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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Driven Back to Eden, by E. P. Roe
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Driven Back to Eden
+
+Author: E. P. Roe
+
+Posting Date: September 8, 2012 [EBook #5269]
+Release Date: March, 2004
+First Posted: June 23, 2002
+Last Updated: February 27, 2005
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DRIVEN BACK TO EDEN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+DRIVEN BACK TO EDEN
+
+
+BY
+
+
+E. P. ROE
+
+
+
+
+THIS VOLUME
+
+IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED TO
+
+"JOHNNIE"
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+Months since, with much doubt and diffidence, I began this simple
+story. I had never before written expressly for young people, and I
+knew that the honest little critics could not be beguiled with words
+which did not tell an interesting story. How far I have succeeded, the
+readers of this volume, and of the "St. Nicholas" magazine, wherein the
+tale appeared as a serial, alone can answer.
+
+I have portrayed no actual experience, but have sought to present one
+which might be verified in real life. I have tried to avoid all that
+would be impossible or even improbable. The labors performed by the
+children in the story were not unknown to my own hands, in childhood,
+nor would they form tasks too severe for many little hands now idle in
+the cities.
+
+The characters are all imaginary; the scenes, in the main, are real:
+and I would gladly lure other families from tenement flats into green
+pastures.
+
+E. P. R.
+
+CORNWALL-ON-THE-HUDSON,
+
+August 10, 1885.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I A PROBLEM
+
+CHAPTER II I STATE THE CASE
+
+CHAPTER III NEW PROSPECTS
+
+CHAPTER IV A MOMENTOUS EXPEDITION
+
+CHAPTER V A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS IN A CITY FLAT
+
+CHAPTER VI A BLUFF FRIEND
+
+CHAPTER VII MR. JONES SHOWS ME THE PLACE
+
+CHAPTER VIII TELLING ABOUT EDEN
+
+CHAPTER IX "BREAKING CAMP"
+
+CHAPTER X SCENES ON THE WHARF
+
+CHAPTER XI A VOYAGE UP THE HUDSON
+
+CHAPTER XII A MARCH EVENING IN EDEN
+
+CHAPTER XIII RESCUED AND AT HOME
+
+CHAPTER XIV SELF-DENIAL AND ITS REWARD
+
+CHAPTER XV OUR SUNNY KITCHEN
+
+CHAPTER XVI MAKING A PLACE FOR CHICKENS
+
+CHAPTER XVII GOOD BARGAINS IN MAPLE SUGAR
+
+CHAPTER XVIII BUTTERNUTS AND BOBSEY'S PERIL
+
+CHAPTER XIX JOHN JONES, JUN
+
+CHAPTER XX RASPBERRY LESSONS
+
+CHAPTER XXI THE "VANDOO"
+
+CHAPTER XXII EARLY APRIL GARDENING
+
+CHAPTER XXIII A BONFIRE AND A FEAST
+
+CHAPTER XXIV "NO BLIND DRIFTING"
+
+CHAPTER XXV OWLS AND ANTWERPS
+
+CHAPTER XXVI A COUNTRY SUNDAY
+
+CHAPTER XXVII STRAWBERRY VISIONS AND "PERTATERS"
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII CORN, COLOR, AND MUSIC
+
+CHAPTER XXIX WE GO A-FISHING
+
+CHAPTER XXX WEEDS AND WORKING FOR DEAR LIFE
+
+CHAPTER XXXI NATURE SMILES AND HELPS
+
+CHAPTER XXXII CHERRIES, BERRIES, AND BERRY-THIEVES
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII GIVEN HIS CHOICE
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV GIVEN A CHANCE
+
+CHAPTER XXXV "WE SHALL ALL EARN OUR SALT"
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI A THUNDERBOLT
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII RALLYING FROM THE BLOW
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII AUGUST WORK AND PLAY
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX A TRIP TO THE SEASHORE
+
+CHAPTER XL A VISIT TO HOUGHTON FARM
+
+CHAPTER XLI HOARDING FOR WINTER
+
+CHAPTER XLII AUTUMN WORK AND SPORT
+
+CHAPTER XLIII THANKSGIVING DAY
+
+CHAPTER XLIV WE CAN MAKE A LIVING IN EDEN
+
+
+
+
+DRIVEN BACK TO EDEN
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A PROBLEM
+
+
+"Where are the children?"
+
+"They can't be far away," replied my wife, looking up from her
+preparations for supper. "Bobsey was here a moment ago. As soon as my
+back's turned he's out and away. I haven't seen Merton since he brought
+his books from school, and I suppose Winnie is upstairs with the
+Daggetts."
+
+"I wish, my dear, you could keep the children at home more," I said, a
+little petulantly.
+
+"I wish you would go and find them for me now, and to-morrow take my
+place--for just one day."
+
+"Well, well," I said, with a laugh that had no mirth in it; "only one
+of your wishes stands much chance of being carried out. I'll find the
+children now if I can without the aid of the police. Mousie, do you
+feel stronger to-night?"
+
+These words were spoken to a pale girl of fourteen, who appeared to be
+scarcely more than twelve, so diminutive was her frame.
+
+"Yes, papa," she replied, a faint smile flitting like a ray of light
+across her features. She always said she was better, but never got
+well. Her quiet ways and tones had led to the household name of
+"Mousie."
+
+As I was descending the narrow stairway I was almost overthrown by a
+torrent of children pouring down from the flats above. In the dim light
+of a gas-burner I saw that Bobsey was one of the reckless atoms. He had
+not heard my voice in the uproar, and before I could reach him, he with
+the others had burst out at the street door and gone tearing toward the
+nearest corner. It seemed that he had slipped away in order to take
+part in a race, and I found him "squaring off" at a bigger boy who had
+tripped him up. Without a word I carried him home, followed by the
+jeers and laughter of the racers, the girls making their presence known
+in the early December twilight by the shrillness of their voices and by
+manners no gentler than those of the boys.
+
+I put down the child--he was only seven years of age--in the middle of
+our general living-room, and looked at him. His little coat was split
+out in the back; one of his stockings, already well-darned at the
+knees, was past remedy; his hands were black, and one was bleeding; his
+whole little body was throbbing with excitement, anger, and violent
+exercise. As I looked at him quietly the defiant expression in his eyes
+began to give place to tears.
+
+"There is no use in punishing him now," said my wife. "Please leave him
+to me and find the others."
+
+"I wasn't going to punish him," I said.
+
+"What are you going to do? What makes you look at him so?"
+
+"He's a problem I can't solve--with the given conditions."
+
+"O Robert, you drive me half wild. If the house was on fire you'd stop
+to follow out some train of thought about it all. I'm tired to death.
+Do bring the children home. When we've put them to bed you can figure
+on your problem, and I can sit down."
+
+As I went up to the Daggetts' flat I was dimly conscious of another
+problem. My wife was growing fretful and nervous. Our rooms would not
+have satisfied a Dutch housewife, but if "order is heaven's first law"
+a little of Paradise was in them as compared to the Daggetts'
+apartments. "Yes," I was told, in response to my inquiries; "Winnie is
+in the bed-room with Melissy."
+
+The door was locked, and after some hesitation the girls opened it. As
+we were going downstairs I caught a glimpse of a newspaper in my girl's
+pocket. She gave it to me reluctantly, and said "Melissy" had lent it
+to her. I told her to help her mother prepare supper while I went to
+find Merton. Opening the paper under a street lamp, I found it to be a
+cheap, vile journal, full of flashy pictures that so often offend the
+eye on news-stands. With a chill of fear I thought, "Another problem."
+The Daggett children had had the scarlet fever a few months before.
+"But here's a worse infection," I reflected. "Thank heaven, Winnie is
+only a child, and can't understand these pictures;" and I tore the
+paper up and thrust it into its proper place, the gutter.
+
+"Now," I muttered, "I've only to find Merton in mischief to make the
+evening's experience complete."
+
+In mischief I did find him--a very harmful kind of mischief, it
+appeared to me. Merton was little over fifteen, and he and two or three
+other lads were smoking cigarettes which, to judge by their odor, must
+certainly have been made from the sweepings of the manufacturer's floor.
+
+"Can't you find anything better than that to do after school?" I asked,
+severely.
+
+"Well, sir," was the sullen reply, "I'd like to know what there is for
+a boy to do in this street."
+
+During the walk home I tried to think of an answer to his implied
+question. What would I do if I were in Merton's place? I confess that I
+was puzzled. After sitting in school all day he must do something that
+the police would permit. There certainly seemed very little range of
+action for a growing boy. Should I take him out of school and put him
+into a shop or an office? If I did this his education would be sadly
+limited. Moreover he was tall and slender for his age, and upon his
+face there was a pallor which I dislike to see in a boy. Long hours of
+business would be very hard upon him, even if he could endure the
+strain at all. The problem which had been pressing on me for
+months--almost years--grew urgent.
+
+With clouded brows we sat down to our modest little supper. Winifred,
+my wife, was hot and flushed from too near acquaintance with the stove,
+and wearied by a long day of toil in a room that would be the better
+for a gale of wind. Bobsey, as we called my little namesake, was
+absorbed--now that he was relieved from the fear of punishment--by the
+wish to "punch" the boy who had tripped him up. Winnie was watching me
+furtively, and wondering what had become of the paper, and what I
+thought of it. Merton was somewhat sullen, and a little ashamed of
+himself. I felt that my problem was to give these children something to
+do that would not harm them, for do SOMETHING they certainly would.
+They were rapidly attaining that age when the shelter of a narrow city
+flat would not answer, when the influence of a crowded house and of the
+street might be greater than any we could bring to bear upon them.
+
+I looked around upon the little group for whom I was responsible. My
+will was still law to them. While my little wife had positive ways of
+her own, she would agree to any decided course that I resolved upon.
+The children were yet under entire control, so that I sat at the head
+of the table, commander-in-chief of the little band. We called the
+narrow flat we lived in "home." The idea! with the Daggetts above and
+the Ricketts on the floor beneath. It was not a home, and was scarcely
+a fit camping-ground for such a family squad as ours. Yet we had stayed
+on for years in this long, narrow line of rooms, reaching from a
+crowded street to a little back-yard full of noisy children by day, and
+noisier cats by night. I had often thought of moving, but had failed to
+find a better shelter that was within my very limited means. The
+neighborhood was respectable, so far as a densely populated region can
+be. It was not very distant from my place of business, and my work
+often kept me so late at the office that we could not live in the
+suburb. The rent was moderate for New York, and left me some money,
+after food and clothing were provided, for occasional little outings
+and pleasures, which I believe to be needed by both body and mind.
+While the children were little--so long as they would "stay put" in the
+cradle or on the floor--we did not have much trouble. Fortunately I had
+good health, and, as my wife said, was "handy with children." Therefore
+I could help her in the care of them at night, and she had kept much of
+her youthful bloom. Heaven had blessed us. We had met with no serious
+misfortunes, nor had any of our number been often prostrated by
+prolonged and dangerous illness. But during the last year my wife had
+been growing thin, and occasionally her voice had a sharpness which was
+new. Every month Bobsey became more hard to manage. Our living-room was
+to him like a cage to a wild bird, and slip away he would, to his
+mother's alarm; for he was almost certain to get into mischief or
+trouble. The effort to perform her household tasks and watch over him
+was more wearing than it had been to rock him through long hours at
+night when he was a teething baby. These details seem very homely no
+doubt, yet such as these largely make up our lives. Comfort or
+discomfort, happiness or unhappiness, springs from them. There is no
+crop in the country so important as that of boys and girls. How could I
+manage my little home-garden in a flat?
+
+I looked thoughtfully from one to another, as with children's appetites
+they became absorbed in one of the chief events of the day.
+
+"Well," said my wife, querulously, "how are you getting on with your
+problem?"
+
+"Take this extra bit of steak and I'll tell you after the children are
+asleep," I said.
+
+"I can't eat another mouthful," she exclaimed, pushing back her almost
+untasted supper. "Broiling the steak was enough for me."
+
+"You are quite tired out, dear," I said, very gently.
+
+Her face softened immediately at my tone and tears came into her eyes.
+
+"I don't know what is the matter with me," she faltered. "I am so
+nervous some days that I feel as if I should fly to pieces. I do try to
+be patient, but I know I'm growing cross!"
+
+"Oh now, mamma," spoke up warm-hearted Merton; "the idea of your being
+cross."
+
+"She IS cross," Bobsey cried; "she boxed my ears this very day."
+
+"And you deserved it," was Merton's retort. "It's a pity they are not
+boxed oftener."
+
+"Yes, Robert, I did," continued my wife, sorrowfully. "Bobsey ran away
+four times, and vexed me beyond endurance, that is, such endurance as I
+have left, which doesn't seem to be very much."
+
+"I understand, dear," I said. "You are a part of my problem, and you
+must help me solve it." Then I changed the subject decidedly, and soon
+brought sunshine to our clouded household. Children's minds are easily
+diverted; and my wife, whom a few sharp words would have greatly
+irritated, was soothed, and her curiosity awakened as to the subject of
+my thoughts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+I STATE THE CASE
+
+
+I pondered deeply while my wife and Winnie cleared away the dishes and
+put Bobsey into his little crib. I felt that the time for a decided
+change had come, and that it should be made before the evils of our lot
+brought sharp and real trouble.
+
+How should I care for my household? If I had been living on a far
+frontier among hostile Indians I should have known better how to
+protect them. I could build a house of heavy logs and keep my wife and
+children always near me while at work. But it seemed to me that Melissa
+Daggett and her kin with their flashy papers, and the influence of the
+street for Merton and Bobsey, involved more danger to my little band
+than all the scalping Modocs that ever whooped. The children could not
+step outside the door without danger of meeting some one who would do
+them harm. It is the curse of crowded city life that there is so little
+of a natural and attractive sort for a child to do, and so much of evil
+close at hand.
+
+My wife asked me humorously for the news. She saw that I was not
+reading my paper, and my frowning brow and firm lips proved my problem
+was not of a trifling nature. She suspected nothing more, however, than
+that I was thinking of taking rooms in some better locality, and she
+was wondering how I could do it, for she knew that my income now left
+but a small surplus above expenses.
+
+At last Winnie too was ready to go to bed, and I said to her, gravely:
+"Here is money to pay Melissa for that paper. It was only fit for the
+gutter, and into the gutter I put it. I wish you to promise me never to
+look at such pictures again, or you can never hope to grow up to be a
+lady like mamma."
+
+The child flushed deeply, and went tearful and penitent to bed. Mousie
+also retired with a wistful look upon her face, for she saw that
+something of grave importance occupied my mind.
+
+No matter how tired my wife might be, she was never satisfied to sit
+down until the room had been put in order, a green cloth spread upon
+the supper-table and the student lamp placed in its centre.
+
+Merton brought his school-books, and my wife took up her mending, and
+we three sat down within the circle of light.
+
+"Don't do any more work to-night," I said, looking into my wife's face,
+and noting for a few moments that it was losing its rounded lines.
+
+Her hands dropped wearily into her lap, and she began gratefully: "I'm
+glad you speak so kindly to-night, Robert, for I am so nervous and out
+of sorts that I couldn't have stood one bit of fault-finding--I should
+have said things, and then have been sorry all day to-morrow. Dear
+knows, each day brings enough without carrying anything over. Come,
+read the paper to me, or tell me what you have been thinking about so
+deeply, if you don't mind Merton's hearing you. I wish to forget
+myself, and work, and everything that worries me, for a little while."
+
+"I'll read the paper first, and then, after Merton has learned his
+lessons, I will tell you my thoughts--my purpose, I may almost say.
+Merton shall know about it soon, for he is becoming old enough to
+understand the 'why' of things. I hope, my boy, that your teacher lays
+a good deal of stress on the WHY in all your studies."
+
+"Oh, yes, after a fashion."
+
+"Well, so far as I am your teacher, Merton, I wish you always to think
+why you should do a thing or why you shouldn't, and to try not to be
+satisfied with any reason but a good one."
+
+Then I gleaned from the paper such items as I thought would interest my
+wife. At last we were alone, with no sound in the room but the low roar
+of the city, a roar so deep as to make one think that the tides of life
+were breaking waves.
+
+I was doing some figuring in a note-book when my wife asked: "Robert,
+what is your problem to-night? And what part have I in it?"
+
+"So important a part that I couldn't solve it without you," I replied,
+smiling at her.
+
+"Oh, come now," she said, laughing slightly for the first time in the
+evening; "you always begin to flatter a little when you want to carry a
+point."
+
+"Well, then, you are on your guard against my wiles. But believe me,
+Winifred, the problem on my mind is not like one of my ordinary brown
+studies; in those I often try to get back to the wherefore of things
+which people usually accept and don't bother about. The question I am
+considering comes right home to us, and we must meet it. I have felt
+for some time that we could not put off action much longer, and
+to-night I am convinced of it."
+
+Then I told her how I had found three of the children engaged that
+evening, concluding: "The circumstances of their lot are more to blame
+than they themselves. And why should I find fault with you because you
+are nervous? You could no more help being nervous and a little
+impatient than you could prevent the heat of the lamp from burning you,
+should you place your finger over it. I know the cause of it all. As
+for Mousie, she is growing paler and thinner every day. You know what
+my income is; we could not change things much for the better by taking
+other rooms and moving to another part of the city, and we might find
+that we had changed for the worse. I propose that we go to the country
+and get our living out of the soil."
+
+"Why, Robert! what do you know about farming or gardening?"
+
+"Not very much, but I am not yet too old to learn; and there would be
+something for the children to do at once, pure air for them to breathe,
+and space for them to grow healthfully in body, mind, and soul. You
+know I have but little money laid by, and am not one of those smart men
+who can push their way. I don't know much besides bookkeeping, and my
+employers think I am not remarkably quick at that. I can't seem to
+acquire the lightning speed with which things are done nowadays; and
+while I try to make up by long hours and honesty, I don't believe I
+could ever earn much more than I am getting now, and you know it
+doesn't leave much of a margin for sickness or misfortune of any kind.
+After all, what does my salary give us but food and clothing and
+shelter, such as it is, with a little to spare in some years? It sends
+a cold chill to my heart to think what should become of you and the
+children if I should be sick or anything should happen to me. Still, it
+is the present welfare of the children that weighs most on my mind,
+Winifred. They are no longer little things that you can keep in these
+rooms and watch over; there is danger for them just outside that door.
+It wouldn't be so if beyond the door lay a garden and fields and woods.
+You, my overtaxed wife, wouldn't worry about them the moment they were
+out of sight, and my work, instead of being away from them all day,
+could be with them. And all could do something, even down to pale
+Mousie and little Bobsey. Outdoor life and pure air, instead of that
+breathed over and over, would bring quiet to your nerves and the roses
+back to your cheeks. The children would grow sturdy and strong; much of
+their work would be like play to them; they wouldn't be always in
+contact with other children that we know nothing about. I am aware that
+the country isn't Eden, as we have imagined it--for I lived there as a
+boy--but it seems like Eden compared to this place and its
+surroundings; and I feel as if I were being driven back to it by
+circumstances I can't control."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+NEW PROSPECTS
+
+
+There is no need of dwelling further on the reasons for or against the
+step we proposed. We thought a great deal and talked it over several
+times. Finally my wife agreed that the change would be wise and best
+for all. Then the children were taken into our confidence, and they
+became more delighted every day as the prospect grew clearer to them.
+
+"We'll all be good soon, won't we?" said my youngest, who had a rather
+vivid sense of his own shortcomings, and kept them in the minds of
+others as well.
+
+"Why so, Bobsey?"
+
+"'Cause mamma says that God put the first people in a garden and they
+was very good, better'n any folks afterwards. God oughter know the best
+place for people."
+
+Thus Bobsey gave a kind of divine sanction to our project. Of course we
+had not taken so important a step without asking the Great Father of
+all to guide us; for we felt that in the mystery of life we too were
+but little children who knew not what should be on the morrow, or how
+best to provide for it with any certainty. To our sanguine minds there
+was in Bobsey's words a hint of something more than permission to go up
+out of Egypt.
+
+So it was settled that we should leave our narrow suite of rooms, the
+Daggetts and the Ricketts, and go to the country. To me naturally fell
+the task of finding the land flowing with milk and honey to which we
+should journey in the spring. Meantime we were already emigrants at
+heart, full of the bustle and excitement of mental preparation.
+
+I prided myself somewhat on my knowledge of human nature, which, in
+regard to children, conformed to comparatively simple laws. I knew that
+the change would involve plenty of hard work, self-denial and careful
+managing, which nothing could redeem from prose; but I aimed to add to
+our exodus, so far as possible, the elements of adventure and mystery
+so dear to the hearts of children. The question where we should go was
+the cause of much discussion, the studying of maps, and the learning of
+not a little geography.
+
+Merton's counsel was that we should seek a region abounding in Indians,
+bears, and "such big game." His advice made clear the nature of some of
+his recent reading. He proved, however, that he was not wanting in
+sense by his readiness to give up these attractive features in the
+choice of locality.
+
+Mousie's soft black eyes always lighted up at the prospect of a
+flower-garden that should be as big as our sitting-room. Even in our
+city apartments, poisoned by gas and devoid of sunlight, she usually
+managed to keep a little house-plant in bloom, and the thought of
+placing seeds in the open ground, where, as she said, "the roots could
+go down to China if they wanted to," brought the first color I had seen
+in her face for many a day.
