I trabeled all ober, an' I
couldn't git no jobs. Now me an' Boomerang has to eat, no mattah ef
he is contrary, so I had t' look fo' some new wuk. I traded dat
lawn-moah off fo' a cross-cut saw, but dat was such hard wuk dat I
gib it up. Den I got a chance to buy dis yeah outfit cheap, an' I
bought it."
Eradicate then went on to tell how he had purchased the portable
sawmill from a man who had no further use for it, and how he had
managed to transport it from a distant village to the spot where Tom
had met him. There he had secured permission to work a piece of
woodland on shares, sawing up the smaller trees into cord wood. He
had started in well enough, cutting down considerable timber, for
the colored man was a willing worker, but when he tried to start his
mill he met with trouble.
"I counted on Boomerang helpin' me," he said to Tom. "All he has to
do is walk on dat tread mill, an' keep goin'. Dat makes de saw go
'round, an' I saws de wood. But de trouble am dat I can't git
Boomerang to move. I done tried ebery means I knows on, an' he won't
go. I talked kind to him, an' I talked harsh. I done beat him wif a
club, an' I rub his ears soft laik, an' he allers did laik dat, but
he won't go. I fed him on carrots an' I gib him sugar, an' I eben
starve him, but he won't go.
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