2. Give a description and character sketch of Hampton. Explain what is indicated by "his tie was badly tied." 3. Was it a disgrace for Hampton, a college man, to be a mechanic? Give reasons for your answer. 4. Contrast and compare Hampton and Smithy as to a. Personal appearance b. Ability c. Education d. Common sense e. Force of character 5. Is there anything said to show that Smithy was making an effort to get on in the world? Does this statement imply a criticism of Hampton? 6. Give your impression of the men Hampton met about the boathouse. Are they the kind of men you would care to have as friends? 7. At what point in the story does Hampton awake to the fact that his position in the world was largely of his own making? 8. What characteristic was it that prevented Hampton from being a "good fellow" at college? 9. Explain in detail just what you think Hampton planned to do "next year." 10. Explain the following expressions: a. Slice of humble pie c. Skied the shell d. Leaden feet e. Work out that brake f. Omen of victory g. Old man h. "But-next year-" 11. If you think that there is a moral to the story, state it as definitely as you can. 12. Give from history, fiction, or from your own personal knowledge instances where men have suddenly determined to "about face" and have been successful in the attempt. THEODORE ROOSEVELT Backwoods society was simple, and the duties and rights of each member of the family were plain and clear. The man was the armed protector and provider, the breadwinner; the woman was the housewife and child5 bearer. They married young and their families were large, for they were strong and healthy, and their success in life depended on their own stout arms and willing hearts. There was everywhere great equality of conditions. Land was plenty and all else scarce; so courage, 10 thrift, and industry were sure of their reward. All had small farms, with the few stock necessary to cultivate them; the farms being generally placed in the hollows, the division lines between them, if they were close together, being the tops of the ridges. The buildings of 15 each farm were usually at its lowest point, as if in the center of an amphitheater. Each backwoodsman was not only a small farmer but also a hunter, for his wife and children depended for their meat upon the venison and bear's flesh procured by his rifle. 20 His weapon was a long, small-bore, flintlock rifle, clumsy and ill-balanced, but exceedingly accurate. It was very heavy and, when upright, reached to the chin of a tall man; for the barrel of thick, soft iron was four feet in length, while the stock was short, and the butt scooped out. It was 25 almost always fired from a rest, and rarely at long range. 1 From "Winning of the West." In the backwoods there was very little money; barter was the common form of exchange, and peltries were often used as a circulating medium-a beaver, otter, fisher, dressed buckskin, or large bearskin being reckoned as equal to two foxes or wildcats, four coons, or eight minks. 5 A young man inherited nothing from his father but his strong frame and eager heart; but before him lay a whole continent wherein to pitch his farm, and he felt ready to marry as soon as he became of age, even though he had nothing but his clothes, his horses, his ax, and his rifle. 10 If a girl was well off and had been careful and industrious, she might herself bring a dowry of a cow and a calf, a brood mare, a bed well stocked with blankets, and a chest containing her clothes. The first lesson the backwoodsmen learned was the 15 necessity of self-help; the next, that such a community could only thrive if all joined in helping one another. Log-rollings, house-raisings, house-warmings, cornshuckings, quiltings, and the like were occasions when all the neighbors came together to do what the family itself 20 could hardly accomplish alone. Every such meeting was the occasion of a frolic and dance for the young people, whisky and rum being plentiful, and the host exerting his utmost power to spread the table with backwoods delicacies-bear meat and venison, vegetables from the 25 "truck patch" (where squashes, melons, beans, and the like were grown), wild fruits, bowls of milk, and apple pies, which were the acknowledged standard of luxury. The young men prided themselves on their bodily strength and were always eager to contend against one 30 another in athletic games, such as wrestling, racing, jumping, and lifting flour barrels; and they also sought distinction in vying with one another at their work. Sometimes they strove against one another singly; sometimes they divided into parties, each bending all its energies to be first in shucking a given heap of corn or cutting (with sickles) an allotted patch of wheat. Among the 5 men the bravos, or bullies, often were dandies also in the backwoods fashions, wearing their hair long and delighting in the rude finery of hunting-shirts embroidered with porcupine quills; they were loud, boastful, and profane, given to coarsely bantering one another. Brutally savage Io fights were frequent-the combatants, who were surrounded by rings of interested spectators, striking, kicking, biting, and gouging. We first hear of the noted scout and Indian fighter, Simon Kenton, as leaving a rival for dead after one of these ferocious duels, and fleeing from 15 his home in terror of the punishment that might follow the deed. Such fights were specially frequent when the backwoodsmen went into the little frontier towns to see horse races or fairs. A wedding was always a time of festival. If there was 20 a church anywhere near, the bride rode thither on horseback behind her father, and after the service her pillion was shifted to the bridegroom's steed. If, as generally happened, there was no church, the groom and his friends, all armed, rode to the house of the bride's father, plenty 25 of whisky being drunk, and the men racing recklessly along the narrow bridle paths, for there were few roads or wheeled vehicles in the backwoods. At the bride's house the ceremony was performed, and then a huge dinner was eaten; after which the fiddling and dancing began, and 30 were continued all the afternoon and most of the night as well. The fun was hearty and coarse, and the toasts always included one to the young couple, with the wish that they might have many big children; for as long as they could remember, the backwoodsmen had lived at war; while looking ahead they saw no chance of its ever stopping, and so each son was regarded as a future warrior, a help to the whole community. The neighbors all joined again in chopping and rolling the logs for the 5 young couple's future house, then in raising the house itself, and finally in feasting and dancing at the housewarming. Each family did everything that could be done for itself. The father and sons worked with ax, hoe, and sickle. 10 Almost every house contained a loom, and almost every woman was a weaver. Linsey-woolsey, made from flax grown near the cabin and of wool from the backs of the few sheep, was the warmest and most substantial cloth; and when the flax crop failed and the flocks were de- 15 stroyed by wolves, the children had but scanty covering to hide their nakedness. The man tanned the buckskin; the woman was tailor and shoemaker and made the deerskin sifters to be used instead of bolting cloths. There were few pewter spoons in use, but the table furniture 20 consisted mainly of handmade trenchers, platters, noggins, and bowls. The cradle was of peeled hickory bark. Plowshares had to be imported, but harrows and sleds were made without difficulty, and the cooper work was well done. Each cabin had a hand mill and a hominy block; 25 the last was borrowed from the Indians, and was only a large block of wood with a hole burned in the top, as a mortar, where the pestle was worked. If there were any sugar maples accessible, they were tapped every year. But some articles, especially salt and iron, could not 30 be produced in the backwoods. In order to get them each family collected during the year all the furs possible, these being valuable and yet easily carried on pack horses, |