Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1890-04-04

I. had not been able TO find tenant for IT,
/ Poor Higley after working himself nearly
to death ol, it, in the attempt to lit th,
mortgage. had gone on TO Dakota. leaving
the farm and his curse To- Butler
Ills was The farm which Council al, ised
/ Hawkins to apply for. and the next dag
Council hitched up his team and drove
/ down town To see Butler.
'Iou jest lem me do the talhin," he
said Wen find him wearing uut his
pants on some salt barrel samewcars; and
/ if he thought you wanted a place. he'd
sock it to you hot and heavy. You jest
keep quiet; I'll fix i'm
/ Rutlcr was seated in Ben Ashlcy's store
telling fish yarns. when Council sauntcr-
/ ed in casually.
Hello. Bat lynn agiu, haf'
/ Hello. Steve! how goes itf'
"Oh, $3.50 Too dang much rain these
day. thought it was goin' t freeze fl
good last night Tight squeak ii sit m
plowm done. How'a farmin' with you
these days"
Bad Plowin' amt half done
1t I'D be a religious idee rr you T. 90
out and take "a hand y'rself
Il don't har TO- said Hotler with a
wink
Got anybody on the Higley place"
No. Know of any body"
..Waal, no; not eggsackly I've got a
relation back t Michigan who's ben hot
an cold on the idee o comm west t-r some
time. Might come if he could get a good
layout What do You talk on the FARM
''WelI, IL know. I'll rent it on shares
or I'll rent it money rent
"Waal, how much money, say}'
well say ten per cent on the price
$3.50"
''Wall, that amt bad Wait on i'm till
e thrashesi'
lIdsLm3 listened eagerly to thi5 import
ant question, but Council was coolly eating
a dried apple which he had spearel out of
barrel with his knife Butler studied
him carefully.
''Well, this knocks me out Of twenty five
dollars interest.
MY relation IL need all hes got t git
his crops in said Council, i'll the same in
different way.
well, all right; say wait, concluded
Butler
''All right; this is the man. Haskins,
this is Mr.. Butier-no relation to Ben
the hardest working man in all Cedar
county"
On the way home naskins said. u
! amt much better of. I'd like that farm;
its a good farm, but its all run down an
so m J. 1 could make good farm of it if
| had half show But I can't stock it mr.
seed it."
''Waal, now, don't you worry" roared
Council, in his ear "We'll pull y thro'
somehow till next harvest. Hes agreed Z
hire il plowed, an' you can earn II hundred
dollars pioSin' an y can git the seed o
me, and pay me back When y can. -
Haskins was silent with emotion, hat at
last he said:
II amt got nothin' t live on "
"Now don't you worry bout that You
jest make your headquarters at or Steve
Councils. Mother'll take pile o. comfort
in hayin' y'r wife an children round Y
see James married off lately, an IkeB
away good 'eal, SO well be darn glad {
have We stop with us this winter. Next
spring we'll see if ye can't git start agin'' :;
and he chirruped to the team, which
sprang forward with the rumbling, clattcr
ing wagon.
Say, looky here Council you can't do
this. | never saw shouted Haskins, IN
his ncighbor's ear.
Council moved about nneasly in his seat,
and stopped his stammering gratitude by
saying:
Hold on, now; don't make such fuss
over Il little thing:when I see Il man down
an things all on top OF IN l jest like t
kick 'em off an help m up. That's the
Kind oil religion l got. an its about the
ouly kind
They rode the rest of the way home in
silence. And when the red light of the
lamp shone ont into the darkness of the
cold and windy night and he Thought of
this refuge for his children and wife he
could have put his arm around the neck Of
his burly companion and squeezed him like
n lover; but he contented himself with say
ing, "Steye Council you'll git y'r pay fr
this some day"
Don't want any pay. My religion amt
run on any such small business principles "
The wind was growing colder. and the
ground was covered with Il white frost as
they turned into the gate of the Council
farm, and the children came rushing out,
shouting, "Papa's comet They hardly
looked like the same chillren who had sat
at the table the night before. Their torpid
ity, under the influence of sunshine and
Mother Council, had given way to L sort of
spasmodc eheerfulness, as insects in win
| ter revive when laid on the earth.
III
Haskins worked like a fiend and his
wife, like the accomplishing woman that
| she was bore also uncomplainingIy the
| most terrible burdens. They rose early
and toiled without .intermission till the
darkness fell on the plain, then tumbled
| into bed, every bone and muscle aching
with fatigue to rise with the sun next
morning to the same round Of the same
ferocity of labor.
The eldest boy, now nine years old,
| drove a team all through the spring, plow-
ing aud seeding, Iuilked the COWS, and dad
! the place of man; An infinitely pathetic,
but common ligure-this boy-on the
American farm, where there is no law
against child labor. TO see him in his
rough clothing, his huge boots, ana his
ragged cap, as he staggered with pail OF
water from the well, OF trudged in the cold
and cheerleas dawn out into the cold field
behind his team, gave the city-brcd visitor
a sharp pang of sympathetic pain. Yet
Uaskins loved his boy, and would have
saved him this if he could, but he could
not.
BY June the first year the result of such
Herculean toll began to show ON the farm.
The yard was cleaned up and sown to
grass, the garden plowed and planted and
and the house mended. Council had given
them four of his cows.
Take 'em and run em on shares.
don't want'a milk s'many. lke'5 away S
much now, Satd'y3 an Sund'ya. / can't
1