Free and Uncommitted
Part II – A Farm
At a certain times in our lives we consider every place as the possible site for a house. I have thus searched the country on every side within a dozen miles of where I live. In imagination I have bought all the farms, one after another, for all were to be bought an I knew their price.
The nearest that I came to actual ownership was when I bought the Hollowell place and had made preparations to begin farming. But before the owner completed the sale with me, his wife – everyone has such a wife – changed her mind and wished to keep it, and he offered me ten additional dollars to return the farm to him. Now, to speak the truth, I had but ten cents in the world. However, I let him keep the ten dollars and sold him the farm for just what I gave for it, and still had my ten cents and my supplies.
The real attractions of the Hollowell farm to me, were its complete isolation, being about two miles from the village, half a mile from the nearest neighbor. Abounded on one side by the river, and separated form the highway by a wide field. The poor condition of the house and the barn and fences showed that i hadn’t been used for some time. I remembered from my earliest trips up the river that the house used to be hidden behind a forest area of elm trees, and I was in a hurry to buy it before the owner finished getting out some rocks, cutting down the apple trees, and clearing away some young trees which had grown up in the fields. I wanted to buy it before he made any more of his improvements. But it turned out as I have said.
I was not really upset by the loss. I had always cultivated a garden, but I don’t think I was ready for a large farm. I believe that as long as possible it is better to live free and uncomitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or a jail.
