sailor."

"A sailor!" gasped Randolph Rover. "0f all things! Why, a sailor
is the merest nobody on earth!"

"I guess you mean on the sea, uncle," said Sam with a grin.

"Don't joke me, Samuel. Yes, Thomas -- the calling of a sailor
amounts to absolutely nothing. Scientific farming is the thing!
Nothing more noble on the face of the earth than to till the
soil."

"I never saw you behind a plow, Uncle Randolph," answered Tom,
with a twinkle in his blue eyes. "Besides, I heard you say that
the farm ran behind last year."

"Tut, tut, boy! You know nothing about it. I made a slight
miscalculation in crops, that was all. But this year we shall do
better."

"You lost money year before last, too," commented Sam.

"Who told you that?"

"Mr. Woddie, the storekeeper at the Corners."

"Mr. Woddie may understand storekeeping, but he knows nothing of
farming, scientific or otherwise. I spent several thousands of
dollars in experimenting, but the money was not lost. We shall
soon have grand results. I shall astonish the whole of New, York,