HOW ONE FARMER WAS RUINED 



upon every stranger that came into the barn- 

 yard as a probable bunco man. Very few of 

 them had ever heard of A. C. Townley, and 

 he had no way of securing introductions to 

 them. Nevertheless, he found himself, in 

 February, 1915, at the little town of Deering 

 and telephoning to F. B. Wood, seven miles 

 away, asking for an interview. 



F. B. Wood was, and is, highly esteemed in 

 North Dakota for probity and judgment. 

 He had been one of the pioneers of the Equity 

 movement, wherein he was a high officer, so that 

 the farmer's struggle was no novelty to him; 

 he knew all about it from long experience. 



He expected Townley would appear the 

 next day. Instead, as quickly as a thin, active 

 man could walk the seven miles over the snow 

 the visitor shoved into Mr. Wood's house and 

 held out a sinewy hand. 



"What the devil are you doing here at this 

 time of the year?" was the greeting he got. 

 Townley started on his narrative and Mr. 

 Wood listened without enthusiasm, for this 

 was about the thirtieth man that had told 

 him how to save the farmer. Still, as this 

 man talked, Mr. Wood, watching him nar- 

 rowly with a cool, blue eye and a naturally 

 shrewd mind sharpened with much dealing 

 in a practical world, began to see that he 

 was different. Believers in the comfortable, 

 dull-clod theory about farmers should have 



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