Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV TRADING IN THOSE DAYS BEN IS APPRENTICED THE ENLISTING SERGEANT COURT DAY AT CONCORD About this time my life changed a good deal. Bishop Hancock had died during the previous winter. Young John was adopted by his Uncle Thomas, the Boston merchant, and went to Harvard College. Edmund's mother, who had been a widow several years, married Squire Bowman, and went to live at his house at the south end of the town. As for myself, I was growing up, and had my stint of work with the others. In the spring, driving the oxen, while father held the plough. Then came sowing the land and planting corn. Then half-hilling and again hilling it. Then helping to hay, and to gather in the crops. In the fall, picking apples and making cider. And as the win- Si ter came on, I helped to kill and dress a steer and a couple of hogs, and to put them in the powdering tubs and pickle them. Then we hung the hams and sides of bacon up in the chimney to be cured. Beside these things the daily care of the cattle and milking kept me busy all the time. And it seemed to me that we got but small return for our labour. We had a large barn full of cattle and horses, and the loft full of hay for them. A snug home for ourselves and plenty to eat and drink. We raised the flax and wool from which our clothes were made. When we killed an ox or a calf, the hide was tanned to make into shoes. But we had very little ready money. Whatever dealings we had with our neighbours was done by exchanging goods, — trading we called it. Trading was going on all the time. One morning, as we boys were walking up the road, and had reached the upper end of Captain Esterbrook's land, Edmund said, " Hello, Ben, look over there. Captain TRADING 53 Joe Esterbrook and Matthew Mead are trad ing. Whenever yo...