| Show JOHN OR THE effects of procrastination Proc ratina tion il I 1 i it atoo baday said john boggsi dogem 11 what ishoo babp bad said sald biati afati matilda matlida achis his w wife lag chy why N li tha cart is broken down and noy nov all t the e ands bands P must stand idl lal while it is being 11 F tended 11 i the cart caru 1 I repeated mrs boggs jay laying ing down tha stog stocking king she shwas waa darning an and regarding her husband with a peculiar look do you sou ou mean khe the large larie ox cart yes 73 I 1 41 what is the matter with it why the hub is split right slap in two lial halves vesil but ith I 1 thought ou hf it began begin to split a loa ioa long iong time ago 1190 I 1 I 1 h e ard you say last week that t you must Q have a new nevo iron band made imade for that wat 0 old oid id hub ij 1 41 yes I 1 know I 1 did say ay comet something hi ing about it but theu then I 1 think it was as too toa bad kayet yet you knew it needed mending john said so yourself J ibish wish you would lear nito be more prompt about such things you tou lose iose more than you are aw aware are of no I 1 I 1 dont iosi lose anything esery ev everything i ery on my place is as well as things generally are not hot 11 quite john I 1 know you manage to keep thing things s in in pretty good rood order but you must acknowledge that you aarein the habit of bf procrastinating it is only last week that you epst lasta a valuable sheep just because you put off mending the floor in the shed and no now bv you have last a half halt a days work of three hands just because you did not mend your cart hub when it ought to have been mended ahyou ah you do lose much and there is no use trying to hide hida im it well complaining wont mend it that is sure 12 muttered john iino bub but paying heed to your experience will mend the whole trouble quickly but pleasantly returned matilda di 01 Pooh you yau sit her here in the house giouse darning st stockings and I 1 suppose you think because becaas e youcan you can see where whery to run t your needle you could gin min the barn at once nono john said sald I 1 the wife bif e smiling you do not put it in the night right shape I 1 can see the heel of a a stocking and when I 1 see a place where whereby remy my needle needs to run I 1 run it there I 1 do not expect to see but on thing at a time but when you do see that thing thin gand and also that it needs mending then is the lime time to mend it 1 12 John jao commenced to whistle a medley of spas spasmodic notes and at the same time drew coat he had got to go five miles to a blacksmiths and lind have an iron iron rin ring made for the hub john 12 said the wife plying her hor darning needle needie as she bhe hij spoke now mark my wor vor words asif if you do 4 nol not ur over a anew new nev leaf in rn this t is i respect disrespect louwill you will have a lesson one of 0 these theae days that thab I 1 will cost you more than you can adford afford to paye john whistled with renewed energy now striking fairly into yankee doodle and with a dubious shake of her head his wife bif e turned hen her attention to her work john dom bom boggs dog had haa two men to work for him and by this ts breaking reakie v of or the cart they thoy were either obliged to li lie lle e still or go at some work which was of little use ile he had hid a large farm and an excellent ond one fog tog lor producing vegetation and he was quite well to do in th the tha world ills his children were all daughters and hence the bus business ineis of the farm all depended upon hi him in As we have bare seen john boggs had one fault he would ouid put off until tomorrow to morrow what could and s should be done today to day ile he contri contrived vid to keep his place looking neat and tidy because at certain periods he would be seized with a sort of renovating renova ting fit and would then roll rOl rollout lout up his sleeves and go at it but this don dont t w work r always many diany times very important things were left till he felt ike like ile it that was a great expression of his well when I 1 feel like 4 i 7 sometimes there would be a breakdown break down that had to be attended to immediately and while he had the hammer and nails in his bands he be would fix up beveral several ather things that had been awaiting his coming 0 V very er often an hour was required over something which would not have consumed over five minutes of his time had he taken it in hand when he first discovered it and not only so but he lost in two ways it required more nails to do the work at this late hour and could never be made so good at that as it were before nor as the same would have been had he attended to it in season john had often promised his wife that he would reform but he had not done it yet ile he did not realize how much he lost or it if he did the e effect was but momentary when he lost his sheep be he would never let such a thin thing a go 90 again and yet there was at this very moment a bad place in the floor on the tie up where the cows were kept he ire had noticed it three days before lie he saw one of the cows tread upon it and he knew that a heavy ox would break through there at once but the floor was not mended yet for all that when the ring or hub band hand came home mr boggs went at work to put it on but it