split clapboards that roofed me over. I wondered if to-day was so
much better than yesterday as conditions would warrant us in expecting.

CHAPTER VII

THE HORSE-AND-BUGGY MAN

August 3 found me at Four Oaks in the early afternoon. A great hollow
had been dug for the cellar, and Thompson said that it would take but
one more full day to finish it. Piles of material gave evidence that the
mason was alert, and the house-mover had already dropped his long
timbers, winch, and chains by the side of the farm-house.

While I was discussing matters with Thompson, a smart trap turned into
the lot, and a well-set-up young man sprang out of the stylish runabout
and said,--

"Dr. Williams, I hear you want more help on your farm."

"I can use another man or two to advantage, if they are good ones."

"Well, I don't want to brag, but I guess I am a good one, all right. I
ain't afraid of work, and there isn't much that I can't do on a farm.
What wages do you pay?"

I told him my plan of an increasing wage scale, and he did not object.
"That includes horse keep, I suppose?" said he.

"I do not know what you mean by 'horse keep.'"

"Why, most of the men on farms around here own a horse and buggy, to use
nights, Sundays, and holidays, and we expect the boss to keep the horse.
This is my rig. It is about the best in the township; cost me $280 for
the outfit."

"See here, young man, this is another specimen of farm economics, and it
is one of the worst in the lot. Let me do a small example in mental
arithmetic for you. The interest on $280 is $14; the yearly depreciation
of your property, without accidents, is at least $40; horse-shoeing and
repairs, $20; loss of wages (for no man will keep your horse for less
than $4 a month), $48. In addition to this, you will be tempted to spend
at least $5 a month more with a horse than without one; that is $60
more. You are throwing away $182 every year without adding $1 to your
value as an employee, one ounce of dignity to your employment, or one
foot of gain in your social position, no matter from what point you view
it.

"Taking it for granted that you receive $25 a month for every month of
the year (and this is admitting too much), you waste more than half on
that blessed rig, and you can make no provision for the future, for
sickness, or for old age. No, I will not keep your horse, nor will I
employ any man whose scheme of life doesn't run further than the
ownership of a hor