Early candlelight stories

by Stella C. Shetter

“We went home by way of Mr. Brierly’s, and Charlie got permission to borrow his logging chain and ‘dogs,’ as they were called. We stopped to look at the log, and Charlie declared he could get it to the mill without any trouble. He could have, too, if it hadn’t been for the thaw.

“Sunday was the longest day Charlie ever put in. Sometimes he would get discouraged and think he couldn’t do it at all. Then the next minute he would be talking about the kind of violin he would get with the money the log would bring. Father had come home for over Sunday and he would help him get started, the older boys being away from home.

“Sunday, after dinner, the weather turned slightly warmer, and by four o’clock a gentle rain was falling. When Charlie got up long before daylight Monday morning, Mother told him that it had rained hard all night. He fed the horse and ate his breakfast, and Father helped him drive the hooks or dogs into the log. Then Charlie was off.

“He got the log as far as Sugar Creek without any trouble, and there what a sight met his eyes! Sugar Creek was out of bank, and the shallow stream, easily forded the year round, was like an angry, rushing little river filled with cakes of ice. To ford it was clearly impossible till the ice went out, and even then the current would be rapid and dangerous. There was nothing to do but wait, and Charlie unhitched the horse and came back home. It was still raining and thawing and it didn’t get any better all that day. The next morning, though, the creek was clear of ice, which was some advantage.

“I went with Charlie and sat on the log, feeling very helpless while he walked up and down the creek bank trying to think of some way to get the log across. The current was so strong that, though the horse could swim it, he could not swim and drag the heavy log along.

“Charlie examined the foot-log carefully and found that it had not been moved by the high water, being chained at each bank to a big tree. Then he made his plan. He fastened some strong rope he had brought along to the chain which went around the walnut log. Holding the other end of the rope, he got on the horse and made him swim to the opposite bank. Then he fastened the rope at that side to the single-tree and urged the horse up the bank.

“The horse tugged and pulled and finally the log moved slowly down into the water. Now came the test of Charlie’s plan. If the foot-log proved strong enough to withstand the jar it would get when the walnut log hit it, everything would be all right; but if the foot-log gave way, Charlie would have to cut the rope quickly to keep the horse from being drawn back into the water, and the walnut log would float down stream and be lost.

“I almost held my breath when the walnut log, sucked rapidly down the stream by the swift current, struck the foot-log. I shut my eyes tight and did not open them until I heard Charlie shouting for joy. The foot-log hadn’t budged! Because of the high water Charlie thought it would be easy for the horse to pull the log out on the ground, but the log stuck on something under the water. Charlie couldn’t raise the log up, and he had to let it slide back into the water. It slid back several times before it finally came out on the road.

“It was nearly noon and Charlie was wet to the waist, so he went back home to change his clothes and get a fresh horse. After dinner he started out again. He got to the mill all right and sold the log, and when he reached home late that night he had money enough for a violin.

“When Father heard about it, he was so proud of him that he doubled the money. So Charlie had more than enough for his lessons and his instruction book, too.”