The Columbus journal., 1889-05-01

Il = wisdom. my boy. to sorsee
]. FARMER JOHN.
Old John Sanbourn-''Farmer John"
his neighbors called him-was . very
energetic and successful farmer in the
great wooded belt Of central Wisconsin.
The heavy timber Of nearly two hum
dred acres had melted before his brawny
arm. and months at q time the ring OF
his heavy az had accompanied the sun
from its rising to its going down. Great
farm buildings had risen slowly BY the
rude sheds which were first called home,
and droves of sheep and cattle fed where
the one COW and unbroken steers 6rst
found pasture.
Farmer John had fairly met all the dis
couragements usual in pioneer life, and,
aided only by his equally energetic wife,
had honestly acquired a competence.
That he was an honorable neighbor and
. fair dealer none could deny, but some
how, as the years passed and the farm
was improved, there had grown up to-
ward him on the part Of his neighbors q
feeling Of distrust and aversion.
As rule, they called him honest but
''close." Some Of them thought him
selfish. 1.-The almighty dollars all he's
aftsr." was the often repeated remark Of
uncharitable neighbors, who. less thrifty
and industrious than he, found it hard
to feed their large families, much less
accumulate stock buildings and machin-
cry, as Farmer John had done.
: The fact was, when John SanbouTn
came into the new country, times were
extremely hard, and it required strict
economy to make the few dollars he had
brought with him from the east provide
for his wants until he raised his first
crop. A poor harvest and q still poorer
market in the second year caused Farmer
John to pinch almost to the verge Of
nakedness and starvation. A habit Of
closene@ was thus formed which time
did not diminish, and which grew in the
eyes Of his neighbors into q fault Of the
most exaggerated dimensions.
One little grave had been made during
these troubled years, and another trouble
which we shall presently mention had
contributed to leave the old man a. we
find him - overworked, morose and
selfish.
On this particular morning he seemed
rather more surly and gloomy than
usual It was just As the springs work
was beginning, and the never ending
round Of toll was swelling into even
greater proportions than usual. On
every hand, look where he would, there
was something to be done, and to his
business eye there was no moro chance
for q resting spell than there had been
thirty years before.
Something must be wrong, yes, some
thing must be wrong" he repeated to
himself. as he walked on up the wide
lane leading to the old barn.
Something was wrong. Like . good
many men who are anxious to do well,
and have little to do with, Farmer
John had saved and worked till he
thought Of nothing but saving and work
ing. Ambitious as he was, he dreaded
to see any Of the boys start out in life
unless he started well, and above all he
could not bear the thought Of one Of
them marrying into a family not well
supplied with money or land. So when
the oldest boy, Will, had reached his
twenty-second year, and began to call
occasionally on the Widow Baldwin's
bright little Helen, it surprised no one to
hear that his father had told him to stop
going there, or to leave the farm.
Will was deeply attached TO the old
place and had worked faithfully every
day since he was big enough to pile
brush. So one morning, when the old
man found the breakfast q littls late and
Wills mother trying to hide the tears
when she called him, he was not pre-
pared to hear that he had gone-gone no
one knew where
Although in his heart the father felt as
badly as any one, he was still inexorable
and declared that no boy of his should
marry q beggar-no, not If he never saw
him again. So Will went away, and the
autumn and winter came and went, and
the springs work was upon them, with
all the extra labor Wills absence en-
tailed.
Thus things stood when We find the
old man talking to himself along the
path to the great red barn. The boys
had gone over to the hill pasture to re-
pair the wall before turning in the stock,
which, impatient to 60. was still fed at
the barn.
Farmer John had come up in the mid
de Of the forenoon to look after things
and carry back q jug Of fresh water. and
while there he stopped at tho barn to
feed out = little before going to the
house. He had thrown some stalks over
to the sheep and COWS, showed . bright
bit Of hay to the new bossy, and now.
after giving old Kit all the oats she
needed. found himself with . large.fork-
.ful left
Just what to do with Il did not seem
70 come to hfn at once. So, mechani-
cally lsaning his fork against the pile, he
ut down upon It Yes, sat down tc
think. and the way he did it, and that he
did It at III. showed he began thinking
before he sat down.
That Farmer John should stop work,
and shove al in the middle Of q bright
forenoon. was something quite out Of hia
usual way Of proceeding. Farmer John
seldom did think much, and what think
ing he did was generally done upon hi
test; but whether this particular morn
ing found him In Q more troubled stat<
than common, or the great pile Of sof'
hay proved too much Of temptation fo'