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Bacheller, Irving, 1859-1950

"A Man for the Ages A Story of the Builders of Democracy"

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"It is the land of plenty at last," said Samson, as they came
out-of-doors. "It is even better than I thought."
"As Douglas Jerrold said of Australia: 'Tickle it with a hoe and it
laughs with a harvest,'" said Dr. Allen, who still sat in the shaded
dooryard, smoking his pipe. "I have an extra horse and saddle. Suppose
you leave the family with Mrs. Rutledge and ride around with me a little
this afternoon. I can show you how the land lies off to the west of us,
and to-morrow we'll look at the other side."
"Thank you--I want to look around here a little," said Samson. "What's
the name of this place?"
"New Salem. We call it a village. It has a mill, a carding machine, a
tavern, a schoolhouse, five stores, fourteen houses, two or three men of
genius, and a noisy dam. You will hear other damns, if you stay here long
enough, but they don't amount to much. It's a crude but growing place and
soon it will have all the embellishments of civilized life."
That evening many of the inhabitants of the little village came to the
tavern to see the travelers and were introduced by Dr.


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