The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
691 
leaning  side  of  the  tree;  but  there  was 
little  spirit  in  his  blows.  The  old  man 
held  out  his  stick. 
“Joe,  I’ve  known  you  boy  and  man 
since  you  were  born.  We’re  old-time  folks, 
Joe.  Can  you  do  it?” 
Joe  needed  the  job  and  the  money,  but 
there  was  something  of  that  old  family 
pride  about  him,  too.  He  threw  his  ax 
on  the  ground. 
“Mr.  Jones,  I  guess  you’d  better  get 
somebody  else  to  do  your  dirty  work.  I 
“All  right,  you’re  fired  !  Get  out !  No 
man  in  the  boneyard  or  out  of  it  stops  me. 
I'll  do  it  myself.  I’ll  show  you  hayseeds 
what  a  man  is.” 
Jones  actually  pulled  his  coat,  caught 
up  the  ax  and  struck  a  savage  blow  at 
the  outer  side  of  the  tree.  Joe  had  cut  it 
half  through  already.  Then  the  old  man 
lost  control  of  himself.  He  mumbled  and 
shrieked,  held  up  his  hands  as  we  have 
seen  in  the  picture  of  the  old  prophets, 
and  screamed  out  his  curse. 
“Curse  ye!  Curse  ye.  for  an  infidel 
and  robber.  Carry  an  old  man’s  curse 
while  ye  live !  Walk  to  your  grave  with 
grief,  and  after  it  with  agony.  May  the 
things  ye  love  most  turn  to  ashes  and 
haunt  ye  for  life.” 
It  was  pitiful.  The  feeble,  impotent 
rage  of  this  broken  man  !  .  Jones  watched 
him  with  a  sneer  until  his  eye  fell  upon 
the  boy,  unnoticed  until  now.  The  pride 
and  hope  of  the  Jones  family  stood  on 
the  hillside,  giving  a  good  imitation  of 
the  old  man’s  gestures  and  grimaces; 
“Great  work,  kid,”  said  Jones.  “You 
have  got  him  dead.  Great  stuff  to  give 
the  folks  tonight !  And  now,  old  man, 
shut  up.  Give  us  a  rest.  There’s^  no 
ashes  about  my  boy  or  mv  money.  Shut 
up  I” 
He  drove  a  hard,  awkward  blow  at  the 
tree.  No  one  expected  it  to  go  as  it  did, 
but  suddenly  it  cracked  and  started  down. 
One  side  of  the  stump  held,  and .  as  it 
fell  the  tree  swung  to  the  left.  Down, 
down  it  came  into  the  little  graveyard 
right  upon  the  grave  of  the  woman  with 
a  strain  of  foreign  blood.  It  swung  side- 
wise  with  a  mighty  force  and  as  it  fell 
smashed  the  white  headstone  into  a  dozen 
pieces.  And  one  shining  piece  flew 
straight  as  though  thrown  by  the  hand 
of  fate  to  wrhere  the  boy  stood  on  the  hill¬ 
side  giving  his  imitations  of  the  old  man’s 
curse.  It  struck  him  fairly  in  the  fore¬ 
head  and  stretched  him  on  the  grass. 
No,  it  did  not  kill  him.  He  lived  for 
years  an  idiot,  a  mere  child  in  mind.  The 
one  human  being  that  his  father  thought 
he  loved  turned  to  ashes — became  a  ghost 
.to  haunt  his  parent  through  life  with  an 
idiotic  mind. 
If  you  were  to  ask  Joe  about  it,  he  will 
tell  you  it  was  no  accident,  but  a  judg¬ 
ment,  stem  and  cruel,  for  desecrating  a 
consecrated  place.  What  do  I  think 
about  it?  Well.  I  talked  it  over  with  my 
family,  and  we  all  agree  that  if  we  ever 
buy  a  farm  with  one  of  these  family 
graveyards  on  it,  we  shall  make  it  the 
beauty  spot  of  the  place.  It  will  remain 
just  what  it  is  while  we  live.  H.  w.  C. 
New  Seedling  Pear  Cayuga 
Fruit  growers  have  long  been  on  the 
lookout  for  a  new  pear  which  will  grow 
successfully  in  this  part  of  the  country. 
