The citizen., 1919-02-27

"W'y OF all tningsi'' my aunt ex-
claimed. How are we goin' to git
all that money-these hard timesf-
ayes I'd like TO known
swell, I cant tell ye," said Uncle
/ Peabody. 81 guess he can't forgive
Us for savin' Rodney Barnes"
"what did he say7" I asked.
"Why. he says we hadn't no busi-
ness to hire man 10 help us. lie
says you an me ought to do all the
work here. lie thinks ought to took
you out o. school long ago.
l 81 can stay out o. school and keep
on with my lessons" | said.
"NOt an please him. He was mad
when he see ye with a book I'm yer
hand out there In the corn-held."
What were we TO do nowi | spent
the first sad night Of my life undoing
the plans which had been so dear TO
me but not 50 dear as my aunt and
uncle. decided TO give all my life
ana strength TO the saving of the
farm. | would still try to be great.
but not as great as the Senator.
one day In December Of that year,
had my first trial In the full respon-
q sibllty OF mans work. | was allowed
10 load and harness and hitch up and
20 To the null without assistance. My
uncle and Purvis, our hired man, were
busy with the chopping and we were
out Of -four and meal. II took a lot
of them TO keep the axes going. So
| filed two sacks with corn and two
with wheat and put them into the
box wagon. for the ground was bare,
and hltched up my horses and set out.
I reached the mill safely and be-
fore the grain was ground the earth
and the sky above were white with
snow driving down In cold, stiff
wind out Of the northwest. | loaded
my grists and covered them with a
blanket and hurried away. The snow
came So fast that II almost blinded
me. There were times when | could
scarcely see the road or the horses.
The wind came colder and soon II
was hard work To hold the reins and
keep my hands from freezing.
Suddenly the wheels began jumping
over rocks. The horses were In the
ditch. | knew what was the matter,
for my eyes had been filling with snow
and had had 10 brush them often. or
course the team had suffered ina like
manner. Before I could stop ] heard
the crack OF felly and front wheel
dropped 10 its huh. checked the
horses and jumped out and went TO
their heads and cleared their eyes. The
snow was up TO my knees then.
How the thought OF that broken
wheel smote mel Ii was our only
heavy wagon. and we having to pay
the mortgage What would my uncle
say2 The query brought tears to my
eyes.
unhtched and led my horses NJ
into the cover of the pines. How CRATE
full Il seemed. for the wind was slack
below but bowling In the treetops
knew that l was four miles from home
and knew not how l was TO get there
Chilled TO the bone. l gathered some
pitch pine and soon had fire going
with my flint and tinder. l knew that
I could mount one of the horses and
lead the other and reach home prob
ably. But there was the grist. We
needed that; l knew that we should
have TO 90 hungry without the grlst
Ii would get wet from above and be
low II ! tried 10 carry II on the back
of horse. l warmed myself by the
fire and hitched my team near II so AS
10 thaw the frost out Of their forelocks
and eyebrows. l felt In my coat pock'
cts and found handful OF nails
everybody carried nails In one pocket
In those days-and l remember that
my uncle's pockets were-a museum OF