St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

Page 232 text:

Mr. Father and His Farm li During the summer of 19-, I spent my vacation a small town in the land about the Severn, M0313 of my time was employed in readinguand fishrngand lt was while out on an expedition for some of the finny tribe, that the incident which I am about to relate occurred. . ' , The fish had not been bitingtvery well and I determined to move farther. up stream. I clambered across the nearby fence and proceeded along the bank. Imagine my.sur- prise to find another fisherman, sitting on a rock, smoking an old corn cob, and waiting patiently for the welcome tug on his line. . A . .W Hello! said I. Fishing, are you? What luck? He1lo! he answered. Yes, to your first question, and to the second I must say -only fairly. I Y , - After this we engaged in a general conversation,when I learned that his name was Mr. Father and that he owned the farm of which the field extending down to the stream formed a part. As I enjoyed his conversation Iasked himto give me a description of his farm and its workings. This he promised with becoming modesty and I think it best to give the account in his own words :- ' I . Y I - I have lived here for at number of years, and feel quite attached to the old place. Under my direction the farm has been divided into five fields, four of which lie on one. side of that hill -pointing over toward the East-'fwhile the other is down beyond. Those on this side are rectangular in shape and of equal size, each one containing about one hundred acres. The fifth is somewhat larger than the others. I shall begin with this one and give a description of each. Do you see that small house down there in the left-hand corner? Well, that is where the Parson lives. He can be heard shouting, singing, and delivering sermons at all hours of the night. A rather peculiar circumstance -is that Fox Hall, the greatest sport of our community, dwells with him. We cannot imagine how they agree with each other, the one with his. beads and prayerbook, the other with his canes, high hats and patent leather shoes. The right end of the field is aretreat for quails. The Bob Whites are there in great numbers and offer a great temptation to visitors in this neighborhood. All attempts at gunning, however, are punished to the full extent of the law, for I am proud of my little friends and their rights shall be respected. , f'What is that object on top of the hill, I- asked. That is an old Binder, It has long been out of use. Up in that tall tree over on the right lives a large old Owl, who often makes the nights hideous with his hootings. ' -H ' ' In the second field we find a greater variety of objects. - The first is the Cow Punch, who hails from Nebraska and presents an ideal of that class of mortals. He is quite popular among the gentry, but thinks just a little too much of Punch. You need not be alarmed when I say that a Jew dwells in the neighborhood,-Yes, that Creeper is very I 212 I

Page 231 text:

HUTCHINS-'Tve got to study. A I PROF. J .- Mr. Gore, tell us what you know about Old English. ' GORE fwakingj- Why, Professor, it comes in tin boxes that fit the pocket and makes a nice sweet smoke. SMITH- What is meant by the expression, generosity personified?l' PUNCH-HI suppose it refers to Bull Neck when he gives away his dessert. MALLORY fat -Wiegard'sD- What kind of ice cream have you? i . WAITER-KKWG have strawberr vanilla d h l water-ice. y, , an c oco ate ice cream, orange and lemon MALLORY-HIS the orange, orange ice cream, or orange lemon ice. ' PROF. W. Cin Latinj- Mr. Hopkins, what word modifies tempore? ' HOPKINS-iKUHO.,, PROF. W.- Yes, I know, but Il want to see ifhyou know. RASIN Csingingj- I wonder where you are tonight, my love- BUCK- If she ever heard that melody, no doubt she is beyond Annapolis. - JAMISON-HI see that a professor in one of the Northern Universities has said that Hirting is good for the brain. - CLARK- Then your's must be wonderfully developed. X , ?' 4 14 P Is, I ,, we T Z-af x, '4-'A N ar ms .. 4- S'- ,V xl., -X N-NN. '?rXl-,JC . li 'X I. 211

Page 233 text:

pretty, but it is not Virginia Creeper. This came from New York, and I have never seen. any other like it. Down in the corner above the quails' nest lives a Smith. His. is a useful trade, and to meet the demands made on him he has purchased an automatic bellow, by which he is enabled to keep his fire hot continually. All that is necessary is a winding up in the morning. ' I live in the third field. To the right of my house the Pokeiyj weeds have full sway and useless is any attempt to devote the land to a more prontable use. Some time ago my hens began to disappear quite rapidly, and after some searching Idis- covered a Fox den not far away. I have laid all kinds of traps, but sly old Reynard is too wary to be caught. Over there is my pig-sty. At present it contains but one occu- pant. This Piggie came from the Eastern shore and bids fair to be a fine porker by butchering time. In my garden I have an acre of Parsley. It is nicely headed, stands well, and looks very promising. e e A ' I But let us continue to the next iield. I had anexcellent growth of Hops in it, but a mischievous Bull broke into it and almost ruined themg -then a dense growth of Jimson weed sprang up. I fear they have wrought sad havoc with the Hops. - I cannot show you the other field, for it is rather. dangerous for a stranger to venture within its limits. There is another vicious Bull in there and he would surely Gore you. Three men once went in there to hunt and all that remains of them now is a pile of Bones. But here comes my boy Ned: I have talked away the whole afternoon and now must go home to supper. A With these words Mr. Father, in spite of my request not to be in a hurry, shouldered his rod, and, with a hurried good bye, started for home! I made my way to my boarding house, and next day I went to have another talk with him, but he was gone, and never since have I been able to find him. L ' y l j Ya It 1',?S -cx X , h? '. ' fl I Zv , W -. :famu-W 'f!F44f '- , 0 ' 4 - ,f W 0 5, W MQ Q25 u 4 n i 213