86 With Feet to the Earth 



museums for the exhibit of human nature 

 they are superior. I never lounge before 

 the fire in the dim, smoky tap-room or 

 office of a tavern without finding the time 

 well spent. The big, slow, profane, hearty, 

 good-tempered farmers always have some- 

 thing to say worth the hearing, and their 

 grimy, uncouth selves are always worth 

 seeing. What queer phrases you hear ! 

 A wagoner dilating to his knot of hearers 

 on the " wuthlessness" of a hill family, 

 specifies, "And there was Uriah, lyin' up 

 to the house all day lappin' lightnin'." 

 Lightning is rum. They are not always 

 men of wide view, these agriculturists : in 

 Presbyterian districts they think ill of 

 Methodists, and in Republican townships 

 the Democrats are popularly believed to 

 be the devil's children. They do not 

 always see natural beauty, nor think so 

 highly of it as they do of the artificial. 

 They welcome any chance to get together, 

 be it to elect a school committee or to 

 inspect the prize pumpkins at the county 

 fair. It is well to see them with greased 

 locks, squeaky boots, and comfortless 



