Latest / The Boy Scout Book of Campfire Stories / Chapter 7: When Lincoln Licked a Bully by Irving Bacheller

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Chapter 7: When Lincoln Licked a Bully by Irving Bacheller · The Boy Scout Book of Campfire Stories

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Speaker 1: Chapter seven of The Boy Scout's Book of Campfire Stories.
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Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Catherine The Boy Scout's
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Speaker 1: Book of Campfire Stories, Chapter seven, When Lincoln Licked a
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Speaker 1: Bully by Irving Bachelor In a Man for the Ages,
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Speaker 1: Irving Bachelor tells a story of Abraham Lincoln's life and
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Speaker 1: career in the form of a novel. He represents that
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Speaker 1: the book is written by the grandson of one Samson Trailer,
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Speaker 1: who is presented as a friend of Lincoln's. The story
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Speaker 1: that follows is an abbreviation of the account of the
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Speaker 1: journey of Samson Trailer and his wife and two children
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Speaker 1: and their dog Sambo, in eighteen thirty one from Vergens, Vermont,
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Speaker 1: to the Illinois Country and the part abe Lincoln. A
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Speaker 1: clerk Denton off its store at New Salem, had in
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Speaker 1: building a log cabin for them upon their arrival there,
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Speaker 1: and concludes by telling how Lincoln licked a boy. The
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Speaker 1: editor in the early summer of eighteen thirty one, Samson
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Speaker 1: Trailer and his wife Sarah and two children left their
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Speaker 1: old home near the village of Urgens, Vermont, and began
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Speaker 1: their travels toward the setting sun with four cheers, a
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Speaker 1: bread born and rolling pin, a feather bed and blankets,
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Speaker 1: a small looking glass, a skillet, an axe, a pack
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Speaker 1: basket with a pad of sole leather on the same,
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Speaker 1: a water pail, a box of dishes, a tub of salt, pork,
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Speaker 1: a rifle, a teapot, a sack of meal, sundry, small provisions,
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Speaker 1: and a violin. In a double wagon drawn by Oxen,
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Speaker 1: a young black shepherd dog with tawny points and the
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Speaker 1: name of Sambo followed the wagon or explored the fields
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Speaker 1: and woods it passed. The boy Josiah for clearly called Joe,
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Speaker 1: sits beside his mother. He is a slender, sweet faced boy.
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Speaker 1: He is looking up wistfully at his mother. The little
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Speaker 1: girl Betsy sits between him and her father. That evening
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Speaker 1: they stopped at the house of an old friend some
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Speaker 1: miles up the dusty road to the north. Here we
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Speaker 1: are going west, Samson shouted to the man at the doorstep.
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Speaker 1: He alighted and helped his family out of the wagon.
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Speaker 1: You go right in, I'll take care of the Oxen, said.
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Speaker 1: The man Samson started for the house with a girl
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Speaker 1: under one arm and the boy under the other. A
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Speaker 1: pleasant faced woman greeted them with a hearty welcome at
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Speaker 1: the door. You poor man, come right in, she said. Poor,
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Speaker 1: I am the richest man in the world, said he.
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Speaker 1: Look at the gold on that girl's head, curly fine
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Speaker 1: gold too. The best there is. She is Betsy, my
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Speaker 1: little toy woman half past seven years old, blue eyes
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Speaker 1: helps her mother get tired every day. And here's my
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Speaker 1: toy man, Josiah. Yes, brown hair and brown eyes like Sarah,
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Speaker 1: heart of gold, helps his mother too, six times one
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Speaker 1: year old. What pretty faces, said the woman, as she
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Speaker 1: stooped and kissed them. Yes, ma'am got em with the fairies.
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Speaker 1: Samson went on. They have all kinds of heads for
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Speaker 1: little fogs, and I guess they color em up with
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Speaker 1: a blood of roses and the gold of buttercups and
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Speaker 1: the blue of violets. Here's this wife of mine. She
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Speaker 1: is richer than I am. She owns all of us.
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Speaker 1: We're her slaves. Looks as young as she did the
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Speaker 1: day she was married nine years ago, said the woman. Exactly.
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Speaker 1: Samson exclaimed, straight as an arrow, and proud. I don't
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Speaker 1: blame her. She's got enough to make her proud. I say,
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Speaker 1: I fall in love again every time I look into
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Speaker 1: her big brown eyes. The talk and laughter brought the
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Speaker 1: dog into the house. There's Sambo, our camp follower, said Samson.
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Speaker 1: He likes us one and all, but he often feels
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Speaker 1: sorry for us because we cannot feel the joy that
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Speaker 1: lies in buried bones and the smell of a liberty
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Speaker 1: pole or a gate post. They had a joyous evening
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Speaker 1: and a RESTful night with these old friends, and resumed
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Speaker 1: their journey. Soon after daylight. They ferried across the lake
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Speaker 1: at Burlington and fared away over the mountains and through
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Speaker 1: the deep forest on the Shadowgay Trail. They had read
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Speaker 1: a little book called The Country of the Sangamon. The
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Speaker 1: latter was a word of the Pottawatomis, meaning land of plenty.
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Speaker 1: It was the name of a river in Illinois, draining boundless,
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Speaker 1: flowery meadows of unexampled beauty and fertility, belted with timber,
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Speaker 1: blessed with shape, d groves, covered with game, and mostly level.
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Speaker 1: Without a stick or a stone to vex the plowman thither,
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Speaker 1: they were bound to take up a section of government land.
