Adopting an Abandoned Farm

, doctor, that gardening i

ur own cabbages. Sow your own turnips, and i

AS H

level is decided for you, and the public opinio

ib about your age in your native village. Some old w

k. He would give me a quizzical

fancy fountains for 'em; but I let 'em scratch for themselves and have their liberty, and mine look full better'n your'n. I'll give ye one p'int. You could save a lot by engagin' an old hoss that's got to be killed. I'm allers looking round in the fall of the

ange the subject, inquired if he thought many would attend. Jake loo

different from anything he ever heard." This reminded me of a capital story told me by an old family doctor many years ago. It was that sort of anecdote now out of fashion with raconteurs-a long preamble, many details, a gradual increase of interest, and a vivid climax, and when told by a sick bed would sometimes weary the patient. A man not especially well known had given a lecture in

h. I guess the folks was purty well pleased. No

I ask wha

t, no matter who's hurt-and he usually gets the gist on't. But I wouldn't mind what he said, the p

"but I do want very much to know

are. He's got good common sense and allers hits the nai

know what Squire

nd he's apt to get the gist on't) he did

, An old woman was fiercely criticising a neighbor and ended in this way: "F

its, and when I said, "Do you really believe all this?" she replied, "Indeed, I do, and yet I'm not an imaginary woman!"

as much as the minister 'bout this world or the next; liked nothing better than to set down Sund

t look like any of "Bob's" productions. It was a Guid

sayings of a simple-hearted

ws. He had on a rubber coat and cap, but his trouser legs were rolled above the knee and h

ed back cheerily. "I never

had expressed a strong desire for phenomenal extremes of temperature. One morning he suddenly departed. I met

imed, "where are you

d me to go to Hali

n that place at halves; urged me to buy twelve or fourteen cows cheap in the fall and start a milk route, he to be the active partner; then he had a chance to buy a lot of "essences" cheap

e picture-gallery, as I have two good st

a camping ground and head center; big black water snakes often came to drink and lingered by the edge; the ugly horn pout was the only fish that could live there. Depressing, in contrast with my rosy dreams! But now the little lake is a charming reality, and the boat is built and launched. Turtles, pout, lily roots as big as small trees, and two hundred loads of "alluvial deposit" are no longer "in it," while carp are promised me by my friend Commissioner Blackford. The "Tomtoolan"[2] is not a large body of water-one

in honor of the

energies to bailing. "Tip her a little more," I cried, and the next instant we were both rolled into the water. It was an absurd experience, and af

d jocose allusions to a sudden change to Baptistic faith, and if I cordially invited them to join me in a row, would declare a

l a subject of mirth, even in other towns. A friend calling yesterd

gerie, fust off-everything she see or could hear of. Got sick o' the circus bizness, and went into potato

ith half a dozen boys hired to help her. Soon as she'd killed most of her own, a million more just traveled over from the field opposite where

seven by nine mud hole to make a p

with her, and, as I heerd it, that boat

that terrific thralldom, if a city friend, after h

It's much cheaper

ge spell-supposed I must plant po

." I admired the condensed wisdom of this, but, like experien

to walk away alone. One warm morning it seemed to have gained during the night. Its penetrating, permeating power was something, almost supernatural. I carried it from one place to another, each time more remote. It would not be lonely if segregrated, doubtless it had ample social facilities within itself! At last I became desperate. "Ellen," I exclaimed, "just bring in that

r fertiliz

res, losses, but have you any idea of

irt. We are made of dust, and the closer our companionship with Mother Earth in summer time the longer we shall keep above ground. Then the freedom from conventional restraints of dress; no necess

too fine for the sun to glorify; butter, eggs, cream, vegetables, poultry-simply perfect, and the rare, ecstatic pr

lowing descriptions of Days Outdoors. In my own homely pasture I have found the dainty wild rose, the little field strawberries so fragrant and spicy, the blue berries high and low, so desirable for "pie-fodder," and daisies and ferns in abundance, and, in an adjoining meadow by the brookside, the cardinal flower and the b

uried alive. But when I go back for a short time to the old life I am fairly homesick. I miss my da

sound sleep and refreshing rest, the all-day picnics, the jolly drives with friends as charmed with country life as myself, and I weary of social fu

y life of ch

e best, the

he earliest

utlived th

es perishe

t farmers we

E