For him to conceive an idea was to put it in execution, and so we at once set out to build a machine, and this so near the landing that both industries could be carried on at the same time. The blocks for making the shingles we cut in winter and brought to the mill when other work was not pressing, and in order that bad weather might not hinder us we inclosed the machine in a rough shed. At one side we built a vat, and filling this with blocks of the needed length, we let in the water, and now starting a brisk fire in the furnace, the steam and heated water soon softened the material ready for cutting. I being the smaller of the two, and yet sufficient, held the blocks while Mr. Hayward worked the lever by which the knife was raised and lowered. Black walnut being plentiful, we used it, but sparingly, exacting a higher price. Being tenacious of fiber, the labor of cutting this wood was great, and so taxed Mr. Hayward's muscles that they sometimes fairly snapped under the strain. With cottonwood, of which there was no end, it was different; for if steamed to a proper consistency, you could cut it as you would clip a sausage. Of the two kinds of shingles our preference inclined strongly to cottonwood; on Mr. Hayward's part because the labor was less, and on mine because it did not discolor my hands, black walnut staining them so that they were of every shade from light brown to a deep black. This mortified me at first, but afterward, Constance not speaking of it or appearing to notice anything unusual, I became more reconciled to the disfigurement. Indeed, the dear girl regarded it so little that when visiting us at the mill, if I happened to be packing the shingles, she would sit by my side and pass them to me, one by one, for an hour at a time. Or, if I was holding the blocks in the machine, she would seat herself in my place, and do the work, or make pretense of doing it. At such times I watched her from the platform where I stood, and this not always discreetly; for one day, when observing her instead of attending to the business in hand, I came near to losing my arm under the great knife. After that I determined to be more circumspect, but nevertheless took many desperate chances that I might speak to her or gaze upon her dear form while occupied with my work.
Of the two kinds of shingles, buyers were averse to cottonwood, on the ground that it would warp and, being soft, the more quickly decay. Neither of these things, however, would Mr. Hayward fully admit.
"If properly seasoned, as in our case, and cut with reference to the grain, and afterward laid with sufficient lap and due regard to security of joints, a cottonwood shingle will afford protection that any man may be proud of—for the price," he would say, and truly enough.
Of the prevailing belief that pine made the most serviceable shingle, he professed to think lightly.
"You must not overlook the great difference in cost between cottonwood and pine," he would say to customers; "that is always an important item with poor people. Black walnut is superior in wearing qualities, and we furnish it when wanted; but if utility and cheapness are considered, cottonwood is preferable to all others."
Of the outcome of our sales I do not so well remember, but in new communities, where everything is being tried, buyers do not treasure malice, as they do in older societies, against a seller if they happen not to get the very best.
"Only idle men and fools can spare time to think of their grievances," Mr. Hayward was in the habit of saying, and indeed he carried this out in his own life when he got the worst end of a bargain, as he often did. Moreover, if we had a margin of advantage in the sale of our shingles, it was offset by the difficulty we had in collecting our money afterward.
"Most men are like children," Mr. Hayward used to remark, when looking over our list of bad debts; "they will buy anything if too much stress is not laid on payment, and this last one cannot do if his goods are in discredit, as in our case."
Of the latitude allowed traders in respect to their goods, he was always tenacious, but never to the extent of taking undue advantage of any one.
"In ancient times, among trading people," he once explained, referring to such matters, "gain of every kind was thought meritorious, no matter how acquired. In our day it is different, though we are allowed to put as good a face on matters as possible, and this holds true of cottonwood shingles as much as it does of poor calico or sanded sugar. Our shingles may curve a little now and then if not properly placed, but when Jake Kilp says a boy must sit on every shingle to keep it down, he goes to the other extreme."