It was winter at Rudder Grange. The season was the same at other places,
but that fact did not particularly interest Euphemia and myself. It was
winter with us, and we were ready for it. That was the great point,
and it made us proud to think that we had not been taken unawares,
notwithstanding the many things that were to be thought of on a little
farm like ours.
It is true that we had always been prepared for winter, wherever we had
lived; but this was a different case. In other days it did not matter
much whether we were ready or not; but now our house, our cow, our
poultry, and indeed ourselves, might have suffered,--there is no way
of finding out exactly how much,--if we had not made all possible
preparations for the coming of cold weather.
But there was a great deal yet to be thought of and planned out,
although we were ready for winter. The next thing to think of was
spring.
We laid out the farm. We decided where we would have wheat, corn,
potatoes, and oats. We would have a man by the day to sow and reap. The
intermediate processes I thought I could attend to myself.
Everything was talked over, ciphered over, and freely discussed by
my wife and myself, except one matter, which I planned and worked out
alone, doing most of the necessary calculations at the office, so as not
to excite Euphemia's curiosity.
I had determined to buy a horse. This would be one of the most important
events of our married life, and it demanded a great deal of thought,
which I gave it.
The horse was chosen for me by a friend. He was an excellent beast (the
horse), excelling, as my friend told me, in muscle and wit. Nothing
better than this could be said about a horse. He was a sorrel animal,
quite handsome, gentle enough for Euphemia to drive, and not too
high-minded to do a little farm-work, if necessary. He was exactly the
animal I needed.
The carriage was not quite such a success. The horse having cost a good
deal more than I expected to pay, I found that I could only afford a
second-hand carriage. I bought a good, serviceable vehicle, which would
hold four persons, if necessary, and there was room enough to pack all
sorts of parcels and baskets. It was with great satisfaction that
I contemplated this feature of the carriage, which was a rather
rusty-looking affair, although sound and strong enough. The harness was
new, and set off the horse admirably.
On the afternoon when my purchases were completed, I did not come home
by the train. I drove home in my own carriage, drawn by my own horse!
The ten miles' drive was over a smooth road, and the sorrel traveled
splendidly. If I had been a line of kings a mile long, all in their
chariots of state, with gold and silver, and outriders, and music, and
banners waving in the wind, I could not have been prouder than when I
drew up in front of my house.
There was a wagon-gate at one side of the front fence which had never
been used except by the men who brought coal, and I got out and opened
this, very quietly, so as not to attract the attention of Euphemia. It
was earlier than I usually returned, and she would not be expecting
me. I was then about to lead the horse up a somewhat grass-grown
carriage-way to the front door, but I reflected that Euphemia might be
looking out of some of the windows and I had better drive up. So I got
in and drove very slowly to the door.
However, she heard the unaccustomed noise of wheels, and looked out of
the parlor window. She did not see me, but immediately came around
to the door. I hurried out of the carriage so quickly that, not being
familiar with the steps, I barely escaped tripping.
When she opened the front door she was surprised to see me standing by
the horse.
“Have you hired a carriage?” she cried. “Are we going to ride?”
“My dear,” said I, as I took her by the hand, “we are going to ride. But
I have not hired a carriage. I have bought one. Do you see this horse?
He is ours--our own horse.”
If you could have seen the face that was turned up to me,--all you other
men in the world,--you would have torn your hair in despair.
Afterward she went around and around that horse; she patted his smooth
sides; she looked, with admiration, at his strong, well-formed legs; she
stroked his head; she smoothed his mane; she was brimful of joy.
When I had brought the horse some water in a bucket--and what a pleasure
it was to water one's own horse!--Euphemia rushed into the house and got
her hat and cloak, and we took a little drive.
