Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1916-08-03
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COPYRIGHT 81 ooO steoAS. eAoe q CO.
to the professor: Il hereby resign my
position as instructor in English, to
take effect Immediately"
The professor laughed. He didn't
yet believe 1 meant it,
The house was set with its side to
the road, about one hundred feet into
the lot. A long ell ran out behind, evil
IDENTITY containing the kitchen and then
the sheds and Outhouses. The side
door, on a grape Swallowed porch, was
in this ell, facing the barn across the
way. The main body of the dwelling
was the traditional, simple block, with
a fine old doorway, composed of simple
DOric pilasters supporting a hand
hewn broken pediment-now, alas!
broken in more than an architectural
sense. 1t was a typical house Of the
splendid carpenter-and-builder period
of a century ago.
This front door faced into an aged
and now sadly dilapidated orchard.
The winters had racked the poor old
orchard, and great limbs lay on the
ground. What remained were bristling
with suckers. The sills of the house
were still hidden under banks of
leaves, held in place by boards, to keep
out the winter cold. There We're no
curtains in the windows, nor much
sign of furniture within. From this
view the old house looked abandoned.
It had evidently not been painted for
twenty years.
We turned around the giant lilac
tree to the side door, searching for
Milton Noble. A bent old lady peered
over her spectacIes at US, and allowed
Milt wuz out tew the barn He was
standing in the door, contemplating
our car.
Good morning" said I. ga fine old
house you have"
He'd first-grOwth timber when twas
built. Why wouldn't it be?' He spat
lazily and wiped the back of his hand
across his whiskers.
eve hear you want to sell it.
thought" My sentence was a CUES
ton.
Dunno whar you heerd thet," he
replied. Il hain't said I did"
Don't you want to SELF" said I.
~ might" he answered.
Suppose we take a look into the
house?' suggested the professor.
The old man moved languidIy from
the door. AS he stepped, his old black
trOuser leg pulled up over his shoe-top
and we saw that he wore no stockings
He paused in front of the motor car
How much did tibet benzine buggy
cost?" he asked.
-Four thousand dollars" said the
owner.
The gray eyes darted a look into the
professors face; then they became
enigmatic. Powerful lot O. money!"
he unused, moving on. "Whar's YOUR? '
he added to me.
IF l had one of those, I couldn't
have your farm" said l.
He squinted shrewdIy. "Dunno's
yer kin, anyway, do ye?" was his reply.
He now led us into the kitchen. We
saw the face of the old lady peering
at US from the 'butt'ry" A modern
range was backed up against a huge,
old-fashioned brick oven, no longer
used A copper pump, with a brass
knob on the curved handle, stood at
one end of the sink-"GOes ter the
WELL" said Milt. The floor was of an
cient hardwood planking, now worn
into polished ridges. A door led up a
low step into the main house, which
consisted, downstairs, Of two rooms,
dusty and disused, to the left, and two
similar rooms, used as bedrooms, to
the south (aIl four containing fire
places, and a hall, where a staircase
with carved rail led to the hall above,
f1anked by four chambers, each with
its fireplace, too. Over the kitchen was
long, unfinished room easily convert
ed into servants quarters. Secretly
pleased beyond measure at the excel
lent preservation of the interior. l kept
discreet silence, and with an air of
great wisdom began my inspection of
the farm.
Twenty acres of the total thirty were
on the side of the road with the house,
and the lot was almost sQuare-about
three hundred yards to a side The
land had, fancied, been neglected for
many years, like the tumbIing stone
walls which bounded it. Behind the
barn, on the other side of the road,
the rectangular ten-acre lot was rough
second-growth timber by the brook,
and COW pasture all up the slope and
over the plateau.
reclaim a New England farm as an