It wuz a wild and hazardous skeme that them two foreign deacons wuz a-proposin', and I wuz strongly in favor of givin' 'em a negative answer; but Josiah wuz fairly crazy with the idee, and so wuz Deacon Henzy and Deacon Sypher (their wives told me how they felt). The idee was to build a buzz saw mill on the creek that runs through Jonesville, and have branches of it extend into Zoar, Loontown, and other more adjacent townships (the same creek runs through 'em all). As near as I could get it into my head, there wuz to be a buzz saw mill apiece for the five deacons--each one of 'em to overlook their own particular buzz saw--but the money comin' from all on 'em to be divided up equal among the five deacons. [Illustration: "A WILD AND HAZARDOUS SKEME."] They thought there wuz lots of money in the idee. But I wuz very set against it from the first. It seemed to me that to have buzz saws a-permeatin' the atmosphere, as you may say, for so wide a space, would make too much of a confusion and noise, to say nothin' of the jarin' that would take place and ensue. I felt more and more, as I meditated on the subject, that a buzz saw, although estimable in itself, yet it wuz not a spear in which a religious deacon could withdraw from the world, and ponder on the great questions pertainin' to his own and the world's salvation. I felt it wuz not a spear that he could revolve round in and keep that apartness from this world and nearness to the other, that I felt that deacons ought to cultivate. But my idees wuz frowned at by every man in Jonesville, when I ventured to promulgate 'em. They all said, "The better the man, the better the deed." They said, "The better the man wuz, the better the buzz saw he would be likely to run." The fact wuz, they needed some buzz saw mills bad, and wuz very glad to have these deacons lay holt of 'em. [Illustration: TALKING OVER THE BUZZ-SAW.] But I threw out this question at 'em, and stood by it--"If bein' set apart as a deacon didn't mean anything? If there wuzn't any deacon-work that they ought to be expected to do--and if it wuz right for 'em to go into any world's work so wild and hazardous and engrossin', as this enterprise?" And again they sez to me in stern, decided axents, "The better the man, the better the deed. We need buzz saws." And then they would turn their backs to me and stalk away very high-headed. And I felt that I wuz a gettin' fearfully onpopular all through Jonesville, by my questions. I see that the hull community wuz so sot on havin' them five deacons embark onto these buzz saws that they would not brook any interference, least of all from a female woman. But I had a feelin' that Josiah Allen wuz, as you may say, my lawful prey. I felt that I had a right to question my own pardner for the good of his own soul, and my piece of mind. And I sez to him in solemn axents: