It is, I fancy, still
'sub judice'.
Both the old school and the new school remained closed even after the
cholera ceased to thin out the citizens, but I felt no further
interest in the education of youth. When winter came I tramped three
miles into the forest, and began to fell trees and split rails in
order to fence in my suburban estate. For some time I carried a
rifle, and besides various small game I shot two deer, but neither of
them would wait for me to come up with them even after I had shot
them; they took my two bullets away with them, and left me only a few
drops of blood on the snow; then I left the rifle at home. For about
four months the ground was covered with snow, and the cold was
intense, but I continued splitting until the snakes came out to bask
in the sun and warm themselves. I saw near a dead log eight coiled
together, and I killed them all. The juice of the sugar maples began
to run. I cut notches in the bark in the shape of a broad arrow,
bored a hole at the point, inserted a short spout of bark, and on
sunny mornings the juice flowed in a regular stream, clear and
sparkling; on cloudy days it only dropped.
One evening as I was plodding my weary way homeward, I looked up and
saw in the distance a man inspecting my cellar. I said, "Here's
another disgusting fool who ain't seen it before.
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