would not work ile he had missed a figure in his calculations cu lations the spokes had worn in the sockets so much that all the straps in the world could never fit that broken hub on again jerusalem ll muttered the disappointed man as he found that he could not make the thing work if I 1 hai had only fixed the thundering thing when I 1 ought to this would not have been it is too bad too all thundering bad but there was no help for it A new hub must be made ile he managed to nind find d an old d wheel which he could use while t the e crift wright Z t wasl fixing his tits and in this uncomfortable way be he managed to ge get gei along without losing much over a days time tu 0 one mornin the breaking tha hub one pf af the th little gils gyls came running in while the whole family were ere at bieak breakfast fast 1 i alpa papal papas al bapat nap atthe ther thes white faced heifer helfer has broke through the 1 I 1 what molen nolen broken through muttered mattered boggs starting up john sohn boggs knew that his wife wis was wag looking sharply at him im and land he avoided the peculiar elance glance which he felt sure he should find there if we tie turned that way he fie called up the two men and hurried out As good fortune would have atthe heifer helfer was not seriously injured but john knew L neche he could not claim credit for her safety when be came backhus back his wife said not a word boril upon the subject at first john w was as afraid she would reprimand him but when he found that she kept heit keet rient silent s upon the pu subject beat he felt worse than he e would hav have felt ha had she bhe he lust just chided him a little he knew she fe felt ut it that she understood it and her continued silence seemed to indicate that she considered him incorrigible from that moment he resolved that he would reform ali ah he be had bad made just us t such resolutions a great many times before berre for two months no real accident happened for john boggs kept things pretty straight but still there were some short comin comings comins s the habit of procrastination was too firmly fixed upon him to be easily thrown off As autumn drew near john boggs began to look around for an opportunity to carry into execution a plan be had been considering for sometime some time tima he had bad a very choice stock stock jot cattle and having received an excellent offer for them he could buy them in the spring to good advantage so he sold eight oxen for a price which might by some be considered reconsidered almost fabulous the ile same purchaser wanted horses and john sold his three miree heavy ones keeping only a three year old colt which he thought would answer for all his riding throy the winter very near johns johnis farm was a large tract of land covered with heavy pine trees most of them magnificent white pines pinas nes nas and he had partly contracted to cut cub those trees down fashion the los ios and haul them a dista distance nee neb of three miles to awe the river the contract would be a valuable one for him because he lived so near to the wood he supposed he could find pie plenty nty of men who would be glad to come on and und furnish teams if he be would keep them em he had hay and grain in in pl plenty en t and of course wished to have most of i it eaten a n u up on oti the giace glace place by selling his own oxen and borses horses he had ad made a clear profit of about one half of all he got for them and now tow if he could get some one to come on and furnish teams and in returns return take one half of the proceeds of the job bobr and have their Weir animals kept he lie would do seil seii well vell buthe bathe bat but he found it more difficult th than an ho h llad expected to td obtain help 11 he could find I 1 plenty of in men en who would gla gia gladly adly come with such teams as they owned but they wanted heavier ones at length lenorth 0 o he hit upon thi very vety man that he I 1 wanted I 1 i 1 f chave have found him he baia saia one evening to 1 his wife on his bis return from a visit to a neighboring borin town 1 1 I have found just the man he h has a got teams enough and will come as soon as wanted who is he be asked matilda quite pleased with her husbands success aaron rolf you know him dont you he ire has got six yoke of oxen and tour lour good horse sand pays says if I 1 will give him equal shares of what I 1 am to have and take care of the animals and men cewill he will come aaron rolf roif repeated h his is w wife if e 1 I know him well if he says he will come then you may nay depend on him ile he never makes a promise i ise lse until he knows he can keep it and he never undertakes to do a thing thing which he can not do as it should be done some ome call him odd and I 1 do not know but he is in one sense of the word for he minds his own business and will have no one about him if becan he can delpit help heip it who will not follow his example 23 why you seem to know him well 22 why should I 1 not you forget that I 1 lived in his fathers family for a number of years 0 ho hot Is he a son of old benjamin rolf yes his bis eldest b boy 22 aha that I 1 is s it I 1 e eh well I 1 am glad he be I 1 is such a han man man it will make it so good for me 2 1 I should like to have him here very well this coming fall and winter that is