it down about three or foul
feet and 20 men couldn't pull 1t up"
GLOW big was this wonderful house
of yours, Bill:"
""Twas just IL feet square. meas.
ured it with a six-foot oar" replied
the bayman. when I had all the
piles worked down solid in the sand
sawed off the tops SO they were ali
even, and the foundation was finished
There were three rows of piles, -four
feet apart.
Twas two months before got
enough money to get the floor beams
They were six-inch pieces Of hemlocli
that got from a second hand dealer
in lumber at bargain.
when got the beams laid down
solid I laid some pieces O scantlin'
down on top of the beams and did a
song and dance on the floor, my floor.
the only floor I ever owned"
The look of reminiscent gratifica-
ton on the bayman's face was SO real,
so earnest, that the cynical visitor was
shamed into quiet.
"After that the clammin' was poor
and the oysterin' was worse, and twas
six months before could afford to
buy my joists and weather boards.
When I got my joists and boards up
it didn't take long to finish the house.
'.The roof was made of smooth pine
boards, tongued and grooved, and
covered with tarred paper. To make
the house warm put tarred paper I'M
der the flooring. When I got the
house finished had four winders in it,
with panes of glass foot square,
and two hunks in the corner with ex-
celsior mattresses in 'em.
ION summer nights I used to lay in
the lower bunk with the door open lis
TENN to the tide talkin' just like
folks, a-babblin' and a-gurglin' agin'
the pile and a-murmurin' sleepylike
through the grass. But when the nor
casters blew shut the: door That's
when the tide got noisy and quarrel
some: % y = -
ut spit. spray agin the winders and
jumped up agin the floor as If 1t was
jealous that my house was finished
and was snug in my bunk. But,
Lord bless you, l wasn't afraid o. the
tide. The ebb and the flood are old
friends O. mine.
did you ever see the tides meet?
The ebb rurnin' out and the flood
runnin' in? 1Ihere's in the bay
where they lieet and pile up in q ridge
O. foam s. foot high.
'.The eDb seems to say: Git out O.
my way; I'm goin' out to sea- And
the food humps itself and says: Don't.
be foolish, I'm goin' all over the bars
and the meadows, and I've got the
sea behind me pushin' and, of course,
the food wins.
''But twas the ebb and the flood and
the wind and the ice that wrangled
together and agreed to push my house
off the bar, and they did it."
''Were you in the house at the time,
Bill?" said the visitor.
'surc, :" replied Bill. II was inside
with my three cats
''Three cats?" said the visitor. II
should think that one cat would have
been enough for one man."
zone cat Is. enough. 4 for one man
ashore, but three amt any too many
when you're out here In the winter,
four miles5away from solid ground. and
a nor easter playing peekaboo with
your winders. & as i
''When I got the house f1nishedsand
q half ton O coal in the locker, u went
ashore to Canarsie to get some gro
ceries. When got there saw a man
comm down to the shore with a bag
and sinside5of it were three kittenssthat
he was goin' to drown. rs
"They looked so measly and they
meowed so sorrowful like that /
grabbed the bag, cats and ali, J and
took 'em over to the house. bought
a quart o. milk for 'em before we
started, and that was the last drink
q fresh milk; they ever had, for there
amt any cowsTor goats on Rufle bar.
81 named the cats after the three
men in the Bible that went through
the fiery furnace-Hayshack, Meshack
and Bendigo, for l knew the cats was
up ,agin 1t and were bound. to see froi-
bic before they got through with me. !"
GLOW long Wassit after your house
was finished before IT was swept
away? said the visitor
From August till March,. replied
Bill. II got along. all right through
the winter, and the comfort them cats
was to me lin the long evenin's was q
caution. used to lay in my bunk and
watch 'em ,rollin' over each other,
while the wind was screechin' round
the house and the tide talkin' noisy in
the cellar.