HAPPY HOLLOW FARM 237 



farm aren't kept up by eternal vigilance, all 

 profits may be absorbed in no time. Every 

 farmer is more or less slack in that particular. 

 I'm in the same potful as the rest of them. 



Sam won't mind if I say outright that that's 

 the only quarrel I've had with him. He's not 

 a careful manager in details. He's a master 

 hand at a big, tough job afield that would dis- 

 may an ordinary man; but he hates to tinker 

 round keeping up the loose ends. That seems 

 to him too much like boy's play. He'd rather 

 tear out a whole string of fence and rebuild it 

 than walk along the line with a hammer and 

 a pocketful of staples, tacking up the wires 

 that have sagged from the posts. He'd rather 

 whirl in and dig a new well than help to fish 

 the lost pipe out of the old one. He'd rather 

 build a new barn than fuss with driving a time- 

 ly nail to save a partition the colts have kicked 

 loose. You can't find fault with him for that 

 disposition. I'd rather have him fit for big 

 things than little ones. Just the same, those 

 pesky mickles make a very mountain of a 

 muckle. I've had an extra man on the farm 

 for a month this summer, catching up those 

 straggling ends, and there's another month's 

 work ahead of him. 



