252 PHASES OF FARM LIFE. 



ing," etc. When the carpenters had got the timbers 

 of the house or barn ready, and the foundation was 

 prepared, then the neighbors for miles about were in- 

 vited to come to the "raisin'." The afternoon was 

 the time chosen. The forenoon was occupied by the 

 carpenter and farm hands, in putting the sills and 

 "sleepers" in place ("sleepers," what a good name 

 for tEose rude hewn timbers that lie under the floor 

 in the darkness and silence !). When the hands ar-k^f 

 rived the great beams and posts and joists and braces J 

 were carried to their place on the platform, and the 

 first " bent," as it was called, was put together and 

 pinned by oak pins that the boys brought. Then pike 

 poles are distributed, the men, fifteen or twenty of 

 them, arranged in a line abreast of the bent ; the boss 

 carpenter steadies and guides the corner post and 

 gives the word of command, " Take holt, boys ! " 

 "Now, set her up!" "Up with her!" "Up she 

 goes ! " When it gets shoulder high it becomes 

 heavy, and there is a pause. The pikes are brought 

 into requisition, every man gets a good hold and 

 braces himself, and waits for the words, " All to- 

 gether now ; " shouts the captain, " Heave her up ! " 

 "He-o-he!" (heave-all, heave), "he-o-he," at the 

 top of his voice, every man doing his best. Slowly 

 the great timbers go up ; louder grows the word of 

 command, till the bent is up. Then it is plumbed and 

 stay-lathed, and another is put together and raised in 

 the same way, till they are all up. Then comes the 

 putting on the great plates timbers that run length- 