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Speaker 1: They stopped for a visit with Elisha Howard and his wife,
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Speaker 1: old friends of theirs who lived in the village of Maloney,
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Speaker 1: which was in Franklin County, New York. There they traded
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Speaker 1: their oxen for a team of horses. They were large
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Speaker 1: gray horses named Pete and Colonel. The latter was fat
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Speaker 1: and good natured. His chief interest in life was food.
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Speaker 1: Pete was always looking for food and perils. Colonel was
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Speaker 1: the near horse now and then Samson threw a sheepskin
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Speaker 1: over his back and put the boy on it, and
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Speaker 1: tramped along within arm's reach of Joe's Left Lake. This
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Speaker 1: was a great delight to the little lad They proceeded
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Speaker 1: at a better pace to the Black River country, toward
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Speaker 1: which in the village of Canton they again for a
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Speaker 1: visit with Captain Moody and Silas Wright, both of whom
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Speaker 1: had taught school in the town of her Genes. They
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Speaker 1: proceeded through the calb Richville and Gouverneur and Antwerp and
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Speaker 1: on to the sand plains. They had gone far out
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Speaker 1: of their way to look at these old friends of theirs.
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Speaker 1: Every day the children would ask many questions as they
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Speaker 1: rode along, mainly about the beasts and birds in the
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Speaker 1: dark shadows of the forest through which they passed. These
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Speaker 1: were answered patiently by their father and mother, and every
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Speaker 1: answer led to other queries. You are a funny pair,
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Speaker 1: said their father one day. You have to turn over
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Speaker 1: every word we say to see what's under it. I
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Speaker 1: used to be just like ye, used to go out
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Speaker 1: in the lot and tip over every stick and stone
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Speaker 1: I could lift to see the bugs and crickets run.
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Speaker 1: You were always hoping to see a bear or a
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Speaker 1: panther or a fairy run out from under my remarks.
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Speaker 1: And wonder why we don't see no bears, Joe asked,
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Speaker 1: Cause they always see us first, or hear us comin,
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Speaker 1: said his father. If you're going to see old uncle Bear,
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Speaker 1: you got to pay the price of admission. What's that,
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Speaker 1: Joe asked. Got to go still and careful so you'll
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Speaker 1: see him first. If this old wagon didn't talk so loud,
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Speaker 1: and would kind o go on its tiptoes, maybe we'd
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Speaker 1: see him. He don't like to be seen, seems so
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Speaker 1: he was kind ashamed of himself, and I wouldn't wonder
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Speaker 1: if he was. He's done a lot of things to
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Speaker 1: be shamed of what's he done? Joe asked, Catch sheep
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Speaker 1: and pigs and fawns and run off with em. What
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Speaker 1: does he do with em? Eats them up? Now you quit.
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Speaker 1: Here's a lot of rocks and mud, And I got
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Speaker 1: to tend to business. You tackle your mother and chase
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Speaker 1: her up and down the hills a while, and let
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Speaker 1: me get my breath. On the twenty ninth day after
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Speaker 1: their journey began, they came in sight of the beautiful
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Speaker 1: green valley of the Mohawk. As they looked from the hills,
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Speaker 1: they saw the roof of the forest dipping down to
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Speaker 1: the river shores and stretching far to the east and west,
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Speaker 1: and broken here and there by small clearings. Soon they
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Speaker 1: could see the smoke and spires of the thriving village
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Speaker 1: of Utica. Here they bought provisions and a tin trumpet
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Speaker 1: for Joe and a doll with a real porcelain face
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Speaker 1: for Betsy, and turned into the great main thoroughfare of
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Speaker 1: the North, leading eastward to Boston and westward to the
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Speaker 1: shore of the Midland Seas. This road was once the
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Speaker 1: great trail of the Iroquois, by them called the Long House,
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Speaker 1: because it had reached from the Hudson to Lake Erie,
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Speaker 1: and in their day had been well roofed with foliage.
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Speaker 1: Here the travelers got their first view of a steam engine.
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Speaker 1: The latter stood puffing and small woking near the village
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Speaker 1: of Utica, to the horror and amazement of the team,
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Speaker 1: and the great excitement of those in the wagon. The
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Speaker 1: boy clung to his father for fear of it. Samson
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Speaker 1: longed to get out of the wagon and take a
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Speaker 1: close look at the noisy monster, but his horses were
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Speaker 1: rearing in their haste to get away, and even a
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Speaker 1: short stop was impossible. Sambo, with his tail between his legs,
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Speaker 1: ran ahead in a panic and took refuge in some
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Speaker 1: bushes by the roadside. What was that, father, the boy asked.
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Speaker 1: When the horses had ceased to worry over this new
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Speaker 1: peril as steam engine, he answered, Sarah, did you get
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Speaker 1: a good look at it? Yes? If that don't beat
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Speaker 1: all the new fangled notions I ever heard of, she exclaimed,
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Speaker 1: he's jest begun doing business, said Samson. What does it do,
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Speaker 1: Joe asked, On a railroad track, it can grab hold
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Speaker 1: of a house full of olks and run off with
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Speaker 1: It goes like the wind too. Does he eat em up?
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Speaker 1: Joe asked, No. It eats wood and oil and keeps
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Speaker 1: yellin for more. I guess he could eat a quart
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Speaker 1: of wood and wash it down with half a bucket
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Speaker 1: of castro oil in about five minutes. It snatches folks
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Speaker 1: away from one place and drops em. I guess it
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Speaker 1: must make their hair stand up and their teeth chatter.
