The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-06-10
Stories of an Inland State.

together and say nothing against this hired
man, for in its master role of decent appear
ance is most successful on a farm.
Looking upon old John Wrights place to-
day with it's high poplars standing along
the country road III military rigor and reg
ularity, with its arbors radiating In sew
eral directions from the house and its fields
black l.stening in the sun lying down the
I'LL at its side, you would say that there
was the place for true happiness You
would say that if you were Poet or
General Manager of a railroad or President
of the United States.
You might even go so far as TO say, after
taking seat under a tree, Here let me
live and die
If there were any country people about
they would laugh at you and would not be
polite enough to try to conceal their ridi-
cule.
For a farm, weighed in the scales of po-
esy, is heavenly enough, We all know, but
when II is put on the measure of rough
reality there is nothing blissfui about IL
You might answer this by holding that
nothing is so sweet to your ears as the
rythmic hiss Of the streaming milk IN the
FURNISHED pail. But seat yourself there ana
let the gentle-eyed bovine crack you sharp
ly in the face with her cockle-ourr orna-
mented tail or kick the vessel Of milk all
over you, and the tenderness OF memory
would give way to the raw wound OF
over-taxed patience.
So In each item you would care to ex-
anime on Old John Wright's farm You
would find some disappointment, and, be-
fore you had been on the farm day, you
would return to your dreams if you were
a poet, to your office If you were General
Manager OF a railroad, perfectly satisfied
with your lot.
The beauties of farm are all appar-
ent Its drawbacks Turk in ambush. In
the case of this particular hired man, this,
however, was not true. His bad features
were all on the surface, while his good
qualities were concealed. So true indeed
was this that had you been farmer you
would have taken this hired man and this
hired man alone, and no other hired man
would you ever have had, having once had
him.
This hired mans name was joey, which
a certain fondness for its wearer had
sculptured out Of the Quarried block Jo-
seph While his name was Joey, he was
joey" ''Bashful Joey" Lazy Joey"
mind to tack onto his name
Joey was not a handsome man. He was
very tail and very broad and mis- hands were
big and brown, and he didn't keep his
clothes clean and In order. In addition to
that he had a great, black, scraggly beard
which grew far up on his cheeks and was
momentarily threatening TO inundate his
eyes. Then his black hair was always fly
ing loosely in his eyes and people said he
never did comb il. He wasn't handsome.
That has been written and will have to
stand. But if qualification were TO be al
lowed ii could be said that IL he had fixed
UP" he could have been handsome.
He was a very fine-hared man. He fin
ished everything up in apple-pie order.
He could pillow a furrow that a surveyor
could bet on, and he could hoe more peas
and like vegetables than any man in the
township.
No one ever heard him grumble. No one
was ever cross to him or jealous Of him, be-
cause he was very afraid of young women.
and moreover he never went TO church, be-
cause the children of the neighborhood said
he was so good his heart didn't need any
mending.
In fact, the foregoing description Of the
hired man was child's, and was accepted
as standard and worthy of perpetuity by
all the children in the neighborhood.
To Old John Wright, this hired man was
something more-what more he had never
discovered.
And as this hired man was something
more. Old John Wright, the farmer, knew
that this hired man knew that John Wright
knew that he was something more. This
was as far as John Wright ever went in
to the matter. He was a busy farmer and
had no time to follow his curiosity on idle
excursions into other peoples lives.
And this was the way John Wright had
discovered that there was something more
to this hired man:
1t was two years before when joey came
shutting up the road and walked into the
back yard. John Wright mistook him far a
tramp at first 1t was evening and the sun,
which the poets talk about, was sleeping
the farm IN a splendid bath of golden light
John Wright took one sharp look al the
stranger and said:
Where are you bound?'
Nowhere" answered Joey.
"Eh?'
Nowhere. want work"
What kind of work?'
Farm work.
John Wright had given him another
searching glance. Little did he think then
that here was the best hired man in the
state For John Wright believed this ap-
rlicant 10 be tramp, who was scheming
for a place to sleep and his supper and
breakfast-no, not his breakfast, for a
tramp would be gone before day break. At
least John Wright convicted this visitor Of
yagrancy at once
Can you milk?' John Wright had ask
ed
Yes, Sir" Joey had answered.
well. take this pail and tackle that old
brindle cow over there"
John Wright was trying an experiment
Tramps could milk and milk they did-often
John Wr:ght's cows. But he believed with
other farmers that they invariably MIXED
with one hand, as the vessels they carry
tomato cans-are small. He would watch
this new visitor.
Joey had taken the pail which was given
him and sidled up TO the cow when the an
;nal Immediately began a FESTIVE see-saw-
ing.
Whoa" said Joey, trembling.
''Ha.'' yelled Old John Wright demoniac-
ally.
I'm rather awkward" said Joey with a
smile.
Rather" laughed Wright. you amt
tramp. at least"
How did you know that
IF you were tramp you'd starved 10
death long ago. You're on the wrong side
OF that COW. You can't milk her OF the
left SIDE"
you can't7'
No" ,
VIVA; difference does !; naake?''
a whole lot
ssNNsii III b Main with Nr,i-r -.-,r