+
+Winnie was our strongest child, and also the one who gave me the most
+anxiety. Impulsive, warm-hearted, restless, she always made me think of
+an overfull fountain. Her alert black eyes were as eager to see as was
+her inquisitive mind to pry into everything. She was sturdily built for
+a girl, and one of the severest punishments we could inflict was to
+place her in a chair and tell her not to move for an hour. We were
+beginning to learn that we could no more keep her in our sitting-room
+than we could restrain a mountain brook that foams into a rocky basin
+only to foam out again. Melissa Daggett was of a very different type--I
+could never see her without the word "sly" coming into my mind--and her
+small mysteries awakened Winnie's curiosity. Now that the latter was
+promised chickens, and rambles in the woods, Melissa and her secrets
+became insignificant, and the ready promise to keep aloof from her was
+given.
+
+As for Bobsey, he should have a pig which he could name and call his
+own, and for which he might pull weeds and pick up apples. We soon
+found that he was communing with that phantom pig in his dreams.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A MOMENTOUS EXPEDITION
+
+
+By the time Christmas week began we all had agreed to do without candy,
+toys, and knick-knacks, and to buy books that would tell us how to live
+in the country. One happy evening we had an early supper and all went
+to a well-known agricultural store and publishing-house on Broadway,
+each child almost awed by the fact that I had fifteen dollars in my
+pocket which should be spent that very night in the purchase of books
+and papers. To the children the shop seemed like a place where tickets
+direct to Eden were obtained, while the colored pictures of fruits and
+vegetables could portray the products of Eden only, so different were
+they in size and beauty from the specimens appearing in our market
+stalls. Stuffed birds and animals were also on the shelves, and no
+epicure ever enjoyed the gamy flavor as we did. But when we came to
+examine the books, their plates exhibiting almost every phase of
+country work and production, we felt like a long vista leading toward
+our unknown home was opening before us, illumined by alluring pictures.
+To Winnie was given a book on poultry, and the cuts representing the
+various birds were even more to her taste than cuts from the fowls
+themselves at a Christmas dinner. The Nimrod instincts of the race were
+awakened in Merton, and I soon found that he had set his heart on a
+book that gave an account of game, fish, birds, and mammals. It was a
+natural and wholesome longing. I myself had felt it keenly when a boy.
+Such country sport would bring sturdiness to his limbs and the right
+kind of color into his face.
+
+"All right, Merton," I said: "you shall have the book and a
+breech-loading shot-gun also. As for fishing-tackle, you can get along
+with a pole cut from the woods until you have earned money enough
+yourself to buy what you need."
+
+The boy was almost overwhelmed. He came to me, and took my hand in both
+his own.
+
+"O papa," he faltered, and his eyes were moist, "did you say a gun?"
+
+"Yes, a breech-loading shot-gun on one condition--that you'll not smoke
+till after you are twenty-one. A growing boy can't smoke in safety."
+
+He gave my hand a quick, strong pressure, and was immediately at the
+farther end of the store, blowing his nose suspiciously. I chuckled to
+myself: "I want no better promise. A gun will cure him of cigarettes
+better than a tract would."
+
+Mousie was quiet, as usual; but there was again a faint color in her
+cheeks, a soft lustre in her eyes. I kept near my invalid child most of
+the time, for fear that she would go beyond her strength. I made her
+sit by a table, and brought the books that would interest her most. Her
+sweet, thin face was a study, and I felt that she was already enjoying
+the healing caresses of Mother Nature. When we started homeward she
+carried a book about flowers next to her heart.
+
+Bobsey taxed his mother's patience and agility, for he seemed all over
+the store at the same moment, and wanted everything in it, being sure
+that fifteen dollars would buy all and leave a handsome margin; but at
+last he was content with a book illustrated from beginning to end with
+pigs.
+
+What pleased me most was to see how my wife enjoyed our little outing.
+Wrapped up in the children, she reflected their joy in her face, and
+looked almost girlish in her happiness. I whispered in her ear, "Your
+present shall be the home itself, for I shall have the deed made out in
+your name, and then you can turn me out-of-doors as often as you
+please."
+
+"Which will be every pleasant day after breakfast," she said, laughing.
+"You know you are very safe in giving things to me."
+
+"Yes, Winifred," I replied, pressing her hand on the sly; "I have been
+finding that out ever since I gave myself to you."
+
+I bought Henderson's "Gardening for Profit" and some other practical
+books. I also subscribed for a journal devoted to rural interests and
+giving simple directions for the work of each month. At last we
+returned. Never did a jollier little procession march up Broadway.
+People were going to the opera and evening companies, and carriages
+rolled by, filled with elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen; but my
+wife remarked, "None of those people are so happy as we are, trudging
+in this roundabout way to our country home."
+
+Her words suggested our course of action during the months which must
+intervene before it would be safe or wise for us to leave the city. Our
+thoughts, words, and actions were all a roundabout means to our
+cherished end, and yet the most direct way that we could take under the
+circumstances. Field and garden were covered with snow, the ground was
+granite-like from frost, and winter's cold breath chilled our
+impatience to be gone; but so far as possible we lived in a country
+atmosphere, and amused ourselves by trying to conform to country ways
+in a city flat. Even Winnie declared she heard the cocks crowing at
+dawn, while Bobsey had a different kind of grunt or squeal for every
+pig in his book.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS IN A CITY FLAT
+
+
+On Christmas morning we all brought out our purchases and arranged them
+on a table. Merton was almost wild when he found a bright
+single-barrelled gun with accoutrements standing in the corner. Even
+Mousie exclaimed with delight at the bright-colored papers of
+flower-seeds on her plate. To Winnie were given half a dozen china eggs
+with which to lure the prospective biddies to lay in nests easily
+reached, and she tried to cackle over them in absurd imitation. Little
+Bobsey had to have some toys and candy, but they all presented to his
+eyes the natural inmates of the barn-yard. In the number of domestic
+animals he swallowed that day he equalled the little boy in Hawthorne's
+story of "The House of the Seven Gables," who devoured a ginger-bread
+caravan of camels and elephants purchased at Miss Hepzibah Pyncheon's
+shop.
+
+Our Christmas dinner consisted almost wholly of such vegetables as we
+proposed to raise in the coming summer. Never before were such
+connoisseurs of carrots, beets, onions, parsnips, and so on through
+almost the entire list of such winter stock as was to be obtained at
+our nearest green-grocery. We celebrated the day by nearly a dozen
+dishes which the children aided my wife in preparing. Then I had Merton
+figure the cost of each, and we were surprised at the cheapness of much
+of country fare, even when retailed in very small quantities.
+
+This brought up another phase of the problem. In many respects I was
+like the children, having almost as much to learn as they--with the
+advantage, however, of being able to correct impressions by experience.
+In other words, I had more judgment; and while I should certainly make
+mistakes, not many of them would be absurd or often repeated. I was
+aware that most of the homely kitchen vegetables cost comparatively
+little, even though (having in our flat no good place for storage) we
+had found it better to buy what we needed from day to day. It was
+therefore certain that, at wholesale in the country, they would often
+be exceedingly cheap. This fact would work both ways: little money
+would purchase much food of certain kinds, and if we produced these
+articles of food they would bring us little money.
+
+I will pass briefly over the period that elapsed before it was time for
+us to depart, assured that the little people who are following this
+simple history are as eager to get away from the dusty city flat to the
+sunlight, breezy fields, brooks, and woods as were the children in my
+story. It is enough to say that, during all my waking hours not devoted
+to business, I read, thought, and studied on the problem of supporting
+my family in the country. I haunted Washington Market in the gray dawn
+and learned from much inquiry what products found a ready and certain
+sale at some price, and what appeared to yield to the grower the best
+profits. There was much conflict of opinion, but I noted down and
+averaged the statements made to me. Many of the market-men had hobbies,
+and told me how to make a fortune out of one or two articles; more gave
+careless, random, or ignorant answers; but here and there was a plain,
+honest, sensible fellow who showed me from his books what plain,
+honest, sensible producers in the country were doing. In a few weeks I
+dismissed finally the tendency to one blunder. A novice hears or reads
+of an acre of cabbages or strawberries producing so much. Then he
+figures, "if one acre yields so much, two acres will give twice as
+much," and so on. The experience of others showed me the utter folly of
+all this; and I came to the conclusion that I could give my family
+shelter, plain food, pure air, wholesome work and play in plenty, and
+that not very soon could I provide much else with certainty. I tried to
+stick closely to common-sense; and the humble circumstances of the vast
+majority living from the soil proved that there was in these pursuits
+no easy or speedy road to fortune. Therefore we must part reluctantly
+with every penny, and let a dollar go for only the essentials to the
+modest success now accepted as all we could naturally expect. We had
+explored the settled States, and even the Territories, in fancy; we had
+talked over nearly every industry from cotton and sugarcane planting to
+a sheep-ranch. I encouraged all this, for it was so much education out
+of school-hours; yet all, even Merton, eventually agreed with me that
+we had better not go far away, but seek a place near schools, markets,
+churches, and well inside of civilization.
+
+"See here, youngsters, you forget the most important crop of all that I
+must cultivate," I said one evening.
+
+"What is that?" they cried in chorus.
+
+"A crop of boys and girls. You may think that my mind is chiefly on
+corn and potatoes. Not at all. It is chiefly on you; and for your sakes
+mamma and I decided to go to the country."
+
+At last, in reply to my inquiries and my answers to advertisements, I
+received the following letter:--
+
+Maizeville, N.Y. March 1st, '83
+
+Robert Durham, Esq.
+
+Dear Sir
+
+I have a place that will suit you I think. It can be bought at about
+the figure you name. Come to see it. I shan't crack it up, but want you
+to judge for yourself.
+
+Resp'y    John Jones
+
+I had been to see two or three places that had been "cracked up" so
+highly that my wife thought it better to close the bargain at once
+before some one else secured the prize--and I had come back disgusted
+in each instance.
+
+"The soul of wit" was in John Jones's letter. There was also a
+downright directness which hit the mark, and I wrote that I would go to
+Maizeville in the course of the following week.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A BLUFF FRIEND
+
+
+The almanac had announced spring; nature appeared quite unaware of the
+fact, but, so far as we were concerned, the almanac was right. Spring
+was the era of hope, of change, and hope was growing in our hearts like
+"Jack's bean," in spite of lowering wintry skies. We were as eager as
+robins, sojourning in the south, to take our flight northward.
+
+My duties to my employers had ceased the 1st of March: I had secured
+tenants who would take possession of our rooms as soon as we should
+leave them; and now every spare moment was given to studying the
+problem of country living and to preparations for departure. I obtained
+illustrated catalogues from several dealers in seeds, and we pored over
+them every evening. At first they bewildered us with their long lists
+of varieties, while the glowing descriptions of new kinds of vegetables
+just being introduced awakened in us something of a gambling spirit.
+
+"How fortunate it is," exclaimed my wife, "that we are going to the
+country just as the vegetable marvels were discovered! Why, Robert, if
+half of what is said is true, we shall make our fortunes."
+
+With us, hitherto, a beet had been a beet, and a cabbage a cabbage; but
+here were accounts of beets which, as Merton said, "beat all creation,"
+and pictures of prodigious cabbage heads which well-nigh turned our
+own. With a blending of hope and distrust I carried two of the
+catalogues to a shrewd old fellow in Washington Market. He was a dealer
+in country produce who had done business so long at the same stand that
+among his fellows he was looked upon as a kind of patriarch. During a
+former interview he had replied to my questions with a blunt honesty
+that had inspired confidence. The day was somewhat mild, and I found
+him in his shirt-sleeves, smoking his pipe among his piled-up barrels,
+boxes, and crates, after his eleven o'clock dinner. His day's work was
+practically over; and well it might be, for, like others of his
+calling, he had begun it long before dawn. Now his old felt hat was
+pushed well back on his bald head, and his red face, fringed with a
+grizzled beard, expressed a sort of heavy, placid content. His small
+gray eyes twinkled as shrewdly as ever. With his pipe he indicated a
+box on which I might sit while we talked.
+
+"See here, Mr. Bogart," I began, showing him the seed catalogues, "how
+is a man to choose wisely what vegetables he will raise from a list as
+long as your arm? Perhaps I shouldn't take any of those old-fashioned
+kinds, but go into these wonderful novelties which promise a new era in
+horticulture."
+
+The old man gave a contemptuous grunt; then, removing his pipe, he blew
+out a cloud of smoke that half obscured us both as he remarked,
+gruffly, "'A fool and his money are soon parted.'"
+
+This was about as rough as March weather; but I knew my man, and
+perhaps proved that I wasn't a fool by not parting with him then and
+there.
+
+"Come now, neighbor," I said, brusquely, "I know some things that you
+don't, and there are affairs in which I could prove you to be as green
+as I am in this matter. If you came to me I'd give you the best advice
+that I could, and be civil about it into the bargain. I've come to you
+because I believe you to be honest and to know what I don't. When I
+tell you that I have a little family dependent on me, and that I mean
+if possible to get a living for them out of the soil, I believe you are
+man enough both to fall in with my plan and to show a little friendly
+interest. If you are not, I'll go farther and fare better."
+
+As I fired this broadside he looked at me askance, with the pipe in the
+corner of his mouth, then reached out his great brown paw, and said,--
+
+"Shake."
+
+I knew it was all right now--that the giving of his hand meant not only
+a treaty of peace but also a friendly alliance. The old fellow
+discoursed vegetable wisdom so steadily for half an hour that his pipe
+went out.
+
+"You jest let that new-fangled truck alone," he said, "till you get
+more forehanded in cash and experience. Then you may learn how to make
+something out of them novelties, as they call 'em, if they are worth
+growing at all. Now and then a good penny is turned on a new fruit or
+vegetable; but how to do it will be one of the last tricks that you'll
+learn in your new trade. Hand me one of them misleadin' books, and I'll
+mark a few solid kinds such as produce ninety-nine hundredths of all
+that's used or sold. Then you go to What-you-call-'em's store, and take
+a line from me, and you'll git the genuine article at market-gardeners'
+prices."
+
+"Now, Mr. Bogart, you are treating me like a man and a brother."
+
+"Oh thunder! I'm treating you like one who, p'raps, may deal with me.
+Do as you please about it, but if you want to take along a lot of my
+business cards and fasten 'em to anything you have to sell, I'll give
+you all they bring, less my commission."
+
+"I've no doubt you will, and that's more than I can believe of a good
+many in your line, if all's true that I hear. You have thrown a broad
+streak of daylight into my future. So you see the fool didn't part with
+his money, or with you either, until he got a good deal more than he
+expected."
+
+"Well, well, Mr. Durham, you'll have to get used to my rough ways. When
+I've anything to say, I don't beat about the bush. But you'll always
+find my checks good for their face."
+
+"Yes, and the face back of them is that of a friend to me now. We'll
+shake again. Good-by;" and I went home feeling as if I had solid ground
+under my feet. At supper I went over the whole scene, taking off the
+man in humorous pantomime, not ridicule, and even my wife grew
+hilarious over her disappointed hopes of the "new-fangled truck." I
+managed, however, that the children should not lose the lesson that a
+rough diamond is better than a smooth paste stone, and that people
+often do themselves an injury when they take offence too easily.
+
+"I see it all, papa," chuckled Merton; "if you had gone off mad when he
+the same as called you a fool, you would have lost all his good advice."
+
+"I should have lost much more than that, my boy, I should have lost the
+services of a good friend and an honest man to whom we can send for its
+full worth whatever we can't sell to better advantage at home. But
+don't mistake me, Merton, toadyism never pays, no matter what you may
+gain by it; for you give manhood for such gain, and that's a kind of
+property that one can never part with and make a good bargain. You see
+the old man didn't mean to be insolent. As he said, it was only his
+rough, blunt way of saying what was uppermost in his mind."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+MR. JONES SHOWS ME THE PLACE
+
+
+The next day, according to appointment, I went to Maizeville. John
+Jones met me at the station, and drove me in his box-sleigh to see the
+farm he had written of in his laconic note. I looked at him curiously
+as we jogged along over the melting snow. The day was unclouded for a
+wonder, and the sun proved its increasing power by turning the
+sleigh-tracks in the road into gleaming rills. The visage of my new
+acquaintance formed a decided contrast to the rubicund face of the
+beef-eating marketman. He was sandy even to his eyebrows and
+complexion. His scraggy beard suggested poverty of soil on his lantern
+jaws. His frame was as gaunt as that of a scare-crow, and his hands and
+feet were enormous. He had one redeeming feature, however--a pair of
+blue eyes that looked straight at you and made you feel that there was
+no "crookedness" behind them. His brief letter had led me to expect a
+man of few words, but I soon found that John Jones was a talker and a
+good-natured gossip. He knew every one we met, and was usually greeted
+with a rising inflection, like this, "How are you, John?"
+
+We drove inland for two or three miles.
+
+"No, I didn't crack up the place, and I ain't a-goin' to," said my
+real-estate agent. "As I wrote you, you can see for yourself when we
+get there, and I'll answer all questions square. I've got the sellin'
+of the property, and I mean it shall be a good bargain, good for me and
+good for him who buys. I don't intend havin' any neighbors around
+blamin' me for a fraud;" and that is all he would say about it.
+
+On we went, over hills and down dales, surrounded by scenery that
+seemed to me beautiful beyond all words, even in its wintry aspect.
+
+"What mountain is that standing off by itself?" I asked.
+
+"Schunemunk," he said. "Your place--well, I guess it will be yours
+before plantin'-time comes--faces that mountain and looks up the valley
+between it and the main highlands on the left. Yonder's the house, on
+the slope of this big round hill, that'll shelter you from the north
+winds."
+
+I shall not describe the place very fully now, preferring that it
+should be seen through the eyes of my wife and children, as well as my
+own.
+
+"The dwelling appears old," I said.
+
+"Yes; part of it's a good deal more'n a hundred years old. It's been
+added to at both ends. But there's timbers in it that will stand
+another hundred years. I had a fire made in the livin'-room this
+mornin', to take off the chill, and we'll go in and sit down after
+we've looked the place over. Then you must come and take pot-luck with
+us."
+
+At first I was not at all enthusiastic, but the more I examined the
+place, and thought it over, the more it grew on my fancy. When I
+entered the main room of the cottage, and saw the wide, old-fashioned
+fireplace, with its crackling blaze, I thawed so rapidly that John
+Jones chuckled. "You're amazin' refreshin' for a city chap. I guess
+I'll crack on another hundred to the price."
+
+"I thought you were not going to crack up the place at all."
+
+"Neither be I. Take that old arm-chair, and I'll tell you all about it.
+The place looks rather run down, as you have seen. Old Mr. and Mrs.
+Jamison lived here till lately. Last January the old man died, and a
+good old man he was. His wife has gone to live with a daughter. By the
+will I was app'inted executor and trustee. I've fixed on a fair price
+for the property, and I'm goin' to hold on till I get it. There's
+twenty acres of plowable land and orchard, and a five-acre wood-lot, as
+I told you. The best part of the property is this. Mr. Jamison was a
+natural fruit-grower. He had a heap of good fruit here and wouldn't
+grow nothin' but the best. He was always a-speerin' round, and when he
+come across something extra he'd get a graft, or a root or two. So he
+gradually came to have the best there was a-goin' in these parts. Now I
+tell you what it is, Mr. Durham, you can buy plenty of new, bare
+places, but your hair would be gray before you'd have the fruit that
+old man Jamison planted and tended into bearing condition; and you can
+buy places with fine shade trees and all that, and a good show of a
+garden and orchard, but Jamison used to say that an apple or cherry was
+a pretty enough shade tree for him, and he used to say too that a tree
+that bore the biggest and best apples didn't take any more room than
+one that yielded what was fit only for the cider press. Now the p'int's
+just here. You don't come to the country to amuse yourself by
+developin' a property, like most city chaps do, but to make a livin'.
+Well, don't you see? This farm is like a mill. When the sun's another
+month higher it will start all the machinery in the apple, cherry, and
+pear trees and the small fruits, and it will turn out a crop the first
+year you're here that will put money in your pocket."
+
+Then he named the price, half down and the rest on mortgage, if I so
+preferred. It was within the limit that my means permitted.
+
+I got up and went all over the house, which was still plainly furnished
+in part. A large wood-house near the back door had been well filled by
+the provident old man. There was ample cellar room, which was also a
+safeguard against dampness. Then I went out and walked around the
+house. It was all so quaint and homely as to make me feel that it would
+soon become home-like to us. There was nothing smart to be seen,
+nothing new except a barn that had recently been built near one of the
+oldest and grayest structures of the kind I had ever seen. The
+snow-clad mountains lifted themselves about me in a way that promised a
+glimpse of beauty every time I should raise my eyes from work. Yet
+after all my gaze lingered longest on the orchard and fruit-trees that
+surrounded the dwelling.
+
+"That's sensible," remarked Mr. Jones, who followed me with no trace of
+anxiety or impatience. "Paint, putty, and pine will make a house in a
+few weeks, but it takes a good slice out of a century to build up an
+orchard like that."
+
+"That was just what I was thinking, Mr. Jones."
+
+"Oh, I knowed that. Well, I've got just two more things to say, then
+I'm done and you can take it or leave it. Don't you see? The house is
+on a slope facing the south-east. You get the morning sun and the
+southern breeze. Some people don't know what they're worth, but I,
+who've lived here all my life, know they're worth payin' for. Again,
+you see the ground slopes off to the crick yonder. That means good
+drainage. We don't have any malary here, and that fact is worth as much
+as the farm, for I wouldn't take a section of the garden of Eden if
+there was malary around."
