News of Proposed Railroad Thrills Little Settlement--Boom at The Four Corners

In the preceding chapter Mr. Merrill told of the clash between Darius and the rowdies who tried to break up the school "exhibition". He told of the sale of denuded land at extremely low prices and of Darius' plan to acquire some of the land around Upper Chateaugay Lake.

Chapter 25

On these Sunday walks Darius always stopped to chat with Old Fred. Now as they turned into his yard they observed the old man working on his scow, which he had turned bottom side up. It was a leaky old craft. He had made it himself out of some rough pine plank he had procured from the mill. He had caulked it with tar and was pouring hot pine pitch along the joints, when Darius hailed him.

"Hello, Mr. Shutts!"

"How are ye, Fred," said grandfather.

"Why, tolerable, tolerable. Ain't complaining. How are you both?"

"Oh, 'bout as common. Dide's got so big now, 'fraid I can't handle him any more. I'll have to lick Wes now when I get mad at Dide," he added, winking at Fred.

"Well, Paul, I think," glancing at Dide, "that would be the safest one for ye to buckle up against. Well, Dide, are ye coming to trap with me this fall?"

"Not this fall, Mr. Shutts, but I shall certainly try to arrange to do so another year."

"Good. I'm sartin glad to hear that. I can see plain that ye'll be a good partner and I know ye'll enjoy it right smart."

"I'm sure I'll enjoy it," said Dide, "but about being a good partner you'll have to be the judge."

"Well, now remember you've promised me for next year, an' I call'ate I can depend on ye for my partner then."

"I must remind you, Mr. Shutts, that I only promised to try and go with you another year."

"Oh, well, that's just as good as sayin' you'll go, cause if a man like you tries, they mos' gen'ally succeeds. Leave it to Paul if they don't, hey Paul?"

"Mighty! Mighty! I find Dide's pretty much that way, Fred. But ye'll have to put a halter on him or he'll get lost, way he did up Little Trout."

"Oh well, Paul, you know the boy wan't really to blame for that. Reckon you or I or anybody else'd get lost in that storm as I recollect it." Darius shivered as he remembered that terrible experience.

On their way home grandfather suddenly inquired:

"Dide, when are we going to see if our white lilies are growing?"

"Well, I have been thinking about that for some time past. You know I've agreed to teach the West Bellmont school this winter and the trustee wants it to commence right after potato digging. Let's wait until latter part of October and I'll let school out some Friday at noon and we'll go up the same night and put in Saturday and Sunday in the bark camp. You know by that time fur will be prime, so we will take the traps along and this time the flint lock. I think it's about time I shot another deer. How does that suit you, father?"

"Why I can't see much objection to that Dide. I hope the lilies are coming, but if they're not, it means another trip to Massabeesic pond back in New Hampshire, for I sure mean to get 'em coming here sometime."

"And if you do have to go, I shall go with you," said Darius, "for I have never seen a white lily. I think they must be something extra to put to so much trouble to get them."

Darius could hardly wait for October, so anxious was he to make the trip to the upper lake again. As it had been several years since they had made their last trip, and perhaps there were some white lilies blossoming there and no one to enjoy their beauty.

They arrived home in time to help Wes with the chores. Wes had raised two more colts, the eldest just coming three and the other two years old. They were a beautiful brown color with a white star in the forehead of each, well matched, and Wes was jealously proud of them. So next summer grandfather could have one of the horses all the time to do his peddling with.

About the middle of September Mr. Weed was called to Plattsburgh to see his father (Roswell Weed) and he left Darius in charge of the mill.

As soon as he had gone, Darius called the men together, saying:

"Boys, what do you say if we all pitch in a little harder, while Mr. Weed is gone and clean up this stock a few days ahead of our regular time? That will please Mr. Weed and also give us all a chance to dig our potatoes before cold weather sets in."

The crew were nearly all nearby farmers and Dide was a general favorite with them. They responded with a whoop and three cheers, one for Dide, one for Mr. Weed and one for the crew.

