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Show 28. gambling; he liked looking forward to the one night when ed everyone came in and gather at Jake's which was a store of sorts. Mail was dropped off there and picked up. The talking made you feel good and what you did more important, and you heard all the news. The rest of the week you could cogitate on it and it made the days less lonely. He'd been curing deer skins to put under the blankets on his bed, because last year when the blizzards came he'd slept cold. He thought, I'll sew two of them together and make a sack for the baby; put some ropes on each corner and tie these to the legs of a table at Jake's place. This will give me a safe place to leave the baby while I get the news. They could hitch up the horse next Saturday, and all of them ride to Blue Burg in the buckboard. He and Sunny usually came back together anyway around midnight. Sunny didn't play cards or drink, and on Sunday work started early for Bill. Monday night after supper Bill stretched the two largest deer hides he had out on the floor. Dad, watching him measure the baby and start to cut, said, "Woah--there! You want it to last the winter? Make it longer. It's all right if it narrows in a little. He's going to grow. I remember his pappy being taller than Sunny" and he nodded towards his son who was the tallest man in the cabin. Bill said, "I know that he's pushing out the end of his cradle. "I'll start whittling the bars for a new bed." "I'll take you up on that, Olaf. I'll make the legs and nail some boards together for the bottom." Bill said. |