Felix Schmidt remembers how he lost his small farm. He had almost nothing—a two-room house, five acres, many children, and a sick wife. When a lawyer shows him that wealthy neighbor Christian Dallman bought the adjoining land for eleven dollars at a tax sale while Felix’s father lay dying, Felix challenges the claim. The court case backfires: a survey proves Dallman’s deed actually covers Felix’s own house and ground. His line “It served me right for stirring him up” is heavy with bitter irony—he blames himself for fighting a richer, more powerful man. He tells the story in a flat, matter-of-fact voice, which makes the injustice feel even more crushing. The mood is quietly grim and resigned. Felix ends up not just losing the lawsuit but becoming Dallman’s tenant on the very land he once owned, trapped in the poverty he tried to escape.
Felix Schmidt — Summary
It was only a little house of two rooms— Almost like a child’s play-house— With scarce five acres of ground around it; And I had so many children to feed And school and clothe, and a wife who was sick From bearing children. One day lawyer Whitney came along And proved to me that Christian Dallman, Who owned three thousand acres of land, Had bought the eighty that adjoined me In eighteen hundred and seventy-one For eleven dollars, at a sale for taxes, While my father lay in his mortal illness. So the quarrel arose and I went to law. But when we came to the proof, A survey of the land showed clear as day That Dallman’s tax deed covered my ground And my little house of two rooms. It served me right for stirring him up. I lost my case and lost my place. I left the court room and went to work As Christian Dallman’s tenant.