He Examined, At First From
The Top Of The Bank, Our Boat And Furniture, With Sparkling Eyes,
And Wished Himself Already His Own Man.
He was a lively and
interesting boy, and we should have been glad to ship him; but
Nathan was still his father's boy, and had not come to years of
discretion.
We had got a loaf of home-made bread, and musk and water melons
for dessert. For this farmer, a clever and well-disposed man,
cultivated a large patch of melons for the Hooksett and Concord
markets. He hospitably entertained us the next day, exhibiting
his hop-fields and kiln and melon-patch, warning us to step over
the tight rope which surrounded the latter at a foot from the
ground, while he pointed to a little bower at one corner, where
it connected with the lock of a gun ranging with the line, and
where, as he informed us, he sometimes sat in pleasant nights to
defend his premises against thieves. We stepped high over the
line, and sympathized with our host's on the whole quite human,
if not humane, interest in the success of his experiment. That
night especially thieves were to be expected, from rumors in the
atmosphere, and the priming was not wet. He was a Methodist man,
who had his dwelling between the river and Uncannunuc Mountain;
who there belonged, and stayed at home there, and by the
encouragement of distant political organizations, and by his own
tenacity, held a property in his melons, and continued to plant.
We suggested melon-seeds of new varieties and fruit of foreign
flavor to be added to his stock.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 309 of 422
Words from 85332 to 85607
of 116321
