PHASES OF FARM LIFE 



occupied by the carpenter and the farm hands in 

 putting the sills and " sleepers " in place (" sleepers," 

 what a good name for those rude hewn timbers that 

 lie under the floor in the darkness and silence!). 

 When the hands arrived, the great beams and posts 

 and joists and braces 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 were distributed, 

 the men, fifteen or twenty of them, arranged in a 

 line abreast of the bent; the boss carpenter steadied 

 and guided the corner post and gave 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 together 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 tim- 

 bers 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 put- 

 ting on the great plates, timbers that run length- 

 wise of the building and match the sills below. 

 Then, if there is time, the putting up of the rafters. 

 In every neighborhood there was always some 

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