Life on a Wisconsin Farm 



of their jaws; by the way they stretched them- 

 selves in the morning after a good rest; by 

 learning languages, Scotch, English, Irish, 

 French, Dutch, a smattering of each as re- 

 quired in the faithful service they so willingly, 

 wisely rendered ; by their intelligent, alert curi- 

 osity, manifested in listening to strange sounds; 

 their love of play; the attachments they made; 

 and their mourning, long continued, when a 

 companion was killed. 



When we went to Portage, our nearest town, 

 about ten or twelve miles from the farm, it 

 would oftentimes be late before we got back, 

 and in the summer - time, in sultry, rainy 

 weather, the clouds were full of sheet lightning 

 which every minute or two would suddenly il- 

 lumine the landscape, revealing all its features, 

 the hills and valleys, meadows and trees, about 

 as fully and clearly as the noonday sunshine ; 

 then as suddenly the glorious light would be 

 quenched, making the darkness seem denser 

 than before. On such nights the cattle had to 

 find the way home without any help from us, 

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