My Terminal Moraine | Page 4

they rigged up a derrick and windlass and drew up the
gravel in a bucket.
Had I been of a more practical turn of mind I might have perceived that
this method of working made the job a very long and, consequently, to
the laborers, a profitable one; but no such idea entered into my head,
and not noticing whether they were bringing up sand or gravel I
allowed them to proceed.
One morning I went out to the spot where the excavation was being
made and found that the men had built a fire on the ground near the
opening of the pit, and that one of them was bending over it warming
himself. As the month was July this naturally surprised me, and I
inquired the reason for so strange a performance.
"Upon my soul," said the man, who was rubbing his hands over the
blaze, "I do not wonder you are surprised, but it's so cold down at the
bottom of that pit that me fingers is almost frosted; and we haven't
struck any wather neither, which couldn't be expected, of course,
a-diggin' down into the hill like this."
I looked into the hole and found it was very deep. "I think it would be
better to stop digging here," said I, "and try some other place."
"I wouldn't do that just now," said the other man, who was preparing to

go down in the bucket; "to be sure, it's a good deal more like a well
than a gravel-pit, but it's bigger at the top than at the bottom, and there's
no danger of its cavin' in, and now that we've got everything rigged up
all right, it would be a pity to make a change yet awhile."
So I let them go on; but the next day when I went out again I found that
they had come to the conclusion that it was time to give up digging in
that hole. They both declared that it almost froze their feet to stand on
the ground where they worked at the bottom of the excavation. The
slow business of drawing up the gravel by means of a bucket and
windlass was, therefore, reluctantly given up. The men now went to
work to dig outward from this pit toward the edge of the bluff which
overlooked my little dell, and gradually made a wide trench, which
they deepened until--and I am afraid to say how long they worked
before this was done--they could walk to the original pit from the level
of the dell. They then deepened the inner end of the trench, wheeling
out the gravel in barrows, until they had made an inclined pathway
from the dell to the bottom of the pit. The wheeling now became
difficult, and the men soon declared that they were sure that they had
quite gravel enough.
When they made this announcement, and I had gone into some
financial calculations, I found that I would be obliged to put an end to
my operations, at least for the present, for my available funds were
gone, or would be when I had paid what I owed for the work. The men
were very much disappointed by the sudden ending of this good job,
but they departed, and I was left to gaze upon a vast amount of gravel,
of which, for the present at least, I could not afford to make the
slightest use.
The mental despondency which had been somewhat lightened during
my excavating operations now returned, and I became rather more
gloomy and downcast than before. My cook declared that it was of no
use to prepare meals which I never ate, and suggested that it would
save money if I discharged her. As I had not paid her anything for a
long time, I did not see how this would benefit me.
Wandering about one day with my hat pulled down over my eyes and

my hands thrust deep into my pockets, I strolled into the dell and stood
before the wide trench which led to the pit in which I had foolishly
sunk the money which should have supported me for months. I entered
this dismal passage and walked slowly and carefully down the incline
until I reached the bottom of the original pit, where I had never been
before. I stood here looking up and around me and wondering how men
could bring themselves to dig down into such dreary depths simply for
the sake of a few dollars a week, when I involuntarily began to stamp
my feet. They were very cold, although I had not been there more than
a minute. I wondered at this and took up some of the loose gravel in my
hand. It was quite dry, but it chilled my