+
+"On your honor now, Mr. Jones, how far is the corner around which they
+have the malaria?"
+
+"Mr. Durham, it ain't a mile away."
+
+I laughed as I said, "I shall have one neighbor, it seems, to whom I
+can lend an umbrella."
+
+"Then you'll take the place?"
+
+"Yes, if my wife is as well satisfied as I am. I want you to give me
+the refusal of it for one week at the price you named."
+
+"Agreed, and I'll put it in black and white."
+
+"Now, Mr. Jones," I began with an apologetic little laugh, "you grow
+one thing up here in all seasons, I fancy--an appetite. As I feel now,
+your pot-luck means good luck, no matter what is in it."
+
+"Now you talk sense. I was a-hankerin' myself. I take stock right off
+in a man or a critter with an appetite. They're always improvin'. Yes,
+sir; Maizeville is the place to grow an appetite, and what's more we
+can grow plenty to satisfy it."
+
+Mrs. Jones made a striking contrast to her husband, for she first
+impressed me as being short, red, and round; but her friendly, bustling
+ways and hearty welcome soon added other and very pleasant impressions;
+and when she placed a great dish of fricasseed chicken on the table she
+won a good-will which her neighborly kindness has steadily increased.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+TELLING ABOUT EDEN
+
+
+Never was a traveller from a remote foreign clime listened to with more
+breathless interest than I as I related my adventures at our late
+supper after my return. Mousie looked almost feverish in her
+excitement, and Winnie and Bobsey exploded with merriment over the name
+of the mountain that would be one of our nearest neighbors. They dubbed
+the place "Schunemunks" at once. Merton put on serious and
+sportsman-like airs as he questioned me, and it was evident that he
+expected to add largely to our income from the game he should kill. I
+did not take much pains to dispel his illusions, knowing that one day's
+tramp would do this, and that he would bring back increased health and
+strength if nothing else.
+
+No fairy tale had ever absorbed the children like the description of
+that old house and its surroundings; and when at last they were induced
+to retire I said to my wife, after explaining more in practical detail
+the pros and cons to be considered: "It all depends on you. If you wish
+I will take you up the first pleasant day, so that you can see for
+yourself before we decide."
+
+She laughed as she said, "I decided two minutes after you arrived."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"I saw you had the place in your eyes. La, Robert! I can read you like
+a book. You give in to me in little things, and that pleases a woman,
+you know. You must decide a question like this, for it is a question of
+support for us all, and you can do better on a place that suits you
+than on one never quite to your mind. It has grown more and more clear
+to me all the evening that you have fallen in love with the old place,
+and that settles it."
+
+"Well, you women have a way of your own of deciding a question."
+
+My wife was too shrewd not to make a point in her favor, and she
+remarked, with a complacent nod, "I have a way of my own, but there are
+women in the world who would have insisted on a smart new house."
+
+"Little wife," I said, laughing, "there was another girl that I was a
+little sweet on before I met you. I'm glad you are not the other girl."
+
+She put her head a little to one side with the old roguish look which
+used to be so distracting when the question of questions with me was
+whether pretty Winnie Barlow would give half a dozen young fellows the
+go-by for my sake, and she said, "Perhaps the other girl is glad too."
+
+"I've no doubt she is," I sighed, "for her husband is getting rich. I
+don't care how glad she is if my girl is not sorry."
+
+"You do amuse me so, Robert! You'd like to pass for something of a
+philosopher, with your brown studies into the hidden causes and reasons
+for things, yet you don't half know yet that when a woman sets her
+heart on something, she hasn't much left with which to long for
+anything else. That is, if she has a heart, which seems to be left out
+of some women."
+
+"I think it is, and others get a double allowance. I should be content,
+for I was rich the moment I won yours."
+
+"I've been more than content; I've been happy--happy all these years in
+city flats. Even in my tantrums and bad days I knew I was happy, deep
+in my heart."
+
+"I only hope you will remain as blind about your plodding old husband
+who couldn't make a fortune in the city."
+
+"I've seen men who made fortunes, and I've seen their wives too."
+
+I thanked God for the look on her face--a look which had been there
+when she was a bride, and which had survived many straitened years.
+
+So we chose our country home. The small patrimony to which we had added
+but little--(indeed we had often denied ourselves in order not to
+diminish it)--was nearly all to be invested in the farm, and a debt to
+be incurred, besides. While yielding to my fancy, I believed that I had
+at the same time chosen wisely, for, as John Jones said, the mature
+fruit trees of the place would begin to bring returns very soon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+"BREAKING CAMP"
+
+
+We were now all eager to get away, and the weather favored our wishes.
+A warm rain with a high south wind set in, and the ice disappeared from
+the river like magic. I learned that the afternoon boat which touched
+at Maizeville would begin its trips in the following week.
+
+I told my wife about the furniture which still remained in the house,
+and the prices which John Jones put upon it. We therefore found that we
+could dispose of a number of bulky articles in our city apartments, and
+save a goodly sum in cartage and freight. Like soldiers short of
+ammunition, we had to make every dollar tell, and when by thought and
+management we could save a little it was talked over as a triumph to be
+proud of.
+
+The children entered into the spirit of the thing with great zest. They
+were all going to be hardy pioneers. One evening I described the
+landing of the "Mayflower," and some of the New-England winters that
+followed, and they wished to come down to Indian meal at once as a
+steady diet. Indeed, toward the last, we did come down to rather plain
+fare, for in packing up one thing after another we at last reached the
+cooking utensils.
+
+On the morning of the day preceding the one of our departure I began to
+use military figures of speech.
+
+"Now we must get into marching order," I said, "and prepare to break
+camp. Soldiers, you know, when about to move, dispose of all their
+heavy baggage, cook several days' provisions, pack up and load on
+wagons what they mean to take with them, and start. It is a trying
+time--one that requires the exercise of good soldierly qualities, such
+as prompt obedience, indifference to hardship and discomfort, and
+especially courage in meeting whatever happens."
+
+Thus the children's imaginations were kindled, and our prosaic breaking
+up was a time of grand excitement. With grim satisfaction they looked
+upon the dismantling of the rooms, and with sighs of relief saw carts
+take away such heavy articles as I had sold.
+
+Winnie and Bobsey were inclined to take the children of neighbors into
+their confidence, and to have them around, but I said that this would
+not do at all--that when soldiers were breaking camp the great point
+was to do everything as secretly and rapidly as possible. Thenceforward
+an air of mystery pervaded all our movements.
+
+Bobsey, however, at last overstepped the bounds of our patience and
+became unmanageable. The very spirit of mischief seemed to have entered
+his excited little brain. He untied bundles, placed things where they
+were in the way, and pestered the busy mother with so many questions,
+that I hit upon a decided measure to keep him quiet. I told him about a
+great commander who, in an important fight, was strapped to a mast, so
+that he could oversee everything. Then I tied the little fellow into a
+chair. At first he was much elated, and chattered like a magpie, but
+when he found he was not to be released after a few moments he began to
+howl for freedom. I then carried him, chair and all, to one of the back
+rooms. Soon his cries ceased, and tender-hearted Mousie stole after
+him. Returning she said, with her low laugh, "He'll be good now for a
+while; he's sound asleep."
+
+And so passed the last day in our city rooms. Except as wife and
+children were there, they had never appeared very homelike to me, and
+now they looked bare and comfortless indeed. The children gloated over
+their appearance, for it meant novelty to them. "The old camp is about
+broken up," Merton remarked, with the air of a veteran. But my wife
+sighed more than once.
+
+"What troubles you, Winifred?"
+
+"Robert, the children were born here, and here I've watched over them
+in sickness and health so many days and nights."
+
+"Well, my dear, the prospects are that in our new home you will not
+have to watch over them in sickness very much. Better still, you will
+not have to be so constantly on your guard against contagions that harm
+the soul as well as the body. I was told that there are rattle-snakes
+on Schunemunk, but greater dangers for Winnie and Merton lurk in this
+street--yes, in this very house;" and I exulted over the thought that
+we were about to bid Melissa Daggett a final good-by.
+
+"Oh, I know. I'm glad; but then--"
+
+"But then a woman's heart takes root in any place where she has loved
+and suffered. That tendency makes it all the more certain that you'll
+love your new home."
+
+"Yes; we may as well face the truth, Robert. We shall suffer in the new
+home as surely as in the old. There may be stronger sunshine, but that
+means deeper shadow."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+SCENES ON THE WHARF
+
+
+The last night in the city flat was in truth like camping out, the
+fatigues of the day brought us sound sleep, and we looked and felt like
+emigrants. But in the morning we rose with the dawn, from our
+shakedowns on the floor, to begin eagerly and hopefully our final
+preparations for departure. In response to my letters John Jones had
+promised to meet us at the Maizeville Landing with his strong covered
+rockaway, and to have a fire in the old farmhouse. Load after load was
+despatched to the boat, for I preferred to deal with one trusty
+truckman. When all had been taken away, we said good-by to our
+neighbors and took the horse-car to the boat, making our quiet exit in
+the least costly way. I knew the boat would be warm and comfortable,
+and proposed that we should eat our lunch there.
+
+The prospect, however, of seeing the wharves, the boats, and the river
+destroyed even the children's appetites. We soon reached the crowded
+dock. The great steamer appeared to be a part of it, lying along its
+length with several gangways, over which boxes, barrels, and packages
+were being hustled on board with perpetual din. The younger children
+were a little awed at first by the noise and apparent confusion. Mousie
+kept close to my side, and even Bobsey clung to his mother's hand. The
+extended upper cabin had state-rooms opening along its sides, and was
+as comfortable as a floating parlor with its arm and rocking chairs.
+Here, not far from the great heater, I established our headquarters. I
+made the children locate the spot carefully, and said: "From this point
+we'll make excursions. In the first place, Merton, you come with me and
+see that all our household effects are together and in good order. You
+must learn to travel and look after things like a man."
+
+We spent a little time in arranging our goods so that they would be
+safer and more compact. Then we went to the captain and laughingly told
+him we were emigrants to Maizeville, and hoped before long to send a
+good deal of produce by his boat. We therefore wished him to "lump" us,
+goods, children, and all, and deliver us safely at the Maizeville wharf
+for as small a sum as possible.
+
+He good-naturedly agreed, and I found that the chief stage of our
+journey would involve less outlay than I had expected.
+
+Thus far all had gone so well that I began to fear that a change must
+take place soon, in order that our experience should be more like the
+common lot of humanity. When at last I took all the children out on the
+afterdeck, to remove the first edge of their curiosity, I saw that
+there was at least an ominous change in the weather. The morning had
+been mild, with a lull in the usual March winds. Now a scud of clouds
+was drifting swiftly in from the eastward, and chilly, fitful gusts
+began to moan and sigh about us. A storm was evidently coming, and my
+hope was that we might reach our haven before it began. I kept my fears
+to myself, and we watched the long lines of carts converging toward the
+gang-planks of our own and other steamboats.
+
+"See, youngsters," I cried, "all this means commerce. These loads and
+loads of things will soon be at stores and homes up the river,
+supplying the various needs of the people. Tomorrow the residents along
+the river will bring what they have to sell to this same boat, and by
+daylight next morning carts will be carrying country produce and
+manufactured articles all over the city. Thus you see commerce is made
+by people supplying themselves and each other with what they need. Just
+as soon as we can bring down a crate of berries and send it to Mr.
+Bogart we shall be adding to the commerce of the world in the best way.
+We shall become what are called the 'producers,' and but for this class
+the world would soon come to an end."
+
+"'Rah!" cried Bobsey, "I'm goin' to be a p'oducer."
+
+He promised, however, to be a consumer for a long time to come,
+especially of patience. His native fearlessness soon asserted itself,
+and he wanted to go everywhere and see everything, asking questions
+about machinery, navigation, river craft, the contents of every box,
+bale, or barrel we saw, till I felt that I was being used like a town
+pump. I pulled him back to the cabin, resolving to stop his mouth for a
+time at least with the contents of our lunch basket.
+
+Winnie was almost as bad, or as good, perhaps I should say; for,
+however great the drain and strain on me might be, I knew that these
+active little brains were expanding to receive a host of new ideas.
+
+Mousie was quiet as usual, and made no trouble, but I saw with renewed
+hope that this excursion into the world awakened in her a keen and
+natural interest. Ever since the project of country life had been
+decided upon, her listless, weary look had been giving place to one of
+greater animation. The hope of flowers and a garden had fed her life
+like a deep, hidden spring.
+
+To Merton I had given larger liberty, and had said: "It is not
+necessary for you to stay with me all the time. Come and go on the boat
+and wharf as you wish. Pick up what knowledge you can. All I ask is
+that you will use good sense in keeping out of trouble and danger."
+
+I soon observed that he was making acquaintances here and there, and
+asking questions which would go far to make good his loss of schooling
+for a time. Finding out about what one sees is, in my belief, one of
+the best ways of getting an education. The trouble with most of us is
+that we accept what we see, without inquiry or knowledge.
+
+The children were much interested in scenes witnessed from the side of
+the boat farthest from the wharf. Here in the enclosed water-space were
+several kinds of craft, but the most curious in their eyes was a group
+of canal boats--"queer travelling houses" Mousie called them; for it
+was evident that each one had a family on board, and the little
+entrance to the hidden cabin resembled a hole from which men, women,
+and children came like rabbits out of a burrow. Tough, hardy,
+barefooted children were everywhere. While we were looking, one
+frowsy-headed little girl popped up from her burrow in the boat, and,
+with legs and feet as red as a boiled lobster, ran along the guards
+like a squirrel along a fence.
+
+"O dear!" sighed Mousie, "I'd rather live in a city flat than in such a
+house."
+
+"I think it would be splendid," protested Winnie, "to live in a
+travelling house. You could go all over and still stay at home."
+
+I was glad on our return to find my wife dozing in her chair. She was
+determined to spend in rest the hours on the boat, and had said that
+Mousie also must be quiet much of the afternoon.
+
+Between three and four the crush on the wharf became very great. Horses
+and drays were so mixed up that to inexperienced eyes it looked as if
+they could never be untangled. People of every description, loaded down
+with parcels, were hurrying on board, and it would seem from our point
+of view that American women shared with their French sisters an aptness
+for trade, for among the passengers were not a few substantial,
+matronly persons who appeared as if they could look the world in the
+face and get the better of it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A VOYAGE UP THE HUDSON
+
+
+As four P.M. approached, I took the children to a great glass window in
+the cabin, through which we could see the massive machinery.
+
+"Now," said I, "watch the steel giant; he is motionless, but in a
+moment or two he will move."
+
+True enough, he appeared to take a long breath of steam, and then
+slowly lifted his polished arms, or levers, and the boat that had been
+like a part of the wharf began to act as if it were alive and were
+waking up.
+
+"Now," I asked, "shall we go to the after-deck and take our last look
+at the city, or forward and see the river and whither we are going?"
+
+"Forward! forward!" cried all in chorus.
+
+"That's the difference between youth and age," I thought. "With the
+young it is always 'forward.'" But we found that we could not go out on
+the forward deck, for the wind would have carried away my light, frail
+Mousie, like a feather. Indeed it was whistling a wild tune as we stood
+in a small room with glass windows all round. The waves were crowned
+with foaming white-caps, and the small craft that had to be out in the
+gale were bobbing up and down, as if possessed. On the river was a
+strange and lurid light, which seemed to come more from the dashing
+water than from the sky, so dark was the latter with skurrying clouds.
+
+Mousie clung timidly to my side, but I reassured her by saying: "See
+how steadily, how evenly and boldly, our great craft goes out on the
+wide river. In the same way we must go forward, and never be afraid.
+These boats run every day after the ice disappears, and they are
+managed by men who know what to do in all sorts of weather."
+
+She smiled, but whispered, "I think I'll go back and stay with mamma;"
+but she soon found much amusement in looking at passing scenes from the
+windows of the warm after-cabin--scenes that were like pictures set in
+oval frames.
+
+The other children appeared fascinated by the scene, especially Winnie,
+whose bold black eyes flashed with excitement.
+
+"I want to see everything and know everything," she said.
+
+"I wish you to see and know about things like these," I replied, "but
+not such things as Melissa Daggett would show you."
+
+"Melissy Daggett, indeed!" cried Winnie. "This beats all her stories.
+She tried to tell me the other day about a theatre at which a woman
+killed a man--"
+
+"Horrid! I hope you didn't listen?"
+
+"Only long enough to know the man came to life again, and danced in the
+next--"
+
+"That will do. I'm not interested in Melissa's vulgar stories. As you
+say, this, and all like this, is much better, and will never prevent
+you from becoming a lady like mamma."
+
+Winnie's ambition to become a lady promised to be one of my strong
+levers in uplifting her character.
+
+I confess that I did not like the looks of the sky or of the
+snow-flakes that began to whirl in the air, but the strong steamer
+plowed her way rapidly past the city and the villa-crowned shores
+beyond. The gloom of the storm and of early coming night was over all,
+and from the distant western shores the Palisades frowned dimly through
+the obscurity.
+
+My wife came, and after a brief glance shivered and was turning away,
+when I said, "You don't like your first glimpse of the country,
+Winifred?"
+
+"It will look different next June. The children will take cold here.
+Let them come and watch the machinery."
+
+This we all did for a time, and then I took them on excursions about
+the enclosed parts of the boat. The lamps were already lighted, and the
+piled-up freight stood out in grotesque light and shadow.
+
+Before very long we were standing by one of the furnace rooms, and the
+sooty-visaged man threw open the iron doors of the furnace. In the
+glare of light that rushed forth everything near stood out almost as
+vividly as it would have done in a steady gleam of lightning. The
+fireman instantly became a startling silhouette, and the coal that he
+shovelled into what was like a flaming mouth of a cavern seemed
+sparkling black diamonds. The snow-flakes glimmered as the wind swept
+them by the wide-open window, and in the distance were seen the lights
+and the dim outline of another boat rushing toward the city. Clang! the
+iron doors are shut, and all is obscure again.
+
+"Now the boat has had its supper," said Bobsey. "O dear! I wish I could
+have a big hot supper."
+
+The smoking-room door stood open, and we lingered near it for some
+moments, attracted first by a picture of a great fat ox, that suggested
+grassy meadows, plowing, juicy steaks, and other pleasant things. Then
+our attention was drawn to a man, evidently a cattle-dealer, who was
+holding forth to others more or less akin to him in their pursuits.
+
+"Yes," he was saying, "people in the country eat a mighty lot of
+cow-beef, poor and old at that. I was buying calves out near Shawangunk
+Mountains last week, and stopped at a small tavern. They brought me a
+steak and I tried to put my knife in it--thought the knife might be
+dull, but knew my grinders weren't. Jerusalem! I might have chawed on
+that steak till now and made no impression. I called the landlord, and
+said, 'See here, stranger, if you serve me old boot-leather for steak
+again I'll blow on your house.'--'I vow,' he said, 'it's the best I kin
+get in these diggin's. You fellers from the city buy up every likely
+critter that's for sale, and we have to take what you leave.' You see,
+he hit me right between the horns, for it's about so. Bless your soul,
+if I'd took in a lot of cow-beef like that to Steers and Pinkham,
+Washington Market, they'd 'a taken my hide off and hung me up 'longside
+of my beef."
+
+"Grantin' all that," said another man, "folks in the country would be a
+sight better off if they'd eat more cow-beef and less pork. You know
+the sayin' about 'out of the frying-pan into the fire'? Well, in some
+parts I've travelled they had better get out of the fryin'-pan, no
+matter where they fetch up."
+
+We went away laughing, and I said: "Don't you be troubled, Mousie; we
+won't go to the frying-pan altogether to find roses for your cheeks.
+We'll paint them red with strawberries and raspberries, the color put
+on from the inside."
+
+As time passed, the storm increased, and the air became so thick with
+driving snow that the boat's speed was slackened. Occasionally we
+"slowed up" for some moments. The passengers shook their heads and
+remarked, dolefully, "There's no telling when we'll arrive."
+
+I made up my mind that it would be good economy for us all to have a
+hearty hot supper, as Bobsey had suggested; and when, at last, the gong
+resounded through the boat, we trooped down with the others to the
+lower cabin, where there were several long tables, with colored waiters
+in attendance. We had not been in these lower regions before, and the
+eyes of the children soon wandered from their plates to the berths, or
+sleeping-bunks, which lined the sides of the cabin.
+
+"Yes," I replied, in answer to their questions; "it is a big
+supper-room now, but by and by it will be a big bedroom, and people
+will be tucked away in these berths, just as if they were laid on
+shelves, one over the other."
+
+The abundant and delicious supper, in which steaks, not from cow-beef,
+were the chief feature, gave each one of us solid comfort and
+satisfaction. Bobsey ate until the passengers around him were laughing,
+but he, with superb indifference, attended strictly to business.
+
+My wife whispered, "You must all eat enough to last a week, for I
+sha'n't have time to cook anything;" and I was much pleased at the good
+example which she and Mousie set us.
+
+Both before and after supper I conducted Bobsey to the wash-room, and
+he made the people laugh as he stood on a chair and washed his face.
+But he was a sturdy little fellow, and only laughed back when a man
+said he looked as though he was going to dive into the basin.
