High-resolution, full color images available online
Search, browse, read, and print yearbook pages
View college, high school, and military yearbooks
Browse our digital annual library spanning centuries
Support the schools in our program by subscribing
Privacy, as we do not track users or sell information
Page 22 text:
“
20 I figger you don ' t know me. My name ' s Abram Gooch. I farm across the river. I ' ve seen vou workin in the fields. the captain sez. Yep. It s a right good little farm I ' ve got. too. I ' d sure hated to have anything happen to it, seein ' the work I put in it. He set hisself down on the Captain ' s cot and begun to whittle with his hunting knife. Right nice weather we ' re havin ' ; ain ' t it? ' he sez. Captain Pike was kinda puzzled. Is there anything I can do for you? he sez. Abram didn ' t pay no ' tention to him. Quite a spell of trouble they ' re havin ' up to Boston. he sez. I don t know, but I kinda figser there ' ll be trouble around here. too. if you ain ' t keerful. Captin Pike leaned across the table and looked hard at Abram in the dim light. That ' s true. Mr. Gooch. What would you do about it? W ell. Captain Pike. sez Abram. I been talkin ' to a friend. He ' s joined up to one of them revolutionary bands around here. He had quite a good deal to say. It ' d be mighty help- ful to you if I felt I ought to repeat it. But as I said before, he ' s a friend of mine and you ain ' t, so as I ' d hate to turn agin him. Abram whittled a minute. Unless it was profitable, of course. Captain Pike took out a leather bag. How much? he sez. Abram poked the bag with his finger. Half. he sez. Half? Captain Pike poured the silver out onto the table. Abram scooped it up an pocketed it. Well. he sez, I ' ll tell ye . . . It was gettin far on into the night when Abram joined Jeremiah on the river bank. Never sayin ' a word they got into a boat and rowed across. On t ' other side Abram spoke. Well, I seen him. What ' d you tell him? sez Jeremiah. I told him quite a few things. sez Abram. He paid me well. How much did you get? sez Jeremiah. ' Bout forty dollars. sez Abram. in silver. We kin buy us another horse. sez Jeremiah. Yep, sez Abram. I thought of thet. They walked along through the dark fields together, and Jeremiah begin to be kinda upset. It was sort of a mean trick, he sez. Well, mebbe ' twas, but it ' s done now. I think we ought to make it up to them rebels somehow, he sez. ■•Huh? The rebels? Oh. yes. them. If we went to Jed Bennett and told him we had found out thet the Britishers had found out what you jist told em. without tellin ' him who told the Britishers, wouldn ' t thet kinda square accounts? Abram began to laugh. WTiat ' s wrong? Jeremiah asked. Ain ' t thet a good idee? Thet ' s a right fine idee. Jeremiah. But he kept right on laughin ' . Wal, what ' s the matter then? Jeremiah sez. Nothin ' , sez Abram. Come on. we ' ve got no time to waste if we ' re goin ' to help t ' other side now for a change. The whole neighborhood had gathered at Jed Bennett ' s house. I don ' t like the looks of this, sez Abram. I kinda figgered I ' d see Jed alone. If anything happens we ' ll be in a heap of trouble. Well. I ain ' t goin ' to stop now. Inside Lem Bickett, seein ' as how he ' d been named captain, was standin ' on top of a table, makin ' a speech. Abram elled out as soon as he got into the room. Hallo. Jed. Hallo. Lem. I got news for you. Lem jumped off the table. What is it. Abram? ' he sez. I ain ' t got but a minute. Abram sez. but the Britishers have caught wind of your plan. They ' re marchin ' upriver now. everyone of ' em layin ' an ambush for ye. I come to warn ve. And here ' s only a suggestion, but mebbe it ' d work. If you slip across river about five mile down and sneak into their camp while they ' re gone, you ' ll have em licked afore you even begin to fight. Thet ' s a right good idee. Lem sez. How about it, boys? By the way them men lit out of there and down the road, there warn ' t no doubt but what the) thought it was a right fine idee. Abram and Jeremiah was left alone. Lem ' n ' Jed wanted em to join the party, but Abram sez no. He figgered they ' d better be gittin ' home seein ' as how the had a hard da ' s seedin ' to do the next day. Anyhow them fellers wouldn ' t be needin ' them. Well, sez Abram. as the was ridin ' home, we ' ve had quite a commotion for -ne night, but ' twas worth it. I don ' t expect there ' ll be any shootin tall now. ' You ain t forgittin ' are e? Jeremiah sez. thet them Britishers is bound to come back (Continued on page 26)
”
Page 21 text:
“