I doubt if any horse ever drew two happier people. Euphemia said but
little about the carriage. That was a necessary adjunct, and it was good
enough for the present. But the horse! How nobly and with what vigor
he pulled us up the hills and how carefully and strongly he held the
carriage back as we went down! How easily he trotted over the level
road, caring nothing for the ten miles he had gone that afternoon! What
a sensation of power it gave us to think that all that strength and
speed and endurance was ours, that it would go where we wished, that it
would wait for us as long as we chose, that it was at our service day
and night, that it was a horse, and we owned it!
When we returned, Pomona saw us drive in,--she had not known of our
ride,--and when she heard the news she was as wild with proud delight as
anybody. She wanted to unharness him, but this I could not allow. We did
not wish to be selfish, but after she had seen and heard what we thought
was enough for her, we were obliged to send her back to the kitchen for
the sake of the dinner.
Then we unharnessed him. I say we, for Euphemia stood by and I explained
everything, for some day, she said, she might want to do it herself.
Then I led him into the stable. How nobly he trod, and how finely his
hoofs sounded on the stable floor!
There was hay in the mow and I had brought a bag of oats under the seat
of the carriage.
“Isn't it just delightful,” said Euphemia, “that we haven't any man?
If we had a man he would take the horse at the door, and we should be
deprived of all this. It wouldn't be half like owning a horse.”
In the morning I drove down to the station, Euphemia by my side. She
drove back and Old John came up and attended to the horse. This he was
to do, for the present, for a small stipend. In the afternoon Euphemia
came down after me. How I enjoyed those rides! Before this I had thought
it ever so much more pleasant and healthful to walk to and from the
station than to ride, but then I did not own a horse. At night I
attended to everything, Euphemia generally following me about the stable
with a lantern. When the days grew longer we would have delightful rides
after dinner, and even now we planned to have early breakfasts, and go
to the station by the longest possible way.
One day, in the following spring, I was riding home from the station
with Euphemia,--we seldom took pleasure-drives now, we were so busy
on the place,--and as we reached the house I heard the dog barking
savagely. He was loose in the little orchard by the side of the house.
As I drove in, Pomona came running to the carriage.
“Man up the tree!” she shouted.
I helped Euphemia out, left the horse standing by the door, and ran to
the dog, followed by my wife and Pomona. Sure enough, there was a man
up the tree, and Lord Edward was doing his best to get at him, springing
wildly at the tree and fairly shaking with rage.
I looked up at the man, he was a thoroughbred tramp, burly, dirty,
generally unkempt, but, unlike most tramps, he looked very much
frightened. His position, on a high crotch of an apple-tree, was not
altogether comfortable, and although, for the present, it was safe, the
fellow seemed to have a wavering faith in the strength of apple-tree
branches, and the moment he saw me, he earnestly besought me to take
that dog away, and let him down.
I made no answer, but turning to Pomona, I asked her what this all
meant.
“Why, sir, you see,” said she, “I was in the kitchen bakin' pies, and
this fellow must have got over the fence at the side of the house, for
the dog didn't see him, and the first thing I know'd he was stickin' his
head in the window, and he asked me to give him somethin' to eat. And
when I said I'd see in a minute if there was anything for him, he says
to me, 'Gim me a piece of one of them pies,'--pies I'd just baked and
was settin' to cool on the kitchen table! 'No, sir,' says I, 'I'm
not goin' to cut one of them pies for you, or any one like you.' 'All
right!' says he. 'I'll come in and help myself.' He must have known
there was no man about, and, comin' the way he did, he hadn't seen the
dog. So he come round to the kitchen door, but I shot out before he got
there and unchained Lord Edward. I guess he saw the dog, when he got to
the door, and at any rate he heard the chain clankin', and he didn't go
in, but just put for the gate. But Lord Edward was after him so quick
that he hadn't no time to go to no gates. It was all he could do to
scoot up this tree, and if he'd been a millionth part of a minute later
he'd 'a' been in another world by this time.”
The man, who had not attempted to interrupt Pomona's speech, now began
again to implore me to let him down, while Euphemia looked pitifully at
him, and was about, I think, to intercede with me in his favor, but my
attention was drawn off from her, by the strange conduct of the dog.