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Speaker 1: Does it hurt anybody? Joe asked hopefully, Well, sir, if
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Speaker 1: anybody wanted to be hurt and got in its way,
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Speaker 1: I rather guess he'd succeed pretty well. It's powerful. Why
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Speaker 1: if a man was to catch hold of the tail
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Speaker 1: of a locomotive and hang on, it would jerk the
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Speaker 1: toe nails right off him. Joe began to have great
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Speaker 1: respect for locomotives. Soon they came in view of the
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Speaker 1: famous Eiry Canal, hard by the road through it. The
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Speaker 1: grain of the Far West had just begun moving eastward
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Speaker 1: in a tide that was flowing from April to December.
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Speaker 1: Big barges drawn by mules and horses on its shore
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Speaker 1: were cutting the still waters of the canal. They stopped
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Speaker 1: and looked at the barges and the long tow ropes
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Speaker 1: and the tugging animals. There is a real artificial river,
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Speaker 1: hundreds of miles long, handmade of the best material, water tight,
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Speaker 1: no snags or rocks or other imperfections, durability guaranteed, said Samson.
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Speaker 1: It has made the name of de Witt Clinton known everywhere.
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Speaker 1: I wonder what next, Sarah exclaimed. They met many teams
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Speaker 1: and passed other movers going west, and some prosperous farms
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Speaker 1: on a road wider and smoother than any they had traveled.
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Speaker 1: They camped that night close by the river with a
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Speaker 1: Connecticut family on its way to Ohio, with a great
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Speaker 1: load of household furniture on one wagon and seven children
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Speaker 1: in another. There were merry hours for the young and
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Speaker 1: pleasant visiting between the older folks. That evening at the fireside,
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Speaker 1: there was much talk among the latter about the great
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Speaker 1: Erie Canal. So they feared along through Canandagua and across
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Speaker 1: the Genesee to the village of Rochester, and on through
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Speaker 1: Lewiston and up the Niagara River to the falls, and
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Speaker 1: camped where they could see the great water flood and
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Speaker 1: hear its muffled thunder children, said Samson, I want you
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Speaker 1: to take a good look at that it's the most
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Speaker 1: wonderful thing in the world, and maybe you'll never see
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Speaker 1: it again. The Indians used to think that the great
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Speaker 1: Spirit was in this river, said Sarah Kina. Seems to
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Speaker 1: me they were right, Samson remarked thoughtfully. Kinas seems as
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Speaker 1: if the great spirit of America was in that water.
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Speaker 1: It moves on in the way it wills, and nothing
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Speaker 1: can stop it. Everything in its current goes along with it.
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Speaker 1: They had the lake view and its cool breeze on
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Speaker 1: their way to Silver Creek, Dunkirk and Airy and a
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Speaker 1: rough way it was in those days. They fared along
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Speaker 1: through Indiana and over the wide savannas of Illinois, And
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Speaker 1: on the ninety seventh day of their journey they drove
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Speaker 1: through rolling, grassy, flowering prairies and up a long, hard
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Speaker 1: hill to the small log cabin settlement of New Salem, Illinois,
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Speaker 1: on the shore of the Sangamon. They halted about noon
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Speaker 1: in the middle of this little prairie village, opposite a
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Speaker 1: small clapwoarded house. A sign hung over its door, which
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Speaker 1: bore the rudely lettered words Rutledge tavern. A long, slim,
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Speaker 1: stoop shouldered young man sat in the shade of an
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Speaker 1: oak tree that stood near a corner of the tavern,
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Speaker 1: with a number of children playing around him. He had
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Speaker 1: sat leaning against the tree trunk reading a book. He
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Speaker 1: had risen as they came near, and stood looking at
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Speaker 1: them with a book under his arm. He wore a
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Speaker 1: hickory shirt without a collar or coat or jacket. One
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Speaker 1: suspender held up his coarse linsey trousers, the legs of
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Speaker 1: which fitted closely and came only to a blue yarn
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Speaker 1: zwn above his heavy cowhide shoes. Samson writes that he
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Speaker 1: fetched his knees and wiped his big nose with a
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Speaker 1: red handkerchief as he stood surveying them in silence, while
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Speaker 1: doctor John Allen, who had sat on the doorstep reading
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Speaker 1: a paper, a kindly faced man of middle age with
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Speaker 1: a short white beard under his chin, greeted at them cheerfully.
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Speaker 1: The withering sunlight of a late day in August fell
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Speaker 1: upon the dusty street, now almost deserted. Faces at the
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Speaker 1: doors and windows of the little houses were looking out
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Speaker 1: at them. Two ragged boys and a ginger colored dog
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Speaker 1: came running toward the wagon. The ladder and sambo surveyed
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Speaker 1: each other. We'd raised hair and began scratching the earth
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Speaker 1: straight legged, whining meanwhile, and in a moment began to
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Speaker 1: play together. A man in blue jeans, who sat on
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Speaker 1: the veranda of a store opposite, leaning against its wall,
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Speaker 1: stopped whittling and shut his jack knife. Where do you
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Speaker 1: hail from, the doctor, asked Vermont, said Samson, all the
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Speaker 1: way in that wagon. Yes, sir, I guess you're made
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Speaker 1: o the right stuff, said the doctor. Where are you bound?
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Speaker 1: Don't know exactly? Going to take up a claim somewhere.
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Speaker 1: There's no better country than right here. This is the
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Speaker 1: Canaan of America. We need people like you, and hit
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Speaker 1: your team and have some dinner, and we'll talk things
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Speaker 1: over after you've rested. I'm the doctor here and I
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Speaker 1: ride all over this part o the country. I reckon
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Speaker 1: I know it pretty well. A woman in a neat
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Speaker 1: collico dress came out of the door, A strong build
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Speaker 1: and rather well favored woman with blond hair and dark eyes.
