THE OLD FARM'S WOOD-PILE. 99 



as I can recall, was to split wood. These two 

 men, Uz Gaunt and Miles Overfield, were " mas- 

 ter hands with an axe," as they promptly said of 

 themselves. With one foot resting upon the 

 chopping-block, and leaning upon his axe, Uz or 

 Miles would critically examine whatever I had 

 found ; and then, after silently gazing into the dis- 

 tance to recall the past, with what an air of wis-. 

 dom would the information be forthcoming ! Nor 

 would either of these old men ever promptly re- 

 sume his labor. Such an interruption was sure 

 to call up a flood of memories, and delightful 

 stories of long ago made me quite forget my 

 play. Nothing that my own or another's brain 

 could suggest ever equaled in interest these old 

 men's stories. I can not clearly recall a single 

 one of them now, but simply the effect they pro- 

 duced and the sad fact that, in their estimation, 

 the present never favorably compared with the 

 days when they were young. And is it not ever 

 so ? If I have learned nothing else since then I 

 have learned this that the glorious future to 

 which as a child I looked forward has proved 

 everything but what my fancy painted. 



There was a comic side to my interviews 

 with the wood-choppers which I recall even now 

 with grim satisfaction, for I think it was right 

 that I outwitted an unreasonably cross-grained 

 aunt. Often my heart was sorely troubled be- 



