The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1858-08-12

LOAD OF manure, the landlord promlSin
to take his pay in produce when harves
time came. So Peter White put on
blue-frock and eowh hide boots, and wen
TO work for farmer Stevens.
In the meantime Walter Sturgis ha
been to the city to try to find situato
in some store, but he came hack bootless
He was surprised when he met Pete
driving an OK team through the village
+. AT first be could hardly believe his owl
eyes. Could it be possible that that wa
Peter White, in that blue frock. and thos
coarse boots! On the next day a rela
ton from the city came to see Walter. =
The two walked out, and during the da,
Walter saw Peter coming towards then
with his team. He was hauling lumber whicl
Mr. Stevens had been getting out durin;
the winter Walter saw how course ant
humble his quoudam clerk N ate looked
and be knew that Peter would hail bin
if they met: SO he caught his companion
by the arm and lodged into by-lane.-
Peter saw the move ment, and be under.
stood it, but be only smiled. By-and-
bye, the snow was all gone from the hill
side. The wintry garb was removed from
that spot some time before it left other
places, for Peters lot lay on the southern
/ slope of bill, and thus had all the advan.
tages of the warm sun all day without a.
ng of the cold north and east winds--
The youth found his land very rocky, but
none of them were permanent; so his first
more was to get off some of these obstruc-
tious, and as hir Stevens land was not
yet clear from snow, he was able to give
his young workman considerable assist
ance. They took two yokes of oxen and
two drags, and went at it, and in just five
days every rock was at the foot of the
slope, aud made into good stone wall.
Peter then hauled on his hundred loads
of manure, which be had for seventy five
dollars, and part of it he plowed in, and
part he saved for top-dressing.
Peter now worked early and late and
much of the time he had help Mr.. Ste
vens was surprised at the richness of the
soil, but there was reason for it, At the
top of the hill there was huge ledge, and
the rocks which had eucumbered the hill
side must, at some former period, have
come tumbling down from the ledge; and
these rocks, laying there for ages, per-
haps, and covering nearly half the sur
face of the ground, tad served to keep
the soil moist and mellow. The first
thing Peter planted, was about quarter
of an acre of er-melons. He then got
in some early garden sauce-such as po-
tatoe<, sweet corn, peas, beans, radishes,
cucuw bcrs, tom atoes, and so on. And be
got his whole piece worked up and plant
ed before Stevens farm was free from
snow. People stopped on the road and
gazed upon the hill side in wonder. Why
had that spot never been used before!-
For forty years it had been used as a
sheep pasture, the rock' having forbidden
all thoughts of cultiVatiug it. But how
admirably it was situated for early till
ing; and how rich the soil must have
been, with sheep running over it so long
An adjoining hill shut off the east winds,
and the bill itself gave its back to the
chill north. Peter had planted an acre
of corn. an acre of potatoes, aud the rest
be had divided among all sorts of pro.
duce Then be went to work for Ste
vens again, and in a few week. be had
more than paid for all the labor he had
been obliged to hire on bis own land.
In the meantime, Walter Sturgis had
again been looking after employment.
His hundred dollars were used up to the
last penny, and just then he accepted a
place in one of the stores in the village,
at salary of three hundred dollars a
year. He still wondered how Peter
White could content himself in such bust
ness. Peter used to be invited to all the
little parties when be was clerk. but be
was not Invited now. Walter Sturgis
went to these parties, and he was highly
edited BY them. Also, when Peter was
a clerk, there were several young and
handsome damsels who loved to bask in
the sunlight of bis smiles, and one Of
them he fancied he loved. After he had
got his hillside planted, be went to see
Cordelia Henderson, and he asked if she
would become bis wife at some future pc.
riod when he was prepared to take such
an article to his home. She told him she
would think Of it and let him know by
letter Three days afterwards he receiv-
ed letter from her, in which she stated
that she could not think of uniting her
destinies with man who could only
delve in the earth for living. Peter
shed few tears over the unexpected note
and then be reasoned on the subject, and
finally blessed his fate, for he was sure
that such a girl was not what he needed
for wife. 1e
When the first of July came, Peter
reckoned up his accounts, and he found
that Mr.. Stevens was owing him just two
dollars, and all be owed in the world was
the seve euty five dollars for manure. On
the third day of July he carried to the
hotel ten dollars worth OF green peas,
beans, and radishes; and in three days
afterwards he carried to the city twenty
eight dollars worth. Toward the end Of
tbe month he had sold one hundred and