Bound to Rise | Page 5

As soon as he attained his majority
he left the homestead, and set out to seek his fortune elsewhere. He
vowed he wouldn't any longer submit to the penurious ways of .the
squire. So the old man was left alone, but he did not feel the solitude.
He had his gold, and that was company enough. A time was coming
when the two must part company, for when death should come he must
leave the gold behind; but he did not like to think of that, putting away
the idea as men will unpleasant subjects. This was the man to whom
Hiram Walton applied for help in his misfortune.
"Is the squire at home?" he asked, at the back door. In that household
the front door was never used. There was a parlor, but it had not been
opened since Mrs. Green's funeral.
"He's out to the barn," said Hannah Green, a niece of the old man, who
acted as maid of all work.

"I'll go out there."
The barn was a few rods northeast of the house, and thither Mr. Walton
directed his steps.
Entering, he found the old man engaged in some light work.
"Good morning, Squire Green."
"Good morning, Mr. Walton," returned the squire.
He was a small man, with a thin figure, and a face deep seamed with
wrinkles, more so than might have been expected in a man of his age,
for he was only just turned of sixty; but hard work, poor and scanty
food and sharp calculation, were responsible for them.
"How are you gettin' on?" asked the squire.
This was rather a favorite question of his, it being so much the custom
for his neighbors to apply to him when in difficulties, so that their
misfortune he had come to regard as his harvests. .
"I've met with a loss," answered Hiram Walton.
"You don't say so," returned the squire, with instant attention. "What's
happened?"
"My cow is dead."
"When did she die?"
"This morning."
"What was the matter?"
"I don't know. I didn't notice but that she was welt enough last night;
but this morning when I went out to the barn, she was lying down
breathing heavily."

"What did you do?"
"I called in Elihu Perkins, and we worked over her for three hours; but
it wasn't of any use; she died half an hour ago."
"I hope it isn't any disease that's catchin'," said the squire in alarm,
thinking of his ten. "It would be a bad job if it should get among mine."
"It's a bad job for me, squire. I hadn't but one cow, and she's gone."
"Just so, just so. I s'pose you'll buy another."
"Yes, I must have a cow. My children live on bread and milk mostly.
Then there's the butter and cheese, that I trade off at the store for
groceries."
"Just so, just so. Come into the house, neighbor Walton."
The squire guessed his visitor's business in advance, and wanted to take
time to talk it over. He would first find out how great his neighbor's
necessity was, and then he accommodated him, would charge him
accordingly.
CHAPTER III
HIRAM'S MOTTO

There was a little room just off the kitchen, where the squire had an
old-fashioned desk. Here it was that he transacted his business, and in
the desk he kept his papers. It was into this room that he introduced Mr.
Walton.
"Set down, set down, neighbor Walton," he said. "We'll talk this thing
over. So you've got to have a cow?"
"Yes, I must have one."

The squire fixed his eyes cunningly on his intended victim, and said,
"Goin' to buy one in town?"
"I don't know of any that's for sale."
"How much do you calc'late to pay?"
"I suppose I'll have to pay thirty dollars."
Squire Green shook his head.
"More'n that, neighbor Walton. You can't get a decent cow for thirty
dollars. I hain't got one that isn't wuth more, though I've got ten in my
barn."
"Thirty dollars is all I can afford to pay, squire."
"Take my advice, and get a good cow while you're about it. It don't pay
to get a poor one."
"I'm a poor man, squire. I must take what I can get."
"I ain't sure but I've got a cow that will suit you, a red with white spots.
She's a fust-rate milker."
"How old is she?"
"She's turned of five."
"How much do you ask for her?"
"Are you going to pay cash down?" asked the squire, half shutting his
eyes, and looking into the face of his visitor.
"I can't do that. I'm very short of money."
"So am I," chimed in the squire. He had two hundred dollars in his desk
at that moment waiting for profitable investment; but