+
+Mousie at last began to show signs of fatigue; and learning that it
+would be several hours still before we could hope to arrive, so severe
+was the storm, I procured the use of a state-room, and soon Bobsey was
+snoring in the upper berth, and my invalid girl smiling and talking in
+soft tones to her mother in the lower couch. Winnie, Merton, and I
+prowled around, spending the time as best we could. Occasionally we
+looked through the windows at the bow, and wondered how the pilot could
+find his way through the tempest. I confess I had fears lest he might
+not do this, and felt that I should be grateful indeed when my little
+band was safe on shore. The people in charge of the boat, however, knew
+their business.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+A MARCH EVENING IN EDEN
+
+
+At length we were fast at the Maizeville Landing, although long after
+the usual hour of arrival. I was anxious indeed to learn whether John
+Jones would meet us, or whether, believing that we would not come in
+such a storm, and tired of waiting, he had gone home and left us to
+find such shelter as we could.
+
+But there he was, looking in the light of the lanterns as grizzled as
+old Time himself, with his eyebrows and beard full of snow-flakes. He
+and I hastily carried the three younger children ashore through the
+driving snow, and put them in a corner of the storehouse, while Merton
+followed with his mother.
+
+"Mr. Jones," I exclaimed, "you are a neighbor to be proud of already.
+Why didn't you go home and leave us to our fate?"
+
+"Well," he replied, laughing, "'twouldn't take you long to get snowed
+under to-night. No, no; when I catch fish I mean to land 'em. Didn't
+know but what in such a buster of a storm you might be inclined to stay
+on the boat and go back to the city. Then where would my bargain be?"
+
+"No fear of that. We're in for it now--have enlisted for the war. What
+shall we do?"
+
+"Well, I vow I hardly know. One thing first, anyhow--we must get Mrs.
+Durham and the kids into the warm waiting-room, and then look after
+your traps."
+
+The room was already crowded, but we squeezed them in, white from
+scarcely more than a moment's exposure to the storm. Then we took hold
+and gave the deck-hands a lift with my baggage, Merton showing much
+manly spirit in his readiness to face the weather and the work. My
+effects were soon piled up by themselves, and then we held a council.
+
+"Mrs. Durham'll hardly want to face this storm with the children,"
+began Mr. Jones.
+
+"Are you going home?" I asked.
+
+"Yes, sir. I'd rather travel all night for the sake of being home in
+the morning."
+
+"To tell the truth I feel the same way," I continued, "but reason must
+hold the reins. Do you think you could protect Mrs. Durham and the
+children from the storm?"
+
+"Yes, I think we could tuck 'em in so they'd scarcely know it was
+snowin', and then we could sled your things up in the mornin'.
+'Commodations on the landin' to-night will be pretty crowded."
+
+"We'll let her decide, then."
+
+When I explained how things were and what Mr. Jones had said, she
+exclaimed, "Oh, let us go home."
+
+How my heart jumped at her use of the word "home" in regard to a place
+that she had never seen. "But, Winifred," I urged, "do you realize how
+bad a night it is? Do you think it would be safe for Mousie?"
+
+"It isn't so very cold if one is not exposed to the wind and snow," she
+replied, "and Mr. Jones says we needn't be exposed. I don't believe
+we'd run as much risk as in going to a little hotel, the best rooms of
+which are already taken. Since we can do it, it will be so much nicer
+to go to a place that we feel is our own!"
+
+"I must say that your wishes accord with mine."
+
+"Oh, I knew that," she replied, laughing. "Mr. Jones," she added,
+sociably, "this man has a way of telling you what he wishes by his
+looks before asking your opinion."
+
+"I found that out the day he came up to see the place," chuckled my
+neighbor, "and I was half a mind to stick him for another hundred for
+being so honest. He don't know how to make a bargain any more than one
+of the children there. Well, I'll go to the shed and get the hosses,
+and we'll make a pull for home. I don't believe you'll be sorry when
+you get there."
+
+Mr. Jones came around to the very door with the rockaway, and we tucked
+my wife and children under the buffalo robes and blankets till they
+could hardly breathe. Then we started out into the white, spectral
+world, for the wind had coated everything with the soft, wet snow. On
+we went at a slow walk, for the snow and mud were both deep, and the
+wheeling was very heavy. Even John Jones's loquacity was checked, for
+every time he opened his mouth the wind half filled it with snow. Some
+one ahead of us, with a lantern, guided our course for a mile or so
+through the dense obscurity, and then he turned off on another road. At
+first I hailed one and another in the black cavern of the rockaway
+behind me, and their muffled voices would answer, "All right." But one
+after another they ceased to answer me until all were fast asleep
+except my wife. She insisted that she was only very drowsy, but I knew
+that she was also very, very tired. Indeed, I felt myself, in a way
+that frightened me, the strange desire to sleep that overcomes those
+long exposed to cold and wind.
+
+I must have been nodding and swaying around rather loosely, when I felt
+myself going heels over head into the snow. As I picked myself up I
+heard my wife and children screaming, and John Jones shouting to his
+horses, "Git up," while at the same time he lashed them with his whip.
+My face was so plastered with snow that I could see only a dark object
+which was evidently being dragged violently out of a ditch, for when
+the level road was reached, Mr. Jones shouted, "Whoa!"
+
+"Robert, are you hurt?" cried my wife.
+
+"No, are you?"
+
+"Not a bit, but I'm frightened to death."
+
+Then John Jones gave a hearty guffaw and said:
+
+"I bet you our old shanghai rooster that you don't die."
+
+"Take you up," answered my wife, half laughing and half crying.
+
+"Where are we?" I asked.
+
+"I'm here. Haven't the remotest idea where you be," replied Mr. Jones.
+
+"You are a philosopher," I said, groping my way through the storm
+toward his voice.
+
+"I believe I was a big fool for tryin' to get home such a night as
+this; but now that we've set about it, we'd better get there. That's
+right. Scramble in and take the reins. Here's my mittens."
+
+"What are you going to do?"
+
+"I'm going to 'light and smell out the road. This is equal to any
+blizzard I've read of out West."
+
+"How far have we to go now?"
+
+"Half a mile, as nigh as I can make out;" and we jogged on again.
+
+"Are you sure you are not hurt?" Mousie asked me.
+
+"Sure; it was like tumbling into a feather bed."
+
+"Stop a bit," cried Mr. Jones. "There's a turn in the road here. Let me
+go on a little and lay out your course."
+
+"Oh, I wish we had stayed anywhere under shelter," said my wife.
+
+"Courage," I cried. "When we get home, we'll laugh over this."
+
+"Now," shouted Mr. Jones, "veer gradually off to the left toward my
+voice--all right;" and we jogged on again, stopping from time to time
+to let our invisible guide explore the road.
+
+Once more he cried, "Stop a minute."
+
+The wind roared and shrieked around us, and it was growing colder. With
+a chill of fear I thought, "Could John Jones have mistaken the road?"
+and I remembered how four people and a pair of horses had been frozen
+within a few yards of a house in a Western snow-storm.
+
+"Are you cold, children?" I asked.
+
+"Yes, I'm freezing," sobbed Winnie. "I don't like the country one bit."
+
+"This is different from the Eden of which we have been dreaming," I
+thought grimly. Then I shouted, "How much farther, Mr. Jones?"
+
+The howling of the wind was my only answer. I shouted again. The
+increasing violence of the tempest was the only response.
+
+"Robert," cried my wife, "I don't hear Mr. Jones's voice."
+
+"He has only gone on a little to explore," I replied, although my teeth
+chattered with cold and fear.
+
+"Halloo--oo!" I shouted. The answering shriek of the wind in the trees
+overhead chilled my very heart.
+
+"What has become of Mr. Jones?" asked my wife, and there was almost
+anguish in her tone, while Winnie and Bobsey were actually crying aloud.
+
+"Well, my dear," I tried to say, reassuringly, "even if he were very
+near to us we could neither see nor hear him."
+
+Moments passed which seemed like ages, and I scarcely knew what to do.
+The absence of all signs of Mr. Jones filled me with a nameless and
+unspeakable dread. Could anything have happened to him? Could he have
+lost his way and fallen into some hole or over some steep bank? If I
+drove on, we might tumble after him and perish, maimed and frozen, in
+the wreck of the wagon. One imagines all sorts of horrible things when
+alone and helpless at night.
+
+"Papa," cried Merton, "I'll get out and look for Mr. Jones."
+
+"You are a good, brave boy," I replied. "No; you hold the reins, and
+I'll look for him and see what is just before us."
+
+At that moment there was a glimmer of light off to the left of us.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+RESCUED AND AT HOME
+
+
+All that the poets from the beginning of time have written about light
+could not express my joy as I saw that glimmer approaching on the left.
+Before it appeared I had been awed by the tempest, benumbed with cold,
+shivering in my wet clothes, and a prey to many terrible fears and
+surmises; but now I cried, "Cheer up; here comes a light."
+
+Then in my gladness I shouted the greeting that met Mr. Jones
+everywhere, "How are YOU, JOHN?"
+
+A great guffaw of laughter mingled with the howl of the storm, and my
+neighbor's voice followed from the obscurity: "That's famous--keepin'
+up your courage like a soldier."
+
+"Oh, I won't brag about keeping up my courage."
+
+"Guess you didn't know what had become of me?"
+
+"You're right and we didn't know what was to become of us. Now aren't
+we nearly home? For we are all half frozen."
+
+"Just let me spy a bit with the lantern, and I'll soon tell you
+everything." He bobbed back and forth for a moment or two like a
+will-o'-the-wisp. "Now turn sharp to the left, and follow the light."
+
+A great hope sprung up in my heart, and I hushed Winnie's and Bobsey's
+crying by saying, "Listen, and you'll soon hear some good news."
+
+Our wheels crunched through the deep snow for a few moments, and soon I
+saw a ruddy light shining from the window of a dwelling, and then Mr.
+Jones shouted, "Whoa! 'Light down, neighbors; you're at your own door."
+
+There was a chorus of delighted cries. Merton half tumbled over me in
+his eagerness to get down. A door opened, and out poured a cheerful
+glow. Oh the delicious sense of safety and warmth given by it already!
+
+I seized Mousie, floundered through the snow up to my knees, and placed
+her in a big rocking-chair. Mr. Jones followed with Winnie, and Merton
+came in with Bobsey on his back. The little fellow was under such
+headway in crying that he couldn't stop at once, although his tears
+were rapidly giving place to laughter. I rushed back and carried in my
+wife, and then said, in a voice a little unsteady from deep feeling,
+"Welcome home, one and all."
+
+Never did the word mean more to a half-frozen and badly frightened
+family. At first safety, warmth, and comfort were the uppermost in our
+thoughts, but as wraps were taken off, and my wife and children thawed
+out, eager-eyed curiosity began to make explorations. Taking Mousie on
+my lap, and chafing her hands, I answered questions and enjoyed to the
+full the exclamations of pleasure.
+
+Mr. Jones lingered for a few moments, then gave one of his big guffaws
+by way of preface, and said: "Well, you do look as if you was at home
+and meant to stay. This 'ere scene kinder makes me homesick; so I'll
+say good-night, and I'll be over in the mornin'. There's some lunch on
+the table that my wife fixed up for you. I must go, for I hear John
+junior hollerin' for me."
+
+His only response to our profuse thanks was another laugh, which the
+wind swept away.
+
+"Who is John junior?" asked Merton.
+
+"Mr. Jones's son, a boy of about your age. He was here waiting for us,
+and keeping the fire up. When we arrived he came out and took the
+horses, and so you didn't see him. He'll make a good playmate for you.
+To use his father's own words, 'He's a fairish boy as boys go,' and
+that from John Jones means that he's a good fellow."
+
+Oh, what a happy group we were, as we gathered around the great, open
+fire, on which I piled more wood!
+
+"Do you wish to go and look around a little?" I asked my wife.
+
+"No," she replied, leaning back in her rocking-chair: "let me take this
+in first. O Robert, I have such a sense of rest, quiet, comfort, and
+hominess that I just want to sit still and enjoy it all. The howling of
+the storm only makes this place seem more like a refuge, and I'd rather
+hear it than the Daggetts tramping overhead and the Ricketts children
+crying down-stairs. Oh, isn't it nice to be by ourselves in this quaint
+old room? Turn the lamp down, Robert, so we can see the firelight
+flicker over everything. Isn't it splendid?--just like a picture in a
+book."
+
+"No picture in a book, Winifred--no artist could paint a picture that
+would have the charm of this one for me," I replied, leaning my elbow
+on the end of the mantel-piece, and looking fondly down on the little
+group. My wife's face looked girlish in the ruddy light. Mousie gazed
+into the fire with unspeakable content, and declared she was "too happy
+to think of taking cold." Winnie and Bobsey were sitting, Turk-fashion,
+on the floor, their eyelids drooping. The long cold ride had quenched
+even their spirit, for after running around for a few moments they
+began to yield to drowsiness. Merton, with a boy's appetite, was
+casting wistful glances at the lunch on the table, the chief feature of
+which was a roast chicken.
+
+There seemed to be no occasion for haste. I wished to let the picture
+sink deep into my heart. At last my wife sprang up and said:--
+
+"I've been sentimental long enough. You're not of much account in the
+house, Robert"--with one of her saucy looks--"and I must see to things,
+or Winnie and Bobsey will be asleep on the floor. I feel as if I could
+sit here till morning, but I'll come back after the children are in
+bed. Come, show me my home, or at least enough of it to let me see
+where we are to sleep."
+
+"We shall have to camp again to-night. Mrs. Jones has made up the one
+bed left in the house, and you and Mousie shall have that. We'll fix
+Winnie and Bobsey on the lounge; and, youngsters, you can sleep in your
+clothes, just as soldiers do on the ground. Merton and I will doze in
+these chairs before the fire. To-morrow night we can all be very
+comfortable."
+
+I took the lamp and led the way--my wife, Mousie, and Merton
+following--first across a little hall, from which one stairway led to
+the upper chambers and another to the cellar. Opening a door opposite
+the living-room, I showed Winifred her parlor. Cosey and comfortable it
+looked, even now, through Mr. and Mrs. Jones's kind offices. A Morning
+Glory stove gave out abundant warmth and a rich light which blended
+genially with the red colors of the carpet.
+
+"Oh, how pretty I can make this room look!" exclaimed my wife.
+
+"Of course you can: you've only to enter it."
+
+"You hurt your head when you fell out of the wagon, Robert, and are a
+little daft. There's no place to sleep here."
+
+"Come to the room over this, warmed by a pipe from this stove."
+
+"Ah, this is capital," she cried, looking around an apartment which
+Mrs. Jones had made comfortable. "Wasn't I wise when I decided to come
+home? It's just as warm as toast. Now let the wind blow--Why, I don't
+hear it any more."
+
+"No, the gale has blown itself out. Finding that we had escaped, it got
+discouraged and gave up. Connected with this room is another for Mousie
+and Winnie. By leaving the door open much of the time it will be warm
+enough for them. So you see this end of the house can be heated with
+but little trouble and expense. The open fire in the living-room is a
+luxury that we can afford, since there is plenty of wood on the place.
+On the other side of the hall there is a room for Merton. Now do me a
+favor: don't look, or talk, or think, any more to-night. It has been a
+long, hard day. Indeed"--looking at my watch--"it is already to-morrow
+morning, and you know how much we shall have to do. Let us go back and
+get a little supper, and then take all the rest we can."
+
+Winifred yielded, and Bobsey and Winnie waked up for a time at the word
+"supper." Then we knelt around our hearth, and made it an altar to God,
+for I wished the children never to forget our need of His fatherly care
+and help.
+
+"I will now take the children upstairs and put them to bed, and then
+come back, for I can not leave this wood fire just yet," remarked my
+wife.
+
+I burst out laughing and said, "You have never been at home until this
+night, when you are camping in an old house you never saw before, and I
+can prove it by one question--When have you taken the children UPSTAIRS
+to bed before?"
+
+"Why--why--never."
+
+"Of course you haven't--city flats all your life. But your nature is
+not perverted. In natural homes for generations mothers have taken
+their children upstairs to bed, and, forgetting the habit of your life,
+you speak according to the inherited instinct of the mother-heart."
+
+"O Robert, you have so many fine-spun theories! Yet it is a little
+queer. It seemed just as natural for me to say upstairs as--"
+
+"As it was for your mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother."
+
+"Very well. We are in such an old house that I suppose I shall begin to
+look and act like my great-grandmother. But no more theories
+to-night--nothing but rest and the wood fire."
+
+She soon joined me at the hearth again. Merton meanwhile had stretched
+himself on the rag-carpet, with his overcoat for a pillow, and was in
+dreamless sleep. My wife's eyes were full of languor. She did not sit
+down, but stood beside me for a moment. Then, laying her head on my
+shoulder, she said, softly, "I haven't brains enough for theories and
+such things, but I will try to make you all happy here."
+
+"Dear little wife!" I laughed; "when has woman hit upon a higher or
+better wisdom than that of making all happy in her own home? and you
+half asleep, too."
+
+"Then I'll bid you good-night at once, before I say something awfully
+stupid."
+
+Soon the old house was quiet. The wind had utterly ceased. I opened the
+door a moment, and looked on the white, still world without. The stars
+glittered frostily through the rifts in the clouds. Schunemunk Mountain
+was a shadow along the western horizon, and the eastern highlands
+banked up and blended with the clouds. Nature has its restless moods,
+its storms and passions, like human life; but there are times of
+tranquillity and peace, even in March. How different was this scene
+from the aspect of our city street when I had taken my farewell look at
+a late hour the previous night! No grand sweeping outlines there, no
+deep quiet and peace, soothing and at the same time uplifting the mind.
+Even at midnight there is an uneasy fretting in city life--some one not
+at rest, and disturbing the repose of others.
+
+I stole silently through the house. Here, too, all seemed in accord
+with nature. The life of a good old man had quietly ceased in this
+home; new, hopeful life was beginning. Evil is everywhere in the world,
+but it seemed to me that we had as safe a nook as could be found.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+SELF-DENIAL AND ITS REWARD
+
+
+I remember little that followed until I was startled out of my chair by
+a loud knocking. The sunlight was streaming in at the window and John
+Jones's voice was at the door.
+
+"I think we have all overslept," I said, as I admitted him.
+
+"Not a bit of it. Every wink you've had after such a day as yesterday
+is like money put in the bank. But the sleighing is better now than it
+will be later in the day. The sun'll be pretty powerful by noon, and
+the snow'll soon be slush. Now's your chance to get your traps up in a
+hurry. I can have a two-hoss sled ready in half an hour, and if you say
+so I can hire a big sleigh of a neighbor, and we'll have everything
+here by dinner-time. After you get things snug, you won't care if the
+bottom does fall out of the roads for a time. Well, you HAVE had to
+rough it. Merton might have come and stayed with us."
+
+"Oh, I'm all right," said the boy, rubbing his eyes open as he rose
+from the floor, at the same time learning from stiff joints that a
+carpet is not a mattress.
+
+"Nothing would suit me better, Mr. Jones, than your plan of prompt
+action, and I'm the luckiest man in the world in having such a
+long-headed, fore-handed neighbor to start with. I know you'll make a
+good bargain for the other team, and before I sleep to-night I wish to
+square up for everything. I mean at least to begin business in this way
+at Maizeville."
+
+"Oh, go slow, go slow!" said Mr. Jones. "The town will mob you if they
+find you've got ready money in March. John junior will be over with a
+pot of coffee and a jug of milk in a few minutes, and we'll be off
+sharp."
+
+There was a patter of feet overhead, and soon Bobsey came tearing down,
+half wild with excitement over the novelty of everything. He started
+for the door as if he were going head first into the snow.
+
+I caught him, and said: "Do you see that chair? Well, we all have a
+busy day before us. You can help a good deal, and play a little, but
+you can't hinder and pester according to your own sweet will one bit.
+You must either obey orders or else be put under arrest and tied in the
+chair."
+
+To go into the chair to-day would be torture indeed, and the little
+fellow was sobered at once.
+
+The others soon joined us, eager to see everything by the broad light
+of day, and to enter upon the task of getting settled. We had scarcely
+come together before John junior appeared with the chief features of
+our breakfast. The children scanned this probable playmate very
+curiously, and some of us could hardly repress a smile at his
+appearance. He was even more sandy than his father. Indeed his hair and
+eyebrows were nearly white, but out of his red and almost full-moon
+face his mother's black eyes twinkled shrewdly. They now expressed only
+good-will and bashfulness. Every one of us shook hands with him so
+cordially that his boy's heart was evidently won.
+
+Merton, to break the ice more fully, offered to show him his gun, which
+he had kept within reach ever since we left the boat. It made him feel
+more like a pioneer, no doubt. As he took it from its stout cloth cover
+I saw John junior's eyes sparkle. Evidently a deep chord was touched.
+He said, excitedly: "To-day's your time to try it. A rabbit can't stir
+without leaving his tracks, and the snow is so deep and soft that he
+can't get away. There's rabbits on your own place."
+
+"O papa," cried my boy, fairly trembling with eagerness, "can't I go?"
+
+"I need you very much this morning."
+
+"But, papa, others will be out before me, and I may lose my chance;"
+and he was half ready to cry.
+
+"Yes," I said; "there is a risk of that. Well, YOU shall decide in this
+case," I added, after a moment, seeing a chance to do a little
+character-building. "It is rarely best to put pleasure before business
+or prudence. If you go out into the snow with those boots, you will
+spoil them, and very probably take a severe cold. Yet you may go if you
+will. If you help me we can be back by ten o'clock, and I will get you
+a pair of rubber boots as we return."