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Speaker 1: Missus Ruttledge. These are travelers from the east, said the doctor.
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Speaker 1: Give him some dinner, and if they can't pay for it,
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Speaker 1: I can. They've come all the way from Vermont, good Land.
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Speaker 1: Come right in and rest yourselves. Abe, you show the
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Speaker 1: gentleman where to put his horses and lend him a hand.
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Speaker 1: Abe extended his long arm towards Samson and said, how
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Speaker 1: thee as they shook hands. When his big hand got
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Speaker 1: hold of mine, I kind of felt his timber. Samson writes,
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Speaker 1: ay says to myself, there's a man it would be
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Speaker 1: hard to tip over in a rastle. What's your name?
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Speaker 1: How long you've been traveling? My conscience? Ain't you wore out?
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Speaker 1: The hospitable missus Ruttledge was asking as she went into
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Speaker 1: the house with Sarah and the children. You go and
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Speaker 1: mix up with the little ones and let your mother
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Speaker 1: rest while I get dinner, she said to Joe and Betsy,
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Speaker 1: and added, as she took Sarah's shawl and bonnet, you
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Speaker 1: lop down and rest yourself while I'm flying round the fire.
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Speaker 1: Come all the way from Vermont? Abe asked, as he
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Speaker 1: and Samson were unhitching. Yes, sir Py Jing, the slim
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Speaker 1: giant exclaimed, I reckon. You feel like throwin off your
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Speaker 1: harness and taking a roll in the grass. The tavern
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Speaker 1: was the only house in New Sailing with stairs in it,
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Speaker 1: stairs so steep, as Samson writes that they were first
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Speaker 1: cousins to the latter. There were four small rooms above them.
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Speaker 1: Two of these were parted by a partition of cloth
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Speaker 1: hanging from the rafters. In each was a bed and bedstead,
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Speaker 1: and smaller beds on the floor. In case there were
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Speaker 1: a number of adult guests, the bedstead was screened with
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Speaker 1: sheets hung upon strings. In one of these rooms, the
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Speaker 1: travelers had a night of refreshing sleep. After riding two
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Speaker 1: days with the doctor, Samson bought the claim of one
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Speaker 1: Isaac Gollahare to a half section of land a little
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Speaker 1: more than a mile from the western end of the village.
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Speaker 1: He chose a site for his house on the edge
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Speaker 1: of an open prairie. Now we'll go over and see, Abe,
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Speaker 1: said doctor Allen after the deal was made. He is
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Speaker 1: the best man with an axe and a saw in
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Speaker 1: this part of the country. He clerks for mister roffat
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Speaker 1: Abe Lincoln is one of the best fellows that ever lived.
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Speaker 1: A rough diamond just out of the great mine of
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Speaker 1: the west, that only needs to be cut and polished.
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Speaker 1: Dandenoffatt's Store was a small log structure about twenty by
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Speaker 1: twenty which stood near the brow of the hill east
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Speaker 1: of Rutledge's tavern. When they entered it, Abe lay at
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Speaker 1: full length on the counter, his head resting on a
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Speaker 1: bolt of blue days, as he studied a book in
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Speaker 1: his hand. He wore the same shirt and one suspender
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Speaker 1: and Lindsey trousers which he had worn in the dooryard
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Speaker 1: of the tavern, but his feet were covered only by
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Speaker 1: his blue yarn socks. Abe laid aside his book and
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Speaker 1: rose to a sitting posture. Mister Traylor said, doctor Allan
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Speaker 1: has just acquired an interest in all our institutions. He
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Speaker 1: has bought the Gollaher tract and is going to build
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Speaker 1: a house and some fences. Abe, couldn't you help get
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Speaker 1: the timber out in a hurry so we can have
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Speaker 1: a racing within a week. You know the art of
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Speaker 1: the axe better than any of us. Abe looked at Samson.
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Speaker 1: I reckon he and I would make a good team
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Speaker 1: with the axe. He said. He looks as if he
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Speaker 1: could push a house down with one hand and build
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Speaker 1: it up with the other. You can bet I'll be
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Speaker 1: glad to help in any way I can. Next morning,
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Speaker 1: at daylight, two parties went out into the woods to
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Speaker 1: cut timber for the home of the newcomers. In one
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Speaker 1: party were Harry Needles carrying two axes and a well
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Speaker 1: filled luncheon pail, Samson with his saw in his hand,
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Speaker 1: and the boy Joe on his back. Abe would saw
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Speaker 1: an axe and a small jug of root beer and
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Speaker 1: a book tied in a big red handkerchief and slung
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Speaker 1: around his neck. When they reached the woods, Abe cut
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Speaker 1: a pole for the small boy and carried him on
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Speaker 1: his shoulder to the creek, and said, now you sit
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Speaker 1: down here and keep ordering this little frog city. If
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Speaker 1: you hear a frog say anything improper, you fetch him
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Speaker 1: a whack. Don't allow any nonsense. We'll make you mayor
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Speaker 1: of frog City. The men fell too with axes and saws,
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Speaker 1: while Harry limbed the logs and looked after the mayor.
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Speaker 1: Their huge muscles flung the sharp axes into the timber
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Speaker 1: and gnawed through it with a saw. Many big trees
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Speaker 1: fell before noontime. When they stopped for luncheon. While they
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Speaker 1: were eating, Abe said, I reckon, we better saw out
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Speaker 1: a few boards this afternoon. Need him for the doors.
