262 HAPPY HOLLOW FARM 



been stirred up by the immigration of the last 

 few years these changes would have waited for 

 years. A stirring up was badly needed. 



But, when all due credit has been given the 

 newcomers, there's a lot left over for the folks 

 on the ground. There was nothing the matter 

 with them save that they had lacked just the 

 right impulse to get things a-going. It would 

 have been impossible for the strangers to make 

 actual headway with their undertakings 

 against any real antagonism from a majority 

 of the older settlers. Some of these of course 

 have stoutly opposed the new program ; others 

 have been offish outwardly at first till they 

 could find out what was what, but at heart they 

 weren't set against better conditions. Most of 

 them have desired better conditions as ardently 

 as anybody could ; but long usage in any coun- 

 try hardens into habit, and the habit isn't easily 

 broken till something comes along from out- 

 side to interrupt it. It simply hadn't occurred 

 to these people that they might actually do the 

 things they wanted done. They didn't quite 

 know how to go about it. 



That's the part the strangers have played, 

 once the older settlers got to know them and 

 found that they were to be trusted as friends 