+
+"Will there be any chance after ten o'clock?" he asked, quickly.
+
+"Well," said John junior, in his matter-of-fact way, "that depends. As
+your pa says, there's a risk."
+
+The temptation was too strong for the moment. "O dear!" exclaimed
+Merton, "I may never have so good a chance again. The snow will soon
+melt, and there won't be any more till next winter. I'll tie my
+trousers down about my boots, and I'll help all the rest of the day
+after I get back."
+
+"Very well," I said quietly: and he began eating his breakfast--the
+abundant remains of our last night's lunch--very rapidly, while John
+junior started off to get his gun.
+
+I saw that Merton was ill at ease, but I made a sign to his mother not
+to interfere. More and more slowly he finished his breakfast, then took
+his gun and went to the room that would be his, to load and prepare. At
+last he came down and went out by another door, evidently not wishing
+to encounter me. John junior met him, and the boys were starting, when
+John senior drove into the yard and shouted, "John junior, step here a
+moment."
+
+The boy returned slowly, Merton following. "You ain't said nothin' to
+me about goin' off with that gun," continued Mr. Jones, severely.
+
+"Well, Merton's pa said he might go if he wanted to, and I had to go
+along to show him."
+
+"That first shot wasn't exactly straight, my young friend John. I told
+Merton that it wasn't best to put pleasure before business, but that he
+could go if he would. I wished to let him choose to do right, instead
+of making him do right."
+
+"Oho, that's how the land lays. Well, John junior, you can have your
+choice, too. You may go right on with your gun, but you know the length
+and weight of that strap at home. Now, will you help me? or go after
+rabbits?"
+
+The boy grinned pleasantly, and replied, "If you had said I couldn't
+go, I wouldn't; but if it's choosin' between shootin' rabbits and a
+strappin' afterward--come along, Merton."
+
+"Well, go along then," chuckled his father; "you've made your bargain
+square, and I'll keep my part of it."
+
+"Oh, hang the rabbits! You shan't have any strapping on my account,"
+cried Merton; and he carried his gun resolutely to his room and locked
+the door on it.
+
+John junior quietly went to the old barn, and hid his gun.
+
+"Guess I'll go with you, pa," he said, joining us.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Mr. Jones. "It was a good bargain to back out of.
+Come now, let's all be off as quick as we can. Neighbor Rollins down
+the road will join us as we go along."
+
+"Merton," I said, "see if there isn't a barrel of apples in the cellar.
+If you find one, you can fill your pockets."
+
+He soon returned with bulging pockets and a smiling face, feeling that
+such virtue as he had shown had soon brought reward. My wife said that
+while we were gone she and the children would explore the house and
+plan how to arrange everything. We started in good spirits.
+
+"Here's where you thought you was cast away last night," Mr. Jones
+remarked, as we passed out of the lane.
+
+The contrast made by a few short hours was indeed wonderful. Then, in
+dense obscurity, a tempest had howled and shrieked about us; now, in
+the unclouded sunshine, a gemmed and sparkling world revealed beauty
+everywhere.
+
+For a long distance our sleighs made the first tracks, and it seemed
+almost a pity to sully the purity of the white, drift-covered road.
+
+"What a lot of mud's hid under this snow!" was John Jones's prose over
+the opening vistas. "What's more, it will show itself before night. We
+can beat all creation at mud in Maizeville, when once we set about it."
+
+Merton laughed, and munched his apples, but I saw that he was impressed
+by winter scenery such as he had never looked upon before. Soon,
+however, he and John junior were deep in the game question, and I noted
+that the latter kept a sharp lookout along the roadside. Before long,
+while passing a thicket, he shouted, "There's tracks," and floundered
+out into the snow, Merton following.
+
+"Oh, come back," growled his father.
+
+"Let the boys have a few moments," I said. "They gave up this morning
+about as well as you could expect of boys. Would Junior have gone and
+taken a strapping if Merton hadn't returned?"
+
+"Yes, indeed he would, and he knows my strappin's are no make-believe.
+That boy has no sly, mean tricks to speak of, but he's as tough and
+obstinate as a mule sometimes, especially about shooting and fishing.
+See him now a-p'intin' for that rabbit, like a hound."
+
+True enough, the boy was showing good woodcraft. Restraining Merton, he
+cautiously approached the tracks, which by reason of the lightness and
+depth of the snow were not very distinct.
+
+"He can't be far away," said Junior, excitedly. "Don't go too fast till
+I see which way he was a-p'intin'. We don't want to follow the tracks
+back, but for'ard. See, he came out of that old wall there, he went to
+these bushes and nibbled some twigs, and here he goes--here he
+went--here--here--yes, he went into the wall again just here. Now,
+Merton, watch this hole while I jump over the other side of the fence
+and see if he comes out again. If he makes a start, grab him."
+
+John Jones and I were now almost as excited as the boys, and Mr.
+Rollins, the neighbor who was following us, was standing up in his
+sleigh to see the sport. It came quickly. As if by some instinct the
+rabbit believed Junior to be the more dangerous, and made a break from
+the wall almost at Merton's feet, with such swiftness and power as to
+dash by him like a shot. The first force of its bound over, it was
+caught by nature's trap--snow too deep and soft to admit of rapid
+running.
+
+John Jones soon proved that Junior came honestly by his passion for
+hunting. In a moment he was floundering through the bushes with his son
+and Merton. In such pursuit of game my boy had the advantage, for he
+was as agile as a cat. But a moment or two elapsed before he caught up
+with the rabbit, and threw himself upon it, then rose, white as a
+snow-man, shouting triumphantly and holding the little creature aloft
+by its ears.
+
+"Never rate Junior for hunting again," I said, laughingly, to Mr.
+Jones. "He's a chip of the old block."
+
+"I rather guess he is," my neighbor acknowledged, with a grin. "I own
+up I used to be pretty hot on such larkin'. We all keep forgettin' we
+was boys once."
+
+As we rode on, Merton was a picture of exultation, and Junior was on
+the sharp lookout again. His father turned on him and said: "Now look
+a' here, enough's as good as a feast. I'll blindfold you if you don't
+let the tracks alone. Mrs. Durham wants her things, so she can begin to
+live. Get up there;" and a crack of the whip ended all further hopes on
+the part of the boys. But they felt well repaid for coming, and Merton
+assured Junior that he deserved half the credit, for only he knew how
+to manage the hunt.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+OUR SUNNY KITCHEN
+
+
+Before we reached the landing I had invested a goodly sum in four pairs
+of rubber boots, for I knew how hopeless it would be to try to keep
+Winnie and Bobsey indoors. As for Mousie, she would have to be prudent
+until the ground should become dry and warm.
+
+There is no need of dwelling long on the bringing home of our effects
+and the getting to rights. We were back soon after ten, and found that
+Winnie and Bobsey, having exhausted the resources of the house, had
+been permitted to start at the front door, and, with an old fire-shovel
+and a piece of board, had well-nigh completed a path to the well,
+piling up the snow as they advanced, so that their overshoes were a
+sufficient protection.
+
+After we had carried in the things I interceded with Mr. Jones and then
+told the boys that they could take their guns and be absent two or
+three hours if they would promise to help faithfully the rest of the
+day.
+
+I had bought at Maizeville Landing such provisions, tools, etc., as I
+should need immediately. Therefore I did not worry because the fickle
+March sky was clouding up again with the promise of rain. A heavy
+downpour now with snow upon the ground would cause almost a flood, but
+I felt that we could shut the door and find the old house a very
+comfortable ark.
+
+"A smart warm rain would be the best thing that could happen to yer,"
+said Mr. Jones, as he helped me carry in furniture and put up beds; "it
+would take the snow off. Nat'rally you want to get out on the bare
+ground, for there's allus a lot of clearin' up to be done in the spring
+and old man Jamison was poorly last year and didn't keep things up to
+the mark."
+
+"Yes," I replied, "I am as eager to get to work outdoors as the boys
+were to go after rabbits. I believe I shall like the work, but that is
+not the question. I did not come to the country to amuse myself, like
+so many city people. I don't blame them; I wish I could afford farming
+for fun. I came to earn a living for my wife and children, and I am
+anxious to be about it. I won't ask you for anything except advice.
+I've only had a city training, and my theories about farming would
+perhaps make you smile. But I've seen enough of you already to feel
+that you are inclined to be kind and neighborly, and the best way to
+show this will be in helping me to good, sound, practical, common-sense
+advice. But you mustn't put on airs, or be impatient with me. Shrewd as
+you are, I could show you some things in the city."
+
+"Oh, I'd be a sight queerer there than you here. I see your p'int, and
+if you'll come to me I won't let you make no blunders I wouldn't make
+myself. Perhaps that ain't saying a great deal, though."
+
+By this time everything had been brought in and either put in place or
+stowed out of the way, until my wife could decide where and how she
+would arrange things.
+
+"Now," I said, when we had finished, "carry out our agreement."
+
+Mr. Jones gave me a wink and drove away.
+
+Our agreement was this--first, that he and Mr. Rollins, the owner of
+the other team, should be paid in full before night; and second, that
+Mrs. Jones should furnish us our dinner, in which the chief dish should
+be a pot-pie from the rabbit caught by Merton, and that Mr. Jones
+should bring everything over at one o'clock.
+
+My wife was so absorbed in unpacking her china, kitchen-utensils, and
+groceries that she was unaware of the flight of time, but at last she
+suddenly exclaimed, "I declare it's dinner-time!"
+
+"Not quite yet," I said; "dinner will be ready at one."
+
+"It will? Oh, indeed! Since we are in the country we are to pick up
+what we can, like the birds. You intend to invite us all down to the
+apple barrel, perhaps."
+
+"Certainly, whenever you wish to go; but we'll have a hot dinner at one
+o'clock, and a game dinner into the bargain."
+
+"I've heard the boys' guns occasionally, but I haven't seen the game,
+and it's after twelve now."
+
+"Papa has a secret--a surprise for us," cried Mousie; "I can see it in
+his eyes."
+
+"Now, Robert, I know what you've been doing. You have asked Mrs. Jones
+to furnish a dinner. You are extravagant, for I could have picked up
+something that would have answered."
+
+"No; I've been very prudent in saving your time and strength, and
+saving these is sometimes the best economy in the world. Mousie is
+nearer right. The dinner is a secret, and it has been furnished chiefly
+by one of the family."
+
+"Well, I'm too busy to guess riddles to-day; but if my appetite is a
+guide, it is nearly time we had your secret."
+
+"You would not feel like that after half an hour over a hot stove. Now
+you will be interrupted, in getting to rights, only long enough to eat
+your dinner. Then Mousie and Merton and Winnie will clear up
+everything, and be fore night you will feel settled enough to take
+things easy till to-morrow."
+
+"I know your thoughtfulness for me, if not your secret," she said,
+gratefully, and was again putting things where, from housewifely
+experience, she knew they would be handy.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Jamison had clung to their old-fashioned ways, and had
+done their cooking over the open fire, using the swinging crane which
+is now employed chiefly in pictures. This, for the sake of the picture
+it made, we proposed to keep as it had been left, although at times it
+might answer some more prosaic purpose.
+
+At the eastern end of the house was a single room, added unknown years
+ago, and designed to be a bed-chamber. Of late it had been used as a
+general storage and lumber room, and when I first inspected the house,
+I had found little in this apartment of service to us. So I had asked
+Mr. Jones to remove all that I did not care for, and to have the room
+cleansed, satisfied that it would just suit my wife as a kitchen. It
+was large, having windows facing the east and south, and therefore it
+would be light and cheerful, as a kitchen ever should be, especially
+when the mistress of the house is cook. There Mr. Jones and I set up
+the excellent stove that I had brought from New York--one to which my
+wife was accustomed, and from which she could conjure a rare good
+dinner when she gave her mind to it. Now as she moved back and forth,
+in such sunlight as the clouding sky permitted, she appeared the
+picture of pleased content.
+
+"It cheers one up to enter a kitchen like this," she said.
+
+"It is to be your garden for a time also," I exclaimed to Mousie. "I
+shall soon have by this east window a table with shallow boxes of
+earth, and in them you can plant some of your flower-seeds. I only ask
+that I may have two of the boxes for early cabbages, lettuce, tomatoes,
+etc. You and your plants can take a sun-bath every morning until it is
+warm, enough to go out of doors, and you'll find the plants won't die
+here as they did in the dark, gas-poisoned city flat."
+
+"I feel as if I were going to grow faster and stronger than the
+plants," cried the happy child.
+
+Junior and Merton now appeared, each carrying a rabbit. My boy's face,
+however, was clouded, and he said, a little despondently, "I can't
+shoot straight--missed every time; and Junior shot 'em after I had
+fired and missed."
+
+"Pshaw!" cried Junior; "Merton's got to learn to take a quick steady
+sight, like every one else. He gets too excited."
+
+"That's just it, my boy," I said. "You shall go down by the creek and
+fire at a mark a few times every day, and you'll soon hit it every
+time. Junior's head is too level to think that anything can be done
+well without practice. Now, Junior," I added, "run over home and help
+your father bring us our dinner, and then you stay and help us eat it."
+
+Father and son soon appeared, well laden. Winnie and Bobsey came in
+ravenous from their path-making, and all agreed that we had already
+grown one vigorous rampant Maizeville crop--an appetite.
+
+The pot-pie was exulted over, and the secret of its existence
+explained. Even Junior laughed till the tears came as I described him,
+his father, and Merton, floundering through the deep snow after the
+rabbit, and we all congratulated Merton as the one who had provided our
+first country dinner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+MAKING A PLACE FOR CHICKENS
+
+
+Before the meal was over, I said, seriously, "Now, boys, there must be
+no more hunting until I find out about the game-laws. They should be
+obeyed, especially by sportsmen. I don't think that we are forbidden to
+kill rabbits on our own place, particularly when they threaten to be
+troublesome; and the hunt this morning was so unexpected that I did not
+think of the law, which might be used to make us trouble. You killed
+the other rabbits on this place, Junior?"
+
+"Yes, sir, both of 'em."
+
+"Well, hereafter you must look after hawks, and other enemies of
+poultry. Especially do I hope you will never fire at our useful
+song-birds. If boys throughout the country would band together to
+protect game when out of season, they would soon have fine sport in the
+autumn."
+
+In the afternoon we let Winnie and Bobsey expend their energy in making
+paths and lanes in every direction through the snow, which was melting
+rapidly in the south wind. By three o'clock the rain began to fall, and
+when darkness set in there was a gurgling sound of water on every side.
+Our crackling fire made the warmth and comfort within seem tenfold more
+cheery.
+
+A hearty supper, prepared in our own kitchen, made us feel that our
+home machinery had fairly started, and we knew that it would run more
+and more smoothly. March was keeping up its bad name for storm and
+change. The wind was again roaring, but laden now with rain, and in
+gusty sheets the heavy drops dashed against the windows. But our old
+house kept us dry and safe, although it rocked a little in the blasts.
+They soon proved a lullaby for our second night at home.
+
+After breakfast the following morning, with Merton, Winnie, and Bobsey,
+I started out to see if any damage had been done. The sky was still
+clouded, but the rain had ceased. Our rubber boots served us well, for
+the earth was like an over-full sponge, while down every little incline
+and hollow a stream was murmuring.
+
+The old barn showed the need of a good many nails to be driven here and
+there, and a deal of mending. Then it would answer for corn-stalks and
+other coarse fodder. The new barn had been fairly built, and the
+interior was dry. It still contained as much hay as would be needed for
+the keeping of a horse and cow until the new crop should be harvested.
+
+"Papa," cried Winnie, "where is the chicken place?"
+
+"That is one of the questions we must settle at once," I replied. "As
+we were coming out I saw an old coop in the orchard. We'll go and look
+at it."
+
+It was indeed old and leaky, and had poultry been there the previous
+night they would have been half drowned on their perches. "This might
+do for a summer cottage for your chickens, Winnie," I continued, "but
+never for a winter house. Let us go back to the barn, for I think I
+remember a place that will just suit, with some changes."
+
+Now the new barn had been built on a hillside, and had an ample
+basement, from which a room extending well into the bank had been
+partitioned, thus promising all one could desire as a cellar for apples
+and roots. The entrance to this basement faced the east, and on each
+side of it was a window. To the right of the entrance were two
+cow-stalls, and to the left was an open space half full of mouldy
+corn-stalks and other rubbish.
+
+"See here, Winnie and Merton," I said, after a little examination, "I
+think we could clear out this space on the left, partition it off, make
+a door, and keep the chickens here. After that window is washed, a good
+deal of sunlight can come in. I've read that in cold weather poultry
+need warmth and light, and must be kept dry. Here we can secure all
+these conditions. Having a home for ourselves, suppose we set to work
+to make a home for the chickens."
+
+This idea delighted Winnie, and pleased Merton almost as much as
+hunting rabbits. "Now," I resumed, "we will go to the house and get
+what we need for the work."
+
+"Winifred," I said to my wife, "can you let Winnie have a small pail of
+hot water and some old rags?"
+
+"What are you up to now?"
+
+"You know all about cleaning house; we are going to clean barn, and
+make a place for Winnie's chickens. There is a window in their future
+bedroom--roost-room I suppose I should call it--that looks as if it had
+never been washed, and to get off the dust of years will be Winnie's
+task, while Merton, Bobsey, and I create an interior that should
+satisfy a knowing hen. We'll make nests, too, children, that will
+suggest to the biddies that they should proceed at once to business."
+
+"But where are the chickens to come from?" my wife asked, as she gave
+the pan to Merton to carry for his sister.
+
+"Oh, John Jones will put me in the way of getting them soon;" and we
+started out to our morning's work. Mousie looked after us wistfully,
+but her mother soon found light tasks for her, and she too felt that
+she was helping. "Remember, Mousie," I said, in parting, "that I have
+three helpers, and surely mamma needs one;" and she was content.
+
+Merton at first was for pitching all the old corn-stalks out into the
+yard, but I said: "That won't do. We shall need a cow as well as
+chickens, and these stalks must be kept dry for her bedding. We'll pile
+them up in the inner empty stall. You can help at that, Bobsey;" and we
+set to work.
+
+Under Winnie's quick hands more and more light came through the window.
+With a fork I lifted and shook up the stalks, and the boys carried them
+to the empty stall. At last we came to rubbish that was so damp and
+decayed that it would be of no service indoors, so we placed it on a
+barrow and I wheeled it out to one corner of the yard. At last we came
+down to a hard earth floor, and with a hoe this was cleared and made
+smooth.
+
+"Merton," I said, "I saw an old broom upstairs. Run and get it, and
+we'll brush down the cobwebs and sweep out, and then we shall be ready
+to see about the partition."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+GOOD BARGAINS IN MAPLE SUGAR
+
+
+By eleven o'clock we had all the basement cleaned except the one
+cow-stall that was filled to the ceiling with litter; and Winnie had
+washed the windows. Then John Jones's lank figure darkened the doorway,
+and he cried, "Hello, neighbor, what ye drivin' at?"
+
+"Look around and see, and then tell us where to get a lot of chickens."
+
+"Well, I declare! How you've slicked things up! You're not goin' to
+scrub the dirt floor, are you? Well, well, this looks like
+business--just the place for chickens. Wonder old man Jamison didn't
+keep 'em here; but he didn't care for fowls. Now I think of it, there's
+to be a vandoo the first of the week, and there was a lot o' chickens
+printed on the poster."
+
+I smiled.
+
+"Oh, I don't mean that the chickens themselves was on the poster, but a
+statement that a lot would be sold at auction. I'll bid 'em in for you
+if they're a good lot. If you, a city chap, was to bid, some
+straw-bidder would raise 'em agin you. I know what they're wuth, and
+everybody there'll know I do, and they'll try no sharp games with me."
+
+"That will suit me exactly, Mr. Jones. I don't want any game-fowls of
+that kind."
+
+"Ha, ha! I see the p'int. Have you looked into the root-cellar?"
+
+"Yes; we opened the door and looked, but it was dark as a pocket."
+
+"Well, I don't b'lieve in matches around a barn, but I'll show you
+something;" and he opened the door, struck a match, and, holding it
+aloft, revealed a heap of turnips, another of carrots, five barrels of
+potatoes, and three of apples. The children pounced upon the last with
+appetites sharpened by their morning's work.
+
+"You see," resumed Mr. Jones, "these were here when old man Jamison
+died. If I hadn't sold the place I should have taken them out before
+long, and got rid of what I didn't want. Now you can have the lot at a
+low figure," which he named.
+
+"I'll take them," I said, promptly.
+
+"The carrots make it look like a gold-mine," cried Merton.
+
+"Well, you're wise," resumed Mr. Jones. "You'll have to get a cow and a
+horse, and here's fodder for 'em handy. Perhaps I can pick 'em out for
+you, too, at the vandoo. You can go along, and if anything strikes your
+fancy I'll bid on it."
+
+"O papa," cried the children, in chorus, "can we go with you to the
+vandoo?"
+
+"Yes, I think so. When does the sale take place?"
+
+"Next Tuesday. That's a good breed of potatoes. Jamison allus had the
+best of everything. They'll furnish you with seed, and supply your
+table till new ones come. I guess you could sell a barrel or so of
+apples at a rise."
+
+"I've found a market for them already. Look at these children; and I'm
+good for half a barrel myself if they don't decay too soon. Where could
+we find better or cheaper food? All the books say that apples are
+fattening."