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Speaker 1: We'll tote a couple of logs up on the side
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Speaker 1: of that knoll, put them on skids. And whipped them
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Speaker 1: up into boards with a saw. Samson took hold of
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Speaker 1: the middle of one of the logs and raised it
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Speaker 1: from the ground. I guess we can carry him, he said,
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Speaker 1: Can you shoulder it, Abe asked, Easy, said Samson, as
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Speaker 1: he raised an end of the log, stepped beneath it,
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Speaker 1: and resting its weight on his back. Soon got his
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Speaker 1: shoulder near its center and swung it clear off the
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Speaker 1: ground and walked with it to the knoll side, where
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Speaker 1: he let it fall with a resounding thump that shook
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Speaker 1: the ground. Abe stopped eating and watched every move in
21:46
Speaker 1: this remarkable performance. The ease with which the big fermonter
21:51
Speaker 1: had so defied the law of gravitation with that unwieldy
21:55
Speaker 1: stick amazed him. That thing away from seven to eight
22:00
Speaker 1: hundred pounds, he said, I reckon, you're the stoutest man
22:04
Speaker 1: in this part of the state, and I'm quite a
22:06
Speaker 1: man myself. I've lifted a barrel of whiskey and put
22:10
Speaker 1: my mouth to the bung hole. I never drink it, say,
22:15
Speaker 1: he added, as he sat down and began eating a doughnut.
22:19
Speaker 1: If you ever hit anybody, take a sledge hammer or
22:22
Speaker 1: a crowbar. It wouldn't be decent to use your fist.
22:27
Speaker 1: Don't talk when you've got food in your mouth, said Joe,
22:29
Speaker 1: who seemed to have acquired a sense of responsibility for
22:32
Speaker 1: the manners of Abe. I reckon, you're right, Abe, laughed.
22:37
Speaker 1: A man's ideas ought not to be mingled with cheese
22:40
Speaker 1: and doughnuts. Once in a while, I like to try
22:44
Speaker 1: myself in a lift, said Samson. It feels good. I
22:48
Speaker 1: don't do it to show off. I know there is
22:50
Speaker 1: a good many men stouter than I be. I guess
22:53
Speaker 1: you're one of them. No, I'm too stretched out. My
22:57
Speaker 1: neck is too far from the ground. A answered I
23:01
Speaker 1: am like a crowbar. If I can get my big
23:03
Speaker 1: toe or my fingers under anything, I can pry some.
23:08
Speaker 1: After luncheon, he took off his shoes and socks. When
23:12
Speaker 1: I'm working hard, I always tried to give my feet
23:14
Speaker 1: a rest and my brain a little work. At noontime,
23:17
Speaker 1: he remarked, my brain is so far behind the procession.
23:20
Speaker 1: I have to keep putting the gad on it. Give
23:23
Speaker 1: me twenty minutes of Kirkham and I'll be with you again.
23:27
Speaker 1: He lay down on his back under a tree with
23:29
Speaker 1: his book in hand and his feet resting on the
23:31
Speaker 1: tree trunk well above him. Soon he was up and
23:34
Speaker 1: at work again. When they were getting ready to go
23:39
Speaker 1: home that afternoon, Joe got into a great hurry to
23:42
Speaker 1: see his mother. It seemed to him that ages had
23:45
Speaker 1: elapsed since he had seen her, a conviction which led
23:49
Speaker 1: to noisy tears. Abe knelt before him and comforted the boy.
23:54
Speaker 1: Then he wrapped him in his jacket and swung him
23:56
Speaker 1: in the air and started for home with Joe astride
23:59
Speaker 1: his neck. Samson says in his diary, his tender play
24:04
Speaker 1: with the little lad gave me another look at the
24:06
Speaker 1: man Lincoln. Some one proposed once that we should call
24:11
Speaker 1: that stream the Minna haha, said Abe as he walked along.
24:16
Speaker 1: After this, Joe and I are going to call it
24:18
Speaker 1: the Minna boohoo. The women of the little village had
24:23
Speaker 1: met at a quilting party at ten o'clock with missus
24:25
Speaker 1: Martin Woddell. There, Sarah had had a seat at the
24:29
Speaker 1: frame and heard all the gossip of the countryside. So
24:34
Speaker 1: the day passed with them, and was interrupted by the
24:37
Speaker 1: noisy entrance of Joe soon after candlelight, who climbed on
24:41
Speaker 1: the back of his mother's chair and kissed her, and
24:43
Speaker 1: in breathless eagerness, began to relate the history of his
24:46
Speaker 1: own day. That ended the quilting party and Sarah and
24:50
Speaker 1: Missus Rutledge and her daughter Anne joined Samson and Abe
24:55
Speaker 1: and Harry Needles, who were waiting outside, and walked to
24:58
Speaker 1: the tavern with them. John mc neill, whom the trailers
25:02
Speaker 1: had met on the road near Niagara Falls and who
25:05
Speaker 1: had shared their camp with them, arrived on the stage
25:08
Speaker 1: that evening. Abe came in soon after eight o'clock and
25:12
Speaker 1: was introduced to the stranger. All noted the contrast between
25:17
Speaker 1: the two young men as they greeted each other. Abe
25:20
Speaker 1: sat down for a few minutes and looked sadly into
25:22
Speaker 1: the fire, but said nothing. He rose presently, excused himself
25:27
Speaker 1: and went away. Soon Samson followed him over at Offert's door,
25:33
Speaker 1: he did not find Abe, but Bill Barry was drawing
25:36
Speaker 1: liquor from the spigot of a barrel set on blocks
25:38
Speaker 1: in a shed connected with the rear end of the store,
25:42
Speaker 1: and serving it to a number of hilarious young irishmen.
25:45
Speaker 1: The young men asked Samson to join them. No, thank you,
25:50
Speaker 1: I never touch it, he said, we'll come over here
25:54
Speaker 1: and learn ye how to enjoy yerself. One day, one
25:57
Speaker 1: of them said, I'm pretty well posted on that subject now.
26:01
Speaker 1: Samson answered, it is likely that they would have begun
26:06
Speaker 1: his schooling at once. But when they came out into
26:08
Speaker 1: the store and saw the big Vermonters standing in the candlelight,
26:12
Speaker 1: their laughter ceased for a moment. Bill was among them,
26:16
Speaker 1: with a well filled bottle in his hand. He and
26:20
Speaker 1: the others got into a wagon which had been waiting
26:22
Speaker 1: at the door, and drove away with a wild Indian
26:25
Speaker 1: whoop from the lips of one of the young men.
26:29
Speaker 1: Samson sat down in the candlelight. An Abe, in a moment, arrived.
26:34
Speaker 1: I am getting awful sick of this business, said Abe.
26:39
Speaker 1: I kind of guess you don't like the whisky part
26:41
Speaker 1: of it, Samson remarked, as he felt a piece of cloth.
26:45
Speaker 1: I hate it. Abe went on. They don't seem respectable
26:50
Speaker 1: any longer. Back in Vermont. We don't like the whisky business.
26:55
Speaker 1: You're right, it breeds deviltry and disorder. In my youth,
26:59
Speaker 1: I was surrounded by whiskey. Everybody drank it. A bottle
27:03
Speaker 1: or a jug of liquor was thought to be as
27:05
Speaker 1: legitimate a piece of merchandise as a pan of tea
27:08
Speaker 1: or a yard of calico. That's the way I've always
27:11
Speaker 1: thought of it. But lately I've begun to get the
27:14
Speaker 1: Yankee notion about whiskey. When it gets into bad company,
27:18
Speaker 1: it can raise the devil. Soon after nine o'clock, Abe
27:23
Speaker 1: drew a mattress filled with corn husks from under the counter,
27:26
Speaker 1: cleared away the bolts of cloth, and laid it where
27:29
Speaker 1: they had been, and covered it with a blanket. This
27:32
Speaker 1: is my bed, said he. I'll be up at five
27:35
Speaker 1: in the morning. Then I'll be making tea here by
27:37
Speaker 1: the fireplace to wash down some jerked meat and a
27:40
Speaker 1: hunk of bread. At six or a little after, I'll
27:43
Speaker 1: be ready to go with you again. Jack Kelso is
27:46
Speaker 1: going to look after the store tomorrow. He began to laugh.
27:50
Speaker 1: You know, when I went out of the tavern, that
27:52
Speaker 1: little vixen stood peeking into the window. Bim Jack's girl,
27:57
Speaker 1: said Abe. I asked her why she didn't go in,
28:00
Speaker 1: and she said she was scared. Who you afraid of?
28:04
Speaker 1: I asked, Oh, I reckon that boy, says she, And honestly,
28:09
Speaker 1: her hand trembled when she took hold on my arm
28:12
Speaker 1: and walked to her father's house with me. Abe snickered
28:16
Speaker 1: as he spread another blanket. What a cut up she is, say,
28:20
Speaker 1: we'll have some fun watching them too, I reckon, he said.
28:26
Speaker 1: The logs were ready two days after the cutting began.
28:29
Speaker 1: Martin Waddell and Samuel Hill sent teams to haul them.
28:34
Speaker 1: John Cameron and Peter Lukins had brought the window sash
28:37
Speaker 1: and some clap wards from Beardstown in a small flat boat.
28:42
Speaker 1: Then came the day of the racing, a clear, warm
28:45
Speaker 1: day early in September. All the men from the village
28:48
Speaker 1: and the near farms gathered to help make a home
28:51
Speaker 1: for the newcomers. Samson and Jack Kelso went out for
28:55
Speaker 1: a hunt after the cutting, and brought in a fat
28:58
Speaker 1: buck and many grouse for the bee dinner, to which
29:01
Speaker 1: every woman of the neighborhood made a contribution of cake
29:04
Speaker 1: or pie, or cookies or doughnuts. What will be my part,
29:09
Speaker 1: Samson had inquired of Kelso. Nothing but a jug of
29:14
Speaker 1: whiskey and a kind word and a housewarming, Kelso had answered.
29:19
Speaker 1: They notched and boored the logs, and made pins to
29:22
Speaker 1: bind them, and cut those that were to go round
29:25
Speaker 1: the fireplace and window spaces. Strong willing and well trained
29:29
Speaker 1: hands hewed and fitted the logs together. Alexander Ferguson lined
29:34
Speaker 1: the fireplace with a curious mortar made of clay, in
29:37
Speaker 1: which he mixed grass for a binder. This mortar he
29:41
Speaker 1: rolled into layers called cats, each eight inches long and
29:45
Speaker 1: three inches thick. Then he laid them against the logs
29:48
Speaker 1: and held them in place with a woven network of sticks.
29:52
Speaker 1: The first fire, a slow one, baked the clay into
29:56
Speaker 1: a rigid stone like sheath inside the logs, and presently
30:00
Speaker 1: the sticks were burned away. The women had cooked the
30:03
Speaker 1: meats by an open fire and spread the dinner on
30:06
Speaker 1: a table of rough boards resting on poles set in crutches.
