THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 343 



reaper, and a very handsome machine withal. Farmer 

 Green could not help feeling a little downhearted as he 

 remembered the risk he had incurred in order to obtain 

 it; but he consoled himself with the hope that he 

 would be able to make it pay for itself. When the 

 harvest came around, the machine proved itself a good 

 worker. Farmer Green soon had his crop cut and 

 stacked, and then began to look about him for engage- 

 ments for cutting his neighbors' grain. Some were 

 willing to make the trial, and a few jobs of this kind 

 enabled him to earn something with his reaper. But 

 the work was less in amount than he had looked for- 

 ward to, for the agent who had sold him the reaper had 

 found other customers in the vicinity, and the demand 

 for Farmer Green's machine was very much less than 

 he had anticipated. The reaper stood idle under its 

 shed during the better portion of the harvest season, 

 and the farmer was doomed to a severe disappointment. 



When the crop was sold there was another disappoint- 

 ment. There had been a heavy decline in the price of 

 wheat, and the farmer did not receive as much as he 

 had expected for his grain. All this while the day upon 

 which the note must be paid was drawing near, and 

 the farmer's chances of meeting it were rapidly dimin- 

 ishing. And still another blow fell upon him. Just 

 after the harvest his wife fell sick, and her illness was 

 long and expensive. 



Upon the appointed day, the agent of the Reaper 

 Company presented the note of Farmer Green, and de- 

 manded its payment. With a sad heart the farmer re- 

 lated his troubles to him, and told him he was unable 

 to meet his note. He had not the money. The agent's 

 face grew very long as he listened to the woful tale, 



