The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-02-27
RECKLESS SPORT.
Rock Rolling Feats of Mark
Twain In His Boyhood Days.
A BAD SCARE ENDED THE FUN

Was In Fair Way of Ending In O
Tragedy When the Danger Was, by a
Bit of Good Luck, Narrowly Averted.
Writing on MARK Twain" in Har-
per's Magazine, Albert Bigelow Paine
recounts some of the scrapes Of the
youthful Sam Clemens. Sam was a
recognized ringleader among his play.
mates, and one of the pranks they
| played nearly had fatal termination.
"One Of their Sunday pastimes was
to climb Holidays hill and roll down
big stones to Brighten the people who
were driving to church. Holidays
hill above the road was steep. A stone,
once started, would go plunging and
! leaping down and bound across the
road with the deadly swiftness of a
twelve inch sheR. The boys would get
stone poised, then wait until they
saw team approaching and, calcu-
lating the distance, would give it a
start. Dropping down behind the bush
es, they would watch the dramatic eff
feet upon the churchgoers as the great
missile shot across the road q few
yards before them.
This was Homeric sport, but they
carried it too far. Stones that had
habit OF getting loose so numerously
on Sundays and so rarely on other
days invited suspicion, and the pat
terollers'-r patrol, kind of police
of those days--were put on the watch.
So the boys found other diversions I'M
til the patterollers did not watch any
more Then they planned a grand
coup that should eclipse anything be-
fore attempted in the stone rolling
line.
"A rock about the size OF an omnibus
was lying up there in good position
to go downhill, once started. They de-
cided 1t would be glorious thing to
see that great bowlder go smashing
down a hundred yards or so in front
OF some unsuspecting and peaceful
minded churchgoer. Quarrymen were
getting out rock not far away and left
their picks and shovels over Sundays.
The boys borrowed these and went to
work to undermine the big stone II
was heavier job than they had count
ed on, but they worked faithfully Sun
day after Sunday. If their parents
had wanted them 70 work like that
they would have thought they were be-
ing killed.
Finally one Sunday while they were
digging It suddenly got loose and start
ed down. They were not quite ready
for 1t. Nobody was coming but an old
colored man in cart, so 1t was going /
to be wasted 1t was not quite vast /
ed, however They had planned for
thrilling result, and there was thrill |
enough while it lasted. In the first |
place, the stone nearly caught VIII +
Bowen when it started. John Briggs
had just that moment quit digging
and handed win the pick. Will was
about 10 step into the excavation when
Sam Clemens, who was already there,
Ieaped out with yell:
"'Look out, boys; she's coming'
"She came. The huge stone kept to
the ground at first, then, gathering
wild momentum. it went bounding into
the air, About halfway down the hill
It struck q tree several inches thick
and cut it clean of This turned its
course a little, and the negro in the
cart, who heard the noise, saw 1t come
crashing in his direction and made a
wild effort to whip up his horse. 1t
was also headed toward cooper shop
across the road.
1.-THE boys watched 1t with growing
interest II made longer leaps with
every bound, and whenever it struck
the fragments and dust would fly.
They we're certain 1t would demolish
the negro and destroy the cooper shop.
The shop was empty, 1t being Sunday,
but the rest of the catastrophe would
invite close Investigation and results.
It was making mighty leaps now, and
the negro had managed to get directly
in Its path. They stood holding their
breath. their mouths open.
Then suddenly--they could hardly
believe their eyes-the bowlder struck
a projection a distance above the road
aud, with mighty bound, sailed clear
over the negro and his mule and land
ed In the soft dirt beyond. only frag-
ment striking the shop, damaging but
1ot wrecking 1t. Half buried In the
ground, that bowlder lay there for
nearly forty years Then it was blast
ID for milling purposes 1t was the last
-ock the boys ever rolled down. They
began to suspect that the sport was not
altogether safe.
"LimeIight and the center of the
stage was passion of Sam Clemens
Joy Wood love of the spectacular that
never wholly died. 1t seems almost a
llty that in those old faroff, barefoot
lays he could not have looked down
he years to a time when, with the
world at his feet, venerable Oxford
should clothe him in a scarlet gown"