CHAPTER XV 



THE TALES OF GRAMP 



ANIEL and Gramp, my two nearest 

 neighbors, were as chummy as two 

 old friends could be. Gramp was a 

 good many years older than Daniel, 

 and always claimed that Daniel should have 

 more respect for his age than he had shown. 

 Daniel would retort that father's age was the 

 only thing about him that he did respect. Each 

 one accused the other of cheating him in horse, 

 cow, harness, or wagon trades. 



As Daniel knew more about cows and horses 

 than father, he generally had an advantage over 

 the old gentleman in a trade in these staple prod- 

 ucts; but when it came to harnesses and car- 

 riages, especially when real antiquity entered 

 into the matter, Gramp had the grape-vine twist 

 on Daniel. In his early days, before he forsook 

 the brad-awl and the waxed thread for the lucra- 

 tive sinecure of a custom-house clerkship, Gramp 

 was a harness - maker and a carriage - trimmer. 

 Consequently he knew the ins and outs of the busi- 

 ness, and Daniel had to manoeuvre very cau- 



