enty of fresh turf piled up about it, the old man wiped his fingers on the dry prair

"shall I settle with y

well settl

d. What's

lars and

en only tew hours and a half about the job.

as said with an air of importance) "don't get pay merely for the time we are employed, but also for our knowledge of the business, which it ha

easonable. And if I have another job of la

with a laugh the young s

ed at this yer thing right smart, and I'll give ye th

odd spells! But I never made a business

ate be y

w Y

That's whur

have a good many Southern an

s an Arkansaw woman. My third was a Michigander. My present was born and raised in the South, but I married her in Southern Illinois. She's nigh on to forty year younger 'n I be, and smart as a steel trap, tell you! So you see we're kind of a mixe

fourth

t. Whose hoss

ht him from th

ay for a beast like th

pay anythi

gi'n him

exa

bled fo

N

m from a c

N

le h

t m

him up

yor, laughing,

him, if ye didn't find him, nor steal him, nor raise

g of him for about a second and a half. The owners of the elephant paid the damages; and I kept the horse. Nob

this talk; and now the old man examined

your d

ir. Her

't it, to bring yer a

good horses were scarce and high-priced out here, and advised me

your fri

ing me a good chance if I should come. It was in winter; I drove Snowfoot in a cutter, and crossed the Detroit River on the ice just before it broke up. There the sleighing left me;

your name was?" th

say now. My name is Ragdon,-Henr

ain't ye

I was brought up to it. My frien

ard and his Fortunes," "A Chance for Himself," and "Doing His Best," in whi

flat hand,-"I s'pose we part yer, and say good by. I'll shoulder my tools, and take a cow-path through the woods; you'll fi

young surveyor, wi

wn account, and without assistance; for which reason he felt

woods, along a track so little travelled that the marks of

he cool evening comes on, filled all the air. The shadows of the forest were stretching in a vast, uneven belt over summit

drove leisurely along; stopped once or twice for a rabbit on the edge of the woods; and, fi

efore he could take aim, the bird, at the end of a short, str

he trampled the grass about the spot where she had alighted, hoping to scare her up. He also

nd thunder of wings, the hen rose. Up went gun to shoulder. But instantly the dog

that? You'll get a stray shot some day, if you run before my

ng good service, dropped ears and tail a

t, and he remained on one foot, poising the other behind him, for several seconds. Then, softly putting down th

Then, piercing the undergrowth, he hastened to a commanding position,

bird-shot out of the two barrels of his fowling-piece, r

the shadowy slope of a distant hill, where were two