WE PLAT THE FARM 53 



I am thankful for seven years of it, and look for- 

 ward to twice seven more. I have lost the soft- 

 ness which nearly wilted me that 5th day of 

 August, and with the softness has gone twenty 

 or thirty pounds of useless flesh. I am hard, 

 active, and strong for a man of sixty, and I can 

 do a fair day's work. To tell the truth, I prefer 

 the moderate work that falls to the lot of the 

 Headman, rather than the more strenuous life of 

 the husbandman; but I find an infinite deal 

 to thank the farm for in health and physical 

 comfort. 



