1904 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
227 
said his wife. Her manner was a little 
constrained, and Mr. Littlefield looked 
at her perplexedly. 
“It leaves a pretty bare looking place 
there,” he said. 
“I may put something else there be¬ 
fore long,” she returned. 
While they were all at supper a ring 
came at the front door. Mrs. Littlefield 
started nervously, and the color came 
into her face. ‘‘I will go,” she said, ris¬ 
ing quickly from the table. They heard 
her open the door and then say: “Yes, 
-Yes, bring it right in this way.” 
Then in a moment there was a peculiar 
sound in the front hall. The door open¬ 
ed and Mrs. Littlefield entered, ushering 
in a man who was wheeling a one-horse 
cultivator. “You can set it right there,” 
she said, indicating the space left va¬ 
cant by the lounge. The man followed 
her directions, then cast a quick glance 
at the group around the table and left 
the room, grinning broadly. 
Mrs. Littlefield faced her family. She 
stood up very straight and determined. 
The others looked from the cultivator 
to her, in speechless amazement. Mr. 
Littlefield was the first to speak. “Ip 
Heaven’s name, what are you going to 
do with that thing?” 
“Where’d you get it, Ma?” asked Tom. 
“Have you taken leave of your 
senses?” questioned Grandma Littlefield 
doubtfully. 
“You are not going to leave it there, 
are you?” asked May. “What will folks 
think?” 
Mrs. Littlefield waited for each one to 
speak, even giving the baby a chance to 
make remarks if she felt so inclined; 
then she made her replies, looking at 
each questioner in turn. 
“I am not going to do anything with 
it, Thomas,” she said, “but I expect you 
to use it on our farm this Summer. I 
bought it at the auction rooms down 
town this afternoon. I got it for a lit¬ 
tle less than a third of what it would 
cost new, and you see it has not been 
used enough to hurt it any. 
“No, Mother, I haven’t taken leave of 
my senses.” 
“Yes. May, it is going to stay there 
till we move.” 
“Well,” said Mr. Littlefield, “as long 
as we have a cultivator I suppose we 
shall have to get a farm next.” Mrs. 
Littlefield smiled a very peculiar smile. 
All during supper there was animated 
conversation about agricultural mat¬ 
ters. As they arose from the table Mr. 
Littlefield said: “I guess I’ll run down 
to Ainsworth’s this evening and see 
what he has in the way of small farms. 
We want to begin to look around.” 
“I wouldn’t go to-night,” said his 
wife. “I want to talk with you some 
more, after the dishes are done.” Mr. 
Littlefield looked surprised, but settled 
down to reading the real estate adver¬ 
tisements in the evening paper. Later 
on the family gathered in the sitting 
room, all except the baby, who had been 
put to bed. 
“I didn’t tell you the whole story of 
my afternoon’s work,” Mrs. Littlefield 
began. “Grandma can tell you that I 
went away as soon as possible after 
dinner. I started out intending to make 
some calls and do a few errands, but 
when I came to Mr. Arnold’s auction 
rooms I could not resist the temptation 
to go in. It was providential, I do be¬ 
lieve, for I got there just in time to bid 
in this cultivator. I gave directions 
about its being sent home, and then I 
came out. I was delighted with my pur¬ 
chase, for I felt that I had taken the first 
step toward our farm. I did not realize 
that I was going to take another long 
one before night. At the door of the 
auction rooms I met Cousin Joe. You 
know he is an auction fiend, like my- 
seld. He stopped and spoke. ‘Don’t ever 
go to auctions, Cousin,’ he said. 
“ ‘Why not?’ I asked. 
“ ‘I’ve got cured forever,’ he answered. 
‘I went to one last week and like a fool 
I bid in a white elephant.’ 
“ ‘Tell me about it,’ I said. 
“ ‘Well, it was out in the country. An 
o]d farm, household furniture, stock, 
tools, everything. I picked up some nice 
bits of china and then in an evil mo¬ 
ment I made a bid on the place, and— 
got it. It seems the house is haunted, or 
something, and isn’t very desirable any¬ 
way, and nobody wanted it much. So 
there I am. I got it at a ridiculously low 
figure, to be sure, but what am I to do 
with it?’ 
“ ‘Sell it to me/ I said. 
“He started at me a moment in blank 
amazement, then he looked at his watch. 
‘Come along quick, then, and we’ll go 
and look at it/ he said. ‘There’s just 
time to catch the train/ 
“The town was out 20 miles, and the 
farm a mile from the station. We were 
fortunate in getting a ride going out, 
and we walked back. 
“When we got to the city again it was 
half-past three. It happened that I had 
my bank-book with me, and a little 
money I was going to deposit I hur¬ 
ried to the bank and drew out enough 
money to pay for the farm. The little 
legacy that Uncle Nathan left me, you 
know. It didn’t take quite all of it. 
Then I met Cousin Joe at his lawyer’s 
and we had the deed made out and all 
the business settled. 
