CHAPTER VI.
LONG POINT FARM.
Owensett Bay, at the head of which the town of Afton stood, was a beautiful sheet of water. It was six or eight miles long, and three to four miles broad, and for the most part comparatively regular in the curvature of its shores. On the east side, however, there was one marked exception, as about five miles down the bay a point of land, nearly a mile long, and half as broad, jutted directly out into the water. This point of land was owned by Mr. George Woodhull, and formed what was known in the neighborhood as "Long Point Farm."
Mr. Woodhull had inherited the property from his father, but through an untiring industry and indomitable thrift, had gone on making change after change, and adding improvement to improvement, until the place was now regarded as in many respects "the model farm" of the locality. Ray Branford, as on the morning of his arrival there he accompanied Mr. Woodhull about the place, thought nothing more could be added to it, either in convenience or usefulness.
On a pleasant knoll, and commanding a fine view up and down the bay, was the farmhouse, spacious in size, and neat and tasteful in all its appointments. Back of this, and a little to the right, was the horse barn, with its carriage shed, harness room, and granary. To the left, but farther away, was the huge cattle barn, fitted with every modern appliance for the convenient and systematic care of a noble herd of Jerseys. Beyond this, and on a line with the farmhouse, was the tenement house for the hired man and his family. Then, arranged in near proximity, were the hennery, the sheep barn, and the other out-buildings so necessary to a well-ordered farm. Every building was in thorough repair, the walks and drives running between them were neatly kept, the walls and fences of the meadows and orchards and pastures exhibited a similar care, and the whole appearance of the farm spoke of the thrift and thoroughness for which its owner was noted.
"I have found," said Mr. Woodhull, as he showed Ray what there was to be done at each building, "that the animals on a place do a great deal better under one person's care, and when one person is held responsible for them. They are more systematically cared for, the food goes farther, and the cattle thrive better. It is on this account I have hired you. Mr. Smith, my hired man, and his two grown sons will look out for the farmwork. You are simply to look out for the live stock, to take the produce to market, and go up town on the errands that may be necessary for the house. Sometimes you will use the horses to do this; at other times, when the wind is favorable, you will go by boat, as that is the shorter and quicker way to town. On Sundays you are to have a horse to go up to the morning service and to the Sunday-school at Afton, if you so choose. Sunday evenings you will, on account of the chores, have to be back here at the farm. Friday nights if you care, after your work, to take a boat and go over to the prayer meetings, I have nothing to say. When I am not at home, Mr. Smith will see that the folks are taken over to our little church. We understand the arrangement now; so come on to the house and get acquainted with the women folks, for you are to be one with us."
Ray found that the immediate household at Long Point Farm consisted of Mr. Woodhull, his wife, their three children, Georgie, a boy of eight, and twin girls of three, and Mrs. Berray, the mother of Mrs. Woodhull. He was so cordially welcomed by them all that he at once felt at home. Mrs. Berray, the mother, when she shook hands with him, looked long and searchingly into his face, and then said:
"They tell me thou hast chosen that good part, like Mary of old, which shall not be taken from thee. Never forget to daily thank the Master for that great gift; and may thy coming to this house be a blessing to us and to thee."
When shown to his room, Ray found it was a large one on the second floor, and so chosen that he could look from its windows off over the bay toward Afton, and when the weather was fair he could plainly see the spire of the First Church pointing heavenward.
The room was well furnished, and in one corner was a bookcase well filled with books. Every convenience for writing and for study was on the open desk, and the boy's heart was filled with thankfulness toward God and his new friends, as he realized that there was nothing now to prevent his spiritual and intellectual advancement. Before he retired that night, he wrote out a set of rules which should now govern him as he began his new life. These he placed where each morning and evening he could readily behold them, and each rule was followed with the Scriptural reason for adopting it. He always said they were of great help to him in his Christian life; and that they may possibly be of some help to other young Christians, I give them here:
Rule I.—I will ever remember whose I am and whom I serve."Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price."Rule II.—I will do all things thoroughly and well, and to the glory of God."Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."Rule III.—I will daily look to God for wisdom, strength, and grace."If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."Rule IV.—I will give one-tenth of every dollar that comes into my hands unto the Lord."Of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee."Rule V.—I will use every possible opportunity to win others for Christ."He that winneth souls is wise."