Believing, I suppose, that he might leave the tramp for a moment, now
that I had arrived, he had dashed away to another tree, where he was
barking furiously, standing on his hind legs and clawing at the trunk.
“What's the matter over there?” I asked.
“Oh, that's the other fellow,” said Pomona. “He's no harm.” And then,
as the tramp made a movement as if he would try to come down, and make
a rush for safety, during the absence of the dog, she called out, “Here,
boy! here, boy!” and in an instant Lord Edward was again raging at his
post, at the foot of the apple-tree.
I was grievously puzzled at all this, and walked over to the other tree,
followed, as before, by Euphemia and Pomona.
“This one,” said the latter, “is a tree-man--”
“I should think so,” said I, as I caught sight of a person in gray
trowsers standing among the branches of a cherry-tree not very far from
the kitchen door. The tree was not a large one, and the branches were
not strong enough to allow him to sit down on them, although they
supported him well enough, as he stood close to the trunk just out of
reach of Lord Edward.
“This is a very unpleasant position, sir,” said he, when I reached
the tree. “I simply came into your yard, on a matter of business, and
finding that raging beast attacking a person in a tree, I had barely
time to get up into this tree myself, before he dashed at me. Luckily
I was out of his reach; but I very much fear I have lost some of my
property.”
“No, he hasn't,” said Pomona. “It was a big book he dropped. I picked
it up and took it into the house. It's full of pictures of pears and
peaches and flowers. I've been lookin' at it. That's how I knew what he
was. And there was no call for his gittin' up a tree. Lord Edward never
would have gone after him if he hadn't run as if he had guilt on his
soul.”
“I suppose, then,” said I, addressing the individual in the cherry-tree,
“that you came here to sell me some trees.”
“Yes, sir,” said he quickly, “trees, shrubs, vines,
evergreens,--everything suitable for a gentleman's country villa. I
can sell you something quite remarkable, sir, in the way of
cherry-trees,--French ones, just imported; bear fruit three times
the size of anything that could be produced on a tree like this. And
pears--fruit of the finest flavor and enormous size--”
“Yes,” said Pomona. “I seen them in the book. But they must grow on a
ground-vine. No tree couldn't hold such pears as them.”
Here Euphemia reproved Pomona's forwardness, and I invited the
tree-agent to get down out of the tree.
“Thank you,” said he; “but not while that dog is loose. If you will
kindly chain him up, I will get my book, and show you specimens of some
of the finest small fruit in the world, all imported from the first
nurseries of Europe--the Red-gold Amber Muscat grape,--the--”
“Oh, please let him down!” said Euphemia, her eyes beginning to sparkle.
I slowly walked toward the tramp-tree, revolving various matters in my
mind. We had not spent much money on the place during the winter, and
we now had a small sum which we intended to use for the advantage of the
farm, but had not yet decided what to do with it. It behooved me to be
careful.
I told Pomona to run and get me the dog-chain, and I stood under the
tree, listening, as well as I could, to the tree-agent talking to
Euphemia, and paying no attention to the impassioned entreaties of the
tramp in the crotch above me. When the chain was brought, I hooked one
end of it in Lord Edward's collar, and then I took a firm grasp of the
other. Telling Pomona to bring the tree-agent's book from the house, I
called to that individual to get down from his tree. He promptly obeyed,
and taking the book from Pomona, began to show the pictures to Euphemia.
“You had better hurry, sir,” I called out. “I can't hold this dog very
long.” And, indeed, Lord Edward had made a run toward the agent, which
jerked me very forcibly in his direction. But a movement by the tramp
had quickly brought the dog back to his more desired victim.
“If you will just tie up that dog, sir,” said the agent, “and come this
way, I would like to show you the Meltinagua pear,--dissolves in the
mouth like snow, sir; trees will bear next year.”
“Oh, come look at the Royal Sparkling Ruby grape!” cried Euphemia. “It
glows in the sun like a gem.”