+
+"That's true of man and beast, if the books do say it. They'll keep in
+this cool, dark cellar longer than you'd think--longer than you'll let
+'em, from the way they're disappearin'. I guess I'll try one."
+
+"Certainly, a dozen, just as if they were still yours."
+
+"They wasn't mine--they belonged to the Jamison estate. I'll help
+myself now quicker'n I would before. I might come it over a live man,
+you know, but not a dead one."
+
+"I'd trust you with either."
+
+While I was laughing at this phase of honesty, he resumed: "This is the
+kind of place to keep apples--cool, dry, dark, even temperature. Why,
+they're as crisp and juicy as if just off the trees. I came over to
+make a suggestion. There's a lot of sugar-maple trees on your place,
+down by the brook. Why not tap 'em, and set a couple of pots b'ilin'
+over your open fire? You'd kill two birds with one stone; the fire'd
+keep you warm, and make a lot of sugar in the bargain. I opinion, too,
+the children would like the fun."
+
+They were already shouting over the idea, but I said dubiously, "How
+about the pails to catch the sap?"
+
+"Well," said Mr. Jones, "I've thought of that. We've a lot of spare
+milk-pails and pans, that we're not usin'. Junior understands the
+business; and, as we're not very busy, he can help you and take his pay
+in sugar."
+
+The subject of poultry was forgotten; and the children scampered off to
+the house to tell of this new project.
+
+Before Mr. Jones and I left the basement, he said: "You don't want any
+partition here at present, only a few perches for the fowls. There's a
+fairish shed, you remember, in the upper barnyard, and when 'tain't
+very cold or stormy the cow will do well enough there from this out.
+The weather'll be growin' milder 'most every day, and in rough spells
+you can put her in here. Chickens won't do her any harm. Law sakes!
+when the main conditions is right, what's the use of havin' everything
+jes' so? It's more important to save your time and strength and money.
+You'll find enough to do without one stroke that ain't needful." Thus
+John Jones fulfilled his office of mentor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+BUTTERNUTS AND BOBSEY'S PERIL
+
+
+I restrained the children until after dinner, which my wife hastened.
+By that time Junior was on hand with a small wagon-load of pails and
+pans.
+
+"Oh, dear, I wanted you to help me this afternoon," my wife had said,
+but, seeing the dismayed look on the children's faces, had added,
+"Well, there's no hurry, I suppose. We are comfortable, and we shall
+have stormy days when you can't be out."
+
+I told her that she was wiser than the queen of Sheba and did not need
+to go to Solomon.
+
+The horse was put in the barn, for he would have mired in the long
+spongy lane and the meadow which we must cross. So we decided to run
+the light wagon down by hand.
+
+Junior had the auger with which to bore holes in the trees. "I tapped
+'em last year, as old Mr. Jamison didn't care about doin' it," said the
+boy, "an' I b'iled the pot of sap down in the grove; but that was slow,
+cold work. I saved the little wooden troughs I used last year, and they
+are in one of the pails. I brought over a big kittle, too, which mother
+let me have, and if we can keep this and yours a-goin', we'll soon have
+some sugar."
+
+Away we went, down the lane, Junior and Merton in the shafts, playing
+horses. I pushed in some places, and held back in others, while Winnie
+and Bobsey picked their way between puddles and quagmires. The snow was
+so nearly gone that it lay only on the northern slopes. We had heard
+the deep roar of the Moodna Creek all the morning, and had meant to go
+and see it right after breakfast; but providing a chickenhome had
+proved a greater attraction to the children, and a better investment of
+time for me. Now from the top of the last hillside we saw a great flood
+rushing by with a hoarse, surging noise.
+
+"Winnie, Bobsey, if you go near the water without me you march straight
+home," I cried.
+
+They promised never to go, but I thought Bobsey protested a little too
+much. Away we went down the hill, skirting what was now a good-sized
+brook. I knew the trees, from a previous visit; and the maple, when
+once known, can be picked out anywhere, so genial, mellow, and generous
+an aspect has it, even when leafless.
+
+The roar of the creek and the gurgle of the brook made genuine March
+music, and the children looked and acted as if there were nothing left
+to be desired. When Junior showed them a tree that appeared to be
+growing directly out of a flat rock, they expressed a wonder which no
+museum could have excited.
+
+But scenery, and even rural marvels, could not keep their attention
+long. All were intent on sap and sugar, and Junior was speedily at
+work. The moment he broke the brittle, juicy bark, the tree's
+life-blood began to flow.
+
+"See," he cried, "they are like cows wanting to be milked."
+
+As fast as he inserted his little wooden troughs into the trees, we
+placed pails and pans under them, and began harvesting the first crop
+from our farm.
+
+This was rather slow work, and to keep Winnie and Bobsey busy I told
+them they could gather sticks and leaves, pile them up at the foot of a
+rock on a dry hillside, and we would have a fire. I meanwhile picked up
+the dead branches that strewed the ground, and with my axe trimmed them
+for use in summer, when only a quick blaze would be needed to boil the
+supper kettle. To city-bred eyes wood seemed a rare luxury, and
+although there was enough lying about to supply us for a year, I could
+not get over the feeling that it must all be cared for.
+
+To children there are few greater delights than that of building a fire
+in the woods, and on that cloudy, chilly day our blaze against the rock
+brought solid comfort to us all, even though the smoke did get into our
+eyes. Winnie and Bobsey, little bundles of energy that they were,
+seemed unwearied in feeding the flames, while Merton sought to hide his
+excitement by imitating Junior's stolid, business-like ways.
+
+Finding him alone once, I said: "Merton, don't you remember saying to
+me once, 'I'd like to know what there is for a boy to do in this
+street'? Don't you think there's something for a boy to do on this
+farm?"
+
+"O papa!" he cried, "I'm just trying to hold in. So much has happened,
+and I've had such a good time, that it seems as if I had been here a
+month; then again the hours pass like minutes. See, the sun is low
+already."
+
+"It's all new and exciting now, Merton, but there will be long
+hours--yes, days and weeks--when you'll have to act like a man, and to
+do work because it ought to be done and must be done."
+
+"The same would be true if we stayed in town," he said.
+
+Soon I decided that it was time for the younger children to return, for
+I meant to give my wife all the help I could before bedtime. We first
+hauled the wagon back, and then Merton said he would bring what sap had
+been caught. Junior had to go home for a time to do his evening
+"chores," but he promised to return before dark to help carry in the
+sap.
+
+"There'll be frost to-night, and we'll get the biggest run in the
+morning," was his encouraging remark, as he made ready to depart.
+
+Mrs. Jones had been over to see my wife, and they promised to become
+good friends. I set to work putting things in better shape, and
+bringing in a good pile of wood. Merton soon appeared with a brimming
+pail. A kettle was hung on the crane, but before the sap was placed
+over the fire all must taste it, just as it had been distilled by
+nature. And all were quickly satisfied. Even Mousie said it was "too
+watery," and Winnie made a face as she exclaimed, "I declare, Merton, I
+believe you filled the pails from the brook!"
+
+"Patience, youngsters; sap, as well as some other things, is better for
+boiling down."
+
+"Oh what a remarkable truth!" said my wife, who never lost a chance to
+give me a little dig.
+
+I laughed, and then stood still in the middle of the floor, lost in
+thought.
+
+"A brown study! What theory have you struck now, Robert?"
+
+"I was thinking how some women kept their husbands in love with them by
+being saucy. It's an odd way, and yet it seems effective."
+
+"It depends upon the kind of sauce, Robert," she said with a knowing
+glance and a nod.
+
+By the time it was dark, we had both the kettles boiling and bubbling
+over the fire, and fine music they made. With Junior for guest, we
+enjoyed our supper, which consisted principally of baked apples and
+milk.
+
+"'Bubble, bubble,' 'Toil' and no 'trouble'--"
+
+"Yet, worth speaking of," said my wife; "but it must come, I suppose."
+
+"We won't go half-way to meet it, Winifred."
+
+When the meal was over, Junior went out on the porch and returned with
+a mysterious sack.
+
+"Butternuts!" he ejaculated.
+
+Junior was winning his way truly, and in the children's eyes was
+already a good genius, as his father was in mine.
+
+"O papa!" was the general cry, "can't we crack them on the hearth?"
+
+"But you'll singe your very eyebrows off," I said.
+
+"Mine's so white 'twouldn't matter," said Junior; "nobody'd miss 'em.
+Give me a hammer, and I'll keep you goin'."
+
+And he did, on one of the stones of the hearth, with such a lively
+rat-tat-snap! that it seemed a regular rhythm.
+
+"Cracked in my life well-nigh on to fifty bushel, I guess," he
+explained, in answer to our wonder at his skill.
+
+And so the evening passed, around the genial old fireplace; and before
+the children retired they smacked their lips over sirup sweet enough to
+satisfy them.
+
+The following morning--Saturday--I vibrated between the sugar-camp and
+the barn and other out-buildings, giving, however, most of the time to
+the help of my wife in getting the house more to her mind, and in
+planning some work that would require a brief visit from a carpenter;
+for I felt that I must soon bestow nearly all my attention on the
+outdoor work. I managed to keep Bobsey under my eye for the most part,
+and in the afternoon I left him for only a few moments at the
+sugar-bush while I carried up some sap. A man called to see me on
+business, and I was detained. Knowing the little fellow's proneness to
+mischief, and forgetfulness of all commands, I at last hastened back
+with a half guilty and worried feeling.
+
+I reached the brow of the hill just in time to see him throw a stick
+into the creek, lose his balance, and fall in.
+
+With an exclamation of terror, his own cry forming a faint echo, I
+sprang forward frantically, but the swift current caught and bore him
+away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+JOHN JONES, JUN
+
+
+My agonized shout as I saw Bobsey swept away by the swollen current of
+the Moodna Creek was no more prompt than his own shrill scream. It so
+happened, or else a kind Providence so ordered it, that Junior was
+further down the stream, tapping a maple that had been overlooked the
+previous day. He sprang to his feet, whirled around in the direction of
+the little boy's cry, with the quickness of thought rushed to the bank
+and plunged in with a headlong leap like a Newfoundland dog. I paused,
+spellbound, to watch him, knowing that I was much too far away to be of
+aid, and that all now depended on the hardy country lad. He disappeared
+for a second beneath the tide, and then his swift strokes proved that
+he was a good swimmer. In a moment or two he caught up with Bobsey, for
+the current was too swift to permit the child to sink. Then, with a
+wisdom resulting from experience, he let the torrent carry him in a
+long slant toward the shore, for it would have been hopeless to try to
+stem the tide. Running as I never ran before, I followed, reached the
+bank where there was an eddy in the stream, sprang in up to my waist,
+seized them both as they approached and dragged them to solid ground.
+Merton and Winnie meanwhile stood near with white, scared faces.
+
+Bobsey was conscious, although he had swallowed some water, and I was
+soon able to restore him, so that he could stand on his feet and cry:
+"I--I--I w-won't d-do so any--any more."
+
+Instead of punishing him, which he evidently expected, I clasped him to
+my heart with a nervous force that almost made him cry out with pain.
+
+Junior, meanwhile, had coolly seated himself on a rock, emptied the
+water out of his shoes, and was tying them on again, at the same time
+striving with all his might to maintain a stolid composure under
+Winnie's grateful embraces and Merton's interrupting hand-shakings. But
+when, having become assured of Bobsey's safety, I rushed forward and
+embraced Junior in a transport of gratitude, his lip began to quiver
+and two great tears mingled with the water that was dripping from his
+hair. Suddenly he broke away, took to his heels, and ran toward his
+home, as if he had been caught in some mischief and the constable were
+after him. I believe that he would rather have had at once all the
+strappings his father had ever given him than to have cried in our
+presence.
+
+I carried Bobsey home, and his mother, with many questionings and
+exclamations of thanksgiving, undressed the little fellow, wrapped him
+in flannel, and put him to bed, where he was soon sleeping as quietly
+as if nothing had happened.
+
+Mrs. Jones came over, and we made her rubicund face beam and grow more
+round, if possible, as we all praised her boy. I returned with her, for
+I felt that I wished to thank Junior again and again. But he saw me
+coming, and slipped out at the back door. Indeed, the brave, bashful
+boy was shy of us for several days. When at last my wife got hold of
+him, and spoke to him in a manner natural to mothers, he pooh-poohed
+the whole affair.
+
+"I've swum in that crick so often that it was nothin' to me. I only had
+to keep cool, and that was easy enough in snow water, and the swift
+current would keep us both up. I wish you wouldn't say anything more
+about it. It kinder makes me feel--I don't know how--all over, you
+know."
+
+But Junior soon learned that we had adopted him into our inmost hearts,
+although he compelled us to show our good-will after his own off-hand
+fashion.
+
+Sunday was ushered in with another storm, and we spent a long, quiet,
+restful day, our hearts full of thankfulness that the great sorrow,
+which might have darkened the beginning of our country life, had been
+so happily averted.
+
+On Sunday night the wind veered around to the north, and on Monday
+morning the sky had a clear metallic hue and the ground was frozen
+hard. Bobsey had not taken cold, and was his former self, except that
+he was somewhat chastened in spirit and his bump of caution was larger.
+I was resolved that the day should witness a good beginning of our
+spring work, and told Winnie and Bobsey that they could help me.
+Junior, although he yet avoided the house, was ready enough to help
+Merton with the sap. Therefore soon after breakfast we all were busy.
+
+Around old country places, especially where there has been some degree
+of neglect, much litter gathers. This was true of our new home and its
+surroundings. All through the garden were dry, unsightly weeds, about
+the house was shrubbery that had become tangled masses of unpruned
+growth, in the orchard the ground was strewn with fallen branches, and
+I could see dead limbs on many of the trees.
+
+Therefore I said to my two little helpers: "Here in this open space in
+the garden we will begin our brush-pile, and we will bring to it all
+the refuse that we wish to burn. You see that we can make an immense
+heap, for the place is so far away from any buildings that, when the
+wind goes down, we can set the pile on fire in safety, and the ashes
+will do the garden good."
+
+During the whole forenoon I pruned the shrubbery, and raked up the
+rubbish which the children carried by armfuls to our prospective
+bonfire. They soon wished to see the blaze, but I told them that the
+wind was too high, and that I did not propose to apply the match until
+we had a heap half as big as the house; that it might be several days
+before we should be ready, for I intended to have a tremendous fire.
+
+Thus with the lesson of restraint was given the hope of something
+wonderful. For a long time they were pleased with the novelty of the
+work, and then they wanted to do something else, but I said: "No, no;
+you are gardeners now, and I'm head gardener. You must both help me
+till dinner-time. After that you can do something else, or play if you
+choose; but each day, even Bobsey must do some steady work to earn his
+dinner. We didn't come to the country on a picnic, I can tell you. All
+must do their best to help make a living;" and so without scruple I
+kept my little squad busy, for the work was light, although it had
+become monotonous.
+
+Mousie sometimes aided her mother, and again watched us from the window
+with great interest. I rigged upon the barrow a rack, in which I
+wheeled the rubbish gathered at a distance; and by the time my wife's
+mellow voice called, "Come to dinner"--how sweet her voice and summons
+were after long hours in the keen March wind!--we had a pile much
+higher than my head, and the place began to wear a tidy aspect.
+
+Such appetites, such red cheeks and rosy noses as the outdoor workers
+brought to that plain meal! Mousie was much pleased with the promise
+that the bonfire should not be lighted until some still, mild day when
+she could go out and stand with me beside it.
+
+Merton admitted that gathering the sap did not keep him busy more than
+half the time; so after dinner I gave him a hatchet, and told him to go
+on with the trimming out of the fallen branches in our wood lot--a task
+that I had begun--and to carry all wood heavy enough for our fireplace
+to a spot where it could be put into a wagon.
+
+"Your next work, Merton, will be to collect all your refuse trimmings,
+and the brush lying about, into a few great heaps; and by and by we'll
+burn these, too, and gather up the ashes carefully, for I've read and
+heard all my life that there is nothing better for fruit then
+wood-ashes. Some day, I hope, we can begin to put money in the bank;
+for I intend to give all a chance to earn money for themselves, after
+they have done their share toward our general effort to live and
+thrive. The next best thing to putting money in the bank is the
+gathering and saving of everything that will make the ground richer. In
+fact, all the papers and books that I've read this winter agree that as
+the farmer's land grows rich he grows rich."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+RASPBERRY LESSONS
+
+
+It must be remembered that I had spent all my leisure during the winter
+in reading and studying the problem of our country life. Therefore I
+knew that March was the best month for pruning trees, and I had gained
+a fairly correct idea how to do this work. Until within the last two or
+three years of his life, old Mr. Jamison had attended to this task
+quite thoroughly; and thus little was left for me beyond sawing away
+the boughs that had recently died, and cutting out the useless sprouts
+on the larger limbs. Before leaving the city I had provided myself with
+such tools as I was sure I should need; and finding a ladder under a
+shed, I attacked the trees vigorously. The wind had almost died out,
+and I knew I must make the most of all still days in this gusty month.
+After playing around for a time, Winnie and Bobsey concluded that
+gathering and piling up my prunings would be as good fun as anything
+else; and so I had helpers again.
+
+By the middle of the afternoon Mr. Jones appeared, and I was glad to
+see him, for there were some kinds of work about which I wanted his
+advice. At one end of the garden were several rows of blackcap
+raspberry bushes, which had grown into an awful snarl. The old canes
+that had borne fruit the previous season were still standing, ragged
+and unsightly; the new stalks that would bear the coming season
+sprawled in every direction; and I had found that many tips of the
+branches had grown fast in the ground. I took my neighbor to see this
+briery wilderness, and asked his advice.
+
+"Have you got a pair of pruning-nippers?" he asked.
+
+Before going to the house to get them, I blew a shrill whistle to
+summon Merton, for I wished him also to hear all that Mr. Jones might
+say. I carried a little metallic whistle one blast on which was for
+Merton, two for Winnie, and three for Bobsey. When they heard this call
+they were to come as fast as their feet could carry them.
+
+Taking the nippers, Mr. Jones snipped off from one-third to one-half
+the length of the branches from one of the bushes and cut out the old
+dead cane.
+
+"I raise these berries myself for home use," he said; "and I can tell
+you they go nice with milk for a July supper. You see, after taking off
+so much from these long branches the canes stand straight up, and will
+be self-supporting, no matter how many berries they bear; but here and
+there's a bush that has grown slant-wise, or is broken off. Now, if I
+was you, I'd take a crow-bar 'n' make a hole 'longside these weakly and
+slantin' fellers, put in a stake, and tie 'em up strong. Then, soon as
+the frost yields, if you'll get out the grass and weeds that's started
+among 'em, you'll have a dozen bushel or more of marketable berries
+from this 'ere wilderness, as you call it. Give Merton a pair of old
+gloves, and he can do most of the job. Every tip that's fast in the
+ground is a new plant. If you want to set out another patch, I'll show
+you how later on."
+
+"I think I know pretty nearly how to do that."
+
+"Yes, yes, I know. Books are a help, I s'pose, but after you've seen
+one plant set out right, you'll know more than if you'd 'a' read a
+month."
+
+"Well, now that you're here, Mr. Jones, I'm going to make the most of
+you. How about those other raspberries off to the southeast of the
+house?"
+
+"Those are red ones. Let's take a look at 'em."
+
+Having reached the patch, we found almost as bad a tangle as in the
+blackcap patch, except that the canes were more upright in their growth
+and less full of spines or briers.
+
+"It's plain enough," continued Mr. Jones, "that old man Jamison was too
+poorly to take much care of things last year. You see, these red
+raspberries grow different from those black ones yonder. Those increase
+by the tips of the branches takin' root; these by suckers. All these
+young shoots comin' up between the rows are suckers, and they ought to
+be dug out. As I said before, you can set them out somewhere else if
+you want to. Dig 'em up, you know; make a trench in some out-of-the-way
+place, and bury the roots till you want 'em. Like enough the neighbors
+will buy some if they know you have 'em to spare. Only be sure to cut
+these long canes back to within six inches of the ground."
+
+"Yes," I said, "that's all just as I have read in the books."
+
+"So much the better for the books, then. I haven't lived in this
+fruit-growin' region all my life without gettin' some ideas as to
+what's what. I give my mind to farmin'; but Jamison and I were great
+cronies, and I used to be over here every day or two, and so it's
+natural to keep comin'."
+
+"That's my good luck."
+
+"Well, p'raps it'll turn out so. Now Merton's just the right age to
+help you in all this work. Jamison, you see, grew these raspberries in
+a continuous bushy row; that is, say, three good strong canes every
+eighteen inches apart in the row, and the rows five feet apart, so he
+could run a horse-cultivator between. Are you catchin' on, Merton?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said the boy, with much interest.
+
+"Well, all these suckers and extra plants that are swampin' the ground
+are just as bad as weeds. Dig 'em all out, only don't disturb the roots
+of the bearin' canes you leave in the rows much."
+
+"How about trimming these?" I asked.
+
+"Well, that depends. If you want early fruit, you'll let 'em stand as
+they be; if you want big berries, you'll cut 'em back one-third. Let me
+see. Here's five rows of Highland Hardy; miserable poor-tastin' kind;
+but they come so early that they often pay the best. Let them stand
+with their whole length of cane, and if you can scatter a good
+top-dressin' of fine manure scraped up from the barnyard, you'll make
+the berries larger. Those other rows of Cuthbert, Reliance, and Turner,
+cut back the canes one-third, and you'll get a great deal more fruit
+than if you left more wood on 'em. Cuttin' back'll make the berries
+big; and so they'll bring as much, p'raps, as if they were early."