Rule I.—I will ever remember whose I am and whom I serve.
"Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price."
Rule II.—I will do all things thoroughly and well, and to the glory of God.
"Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
Rule III.—I will daily look to God for wisdom, strength, and grace.
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
Rule IV.—I will give one-tenth of every dollar that comes into my hands unto the Lord.
"Of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee."
Rule V.—I will use every possible opportunity to win others for Christ.
"He that winneth souls is wise."
The days now glided swiftly by. Ray soon mastered the routine of his work, and found his duties neither onerous nor exacting; he also proved to his employer that he was both willing and capable. It was soon evident, moreover, that his outdoor life agreed with him. For some months before he left the mill all had noticed that he was growing thin and pale, exceedingly nervous, and unable to sleep well at night. Now he ate heartily and slept well, while the sun browned his cheeks, and the fresh air filled out his frame. His daily intercourse with refined and Christian people gave new tone to his own walk and conversation; his study and his reading improved his mind; the spiritual influences thrown around him elevated his soul. He had told Mr. Carleton and Miss Squire, on the first Sunday he went up to the village, of the change he had made in his occupation and home, and they now noted the changes in him, and silently thanked God for them.
He had been at Long Point Farm but a short time when Mrs. Woodhull had asked him about his studies. She had proposed to him when at Afton to call on the principal of the town school and ascertain what studies it would be necessary for him to make up, in order to enter the school the next fall in the classes with those of his own age. He had done this, and came home with a pile of books that was absolutely appalling to any one with a less indomitable courage than he possessed. Mrs. Woodhull had found some of the studies beyond her ability to teach him, and, while she offered to help him with such as lay within her power, she proposed that he should go up to Mr. Carleton once a week and receive help on the others. Mr. Carleton readily consented to the arrangement, and so every Friday night Ray went home with Mr. Carleton from the prayer meeting and spent an hour on his Latin and geometry. It made him late home at the farm, but as he was always up in time for his morning work, Mr. Woodhull made no objection to the plan.
The boy's life was a busy one now. From early in the morning until dark he kept at his farm duties. For three hours every evening he read or studied. On Sundays he always attended the morning preaching service and Sunday-school at Afton. On Friday evenings he rowed or sailed over to the village for the prayer meeting and his recitations; or if the weather did not permit his going by water, he walked the whole distance of seven miles around the road to the village, and then walked back to the farm. He did this a number of times until Mr. Woodhull interfered, saying: "I did not mean, Ray, you should not take a horse on Friday nights, when I told you you could go by boat. I never once thought of your going when you couldn't cross the bay. After this, if you can't go by boat, and must go, take one of the horses."
Before three months had passed away Ray had so fully gained the confidence of his employer by his fidelity and industry, that that gentleman hardly knew how he could get along without him. "Uncle Jacob," he said one day as he was talking with him about the boy, "you needn't pay that extra five dollars on the boy's monthly salary; he earns every bit of it, and I can better afford to give it to him than I can to have him go. He is the best help, without exception, I ever hired; and do you know he is serving the Master as faithfully as he is serving me. There is Smith, my hired man, and his two sons; they were good moral fellows, but not a bit religious when Ray came. Now all three are reading their Bibles and praying daily, and when they related their experiences last week each one admitted it was something that boy said to them that first started him on the heavenly road. Every animal on the place loves him, and he can do almost anything he wants to with them; and as for the children, any one of them will go to Ray sooner than to their mother or to me. After this, Uncle Jacob, you may pick out my help for me, if you will guarantee that they will all turn out as well."
The old gentleman shook his head slowly: "I can't do it, George, for to my mind, not one in ten is so thoroughly converted as he was; and to think so many of us were afraid the Lord hadn't done it. Guess it will be some time before the First Church people make another such mistake."
