CHAPTER XVII 



MILKING 



HAVE bought a cow. For many years 

 I have looked, longed for, and lan- 

 guished after a cow, have studied the 

 cow markets, have always attended 

 auctions where cows were likely to be sold under 

 the hammer, have made it a point to be present 

 on the square Friday afternoons in the fall sea- 

 son, to see the droves, and have never sufficiently 

 admired the shrewd and professional way in 

 which huge and unwieldy men in slouch hats, 

 blue frocks and leather boots, and carrying whips, 

 will enumerate the good points of a particular 

 animal to a prospective purchaser. 



Indeed, it was always my ambition and my 

 sincere determination, not only to own a cow, but 

 on some bright day in October, when the frosts 

 are sharp of a morning, the sunshine warm at 

 noon, and the air cool and bracing towards 

 evening, to make the trip from Gilmanton to 

 Brighton with those same jolly, fat, and cattle- 

 flavored men, whom I so much admired. How 

 many times have I anticipated the pleasant 



