Annals of our ancestors; one hundred and fifty years of history in the ...

io6 ANNALS OF OUR ANCESTORS
away under the barn the much prized wagon, so this was a
lucky find for the boy.
After grandmother died grandfather came to Hve with us,
but his poultry chose to remain at the old place, the hens select-
ing the back kitchen and the cellar house, while a very noisy
flock of guineas occupied the trees. These fowls came in for
a large share of our attention. What fun it was to find the
guineas' nests, as a number of hens laid their eggs in the same
nest, so that usually when we found them they would be
rounded up with eggs. It was indeed a victory to discover
one hidden away with great skill amongst the giant trumpet
weeds of the old neglected garden.
One day while we were merrily counting our finds and
Mary Jane was hfting our httle brother Joe through the back
window of the old deserted kitchen, an accident occurred we
can never forget. Little Joe was gnawing bark from a sassa-
fras root at the time, when he suddenly cried out that the
root had pierced his eye. Father and the hired man, who
were doing chores at the barn, ran over, and upon examination
they discovered a small puncture in his right eye. The
little three-year-old was not allowed to cry or rub the injured
eye. Mother from her home medicine drawer was the doctor.
She stirred up a poultice of well-pulverized slippery elm,
bandaged his eyes, and darkened the front room, while father
made haste to consult an ocuhst in Cincinnati. The physician
told father that all was being done that could be in such a
case, so mother remained in the dark room with her child to
keep him company and entertain him, as well as to see that the
poultices were changed and the light kept from his eye.
This accident happened in our little brother's busy season.
He had been making hay out in the front yard for his special
calf, and was taking care of it as fast as it was dry enough.
He had a box with a heavy twine string attached, and with
this appliance he had hauled a number of loads. He ordered
Brother Will and me to see that his hay was properly cared
for. We delivered it in his dark room, and there the little
fellow would examine his load, stooping down to feel of both
load and box; and I can yet remember that, blindfolded as