The basswood was fully three feet in diameter, and leaned slightly toward the brook.

In spite of the slant, old Hughy thought that by proper cutting the tree could be made to fall on our side of the gully instead of across it.

He threw off his old coat and set to work, but soon stopped short and began rubbing his shoulder and groaning, "Oh, my rheumatiz, my rheumatiz! O-o-oh, how it pains me!" That may have been partly pretense, intended to make me take the axe; for he was a wily old fellow.

However that may be, I took it and did a borrowed boy's best to cut the scarfs as he directed, but hardly succeeded.

I toiled a long time and blistered my palms.
Basswood is not a hard wood, however, and at last the tree started to fall; but instead of coming down on our side of the gully it fell diagonally across it and crashed into the top of a great hemlock that stood near the stream below.