f quoting in this connection--the only quotation,
by the by, that the old gentleman ever makes--that couplet of "Poor
Richard,"--

"He, that by the plough would thrive,
Himself must either hold or drive."

The Squire has been in his day connected more or less intimately with
turnpike enterprise, which the railroads of the day have thrown sadly
into the background; and he reflects often in a melancholy way upon the
good old times when a man could travel in his own carriage quietly
across the country, without being frightened with the clatter of an
engine, and when turnpike stock paid wholesome yearly dividends of six
per cent.

An almost constant hanger-on about the premises, and a great favorite
with the Squire, is a stout, middle-aged man, with a heavy-bearded
face, to whom Frank introduces you as "Captain Dick"; and he tells you
moreover that he is a better butcher, a better wall-layer, and cuts a
broader "swathe," than any man upon the farm. Beside all which he has an
immense deal of information. He knows in the spring where all the
crows'-nests are to be found; he tells Frank where the foxes burrow; he
has even shot two or three raccoons in the swamps; he knows the best
season to troll for pickerel; he has a thorough understanding of
bee-hunting; he can tell the ownership of every stray heifer that
appears upon the road: indeed scarce an inquiry is made, or an opinion
formed, on any of these subjects, or on such kindred ones as the
weather, or potato crop, without previous consultation with "Captain
Dick."

You have an extraordinary respect for Captain Dick: his gruff tones,
dark beard, patched waistcoat, and cowhide boots, only add to it: you
can compare your regard for him only with the sentiments you entertain
for those fabulous Roman heroes, led on by Horatius, who cut down the
bridge across the Tiber, and then swam over to their wives and families!

A superannuated old greyhound lives about the premises, and stalks
lazily around, thrusting his thin nose into your hands in a very
affectionate manner.

Of course, in your way, you are a lion among the boys of the
neighborhood: a blue jacket that you wear, with bell buttons of white
metal, is their especial wonderment. You astonish them moreover with
your stories of various parts of the world which they have never
visited. They tell you of the haunts of rabbits, and great snake
stories, as you sit in the dusk after supper under the old o