“Don’t you think I did a good after¬ 
noon’s work?—getting a cultivator, and 
then buying a farm? You see if I hadn’t 
bought the cultivator I should not have 
seen Joe, and we should have been farm¬ 
less. And now, Thomas, this really is 
your last year in the shop.” 
Mrs. Littlefield ceased speaking, as if 
she had told everything. 
“But, Mother,” said Tom, after a little 
pause, “you haven’t told us a thing 
about the farm.” 
“Why, so I haven’t,” she returned, 
with a demure look. “Would you really 
like to know about it?” 
“Of course we would!” the answer 
came in chorus. 
“Well, there is not a great amount of 
land, but enough to keep a horse and 
cow and some hens. We can have a big 
garden, and raise a few vegetables for 
the market, if we want to. There is a 
wood lot, which will furnish us with 
fuel. I don’t just know how we will get 
a living; we will have to study that up. 
But it won’t cost us much for dress, and 
we can live for a year or two on what 
we have saved up, so I don’t worry 
about our getting along. 
“The house is old-fashioned and 
weather-beaten, but it is very pleasant 
inside. We shall have to do some paint¬ 
ing and papering, and then I think we 
can get along very nicely there. It is a 
very picturesque place, with some big 
elms around it.” 
Mr. and Mrs. Littlefield sat up long 
after the rest of the family had gone to 
bed. 
“Do you think I did wrong, Thomas?” 
she asked a little anxiously. “I was 
afraid if I consulted you first that we 
would think we could not afford to make 
the change yet. I think the children 
ought to get away from the city, and I 
know Grandma longs for the country. 
So I decided to be rash, for once in my 
life, but I was a little scared after it was 
all over.” 
“You did just right, Mary,” said Mr. 
Littlefield heartily. “We never should 
have had a farm in this world if you had 
not taken affairs into your hands this 
way. Do you see the clock? We have 
talked till nearly midnight, and I think 
we had better let the rest go till to¬ 
morrow.” 
As they went through the dining-room 
Mr. Littlefield paused and grasped the 
handles of the cultivator, and looked 
down at it thoughtfully. 
“I suppose before another year I shall 
be better acquainted with this providen¬ 
tial cultivator,” he said. 
SUSAN BROWN ROBBINS. 
The coffee habit is quickly ovei 
come by those who let Grain-0 
take its place. If properly made 
it tastes like the best of coffee N o 
grain coffee compares with 't it 
flavor or healthfulness. 
TRY IT TO-DAY. 
At grocer* everywhere: 15c. and 25c par 
Banner Lye 
IS NOT 
Old = style Lye 
CiBanner Lye is as different from ordin¬ 
ary lye as the patented safety package is 
from every other lye-can. The package is 
easily opened, you can use as little or as 
much as you want — no waste or danger 
of any sort. 
□ Banner Lye is the greatest cleaning 
help in the world for kitchen, dairy, 
milk-room, milk-pans—everything. It is 
odorless and colorless. 
Makes pure soap 
—10 pounds of hard soap or 20 gallons 
of soft soap — without trouble or boiling 
or large kettles, and with no more ex¬ 
pense than the 10 cents Banner Lye 
costs at your grocer’s. 
Write for book "Uses of Banner Lye," and give us 
your grocer's name, should he not have It. 
The Penn Chemical Works Philadelphia USA 
Ayers 
Cherry Pectoral . Coughs, colds, croup, 
bronchitis, asthma,weak lungs. iowtu^eL 
RUB ON 
‘PainkUW 
and the Rheumatism’* gone. 
TELEPHONES 
For Farmers’ Lines. 
Organise an exchange in your 
community. Full particulars fur¬ 
nished. Catalogue free.. 
THE NORTH ELECTRIC CO., 
152 St. Clair Street, 
p. N. 301. CLEVELAND, O. 
WATCH and CHAIN POPP 
FOBADArSWORK L 1\LL 
Write at once, and we will mail you, 
postpaid, our premium list with 20 
packages of BLUINE to sell for ten 
cents each. Send us the money you 
get for the BLUINE, and we will 
forward you the Watch, Chain and 
Charm FREE. 
BLUINE MFGo CO., 
Concord Junction, Mass. 808 Mill Street. The old reliable firm 
who sell honest goods and give valuable premiums. 
Stitched 
with Silk. 
SEND NO MONEY WITH ORDER. 
