Charlevoix county herald., 1915-08-07

he would have given your position to
someone else, and turned you out
without any notice ?" asked Sue.
mo, not quite SO bad as that" re-
Piled Sam. "He would have told me
that business was getting slack, and it
was necessary to curtail expenses, and
as soon as / could find another posi-
ton it would be satisfactory to him.
didn't expect that he would marry
me, and these concerns can't keep men
on the payroll unless they have the.
business for them to do. But the old
farm will keep me busy, and will at
least make living for us, and can
be my own boss"
The next day found Sam and Sue in
Michigan. AS the train left Grand
Rapids for the land they had selected
for their future home, and which they
supposed would in some way resemble
Illinois, they were depressed by the
miles and miles of oak grubs, and
pine stumps on either side of the car,
but as Sam told Sue, land that would
produce so bushels of wheat could not
look like that, and it must be diff
ferent country where their land was
located The man at the Michigan
Stock Ranch Co. had told them to buy
their ticket to Lilly, which he said
was a little station few miles east
of the land he had sold them in Troy
township, along the Pere Marquette
river, and they could get a man at the
station to drive them over to the farm,
but he would advise Sam to leave his
wife at the hotel at White Cloud,
and go on up and clean out the house,
and get things in readiness for her
before he moved in.
He said the house was not city
mansion, but could be made comfort
able until they could get off few
crops which would enable them to
build as nice house as any man need
to live in.
They could dam up the river that
ran through the place, and have their
own electric lights, hot and cold water
in the house, and every convenience
that they could have in the city, and
have the satisfaction of knowing it
was all their own.
When they reached White Cloud
Sues courage began to fail her, and
as she saw the hotel from the car
window, she decided that she had
rather go on to Lilly with Sam than
to stay there alone without him. And
so it was that they went from bad to
worse, and when they arrived at Lilly
Sam wished that he had stayed in
Chicago with his sick wife.
By inquiring he found that he could
get room for the night, in one of the
little farmhouses near the depot, and
that the owner would drive him over
to see the land he had purchased the
next day. 8
After making Sue as comfortable
as he could, and getting her to bed,
ne motioned to Pete Peterson, who
was helping his wife get supper, to
follow him out into the yard, and
when he was far enough away so
that his wife could not hear his voice,
he said: "Mr. Peterson, will you tell
me if there is any land in this part
of Michigan that will raise so bushels
of wheat to the acre."
"Well, don't know" drawled Pete,
perhaps there is, but l never seen
it. reckon you're one of the Chica-
go guys that's been readin' fairy tales
made up by the Michigan Stock Ranch
Co. 'Aint you?"
Sam ventured the information that
he had purchased 100 acres in Troy
! township from this company, at SIS an
acre, and they had told him that the
land would produce so bushels of
wheat, $50 baskets of corn, rs bushels
of oats, or 800 bushels of potatoes to
the acre and as his wife was sick, and
she had to leave the city at once, he
had taken their word for it, paid them
their money, shipped his household
goods, expecting that he was getting
into farming country such as he had
left in Illinois.
Pete took out his knife, picked up a
piece of pine root, and began to
whittle.