Raymond S. Spears

“ In the meanwhile, the Fiddlebutt Patent, after many changes and adventures, finally fell, as cut-over lands, on account of unpaid taxes, into the hands of the State as part of the Mountain Park, and there it remained till James Cobbleman discovered Purling Stream and the Rippling Ponds, away up in the heart of the Big Woods, and far within Fiddlebutt Patent.
James Cobbleman had invested in Light and Power when he was an innocent grist miller's son, just arrived in the metropolis, with his fortune of twenty dollars in his leather wallet, and looking for a job in Wall Street. ”

“ The modest fee of the law firm amounted only to enough to make the cost of almost virgin Big Woods timber twelve cents an acre, or seven thousand two hundred dollars for sixty thousand acres of forest land. Before the attorney left the office on Wall Street, he had received his instructions, and within forty-eight hours thereafter, old Dave Naben came trembling into the office of Poul, Vetch & Kipe.
"I hope to die," he cried, "I thought all that land up Purling Stream was State land. You know, I ain't never bothered none to amount to anything with private lands. ”

“ Bill Borson had already been engaged as park superintendent, and he had hired four wardens to keep Fiddlebutt Patent clear of trespassers, and their first real capture was Lem Lawson, who had run a trap line up the creek, up Purling Stream, to Rippling Ponds. They caught Lem dead to rights, too, for when they arrived at the camp with a State game warden, Lem was cutting a slice off a frozen haunch of venison. ”

“ The Wall Street man's attorney insisted that the backwoodsmen needed a lesson—which may be true enough, but it doesn't do to handle them too roughly
THE best hunting and the best fishing in the Big Woods was up the creek from Seaberry Settlement on what is known as the Fiddlebutt Patent. This patent, or land grant, had been made by the State to a late comer at the wilderness crib, back in 1835 or thereabouts, but Timothy Butt had widely advertised his land grant as "agricultural lands," with the result that he had sold many thousands of the original sixty thousand acres. ”

“ There ought to be a road up the creek; it'll save lots of work—lots of it! I'm a taxpayer here in this—this town——"
"Town?"
"That's it—town. Probably the heaviest taxpayer you've got. I'm glad to pay my share of the taxes—I am, indeed! We need roads." ”

“ Cobbleman asked abruptly.
"Nine cents an acre, for sixty thousand acres——"
"What! Nine cents?"
"Yes, exactly."
"But, good Lord——"
"It's worth five dollars an acre, of course; that's what the State is assessing those lands at, but the State comptroller——"
"Never mind! Never mind! I'm honest—I never did a crooked thing in my life! I don't want to know a danged thing about this!" Cobbleman hastened to exclaim. "I'll draw you a check. Make your fee large enough, for God's sake! I want men like you on my side." ”

“ Then Lem told the board that he had made some emergency road repairs, and that he had found it necessary to extend certain of his roads into the woods, in order to enable his constituents to enjoy the freedom of the wilderness.
Supervisors who had had experiences with private parks understood the situation exactly. On motion of one of the woods supervisors, Mr. ”