30:10
Speaker 1: At noon, one of them sounded a conch shell. Then,
30:14
Speaker 1: with shouts of joy, the men hurried to the fireside,
30:18
Speaker 1: and for a moment there was a great spluttering over
30:20
Speaker 1: the wash basins. Before they ate, every man except Abe
30:24
Speaker 1: and Samson took a pull at the jug long or short,
30:28
Speaker 1: to quote a phrase of the time, It was a
30:32
Speaker 1: cheerful company that sat down upon the grass around the
30:35
Speaker 1: table with loaded plates. Their food had its extra seasoning
30:40
Speaker 1: of merry jests and loud laughter. Sarah was a little
30:44
Speaker 1: shocked at the fort right directness of their eating, no
30:47
Speaker 1: knives or forks or napkins being kneaded in that process.
30:51
Speaker 1: Having eaten, washed, and packed away their dishes, the women
30:55
Speaker 1: went home at two. Before they had gone, Samson's ears
30:59
Speaker 1: caught a thunder of horses feet in the distance. Looking
31:02
Speaker 1: in its direction, he saw a cloud of dust in
31:04
Speaker 1: the road and a band of horsemen riding toward them
31:07
Speaker 1: at full speed. Abe came to him and said, I
31:12
Speaker 1: see the boys from Clary's Grove are coming. If they
31:15
Speaker 1: get mean, let me deal with them. It is my responsibility.
31:19
Speaker 1: I wouldn't wonder if they had some of their offers
31:21
Speaker 1: whiskey with them. The boys arrived in a cloud of
31:26
Speaker 1: dust and a chorus of Indian whoops, and dismounted and
31:29
Speaker 1: hobbled their horses. They came toward the workers, led by
31:33
Speaker 1: Burly Jack Armstrong, a stalwart, hard faced blacksmith of about
31:38
Speaker 1: twenty two, with broad, heavy shoulders, whose name has gone
31:42
Speaker 1: into history. They had been drinking some but no one
31:45
Speaker 1: of them was in the least degree of his balance.
31:49
Speaker 1: They scuffled around the jug for a moment in perfect
31:51
Speaker 1: good nature and then Abe and Missus Woddell provided them
31:55
Speaker 1: with the best remnants of the dinner. They were rather noisy.
32:00
Speaker 1: Soon they went up on the roof to help with
32:01
Speaker 1: the rafters and the clapboarding. They worked well a few minutes,
32:05
Speaker 1: and suddenly they came scrambling down for another pull at
32:09
Speaker 1: the jug. They were out for a spree, and Abe
32:12
Speaker 1: knew it, and knew further that they had reached the
32:15
Speaker 1: limit of discretion. Boys, there are ladies here, and we've
32:21
Speaker 1: got to be careful. He said, did I ever tell
32:24
Speaker 1: you what Uncle Jerry Hallman said of his bull calf?
32:28
Speaker 1: He said the calf was such a success that he
32:30
Speaker 1: didn't leave any milk for the family, and that while
32:33
Speaker 1: the calf was growing fat, the children was growing poor.
32:37
Speaker 1: In my opinion, you're about fat enough for the present.
32:41
Speaker 1: Let's stick to the job till four o'clock. Then we'll
32:44
Speaker 1: knock off for refreshments. The young revelers gathered in a
32:49
Speaker 1: group and began to whisper together. Samson writes that he
32:53
Speaker 1: became evident then they were going to make trouble, and says,
32:57
Speaker 1: we had left the children at Rutledge's in the care
33:00
Speaker 1: of Anne. I went to Sarah and told her she
33:03
Speaker 1: had better go on and see if they were all right.
33:07
Speaker 1: Don't you get in any fight, she said, which shows
33:10
Speaker 1: that the women knew what was in the air. Sarah
33:13
Speaker 1: led the way, and the others followed her. Those big
33:18
Speaker 1: brawny fellows from the grove, when they got merry, were
33:21
Speaker 1: looking always for a chance to get mad at some
33:24
Speaker 1: man and turn him into a plaything. A victim had
33:28
Speaker 1: been a necessary part of their spreees. Many a poor
33:31
Speaker 1: fellow had been fastened in a barrel and rolled downhill,
33:35
Speaker 1: or nearly drowned in a ducking for their amusement. A
33:38
Speaker 1: chance had come to get mad, and they were going
33:41
Speaker 1: to make the most of it. They began to growl
33:44
Speaker 1: with resentment. Some were wigging their leader, Jack Armstrong, to
33:49
Speaker 1: fight abe. One of them ran to his horse and
33:51
Speaker 1: brought a bottle from his saddle bag. It began passing
33:55
Speaker 1: from math to math. Jack Armstrong got a bottle before
33:59
Speaker 1: it was half empty, drained it and flung it high
34:02
Speaker 1: in the air. Another called him a hog and grappled
34:06
Speaker 1: him around the waist, and there was a desperate struggle
34:08
Speaker 1: which ended quickly. Armstrong got a hold on the neck
34:12
Speaker 1: of his assailant and choked him until he let go.
34:16
Speaker 1: This was not enough for the sturdy bully of Clary's Grove.
34:20
Speaker 1: He seized his follower and flung him so roughly on
34:22
Speaker 1: the ground that the ladder lay for a moment stunned.
