The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1889-12-13

gestions for remark as possible; so, before
leaving his hotel, he Invested himself Of every
visible trace of city raiment, and clothed him
self in the Sunday suit which Haynton had
seen often enough to pass without remark.
He could not restore his shorn superhuity OF
hair, but he again put on the hat which for a
year had been his best at home. He even
went SO far as to leave for his father q new
trunk which he had purchased, putting his
own personal property into the antique car
pet-bag-real carpet-whioh the old farmer
had brought down.
Lastly, that he might not appear in the
least like city youth, he carried with him
two religious weeklies which some society for
the reformation of hotel boarders had caused
to be placed in his box in the hotel Office, and
be read them quite faithfully ON the train.
Reminders of the old life to which he was
returning came to him thick and fast when
the train got fairly out of the city. In a field
he saw a man stripping the leaves from
standing corn stalks, and although the view
was what photographers term "instantane-
ous," 1t was long enough to show the shabby
attire, brown face, shocking bad hat, clumsy
boots, and general air Of resignation that
marked all farmers in the vicinity Of Hayn-
ton. Two or three miles farther along he
saw a half grown boy picking up stones in a
field of thin soil and adding them to piles
which were painfully significant of much
similar work in past days.
Down in a marshy pasture beside the rail-
way embankment two men were digging a
drainage ditch; they were too far apart to be
company for each other, and too muddy to
be attractive to themselves. Phil at once re-
called much work of like nature he had done,
and more that still depended upon his muscle
to make the entire acreage Of Hayn farm
available for cultivation. Estimating accord
ing to past experience and newly acquired
knowledge, he found that the number of days
of work required, if paid for at the lowest
rate of common laborers in New York, would
amount to twice as much as the value of the
land when improved. 1t was easy to see why
farmers never got rich. Still, the farm was
his natural sphere; he had been born to it.
Heaven, in arranging his life career, knew in
advance what he was fit for, and his own diff
ference of opinion would probably be ex-
planned away in time by the logic Of events
which he could not foresee.
In a dusty road near little station at
which the train stopped he saw two farmers
wagons meet, stop, and their owners engage
In conversation. Thus would he, tho OBJ
server, soon be obtaining whatever news he
acquired; instead of every morning opening
q newspaper recording the previous days do
ings throughout the civilized world, he would
be restricted to stories Of how Joddles' horse,
who had cast himself, was getting along with
his scraped hip joint, and when Bragfew
thought he might be likely to kill beef IL
he could find somebody to take fore quar-
ter which hadn't been spoken for yet, the
chances of Nemy Perkins being ''churched"
for calling Deacon Thewser a sneaking old
sheep thief, and much more information
equally entertaining and instructive. Well,
why nots What better news would he him
self be likely to offerl He was not going to
fall into the sin, warning Of which had been
given by one of the apostles, of esteeming
himself more highly than his neighbors; some
people in the vicinity of Haynton did not
seem much better than fools, but probably
none of them had ever been 30 idiotic as to
fall in love with women far above them in
social station and consequently far beyond
their reach.
Farther and farther the train left the city
behind; more and more desolate the country
appeared. IL was late October; all crops had
been harvested, and many trees had shed all
their leaves; the only green was that of grass
and evergreens, the latter looking almost
funereal under the overcast sky. The train
entered region of pine barrens, through
openings in which some sand dunes could oc-
casionally be seen. At times when the train
stopped the wind brought up the sound of the
surf pounding the beach not far away, and
the noise was not as cheering as Phil had often
thought il in earlier days.
Then empty seats in the cars became numer-
GUS. al city people who lived out Of town
had already left the train, and the few who
got Oh afterward belonged in the vicinage.
Phil had noted the change as it gradually oc-
CURED, anu TO n well dressed couple, the last
Of their kind who occupied seats not far In
front of him. his gaze chung as movrnfully as