Document text
Robert Wilder
Wassachmeetts
SAVE Tnr WINS
'Sure. I worked for eld Wan Dyke, God rest his seal in pieeesS Pere.
haps I shouldn't have add that. What I mean is that I hope he's in the
Ilamkeet .It ef hell, rolling tree legs with a red hot peavey. And
nothing to eat but beans snd sedfith either!
'Sure, Twirled se the drtres frock Connectieut take to It. Tam, Rut
I gmeemelly stepped at Tureer's Falls. And don't sell us log drivers.
neer* rive/rms. And le should, have ought to have beard the gang sheer
whom 014 van Dyke slipped, and we all seen be was a gamer!
Tes, I'd go up in the fall and spend the winter in the woods. We'd
out the legs and pilelias an the bank of a little strum somerberss, if
it latiklit bendy to get the. to the river. We had to mark sash one with
the oompany mark, kilt of a brand, I guess, out in the end of sash log.
Anktbrilmare piled in 'nth a way that when the freshet esme in the spring,
as esuld yank est a maple of preps, end the whole eaboodle of legs would
go rolling into the water.
we'd seed a small gang an Shea mote a ample of boats to break
up the jams, and keep the dirty* Wag. Them the bunch of us would come
with the horses. And last would some another small gang with maybe a team
or two, to haul in the legs the farmers had stole Wen us. And I guess
maylmo the gang shamed the narking en a leg ones in a 'still., if they
it weuld pay.
The idea was for the first bunsh to ride the freshet. And net let
the drive get held up. Of course, the water mould take the legs over
meadows, ord when the river went dens, we'd hay* to boil them out with
horses. Set ye know where It was liable to h.pçes, sowed have a mem
et the right plase to beep thea is the earns*. had sometimes bee, or
throe. Amd sometimes yegd string a beam hitch lege end to end. Amd
hitch the emde tetra's", maybe so the bees would steer the lege for as.
For the quieker es get the drive threes*, the sheerer it yes for old Vim
Tyke. Be didn't have ee big a payroll. had that eld devil was *Terri.
where. Last part if it be bed a ear mid chwutfeer, soos he didn't have
te drive, at could beep his mind en smearing.
Seleh sleep as we get, we get ea the ground. And them be YAW up
by a kJ* fres Yam Pekes beet, if be "aught you at it. Ouse., be never
slept at all. had to ewe time in seeking, the seek if the first gams
would bmry beams ir bees pete in boles dug in the send emdfillet with bet
coals, so that the 2111a bum& didn't seed tamest* anytime.
!I got sick at being vet and odd all the time, eo I got a job cook-
ing, vas Dow told as that if I'd lot ram aleme I could stead en leg.
And what the Leas I sold form That yevirweald teepee MM. Set I told
his I thought I ou1d gave his meow am the grab. Se 1 net the jab.
to used to bey our supplies tree little stereo in the teems along
the river that stood in with Vail Spike. And they wed to rive as a little
beak with 'diet I'd bought writtem is it. I bought anything theybd that
I thoutht the heye mould like. Bet I made the sterekeeperwrite in beam
se monk, and codfish se mmeh. Set nothing else. 1 let the storekeeper
eharge up a pond or so extra for doimg this.
°I)me day Vas Dyke *see rumnims. Be'd seem some egg shells in the
ashes f one of my eamptisee up river. Meer me year boOkeil ie yelled.
I *hewed 'em. Be oculdet reed mme*. Bat he knew beams sod eciiish elm
he seen it. Be locked surprised. But he said. 'That's the staff, Bep,
beans and selfish is good enougk fr peaseups.v So* it to NW" But
after that I buried my egg shells.
Be said eedfish helped a man to swim. And that beans ems better
than dynendte for blowing up a Jen. ilet he meant was be liked than be-
cause they was oheap. And that AM bad to be well fed en something or
they couldn't de their work.
'One time, in the French King Rapids, the legs jammed. And when a
couple of the gang vast out to bent the key leg, the jaabroke. The
ran far it, but it vas ne use, both get knocked into the eater. Of
sours*, we ram out an the logs to help. But old Van Dyke yelledi'lever
wind the men, Save the peaviesfot That was bin. Bever mind theism. he
could get mere. But the peaviee the hooks an awcmden handle, that we
rolled logs with, yeu knew vas property. And property cost money.
a peavy is like a eanthook, easept a pansy has a spike dn the _A.A.-AL.
"Se maybe we didn't cheer that day at Turner's Palls, when Van pyko
had his ebauffeur back his touring ear to the edge of that cliff that
overlooks the Fells, se's he mould stand up in task and wave his arms end
swear at us. I was standing an a been out in the middle of the river,
pushing lege that we. branded for dean the river se's they'd go over the
Falls. and *tearing these invented inside the balm, and keeping one eye
en Van Dyke, like everyone else. Guess the Falls wee making too much
noise to suit him, and he wanted to get nearer sols we wouldLit miss anr.
thing be saying. Be laved the ebauffear to back mere. The chauffeur
acted moored and anly beaked a couple of feet, and stopped eels Van
almost lest his biplanes be IMA standing in beak. Be turned around sod
-iimenneMpt French C tans
4
said something to the ohauffeurthen steed wetchimg him ram:clime with the
handles. The menwee badly ratt gime*, with Ilea Dyke right there
en his meekielneet, The ear coughed enee er tales, mad then shoat talk
over the aim. Aad„ my, didn't we Omer: Meyer udnd the men, ears
his metehest° yelled somebody. And we all cheered again.
'4. vire mufti sorry fir the ohantbsur, though. Weld forgotten all
boat hin. And both ef rime mere killed deadeen the sailfish old Yen PYks
used to wake us eat.
!nen you *eked me about Van Pyke, I tboaght I hated him. And was
glad heves geme. But new !owe been telkimr shout him, Ion not so ears.
Tema ways kid then. But Ise, now that old Van Pyke yes up against
the rail:reeds. He hod to do things en the sheep in order to sal,* his job
and ours, ftre, be ass hard. But maybe we weren't so soft ourselves.
People in the Termer's Falls stereo didn't like us walking en their hard
weed floor* in our osniked beets shoes with epees in the bottom to keep
as from slipping off the legs. We chipped little pieces emt of the
wwrnish every 'tepee trek. And ellen they kleked, maybe we didn't take
then places apart. Beer see a man who's had the smalI pan? vole all
pitted? Nell, if he wes a river man, may be he had small pen, and maybe
he didn't Maybe some bills tramped an his foie with *sulked boots, rr
they weren't any Iodise arouad I mould show you where they tromped cm me,
when Ipet malt ineteed of sugar in their sector by mistake. Relieve no,
T',.m tattooed:
'One thing old van Pyte seemed to like. That wee to hots us sing.
Wet that we ever song mush. But eometimes IlltAM the old river wee rolling
the leFle *Leg nice. And mod finished cur grab in the evenings weed
strike up a seag. And old an Dyke sewer betted in.
'We, I *set remeeher the image, Wish I would. Iaird a verse et
eas though, lt bed 1st, of verses asd some et thaw weramit esaetly
pretty. at the one I liked eget this law.
'Oh, sem ye leery Aroma
Case el, sod gather read!
We'll stag a s f Freasih Zing Reek,
where the bum& ef ve ass drermait