"
"Yes, if they only had the wit," the old Squire said; he was one of the
selectmen that year, and he felt much solicitude for the town poor.
"Perhaps they've wit enough to pare apples," Theodora remarked
hopefully.
"Maybe," the old Squire said in doubt. "So far as they are able they
ought to work, just as those who have to support them must work."
The old Squire, after consulting with the two other selectmen, finally
offered five of the paupers fifty cents a day and their board if they
would come to our place and dry apples. Three of the five were women,
one was an elderly man, and the fifth was a not over-bright youngster of
eighteen. So far from disliking the project all five hailed it with
delight.
Having paupers round the place was by no means an unmixed pleasure. We
equipped them with apple parers, corers and slicers and set them to work
in the basement of the haymaker. Large trays of woven wire were prepared
to be set in rows on the rack overhead. It was then October; the fire
necessary to keep the workers warm was enough to dry the trays of sliced
apples almost as fast as they could be filled.
For more than a month the five paupers worked there, sometimes well,
sometimes badly.
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