78 MY TEN-ROD FARM; 



CHAPTER VI. 



, , HOUSE-BUILDING. 



ON returning a few mornings after this from the city I 

 found my garden in possession of a large gang of laborers. 

 The fence in front had been removed, a pile of lumber lay 

 on the sidewalk, ,and some men were unloading a quantity 

 of posts from a wagon that stood in the street. Fearing for 

 my flowers I hastened to find the foreman, to warn him about 

 my plants. He knew all about it ; had taken them up and 

 placed them in the cellar, safely covered up with damp soil. 

 Changing my dress, I went out to watch the proceedings. 

 In this I was not alone. From the time the first man came 

 till they all drove away there was constantly a crowd of idlers, 

 men and boys mainly, standing on the sidewalk, watching 

 the operations. Them I at once and forever ignored. 



The first thing done was to mark out a space on the ground 

 one hundred and ten feet long, and twenty-one feet wide. 

 This being done the whole gang of men began at once to dig 

 up the soil enclosed in this space, and to throw it out on either 

 side. There were so many of them the work progressed 

 rapidly, and at noon the whole space was dug out to the 

 depth of one foot. After dinner the men were divided into 

 two parties. One party busied themselves in making holes 



