in his mental processes, but no one doubted that he believed all that he
thought and said and did. His apples were not deaconed, his seeds were
sure and reliable, and his milk was never watered. He never made a mistake
in his accounts but once, and then it was against himself. Everybody knew
him and liked him and praised him, and was sorry when he died."

Captain Barrett had a farm of five hundred acres, the largest in the town.
He was a large raiser of sheep and milk. He was a deacon in the First
Parish Church, thoroughly honest, most neighborly and accommodating in his
ways, a loyal citizen, and a true-hearted man. He died in February, 1868,
and was lamented by every resident of the town. A typical farmer was
Captain Barrett, thoroughly human, loving life and all there is good in
it, hard-headed, practical, of sturdy common-sense, faithful to every
obligation as he understands it, of a kindly nature, enjoying the doing of
good in a plain, simple way, caring little for the supernatural, and yet
having a very sturdy faith in the few convictions of a rational religion,
without high spiritual insight, he lived his religion in a very honest
fashion.

It was quite in keeping with the character of Captain Barrett that he put
the Curtis brothers at the task of getting out manure, as almost the first
labor he required of them after their arrival on his farm. His idea was to
"test their metal," to find what stuff they were made of, and to what
extent they were in earnest in their expressed wish to become acquainted
with practical agriculture. He spoke of it with glee to his neighbors,
that he had put such refined gentlemen at that kind of work. It is
needless to say that they bore the test well. They were not domiciled in
the farm-house, but in a small cottage somewhat lower down the hill, yet
in the immediate neighborhood.