Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-11-13

wv hat makes me thlnk lC! ecnOeu NAL
colin, elevating his brow and blowing out an
extra cloud Of smoke. "Would a young
man like him, without family-leastwise
I never heard of his bein' married-would
he ownin' such a grand estate as this, crowd
down on a poor man like me, till he'd got
almost his last shillin' and then, on top o.
that, jam and crowd harder still, If he was
not goin' it pretty fast?"
Malcolm was becoming excited, and the
thought of the last rise in his rent, which
had been made known to him on that very
day, filled his cup Of Indignation to over
flow.
eyes, sir" he went on, "I've been payin'
a rent for this farm that no man ever ought
to pay-a rent that has robbed me and my
good wife and the little ones of things that
again. Susan-that's my wife, sir-her faith
er rented this farm and she was born here,
which, you'll understand, kind O. taches her
to the place. Well, her father paid e1O a
year, and paid once in six months. My first
years rent was e12, and then it went up,
and up, and up, and for three years last past
I've paid G2 a month, and now, sir, 1ve got
notice that Pm to pay an advance of five
shillin'sa month. That's s3 pounds more a
year. Not much, you may say, but it's the
last ounce that breaks the camel's back.
When mans payin' all he can, how can he
pay more ~
ashes from his pipe, "why don't you speak
with the squire himself?"
"What! and he away in Paris?"
"Then why not write to him."
"Ah! sir, there you've hit it! When
young Master Philip came into possession,
he made it law that the man who COM
planned to him should be turned off at once.
He's kind O. ticklish, should judge, about
bein' bothered, and he don't like to have his
feelin's stirred up; SO when he took posses
sion he was determined that he wouldn't
have no complaints nor faultinding. He
planned that he would enjoy all of life that
could be enjoyed, and if his tenants had
troubles, they shouldn't saddle 'em off on to
him. So. d'see, he Just made that rule3and :!
he made it strOng-the man that opened his
head to him about his rent or about any
short-comin' whatever, or that dared to
write to him, should be turned off, neck and
heels, without further warnin'."
"But dear man, do you really think Mas
ter Philip Maxwell would do that thing ?"
the guest asked with considerable interest.
"Would he? And didn't hep" cried NAL
colin. explosively. "Go and ask poor old
Dan Simpson what he thinks. Old Dan had
the Goodspeed farm, one of the best on the
estate-as large as six of this. He dared to
post letter to the squire, and he got his dis
charge off hand. Yes, sir, he was turned
away and the farm let to another within a
week after the letter had been put into the
post Silas Carter must have the postmas-
ter under his thumb. In fact, the squire
owns the line of buildin's where his store is
and where the postoffice is. All it was diff
ferent when the old squire was livin'. He
never turned a deaf ear to an honest tenant
not he!
"Why look, Susan an me-we'd kind O.
promised ourselves that we'd give our sec
ond child-little Georgie-he's ten years old
now, sir-that we'd give to him leetle bet
ter eddication than boys of his rank general
ly get, but we can't do it now. This last
rise in our rent has took the last penny-and
more, too. Really and truly, don't think
i can pay it. hate to give up the dear old
place, where Susan was born and reared {;
but it must come. l can have farm Of
Sir Oliver Thorndike for one-half what I've
got to pay another year of this.
''But pardon me, good sir. This is no
business of yourn but you asked me ques-
ton, and l got goin' and didn't know how
to stop, seein' that the rise in my rent had
Just been made. But, believe me good sir,
I aint't in the habit of tellin' this stuff out
o. school,. You're the first man not one of
us that ever opened my head to on the
subject. l wouldn't like that Silas Carter
should hear what Ive been tellin', d'you see,
such things sound 80 different when they'er
told secondhand"
''Have no fear of me, my good man." re-
turned the stranger, heartily: "My nameis
Sidney-George Sidney. have met young
Maxwell, and should l chance to meet him
again you may be sure / shall give him a
gentle hint of how things are going on here.
Is there any one on the estate who, you
think, would be entirely fit and competent
in every way for an agent in Carter's
place."
Eyes, SIR" answered Malcolm, promptly
and heartily; II know just the man savin'
my wife's presence. It's her brother-John
Gulford. He used to rent farm here, but
he got disgusted with Carter's uppishness
and left. He's now with Sir Oliver "a sort
of useful man about the old castle, but not
engaged permanently"
"Did you ever write to your young mas
ter?"
''No, sir-never."
81 suppose yOu-can Write?"
The honest, hard-handed farmer colored
up the eyes; and, before he could speak, his
wife answered for him:
"Good sir, Malcolm's got into a sort Of
careless way of speaking, but I do assure
you he has good education. AS for writ
ing he's done that ever since he was child !;
and Mr.. Carter'll tell you if he'll tell the
truth--that my husband has Strengthened
out his accounts and written important let
ters for him, more than once. Malcolm
won't speak for himself, but I'll speak for
him."
Mr.. Sidney nodded and smiled and chang
ed the subject. He asked Malcolm about his
10 hlSt
methods of treating land for different kinds
of seed. And then he asked about the quail
ity of the land Of the various large farms of
the estate, and sought to know how they
were carried on.
TO I'LL his questions the farmer not only
gave Intelligent answers, but he offered
many thoughts and suggestions that might
have been of real value to the owner of
the land.
At o'clock Malcolm suggested that, as
it was late and very dark, with rain still
falling, Sidney had better spend the night
with them, if he could put up with their
homely accommodation. He accepted the
offer gratefully.
The good wife provided him with clean,
comfortable sleeping room, and gave him a
comfortable bed in which to sleep, and on
the following morning, after a good break
fast, the weather being clear and bright, he
bade his entertainers a kindly adieu, prom
ising them that if he shonld ever be in that
region again he would not fail to call.
Both Malcolm and Susan thought it rath-
er strange that the man had made them
no offer of return for his entertainment; and
yet they were glad that he had not, for
they would have refused it, and thus per-
haps, have hurt his feelings. They remem-
bered that he had worn no jewelry nor no
ornament of any kind. That afternoon
Malcolm harnessed his horse and rode to the
village, where he found great commotion:;