HIRAM THE YOUNG FARMERBy Burbank L. ToddCONTENTSCHAPTER I. THE CALL OF SPRINGCHAPTER II. AT MRS. ATTERSON'SCHAPTER III. A DREARY DAYCHAPTER IV. THE LOST CARDCHAPTER V. THE COMMOTION AT MOTHER ATTERSON'SCHAPTER VI. THIS DIDN'T GET BY HIRAMCHAPTER VII. HOW HIRAM LEFT TOWNCHAPTER VIII. THE LURE OF GREEN FIELDSCHAPTER IX. THE BARGAIN IS MADECHAPTER X. THE SOUND OF BEATING HOOFSCHAPTER XI. A GIRL RIDES INTO THE TALECHAPTER XII. SOMETHING ABOUT A PASTURE FENCECHAPTER XIII. THE UPROOTINGCHAPTER XIV. GETTING IN THE EARLY CROPSCHAPTER XV. TROUBLE BREWSCHAPTER XV. ONE SATURDAY AFTERNOONCHAPTER XVII. MR. PEPPER APPEARSCHAPTER XVIII. A HEAVY CLOUDCHAPTER XIX. THE REASON WHYCHAPTER XX. AN ENEMY IN THE DARKCHAPTER XXI. THE WELCOME TEMPESTCHAPTER XXII. FIRST FRUITSCHAPTER XXIII. TOMATOES AND TROUBLECHAPTER XXIV. "CORN THAT'S CORN"CHAPTER XXV. THE BARBECUECHAPTER XXVI. SISTER'S TURKEYSCHAPTER XXVII. RUN TO EARTHCHAPTER XXVIII. HARVESTCHAPTER XXIX. LETTIE BRONSON'S CORN HUSKINGCHAPTER XXX. ONE SNOWY MIDNIGHTCHAPTER XXXI. "MR. DAMOCLES'S SWORD"CHAPTER XXXII. THE CLOUD IS LIFTEDCHAPTER XXXIII. "CELERY MAD"CHAPTER XXXIV. CLEANING UP A PROFITCHAPTER XXXV. LOOKING AHEADCHAPTER I. THE CALL OF SPRING"Well, after all, the country isn't such a bad place as some city folkthink."The young fellow who said this stood upon the highest point of the RidgeRoad, where the land sloped abruptly to the valley in which lay thesmall municipality of Crawberry on the one hand, while on the other openfields and patches of woodland, in a huge green-and-brown checkerboardpattern, fell more easily to the bank of the distant river.Dotted here and there about the farming country lying before the youthas he looked westward were cottages, or the more important-lookinghomesteads on the larger farms; and in the distance a white church spirebehind the trees marked the tiny settlement of Blaine's Smithy.A Sabbath calm lay over the fields and woods. It was mid-afternoon ofan early February Sunday--the time of the mid-winter thaw, that falseprophet of the real springtime.Although not a furrow had been turned as yet in the fields, and the snowlay deep in some fence corners and beneath the hedges, there was, afterall, a smell of fresh earth--a clean, live smell--that Hiram Strong hadmissed all week down in Crawberry."I'm glad I came up here," he muttered, drawing in great breaths ofthe clean air. "Just to look at the open fields, without any brick andmortar around, makes a fellow feel fine!"He stretched his arms above his head and, standing alone there on theupland, felt bigger and better than he had in weeks.For Hiram Strong was a country boy, born and bred, and the town stifledhim. Besides, he had begun to see that his two years in Crawberry hadbeen wasted."As a hustler after fortune in the city I am not a howling success,"mused Hiram. "Somehow, I'm cramped down yonder," and he glanced backat the squalid brick houses below him, the smoky roofs, and the uglyfactory chimneys."And I declare," he pursued, reflectively, "I don't believe I can standOld Dan Dwight much longer. Dan, Junior, is bad enough--when he isaround the store; but the boss would drive a fellow to death."He shook his head, now turning from the pleasanter prospect of thefarming land and staring down into the town."Maybe I'm not a success because I don't stick to one thing. I've hadsix jobs in less'n two years. That's a bad record for a boy, I believe.But there hasn't any of them suited me, nor have I suited them."And Dwight's Emporium beats 'em all!" finished Hiram, shaking his head.He turned his back upon the town once more, as though to wipe hisfailure out of his memory. Before him sloped a field of wheat andclover....