THE SPIRIT OF DAN BROCK By Arup N. Garson | Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | Clara Frodahl & Nils Garson Page | HOME | |
| Page 3 no difference if a couple of cows were boarders. Dad would sooner have boarded a few cows anyway than boarding a half dozen installment salesmen, not to mention finance companies and collectors. There is one nice thing about a boarder cow; if the farmer's financial policy is otherwise sound her board bill is as painless as an indirect tax. I think dad's reasoning was sound, and I think his cost accounting was sound, because his cream check always came in full. That was probably the reason why he paid his interest two months before it was due, and came home telling mother what a wonderful man the banker was. Dad paid the mortgage; put up a new set of buildings, and added an extra forty acre tract to his farm over a period of seventeen years. When he retired at the age of sixty, his farm provided an ample pension at no public expense. His method of farming was an almost exact copy of that followed more or less by his contemporaries, all of whom prospered. That is, nearly all. One exception was Dan Brock, but then Dan's farming method was also different. Dan's farm was as good as the rest, and his cows were, to begin with, at least on a par with the average. His horses were way above the average. In fact his driving team was the best for miles around. It was too good. Dan was on the road more than he was on the farm. Before entering town he would whip them up a little, making them act as if no power on earth except Dan could hold them. It was a tonic to Dan's pride to watch out of the corner of his eyes the attention he attracted. It compensated in part for the uneasiness he felt while making his purchases at the various stores. Those storekeepers always looked as if they were ready to remind him again of that charge account. Dan drove by anything on the road, and he attended every doing for miles around, especially auctions. He was the auctioneer's pal. When bidding slowed down the auctioneer could always count on Dan. He called him "Cap", sometimes "Captain". If Dan hesitated he would hook his cane around Dan's neck and pull him forward. The crowd would laugh and Dan would bid. At the end of every sale Dan drove home with a wild assortment of junk, old machinery, and miscellaneous articles. His yard filled up with accumulations of that sort until it finally presented the appearance of a junk yard. :But that never bothered Dan. He was too busy to give his premises more than a quick glance-over. There was always something demanding his attention off the farm. There were Town meetings, court sessions, political rallies, until there was no time left for farming. And Dan's farm just did not yield a profit. Dan knew something was wrong. His |