Gaut Gurley

woodman with

d oxen, to com

fire had left

nd, the cold and

one of the company, entering the opening and leisurely approaching, with an occasional glance backward along the road from the settlements below. Not recognizing the man as an acquaintance, Elwood noted his appearance closely as he was coming up. He was a rather young-looking man, of a short, compactly built figure, with quick motions, and that peculiar springy step which di

cheerily, as with slackening step he approached Elwood; "did you ever hear spok

as told that he would probably be he

t of advanced guard,-no, herald must be the book-word,

ot exa

moral, may give you some hints to show you how to turn the affair to your a

of it, he read one chapter; when a great, stout, dubious-looking devil made his appearance, and asked what he should go about? 'Go to throwing these stones over the mountain,' said the man. The devil went at it. But the man, seeing the poor devil was having a hard job of it, read on till he had raised about a dozen of the same kind of chaps, and set them all at work. And so smashingly did they make the stones fly that, by sunset, the last were disappearing; and the man was about to set th

ng voices of ox-team drivers, with their loud and peculiarly modulated "Haw Buck! gee! and up there, ye lazy loons!" were now heard resounding through the woods, and evidently approaching along the road from the settlement. And soon an array of eight sturdy pair of oxen, each bearing a bundle of hay bound on the top of their yoke with a log chain, and each atten

air of careless assurance, as he came within speaking distance. "We have come, as you see, to give you a lift at y

passed on to their work, he turned to the rest of the company, whom, though before unnoticed by him, he now found following immediately behind the teams. These consisted of some half-dozen sturdy logmen, with their implements, appointed to pair off with the drivers of the teams, so as to provide two men to each yoke of oxen; the hunter, Phillips, with his bri

erry morning to you, neighbor Elwood. This looks some like business to-day. You were not ex

I am wholly at a loss to know how men living

, mostly, and such as could be accommodated nestled with me in my house. The rest camped out near by in the bush, which is just as well ge

tleman," replied Elwood, pointing to Codman; "and then, I was rather

," continued the hunter, turning to the odd genius of whom he was spe

an oddly assumed air of abashment. "A man is generally good for one thing or t'o

hunter. "But, for all that, he is a good fellow enough at th

or bottom to brag on," rejoined Codman, suddenly darting off to join his companions in the slash; and now whistling a tune, as he went, and now crowi

ivances, went to work; and, clearing and levelling off a smooth place, driving into the ground three sets of short stout crotches, laying cross-pieces in each, and then two new pine planks longitudinally over the whole, he soon erected a neat and substantial table, long enough to seat a score of guests. Seats on each side were then supplied by a similar process; when Mrs. Elwood, who had watched the operation with a housewife's interest, made her appearance with a roll of fine white tablecloths, the relics of her better days, and covered the whole with the snowy drapery, making a table which might vie in appearance with those of the most fashionable restaurants of the cities. Upon this

; that there can be no such thing as a feast, indeed, without a real not factitious appetite; and that there can be no real appetite without toil or some prolonged and vigorous exercise. Nero ransacked his whole kingdom, and expended millions for delicacies; and yet he never experienced, probably, one-half the enjoyments of the palate that were experienced from the coarsest fare by his poorest laboring subject. No, the men o

ed by the addition of the two Elwoods and the hunter, returned, with the eager alacrity of boys hurrying to an appo

ationed there with their handspikes for the purpose. Then generally commenced a keen strife between the teamster and the log-rollers, to see which should first do their part and keep the others the most closely employed. And the result was that in a very short time a large pile of logs was completed, and a space of ten or fifteen square rods was completely cleared around it. This done, an adjoining thicket of timber was sought out, another pile started, and another space cleared off in the same manner. And thus proceeded the work, with each team and its attendants, in every part of the slash; while the same spirit of rivalry which had thus began to be exhibited between the members of each gang soon took the form of a competition between one gang and another, who were now everywhere seen vieing with each other in the strife to do the most or to build up the largest and greatest number of log-heaps in the shortest space of time. The whole field, indeed, was thus soon made to exhibit the animated but singular spectacle of men, engaged in a wholly voluntary labor, putting forth all the unstinted applications o

