Show r cOU HOMER Ai J y Cure ore CROY SERVICE THE TIlE STORY STOBY THUS FARt FAit Amos Croy settled fettled on a farm In Missouri here ahem he f t married and a son Homer lIomer was Wal born j Sunday meant church company for tor din dinner ner oar and steer teer weight guessing Dehorn Dehorn- i 1 log lor of the calves calve curing of ot hams wean wean- weanIng Ing log of calves and sausage making were jobs job that Homer helped with lit lie always looked forward to helping Newt a neigh nel h. h 4 bor hot In breaking the mules mulls quilting day day f f wa was Wal a day for the ladles It lasted all allt allday allday t day and they would take turns turn at eating Y Homer Romer began to try his literary e be lie entered and won a IL contest by submit submit- submitting s ting a letter about aboul his most moet unusual dream drum He Re won a 41 1 prize Ills father I did not think as much of tills this as u be did s the Item about the calf I CHAPTER X Y Pa didn't think much of anybody I who would drive a fresh fre broke mule muleto I to a wagon spring wagon with women in it That was the difference between Pa and Newt Pa was always safe and conservative but Newt wasn't do anything as Pa put it But Newt never got hurt and nobody was ever killed In In Ina a few minutes our yard would be filled filed with laughing and talking people and Kaiser would be bark bark- barkIng Ing his head off Just as excited as asI asI I 1 was to have company The women would go Into the Ute house home to change into their swimming swim swimming ming clothes white while the men sat on the front porch and on the benches and nd talked When the were ready we would all start down through our orchard to the horse pond which was two or three times as wide as a n house and end eight feet deep It was supplied by a spring and by water pumped from the windmill and was the only one in inthe Inthe Inthe the neighborhood People said we were Jere lucky to have ha VI a pond When the women would start in inthey Inthey inthey they had to inch because their Mother Hubbards would till nil with air and go straight over their heads if it they didn't watch out If It one of the Mother Hubbards went a little too high the Ule men would screech with t 4 delight It was manners when all aU aUthe the women were In for the men to togo togo togo go back to the house and let the women swim alone After a while we would hear bear the women coming through the orchard It was all aB right to walk down to the pond ond with the women but it wouldn't do to see the women until they had changed Into dry clothes After the women were In the house Pa would say I guess wed we'd better go down and see if they splashed all aU the water out and down through the orchard wed we'd go The men would peel off their clothes clothed Newt would give a run end and go in with a terrific plop but Pa would walk slowly In because he wasn't wild like Newt Now and then when there wasn't any splashing splash splash- splashIng Ing we could hear a night bird go goby goby goby by with a swish of its wings or a calf would bawl or the bull buU would give a short little run toward a cow At last the swim would be over overend end and wed we'd start back through the or or- orchard orchard chard to the house The women would be sitting on the porch and everybody would begin to talk at once ence Pad say Homer and Id I'd go down into the cave and begin bringing up the melons Ma and Phebe would light the lamps and andset set liet them on the porch and Pa would hang bang our lantern in the Ute cherry tree I could hardly wait walt He ne would rest the point of his knife on the melon and say Is it going to be ripe or not It was always ripe because Pa knew mel mel- ens ons As the slices were finished they'd go to into the wash boiler boUer More work for me tomorrow I When everybody had had all they could eat they would sit around and andr r talk me still able to take a few tew more nibbles At last It would be time to go Pa would still be worry worry- worrying worrying ing about Newts Newt's mule Dont you think Newt Its It's kind of risky to drive him at night loaded with wom wom- women women women en Mules aint as BS much Inclined to torun torun torun run at night as they are in the Ute day Amos At the very bottom was the ma manure nure mire shovel which hung on a peg In the stable and was dull and dirty and end foul and never cleaned from one CIne years year's end to another another-a a pa riah Sometimes a mule would step stepon stepon on It but that didn't matter Some times he would break off the hand grip That was all aU right too wed we'd go ahead using the shovel anyway Sometimes the Ute handle would become loose and wed we'd nail in any sort of stick No one had any respect for tor forA tora A manure shovel in fact Im I'm sure It didn't have any respect for Itself When a farmer fanner had bad a sale he wouldn't even put it up It'd be tossed in with a lot of other odds and aDd