244 HAPPY HOLLOW FARM 



dollar safe and sure, or he who plays the nick- 

 els against certain odds ? 



I'll have to tell you a story by way of illus- 

 trating what the nickel-players are likely to 

 come to. It's a story about that same old 

 friend of ours Jake. 



Three years ago Jake tended a little crop of 

 his own, up on the hillside three or four acres 

 of corn and a patch of turnips for greens. He 

 worked one undersized donkey to a "bull- 

 tongue" plow. Of course he stood no show of 

 making anything at it. That didn't matter, 

 so long as he could come down between whiles 

 and cut wood for us. He kept tirelessly cheer- 

 ful about it. 



Along in the fall he had ten bushels of corn 

 to sell, after he'd put away what he absolutely 

 must keep for feeding his donkey through the 

 winter. The ten bushels brought him five dol- 

 lars. For a week after that, while his money 

 lasted, we couldn't get him to do a lick of 

 work. Then a traveling circus drifted into 

 town, and early on the morning of circus day 

 Jake appeared with his ax. 



"We-uns is aimin' to go to the show this 

 evenin'," he said; "but I lack twenty cents of 

 havin' enough. I want to work for you-uns 



