Irving Bacheller

“ The tramp millionaire conceal himself in a bunch of cedars near the edge of the grove while Travers went on.
“Ah! Pardon me, ladies and gentlemen,” Riddles heard him saying in a moment. “I do not mean to intrude upon your privacy. I am an Englishman traveling in America. My car left me here so that I could enjoy a walk through this lovely countryside and take a train when I had grown weary of it. I met an unfortunate man—I believe you would call him a tramp—a quite harmless and engaging fellow, I may say, and was rather touched by his story. ”

“ I'm going to hit the hay and breathe its sweetness.”
They could hear voices and the sound of motor-cars and the tramp of feet in the grove.
“Ba Jove! It's a picnic party,” said Travers. “Deah Smith, it is a Godsend! I find myself in need of refreshment.”
“I am as hungry as a bear,” said Riddles.
“Leave it to me, old friend. It is a very simple problem in diplomacy. Let us go up the bank together. You stay behind the bushes until I have, in a way, prepared their minds for your—unusual appearance.” ”

“ The fact that she had not laughed at him challenged Riddles' eye and he stood looking at her for an instant only. He did not miss the look of sympathy in her face.
“Unmarried and about twenty-three!” he thought. “What a magnificent young woman! It's the time of all others when I should be a gentleman instead of a tramp. I wonder if this is the Martin picnic party.” ”

“ Mowing machines were flanging across the meadows and filling the air with their familiar battle-song. A gentle breeze came off the shorn lands laden with odors which he had known and loved in his boyhood—clover and daisies and wild strawberries and timothy. He had been raised in a fine old New England homestead surrounded by fertile acres, and there he had laid the foundation of his big structure of bone and muscle which had made him one of the most formidable heroes of the stadium in his college days. ”

“ The American tramp is a worthless and often a dangerous fellow. We don't waste any sympathy on him in this country.”
“I dare say, but I cahn't help thinking, you know, that he is, after all, human,” Travers went on. “The worst I can say of the poor fellow is that he detained me far beyond my reckoning. Could you tell me is there a comfortable inn in this parish?”
“The only one you would care to stop at is five miles from here,” said a man's voice. “If you will do us the honor to share our picnic supper, we shall be glad to drop you at the inn later.” ”

“ The sweetest girl in the world has a summer home near there. Her name is Harriet Martin. Her mother is a widow. They live on a farm. I have seen Miss Harriet twice and was to have met her in New York last winter, but the trip to Europe defeated my plan. I wish you could get acquainted with her and organize a dinner party at the Inn and invite me. I could run up for a day as well as not. Be careful, I beg of you, not to fall in love with her yourself. If you were not girl-proof I wouldn't trust you with such a mission—darned if I would. ”

“ I'm dying of idleness. My internal organs have knocked off—struck, as you might say. If a man's feet and hands are doing nothing, his internal organs insist upon the same privilege. Here's where I hop out of the lap of luxury.”
Riddles arose, drew his silver-mounted walking-stick out of the golf bag and stepped to the ground and added:
“Jones, I'm a discontented rebel. I'm sick of the odors of crude oil and gasoline and carbon dioxide. I'm tired of the look of blurred landscapes. You may return and put the car in Bell's garage and go on a month's vacation.” ”

“ Violets! Gosh almighty! I look like a tramp and smell like a society queen. Have you any stout shears?”
“Three dozen pairs—best in the world.”
“All right. I want you to cut and stack that man's hair an' run yer mowin' machine over his neck an' face an' tramp down what ye can't cut. Between the two of us there's some hayin' to be done, but I'll give ye thirty dollars for clothes an' labor.”
“It's a bargain,” said the pedler.
The tramp laughed when Riddles came out of the bushes. ”

“ Senators and Presidents an' bankers ain't no good in a hay medder. We never hire 'em in the summer time. Did you ever see a millionaire livin' on a farm?”
“No, but I've seen a farm livin' on a millionaire,” said Riddles. ”

“ John Riddles, the young and wealthy Mill Owner, whose health has been impaired by the Tyranny of Success and the Pivot Chair and the Soft Embrace of Luxury, revolts and goes on a vacation, and for the first time he enjoys the Companionship of Himself and of Good Digestion, and meets a Singular Character, and gets a real job. ”

“ Riddles laughed at the shrewdness of the man who stood resting on his scythe. “There's no getting away from it once you have the mark on you,” he thought.
“I'm a working man the same as you are,” he declared. “I haven't forgot how to swing a scythe or handle a pitchfork. Give me a trial.”
“Say, mister, if I was to' give you a job, do ye know what I'd want ye to do?” the farmer asked. “I'd tell ye to keep right on walkin' 'til ye got out o' sight. You could earn more for me travelin' than ye could makin' hay. You're a good feller too, an' I'll bet on it.” ”

“ Honest, a few years of it is as good as a college education. I got to be some talker. You put a parrot in a barber shop and in a little while he's quite a bird. It would surprise ye to see how much he'll pick up. One day I was cuttin' a man's hair, 'Say,' he says when I got through, 'you ought to be sellin' goods. You can talk a man helpless. He'd buy to get rid o' you. If you ever want a job come to my office.' I went and have been earnin' nigh onto sixty dollars a week since, which ain't bad wages.”
They came to a road inn, presently, where Riddles invited Mr. ”

“ The ladies put down their plates and clapped their hands. Their eating over, Mr. Waters passed his cigar case. The picnic party chatted while Riddles ate with the chauffeurs and helped them with the cleaning up. Presently Travers came and said:
“Smith, Mrs. Martin wishes to speak to you.”
Riddles went to the lady in the widow's veil.
“Smith, I am interested in you,” she said in a kindly voice. “I need a handy man to help in the garden and the hay-field. Would you care to try it?” ”