+
+"Well, Merton, this all accords with what I've read, only Mr. Jones
+makes it much clearer. I think we know how to go to work now, and
+surely there's plenty to do."
+
+"Yes, indeed," resumed Mr. Jones; "and you'll soon find the work
+crowdin' you. Now come to the big raspberry patch back of the barn, the
+patch where the canes are all laid down, as I told you. These are
+Hudson River Antwerps. Most people have gone out of 'em, but Jamison
+held on, and he was makin' money on 'em. So may you. They are what we
+call tender, you see, and in November they must be bent down close to
+the ground and covered with earth, or else every cane would be dead
+from frost by spring. About the first week in April, if the weather's
+mild, you must uncover 'em, and tie 'em to stakes durin' the month."
+
+"Now, Mr. Jones, one other good turn and we won't bother you any more
+to-day. All the front of the house is covered by two big grape-vines
+that have not been trimmed, and there are a great many other vines on
+the place. I've read and read on the subject, but I declare I'm afraid
+to touch them."
+
+"Now, you're beyond my depth. I've got a lot of vines home, and I trim
+'em in my rough way, but I know I ain't scientific, and we have pretty
+poor, scraggly bunches. They taste just as good, though, and I don't
+raise any to sell. There's a clever man down near the landin' who has a
+big vineyard, and he's trimmed it as your vines ought to have been long
+ago. I'd advise you to go and see him, and he can show you all the
+latest wrinkles in prunin'. Now, I'll tell you what I come for, in the
+first place. You'll remember that I said there'd be a vandoo to-morrow.
+I've been over and looked at the stock offered. There's a lot of
+chickens, as I told you; a likely-looking cow with a calf at her side;
+a fairish and quiet old horse that ought to go cheap, but he'd answer
+well the first year. Do you think you'll get more'n one horse to start
+with?"
+
+"No; you said I could hire such heavy plowing as was needed at a
+moderate sum, and I think we can get along with one horse for a time.
+My plan is to go slow, and, I hope, sure."
+
+"That's the best way, only it ain't common. I'll be around in the
+mornin' for you and such of the children as you'll take."
+
+"On one condition, Mr. Jones. You must let me pay you for your time and
+trouble. Unless you'll do this in giving me my start, I'll have to
+paddle my own canoe, even if I sink it."
+
+"Oh, I've no grudge against an honest penny turned in any way that
+comes handy. You and I can keep square as we go along. You can give me
+what you think is right, and if I ain't satisfied, I'll say so."
+
+I soon learned that my neighbor had no foolish sensitiveness. I could
+pay him what I thought the value of his services, and he pocketed the
+money without a word. Of course, I could not pay him what his advice
+was really worth, for his hard common-sense stood me in good stead in
+many ways.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE "VANDOO"
+
+
+The next morning at about eight o'clock Mr. Jones arrived in a long
+farm-wagon on springs, with one seat in it; but Junior had half filled
+its body with straw, and he said to Merton, "I thought that p'raps, if
+you and the children could go, you'd like a straw-ride."
+
+The solemnity with which Winnie and Bobsey promised to obey orders gave
+some hope of performance; so I tossed them into the straw, and we drove
+away, a merry party, leaving Mousie consoled with the hope of receiving
+something from the vendue.
+
+"There's allers changes and breakin's up in the spring," said Mr.
+Jones, as we drove along; "and this family's goin' out West. Everything
+is to be sold, in doors and out."
+
+The farmhouse in question was about two miles away. By the time we
+arrived, all sorts of vehicles were converging to it on the muddy
+roads, for the weather had become mild again. Stylish-looking people
+drove up in top-buggies, and there were many heavy, springless wagons
+driven by rusty-looking countrymen, whose trousers were thrust into the
+top of their cowhide boots. I strolled through the house before the
+sale began, thinking that I might find something there which would
+please Mousie and my wife. The rooms were already half filled with the
+housewives from the vicinity; red-faced Irish women, who stalked about
+and examined everything with great freedom; placid, peach-cheeked dames
+in Quaker bonnets, who softly cooed together, and took every chance
+they could to say pleasant words to the flurried, nervous family that
+was being thrust out into the world, as it were, while still at their
+own hearth.
+
+I marked with my eye a low, easy sewing-chair for my wife, and a rose
+geranium, full of bloom, for Mousie, purposing to bid on them. I also
+observed that Junior was examining several pots of flowers that stood
+in the large south window. Then giving Merton charge of the children,
+with directions not to lose sight of them a moment, I went to the
+barn-yard and stable, feeling that the day was a critical one in our
+fortunes. True enough, among the other stock there was a nice-looking
+cow with a calf, and Mr. Jones said she had Jersey blood in her veins.
+This meant rich, creamy milk. I thought the animal had a rather ugly
+eye, but this might be caused by anxiety for her calf, with so many
+strangers about. We also examined the old bay horse and a market wagon
+and harness. Then Mr. Jones and I drew apart and agreed upon the limit
+of his bids, for I proposed to act solely through him. Every one knew
+him and was aware that he would not go a cent beyond what a thing was
+worth. He had a word and a jest for all, and "How ARE YOU, JOHN?"
+greeted him wherever he went.
+
+At ten o'clock the sale began. The auctioneer was a rustic humorist,
+who knew the practical value of a joke in his business. Aware of the
+foibles and characteristics of the people who flocked around and after
+him, he provoked many a ripple and roar of laughter by his telling hits
+and droll speeches. I found that my neighbor, Mr. Jones, came in for
+his full share, but he always sent back as good as he received. The
+sale, in fact, had the aspect of a country merrymaking, at which all
+sorts and conditions of people met on common ground, Pat bidding
+against the best of the landed gentry, while boys and dogs innumerable
+played around and sometimes verged on serious quarrels.
+
+Junior, I observed, left his mark before the day was over. He was
+standing, watching the sale with his usual impassive expression, when a
+big, hulking fellow leered into his face and cried.
+
+"Tow head, white-head, Thick-head, go to bed."
+
+The last word was scarcely out of his mouth before Junior's fist was
+between his eyes, and down he went.
+
+"Want any more?" Junior coolly asked, as the fellow got up.
+
+Evidently he didn't, for he slunk off, followed by jeers and laughter.
+
+At noon there was an immense pot of coffee with crackers and cheese,
+placed on a table near the kitchen door, and we had a free lunch. To
+this Bobsey paid his respects so industriously that a great, gawky
+mountaineer looked down at him and said, with a grin, "I say, young
+'un, you're gettin' outside of more fodder than any critter of your
+size I ever knowed."
+
+"'Tain't your fodder," replied Bobsey, who had learned, in the streets,
+to be a little pert.
+
+The day came to an end at last, and the cow and calf, the old bay
+horse, the wagon, and the harness were mine. On the whole, Mr. Jones
+had bought them at reasonable rates. He also bid in for me, at one
+dollar per pair, two cocks and twenty hens that looked fairly well in
+their coop.
+
+For my part, I had secured the chair and blooming geranium. To my
+surprise, when the rest of the flowers were sold, Junior took part in
+the bidding for the first time, and, as a result, carried out to the
+wagon several other pots of house-plants.
+
+"Why, Junior," I said, "I didn't know you had such an eye for beauty."
+
+He blushed, but made no reply.
+
+The chickens and the harness were put into Mr. Jones's conveyance, the
+wagon I had bought was tied on behind, and we jogged homeward, the
+children exulting over our new possessions. When I took in the geranium
+bush and put it on the table by the sunny kitchen window, Junior
+followed with an armful of his plants.
+
+"They're for Mousie," he said; and before the delighted child could
+thank him, he darted out.
+
+Indeed, it soon became evident that Mousie was Junior's favorite. She
+never said much to him, but she looked a great deal. To the little
+invalid girl he seemed the embodiment of strength and cleverness, and,
+perhaps because he was so strong, his sympathies went out toward the
+feeble child.
+
+The coop of chickens was carried to the basement that we had made
+ready, and Winnie declared that she meant to "hear the first crow and
+get the first egg."
+
+The next day the horse and the cow and calf were brought over, and we
+felt that we were fairly launched in our country life.
+
+"You have a bigger family to look after outdoors than I have indoors,"
+my wife said, laughingly.
+
+I was not long in learning that some of my outdoor family were anything
+but amiable. The two cocks fought and fought until Junior, who had run
+over before night, showed Merton that by ducking their heads in cold
+water their belligerent spirit could be partially quenched. Then he
+proceeded to give me a lesson in milking. The calf was shut up away
+from the cow, which was driven into a corner, where she stood with
+signs of impatience while Junior, seated on a three-legged stool,
+essayed to obtain the nectar we all so dearly loved. At first he did
+not succeed very well.
+
+"She won't let it down--she's keepin' it for the calf," said the boy.
+But at last she relented, and the white streams flowed. "Now," said
+Junior to me, "you see how I do it. You try."
+
+As I took his place, I noticed that Brindle turned on me a vicious
+look. No doubt I was awkward and hurt her a little, also; for the first
+thing I knew the pail was in the air, I on my back, and Brindle
+bellowing around the yard, switching her tail, Junior and Merton
+meanwhile roaring with laughter. I got up in no amiable mood and said,
+roughly, to the boys, "Quit that nonsense."
+
+But they couldn't obey, and at last I had to join in the laugh.
+
+"Why, she's ugly as sin," said Junior. "I'll tell you what to do. Let
+her go with her calf now, and in the morning we'll drive her down to
+one of the stalls in the basement of the barn and fasten her by the
+head. Then we can milk her without risk. After her calf is gone she'll
+be a great deal tamer."
+
+This plan was carried out, and it worked pretty well, although it was
+evident that, from some cause, the cow was wild and vicious. One of my
+theories is, that all animals can be subdued by kindness. Mr. Jones
+advised me to dispose of Brindle, but I determined to test my theory
+first. Several times a day I would go to the barn-yard and give her a
+carrot or a whisp of hay from my hand, and she gradually became
+accustomed to me, and would come at my call. A week later I sold her
+calf to a butcher, and for a few days she lowed and mourned deeply, to
+Mousie's great distress. But carrots consoled her, and within three
+weeks she would let me stroke her, and both Merton and I could milk her
+without trouble. I believe she had been treated harshly by her former
+owners.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+EARLY APRIL GARDENING
+
+
+Spring was coming on apace, and we all made the most of every pleasant
+hour. The second day after the auction proved a fine one; and leaving
+Winnie and Merton in charge of the house, I took my wife, with Bobsey
+and Mousie, who was well bundled up, to see the scientific
+grape-grower, and to do some shopping. At the same time we assured
+ourselves that we were having a pleasure-drive; and it did me good to
+see how the mother and daughter, who had been kept indoors so long,
+enjoyed themselves. Mr. Jones was right. I received better and clearer
+ideas of vine-pruning in half an hour from studying work that had been
+properly done, and by asking questions of a practical man, than I could
+ever have obtained by reading. We found that the old bay horse jogged
+along, at as good a gait as we could expect, over the muddy road, and I
+was satisfied that he was quiet enough for my wife to drive him after
+she had learned how, and gained a little confidence. She held the reins
+as we drove home, and, in our own yard, I gave her some lessons in
+turning around, backing, etc.
+
+"Some day," I said, "you shall have a carriage and a gay young horse."
+When we sat down to supper, I was glad to see that a little color was
+dawning in Mousie's face.
+
+The bundles we brought home supplemented our stores of needful
+articles, and our life began to take on a regular routine. The
+carpenter came and put up the shelves, and made such changes as my wife
+desired; then he aided me in repairing the out-buildings. I finished
+pruning the trees, while Merton worked manfully at the raspberries, for
+we saw that this was a far more pressing task than gathering wood,
+which could be done to better advantage in the late autumn. Every
+morning Winnie and Bobsey were kept steadily busy in carrying our
+trimmings to the brush heap, which now began to assume vast
+proportions, especially as the refuse from the grape-vine and raspberry
+bushes was added to it. As the ground became settled after the frost
+was out, I began to set the stakes by the side of such raspberry canes
+as needed tying up; and here was a new light task for the two younger
+children. Bobsey's little arms could go around the canes and hold them
+close to the stake, while Winnie, a sturdy child, quickly tied them
+with a coarse, cheap string that I had bought for the purpose. Even my
+wife came out occasionally and helped us at this work. By the end of
+the last week in March I had all the fruit-trees fairly pruned and the
+grape-vines trimmed and tied up, and had given Merton much help among
+the raspberries. In shallow boxes of earth on the kitchen table,
+cabbage, lettuce, and tomato seeds were sprouting beside Mousie's
+plants. The little girl hailed with delight every yellowish green germ
+that appeared above the soil.
+
+The hens had spent their first few days in inspecting their quarters
+and becoming familiar with them; but one morning there was a noisy
+cackle, and Winnie soon came rushing in with three fresh-laid eggs. A
+week later we had all we could use, and my wife began to put some by
+for the first brooding biddies to sit upon.
+
+The first day of April promised to be unusually dry and warm, and I
+said at the breakfast table: "This is to be a great day. We'll prove
+that we are not April-fools by beginning our garden. I was satisfied
+yesterday that a certain warm slope was dry enough to dig and plant
+with hardy vegetables, and I've read and studied over and over again
+which to plant first, and how to plant them. I suppose I shall make
+mistakes, but I wish you all to see how I do it, and then by next
+spring we shall have learned from experience how to do better. No
+doubt, some things might have been planted before, but we've all been
+too busy. Now, Merton, you go and harness old Bay to the cart I bought
+with the place, and I'll get out my treasure of seeds. Mousie, by ten
+o'clock, if the sun keeps out of the clouds, you can put on your
+rubbers and join us."
+
+Soon all was bustle and excitement. Among my seeds were two quarts of
+red and two of white onion sets, or little bits of onions, which I had
+kept in a cool place, so that they should not sprout before their time.
+These I took out first. Then with Merton I went to the barn-yard and
+loaded up the cart with the finest and most decayed manure we could
+find, and this was dumped on the highest part of the slope that I meant
+to plant.
+
+"Now, Merton, I guess you can get another load, while I spread this
+heap and begin to dig;" and he went off with the horse and cart, having
+an increased idea of his importance. I marked a long strip of the sunny
+slope, fifteen feet wide, and spread the manure evenly and thickly, for
+I had read, and my own sense confirmed the view, that a little ground
+well enriched would yield more than a good deal of poor land. I then
+dug till my back ached; and I found that it began to ache pretty soon,
+for I was not accustomed to such toil.
+
+"After the first seeds are in," I muttered, "I'll have the rest of the
+garden plowed."
+
+When I had dug down about four feet of the strip, I concluded to rest
+myself by a change of labor; so I took the rake and smoothed off the
+ground, stretched a garden line across it, and, with a sharp-pointed
+hoe, made a shallow trench, or drill.
+
+"Now, Winnie and Bobsey," I said, "it is time for you to do your part.
+Just stick these little onions in the trench about four inches apart;"
+and I gave each of them a little stick of the right length to measure
+the distance; for they had vague ideas of four inches. "Be sure," I
+continued, "that you get the bottom of the onion down. This is the top,
+and this is the bottom. Press the onion in the soil just enough to make
+it stand firm, so. That's right. Oh, you're learning fast. Now I can
+rest, you see, while you do the planting."
+
+In a few moments they had stuck the fifteen feet of shallow trench, or
+drill, full of onions, which I covered with earth, packing it lightly
+with my hoe. I then moved the line fourteen inches further down and
+made another shallow drill. In this way we soon had all the onion sets
+in the ground. Merton came back with his load in time to see how it was
+done, and nodded his head approvingly. I now felt rested enough to dig
+awhile, and Merton started off to the barn-yard again. We next sowed,
+in even shallower drills, the little onion seed that looked like
+gunpowder, for my garden book said that the earlier this was planted
+the better. We had completed only a few rows when Mr. Jones appeared,
+and said: "Plantin' onions here? Why, neighbor, this ground is too dry
+and light for onions."
+
+"Is it? Well, I knew I'd make mistakes. I haven't used near all my
+onion seed yet, however."
+
+"Oh, well, no great harm's done. You've made the ground rich, and, if
+we have a moist season, like enough they'll do well. P'raps it's the
+best thing, after all, 'specially if you've put in the seed thick, as
+most people do. Let 'em all grow, and you'll have a lot of little
+onions, or sets, of your own raisin' to plant early next spring. Save
+the rest of your seed until you have some rich, strong, deep soil
+ready. I came over to say that if this weather holds a day or two
+longer I'll plow the garden; and I thought I'd tell you, so that you
+might get ready for me. The sooner you get your early pertaters in the
+better."
+
+"Your words almost take the ache out of my back," I said. "I fear we
+shouldn't have much of a garden if I had to dig it all, but I thought
+I'd make a beginning with a few early vegetables."
+
+"That's well enough, but a plow beats a fork all hollow. You'll know
+what I mean when you see my plow going down to the beam and loosenin'
+the ground from fifteen to twenty inches. So burn your big brush-pile,
+and get out what manure you're goin' to put in the garden, and I'll be
+ready when you are."
+
+"All right. Thank you. I'll just plant some radishes, peas, and beans."
+
+"Not beans yet, Mr. Durham. Don't put those in till the last of the
+month, and plant them very shallow when you do."
+
+"How one forgets when there's not much experience to fall back upon! I
+now remember that my book said that beans, in this latitude, should not
+be planted until about the 1st of May."
+
+"And lima beans not till the 10th of May," added Mr. Jones. "You might
+put in a few early beets here, although the ground is rather light for
+'em. You could put your main crop somewhere else. Well, let me know
+when you're ready. Junior and me are drivin' things, too, this
+mornin';" and he stalked away, whistling a hymn-tune in rather lively
+time.
+
+I said: "Youngsters, I think I'll get my garden book and be sure I'm
+right about sowing the radish and beet seed and the peas. Mr. Jones has
+rather shaken my confidence."
+
+When Merton came with the next load I told him that he could put the
+horse in the stable and help us. As a result, we soon had several rows
+of radishes and beets sown, fourteen inches apart. We planted the seed
+only an inch deep, and packed the ground lightly over it. Mousie, to
+her great delight, was allowed to drop a few of the seeds. Merton was
+ambitious to take the fork, but I soon stopped him, and said: "Digging
+is too heavy work for you, my boy. There is enough that you can do
+without overtaxing yourself. We must all act like good soldiers. The
+campaign of work is just opening, and it would be very foolish for any
+of us to disable ourselves at the start. We'll plant only half a dozen
+rows of these dwarf peas this morning, and then this afternoon we'll
+have the bonfire and get ready for Mr. Jones's plow."
+
+At the prospect of the bonfire the younger children set up shouts of
+exultation, which cheered me on as I turned over the soil with the
+fork, although often stopping to rest. My back ached, but my heart was
+light. In my daily work now I had all my children about me, and their
+smaller hands were helping in the most practical way. Their voices were
+as joyous as the notes of the robins, song-sparrows, and bluebirds that
+were singing all about us. A soft haze half obscured the mountains, and
+mellowed the sunshine. From the springing grass and fresh-turned soil
+came odors sweet as those which made Eden fragrant after "a mist went
+up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground."
+
+All the children helped to plant the peas, which we placed carefully
+and evenly, an inch apart, in the row, and covered with two inches of
+soil, the rows being two feet distant one from another. I had decided
+to plant chiefly McLean's Little Gem, because they needed no stakes or
+brush for support. We were almost through our task when, happening to
+look toward the house, I saw my wife standing in the doorway, a framed
+picture.
+
+"Dinner," she called, in a voice as sweet to me as that of the robin
+singing in the cherry-tree over her head.
+
+The children stampeded for the house, Winnie crying: "Hurry up, mamma,
+for right after dinner papa will set the great brush-pile on fire, and
+we're going to dance round it like Indians. You must come out, too."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+A BONFIRE AND A FEAST
+
+
+It amused and interested me to see upon the children's faces such an
+eager expectancy as they hurried through our midday meal. Nothing
+greater than a bonfire was in prospect, yet few costly pleasures could
+have afforded them such excitement. I found myself sharing in their
+anticipation to a degree that surprised me, and was led to ask myself
+why it is that outdoor pursuits often take so strong a hold upon the
+fancy. I recalled traits shown by one of my former employers. He was a
+gray-headed man, possessing great wealth and an elegant city home,
+while his mind was occupied by a vast and complicated business. When he
+learned that I was going to the country, he would often come to me,
+and, with kindling eyes and animated tones, talk of his chickens, cows,
+fruit-trees and crops. He proved that the best product of his farm was
+the zest it brought him into his life--a zest that was failing in his
+other occupations and interests. What was true of him I knew to be
+equally so of many others to whom wealth brings no greater luxury than
+the ability to indulge in expensive farming. A lifetime in the city
+does not destroy the primal instinct which leads men to the soil nor
+does a handsome dividend from stocks give the unalloyed pleasure
+awakened by a basket of fresh eggs or fruit. This love of the earth is
+not earthiness, but has been the characteristic of the best and
+greatest minds. Washington would turn from the anxieties of a campaign
+and the burdens of state to read, with absorbing interest, the reports
+of the agent who managed his plantation, and to write out the minutest
+details for the overseer's guidance.