ends sometimes the man who bad had bought it wouldn't even take the thing home A step tep above this this but but only a step t was was th tha long bandied general util util- utilIty utilIty Ity shovel It was never cleaned and end never sharpened and was left lef standing any old where Sometimes It would t D be left In the granary sometimes it would even get into Int o the smokehouse Sometimes i 1 it ot t would be left lying on the ground and aDd a wagon wheel would cross it But It didn't matter It was just jus justh the th the shoveL And that was the way wa wait y it was wa always referred to as if ther there e bad had to be one on a farm and we had hai d Just as well accept the fact That would be tossed In at a sale too loo Next Next going going up the social scale scale- was the scoop shovel a very bright and shining implement indeed This was used to scoop the shucked fresh-shucked corn Into the crib when all the corn was in and the seasons season's crop was lover over ver the scoop shovel was put inthe in Inthe the he crib and used to get the corn Into nto the feeding baskets Sometimes it t would bang into a on the floor cor and get bunged up then it would be taken to the grindstone and nd smoothed till it was sharp and even ven again Oh It was an aristo cratl crat rat When a public sale came along long the auctioneer would hold it up so that everybody could see how bright right and shining and sharp It was Dut But there was a sad and realistic touch ouch If It It was kept long enough and used enough It would fall to pieces and end up as a manure shovel hovel It made a fellow stop and One day when Pa came home from rom town and I raced out to get the mall mail I saw on the bottom of the wagon a kind of spade I had never neverseen neverseen seen een before It was I found later seventeen inches long and live five inches wide it was dished like the palm of my hand There were three spades all 11 ominously oiled I asked him what they were and when he said they were tiling dJ T Tl TI I l 1 1 Mr l Shannon was the newsman o othe ol of f the neighborhood I spades my heart hit the bottom of the wagon The only tile we had ever put in was a row to drain the cellar and we had used our every every- everyday everyday day spade for that Why should Pa be getting tiling spades It was not long till I found out that a tiling spade has two uses One of course is for laying tile the other is Is well well I was to find ind out pretty quick Mr Shannon is coming Monday and well we'll get to put these to use Get to put these to use usel But Pa was that way Especially when it had to do with me working And always al al- always ways with a twinkle In those won won- wonderfully wonderfully blue eyes of his Monday morning Mr Shannon came walking down the road In his floppy old hat with matches stand stand- standing standing ing up in the band We always called him Mr Shannon but we called Jim Vert Jim and we called Newt Kennedy Newt although el elther el ei- either ther Jim or Newt could buy and sell sel Mr Shannon He was the neighbor neighbor- neighborhood neighborhood hood general utility man He farmed only forty acres so had to work workout workout workout out He never stayed overnight so after a days day's work he would go godown godown godown down the road he had corrie conic along that morning walking slower now Sometimes Pa would urge him to stay overnight but he always said saidI I expect Id I'd better go The woman dont don't like to be alone and off he would trudge He was the only one who worked for cash the rest swapped work If 1 you came into a neighborhood c and found one man worked for cash casl casland h ch and the rest exchanged work then you would know he was a small u farmer Mr Shannon was the news news- newsman newsman 3 man of the neighborhood for he worked first here then there am and knew all aU that was going on When n he arrived In the be moving morning and wen went i to the well to pump up a drink Ma would come rome to the kitchen door am and ask him the Ute news Hed He'd tell us am and throw out the last of the Ute water am and the chickens would come running t tsee t tsee to see If it was something to eat Then hed he'd fill up the jug and swing it up upon upon upon on his shoulder and co go off to work At noon Ma would have thought o of f other questions and Mr Shannon would think of new news hed he'd forgot for ot So the tiling spades on our shout shou ders we started for the slough Our section of Missouri was called calle the rolling prairies there were the hills where a million buffalo I must have stood and between these thes bills hills were what we fee called th the e sloughs pronounced slews low clews lo w ew I Sat fiat at land as rich as you could wish ih j I 11 to put your foot on The sloughs s I were covered with J th slough grass gras i 1 I j which was long and tough and which would cut your fingers like a sickle blade We used It for topping our ur stacks slacks The