trying to roll up a large log, rushed forward, and, bidding them stand aside, threw it up single-handed without appearing to exert half his strength. "You see that, don't you, captain?" he repeated,

ood, evidently wishing not to appear to understand the al

gs. But say, captain, you haven't been reading any chapters in any str

lwood, laughingly, though vi

l, I wish I knew what put that story into my head, when I let it off this morning. It is de-ive-lish queer, at a

n, was obviously inclining to do, yet those powers were especially calculated, as may well be supposed of men of their class, to make a strong impression on the minds of them all, and invest the possessor with an importance which, in their eyes, he could in no other way obta

s become, in pressing forward to its completion their self-imposed task, which all could see was now fast drawing to a close, that they

noon," exclaimed one,

seeing the whole job nearly done by noon, but it will take thre

which, for noon on the 21st of June, or longest day of summer, is the shadow of my head falling on half my foot, and then passing off beyond it about half an inch each day for the rest of t

s thinking of that deer that he has been promising himself and us for dinner; and, before I take his calculation on

hat you mean by it is, I suppo

half an hour

epend directly upon it for the hour of the day? If half the time men spend in bothering over timepieces were devoted to studying the

in cloudy

of the day, when it is fair and you know the time, and then apply the rule when you have no other means of judging; and

posing it

, except the time waking. And, as to that, none need be in fau

r. But here comes Mr. Elwood: we will lea

wood. "At all events, men who have worked like lions, as you all have this forenoon, mus

unches of the hunter's venison. And, having here done ample justice to their excellent meal, they again hastened back to their labor in the field, unanimously declaring for the good husbandman's rule, "Work first and play afterwards," and saying they would have no rest nor recreation till they had seen the last log of the slash disposed of. And with such animation did they resume their labors, and with such vigor continue

its place, "let us gather up here near the middle of the lot. Comical Codman and some others, I have noticed, have been putting their heads together, and I kinder surmise we may now soon expect some sort

at the same time, made their appearance on the tops of different piles on opposite sides of the lot, and nearly abreast of the place where the expectant company were collected

the last logs

ps full fif

d deem i

e and well-cl

for a hundr

rded no

pposite pile, in the same loud and

we will certa

en, and all we

tly yo

it the thing

it the Prid

Job of

ing his sides like the boastful bird whose crowing he could so wonderfully imitate, raised his shrill, loud, and long-drawn kuk-kuk-ke-o-ho

surprise and laughter at the prompt action of the trapper as well as at the striking character of his p

lips of the strong-voiced woodmen in three tremendous

hour or so, before starting for their respective homes, should be spent in rest, chatting with the women, or other recreation, and a consultation also be held, among those

any particular conversation with Mr. Elwood, nor in any way deported himself so as to lead others to infer a former acquaintance between them

we would do the work first and the talking afterwards. Th

the other, whose unexpected conduct and stand for his benefit he hardly knew how to construe

e matters which concern only you and myself. And, to come to the point at once, I would ascertain, in the firs

ntrary through your means. I have not said a word about it, n

ve you ever hinted to any of the settlers what you may have known or heard about me, or any f

ot one

zen or fifteen years since I have been in this section at all. It is filling up with new men. There are

that have known yo

ing on one of the upper lakes, they say, but too old to ramble or atten

een at our house, he has never dropt a word from which one

e parties concerned would rather have him ignorant; keeps a secret by never letting anybody know he has one; and never means to cross ano

r fault if we can't. I s

yet, Elwood, you feel out of sorts with me, and, in spit

quarrels is to avoid intimacies. You know how we last parted in that gambling-room.

to assume when he wished to carry his point with another. "My object then was to save the money for you and me, so that we could divide it satisfactorily between ourselves. I was ang

sed and evidently staggered at the bold and unexpected state

ween us; let us forget all, and henceforth be on good terms. Our children, as you may have suspected, seem intent on being friends; and why should not we be friends also? It will be a gratification to them, and we can easily make it

t they might not be seen together, to join the company at the house, whom they found, as they expected, in consultation about the proposed trapping and hunting expedition to the upper lakes, the time of starting, and the names and number of those volunteering to join the association, only remaini