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128 The beauty of independence, departure, actions that
 * rely on themselves,

The American contempt for statutes and ceremonies,
 * the boundless impatience of restraint,

The loose drift of character, the inkling through
 * random types, the solidification;

The butcher in the slaughter-house, the hands aboard
 * schooners and sloops, the raftsman, the pioneer,

Lumbermen in their winter camp, daybreak in the
 * woods, stripes of snow on the limbs of trees, the
 * occasional snapping,

The glad clear sound of one's own voice, the merry
 * song, the natural life of the woods, the strong
 * day's work,

The blazing fire at night, the sweet taste of supper,
 * the talk, the bed of hemlock boughs, and the
 * bear-skin;

The house-builder at work in cities or anywhere, The preparatory jointing, squaring, sawing, mortising, The hoist-up of beams, the push of them in their
 * places, laying them regular,

Setting the studs by their tenons in the mortises,
 * according as they were prepared,

The blows of mallets and hammers, the attitudes of
 * the men, their curved limbs,

Bending, standing, astride the beams, driving in pins,
 * holding on by posts and braces,

The hooked arm over the plate, the other arm
 * wielding the axe,

The floor-men forcing the planks close, to be nailed, Their postures bringing their weapons downward on
 * the bearers,