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��THE OLD FARM.
��mountain, whose summit (now become a favorite resort of tourists) had been re- garded by many a young and wondering mind as the highest point of earth — a rendesvouz for the spirits of the blessed, from which they made their final flight to upper worlds. Through the interven- ing valley ran a sprightly river, bordered by beautiful meadows above and below the " Falls," a point which afforded an excellent water-power, partially im- proved by a grist and saw mill, which, with a clump of two or three dwellings, stood near the junction of the winding highway, coming down from the hillside past the farm we have described, with the "river road" — the great thorough- fare of the region. Does any reader recognize the locality?
More than one whose eyes these lines
will greet have travelled along that
"river road," passed up the hillside
highway, and some, among the number,
we venture to say, have " confiscated "
apples from the rocky orchard of the
farm. But the boys? Young men, rather,
we may call them, for they have attained the stature of manhood. Both are, phy- sically, fine specimens of young man- hood, though very unlike in appearance. The eldest may be twenty years of age. Tall and symmetrical in form and grace- ful in movement, with a restless, dissatis- fied look upon his dark face, he is, indeed, a striking contrast to his shorter, sturdi- ly-built companion, whose ruddy, open countenance, half surrounded with a lux- uriant mass of curling, light-brown hair, tells at once of a genial, hopeful nature, as he stands wiping the perspiration
from his uncovered brow. The last load of hay has just been
stowed away above the " high beams," and as Cbarles Bradley sticks his fork in the mow and springs to the floor, he gives utterance to the words recorded above. His younger companion and co- laborer Edward Watson, replies :
" I am sorry, Charles, that you cannot be contented upon the old farm. There is enough for both at home, and work enough to do. Nor is a farm life so dis- agreeable after all. It is the healthiest
and most independent calling that a man can follow."
��"Nonsense, Edward!" said Charles. " If you think so, all right, since you have decided to spend your days on the farm, and it is best for one to be con- tented with his lot : but as for me, I am thoroughly tired and disgusted with farm life. It is a life of drudgery in which the best powers of man are wast- ed — the same routine of toil from morn- ing to night, year after year, with no compensation but mere existence. I am glad to be done with it, and when I leave for Boston Monday morning to make my way in the world and win a place among men, it will be the happiest hour of my life. It is true I have had here a good, pleasant home. Father, mother, your- self and Nellie have always been kind and loving, und it grieves me to part with you, but I must do something in life to develop my manhood and win an honor- able position. I shall never forget all your kindness, and when I have made my way in the world I hope to return to find you all happy and prosperous, and to take Nellie away with me to share my home and position."
Chai-les Bradley and Edward Watson had been reared together as brothers upon the old farm. The former was adopted by Edward's parents when but an infant of a few months, being the child of farmer Watson's dearest friend, who had followed a delicate young wife to the grave, leaving the tender babe to the care of his friend and neighbor — a trust which Mr. and Mrs. Watson had willingly accepted, and to which they had ever been most faithful. The young Charles had grown up bearing his dead father's name, but treated with the same parental tenderness and affection as Ed- ward, who was born a year after his adoption, and the fairy-like Nellie, the pet of the household, a year and a half younger than Edward, now a slight, graceful girl of seventeen, with tender blue eyes, and a complexion rivalling the blended charms of the lily and the rose. Together the three had grown from childhood to youth, sharing their joys and sorrows, sympathizing in each other's hopes and ambitions, and caring for nothing so much as contributing to one another's happiness. Together they
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