And did they work? The whole job was just fun for them, and how they did pitch into it, riding the monster pine logs with pike poles to balance themselves, and steer the unruly ones to the slide where the big chain, handled by two of the crew, was slipped around the end of the log, the other end of the chain hitched to the big capstan. Then the tailer stepping on lever that loosed the big water wheel. With a creak and a groan the capstan wound up the chain, drawing the giant pine slowly but surely to the platform, where Dide and his helper with their cant hooks rolled it to its place on the carriage, where it was soon reduced to lumber.

Returning from Plattsburgh in about two weeks, Mr. Weed, arriving late at night, did not visit the mill till late next morning. Sometime before he reached the mill he noticed how quiet it was. No sound of saw or men's voices shouting orders around the mill.

"Well, gosh a 'mighty! Wonder what's broke down now? Mill don't seem to be running."

Muttering away to himself, he first went into the mill. Everything was spick and span there. Floors all swept, machinery polished and oiled, nothing out of order that he could see. He next went up to the bank looking all over the mill pond and then it suddenly dawned upon him there wsa not a log to be seen anywhere. Then looking down back of the mill he saw the big piles of lumber neatly "stuck up" behind the mill.

"Well, I'll be gol dumbled. I guess I'd better keep right away after this if I want lumber cut. Guess Dide's got some pretty good stuff under his old hat, by gum."

But it was joyful news that Mr. Weed brought from Plattsburgh. A railroad was to be built from Rouses Point on Lake Champlain to Ogdensburg, on the St. Lawrence river. Work was to commence the following spring. The road would pass through Chateaugay four corners and Malone. Chateaugay, only six miles from them, to have a railroad! What excitement. Cheer after cheer went up from that little community. This had been a long-wished-for event, and now it was actually to happen.

"But," said Mr. Weed, in telling the news, "it will undoubtedly take four or five years and possibly longer before the road will be finished."

"My father," he added, "has sold the mill here to Erastus Mead to get more money to put into the railroad. But Mr. Mead will not take possession for two years, and he wants me to run it until then."

Farm values immediately took a jump and good times were promised. Chateaugay four-corners experienced quite a boom. Three-story brick stores were started that fall in anticipation of the railroad.

The road was to be called the "Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain," later abbreviated to the O. and L. C.

In the few remaining days before school started Darius helped Wes with the ploughing and with the butchering. Two pigs and a mutton were slaughtered and the "inward tried out" in a big brass kettle over the stove.

The lard and tallow equally mixed were used to mould into candles. This was considered the women folks' job, but Darius often held the moulds while Abbie or grandmother poured the hot tallow into the tin moulds. The mould was made of twelve hollow tin tubes one foot long and three-fourths of an inch in diameter, open at each end and fastened together by a little tin frame-work circling around each tube separately, holding them loosely so each one could be drawn out singly. A small round wick was made by twisting waste cotton together. This was ropped in the tubes, reaching their entire length, before the hot tallow was poured. After the tallow in the moulds got hard and cold, the tubes were lifted and the tallow candles dropped out, ready for use.

Then the apples had to be gathered, pared, quartered and strung on strings and hung on hooks suspended from the ceiling over the kitchen stove. Apple gathering was a very agreeable task, next to making maple sugar. I doubt if that boy lives who does not like an apple, regardless of its taste. It has only to come off an apple tree to be devoured. And it's a very small boy who cannot put at least a dozen mysteriously out of sight in about "three jerks of a lamb's tail," as Wes put it.

Although grandfather's apple trees were all seedlings there were two trees which bore excellent eating apples and these two were always gathered secretly by night by Wes and Dide and carried to the haymow to enjoy two or three times a week while they were threshing.

However, they always left a few on the trees for Eliza and Abbie. Abbie would shin up the tree almost as fast as could Wes, but Eliza was too dignified and scathingly rebuked Abbie, calling her a tom-boy. Darius enjoyed seeing Abbie go up the tree and Wes would pelt her with the culls. Not an inch would she come down till the last apple was off the tree.

Copyright 1930,
By Charles E. Merrill.

In the next chapter Mr. Merrill tells how the grain was threshed with a flail. He tells about his grandfather and Dide visiting the Upper Lake to see how the white lilies were growing, and describes their experiences spearing salmon by torchlight.

Malone Evening Telegram