226 Kate Osborne, [Maj, 



" Ich wishts Dicht anuder man in all dis goundy," answered the 

 .•worthy Teuton. Perplexed in view of this discouraging information, 

 the farmer remained silent, wishing his annual wish, that, at this season^ 

 he could have a few ' field-hands ' from ' Old Virginny.' But they 

 Dever seemed to come for the wishing. While yet revolving some expe- 

 dient for this emergency of his farm-work, the warmth of the day, the 

 heartiness of his dinner, and the comfort of his easy chair, combined to 

 entice the hale old farmer off into a most consoling noon-day nap. And 

 while he yet slept the hour came for Peter and his confreres to renew 

 their labor in the fields. Soon after their departure, farmer Osborne's 

 slumber was disturbed by the voice of some one shouting to him from the 

 'big gate' opening from the highway on to the lawn, " Hillo, the 

 house ! " 



Starting up from his sleep with a nasal explosion that combined all 

 the euphonies of a cough, and a suore, and a sneeze, and feeling that 

 both his nap and his dignity were by this freedom unduly disturbed, the 

 farmer first rubbed his eyes, and then his ' specks ;' and, having duly 

 adjusted them to the required perspective, took a deliberate observation 

 of the person who had so unceremoniously accosted him. His survey 

 revealed to him a stout-limbed, broad-shouldered, and good looking young 

 man, clad in a decent farming dress, a broad-brimmed summer-hat, with 

 heavy boots now dusty from foot-travel on the prairie roads. A bundle, 

 confined by a cotton handkerchief of the * spread eagle ' pattern, was sus- 

 pended at his back by a stick thrust under the knot and placed across 

 his shoulder. 



Having completed his observation of the stranger, the farmer very 

 deliberately removed his ' specks,' deliberately placed them in their shi- 

 ning steel case, deliberately put the case into his pocket, and then delibe- 

 rately responded, " Well, stranger, what do you want with ' the house ' ?" 



" Wal, I only want to know if you be the owner of these prairie dig- 

 gins ? Tearnation handsome country seat, this ! " added the stranger, 

 as his eye took in the wide range of the plantation around him. 



Mollified by the stranger's commendation of his really splendid farm, 

 Mr. Osborne nientally forgave him for the impertinence of his question, 

 as to the ownership ; and inasmuch as he sometimes permitted himself 

 to quietly ' run a saw ' at other people's expense, and was fond of prac- 

 tical jokes when others were the victims, he now saw proper to answer 

 the stranger's question, by saying, " I am the owner, sir ; do you wish to 

 buy it for a ' country seat ' ? " 



" Neow, yeou git eout ! why, a feller might as well talk abeout buyia' 

 the hull of Posting, I guess ! " was the response to this. 