The  New  York  Experiment  Station  at 
Geneva  has  been  trying  to  meet  this  want 
by  cultivating  a  new  pear  seedling.  What 
they  are  after  is  a  high-quality  pear, 
with  more  resistance  to  blight  than  the 
common  standard  sorts  now  grown.  In 
carrying  out  this  work  the  station  has 
tested  over  2,000  different  seedlings.  Of 
this  great  number,  eight  seedlings  of  the 
Seckel  pear  have  seemed  to  promise  re¬ 
sults.  One  of  these  is  named  the  Cayuga 
and  is  being  distributed  by  the  New  York 
State  Fruit  Testing  Association  for  fur¬ 
ther  trial.  As  for  a  description  of  the 
Cayuga  pear,  it  seems  to  resemble  the 
Seckel  in  many  respects. 
The  young  trees  are  vigorous,  healthy, 
and  free  from  blight,  although  this  does 
not  necessarily  mean  that  the  new  va¬ 
riety  is  blight-proof.  It  will  take  years 
and  plantings  under  many  conditions  to 
determine  this  point.  The  fruit  of  Cay¬ 
uga  averages  as  large  as  that  of  Bartlett, 
although  in  shape  it  resembles  Seckel  and 
in  color  Clairgeau.  The  quality  of  the 
new  variety  is  better  than  that  of  any 
standard  sort  except  Seckel.  The  flesh 
is  firm  and  fine  in  texture  quite  to  the 
center,  and  the  flavor  is  the  rich,  delect¬ 
able  flavor  of  Seckel,  although  Cayuga  is 
not  quite  so  spicy  as  Seckel. 
A  naval  officer  entered  a  big  store  with 
his  wife,  and  elected  to  stay  near  the  pas¬ 
senger  elevator  while  she  made  a  few  pur¬ 
chases  at  the  counters.  She  was  away 
a  long  time,  and  when  eventually  she 
did  get  back,  he  said,  mopping  his  heated 
brow :  “Gosh,  Mary !  I’m  glad  you’ve  re¬ 
turned.”  “Why,  what’s  the  matter,  dear?” 
she  asked.  “Matter,”  and  again  he  wiped 
his  forehead  with  his  handkerchief.  “Why, 
exactly  30  people  have  asked  me  to  run 
them  up  in  the  elevator.” — New  York 
Globe. 
Make  Those  Idle  Acres  Pay  Their  Way 
IDLE  acres  under  water— there 
are  thousands  of  them  in  this 
state,  perhaps  some  on  your 
farm — liabilities  that  can  be 
made  into  profitable  land  yield¬ 
ing  big  crops.  And  it’s  quick  and 
economical  the  du  Pont  way. 
Ditching  with  dynamite  is  an 
inexpensive,  out -of -season  job 
that  will  pay  you  many  fold 
next  harvest  time. 
Ask  your  dealer  for  du  Pont 
50%  or  60%  straight  dynamite. 
It  won’t  freeze  in  any  practical 
working  weather. 
Have  you  written  for  your 
free  copy  of  the  “Farmers’ 
Handbook  of  Explosives”?  It 
contains  complete  information 
on  the  use  of  explosives  for 
ditching — and  for  land-clearing 
and  tree-planting,  too. 
E.  I.  DU  PONT  DE  NEMOURS  &  CO.,  Inc. 
Equitable  Bldg. 
NEW  YORK 
Fulton  Bldg, 
PITTSBURGH,  PA. 
Harvey  Bldg. 
BOSTON,  MASS. 
for DITCHING  -  STUM PING  -TREE  PLANTING 
Lasts  Longer 
The  important  working  parts  on  the 
John  Deere  Sulky  Rake  are  reversible  or 
interchangeable — lasts  years  longer. 
John  Deere  Sulky  Rake 
Dump  Rods  are  reversible  —  wheel 
ratchets  are  interchangeable  —  tooth 
holders  accommodate  any  number  of 
teeth  —  adjustments  provided  to  meet 
all  conditions  of  raking  —  an  easily- 
operated  and  durable  rake. 
GET  FREE  RAKE  FOLDER 
Also  tell  us  what  other  imple¬ 
ments  you  are  interested  in,  and  get 
free  copy  of  “Bookkeeping  on  the 
Farm” — a  valuable  account  book. 
Write  to  John  Deere,  Moline,  Ill., 
and  ask  for  Package  SB-837. 
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4b  Elm  St. .Quine,,  111. 
When  you  write  advertisers  mention  The  R.  N.-Y.  and  you'll  get  a 
quick  reply  and  a  “ square  deal.”  See  guarantee  editorial  page. 
Southern  Maryland  Crops  move  to  market 
more  than  a  month  before  yours  do.  Top 
prices  for  early  crops  in  big  cities  at  your  door¬ 
step.  No  cinch  bugs;  no  hog  cholera.  Ideal 
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THE 
RURAL  NEW-YORKEB 
333  W  30th  St..  N.  V. 
