On the other hand, Wade had gained no actual knowledge nor wisdom. He had, however, gained a knowledge of nature which could not have been impressed upon him through the mere reading of books. He had gained a knowledge of the great necessity of higher education; he had gained a certain knowledge of how desperate men would struggle for what they believed was rightly their own, how they would lay down their lives for the principles which they thought were just and true. Such knowledge is well gained, and assists the educated and enlightened to a higher plane of equal thought. The person who never reads has no knowledge of what is going on in the outside world, and we dare to say that the person who reads only knows nothing of the great struggle going on in the hearts of the down-trodden farmers whose lives have been made burdensome by the great evil, the greatest of all other evils, the powerful trusts, trusts which hold at the throat of every farmer a great, sharp knife, one so sharp that it is useless to move forward or backward lest life become extinct. The farmer does not stand alone in the path of this terrible evil, though he has taken the brunt of the battle in an effort to unburden all humanity of the awful weight of this heavy yoke, bearing down on the poor of the entire country with such crushing force that the time has come when one can hardly maintain an existence so strong is the yoke and so securely has it been fastened around the necks of humanity everywhere. Jack Wade thought of all this, thought of all that had happened. Above Tom Judson was lying in bed with a bullet hole through the fleshy part of his left leg just below the thigh. Across the brook old Jim Thompson was lying in bed writhing in agony because of a bullet hole through his right shoulder. This was the result of conditions brought about by the everlasting drudgery of mankind. In both cases the patients were rapidly mending, the danger point long since having been passed, and each was cursing the other and swearing revenge. Wade sat with heart and head bowed, therefore did not know of the approach of Rover, his good friend, until he felt his furry head rub against his hand. "Good friend," he said, looking into the eyes of the great brown dog, "when you come to see me in this manner I always look for disastrous results. What can it be now, old friend? Is your mistress well, or has a calamity befallen her? Is her brother worse, or what has happened?"