mistake, and he good-naturedly smiled, and said: "AH! BUSINESS BEFORE PLEASURE, MY BOY!" I have never forgotten that injunction. I do not remember how I came out with my father when I reported the mistake I made.

In those early times young boys on a farm were supposed to be useful and to have their regular daily round of duties, mornings and evenings before and after school. The firewood was to be carried in from the woodhouse, and "kindling wood" to start the morning fire, the eggs to be "gathered", and by the time a boy reached the age of ten the art of milking was to be learned.

My brother Jerome (three years my junior) and I were the only children. At the age of 11 years I was milking four cows night and morning. One of the most trying tasks was getting out of bed early to get the cows from the pasture lot for the morning milking. When the call came from the foot of the stairs in the morning waking us from a sound sleep and being told "it's time to get the cows" we knew better than to loiter or delay. With the approach of the Fall the mornings grew cold and our attic room had no heat, so there was no temptation at that point to linger.

We usually kept 12 to 14 cows, but of course in the Winter season they were kept in the "barnyard", or, as it is called in the West, the "corral". Toward the end of the day the doors to the cow stalls in the barn were thrown open, and one after another each cow would follow in line entering the stalls and putting her head in the proper stanchion. They never made a mistake, each one knew where she belonged and took her place there, whereupon the stanchion would be fastened and they were fixed for the night, being given hay and generally a little meal.

The last thing before the family retired for the night my father would light the lantern and make his pilgrimage to the barn to see that the stock including the horses were all right. In the morning the stock was again fed and the cows milked in the stalls, afterward being let out into the yard for the day, and the long watering though was brought into immediate requisition. The water was pumped into it from a well, and I have turned the crank and pumped water for the cows until my arms were lame.

The nearest neighbors we two boys had were three-quarters of a mile distant — Elmer Godfrey — who lived with his uncle,