Except in the spring, when the log drives were being made down the
rivers, Sunday was a day of rest in Paul Bunyan’s camp. It was a day of
earnest thought, and of cleanliness and pleasure also. For on Sunday
Paul Bunyan planned the next week’s work, thought out his orations,
imagined new inventions, and dreamed of historical exploits for the
future. And on Sunday his loggers made their beds, cleaned their
clothes, and shaved their faces. The pleasures of this day were the
pleasures of the table, for Paul Bunyan, after building his second
cookhouse, and developing his famous kitchen organization around Hot
Biscuit Slim, the chief cook, originated the custom of grand Sunday
dinners.
Every Sunday dinner was a feast; but some of them, of course, were
nobler and more enjoyable than others. His roast pork and plum pudding
dinners always delighted the loggers when they were served on winter
Sundays; they shouted over the baked trout and cherry pie Sunday
dinners that he gave them in the spring; in the summer a vegetable and
strawberry shortcake Sunday dinner made them happy every time; and in
the fall the Sunday dinners of fried chicken and peach cobbler made
them prance and roar with pleasure. And the Thanksgiving and Christmas
dinners of roasted webfooted turkeys, cranberries and chocolate
cake--the loggers were always speechless when they thought about them.
Every Sunday morning would see the loggers performing the ceremonies
of cleanliness as soon as their after-breakfast pipes were smoked.
First, the beds were made; and this was a more trying job than you
would think, especially for the loggers who had poor eyesight. These
unfortunates would throw their blankets into a pile, then shake them
out one at a time, and attempt to replace them in the bunks. Here
difficulties beset them, for Paul Bunyan’s blankets had small square
checks; and it took a sharp eye to detect which was the long way of a
blanket, and which was the wide way. Even the most sharp-eyed loggers
would sometimes lose confidence in their vision when replacing these
perplexing blankets; and they would remove them time and again before
deciding that they were spread correctly. As for the cross-eyed and
near-sighted men, it was sometimes pitiful to behold the most troubled
of them stretching out blankets in their extended hands, turning them
in slow revolutions, doubtfully placing them on the bunks, and then
wearily lifting them again. These unfortunate men never quitted their
Sunday bed-making until they were worn out; and all the following week
they were sure that they had the long way of their blankets on the wide
way of their bunks. They would swear to have them right next time; but
every Sunday their attempts at bed-making would end in as unsatisfying
a manner.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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