“Yes,” said the agent, “and fills the air with fragrance during the
whole month of September--”
“I tell you,” I shouted, “I can't hold this dog another minute! The
chain is cutting the skin off my hands. Run, sir, run! I'm going to let
go!”
“Run! run!” cried Pomona. “Fly for your life!”
The agent now began to be frightened, and shut up his book.
“If you only could see the plates, sir, I'm sure--”
“Are you ready?” I cried, as the dog, excited by Pomona's wild shouts,
made a bolt in his direction.
“Good-day, if I must--” said the agent, as he hurried to the gate. But
there he stopped.
“There is nothing, sir,” he said, “that would so improve your place as
a row of the Spitzenberg Sweet-scented Balsam fir along this fence. I'll
sell you three-year-old trees--”
“He's loose!” I shouted, as I dropped the chain.
In a second the agent was on the other side of the gate. Lord Edward
made a dash toward him; but, stopping suddenly, flew back to the tree of
the tramp.
“If you should conclude, sir,” said the tree-agent, looking over the
fence, “to have a row of those firs along here--”
“My good sir,” said I, “there is no row of firs there now, and the fence
is not very high. My dog, as you see, is very much excited and I cannot
answer for the consequences if he takes it into his head to jump over.”
The tree-agent turned and walked slowly away.
“Now, look-a-here,” cried the tramp from the tree, in the voice of a
very ill-used person, “ain't you goin' to fasten up that dog, and let me
git down?”
I walked up close to the tree and addressed him.
“No,” said I, “I am not. When a man comes to my place, bullies a young
girl who was about to relieve his hunger, and then boldly determines
to enter my house and help himself to my property, I don't propose to
fasten up any dog that may happen to be after him. If I had another dog,
I'd let him loose, and give this faithful beast a rest. You can do as
you please. You can come down and have it out with the dog, or you can
stay up there, until I have had my dinner. Then I will drive down to the
village and bring up the constable, and deliver you into his hands. We
want no such fellows as you about.”
With that, I unhooked the chain from Lord Edward, and walked off to put
up the horse. The man shouted after me, but I paid no attention. I did
not feel in a good humor with him.
Euphemia was much disturbed by the various occurrences of the afternoon.
She was sorry for the man in the tree; she was sorry that the agent for
the Royal Ruby grape had been obliged to go away; and I had a good deal
of trouble during dinner to make her see things in the proper light. But
I succeeded at last.
I did not hurry through dinner, and when we had finished I went to my
work at the barn. Tramps are not generally pressed for time, and Pomona
had been told to give our captive something to eat.
I was just locking the door of the carriage-house, when Pomona came
running to me to tell me that the tramp wanted to see me about something
very important--just a minute, he said. I put the key in my pocket and
walked over to the tree. It was now almost dark, but I could see that
the dog, the tramp, and the tree still kept their respective places.
“Look-a-here,” said the individual in the crotch, “you don't know how
dreadful oneasy these limbs gits after you've been settin up here
as long as I have. And I don't want to have nuthin to do with no
constables. I'll tell you what I'll do if you'll chain up that dog, and
let me go, I'll fix things so that you'll not be troubled no more by no
tramps.”
“How will you do that?” I asked.
“Oh, never you mind,” said he. “I'll give you my word of honor I'll do
it. There's a reg'lar understandin' among us fellers, you know.”
I considered the matter. The word of honor of a fellow such as he was
could not be worth much, but the merest chance of getting rid of
tramps should not be neglected. I went in to talk to Euphemia about it,
although I knew what she would say. I reasoned with myself as much as
with her.
“If we put this one fellow in prison for a few weeks,” I said, “the
benefit is not very great. If we are freed from all tramps, for the
season, the benefit is very great. Shall we try for the greatest good?”
“Certainly,” said Euphemia; “and his legs must be dreadfully stiff.”
