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A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

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220 WAR AND POLITICS. [1743-1748.<strong>of</strong> the Court <strong>of</strong> Common Pleas, a reputed authority<strong>in</strong> the construction <strong>of</strong> backwoods fortifications, <strong>and</strong>the admired owner <strong>of</strong> the only gold watch <strong>in</strong><strong>North</strong>ampton.Timber was abundant <strong>and</strong> could be had for theask<strong>in</strong>g ; for the frontiersman usually regarded a treeless as a valuable possession than as a natural enemy,to be got rid <strong>of</strong> by fair means or foul.The only costwas the labor. The fort rose rapidly. It was asquare enclos<strong>in</strong>g about three quarters <strong>of</strong> an acre, eachside measur<strong>in</strong>g a hundred <strong>and</strong> eighty feet.The wallwas not <strong>of</strong> palisades, as was more usual, but <strong>of</strong>squared logs laid one upon another, <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>terlockedat the corners after the fashion <strong>of</strong> a log-cab<strong>in</strong>.With<strong>in</strong> were several houses, which had been builtclose together, for mutual protection, beforethe fortwas begun, <strong>and</strong> which belonged to Stevens, Spafford,<strong>and</strong> other settlers.Apparently they were small logcab<strong>in</strong>s;for they were valued at only from eight tothirty-five pounds each, <strong>in</strong> old tenor currency w<strong>of</strong>ullyattenuated by depreciation; <strong>and</strong> these sums be<strong>in</strong>gpaid to the owners out <strong>of</strong> the three hundred poundscollected for build<strong>in</strong>g the fort, the cab<strong>in</strong>s becamepublic property.Either they were built <strong>in</strong> a straightl<strong>in</strong>e, or they were moved to form one, for when thefort was f<strong>in</strong>ished, they all backed aga<strong>in</strong>st the outerwall, so that their low ro<strong>of</strong>s served to fire from. The'usual flankers completed the work, <strong>and</strong> the settlers<strong>of</strong> Number Four were so well pleased with it thatthey proudly declared their fort a better one than

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