5380 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
UNCLE PETER’S STOKY. 
‘ Uncle Peter,’ as we used to call him, was the greatest 
#hvorite in the Tillage, especially with the children. He 
was not handsome, his face was wrinkled, his hair white 
and thin, he was very lame, one leg being shorter than 
the other, so that he had to use a crutch. 
But then he was so pleasant, and had so 
many stories to tell about his boyhood 
days, and the scenes he had witnessed 
in his long and eventful life, that there 
was no place the girls and boys used to 
love to visit better than Uncle Peter's 
cottage. It was in a pleasant spot just 
on the edge of a wood where the chil¬ 
dren used often to play, and very fre¬ 
quently Uncle Peter would take his seat 
on the bench outside his door to watch 
their sports. One day, a company of girls 
and boys were having a merry game in 
the woods, when suddenly a shriek was 
heard, and the whole company came run¬ 
ning pell mell, toward Uncle Peter as 
fast as their legs could carry them. 
“ Hoity, toity 1” cried the old man w ho 
was sitting in his favorite place, 
,l What’s all this about? who’s hurt?” 
“A bear! a bear!” cried one of the 
girls, as soon as she could get her breath; 
and then all began shouting and talking 
together, so that Uncle Peter said, ” for 
the life of him, he could make neither 
head nor tail of the matter.” 
Just then, George Saunders, a merry 
but mischievous boy, came running from 
the woods, laughing and shouting at the 
top of his voice. “ Ha! ha 1 That was a 
good one.” The rascal had gone into 
Uncle Peter’s barn, and taken a buffalo 
skin which he found there, and after 
wrapping himself in it, had slily crept 
around through the woods to where the 
children were playing, and suddenly 
sprang out, causing their fright. 
Uncle Peter gave George a pretty se¬ 
vere lecture for the trick, telling him 
that it was dangerous sport to frighten 
any one, that persons had been made in¬ 
sane, and even lost their lives by such 
thoughtless sport. He also gave the chil¬ 
dren some very good advice about being 
alarmed before they knew there was any danger. Then 
seeing them all look rather serious he said, “ Once you 
might well have been afraid of bears in the woods, though 
)hey have all been driven away hundreds of miles from 
here, many years ago. I have good reason to remember 
them, as you can see by my lame leg. ’ 
•‘Do tell us about it,” cried the children, gathering 
nround him, and the old man related the following. 
“ When my father first caine to this place, there was 
iO other house within ten miles of us. It was almost an 
inbroken forest. We had no such comfortable house as 
cou see now-a-days, but lived in a cabin made of rough 
•ogs, piled up just as you make a cob-house. Though we 
lid not often see the face of white people, we had plenty 
of company. The Indians very often came into the 
leighborhood, as it was on a part of their favorite hunt¬ 
ing ground. They were quite friendly, and we were 
pleased with their visits. But there were other visitors 
not quite so welcome. Wolves, wild cats, and bears 
were very plenty, and my father had many a fine calf 
ind young pig carried off by the black shaggy rascals. 
One day in Autumn when I w as about fifteen years old, 
j was husking corn in the field which we had cleared a 
few years before, when I heard a rustling and crack¬ 
ling among the dry stalks at a little distance. I supposed 
it to be one of the hired men, and called out, when there 
was a sudden rush as of some one running away. 
This excited rny curiosity, and I pursued and soon saw 
a largo she boar with two young cubs, scampering for 
the woods. Away they went, piling over the fence, and I 
after them, for I was too much excited to think of dan¬ 
ger. In getting over the fence, one of the cubs step¬ 
ped upon a loose rail which gave way, and down he 
rolled, bringing part of the fence upon him, at which he 
raised a great cry. The old one came rushing back, and 
spying me, made after me, at the top of her speed, 
with a terrible growl. It was now my turn to get out of 
Ihe way, and I started for the house, shouting for father, 
with the bear in full chase. There was a steep shelving 
bank at the foot of which ran a brook, which I must cross 
to reach the house. Just as I came to this spot, the bear 
was not more than twenty feet behind me. I gave a des¬ 
perate leap toward the brook, my foot slipped, and down 
l fell, bending my leg under me breaking it at the thigh, 
and there I lay. But at that instant, crack ! went a rifle, 
and the bear came tumbling and rolling down by my side, 
with a bullet through her brain. My father had heard 
me call, and arrived just in time to see me fall, and the 
bear coming on the top of the bank 
My life was saved, but my leg was spoiled, for it was 
not until the next day that a doctor could be found to 
set it, and it was impossible to bring it to its right place ; 
so I have had to go hobbling through life ever since.” 
“ But children,” added Uncle Peter, “ I’ve found out that 
a man can be happy with only one leg if he will do right, 
be contented, and try to make others happy.’ ” 
“MAKE THE BEST OF IT.” 
11 Oh. Georgy Hays, just look here !” said little Madge 
Morrell. “ The old gray cat just jumped through this 
window, and broke cousin Alice’s beautiful rose gerani¬ 
um. Oh, isn’t it too bad ! How angry Alice, will be.” 
“My sister don’t get angry at such things, Miss Madge, 
I never saw her angry but once in my life, and that was 
when some boys worried a poor little kitten almost to 
death.” 
