Evening star., 1914-09-26
TAKING A FAMILY
BACK TO THE SOIL
Being the Experiences Of q Gov
ernment Clerk Who Sets Out
to Lower the High Cost Of
Living.

Old "BilI'' is gone-gone. l suppose
the way all horses must go when ag
has laid its grip upon them and ende,
their days of usefulness
III seemed heartlesS thing to do
nut weighed Bill in the scale
against ten silver dollars, or thei
equivalent in currency. and the tel
dollars weighed heavier
Sam Longford. one of our colore,
He'shoofs. was the purchaser. 1 didn'
ASK sam what he intended doing will
tne oid horse-l didn't want to know
III may be that despite the aches ant
pains In his age-weafy legs, he mus
toii Il while longer; or. perhaps, the
1crtiiizer plant will put a merciful enc
TO MS existence. 1t would be pleasan
TO think his remaining days were t.
be spent in well fed idleness. But
Know this isn't true. Sam Longfore
is no better conditioned than 1 am tt
conduct retreat for aged and decrepi,
horses.
am getting what comfort I car
from the fact that the sale of bill
was sanctioned by unanimous vote OF
the family. l refused to take the re.
Sponslblllty alone. But.when Sam made
ms offer OF $40 l gave Jane and the
children choice of alternate PROPOSE
tionS. Either we would sell him or
would have him killed and buried l
made 1t plain that to continue feedins
a horse that was not able even to hau
me to and from the station was out OF
the question.
Margery His Sole Champion.
Jane and the boys Immediately voted
70 SELL They wouldn't listen to sus.
Eestions that he be killed Mareer1
refused at first to take either horn OF
the dilemma. She insisted that Bill
De kept and housed and fed. even if he
couldn't work
Don't tell me children are lacking in
logic Il don't have to work. Mar
gerry argued. but you keep me and
besides
She demanded also that ! tell her
what Laddie, her collie puppy did to
earn his keep. And then, again, one
OF her little friends has a canary bird
that doesn't do thing but stay in it's
cage and sing 1t was pet, and ''Bill''
was her pet, and she wanted to keep
him. She was willing to eat Just half
as much as she had been eating, and
to do without any new dresses in order
to buy oats and hay for Bill"
Jane was in despair, but I had a
trump card in reserve. 1 hadn't play
ed it sooner because / wanted Margery
10 TO exhaust all her objections. giving
calling for a final Show down"
i took the grieving maiden up on my
lap and put the proposition to her
something like this:
You like to go driving with YOUR
mother. don't you?''
Yes"
You like to go to Sunday school,
don't you?''
Yes
You like to go to see Bettina and
Margaret and your other little friends,
don't you?"
Yes
You wouldn't like it if you and
mamma had to stay at home all the
time. would your
We'll. pretty soon it will be rainy
and cold and the roads will be muddy,
and unless we have a horse you and
mamma can't go driving or to Sunday
school or to see your friends. If we
sell 'Bilf' I'll take the money we get
for him and put some more money
young, strong horse that won't be too
tired to work"
Clouds Are Rolled Away.
Immediately clouds began to roll
away. A horse is only a horse, after
all. and little girl is only little
girl. There was nothing shallow about
Margery's devotion to BILL" but even
grown-up folks are quick to hail Long
live the king as soon as the old king
dies.
So Margery cast her vote for the sale
of the old horse, making it unanimous
And Sunny Knoll is in the market for
another steed, one with four good legs
that give promise of having several
years of service left in them
Every one except Jane seems satisfied
with the transaction. She doesn't
mourn for "Bill' and is rejoiced at the
prospect of having a serviceable horse
but she still smarts under the blow to
her reputation for business shrewdness
1t may be recalled that "Bilp' was
James particular and personal find.
that sshes bought him at auction and
drove him home in triumph-or rather
led him home behind Mrs. Browns
buggy. She had outbid all other would
be purchasers and paid S42 for bill
and the Dayton wagon We still have
the wagon, which, after deducting the
$40 we got for BILL represents ar
investment of s32. 1t proba bly, is worth
about half that much. but some allow
ance must be made, I suppose, for the
pleasure and satisfaction we got out
of having u horse and family coach.
Jane isn't making any ostentatious
display of sackcloth and ashes. how
ever. The only thing even approaching
confession that she erred in judg.
nent is her concession that I shall buy
the next horse without advice as
sistance from her.
So that's where / get off, / know
I'm competent judge of horsef1esh
but I'm just naturally bound to make
better stagger at it than Jane did
If don't my prestige will be very con
siderably below par. AS Jane had thu
assistance of Mrs. Brown when sh'
bought BILL" / think am entitled Il
call on Mr.. Brown to help me out. Tha
ought to make my undertaking com
paratively safe one.
Limit Placed on Price.
We have decided that SIS is all w
can afford to take from our alread.
depleted savings toward the purchas
of a new horse, which, with the SO
got for BILL makes SIS the outsid
price. j can't expect to get Madison
Square Garden blue ribbon winner 70
that but il ought to buy a horse
little more serviceable and a littl
more presentable than the one we haC
Now that il has been decided that W
are to have "A horse to drive, prospec
of winter in the country has lost goo
deal OF its foreboding. But with tn
change TO pleasant weather winter ha
seemed still long ways off, and unit
] went back to the Office Wednesday
had been enjoying myself to the full
est | still have left four days of m
leave, which l am going to save unit
some time in October.
For those four days we have a pro
ha~ bfy,ly