222 THE FAT OF THE LAND 
days, and was dismissed for innocuous desuetude. 
Still another man whom I tried did well for five 
weeks, and then broke out in a most profound 
spree, from which he could not be weaned. He 
ended up by an assault on Otto in the stable 
yard. The Swede was taken by surprise, and 
was handsomely bowled over by the first on- 
slaught of his half-drunk, half-crazed antagonist. 
As soon, however, as his slow mind took in the 
fact that he was being pounded, he gathered his 
forces, and, with a grunt for a war-cry, rolled 
his enemy under him, sat upon his stomach, and, 
flat-handed, slapped his face until he shouted for 
aid. The man left the farm at once, and I com- 
mended the Swede for having used the flat of 
his hand. 
In spite of bad luck with the new men we 
were able to plough and seed 144 acres by May 
10. Lots Nos. 8, 12, 18, and 14 were planted to 
corn, and No. 15 sowed to oats, and the 10 acres 
on the home lot were divided between sweet fod- 
der corn, potatoes, and cabbage. The abundant 
water in the soil gave the crops a fair start, and 
June proved an excellent growing month, a rain- 
fall of nearly four inches putting them beyond 
danger from the short water supply of July and 
August. Indeed, had it not been for the gener- 
osity of June we should have been in a bad way, 
for the next three months gave a scant four 
inches of rain. 
The oats made a good growth, though the 
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