“ But this is so very provoking, Georgy. Any body 
would be angry.” 
“ It is really too bad, but you see if Alice does not try 
to make the best of it.” 
Pretty soon the young lady entered the room, her sun¬ 
ny face beaming with the bright spirit which reigned 
within. She was humming a sweet morning song, but 
she paused abruptly before her beautiful, ruined geranium. 
'•Ah, who has done this ?” she exclaimed. 
“ That ugly old cat broke it, cousin Alice, I saw her, 
myself,” said little Madge. 
“ Poor puss, she did not know what mischief she was 
doing. It was the very pet of all my flowers. But come, 
little cousin, don’t look so long faced ; we must try and 
make the best of it.” 
“ I don’t think there is much best to this, Alice.” 
“ Oh yes, it is not nearly as bad as it might have been. 
The fine stalk is not injured, and it will soon send forth 
new shoots. This large broken branch will be lovely in 
bouquets. Let us arrange a little one for mother’s room. 
We will place this cluster of scarlet blossoms in a wine 
glass, and you may run out into the garden and gather a 
few snow drops to put around it. There, was there ever 
any thing more beautiful. Now we will set the wine 
glass in this little saucer, and place some geranium leaves 
around the edge with a few snow drops mixed among 
them. Mother will admire it, she loves flowers so much. 
Now, little one, don’t you think there is a bright side to 
this affair ? I am not sure but pussy did us a favor by giv 
ing us so much pleasure from quite an unexpected 
source.” 
“ I think you have found the bright side, Alice, though 
I am sure I never should. I almost wanted the old cat to 
be killed.” 
“ Never be angry at a poor, unreason¬ 
ing animal, my child. Cultivate a more 
noble, elevated disposition, and learn to 
control yourself even in the smallest 
matters that might disturb the quiet of 
your mind. It is only by such self-con¬ 
trol that you can ever arrive at true 
woman-hood. Look for the bright side 
even of your disappointments and trou¬ 
bles. By such a course you will make 
for yourself a welcome everywhere, and 
your own happiness will be increased a 
thousand fold.” 
IRON WORTH MORE THAN GOLD. 
If there were only one pound of gold, 
and one pound of iron in the world, and 
you had your choice of one of them, 
which would you take? You probably 
answer at once, “ Hie gold.” But would 
that be a wise choice ? A pound of iron 
is really worth more than a pound ol 
gold. The iron you could change to 
steel, and with this make needles, 
knives, scissors, and many other useful 
instruments which require a hard tough 
metal. Pure gold is a soft metal, and is 
adapted to very few purposes in the use¬ 
ful arts. It answers chiefly for making 
ornaments and for gilding. Because it 
is a scarce metal, the people of most 
countries have agreed to make it a stan¬ 
dard of value. If gold were as abundant 
as iron, it would be cheaper than iron, 
for then no one wouid give a pound of 
iron for a pound of gold. Gold is not so 
valuable an article for exchange as it 
used to be. .Eighteen hundred years ago, 
the exchange value of gold was at least 
ten times as great as it is now, for then 
there was much less of it. If gold was 
only used to exchange for wheat, then i( 
there were only a million bushels of 
wheat, and just a million ounces of gold, 
a bushel of wheat might be exchanged for an ounce 
of gold. But if there were twenty million bushels o( 
wheat, and a million ounces of gold, an ounce of gold 
would be exchanged for twenty bushels of wheat. When 
wheat is very plentiful, it takes more of it to buy a given 
amount of gold ; just so when gold is very plentiful, it 
takes more of it to buy a given amount of wheat. So you 
see the world w ould not be any richer than now, if a hun¬ 
dred times as much gold were found as there is now. The 
only result would be, that it would take more gold to buy 
other things. 
WORKING FOR A PENNY A DAY. 
When in our boyhood we read in the Bible about the 
men working in a vineyard for a penny a day, we remem¬ 
ber that it seemed like very small wages indeed. But let 
us see about this. In those days a penny was about as 
large as fifteen of our cents, and as money was some ten 
times as valuable as now, the penny a day was as good as 
150 of our cents, so that those men really got as good 
wages as the best men now generally have in harvest 
time, that is a dollar and a half a day. So also w hen that 
good Samaritan gave two pence to the landlord to take 
care of the man who fell among thieves, you see it was 
equivalent to about $3, which would probably pay for his 
board two weeks in a country tavern, where board was 
very cheap. This gift of the Samaritan was in addition 
to the raiment, the oil and wine, and to the promise to 
pay any thing more that the landlord might expend. By 
-the same reckoning, how much was that box of “ very 
costly ” ointment worth, which Mary used upon the Sa¬ 
viour? When the Disciples asked if they should buy 200 
penny-worth of bread, how many loaves were they cal¬ 
culating for at about C cents a loaf—a large price in those 
days? Remember to reckon money worth ten times as 
much as now, and to call a penny worth 15 cents. 
AN UNEXPECTED HUG. 
The following, which is good enough lo bo true, is said 
to have happened “Out West.” An organ grinder who 
was traveling through the country, accompanied by a 
tame bear, which he had trained to dance, stopped before 
a farmer’s house late one afternoon, and after amusing 
the family with his performances, obtained permission to 
slay all night. The bear was placed in the barn for safe 