Then there came an incident in the Long Point Farm life long to be remembered, and which so endeared Ray to Mr. and Mrs. Woodhull that from that hour they regarded him as their son.
George and the twins had gone out to play. For a time they ran about the lawn in front of the house, but the gate into the lane had been left open, and the children soon discovered it. Though they had been told again and again not to go out of the yard, the temptation was great, and their little memories were short, and a bright idea crept into Georgie's brain. So he proposed to the twins: "Ray has gone up to the town, and will be back soon; let us go and meet him." The twins were nothing loth, as a ride after Old Jim, the horse, was the height of their childish ambitions, and away the three trudged down the lane.
Before a great while they grew tired and sat down to rest by a gate opening into one of the pastures. Some bright flowers in the field attracted the attention of one of the twins, and, clapping her tiny hands, she cried:
"Pitty flow's! pitty flow's! Me get 'em for mamma."
"All right," said the undaunted Georgie; "I'll get them for you." And he began to climb over the gate.
"Me come, too!" both twins screamed, and managed to squeeze their little bodies between the bars of the gate, and the three children were soon busy picking the flowers that grew in such profusion at their feet.
Now, it happened that Mr. Woodhull had arrived home but a few days before with a drove of half-wild steers, and they were turned into this pasture. The children, accustomed to the sight of cattle daily, had thought nothing of the presence of the steers, though they saw them at no great distance away. To their childish minds they were no more to be feared than the good, kind cows Ray drove back and forth from the other pasture every day.
But one of the steers, wilder and fiercer than the rest, had caught sight of the little ones, and, possibly attracted by the bright garments they wore, now came pawing and bellowing down toward them. The children cried out in their fright, and ran for the gate. But they had unconsciously wandered some distance from it, and before they had reached it the steer was upon them.
Meantime, the mother had missed the children, and had come out to the lane to look for them. She heard their screams, and at once surmised their cause. With a swiftness such as only a mother who realizes the danger that threatens her children can know, she sped down the lane toward the pasture. But swift as she went, she would not have arrived there in time to save her darlings; they must have been gored and trampled to death had there not been providentially one nearer than she. Ray, from up the lane, had seen the children get through the gate into the field. He realized the danger that threatened them even before it appeared, and, whipping up his horse, he drove rapidly toward them. When the steer rushed for the children he was nearly to the gate, and driving close up to it he sprang over into the field, grabbing the broad leather strap to which the hitching weight was attached as he went. Swinging this over his head, he rushed between Georgie, who had manfully turned to defend his little sisters, and the steer, and brought the weight full down upon the furious animal's head. The beast was stunned for a moment, and Ray shouted to Georgie to take his little sisters and run into the lane.
The steer now turned his attention to Ray, and the children easily reached the gate, just as their mother arrived there also. She helped them up into the wagon, and then breathlessly watched the conflict between the heroic lad and the infuriated beast. As the steer rushed for him, Ray once more swung the weight with both hands, and brought it down upon his bellowing antagonist. It struck one of his horns, and breaking it off, sent a stream of blood over the animal's face. Disconcerted, bewildered for a moment, he paused and tore up the turf in his agony and fury.
Ray took advantage of this, and, turning, he ran for the lane, but before he reached the fence the steer again charged upon him. So sudden was the attack that the lad only had time to make a short whirl with his weapon, which, as it came around, swung over the animal's neck and down under his fore feet. There was force enough in it, however, to trip the beast, and he fell heavily forward, breaking a leg. Ray, breathless with his severe exertion, now crawled over the gate and into the wagon, just as Mr. Woodhull and Mr. Smith came running up with pitchforks in their hands to his rescue.
As modestly as possible the boy explained the circumstances under which he had found the children, and how he had rescued them; but Mrs. Woodhull did not hesitate to call his act heroic, and thanked and complimented him in turn, until the lad's cheeks fairly burned with embarrassment. From that hour his position at Long Point Farm was more that of a son than a servant; and it was well, indeed, that he had such friends, for the time was near at hand when he was to stand in sore need of them.