New England bygones . ess. It was a long-dying, companionable thing,taking strong hold upon a childs fancy. It had lieen draggedto its place in the early morning, snow-ljound and sha<2:ij:v. Itwas defiant of its fate, and fought against it through the wholeday. It truly died Ijy inches. From its ends sizzle<I anddropped its sap,—its true life-lilood; its stibstance fell off ringby ring; its ashes settled slowly uponthe hearth. Everybody hacked atit; it was constantly plied with shovel,tongs, and poker; sparks flew fu-riously; coals flaked off; by degreesthe log grew thin in the
New England bygones . ess. It was a long-dying, companionable thing,taking strong hold upon a childs fancy. It had lieen draggedto its place in the early morning, snow-ljound and sha<2:ij:v. Itwas defiant of its fate, and fought against it through the wholeday. It truly died Ijy inches. From its ends sizzle<I anddropped its sap,—its true life-lilood; its stibstance fell off ringby ring; its ashes settled slowly uponthe hearth. Everybody hacked atit; it was constantly plied with shovel,tongs, and poker; sparks flew fu-riously; coals flaked off; by degreesthe log grew thin in the last a solid IjIow finished it; itsnapped, and the partedends fell without theiron dogs; the brandswere ready to be rakedup; the backlog wasno more. Its life wasjocund and was eloquent withfiery tongues, and the stories it told to a child, with cracklingvoice, went not out with its smoke. Farmers were not stingy with their fuel, for the brush inthe woodlands grew faster than they could burn the ancient. 6H XEW ENGLAXD trees. My grandfathers backlogs were drawn tln-ough the houseon a hand-sled,—snowy, mossy things, dripping with sap andshaggy with hark. They were l)uried in embers, and then sup-plemented with a forelog, which, in its own turn, was plied withlighter fuel and bolstered up with iron dogs. Tlie Iniilding ofthis pile was an art; and the practical farmer knew how toadjust the size of the log to the days consumption, so that itwas quite sure to shatter and lireak in season for the early^ raking up of the night. This raking up at my grand-fathers was his own care; and it was thought worthy of notein an almanac, when, once upon a time, his coals had failed tokeep, and a fresh supply was l)rought from a neighbors halfa mile away. The ashes of those ancient wood-fires were fullof virtue. They went to leach in spring for the making offamily soap, and spread their richness far and wide oyer hungryfields. The west room of the old farm-house was mos
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookpublisherphila, bookyear1883
