LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Dudley W. Adams, Esq.-Portrait-frontispiece. Some of the Classes that should Co-operate, embracing : The Farmer, The Machinist, The Miner, The Seamstress, The Blacksmith, The Builder, Fidelity, Going to the Club Meeting, State Seal of Illinois, State Seal of Tennessee, Not to be Trusted-The Farmer versus the Politician, Brawn and Brains, Neighborly Help, (xviii) PAGE 23 26 28 30 32 35 41 43 45 47 53 56 59 63 65 69 70 76 81 87 87 87 87 87 87 93 95 99 101 107 109 113 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. What the "Granger" is Not-The Opinions of Some to the Contrary xix PAGE "What shall We do with Him?"-The "Granger's" Advent among The Monopolists' Mistake--Not the Type of the Farmer, 224 Life on a Prairie Farm--Receiving Reports at Evening, 245 Constituents of the S. P. C. A., for whose Transportation Congress THE GROUNDSWELL. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. A GROUNDSWELL. "AHOY!" "Bear a hand!" "Cut that painter!" "Cast loose!" A score of such cries, with sundry incoherent yells, broke suddenly upon the repose of a small fishing hamlet nestling in a cave that opened out upon the wide Atlantic. There had been almost a dead calm. The sea, stretching far in the distance, rocked in gentle undulations, like a child in its cradle, and clear as a mirror curled gently up on the shore. The sough of the waters, as they lazily rose and fell, was varied only by a soft, long-continued "swi-i-sh," as the ever-recurring, ever-advancing wave of the incoming tide rolled over the shells and pebbles, with a tinkle murmurous and musical. Nothing suggested the resistless power of this calm blue water when lashed into fury by Old Boreas; nothing in the state of the weather indicated aught but a long-continued calm; for the tranquillity which reigned over all seemed the result of a settled determination upon the weather's part to remain serene, and was not, by any means, the ominous, oppressive stillness which precedes a storm. All was beauty and peace. The boats belonging to the village were drawn up on the beach, in orderly array, the sails of some hanging listlessly, and those of others stowed carefully away or lashed trimly to the masts. Of the sturdy fishermen lolling about on the beach, the younger ones were chatting gayly, or lazily smoking their short pipes, evidently enjoying their enforced idleness; others, more restless, and chafing under their inactivity, strolled to and fro, ever and anon casting an eye, now seaward, and now toward the line of cliffs shutting in the broad sandy beach. But not a sign did they discern of the much desired change of the monotonously fine weather. The longed-for breeze which was to take them to their fishing grounds gave no token yet of its appearance. Even the older salts, whom a life of constant watchfulness had rendered wary as cats, had relaxed some of their accustomed vigilance, and, gathered in little groups, were smoking and discussing old times. Suddenly, almost instantaneously, the scene changed as if by magic, and the beach became a spectacle of bustling confusion and activity. The sun still shone with grateful warmth, and the same dead calm continued; but, far in the distance, there was a sudden upheaval of the waters, innocent in the depths of the ocean, but terrible in its force against the shore. One of the veterans who had been watching the sea, from force of habit rather than any thought of danger, saw it, and suddenly leaped up. "A swell! A groundswell!" he shouted; Quick! Quick!" And, motioning to his two mates, he rushed, as with the vigor of youth, to where his boat lay with the others upon the beach. In an instant the craft was launched, and he and his comrades were rowing out to sea, as if for life. |