We havs advertised In The Rural New Yorker many years, and have found their sub¬ 
scribers among our very best customers, and to be conscientious and responsible. We 
are therefore going to make to the subscribers of this paper one of the most liberal proposi¬ 
tions ever made, which isas follows: This offerwlll not bemado again. Order now. 
kin unuev cut this ad out and send It to us. State number of inches around 
HU ItlURkl the body at chest, close up under arms, over vest, also number 
around body at waist just above the hips, number of inches around body at 
largest part, also length of pants leg inside seam, from tight in crotch to heel, 
we will send you by express this rnrr When it arrives at your ex press of- 
handsome black or dark blue suit illCC flee examine it carefully, try It on, 
and if you And it exactly as represented by us, strictly all wool, made in the 
latest style, and cut for season of 1904. to be a better fitting suit, better made, 
more serviceable, more stylish, and better in every way than any suit you 
can buy of any other house in Chicago, or in fact from anywhere else, 
or of your local dealer at home at less than *14.00 to $16.00, P a y the ex¬ 
press agent ourspeclal price of $5.95. If the suit does not proveto lie 
exactly what you want, satisfacto yinevory way, equal to suits that 
sell everywhereat*14.00 to $16.00, then ship it back to us and wo will 
pay the express charges both ways. Understand, we do not ask you to 
send ns one single cent with the order. All that Is necessary to do Is to 
•end us this ad, give us your full measurement as Indicated above, and 
say whether you want a black or blue suit, and we will ship you this hand¬ 
some suit at once. Do not be afraid you cannot take your own measure. Do 
Hot be afraid the suit will not fit you. Take your measure carefully and the suit 
■will surely lit you perfectly. If it does not fit perfectly, if it is not satisfactory in 
every way, and the biggest bargain you have ever seen, and equal to suits that re¬ 
tail every where from $14.00 to $15.00 you need not pay one cent or take It from the 
express office, hut you may send it back to us, we’ll pay express charges both ways. 
Our 15 Days Trial Proposition. 
Wear this handsome suit 15 full days. In the meantime" compare It with 
suits your friends have bought at home or elsewhere, and if you do not find 
our suit superior in quality, style and tailoring, and general makeup, and if 
it is not worth more than your friends have paid for suits at *14.00 to *16.00, 
returnitto us and we will refundyou your money, and pay all express charges so 
you won’t be out one single cent. Order today and wear a $18.00 suit at $5.95. 
TUIC UAUnenUt CIIIT ■» mado °l alln® quality all wool cheviot, black 
I nio nunuoumc OUII ordarkblue. Say what color you want when 
ordering. The coat is made in the semi-military fashion, round cut sack, like illus¬ 
tration; has broad padded shoulders, giving the shoulders a broad dressy effect; 
has double interlined canvas self-sustaining front, is neatly lined with strong farm¬ 
ers satin, has four outside and one inside pocket, vest is single breasted, made in 
the best of manner with notched collar, nicely lined. The trousers are made full 
medium wide, cut over the latest pattern. This is a suit that keeps its shape, and 
will give the wearer the very best service. We use in this suit better linings, 
trimmings, interlinings, stiffening and finish, than any other maker. Wo employ 
none but the very best of cutters and fitters, and we guarantee to give you a more 
stylish, a better made suit every way, shape and manner, than you can buy any¬ 
where else without paying from *14.00 to *16.00. 
nilD CDCPIAI DDIPC nc (C OC Barely covers the cost of the cloth 
UUn OrCUIAL rnlut UP 93i99 lining, trimmings, and tailoring 
We are making this special offer merely to Introduce our clothing In your vicinity 
and to place one ot ourcataloguea In the hands ol every subscriber to this paper. 
We are only able to make this extremely low price because of our extraordinary 
facilities for buying and manufacturing, and because of our large volume of busi¬ 
ness, Order today, and with the suit we will send you one of our large complete catalogues; nr, 
if you prefer a suit different from our special *5.95 suit, as described above, write us tor our 
$ 16.00 
Order 
Now or 
Write 
for our 
Largo 
Catalog. 
clothing catalogue. State >n your letter the kind 
of suit you want and we will send you samples. 
MARVIN SMITH CO. CHICAGO.-ILL. 
Burlington 
Route 
Created Wealth 
Something from nothing—a garden from a desert. Such is 
the history of irrigated sections. Take land that sells for fifty 
cents an acre, put water on it and it sells for—what? There 
are quarter sections of land in the irrigated sections of Colo¬ 
rado that cannot be purchased for $20,000, and which earn a 
remunerative interest on that valuation. 
And yet you can purchase irrigated lands where the soil is 
perfect beyond belief, where the water supply is inexhaustible, 
where climatic conditions are healthful and exhilarating, where 
fuel is abundant and cheap, for from $15 an acre up. 
The Big Horn Basin of Wyoming has been but recently made 
available for settlement by the extension of the Burlington 
railroad. The irrigation companies must have settlers along 
their ditches, and they offer substantial inducements in the 
shape of low-priced water-rights and lands. 
HOW LONG WILL THIS CONDITION CONTINUE? 
None may say surely, but it won’t be for long, and the 
sooner you invest the cheaper will you be able to do so, for the 
advance is just as sure as has been the advance in the price of 
similar lands in other sections. 
Cheap tickets on sale to the Big Horn Basin via the 
Burlington Route every day in March and April. For full par¬ 
ticulars fill out and mail this coupon. 
AGIO 
P. S. EUSTIS, Passenger Traffic Manager, 
209 Adams Street, CHICAGO. 
Please send me a copy of your Big Horn Basin folder and 
information about the cheap tickets. 
Name ____ 
Address. 
N14 
