David Harum | Page 2

a type that exists in the rural

districts of central New York to-day. Variations of him may be seen
daily, driving about in their road wagons or seated in their "bank
parlors," shrewd, sharp-tongued, honest as the sunlight from most
points of view, but in a horse trade much inclined to follow the rule laid
down by Mr. Harum himself for such transactions: "Do unto the other
feller the way he'd like to do unto you--an' do it fust."
The genial humor and sunny atmosphere which pervade these pages are
in dramatic contrast with the circumstances under which they were
written. The book was finished while the author lay upon his deathbed,
but, happily for the reader, no trace of his sufferings appears here. It
was not granted that he should live to see his work in its present
completed form, a consummation he most earnestly desired; but it
seems not unreasonable to hope that the result of his labors will be
appreciated, and that David Harum will endure.
FORBES HEERMANS.
SYRACUSE, N.Y., August 20, 1898.

DAVID HARUM.
CHAPTER I.
David poured half of his second cup of tea into his saucer to lower its
temperature to the drinking point, and helped himself to a second cut of
ham and a third egg. Whatever was on his mind to have kept him
unusually silent during the evening meal, and to cause certain wrinkles
in his forehead suggestive of perplexity or misgiving, had not impaired
his appetite. David was what he called "a good feeder."
Mrs. Bixbee, known to most of those who enjoyed the privilege of her
acquaintance as "Aunt Polly," though nieces and nephews of her blood
there were none in Homeville, Freeland County, looked curiously at her
brother, as, in fact, she had done at intervals during the repast; and
concluding at last that further forbearance was uncalled for, relieved the

pressure of her curiosity thus:
"Guess ye got somethin' on your mind, hain't ye? You hain't hardly said
aye, yes, ner no sence you set down. Anythin' gone 'skew?"
David lifted his saucer, gave the contents a precautionary blow, and
emptied it with sundry windy suspirations.
"No," he said, "nothin' hain't gone exac'ly wrong, 's ye might say--not
yet; but I done that thing I was tellin' ye of to-day."
"Done what thing?" she asked perplexedly.
"I telegraphed to New York," he replied, "fer that young feller to come
on--the young man General Wolsey wrote me about. I got a letter from
him to-day, an' I made up my mind 'the sooner the quicker,' an' I
telegraphed him to come 's soon 's he could."
"I forgit what you said his name was," said Aunt Polly.
"There's his letter," said David, handing it across the table. "Read it out
'loud."
"You read it," she said, passing it back after a search in her pocket; "I
must 'a' left my specs in the settin'-room."
The letter was as follows:
"DEAR SIR: I take the liberty of addressing you at the instance of
General Wolsey, who spoke to me of the matter of your communication
to him, and was kind enough to say that he would write you in my
behalf. My acquaintance with him has been in the nature of a social
rather than a business one, and I fancy that he can only recommend me
on general grounds. I will say, therefore, that I have had some
experience with accounts, but not much practice in them for nearly
three years. Nevertheless, unless the work you wish done is of an
intricate nature, I think I shall be able to accomplish it with such
posting at the outset as most strangers would require. General Wolsey

told me that you wanted some one as soon as possible. I have nothing
to prevent me from starting at once if you desire to have me. A
telegram addressed to me at the office of the Trust Company will reach
me promptly.
"Yours very truly,
"JOHN K. LENOX."
"Wa'al," said David, looking over his glasses at his sister, "what do you
think on't?"
"The' ain't much brag in't," she replied thoughtfully.
"No," said David, putting his eyeglasses back in their case, "th' ain't no
brag ner no promises; he don't even say he'll do his best, like most
fellers would. He seems to have took it fer granted that I'll take it fer
granted, an' that's what I like about it. Wa'al," he added, "the thing's
done, an' I'll be lookin' fer him to-morrow mornin' or evenin' at latest."
Mrs. Bixbee sat for a moment with her large, light blue, and rather
prominent eyes fixed on her brother's face, and then she said, with a
slight undertone of anxiety, "Was you cal'latin' to have that young man
from New York come here?"
"I hadn't