Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1921-08-12


Sliced 1t into inch boards with a whlI
saw, Abe standing on top Of the los
ana Samson beneath Il. Suddenly thu
saw stopped. A clear, beautiful voice
hung the music of sweet Nightin
gale" into the timbered hollow. II
halted the workers and set the wood
land ringing. The men stood silent
ike those hearing a benedictfon. The
singing ceased. Still they listened fol
half moment. 1t was as IL a spirit
had passed and touched them.
"It's Bim-the little vixeni" said
Abe tenderly. "She's an odd child
and as pretty as a spotted fawn, and
about as wild. She's q kind Of q first
cousin to the bobolink."
When they were getting ready to &c
home that afternoon Joe got into a
great hurry to see his mother. II
seemed to him that ages had elapsed
since he had seen her-a conviction
which led to noisy tears.
Abe knelt before him and comfOrted
the boy. Then he wrapped him In his
jacket and swung him In the air and
started for home with Joe astrlde his
neck.
Samson says in his diary: "His ten
der play with the little lad gave me
another look at the man Lincoln"
Some one proposed once that we
should call that stream the Mime
haha," said Abe as he walked along.
After this Joe and are going to call
it the Minneboohoo."
The women Of the little village had
met at a quilting party at ten O'Clock
with Mrs. Martin Waddell. There
Sarah had had a seat at the frame
and heard all the gossip of the coun
tryslde. The nimble-fingered Ann Rut
ledge-a daughter of the tavern folk
had sat beside her. Ann was a
slender, good-looking girl of seventeen
with blue eyes and a rich crown of
auburn hair and a fair skin well
Drowned by the sunlight. She was
the most dexterOus needle worker in
New Salem.
John Mcneil, whom the Traylors
had met on the road near Niagara
Falls and who had shared their camp
with them, arrived on the stage that
evening He was dressed In a new
butternut suit and clean linen and
looked very handsome. Samson writes
that he resembled the pictures Of Rob
ert Emmett. With fne, dark eyes,
smooth skin, well-mOulded features
and black hair neatly brushed on a
shapely head he was not at all like
the rugged Abe. In a low tone and
very modestly, with a slight brogue
on his tongue he told Of his adventures
on the long shore road to Michigan.
Ann sat listening and looking into his
face as he talked. Abe came in, soon
after eight o'clock, and was introduced
to the stranger. All noted the con
trast between the two young men as
they greeted each other Abe sat
down for few minutes and looked
sadly into the fire but said nothing.
He rose presently, excused himself
and went away.
The logs for the new house were
ready two days after the cutting be-
gan. Martin Waddell and Samuel Hill
sent teams to haul them. John Cam
eron and Peter Lukins had brought
the window sash and some clapboards
from BeaFdstown In a small flatbOat.
Then came the day of the raising-a
clear, warm day early In September.
All the men from the village and the
near farms gathered to help make
home for the newcomers. Samson
and Jack Kelso went out for a hunt
after the cutting and brought in a
fat buck and many grouse for the bee
dinner, to which every woman Of the
made a contribution of
cake or pie or cookies or doughnuts
what will be my partf" Samson
had inquired OF Kelso.
Nothing but jug of whisky and
kind word and a house warming"
Kelso had answered.
They notched and bored the logs
and made pins to bind them and cut
hose that were to go around the fire.
place and window spaces. Strong,
willing and well-trained hands hewed
and fitted the logs together. Alexan-
der Ferguson lined the fireplace with a
curious mortar made of clay In which
he mixed grass fora binder. This NOR
tar he rolled into layers called eats
each eight inches long and three inches
thick. Then he laid them against the
logs and held them In place with a
woven network of stocks. The first
ire-a slow one-baked the clay into |
1 rigid stone-like sheath inside the
ogs and presently the sticks were
burned away. The women had cooked
he meats by an open fire and spread |
he dinner on a table of rough boards
'esting on poles set in crotches. At
loon one OF them sounded a conch
hell. Then with shouts of Joy the
men hurried to the Preside and for
moment there was great splutterIng
'ver the wash basins. Before they
tie every man exceDt Abe and Sam