Lying may be excusable in a man, but 'tis a
terrible bad habit for a boy."
"Lor', father, that worn't a lie. I told Mr. S - - our cow worn't in
his peas. Nor more she wor; she was in his wheat."
"But she was in the peas all night, boy."
"That wor nothing to me; she worn't in just then. Sure I won't get a
licking for that?"
"No, no, you are a good boy; but mind what I tell you, and don't
bring me into a scrape with any of your real lies."
Prevarication, the worst of falsehoods, was a virtue in his eyes.
So much for the old man's morality.
Monaghan was in his glory, prepared to work or fight, whichever
should come uppermost; and there was old Thomas and his sons, the
contractors for the clearing, to expedite whose movements the bee
was called. Old Thomas was a very ambitious man in his way. Though
he did not know A from B, he took into his head that he had received
a call from Heaven to convert the heathen in the wilderness; and
every Sunday he held a meeting in our loggers' shanty, for the
purpose of awakening sinners, and bringing over "Injun pagans" to
the true faith. His method of accomplishing this object was very
ingenious. He got his wife, Peggy - or "my Paggy," as he called
her - to read aloud to him a text from the Bible, until he knew it
by heart; and he had, as he said truly, "a good remembrancer," and
never heard a striking sermon but he retained the most important
passages, and retailed them secondhand to his bush audience.
I must say that I was not a little surprised at the old man's
eloquence when I went one Sunday over to the shanty to hear him
preach. Several wild young fellows had come on purpose to make fun
of him; but his discourse, which was upon the text "We shall all
meet before the judgment-seat of Christ," was rather too serious a
subject to turn into a jest, with even old Thomas for the preacher.
All went on very well until the old man gave out a hymn, and led
off in such a loud, discordant voice, that my little Katie, who was
standing between her father's knees, looked suddenly up, and said,
"Mamma, what a noise old Thomas makes." This remark led to a much
greater noise, and the young men, unable to restrain their
long-suppressed laughter, ran tumultuously from the shanty.
I could have whipped the little elf; but small blame could be
attached to a child of two years old, who had never heard a
preacher, especially such a preacher as the old backwoodsman, in
her life. Poor man! He was perfectly unconscious of the cause of
the disturbance, and remarked to us, after the service was over,
"Well, ma'am, did we not get on famously? Now, worn't that a
BOOTIFUL discourse?"
"It was, indeed; much better than I expected."
"Yes, yes; I knew it would please you. It had quite an effect on
those wild fellows. A few more such sermons will teach them good
behaviour. Ah, the bush is a bad place for young men. The farther in
the bush, say I, the farther from God, and the nearer to hell. I
told that wicked Captain L - - of Dummer so the other Sunday; 'an','
says he, 'if you don't hold your confounded jaw, you old fool, I'll
kick you there.' Now ma'am - now, sir, was not that bad manners in a
gentleman, to use such appropriate epitaphs to a humble servant of
God, like I?"
And thus the old man ran on for an hour, dilating upon his own
merits and the sins of his neighbors.
There was John R - -, from Smith-town, the most notorious swearer in
the district; a man who esteemed himself clever, nor did he want
for natural talent, but he had converted his mouth into such a sink
of iniquity that it corrupted the whole man, and all the weak and
thoughtless of his own sex who admitted him into their company. I
had tried to convince John R - - (for he often frequented the house
under the pretence of borrowing books) of the great crime that he
was constantly committing, and of the injurious effect it must
produce upon his own family, but the mental disease had taken too
deep a root to be so easily cured. Like a person labouring under
some foul disease, he contaminated all he touched. Such men seem to
make an ambitious display of their bad habits in such scenes, and if
they afford a little help, they are sure to get intoxicated and make
a row. There was my friend, old Ned Dunn, who had been so anxious to
get us out of the burning fallow. There was a whole group of Dummer
Pines: Levi, the little wiry, witty poacher; Cornish Bill, the
honest-hearted old peasant, with his stalwart figure and uncouth
dialect; and David, and Nedall good men and true; and Malachi
Chroak, a queer, withered-up, monkey-man, that seemed like some
mischievous elf, flitting from heap to heap to make work and fun
for the rest; and many others were at that bee who have since found
a rest in the wilderness: Adam T - -, H - -, J. M - -, H. N - -.
These, at different times, lost their lives in those bright waters
in which, on such occasions as these, they used to sport and frolic
to refresh themselves during the noonday heat. Alas! how many, who
were then young and in their prime, that river and its lakes have
swept away!
Our men worked well until dinner-time, when, after washing in the
lake, they all sat down to the rude board which I had prepared for
them, loaded with the best fare that could be procured in the bush.
Pea-soup, legs of pork, venison, eel, and raspberry pies, garnished
with plenty of potatoes, and whiskey to wash them down, besides a
large iron kettle of tea.
