The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-05-11
SELECTED STORY.
At the Institute.

Mabel sat upon a pumpkin with her
hands clasped on her knee. Inc
ground about her was dotted with the
yellow fruit and strewn with its wither'
ed vines. Mabel, however, was not
looking at the pumpkins or noticing
them at all. She was gazing at some
lay Just before her.
The public highway ran along right
behind her with only board fence be-
tween, and every now and then a
buggy or roadcart ran past, but she
paid no attention to them. Pretty
soon, though, a noisy lumber wagon
came laundering along. II was one of
those vehicles known as "hog wag-
on" and it had three-board fence all
around the top. 1t was near sunset in
the afternoon, so the wagon had de-
livered it's load of hogs in town and
was now empty and homeward bound
The man in the wagon was whistling
ioyously and driving his old farm horses
very fast.
When he approached Mabel he stop
ped whistling and slowed up his horses
somewhat. After going little further
he turned the team in at post, tied
them carelessly then went over near the
girl, and threw himself against the
fence.
"Surveyin' the mules, Mabel?" the
young man asked, carelessly.
eyes," said she, briefly.
"They're a bad lot-a bad lot for
your father to have on his hands this
wayl" he remarked next.
Mabel made no reply to this.
"Fact is, Mabel, your folks are too
much given to experimenting" he
went on, audaciously. "They think
they've got to be progressive and-and
-enterprising, and take to every new
theory that comes along, and think
they're going to get rich, but they're
liable to get taken in like they did with
these" And Larry nodded toward
the mules.
Mabel turned her head and gave him
an indignant stare. "Father thought
there would be good market for them
in St. LOUIS" she said with asperity.
she had good reason for thinking so,
too. Then he took the whole carload
of mules in the first place in trade for
western land. That was all right; for
the western land was worth nothing at
all, and it seemed like good bargain"
"Oh, yes, it seemed all right, l don't
doubt" put in Larry. "All these new
experiments seem good, and they sound
we'll when you talk about them, but
when you come to put 'em in practice
that's when you run against the stump"
Mabel had turned her face away
again. "It's just as l say, Mabel" he
began deliberately, "your folks are too
progressive, too much given to expert
menting. Now, take that irrigating
business of your fathers that fell
through last year. Irrigating may be
all right out west or somewhere where
they have things fixed for it, but when
you see an Illinois farmer setting up
windmill to irrigate his cornfield-"
"Irrigating with windmill is all
right" cried Mabel, getting excited.
"There are people that have succeeded
at it. Father says sol And it can be
done. The idea is all right. Fathers
failed because - because - the well
wasn't deep enough, or something's
forget just what. But it can be done.
You can irrigate with windmill"
eyes, cabbage patch" said Larry.
"But forty-acre cornfeld-thats an
other thing. Your father'd read about
it, guess-he's always reading some
thing or other-then he laid out the
money on it, and it fell through. 1t
may be ali right to try new ideas and
find out things, but if fellows only
got eighty acres he can't afford to make
an experiment station out of it,"
Larry uttered these reflections on her
father with perfect composure, and
when he had finished, looked up in her
face with great innocence. Mabel had
left her seat near him and was con-
fronting him with angry eyes a rod
away. Larry was not alarmed. He
and Mabel were very used to each
other, and they had been over this sub.
ject before. Also his family and hers
had been over it many times together
and had quarreled over it good-natured.
ly and had laughed and disputed it to.
gether, and had gone on being the very
best of friends all the while.
81 guess my father is as we'll off at
yours is if he is given to experiment