s. But it was
undeniably too fast and nerve-racking for most farmers. The labourers
refused to work with it.

The Marshes overcame the obstacle in a very ingenious way. They put
_girls_ on their harvesters, instead of men. Not ordinary girls, to be
sure, but vigorous German maidens, who were swift and skilful binders.
Also, they had well-trained men, disguised as hoboes, who mingled in the
crowd around the harvester at times of demonstration, and volunteered to
get aboard of it. To see a girl or a "Weary Willie" binding grain on the
new machine shamed the labourers into a surrender, and in 1864 two dozen
of the Marsh harvesters were sold.

[Illustration: WILLIAM DEERING]

In this year one of the Marshes performed a feat that seemed more
appropriate for a circus than for a grain-field. Riding alone on a
harvester, he bound a whole acre of wheat in fifty-five minutes. Little
was heard of this amazing achievement at the time, as the national mind
was distraught over the death grapple of Grant and Lee in Virginia.

But there was one quick-eyed man in Chicago named Gammon who heard of the
event, and acted upon it so promptly that the goddess of prosperity picked
him out as one of her favourites. Several years before, Gammon had been a
Methodist preacher in Maine. A weak throat had brought his sermons to an
end, and he became a reaper salesman in Chicago. He was shrewd and honest,
and in 1864 his profits were very nearly forty thousand dollars.

When he heard that W. W. Marsh had bound an acre of grain in fifty-five
minutes, on a new-fangled reaper, he caught the next train for DeKalb,
and bought a licence to manufacture Marsh harvesters. He took in a
partner--J. D. Easter--and the business inched ahead slowly, until in 1870
the sales rose to a thousand. Easter and Gammon were driving their small
factory ahead at full speed. If they only could secure enough capital,
they would surprise the world.

One evening, while Gammon was worrying over this lack, he heard a gentle
knock at the door. He opened it to one of his old acquaintances from
Maine.

"Mr. Gammon," said the visitor, "I have about forty thousand dollars of
spare money that I would like to invest in Chicago real estate, and I want
your advice as to the best place to buy."

"What!" said Gammon, springing to his feet in delight. "Have you money to
invest? Give it to me and I'll pay you ten per cent. or make you a partner
in the best business in Illinois."