Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1886-10-29

EN- tres oil Ter even tnan tn IA u-a It's j..
'..,'"' ~~ -h' ~" tri"g IL II sisnt
j If, a, with s'l o., FEC, 'i' ~ b.,
il, i; lis al tn. ak nj tns vida ~. about
two un!rel yards u, .ane. l.. ~ the vi
lage to who's. spiritual needs Ii ministers,
the church, to an ordinary OBJ erver, is
nn hing oui II the common. alta IL IN GER
tan slaal peculiari'ie, OF architecture, not
notic-d by an uncu. ured eye, make it an
o, lect of SON. interest TO Psychologists.
Visit it or not, accor lin to your inclination,
bu, after wards he p straight on through tie
long, Struggling village, until the houses be-
gan 30 grow even more Struggling the gar
deus larger and less care Tor ornaments,
display NJ more cabbages and scarlet run
ners ian roses-ke p on until the houses
Cease altoye her, and he wthorn hsigss take
the place of pallTgs and crumbliny walls,
AM AT last you viii come t. Watercress
Fa-nl, a ion : low, nhi'e house one side Of
wlfrl nbu y "a thu highway. while tha
otter iop ) r tie three hun ired acr,s of
Ian at achni 10 t.
Not = w. large ccrel "a. II is true, bnt
then it is ali gJoi LAID, Tor III. most part
su.n as aucii 'rS las 'Iil'e " rioh, warm.
deep, old pasture land; such land that. at
tiie Iill- iutS oibtu'. duf lai W
thrift, knowledge of vi; bu mess and hard
W rk. could make even more than bare iv
ing out Of an could meet his landlord on
rent day with u cheerful face, knowing that
after rent an otd3r outg inGs wers pro
vid d for some thin, would We. bs left for
himself
Who occupies Wa.ercres' Farm now, and
whether irSf these days of depression his rent
Is readily forthcoming OF not matters
littl'. AT the tim, write Of it was rented
BY Farmer Lei h. even as his forefatners.
according to village tradition, had rented it
for soma two hundred years. In quiet, con-
sentative places ike Coombe-Acton, a farm
OF tits kind often goes from father to son
with more regularity than an eltaiied ei-
tate, landlord and tenant we'll knowing that
their interests are identical
1t was a fine afternoon towards the end
OF June. Abraham Leigh was standing
by the gate OF the field known as the
home meadow, looking at the long ripe
grass ripping as the summer breeze
swept across it. He was thoroughly
good specimen of Somersetshre far
mer A big, sturdy man, whose move
ments were slow and deliberate. His
face, if heavy and stolid, not by any
means the face of fool. No doubt
man Of circumstanced views-the world
for him extended eastward to the British
coannel. Nevertheless, respected in his
little world as a wonderful judge OF
beast, or great authority on tillages,
and above all, man who always had a
balance in his favor at the Somersetshire
bank; type of that extinct race, the
prosperous farmer, who looked on all the
townsmen with contempt, thinking, as
all farmers should think, that the owner
of broad acres, and those engaged in az
rfculture, were alone were worthy OF re-
spect.
Yet, day, In spite or MS advantages
and requirements, Farmer Lsigh looked on
the flfteen-acre meadow with puzzled and
discontented expression on his honest face;
and, moreover, murmurs Of dissatis faction
were proceeding from his lips. Farmers
Somersetshire farmers especially-are pro-
verbal grumblers, Tut it is seldom they
grumbls without an audience. 1t is out
siders who get the benefit Of their COM
plants. Besides, ons would think that the
tenant Of Watercress Farm had little, at
present, to complain Of. The drop of rain
SO badly wanted had been long in coming,
but it had come just in the nick of time to
save the grass and if the crop, outwardly,
lOOkcu q uttlo cAlcIl6uCtl
eye told him that the underground was
thick AMI that the quality of the hay would
be firstclass. Moreover. what corn and
roots he had looked promising, so it seems
strange that the farmer should be grum.
bling when he had no one to listen to him,
and should lean SO discons olately upon the
gate Of the field when no ono observed him.
~ can't make him out" he said Good
boy he be, too-yet instead o helping me
with the land, always going about dreaming
or messing with mud. Can't think where
he got his notions FROM Suppose it must "a
been from the mother, poor thing! Always
fond o gimcracks and such like, she we're
Gave the lad such an outlandish name I'm
ashamed to hear it. Fathers AMI grand
fathers name ought to be good enough for a
Leigh-good boy, though, he be. tool"
A soft look settled on Abraham Lsighs
face as he repeated the last words; then he
went deeper into his slough Of des pond,
where, no doubt, he battled as painfully as
O Christian, until he reaches. The other
Of his difficulties
His face frightened. TELL 'ee what" LIE
said, addressing the waving grass in front
of him, ''Pll ask Mr.. Herbert. Equire's a
man who have seen the world. III take his
advice about the boy. Seems hard like on
me, too. Meier a Leigh till this one but
what were a farmer to thu backbonei
His mind made up, the farmer strobe of
to make arrangements with movers. Had
he been troubled with twenty unnatural
and incompetent sons, ths hay must be
made while the sun shines.
Although he had settled what to do. it
was some time before the weighty resolve
was carried into execution. Folks about
Coombe Acton do not move with the CO.
lerity of cotton brokers or other m,n of
business. Sure they are, but slow So it
was not until the September rent day that
tho farmer consulted his landlord about his
domestic ditficulty-the possession OF a son.
an only child, of about IS, who instead of
making himself useful on tho land, did lit
tie else save wander about in 4 dreamy way.
looking at all objects in nature animate or
inanimate or employed himself In the mys-
FERROUS pursuit which his father described as
'.messins with mud" Such conduct was .
departure from the respectable bucolic tra.
ditions Of the Leigh family so great that ct
times the father thought it an infection
laid upon him for some cause or other BY
an inscrutable Providence
There are certain Spanish noblemen who,
on account Of the antiquity Of their families
and services rendered, are permitted to
enter the royal presence with covered heads.
1t was, perhaps, for somewhat similar rea-
sons, custom handed down from father to
son and established by time, that the tenant
Of Watercres; Farm paid his rent to the
landlord in person, not through the me-
dunn of an agent. Mr.. Herbert being an
important man in the west country, the
Leigh family valued this privilege as highly
as ever hi1alyo valued the one above men
TONED. Mr.. Herbert, refined, intellectual
looking man of about so, received the
farmer kindly, and, after the rent without
word as to abatement or reduction, had
been paid in notes Of the county bank
DARK and greasy, but valued in this par
ticular district far above Bank Of England
promises-landlord and tenant settled down
to few minutes conversation on crops and
kindred subjects. Then the farmer unbur-
dened his mind.
I've come to ask the favor of your advice,
sir, about my boy, jerry"
Eyes" said Mr.. Herbert, 81 know him. a
nice. goodlooking boy. ses him at church
with you and about ; our place when pass.
What Of himIn