CHAPTER XI 



MODERN DAIRYING 



A BOUT the time that the activities of the 

 -^^ New Earth were set in motion, the staid 

 folk of a picturesque Swedish hamlet, and those 

 along the country roads in the vicinity, used 

 to derive no end of amusement from the visits 

 of a lad from the village who was accustomed 

 to go from house to house asking for the privi- 

 lege of repairing things, — old watches or clocks, 

 jewelry, and the like. He was not seeking 

 profit but pleasure, for he had an inborn 

 delight in doing such things. In case there 

 was a broken tool of some kind, a door-knob 

 or knocker out of order, — anything, in fact, that 

 needed tinkering, — he begged to be allowed to 

 put it in shape. So the country folk, good- 

 naturedly, humored him, and the defective 

 articles were soon made whole. The fame of 

 the lad spread, and great things were prophe- 

 sied of him as an inventor. When a little 

 older, he produced a number of quite impor- 



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