Little Falls transcript., 1886-11-26
THE BINSTEAD FARM.

We all knew when sister Clarissa
oaned the thousand dollars which was
he accumulation of her six years of
teaching, to Sam Binstead, that it was
S good as sunk in the sea. And we
old her so. but it was Of no use, for
'ou see, Clissy is one Of those visionary
'eople who see the "angel in the
.uman heart'' most clearly when
t isn't there; and Sam, cousin by q
! :ood many removes, had borrowed out
svery other relative before he thought
# us. AL hadn't a dollar to spare.
She wouldn't have if Judge Hilton had
divided his legacy with her, and
Wouldn't have given him nickel Of
my three hundred if he had gone on
his knees for it: not but Clissy---t think
oft, will you, actually and positively
handed over her thousand dollars as if
'he'd been & princess, and said:
"Im very glad to accommodate you,
! sam. You needn't mind a mortgage,
four note is quite sufficient. | know
that you will pay it all back
Did he? Well, I think not. You
aever knew him or you wouldn't ask.
| TO be sure he died; but he wouldn't t
have paid it ii he had lived, for he was
one OF those easy-going men who wear
sack coats with the pockets sacging
down, and who always complain of their
bad luck, and never pay their debts.
That was the way that Chs happened to
90 West. He did give her mortgage
On farm out in Missouri. and when he
died, it fell to her. l don't suppose
tnat she'd have taken 1t if there been
lnY body to give it to; but there wasn't,
and no stranger would have accepted
It Tor a present, SO she had to keep it.
She couldn't sell it, and she couldn' t
; rent it fer enough to pay the taxes,
and her tenants burnt the fences be-
sause they were too lazy to cut wood.
Let the barn tumble down and the
house 60 to ruin. until one evening
C'issy looked up and said: elm going
put to my farm
! Al almost screamed with surprise
and was speechess Il was no use to
! say anything, for Clissy is very decided.
so, the day that her school closed, She
; went down to the depot and bought a
ticket to St. Louis, and took the eve~
ming train out AS coolly as if she ex-
pected to return next day. Al and
went home and had good cry, and
decided that we should start as soon as
our schools closed and spend the sum-
mer with her. We taught in town,
and had ten-months wear while Clissy
was out in the east-end, where the
schools close the last of Nav.
No length of years will ever make
me forget the night that we reached
Sparta that is her town-ana saw dear
old CAssy on the rickety platform,
whip in hand, waiting for u.s. Bless her
heart, how she hugged US, although she
hadn't been away five weeks Then
she took US around, behind the station,
to her red, spring-wagon. hitched to the
most killing little gray mule you ever
saw, and we clambered in. She was
mortally afraid of the little beast, and
he knew it. You'd have died to see her
unite him from the post, standing at
arms length from him. 1t was two
miles to the farm, and we all three
talked as hard as we could, and yet we
hadn't begun to tell our news when we
; reached that forlorn, unpainted old
wooden house, with the chicken-c coop
right in front, We were starving after
| our three days ride, and Cl;ssy had a
good supper, and then our Life in the
West began.
1t would take a book to tell about the
events Of that summer, 50 / must Just
pick out two or three things, that led
directly to the grand finale:
She had things started pretty we'll
when we came. 1t was to be q stock
farm, and she he'd bought sheep and
calves, and a.cow, and chickens, and a
ferocous old mother pig with lot of
dottie dumpling little piggies but the
ola cannibal ate up four OF them-how I
! hated her for it-and hoe. and o. big
shovel, and lots Of other things
The first morning AL and / thought
we take ram BILE aud see how we ed
It, But she wanted to go down to the
! stream and l wanted to 90 up to the
''knob, as C]issy called it, and see the
landscape. hadn't got there when a
COW looked menacingly at me, and ]
ran as never dreamed l could run.
The man was milking in the barnyard.
and he looked up with a grunt when
came. We had to call him Cornrod be.
cause he wouldn't answer to Conrad.
| al didn't appear to breakfast; but she
is such an irresponsible creature any.
way, that we supposed she was sketch.
ing some stump, SO we kept her chops
warm, and washed the dishes so as te
churn before it became too hot.
| About ten o'clock went out to hunt
eggs. and was sure that I heard m,
name, in accents wild. I called .Clis
sy!'' and "Cornrod!'' and we followed
the sound until We could see the poo,
! girl perched in little, shaking thorn
tree, about four feet from the ground
while murderous old ram stood guart
! below. She had been there thre,
blessed hours. Conrad threw piec,
of earth at him, and he walked away
and the poor child limped home will
us. Her hands were al blistered Will
| clinging to !, the tree, and she hae
screamed for US till her throat was sore
II have fine flock of sheep there, ,
remarked the proud owner, as ",
climbed aWkardly over the bars.
They are more profitable than cat
tie, because they increase 50 rapidly
| and mature so quickly. The increas,
! is quite wonderful The gentleman O
1 whom ! bought these says = 81.
# aw, yaW--he say Von lie, Z inter
rupted the stolid Conrad. He sell 70,
forty ram. he keep de eve. Increase
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