Benedict was
strengthened by this sympathy, and became able to entertain plans for
the assertion and maintenance of his rights.
When Yates had been at the camp for a week and had taken on the color
and the manner of a woodsman, there came one night to Number Nine a
dozen men, to assist in the raising of Jim's hotel. They were from the
mill where he had purchased his lumber, and numbered several neighbors
besides, including Mike Conlin. They came up the old "tote-road" by the
river side, and a herd of buffaloes on a stampede could hardly have made
more noise. They were a rough, merry set, and Jim had all he could do to
feed them. Luckily, trout were in abundant supply, and they supped like
kings, and slept on the ground. The following day was one of the
severest labor, but when it closed, the heaviest part of the timber had
been brought and put up, and when the second day ended, all the timbers
were in their place, including those which defined the outlines of Jim's
"cupalo."
When the frame was at last complete, the weary men retired to a
convenient distance to look it over; and then they emphasized their
approval of the structure by three rousing cheers.
"Be gorry, Jim, ye must make us a spache," said Mike Conlin.
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