if you must have some one so john boggs gave ave himself no more uneasiness upon the subject of the falls alls f ails alis work mr alt rolf was coming over to look at the timber before closing the bargain but then john I 1 had explained fully to himy him and he was perfectly satisfied one day john went to tie his colt up in the stall and he round found that the edge of the trough was worn almost down to the hole through which the halter was tied he knew that it was not safe A slight pull would break it out ili ill 1 I declare I 1 must fix that when I 1 get time aid said he to himself he meant when he felt like it for he had ample time then all alt that was necessary was to step to the wagon house alid and get an inch and a half augur and bore a new hole holed it would have taken him perhaps five fire minutes to have performed thew the whole hole bole operation ile he led the colt into the next stall and then went to the house and sat down ah theold the old oid habit babi was not gone yet ile he would fix the tie hole when he had time john bo bos bogga s had bad not quite refo reformed med I 1 for all his place lo 10 looked so well outside an ip evening ortho or two after atter afterward vard just kust as he was sitting down to supper r one of di lis bis daugh bauh J tera came in and in ahat the back barn door had tumbled down a again g a 1 why awby I 1 set a log of w wood 0 ind up against it firmly only 4 a little little while ago exclaimed john then I 1 guess some of the sheep must haye rubbed it ii down said pala the girl gia lohn john boggs you fixed that ahat door yet spoken the wife almost stern y 1 I leclare declare I 1 will fix that tomor tomorrow to mor morrow r ow was johns response but why you fixed it before persisted er matilda why I 1 have not had time aj john joba held heid eld ela down his bia head asle ashe asie made this remark have not had time unit john boggs boggsi what do you mean repeated the dame elevating her eyebrows in real astonishment why I 1 did mean to fex fix it but whenever whenever I 1 have thought of it it has been beell when I 1 was busy about something so methin c else 32 all ail ah ali john let me t tell teil ell eil you that kind of aik work oik will not suit aaron rolf let aaron rolf mind his hia business bubines bu sines s 4 and h there are other folks that might do the same saide to advantage returned john warmly with a bold look into his cifes face matilda boggs smiled for she saw that her husband was playing the bravo a thing thin which he seldom did in her presence not bat that she was the wearer of garments unmentionable unmentionably but she was one of those straight forward sound sensed stern esterh women who icho find it absolutely necessary to govern an easy h husband u 8 sometimes she had intended to ask her lord to go out and fix the door after s supper sniper u but as he was already chafed chafee she concluded to say no more at present I 1 the facts about the barn door were these thea the lower hinge binge had been useless over two iwo weeks but had been made to work by bring careful in opening and clodin closing the door but some three days gad rad had elapsed rince mince since the upper one became so loose that ho dependence could 1 be placed upon it john had noticed it and he bad said to himself i it must be fixed and he had resolve resolved dio to dolt doit do it when hedelt he felt feit like it the next day came and in the morning john bogga boggs went out to the barn and passed throy into the yard lie he set the back door up arter after him and braced the stout cord stick against it to hold it in its place 1 I declare that must be fixed twill i I 1 will attend to that right off Hewen liewen tout fout into the field and when he came back be he went over to a neighbors to see about some bome help and remained there till dinner time tims just as they were sitting down to dinner Aaron rolf drove up u to the door door poor one I 1 of the hired men took his horse and he came in lu where lie he was warmly welcomed b by y john and his good wife I 1 in the afternoon the two men went out to I 1 the timber land and it was nearly dark when they returned they had seen the whole lot and mr rolf was much pleased plea sred with the proposed plan in every way asa ani near as they could calculate would themselves and four other men and six yokes of oxen and four horses a hundred days perhaps more but surely no less rolf found that his share odthe of the proceeds would amount to eight hundred dollars then from this he was to pay the two men he must brin bring on saving him 81 six bix hundred dollars for his oxen oxen horses and himself himsel fp but aa as he would be at no expense at all in feeding anybody or anything i lie ered the remuneration just fair and add right 1 I can have more than t an that for hauling haulin goods for our new railroad company we he said but I 1 should have to be away from home all the time and I 1 do not like it I 1 like thi this stian silan plan pian ican I 1 can go home aa often as I 1 please and 1 feel perfectly perfectly free to remain away a day if I 1 wish I 1 during the evening it was all planned and before they retired aaron rolf had about made aade n up his mind that he should sign the articles oya of agreement gr cement it was arranged that they should go to |
