Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1857-01-08

a head, until no one would send any more in
to be starved Geese aud ducks were reared
in the garden temples and fed in the basins
made for goldfish.
Everything was left to fall to rack and
ruin, except just what could he turned to profit,
or what, at any rate, the master fancied to be
a profit. He took a fancy TO me from the
first because you see / was sort of Jack
of all trades, and did not mind turning my
had to anything, So grew from that to be
a kind of bailif. We had deal of fruit to
sell in Blexborough, which, though not such n
big place as it is now since these railways were
found out, was beginning 10 be a pretty good
market Then there was the hay and the po-
tatoes, the sheep and the pigs, and | managed
all. So, of course, | got to speak to the
Squire pretty often, and | said to him once, Il
think, Squire, if you're for farming you'd do
better to take regular farm, and let on sale
this place that's planned for pleasure grounds,
and never was meant for profit But, bless
yon, he'd never listen to any common sense,
for | believe the truth was he could not bear
to put money out of his pocket. and many and
many q time when he wouldn't order joint of
meat from the butchers, he'd have pork, that,
what with one experiment or another, would
cost him shilling the pound.
One day he made up his mind TO break up
fine mere of land to pIow. Says /, we
want some horses very bad. Squire, for that
stiff clay ....
"'Why, Robin says he--my names Robin
Spuddcr-' haven't you the four horses p
"' Lord SIR says |, they re no good at all !:
they may do in the light carts or for harrow
Ing though that wasn't what they were meant
for; but for pIowiug. you see, you want some
weight and substance, and it's my belief you'll
kill the horses, and do no good to the land
"The Squire was mild spoken gentleman,
unless you put his back up but when | said
this, his eyes fared like a forcing furnace -
SAYS he, Robin are you in a conspiracy to ruin
me, like all the rest? Those horses cost my
father four hundred pounds, and you told me
Yourself they would not fetch twenty pound
apiece, and now you want Inc to buy more y
well it was no use saying anything, for |
dare not tell him that he had ruined the poor
brutes with feeding them on a mess of lota-
toes and chaffstuf he had learned out of q
French book.
give an order for a load of Goals, make me cut
down two ornamental trees
$50, you see, we lived on the farm off vege-
ldDltS, tHdt uluI Scli, all
the cream went for butter, pork, and such old
fat wethers as were not fit for market used
to be sorry for the poor children, walking
among the fine fruit aud not allowed to touch
so much as all apple unless it was bruised, and
obliged to be content with dry bread, when we
were making pounds and pounds of fine but
ter; talking among themselves how different
it was when their poor ma was alive
D. kl,tt Il L, Il
feel the change much as long as they could play
about and of course, when their fathers back
was turned they had the best of everything.
We servants out of the house, did very well
our wages were regular, and of course we had
the best of everything that was sold, beside
our perqusites
Il lived in one of the park lodges, and made
myself and my missis very comfortable with
garden. A cows grass was part of my wages;
and many time the child, n came down from
the hall, and had better tea with us than
they were allowed at home The worst of it
was the Squire was always trying some new
tangled plans, and never stuck to any of them
long enough to make 'em pay. He used to
read something out of book and come down
full o. it and try it, if it could be done without
laying out too much money, and then, before
it was half done, he would try something else
Zone time he was for fatting cattle in stalls
so he fits up with faggots and clay some old
sheds, and buys a lot of poor Welsh cattle at
a low figure, and goes to work very hot for a
few weeks But the beasts wouldn't feed, or
the food was not right, and all went wrong
They didn't sell for much more than they cost.
Then he was all for pigs, and we had pigs by
the hundred eating their heads off Well,
that didn't answer, and the dairy-made in one
of the wine cellars of the old house. with fifty
cows-didn't turn out much better The cows
died or gave no milk, and the dairy maids stole
the butter, or else no one would buy it : and
the cheese, made on new plan from Holland
or Switzerland. or seme other outlandish place,
never turned out right The Squire you see
was quite bookman, and when he'd given his
order, and read his explanation, he thought he
had done all that was necessary.
" 1t wasn't my business to make any difficult
ties. Mine was "a comfortable place and so
were all the servants and laborers', for the
matter of that +; but we could none of us un-
derstand the Squire, no more could the neigh
bors For it was said that though the old
lawyer had not left him so much as he expect
ed, still there was q pretty tidy lot some
thousands year at the least, I've heard say
beside the house and park. But he had got
into his head most times that he was going to
be ruined or that he aoas ruined, and was al
ways dwelling Oh the large fortune he had to
pay to h S fathers family. He'd talk to me,
he'd talk to any laborers about it; don't
think he ever used to talk to his lady about
anything else and that's the way he moped
her to death I've heard him myself talk to
little Rupert and Master Charles about the
duty of being content with dry bread when
they were not more than seven or eight years
old. The children were dear creatures. Me
and my msSs loved them all, and they loved
us There was the eldest, Master Rupert, a
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