The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1902-04-19
SOME YANKEE TRAITS
BLRLE AGENT VISITS NEW EN-
GLAND ABANDONED FARM
REGION
TYPICAL FARMERS FAMILY
Harren Character of the Soil From
Which They wrest Their
Living Makes Them
Frugal

To the visitor in the New England de-
serted village the coming of the Bible
agent was event of almost feveriSh
interest. The village lay far back to the
southwark of the southern tier of the
Berkshires, in that silent stretch Of lanu
known officially as the abandoned farm
district, says the New York Sun, and no
traveller from the outside world had dis
turbed its slumber since the biscuit
drummer had spent a night there ten
days before.
The visitor wickedly made up his mind
that he would get some diversion out
OF the Bible agent if he had to obtain
IL corner on the livery business by hiring
IN advance the one available horse ana
wagon In the village. This he would
suhlet to the agent, provided the latter
would take him along as driver. And
when the agent on the morning after his
arrival announced his purpose of work.
ing through the country that day so far
as the state line he had no other choice
than to accept the visitors proposition.
the agent was an old man, a clergy
man whose health had failed, who as a
rensioner of his church still served it
by distributing part of the output of its
Bible society. AS his mission was to sell
Bibles only to those VINO could afford
TO pay for them and to give them away
to those too poor to buy, his task did not
seem to the visitor to be arduous.
The journey was begun by a. M, and
the agent requested his driver to stop,
not only at all the farm houses, but
wherever they might find men working
in the fields.
In a country so thinly settled" he
explained we must allow no one to es-
cape u.s."
A stoop- shouldered old man, returning
with a couple Of steel traps from a. pas
ture lot. was the first customer. In in
Producing his subject the clergyman used
a stereotyped formula from which he
seldom departed.
Can you tell me-" he said, hating
the old man and unclasping a case con-
tanning samples of his Bibles, IF your
household is supplied with Bible?''
The stoop- shouldered old man let his
traps rattle to the ground and looked
The agent over carefully.
We'll, If it faint 1t fought to be-
he replied, 1.-The Lord knows we've lived
long 'nough an got 'nough young 'uns
they a hull stack on. 'em sumWheres-.-
got EN- t sell hev yep
The agent handed him a cheaply- bound
volume containing blank pages for the
family record.
1NlS one we sell at ~ cents each, -
he said.
The farmer took it and spent some
moments in turning over the leaves and
examining the binding. Then he glanced
up and his eye fell upon the visitor S
hired horse.
"Fust rate lookin' Bible" he said,
''cheap 'nough, tew, I should say. Got
Bill Curtis old boss there, amt We? Want
t stake with We at the foot tn hill, did
he? All fired good boss that wuz once
He seems a very faithful animal"
the agent replied patiently. Here is an
other Bible we sell for Is cents without
the family record
The farmer adjusted a pair of specta-
cles and glanced at the open page of the
T-cent copy
'Most's good as tn fust one, ain't il?
! s'spose it's all here amt it, from Jo-
nah'n tn whale. clear through t. Lee
yiticus? Bill kinder cal'lated t. put that
old boss on me once fer nice little six
year-old bay mare T had; but Bill ain t
alias S cute s he thinks he Is. 1
knowed that boss long fore Bill did
belonged up in New Boston,
1T seems pity. the Bible man in
terrupted. eff you are not supplied with
"a Bible to let this opportunity slip by
The stoop-shouldered man returnef
the two volumes to the buggy
Il dun know but Yer right he SAID
II amt got my wallet with me. but you
jest take EN- around to that house yon-
der an let the women folks pick out any
kind they want. I'll stand fer't an
they know where t get the money. Ask
Bill how many O. them 40-centers he ~
take fer his boss when We gets back. He
amt wuth more'n you could git in a
peck measure. .,~i
At the house pointed out by the old
farmer the agent found the women folks
grouped around chicken coop There
were three Of them. ranging In age from
fwenty-one to eighty-tive and it was
evident from their troubled faces. that
the inmates of the chicken COOP were
the cause of some veXing problem. 49,.
PA won't hev It no other way" the
middle one Of the three was saying as
the agent drove up, but that tn thun-
der and lightin' did it, ' 55. &1t v
May I ask YOU the Bible man be.
gan, in his stereotyped way.
Ehe woman who had been speaking
turned upon him sharply. ... ...
You may ask anything you Ike. she
replied. ''providin' you'll, answer me jest
one question. What, want re to tell me,
is KILN them white Leghorns Eastern
four hens kin hatch 'em?'
The question was not tn the ex-clergy-
mans line and it broke somewhat rude
ly, into his trend of thought, hut he rail-
lied courageously.> - - -
II have heard" he said, that severe
electrical storms just before the eggs
were Matched would frequently destroy
the young CHI .-s" 81, s.-&S#sF
just exactly what Pas bin sayin','
the woman broke in. AN I bout made
up my mind tn good Lord amt eal-
latin we should raise> white Leghorns
this year. He couldn't a timed four
thunder showers so'st t. kill four sep
rate hatchin's nicer-not if He'd set out
to a. purpose lsaa s.
r. Inc Bible man lodged the issue and
mad started on his first question w hen it
occurred to him that the old farmer
had given the women carte blanche SO
far as ordering his wares were concern
ed. 3ll., E a. - "-a&
'Ain't that jest like par the young
est OF the three exclaimed when tho
agent had explained the farmers ofrer.
II guess he's kinder lowed to himself
we kin hev Bibles If we can't hev chick
eng, but lam sakes! we amt needin
no new Bibles. How much be thew,
The agent handed a different sample to
H each Of the three women and after tiney
had been examined and passed around
the old woman took it upon herself ia
2 make the selections. SIS
81 long as pa seems kinder sot on
having US: hev EN-. = she suggested. 81
think we nights well take one o. these
family record ones Tn writin's gettfn,
kinder faded auot in the old one an i,
won't he a bad idee t COW OF tn