WORKING ON A FARM TO EARN SOME MONEY--CRUEL TREATMENT.
WHEN daylight came, Archie was far out of the town walking quickly along
the southern road. He figured that he had walked nearly six miles in the
two hours since he had let himself out of the back door at home, and,
as he looked ahead, he planned that he would walk at least thirty miles
every day. Of course, he had never done much walking before, or he would
have known better than to have expected to accomplish so much in twelve
hours, but he felt fresh and full of strength this morning, and nothing
seemed too hard to accomplish. As yet he had not regretted his departure
from home. The excitement of it all, and the adventurous side of his
exploit, had kept him interested, and made him feel that he was a real
hero. But he was not so foolish as to imagine that there would not be
times when he would regret having set out for New York. He was too old
and too sensible for his age to allow his ambition to run away with him
entirely, and he fully expected to meet with many great discouragements.
“But I’m sure of one thing,” he said to himself, as he walked along, “I
never will return home until I have something to show for the trip. I
won’t have the club boys and the neighbours saying that Archie Dunn had
to come home discouraged. If I return without accomplishing anything, I
will be held up to the whole town as a boy who made a fool of himself by
not taking his friends’ advice, and I never will be made an example
of if I can help it.” And Archie walked faster as he thought of the
possibility of failure.
When seven o’clock came he was passing through the county-seat, but
though there were many interesting things to look at in the town, Archie
determined not to stop. He was afraid he might meet some one he knew,
who would be sure to ask him where he was going with his bundle, and
what he was doing out so early. And anyhow he was very hungry, and
decided to get out of the town and to the farmhouses as soon as
possible. “I can work for my meal at a farmhouse,” he said to himself,
“but in the town they’ll take me for a regular tramp.”
So poor Archie walked quickly through the town, still keeping to the
southern road, and saying to himself, as he passed every milestone,
“So much nearer New York.” About a mile out in the country he came to a
large farmhouse, and he determined to enter and ask for a meal. He had
hard work to muster up enough courage to go in and ask for anything, but
finally he knocked timidly at the kitchen door, and was frightened by
a large dog which came barking around the corner. It seemed to him that
the animal would surely bite, but a large fat woman opened the door
just in time to let him in. “Hurry in, boy,” she said, “fer there’s
no tellin’ what Tige might do ef he once gets a hold of ye.” So Archie
stepped into the large kitchen, with its rafters overhead, and its
dining-table in the corner. “Sit down, boy,” said the woman. “I reckon
you’s thet new lad thet’s come ter work over at Mullins’s, ain’t ye?”
“No’m,” said Archie, “I don’t work anywhere. I’m on my way to New York,
where I expect to find a position, and I thought perhaps you’d allow me
to do a little work here this morning to earn my breakfast.”
Good Mrs. Lane, for that was the woman’s name, was horrified to think
that any one was alive and without breakfast at eight o’clock in the
morning. “Goodness me!” said she. “Why, you must be half-famished fer
want of food, ain’t ye?” And she bustled about the kitchen, putting the
kettle on to boil, and stirring up the fire. “You’ll have some nice ham
and eggs, my boy, and then I have somethin’ in mind fer you. I reckon
yer ain’t in no hurry ter get ter the city, be ye? Well, even if ye
do be in a hurry, I reckon you’ll be glad of the chance to earn four
dollars. I ain’t goin’ to ask ye no questions about how ye come to be
walkin’ to New York, because I never wuz no hand ter meddle in other
folkses affairs, but ye look to be a likely lad, and a strong un, and ez
my sister’s husband, what lives two miles down the pike, needs a boy to
drive a plough fer a week, I b’lieve ye’ll suit ‘im first-rate. So ez
soon ez ye have finished yer vittles, I’ll walk down there with ye, and
we’ll see the old man.”
Archie hardly knew whether to be delighted with the prospect or not. Of
course four dollars would be nice to have, but he was anxious to get
to the city as soon as possible, and every day counted. But perhaps it
would be wrong, he thought, to throw away such a good chance to earn
some money, and he had decided to accept any offer the farmer made
him, long before he finished his breakfast. When he got up from the
straight-backed chair, he felt that he had never eaten a better meal
in his life, and when Mrs. Lane started off down the road, he gladly
followed her. A week on such a farm as this would be no unpleasant
experience. Such food was not to be had every day, he knew, and he of
course would have precious little that was good to eat when he reached
the city.
They soon covered the two miles, Mrs. Lane getting along very fast for
such a large woman, and at last they stood before Hiram Tinch, who owned
the farm. Archie was made to describe his intentions, and was thoroughly
examined by Mr. Tinch. He told the farmer that he knew nothing about
farm work, but Mr. Tinch said he would soon teach him, and it was
settled that Archie was to remain on the farm a week. Mrs. Lane went
inside the house to see her sister, who looked sick with too much work,
and the farmer told Archie that he might as well start in, as there was
no object in waiting. So the boy donned a pair of “blue jean” trousers,
and was taken into a field, where a one-horse plough was standing.
Archie knew how to hitch a horse, so he went to the stable and secured
his steed, and then harnessed him to the plough. The farmer didn’t
see fit to give him any instructions about ploughing, and the poor boy
hardly knew what to do, but rather than ask he started off, and tried to
guide the animal in the right direction, as far as he knew it. Of course
the horse went wrong, and the plough refused to stay in the earth,
and altogether the attempt was a miserable failure. The farmer leaned
against the fence, picking his teeth with a pin, but when he saw the
horse going crooked, and the plough bounding along over the earth, his
face grew livid with anger. For a minute he seemed unable to speak, but
strode toward Archie with a fierce look in his eyes. Then he found his
tongue, and opened such a tirade of vile words that the poor boy shrank
from him in terror. He was in mortal fear lest the man should lay hands
on him and commit some crime, so intense was his rage, but Hiram Tinch
seemed to know how far to go, and after five minutes of cursing and
swearing he took the plough in his own hands, and guided it through the
earth. “Now take it,” he growled at Archie, when he had gone a furrow’s
length, “and see ef ye can do better this time. Remember, not a bite of
dinner do ye get until this field is ploughed.”
Poor Archie was weak from fright, but there was nothing to do but to
obey. He looked at the vast field before him, and made up his mind that
he would get nothing to eat until night, anyhow, for it was already
nearly noon. He felt very much like bursting into tears, but he was too
proud to give way to his feelings. But he couldn’t help wishing that he
were at home, playing with the members of the Hut Club. “Those boys are
much better off than I am,” he said, over and over, “though they have
made no effort to improve themselves.” After a time, however, his
ambition returned, and as he looked ahead into the future, and
remembered the wonderful things he was going to accomplish, he felt more
like working.
He finished the field at five o’clock in the afternoon, and was almost
fainting from hunger and from the hard work. The ploughing was fairly
well done, but Hiram Tinch could see no merit in the work. He swore at
Archie again, and gave him a supper of mush and milk. Mrs. Tinch sat by,
and Archie could see that she did not approve of his treatment. The poor
woman seemed afraid to speak, almost, but it was plain that she had a
good heart. So when Archie heard a noise in his garret room that night,
he was not surprised to see Mrs. Tinch at the window, placing some
doughnuts and sandwiches there for him to eat.