LIVESTOCK 23 



"Good-by." I hung up the receiver, dismissed 

 my client, and started for home. 



When I got there - - Well, in justice to my 

 wife I must admit that she had not overstated the 

 case. The greater part of the lawn and field was 

 thickly strewn with steaming dressing, the whole 

 atmosphere fairly palpitated, and travel on our 

 street had practically ceased. 



There was only one thing to do, and I did it. 

 Before noon several loads of wood ashes were 

 being sifted carefully over my top-dressing, by 

 various men and boys whom I had pressed into 

 service, and by nightfall the annoyance was 

 abated ; the neighbors and their families had re- 

 turned from the hotel accommodation they had 

 hastily engaged down town; my wife had re- 

 considered her determination to bring a libel for 

 divorce on the ground of "treatment calculated 

 to injure health or reason"; I had paid an ex- 

 travagant bill for top-dressing and a still larger 

 one for the antidote, and peace was once more 

 secured. 



At all events, my land, or a certain part of it, 

 would be fertile next spring, and that was the 

 main thing after all. So I superintended opera- 

 tions on our henhouse and incidentally bought 

 a horse. 



I had had considerable experience with horses, 

 and had ridden and driven them since I was very 



