 | The works of Washington Irving |  |
THE FARM-HOUSE.
Are thick sown, but come up full of thistles."
Beaumont and Fletcher.
I was so much pleased with the anecdotes
which were told me of Ready-Money
Jack Tibbets, that I got Master
Simon, a day or two since, to take me to
his house. It was an old-fashioned farmhouse,
built of brick, with curiously
twisted chimneys. It stood at a little
distance from the road, with a southern
exposure, looking upon a soft, green
slope of meadow. There was a small
garden in front, with a row of beehives
humming among beds of sweet herbs
and flowers. Well-scoured milking-tubs,
with bright copper hoops, hung on
the garden paling. Fruit-trees were
trained up against the cottage, and pots
of flowers stood in the windows. A fat,
superannuated mastiff lay in the sunshine
at the door; with a sleek cat sleeping
peacefully across him.
Mr. Tibbets was from home at the
time of our calling, but we were received
with hearty and homely welcome by his
wife; a notable, motherly woman, and a
complete pattern for wives; since, according
to Master Simon's account, she
never contradicts honest Jack, and yet
manages to have her own way, and to
c