there are
no secrets sacred in a small town.

CHAPTER SIX.

Blessings on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy with cheek of tan;
With thy turned-up pantaloons
And thy merry, whistled tunes;
With the sunshine on thy face
Through thy torn brim's jaunty grace;
Outward sunshine, inward joy,
Blessings on thee, barefoot boy.

Alfred's parents concluded it would be good for the boy to send him to
the country for a time, freeing him from the influence of town boys.
Therefore they sent him to Uncle Joe's, a prosperous farmer, a little
inclined to take too much hard cider or rye at sheep-washing or
hog-killing time, fond of fox chasing and hunting and shooting at a
mark.

Uncle Joe went to town at least once a week when Aunt Betsy accompanied
him. He observed the proprieties and respected his good wife's wishes.
Long had she labored to get him to join the church of which she was an
exemplary pillar. Thus far she had not succeeded.

A neighboring farmer, the leading member of the church, was the barrier.
Uncle Joe and this neighbor, "Old Bill Colvin," as Uncle Joe designated
him, had been at logger-heads for years over line fences and other
trifles that farmers find excuses to quarrel over.

[Illustration: Alfred at Nine]

Uncle Joe's prejudice was so strong that when questioned as to whether
he did not want to go to heaven, he defiantly informed the minister,
"Not if Old Bill Colvin is there."

If a cow strayed, hog died or turkey was lost, it was attributed to Old
Bill Colvin. When the bees swarmed and Uncle Joe with the fiddle
scraping out "Big John, Little John, Big John, Davy," Aunt Betsy beating
a tin pan with a spoon, poor old granny, bent with age, following slowly
jingling a string of sleigh bells, and in feeble, squeaky voice asked
Uncle Joe if the bees were going off, although no swarm had ever left
the place, Uncle Joe, vigorously scraping the fiddle, walking under the
cloud of circling bees, not heeding granny's query, would say:

"Look at 'em, look at 'em, they're leaving; we can't get 'em to settle.
There they go. Look at 'em, look at 'em. Dam 'em, headed for Old Bill
Colvin's."

Uncle Joe was noted for his honey, watermelons, peaches, turkeys,
maple-sugar and sweet potatoes and loud voice. He was the loudest voiced
man in Red Stone township. Every living creature on the farm stood in
fear of Uncle Joe's voice. If the stock jumped the fence into another
fie