Sometimes the farm hand becomes a fixture in the family and is regarded with real affection by those whom he has seen grow up from childhood.
The Man Who “Arrived In a Great Hurry”
In a certain bustling New England city, there was a young married woman who retained a very considerable regard for the “hired man” who had lived in her family from her earliest recollections, even until the present. It was her great desire to have “Uncle Harvey” come down to her city home and let her show him around. As he had scarcely ever left the town in which he was born and had passed his lifetime, this lady could see great possibilities of entertainment for herself as well as for Uncle Harvey. Making her annual summer visit at the old homestead, she repeated her invitation with such earnestness that Uncle Harvey was finally, but with evident reluctance, induced to promise to visit her without fail that fall.
Every time she wrote home she sent reminders that she had the old man’s positive promise and that he must not fail her. Finally he decided he had to go.
Uncle Harvey had had very little experience in railroad travel and it was quite a good many miles from the farm to the city home where he was to be entertained. After considerable discussion as to whether he should take a very early train that stopped at all stations, or go on a later express train, he was finally induced to take his chances on the fast train, although if left to his own choice he would have preferred the slower train as probably being more safe to travel on.
With a new traveling bag, especially purchased for the occasion, carefully packed for him, Uncle Harvey, in a stunning new suit complete, was carried to the railroad station, assisted to buy his ticket and escorted onto the train. His excitement was manifest, although with pretended calmness he tried to keep it hidden. His escort shook the old man’s hand warmly and reminded him that he had promised to write a postal card as soon as he reached his destination.
The train moved out of the station and Uncle Harvey was lost to sight, but true to his promise he sent the postal card which arrived at the farm the very next day. It was as follows:
“Dear Folks:
I am here safe and sound. Ethel met me at the station. I am having a fine time.
P. S. I arrived in a great hurry about three o’clock.
Uncle Harvey.”
It is one of the delightful tributes to our present civilization that it is perfectly possible for an intelligent woman to live an entire lifetime and still be so shielded from the sordid things in life as to be hardly aware of their existence.