American citizen., 1875-05-08


Saw the face, and twas net fne King,
Ashes of roses scattered and strewn,
Cross for a crown ard thorns for throne.
-Beh.j- r. Taylor, ia Ldporte Chronicte.
THE BORROWED TOOLS.
A Skssch for Farmers.
SAMUEL THOMPSON and Nathan Holmes
were both of them farmers, and they
were also near neighbors. Their land
was situated upon beautiful ridge, and
was strong and productive. In the nat
ural capacity of the soil there was not a
cents worth of difference in the two
farms, but yet they bore very dissimilar
aspect after they had been worked a
number of years. Mr.. Thompson's build
ings looked neat and tidy. His door
ward was clean, his windows were whole,
his barn was snug and warm, his orchard
looked thrifty, and the trees were care
fully dressed and pruned. Now MIR.
Holmes had no more of family to sup
port than his neighbor, but yet his house
and out-buildings and the rural aspect of
his farm were very different. A few rags
were to be seen in spots where should
have been panes of glass various things
were kicking about in the yard that
should have been in other places; there
were large cracks in his barn, through
which the rain and snow sometimes beat !;
his apple trees were scabbed with old
bark, and the tops were dishgured by
scraggy, dead limbs Mr.. Holmes
worked hard-harder, if anything, than
did Mr.. Thompson; but yet his matters
wondered how il was that his neighbOr
pushed things along SO smoothly and
kept everything in such excellent order.
"Ah, Thompson" said Holmes. one day
in early spring, as he came up to the door
of the former, have you got an inch
auger?"
Certainly" returned Thompson; 81
couldn't get along on farm without
one."
"I wish you would lend it to me lit
tie while. l have delayed sowing my
grain two days because my harrow is
broken and had no tools with which to
mend it."
"I will lend it to you with pleasure, -
said Thompson. And then, as a sudden
thought seemed to strike him, he added ::
"They tell me, Mr. Holmes, that you
lost one of your cows yesterday"
"Yes," returned Holmes, with an un-
easy look, Zone of the best cows /
had ~
How did it happens"
She broke her leg"
bTOke neI 11OW,
"Why, you see the floor in my tie-up
had got rather worn and shaky, and night
before last she got one of her legs through
it and snapped the bone off like pipe
stem, SO had to kill her"
"Ah, Mr. Holmes, those are things we
farmers ought to guard against. A very
little labor at the proper time would have
saved al that"
"I know it," said Mr.. Holmes, with q
downcast look; "and should have fixed
the floor long ago If had had the tools.
But it's no use in crying now. WHAT'S
done can't be helped"
That was always a source of great con-
ISOLATION to Mr. Holmes When a thing
was done he tried to feel satisfied with
the reflection that it could not be un-
done, though he seldom laid up the ex-
perience for future use. Mr.. Thompson
turned toward the shed door and led the
way up into q neat, light chamber, and
Holmes followed. Here was a stout
bench, all fixed for handy use, and upon
it were full set of planes, saws, gauges,
mallets, etc, while in a small rack
against the partition were arranged a set
of chisels, gimlets, files and screw-driv
ers, and overhead hung some half-dozen
differentiated augers- In short, there
was everything that q man could posi-
bly, need In building and repairing about
q house.
Mr.. Thompson took down an inch au-
ger and handed it to his neighbor, and
as he did SO he remarked:
Il haven't seen your son Thomas
about for two or three days. Is he
sick:"
"Well, not exactly sick. but he's got a
very bad foot-he can't step on it.
"Ah, how did it happen?"
He trod on an old rusty nail in the
barn floor and it went into his foot some
ways"
"W-h-e-wi that's bad, !" uttered Thomp-
son, with q sympathetic shudder. 81
never allow my boys to 60 around much
barefooted. l have found that the pricks
and bruises generally cost more than the
shoe-leafher, aside from the comfort and
looks"
"Oh, Thomas wasn't barefooted, but
you see there was a hole in the bottom
of his shoe. l meant to have carried it
down to the village and have it mended,
but forgot it."
''Ah, friend Holmes, save all such
difficulties as that. l always keep lit
tie leather by me, and then when there is
little tapping or patching to be done l
can fix it up in a few minutes. All these
things can be done during rainy days,
when l might otherwise be lying idle"
pose / might cObble a shoe well enough
if only had the tools; but it takes quite
q collection of implements to fill up a
cobbier's bench. However, what's done
can't be helped. j guess Tom'll be out
in day or two. But / must hurry off
now and fix my harrow"
1t took Mr.. Holmes nearly all day to
mend mis- harrow, so that he had to post
pone the narrowing of his land till the
next morning. and when he at length got
his grain into the ground he was just
five days behind his neighbor Thompson.
His son was confined TO the house over
a week, and during that time he had to
hire an extra hand, which cost him about
four dollars besides the doctors bills he
had to pay. When it came haying time
he had to buy new rakes, because the old
ones had gone to rack and ruin Per-
haps they had started with the loss of a
few teeth or the breaking OF n bow, or,
perhaps even the head might have got
broken, and thus, instead of saving a
good handle, etc, and making the other
parts that were needed, for the want of
tools he was obliged to buy new rakes
entire. So in all the departments of his
business he was constantly meeting OBJ
stacIes that retarded his progress, and
all for the want OF few simple tools.
One rainy day in the fall, after the
harvest was completed, Mr.. Thompson
apple boxes when his neighbOr Holmes
entered.