Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1883-07-17

four quarts OF corn meal, and let me work
in payment. "I will work all day for
either one" | offered, sand will try to do
;. a good days work"
But neither the man nor the woman
answered. sat ten minutes, perhaps,
feeling anything but comfortable, and
then babe them good.morning and went
out. While stood hesitating in the
road, boy came out into the yard.
&" The old man sez you can 60 to saving
this here pile of wood ~ he called out
to me.
The next night l possessed peck of
potatoes, and the next day after went
to several of the neighboring farm-houses,
obtaining from a man named Fawcett a
job to pick up two acres of stones on q
clover piece. For this received four
dollars in potatoes, pork and meal, and
completed it in five days.
Meantime, I inquired and learned more
of "old man Smith," Of Boston, and in
a few days wrote the following letter to
him:
"DEAR SIR A young man in his twen-
tieth year, recently of Boston, is living on
your farm in A., New Hampshire. He
was in search of work on a farm, and
came along TO the old house just at dark
one night fortnight ago. Having no.
where else to stay, and the night being
rather cold, he went in there, and he has
been living there ever since, working
when he could get a job from the people
about. This young man would like TO 90
on for awhile living there; for he has no
other abiding place. He would take the
farm of you for the coming season, or IL
the farm Is for sale, would buy 1t If the
price were not too high, and pay for it as
| fast as he could.
Il am the young man above referred to,
and my name Is
CHARLES EPHRArM wINDER."
A fortnight later / received the fol-
lowing characteristic letter from Mr..
Smith
"well, Charles Ephraim, / have received |
you rather odd letter. That farm-which |
you seem TO have taken possession OF
has cost me nearly seven hundred dol
lars in several ways. But any man who
u
It may have 1t. do not suppose you have
cent to pay me; but it is not much use
for me to order you of, for you will stay4
If you have mind 10, unless | take the
trouble to come up or send up, and drive
you off, and shan't do that. So, go ahead,
Charles Ephraim; plant and sow and reap
TO your hearts content this year; and,
whenever YOU can raise the hundred and
fst ha nl1 for Ia
are in earnest, (Which don't believe
wish you success.
VERY truly yours,
"DAvID c. SMITH"
Whenever I felt blue, | used to get
out that letter and have laugh. The
farmers about were doing their spring
work-planting and sowing-and | bor-
rowed a neighbor's ox-team to plough
three acres of the old stubble ground,
paying for the use Of the team by my
own labor.
II was all hard work. Every fair day
was day of toll. ] used to sleep like a
log there on my straw bed. But, some-
how began to enjoy it; the world look
ed brighter. After my crops were in the
ground, mended the fences about the
fields aud the house and worked on and
got new glass panes for the broken win
dows. These set myself on rainy days.
By June the people began to treat me
as friend and neighbor. Indeed they
commenced, laughingly, to call me their
new neighbor." At first coming among
them as did, they distrusted me. But
when they saw that | was not afraid to
work, and that l really meant business,
they turned about and treated me like
fellow citizen. l was shown a great
many kindly favors.
1t was no great task to do my own
work in hoeing; and l was able to work
out enough to purchase set of haying
tools, consisting of scythe, snath, fork
and rake for there was tolerably good
crop of grass in the meadow, which re-
solved to secure to the last straw. | be-
gan my haying on the first day of July.
For three weeks worked early and late.
had no team for drawing the hay into
the barn. Every pound of it l hauled
in myself, on little track" which rig
ged upon a pair Of old carriage wheels
that found abandoned beside the road.
In three weeks l got in about nine tons.
Seven tons of this hay sold the follow
ing winter, in the village nine miles be-
low, for seventy-six dollars. l did every
stroke of the work alone and unaided
and after that | worked out at haying .
eight days at dollar and a quarter per
day.
My oats were now ready to harvest.
This occupied me week; and when the
threshing machine came into the neigh
borhood about fortnight later had my
crop thresbed out. After deducting ,
toll, l had sixty-nine bushels.
then made trade with Mr.. Cum. .
mings. and traded sixty bushels of oats :
for one of his cows; and Mrs. c.
threw into the bargain a milk-pail and
four tin pans. This was my first invest c
ment in live stock. After that l had 8
plenty of new milk, and also butter, @
which churned myself in twenty-cent '
earthern pot. But l did not let any one u
see, nor know Of, my dairying process. t
On the twenty-fourth day of Septem- @
Der, began digging my potatoes and r
from my well-dressed field, dug hun b
dred and seventy. one bushels of as hand l
some "Early Rose" potatoes as one n
would wish to see. r
picked out barrel of the very best i
and sent them to "Old Man Smith" in i
Boston.