"A-booh! oo-oo!" by one of the lodgers, overhead.
"Boo-oo-ooh! Old Tantabolus's got that—booh-oo-oo-oo,—pipe of his'n again,—boo-oo-oo!" chimed another.
"A-a-a-chee! oo-oo-augh-h-h-ch-chee! Cuss that—a-chee—pipe. Tantabolus, you old hoss-marine, put out that—a-chee!—darn'd old pipe!" bawled another.
"A'nand?" was the old fellow's usual reply.
"A-boo-ooh-ooh!" hoarse and loud as a boatswain's call, in a gale of wind, would be issued from the throat of an old "logger," as the fumigacious odor interfered with his respiratory arrangements, and then would follow a miscellaneous—
"A-chee-o! Ah-chee! boo-ooh-oo-ooh!" tapering off with divers curses and threats, upon Old Tantabolus and his villanous habits of arousing "the whole community" in "the dead watches and middle of the night," with heat and smoke, no flesh and blood but his own could apparently endure.
At length, a private caucus was held, and a diabolical plan set, to put a summary end to the grievous nuisances engendered by Old Tantabolus—"let's blow him up!"
And this they agreed to do in this wise. Before "retiring to rest," as we say in civilized parlance, the lodging community were in the habit of laying in a surplus of firewood, alongside of the capacious fire-place, in order—should a very common occurrence occur,—i. e., a fall of snow six to ten feet deep, and kiver things all up, the insiders might have wherewith to make themselves comfortable, until they could work out and provide more. But Old Tantabolus was in the wasteful practice of turning out and burning up all this extra fuel; so the caucus agreed to bore an inch and a quarter hole into a solid stick—pack it with powder—lay it among the wood, and when Old Tantabolus riz to fire up, he'd be blowed out of the building, and disappear—in a blue blaze! Well, poor old man, Tantabolus, quite unconscious of the dire explosion awaiting him, told his yarns, next evening, with greater gusto than usual, and one after another of his listeners finally dropped off to roost, in the loft above, leaving the old man to go it alone—finish his pipe, stagnate the air and go to his bunk, which, as was his wont to do—he did. Stillness reigned supreme; though Old Tantabolus took his usual snooze in very apparent confidence, many of his no less weary companions above—watched for the approaching tableaux! And they were gratified, to their heart's content, for the tableaux came!
"Now, look out, boys!" says one, "Old Tanty's about to wake up!" and then some dozen of the upper story lodgers, who had kept their peepers open to enjoy the fun, began to spread around and pull away the loose straw in order to get a view of the scene below. Sure enough, the old rooster gave a long yawn—"Aw-w-w-w-um!" flirted off his "kiverlids" and got up, making a slow move towards the fire-place, reaching which, he gave an extra "Aw-w-w-um!" knocked the ashes out of his pipe—filled it up with "nigger-head," dipped it in the embers, gave it a few whiffs, and then said:
"Booh! cold mornin'; boys'll freeze, if I don't start up a good fire." Then he went to work to cultivate a blaze, with a few chips and light sticks of dry wood.