DCS 19 THERE ' S MORE ' N ONE WAY TO KILL A CAT Cornelia Leith, ' 41 I AjIBRAM GOOCH was the all-round best story-teller of his day. It ' s more ' n j g jr a hundred year since that day he for- T got to duck when Stubby Badger threw h) a knife at him. But you can still hear ta- l some of his stories. There ain ' t many people thet has heard this one I ' m goin ' to tell, seein ' as how Abram only told it once and then after the burial of Jeremiah Hinkley, his best friend. Abram and Jeremiah had grown up together and for a pair of wild ' uns they couldn ' t be beat. When thev was both about thirty, they seen fit to settle down and bought a right nice little farm on the banks of the Ashuelot River. Thet was about the time Sam Adams and Indepen- dence was stirrin ' up quite a row down in Massachusetts. There was a lot of talk of fightin ' , and Abram didn ' t approve of thet at all. He useter say thet two men fightin ' was all right. One or t ' other would git kilt and no harm ' s done. But a lot of men fightin ' and you ' d have a bang-up mess. Well, anyway, as soon as Abram and Jere- miah Hinkley got out to thet farm of theirs and took a look around, they knowed right away they ' d made a mistake. Right across the river there was a camp of British soldiers. There waren ' t more ' n a handful, mebbe a hundred, stationed there to be on the lookout for any up- risings. But if anybodv got any of these high- falutin ' idees about fightin ' the British, there ' d be trouble and plenty. Jeremiah was all for pullin ' up stakes and headin ' farther north. But Abram knew a good farm when he saw it and he knowed as how you couldn ' t find a better one anywhere. So he stuck. British or no British. Before long spring came, and the ground thawed, and ice in the Ashelot broke up. Abram bought a horse and together they started to plow. They were plannin ' about twelve acres of corn, beans, and oats. One night they was tired and hungry after workin ' in the fields all day. They come back to the cabin and was heatin ' up some vittles when they heard hoof beats comin ' fast down the road. Abram opened the door, and thev seen a man pull up his horse and jump off. ' T was young Jed Bennett all out of breath and covered with mud from head to foot. Jed Ben- nett lived about five mile downriver and was their closest neighbor. Hallo, Jed, sez Abram. Come in and set down. Where ye been? Jed stood in the doorway, breathin ' hard. I been up to Keene, Abram, he sez. The fight- in ' s begun. The British marched out to Con- cord from Boston — thinkin ' they was smart — and they run plum into a hornet ' s nest. They likely run all the way back to Boston — with the Minute Men nippin ' at their heels all the way. I come to tell you thet a group of us here in this state is gettin ' together. Want to join, Abram? Our fust piece of business is a sur- prise attack on them Britishers across the river. ' I figger I won ' t do no joinin ' up with no- body yet awhile, sez Abram. Me ' n Jeremiah ' s got plantin ' to be done. Mebbe when the chootin ' begins I ' ll come and lend a hand. We ' ve planned everthin ' for tomorrer morn- in ' . about seven, Jed sez. About thirty of us is to cross the river a mile upstream and surprise ' em from thet side. The rest of us ' U go through them fields of yourn down to the banks of the river and fire across. If nothin ' happens we ought to beat up them British plenty. Now don ' t tell no one; will ye? I ' ll be hung afore I do, Jed, sez Abram. Ye have my word on thet. I got to be gittin ' on, sez Jed. and he bolted out of the cabin. They could hear him yellin ' Yip-pee all the way down the road, ridin ' as hard as he could go. He sure was excited. They say he was kilt durin ' the battle of Saratoga, but thet don ' t make no difference to Abram ' s story. Well, after Jed left, Abram started walkin ' up and down in the dark outside the cabin door, and Jeremiah just stood and gawked at him. After quite a spell Jeremiah spoke up. Them dod-blasted fools ain ' t goin ' through my new-seeded fields to fight no battle. Abram come to a halt in his tracks. No, he sez, they ain ' t. Come on, I figger if we was to hurrv and make across river, we kin stop ' em. Captain Pike was about to retire for the night when he heard someone yellin ' outside his tent. He poked his head out. Here, here, he shouted. What ' s going on? Blimey, sir, hit ' s a Yankee. Says ' e must see you private. What ' ll I do, sir? Send him in. Abram foUered the sentry into the tent and waited til he had gone, then spoke up.
Are you trying to find old school friends, old classmates, fellow servicemen or shipmates? Do you want to see past girlfriends or boyfriends? Relive homecoming, prom, graduation, and other moments on campus captured in yearbook pictures. Revisit your fraternity or sorority and see familiar places. See members of old school clubs and relive old times. Start your search today!
Looking for old family members and relatives? Do you want to find pictures of parents or grandparents when they were in school? Want to find out what hairstyle was popular in the 1920s? E-Yearbook.com has a wealth of genealogy information spanning over a century for many schools with full text search. Use our online Genealogy Resource to uncover history quickly!
Are you planning a reunion and need assistance? E-Yearbook.com can help you with scanning and providing access to yearbook images for promotional materials and activities. We can provide you with an electronic version of your yearbook that can assist you with reunion planning. E-Yearbook.com will also publish the yearbook images online for people to share and enjoy.
