that line, Deacon Talcott. Nine p'ints
o' the law is possession, and I'll have possession o' this 'ere house
and land by fencin' on't in; and though every man't comes along should
say these 'ere rails belong to them, I'll fence it in with these 'ere
very rails.'

"Jedwort said this, wagging his obstinate old head, and grinning with
his face turned up pugnaciously at the Deacon; then went to work again
as if he had settled the question, and didn't wish to discuss it any
further.

"As for Talcott, he was too full of wrath and boiling indignation to
answer such a speech. He knew that Jedwort had managed to get the start
of him with regard to the rails, by mixing a few of his own with those
he had stolen, so that nobody could tell 'em apart; and he saw at once
that the meeting-house was in danger of going the same way, just for
want of an owner to swear out a clear title to the property. He did
just the wisest thing when he swallowed his vexation, and hurried off to
alarm the leading men of the two societies, and to consult a lawyer.

"'He'll stir up the old town like a bumblebee's nest,' says Jedwort.
'Hurry up, boys, or there'll be a buzzin' round our ears 'fore we git
through!'

"'I wish ye wouldn't, pa!' says Dave, 'Why don't we 'tend to our own
business, and be decent, like other folks? I'm sick of this kind of
life.'

"'Quit it, then,' says Jedwort.

"'Do you tell me to quit it?' says Dave, dropping the end of a rail he
was handling.

"'Yes, I do; and do it dumbed quick, if ye can't show a proper respect
to your father!"

"Dave turned white as a sheet, and he trembled as he answered back, 'I
should be glad to show you respect, if you was a man I could feel any
respect for.'

"At that Jedwort caught hold of the iron bar that was sticking in the
ground, where he had been making a hole for a stake, and pulled away
at it. 'I'll make a stake-hole in you!' says he. 'It's enough to have a
sassy hired man round, without bein' jawed by one's own children!'

"Dave was out of reach by the time the bar came out of the ground.

"'Come here, you villain!' says the old man.

"'I'd rather be excused,' says Dave, backing off. 'I don't want any
stake-holes made in me to-day. You told me to quit, and I'm going to,
You may steal your own meeting-houses in future; I won't help.'

"There was a short race. Dave's young legs proved altogether too smart
for the old waddler's, and he got off. Then Jedwort, coming back,
wheezi