cattle AWe didn't like it If f they ran out of timothy they'd eat lt it Dut But they didn't fancy it it When the spring pring rain came the water vater would spread out over the slough lough till it was a quarter of 01 a mile wide sometimes the cattle would be e caught on the other side some some- sometimes times imes calves calv s would be caught Some Some- times Imes a foaling mare marePa Pa had set out a row rolY of or stakes and nd we began to run a ditch through the he thick malted year old roots The cattle came up and d the black earth and the birds flocked down and feasted We worked close enough to visit but it was vas hard grueling labor At Al noon I would be so weary I would fall asleep on the floor door it seemed to tome tome tome me my eyes ey s would hardly close till Pa a would be calling me and Mr Shannon hannon would be at the pump Day after day we worked At last It was finished and there It was like a agosh gosh ash In a human body Little did t X realize what later would happen Every so often there would be an Important event in our lives our lives our visit t to see Wadley Brothers our harness makers Pa would go In Inand inand and nd say Tom do you suppose you youcan youcan youcan can turn me out a set of rope har har- harness harness ness which was his humorous way of at asking if Tom could make him a good set of harness Tom would say ay Have you got the money to toay pay ay for em Amos which was his hla humorous way of pretending that he wouldn't even trust Pa for a set of rope harness He lIe sat on a stool without any back ack but also he had a rocking chair and now and then he would move over and rock He lie smoked a pipe as he worked when he finished a bowlful or got tired of smoking he ha would knock the pipe and hat the Ute pipe on a rack he had made The store had a delightful leathery smell Is there anything In the world like such a pleasant stimulating odor as fresh-cut fresh leather On the floor loor around him were the cuttings from rom his work like hair around a barber jarber chair When he had bad a great many of these he would sweep them up and mould them into a horse col col- lar ar On the walls were the most fascinating pictures in the world it seemed to me the famous lamous rac rac- racers ers era and trotters and pacers of their day Maude day Maude S S. S. S Dan Patch When he spoke of or them he spoke tenderly and reverently I would like to go an see them run rum sometime he would say Pa would glance at me and watt wan watta wana a moment because horse racing was wicked So would I he would say almost with a sigh There would be a little silence then Tom would say the roads out your way Amos Tom had much to be thankful for tor He lIe took immeasurable pride in his work and he and his Ws brother were their own employers Tom wore a aleather aleather aleather leather apron like a blacksmiths blacksmith's except it t wasn't burned full full of holes He lie was an artist in his Ine line and was proud of his handiwork farm farmers ers era would say a set of Wad Wad- Wadley ley icy Brothers harness and there was no higher praise He had sur sur- surprisingly surprisingly few tools but In some amazing way he got results On one end of his workbench were sheets of ot leather from which he could quickly and skillfully cut of off the pieces he needed I delighted to see him take his knife with Its sharp curved blade and draw it through a apiece apiece apiece piece of leather and get exactly the kind of piece he wanted He loved his work and took great pride in doing it well and he loved to have havethe havethe havethe the farmers come in and discuss with him the kind of at harness they wanted What about the Amos What kind of ot you got In mind I 1 want good heavy Tom I dont don't need it so much In the fields but when I get out on the hard roads with a load of corn then I need Deed heavy Im getting more and more calls caUs for heavy Tom Tam would say and then they would discuss the details as carefully as a tailor and a client making decisions on a suit You want any money down Tom Not from you Amos I You come comeIn in In about a week and have a first look at the harness Pa would go in from time to time watching the progress of his set of harness hameS What about white gutta gutta- percha perch rings Amos Im I'm Im I'm gettin lots Iota lotsof lotsof of calls for gutta percha rings They look all right while the h tar tar- r- r ness Is new but they crack In the sun Then they peel and show the iron ir n. n Give me plain Iron rings Tom After all all you cant can't beat Iron At last would come the day when the harness was done There It would be on a great frame black and shining from rom the oiling Tom bad had given Riven it It and Pa and Tom would stand side by b side admiring It it Do you want a for tor the t. t Amos I X dont don't believe I do Tom There aint anything a t mule colt likes to toot sat cat ot a tassel I put on a strap name hame Amos TO BE BS |