34:27
Speaker 1: Armstrong had got his blood warm and was now ready
34:30
Speaker 1: for action. With a wild whoop, he threw off his coat,
34:34
Speaker 1: unbuttoned his right shirt sleeve and rolled it to the shoulder,
34:37
Speaker 1: and declared in a loud voice as he swung his
34:40
Speaker 1: arm in the air that he could out jump, out,
34:43
Speaker 1: hop out, run, throw down, drag out, and lick any
34:47
Speaker 1: man in New Salem. In a letter to his father,
34:52
Speaker 1: Samson writes, Abe was working at my elbow. I saw
34:56
Speaker 1: him drop his hammer and get up and make for
34:59
Speaker 1: the ladder. I knew something was going to happen, and
35:02
Speaker 1: I followed him. In a minute, every one was off
35:05
Speaker 1: the roof and out of the building. I guess they
35:08
Speaker 1: knew what was coming. The big lad stood there, swinging
35:13
Speaker 1: his arm and yelling like an injun. It was a
35:16
Speaker 1: big arm and muscled and corded up some. But I
35:19
Speaker 1: guess if I'd shoved the calico off mine and held
35:22
Speaker 1: it up he'd a pulled down his sleeve. I suppose
35:26
Speaker 1: the feller's arm had a kind of mules kick in it.
35:28
Speaker 1: But good gracious, if he'd a seen as many arms
35:32
Speaker 1: as you and I have that have grown up on
35:35
Speaker 1: a hickory helve, he'd a known that he's was nothing
35:38
Speaker 1: to brag of. I didn't know just how good a
35:42
Speaker 1: man Abe was, and I was kind of scared for
35:44
Speaker 1: a minute. I never found it so hard work to
35:48
Speaker 1: do nothing as I did then. Honest, my hands kinda ached.
35:53
Speaker 1: I wanted to go and cuff that feller's ears and
35:56
Speaker 1: grab hold of him and toss him over the ridgepole.
35:59
Speaker 1: Abe went right up to him and said, Jack, you
36:03
Speaker 1: ain't half so bad or half so cordy as you
36:05
Speaker 1: think you are. You say you can throw down any
36:09
Speaker 1: man here, I reckon, I'll have to show you that
36:12
Speaker 1: you're mistaken. I'll wrestle with ye. We're friends, and we
36:16
Speaker 1: won't talk about licking each other. Let's have a friendly rastle.
36:22
Speaker 1: In a second, the two men were locked together. Armstrong
36:26
Speaker 1: had lunched at Abe with a yell. There was no
36:29
Speaker 1: friendship in the way he took hold. He was going
36:32
Speaker 1: to do all the damage he could in any way
36:34
Speaker 1: he could. He tried to butt with his head and
36:37
Speaker 1: ram his knee into Abe's stomach. As soon as they
36:39
Speaker 1: came together. Half drunk, Jack is a man who would
36:43
Speaker 1: bite your ear off. It was no rastle, It was
36:47
Speaker 1: a fight. Abe moved like lightning. He acted awful, limber,
36:52
Speaker 1: and well greased. In a second, he got hold of
36:55
Speaker 1: the feller's neck with his big right hand and hooked
36:58
Speaker 1: his left into the cloth of his hip. In that way,
37:01
Speaker 1: he held him off and shook him as you've seen
37:04
Speaker 1: our dog shake a woodchuck. Abe's blood was hot. If
37:09
Speaker 1: the whole crowd had piled on him, I guess he
37:11
Speaker 1: would have come out all right. For when he's roused,
37:14
Speaker 1: there's something in Abe more than bones and muscles. I
37:18
Speaker 1: suppose it's what I feel when he speaks a piece.
37:21
Speaker 1: It's a kind of lightning. I guess it's what our
37:24
Speaker 1: minister used to call the power of the spirit. Abe
37:28
Speaker 1: said to me afterwards that he felt as if he
37:31
Speaker 1: was fighting for the peace and honor of New Salem.
37:35
Speaker 1: A friend of the boy jumped in and tried to
37:37
Speaker 1: trip Abe. Harry Needle stood beside me. Before I could move,
37:41
Speaker 1: he dashed forward and hit that feller in the middle
37:44
Speaker 1: of his forehead and knocked him flat. Harry had hit
37:48
Speaker 1: Bab macnall, the cock fighter. I got up next to
37:51
Speaker 1: the kettle then, and took the scum off it. Fetched
37:54
Speaker 1: one of them devils a slap with the side of
37:56
Speaker 1: my hand that took the skin off his face and
37:58
Speaker 1: rolled him over and over. When I looked again, Armstrong
38:02
Speaker 1: was going limp. His mouth was open and his tongue out.
38:07
Speaker 1: With one hand fastened to his right leg and the
38:09
Speaker 1: other on the nape of his neck, Abe lifted him
38:12
Speaker 1: at arm's length and gave him a toss in the air.
38:16
Speaker 1: Armstrong fell about ten feet from where Abe stood and
38:19
Speaker 1: lay there for a minute. The fight was all out
38:23
Speaker 1: of him, and he was kind of dazed and sick.
38:26
Speaker 1: Abe stood up like a giant, and his face looked awful.
38:29
Speaker 1: Solemn boys, if there's any more of you than want trouble,
38:34
Speaker 1: you can have some of the same piece, he said.
38:38
Speaker 1: They hung their heads and not one of them made
38:40
Speaker 1: a move or said a word. Abe went to Armstrong
38:44
Speaker 1: and helped him up. Jack, I'm sorry that I had
38:48
Speaker 1: to hurt you, he said. You get on to your
38:51
Speaker 1: horse and go home. Abe you're a better man than me,
38:56
Speaker 1: said the boy as he offered his hand to Abe.
38:59
Speaker 1: I'll do anything you say. So was the Clary's Grove
39:05
Speaker 1: gang conquered. They were to make more trouble, but not
39:09
Speaker 1: again were they to imperil the foundations of law and
39:12
Speaker 1: order in the little community of New Salem. End of
39:17
Speaker 1: Chapter seven