So I went out, and after a struggle of some minutes, I chained Lord
Edward to a post at a little distance from the apple-tree. When he was
secure, the tramp descended nimbly from his perch, notwithstanding his
stiff legs, and hurried out of the gate. He stopped to make no remarks
over the fence. With a wild howl of disappointed ambition, Lord Edward
threw himself after him. But the chain held.
A lane of moderate length led from our house to the main road, and the
next day, as we were riding home, I noticed, on the trunk of a large
tree, which stood at the corner of the lane and road, a curious mark. I
drew up to see what it was, but we could not make it out. It was a very
rude device, cut deeply into the tree, and somewhat resembled a square,
a circle, a triangle, and a cross, with some smaller marks beneath it. I
felt sure that our tramp had cut it, and that it had some significance,
which would be understood by the members of his fraternity.
And it must have had, for no tramps came near us all that summer. We
were visited by a needy person now and then, but by no member of the
regular army of tramps.
One afternoon, that fall, I walked home, and at the corner of the lane
I saw a tramp looking up at the mark on the tree, which was still quite
distinct.
“What does that mean?” I said, stepping up to him.
“How do I know?” said the man, “and what do you want to know fur?”
“Just out of curiosity,” I said; “I have often noticed it. I think
you can tell me what it means, and if you will do so, I'll give you a
dollar.”
“And keep mum about it?” said the man.
“Yes,” I replied, taking out the dollar.
“All right!” said the tramp. “That sign means that the man that lives up
this lane is a mean, stingy cuss, with a wicked dog, and it's no good to
go there.”
I handed him the dollar and went away, perfectly satisfied with my
reputation.
I wish here to make some mention of Euphemia's methods of work in her
chicken-yard. She kept a book, which she at first called her “Fowl
Record,” but she afterward changed the name to “Poultry Register.” I
never could thoroughly understand this book, although she has often
explained every part of it to me. She had pages for registering the age,
description, time of purchase or of birth, and subsequent performances
of every fowl in her yard. She had divisions of the book for expenses,
profits, probable losses and positive losses; she noted the number of
eggs put under each setting hen; the number of eggs cracked per day, the
number spoiled, and finally, the number hatched. Each chick, on emerging
from its shell, was registered, and an account kept of its subsequent
life and adventures. There were frequent calculations regarding the
advantages of various methods of treatment, and there were statements of
the results of a great many experiments--something like this: “Set Toppy
and her sister Pinky, April 2nd 187-; Toppy with twelve eggs,--three
Brahma, four common, and five Leghorn; Pinky with thirteen eggs (as she
weighs four ounces more than her sister), of which three were Leghorn,
five common, and five Brahma. During the twenty-second and twenty-third
of April (same year) Toppy hatched out four Brahmas, two commons, and
three Leghorns, while her sister, on these days and the morning of the
day following, hatched two Leghorns, six commons, and only one Brahma.
Now, could Toppy, who had only three Brahma eggs, and hatched out four
of that breed, have exchanged eggs with her sister, thus making it
possible for her to hatch out six common chickens, when she only had
five eggs of that kind? Or, did the eggs get mixed up in some way before
going into the possession of the hens? Look into probabilities.”
These probabilities must have puzzled Euphemia a great deal, but
they never disturbed her equanimity. She was always as tranquil and
good-humored about her poultry-yard as if every hen laid an egg every
day, and a hen-chick was hatched out of every egg.
For it may be remembered that the principle underlying Euphemia's
management of her poultry was what might be designated as the
“cumulative hatch.” That is, she wished every chicken hatched in her
yard to become the mother of a brood of her own during the year, and
every one of this brood to raise another brood the next year, and so on,
in a kind of geometrical progression. This plan called for a great many
mother-fowls, and so Euphemia based her highest hopes on a great annual
preponderance of hens.
We ate a good many young roosters that fall, for Euphemia would not
allow all the products of her yard to go to market, and, also, a great
many eggs and fowls were sold. She had not contented herself with her
original stock of poultry, but had bought fowls during the winter, and
she certainly had extraordinary good luck, or else her extraordinary
system worked extraordinarily well.