+
+In my limited way and sphere I was under the influence of the same
+impulses; and, as I looked around the table at those so dear to me, I
+felt that I had far more at stake. I had not come back to Nature merely
+to amuse myself or to gratify a taste, but to co-work with her in
+fulfilling the most sacred duties. With the crops of the coming years
+these children must be nourished and fitted for their part in life, and
+I felt that all my faculties must be employed to produce the best
+results from my open-air toil.
+
+Therefore, why should not I also be interested in the prospective
+bonfire? It would transmute the unsightly rubbish of the place into
+fertilizing ashes, and clear the ground for the plow. The mellow soil
+would produce that which would give brain and muscle--life to those
+whose lives were dear.
+
+He who spreads his table with food secured by his own hands direct from
+nature should feel a strong incentive to do his best. The coarse,
+unvaried diet, common to many farmers' homes, is the result of stolid
+minds and plodding ways. A better manhood and womanhood will be
+developed when we act upon the truth that varied and healthful
+sustenance improves blood and brain, and therefore character.
+
+I was growing abstracted, when my wife remarked, "Robert, will you
+deign to come back from a remote region of thought and take some rice
+pudding?"
+
+"You may all fare the better for my thoughts," I replied.
+
+The children, however, were bolting their pudding at railroad speed,
+and I perceived that the time demanded action. Winnie and Bobsey wished
+me to light the fire at once, but I said: "No, not till mamma and
+Mousie are ready to come out. You must stay and help them clear away
+the things. When all is ready, you two shall start the blaze."
+
+Very soon we were all at the brush-pile, which towered above our heads,
+and I said: "Merton, it will burn better if we climb over it and
+trample it down a little. It is too loose now. While we do this, Winnie
+and Bobsey can gather dry grass and weeds that will take fire quickly.
+Now which way is the wind?"
+
+"There isn't any wind, papa," Merton replied.
+
+"Let us see. Put your forefingers in your mouths, all of you, then hold
+them up and note which side feels the coolest."
+
+"This side!" cried one and another.
+
+"Yes; and this side is toward the west; therefore, Winnie, put the dry
+grass here on the western side of the heap, and what air is stirring
+will carry the blaze through the pile."
+
+Little hands that trembled with eagerness soon held lighted matches to
+the dry grass; there was a yellow flicker in the sunshine, then a
+blaze, a crackle, a devouring rush of flames that mounted higher and
+higher until, with the surrounding column of smoke, there was a
+conflagration which, at night, would have alarmed the country-side. The
+children at first gazed with awe upon the scenes as they backed farther
+away from the increasing heat. Our beacon-fire drew Junior, who came
+bounding over the fences toward us; and soon he and Merton began to see
+how near they could dash in toward the blaze without being scorched. I
+soon stopped this.
+
+"Show your courage, Merton, when there is need of it," I said. "Rash
+venturing is not bravery, but foolishness, and often costs people dear."
+
+When the pile sank down into glowing embers, I turned to Bobsey, and
+added: "I have let you light a fire under my direction. Never think of
+doing anything of the kind without my permission, for if you do, you
+will certainly sit in a chair, facing the wall, all day long, with
+nothing to cheer you but bread and water and a sound whipping. There is
+one thing which you children must learn from the start, and that is,
+you can't play with fire except under my eyes."
+
+At this direful threat Bobsey looked as grave as his round little face
+permitted, and, with the memory of his peril in the creek fresh in
+mind, was ready enough with the most solemn promises. A circle of
+unburned brush was left around the embers. This I raked in on the hot
+coals, and soon all was consumed.
+
+"Now I have a suggestion," cried my wife. "We'll have some roast
+potatoes, for here are lots of hot coals and ashes." Away scampered
+Winnie to the cellar for the tubers. Our bonfire ended in a feast, and
+then the ashes were spread far and wide. When the exciting events were
+past, Winnie and Bobsey amused themselves in other ways, Mousie
+venturing to stay with them while the sun remained high. Merton and I
+meanwhile put the horse to the cart and covered all the ground,
+especially the upper and poorer portions, with a good dressing from the
+barnyard.
+
+In the evening Junior gave Merton a good hint about angle-worms.
+"Follow the plow," he said, "and pick 'em up and put 'em in a tight
+box. Then sink the box in a damp place and nearly fill it with fine
+earth, and you always have bait ready when you want to go a-fishing.
+After a few more warm days the fish will begin to bite first-rate."
+
+Early the next morning Mr. Jones was on hand with his stout team, and,
+going twice in every furrow, he sunk his plow to the beam. "When you
+loosen the soil deep in this style," he said, "ye needn't be afraid of
+dry weather unless it's an amazin' long spell. Why, bless you, Mr.
+Durham, there's farmers around here who don't scratch their ground much
+deeper than an old hen would, and they're always groanin' over
+droughts. If I can get my plow down eighteen inches, and then find time
+to stir the surface often in the growin' season, I ain't afraid of a
+month of dry weather."
+
+We followed Mr. Jones for a few turns around the garden, I inhaling the
+fresh wholesome odors of the soil with pleasure, and Merton and the two
+younger children picking up angle-worms.
+
+Our neighbor soon paused and resumed: "I guess I'll give you a hint
+that'll add bushels of pertaters to yer crop. After I've plowed the
+garden, I'll furrow out deep a lot of rows, three feet apart. Let
+Merton take a hoe and scrape up the fine old manure in the barnyard.
+Don't use any other kind. Then sprinkle it thickly in the furrows, and
+draw your hoe through 'em to mix the fertilizer well with the soil.
+Drop your seed then, eight inches apart in the row, and cover with four
+inches of dirt. One can't do this very handy by the acre, but I've
+known such treatment to double the crop and size of the pertaters in a
+garden or small patch."
+
+I took the hint at once, and set Merton at work, saying that Winnie and
+Bobsey could gather all the worms he wanted. Then I went for a
+half-bushel of early potatoes, and Mr. Jones showed me how to cut them
+so as to leave at least two good "eyes" to each piece. Half an hour
+later it occurred to me to see how Merton was getting on. I found him
+perspiring, and almost panting with fatigue, and my conscience smote
+me. "There, my boy," I said, "this is too hard work for you. Come with
+me and I'll show you how to cut the potatoes. But first go into the
+house, and cool off while you drink a glass of milk."
+
+"Well, papa," he replied, gratefully, "I wouldn't mind a change like
+that. I didn't want you to think I was shirking, but, to tell the
+truth, I was getting played out."
+
+"Worked out, you mean. It's not my wish that you should ever be either
+played or worked out, nor will you if you take play and work in the
+right degree. Remember," I added, seriously, "that you are a growing
+boy, and it's not my intention to put you at anything beyond your
+strength. If, in my inexperience, I do give you too hard work, tell me
+at once. There's plenty to do that won't overtax you."
+
+So we exchanged labors, and by the time the garden was plowed and the
+furrows were made I had scraped up enough fine material in the barnyard
+to give my tubers a great start. I varied my labor with lessons in
+plowing, for running in my head was an "old saw" to the effect that "he
+who would thrive must both hold the plow and drive."
+
+The fine weather lasted long enough for us to plant our early potatoes
+in the most approved fashion, and then came a series of cold, wet days
+and frosty nights. Mr. Jones assured us that the vegetable seeds
+already in the ground would receive no harm. At such times as were
+suitable for work we finished trimming and tying up the hardy
+raspberries, cleaning up the barnyard, and carting all the fertilizers
+we could find to the land that we meant to cultivate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+"NO BLIND DRIFTING"
+
+
+One long, stormy day I prepared an account-book. On its left-hand pages
+I entered the cost of the place and all expenses thus far incurred. The
+right-hand pages were for records of income, as yet small indeed. They
+consisted only of the proceeds from the sale of the calf, the eggs that
+Winnie gathered, and the milk measured each day, all valued at the
+market price. I was resolved that there should be no blind drifting
+toward the breakers of failure--that at the end of the year we should
+know whether we had made progress, stood still, or gone backward. My
+system of keeping the accounts was so simple that I easily explained it
+to my wife, Merton, and Mousie, for I believed that, if they followed
+the effort at country living understandingly, they would be more
+willing to practice the self-denial necessary for success. Indeed, I
+had Merton write out most of the items, even though the record, as a
+result, was not very neat. I stopped his worrying over blots and
+errors, by saying, "You are of more account than the account-book, and
+will learn by practice to be as accurate as any one."
+
+My wife and Mousie also started another book of household expenses,
+that we might always know just where we stood and what our prospects
+were.
+
+Weeks would elapse before our place would be food-producing to any
+great extent. In the meantime we must draw chiefly on our capital in
+order to live. Winifred and I resolved to meet this necessity in no
+careless way, feeling that not a penny should be spent which might be
+saved. The fact that I had only my family to support was greatly in our
+favor. There was no kitchen cabinet, that ate much and wasted more, to
+satisfy. Therefore, our revenue of eggs and milk went a long way toward
+meeting the problem. We made out a list of cheap, yet wholesome,
+articles of food, and found that we could buy oatmeal at four cents per
+pound, Indian meal at two and a half cents, rice at eight cents, samp
+at four, mackerel at nine, pork at twelve, and ham at fifteen cents.
+The last two articles were used sparingly, and more as relishes and for
+flavoring than as food. Flour happened to be cheap at the time, the
+best costing but seven dollars a barrel; of vegetables, we had secured
+abundance at slight cost; and the apples still added the wholesome
+element of fruit. A butcher drove his wagon to our door three times a
+week and, for cash, would give us, at very reasonable rates, certain
+cuts of beef and mutton. These my wife conjured into appetizing dishes
+and delicious soups.
+
+Thus it can be seen that we had a varied diet at a surprisingly small
+outlay. Such details may appear to some very homely, yet our health and
+success depended largely upon thoughtful attention to just such prosaic
+matters. The children were growing plump and ruddy at an expense less
+than would be incurred by one or two visits from a fashionable
+physician in the city.
+
+In the matter of food, I also gave more thought to my wife's time and
+strength than to the little people's wishes. While we had variety and
+abundance, we did not have many dishes at any one meal.
+
+"We shall not permit mamma to be over the hot range any more than is
+necessary," I said. "She and Mousie must give us, from day to day, what
+costs little in time as well as money."
+
+Fortunately, plain, wholesome food does not require much time in
+preparation. There would be better health in many homes if there was
+more economy in labor. For instance, the children at first clamored for
+griddle-cakes, but I said, "Isn't it nicer to have mamma sit down
+quietly with us at breakfast than to see her running back and forth
+from the hot stove?" and even Bobsey, though rather ruefully, voted
+against cakes, except on rare occasions.
+
+The wash-tub I forbade utterly, and the services of a stout Irishwoman
+were secured for one day in the week. Thus, by a little management, my
+wife was not overtaxed. Indeed, she had so much leisure that she and
+Mousie began giving Winnie and Bobsey daily lessons, for we had decided
+that the children should not go to school until the coming autumn.
+Early in April, therefore, our country life was passing into a quiet
+routine, not burdensome, at least within doors; and I justly felt that
+if all were well in the citadel of home, the chances of the outdoor
+campaign were greatly improved.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+OWLS AND ANTWERPS
+
+
+Each day at dawn, unless it was stormy, Merton patrolled the place with
+his gun, looking for hawks and other creatures which at this season he
+was permitted to shoot. He had quite as serious and important an air as
+if he were sallying forth to protect us from deadlier foes. For a time
+he saw nothing to fire at, since he had promised me not to shoot
+harmless birds. He always indulged himself, however, in one shot at a
+mark, and was becoming sure in his aim at stationary objects. One
+evening, however, when we were almost ready to retire, a strange sound
+startled us. At first it reminded me of the half-whining bark of a
+young dog, but the deep, guttural trill that followed convinced me that
+it was a screech-owl, for I remembered having heard these birds when a
+boy.
+
+The moment I explained the sound, Merton darted for his gun, and my
+wife exclaimed: "O dear! what trouble is coming now? Mother always said
+that the hooting of an owl near a house was a bad omen."
+
+I did not share in the superstition, although I disliked the uncanny
+sounds, and was under the impression that all owls, like hawks, should
+be destroyed. Therefore, I followed Merton out, hoping that he would
+get a successful shot at the night prowler.
+
+The moonlight illumined everything with a soft, mild radiance; and the
+trees, with their tracery of bough and twig, stood out distinctly.
+Before we could discover the creature, it flew with noiseless wing from
+a maple near the door to another perch up the lane, and again uttered
+its weird notes.
+
+Merton was away like a swift shadow, and, screening himself behind the
+fence, stole upon his game. A moment later the report rang out in the
+still night. It so happened that Merton had fired just as the bird was
+about to fly, and had only broken a wing. The owl fell to the ground,
+but led the boy a wild pursuit before he was captured. Merton's hands
+were bleeding when he brought the creature in. Unless prevented, it
+would strike savagely with its beak, and the motions of its head were
+as quick as lightning. It was, indeed, a strange captive, and the
+children looked at it in wondering and rather fearful curiosity. My
+wife, usually tender-hearted, wished the creature, so ill-omened in her
+eyes, to be killed at once, but I granted Merton's request that he
+might put it in a box and keep it alive for a while.
+
+"In the morning," I said, "we will read all about it, and can examine
+it more carefully."
+
+My wife yielded, and I am not sure but that she thought we might avert
+misfortune by showing mercy.
+
+Among my purchases was a recent work on natural history. But our minds
+had been engrossed with too many practical questions to give it much
+attention. Next morning we consulted it, and found our captive
+variously described as the little red, the mottled, or the screech owl.
+Then followed an account of its character and habits. We learned that
+we had made war upon a useful friend, instead of an ill-boding, harmful
+creature. We were taught that this species is a destroyer of mice,
+beetles, and vermin, thus rendering the agriculturist great services,
+which, however are so little known that the bird is everywhere hunted
+down without mercy or justice.
+
+"Surely, this is not true of all owls," I said, and by reading further
+we learned that the barred, or hoot owl, and the great horned owl, were
+deserving of a surer aim of Merton's gun. They prey not only upon
+useful game, but also invade the poultry-yard, the horned species being
+especially destructive. Instances were given in which these freebooters
+had killed every chicken upon a farm. As they hunt only at night, they
+are hard to capture. Their notes and natures are said to be in keeping
+with their deeds of darkness; for their cry is wild, harsh, and
+unearthly, while in temper they are cowardly, savage, and untamable,
+showing no affection even for each other. A female has been known to
+kill and eat the male.
+
+"The moral of this owl episode," I concluded, "is that we must learn to
+know our neighbors, be they birds, beasts, or human beings, before we
+judge them. This book is not only full of knowledge, but of information
+that is practical and useful. I move that we read up about the
+creatures in our vicinity. What do you say, Merton? wouldn't it be well
+to learn what to shoot, as well as how to shoot?"
+
+Protecting his hands with buckskin gloves, the boy applied mutton suet
+to our wounded owl's wing. It was eventually healed, and the bird was
+given its liberty. It gradually became sprightly and tame, and sociable
+in the evening, affording the children and Junior much amusement.
+
+By the 7th of April there was a prospect of warmer and more settled
+weather, and Mr. Jones told us to lose no time in uncovering our
+Antwerp raspberries. They had been bent down close to the ground the
+previous winter and covered with earth. To remove this without breaking
+the canes, required careful and skilful work. We soon acquired the
+knack, however, of pushing and throwing aside the soil, then lifting
+the canes gently through what remained, and shaking them clear.
+
+"Be careful to level the ground evenly," Mr. Jones warned us, "for it
+won't do at all to leave hummocks of dirt around the hills;" and we
+followed his instructions.
+
+The canes were left until a heavy shower of rain washed them clean;
+then Winnie and Bobsey tied them up. We gave steady and careful
+attention to the Antwerps, since they would be our main dependence for
+income. I also raked in around the hills of one row a liberal dressing
+of wood ashes, intending to note its effect.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+A COUNTRY SUNDAY
+
+
+Hitherto the Sabbaths had been stormy and the roads bad, and we had
+given the days to rest and family sociability. But at last there came a
+mild, sunny morning, and we resolved to find a church-home. I had heard
+that Dr. Lyman, who preached in the nearest village had the faculty of
+keeping young people awake. Therefore we harnessed the old bay-horse to
+our market-wagon, donned our "go-ter-meetin's," as Junior called his
+Sunday clothes, and started. Whatever might be the result of the
+sermon, the drive promised to do us good. The tender young grass by the
+roadside, and the swelling buds of trees, gave forth delicious odors; a
+spring haze softened the outline of the mountains, and made them almost
+as beautiful as if clothed with foliage; robins, song-sparrows, and
+other birds were so tuneful that Mousie said she wished they might form
+the choir at the church. Indeed, the glad spirit of Spring was abroad,
+and it found its way into our hearts. We soon learned that it entered
+largely also into Dr. Lyman's sermon. We were not treated as strangers
+and intruders, but welcomed and shown to a pew in a way that made us
+feel at home. I discovered that I, too, should be kept awake and given
+much to think about. We remained until Sunday-school, which followed
+the service, was over, and then went home, feeling that life both here
+and hereafter was something to be thankful for. After dinner, without
+even taking the precaution of locking the door, we all strolled down
+the lane and the steeply sloping meadow to our wood lot and the banks
+of the Moodna Creek. My wife had never seen this portion of our place
+before, and she was delighted with its wild beauty and seclusion. She
+shivered and turned a little pale, however, as she saw the stream,
+still high and swift, that had carried Bobsey away.
+
+Junior joined us, and led the children to a sunny bank, from which soon
+came shouts of joy over the first wildflowers of the season. I placed
+my wife on a rock, and we sat quietly for a time, inhaling the fresh
+woody odors, and listening to the murmurs of the creek and the song of
+the birds. Then I asked: "Isn't this better than a city flat and a
+noisy street? Are not these birds pleasanter neighbors than the
+Daggetts and the Ricketts?"
+
+Her glad smile was more eloquent than words could have been. Mousie
+came running to us, holding in her hand, which trembled from
+excitement, a little bunch of liverworts and anemones. Tears of
+happiness actually stood in her eyes, and she could only falter, "O
+mamma! just look!" and then she hastened away to gather more.
+
+"That child belongs to nature," I said, "and would always be an exile
+in the city. How greatly she has improved in health already!"
+
+The air grew damp and chill early, and we soon returned to the house.
+Monday was again fair, and found us absorbed in our busy life, each one
+having plenty to do. When it was safe to uncover the raspberries,
+Merton and I had not lost a moment in the task. At the time of which I
+write we put in stakes where they were missing, obtaining not a few of
+them from the wood lot. We also made our second planting of potatoes
+and other hardy vegetables in the garden. The plants in the kitchen
+window were thriving, and during mild, still days we carried them to a
+sheltered place without, that they might become inured to the open air.
+
+Winnie already had three hens sitting on their nests full of eggs, and
+she was counting the days until the three weeks of incubation should
+expire, and the little chicks break their shells. One of the hens
+proved a fickle biddy, and left her nest, much to the child's anger and
+disgust. But the others were faithful, and one morning Winnie came
+bounding in, saying she had heard the first "peep." I told her to be
+patient and leave the brood until the following day, since I had read
+that the chicks were stronger for not being taken from the nest too
+soon. She had treated the mother hens so kindly that they were tame,
+and permitted her to throw out the empty shells, and exult over each
+new-comer into a brief existence.
+
+Our radishes had come up nicely; but no sooner had the first green
+leaves expanded than myriads of little flea-like beetles devoured them.
+A timely article in my horticultural paper explained that if little
+chickens were allowed to run in the garden they would soon destroy
+these and other insects. Therefore I improvised a coop by laying down a
+barrel near the radishes and driving stakes in front of it to confine
+the hen, which otherwise, with the best intentions, would have
+scratched up all my sprouting seeds. Hither we brought her the
+following day, with her downy brood of twelve, and they soon began to
+make themselves useful. Winnie fed them with Indian-meal and mashed
+potatoes and watched over them with more than their mother's
+solicitude, while Merton renewed his vigilance against hawks and other
+enemies.
+
+With this new attraction, and wildflowers in the woods, the tying up of
+raspberries became weary prose to Winnie and Bobsey; but I kept them at
+it during most of the forenoon of every pleasant day and if they
+performed their task carelessly, I made them do it over. I knew that
+the time was coming when many kinds of work would cease to be play to
+us all, and that we might as well face the fact first as last. After
+the morning duties were over, and the afternoon lessons learned, there
+was plenty of time for play, and the two little people enjoyed it all
+the more.
+
+Merton, also, had two afternoons in the week and he and Junior began to
+bring home strings of sweet little sunfish and winfish. Boys often
+become disgusted with country life because it is made hard and
+monotonous for them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+STRAWBERRY VISIONS AND "PERTATERS"
+
+
+I had decided that I would not set out any more raspberries until I had
+learned the comparative value of those already on the place. After I
+had seen my varieties in bearing and marketed the crop, I should be
+better able to make a wise selection, "Why not plant only the best and
+most profitable?" I reasoned. At Mr. Jones's suggestion I had put up
+notices at public resorts, and inserted a brief advertisement in a
+local paper, stating that I had plants for sale. As a result, I sold,
+at a low price, it is true, the greater part of the young plants that
+had been trenched in, and the ready money they brought was very
+acceptable.
+
+From the first, my mind had often turned toward strawberries as one of
+our chief crops. They promised well for several reasons, the main one
+being that they would afford a light and useful form of labor for all
+the children. Even Bobsey could pick the fruit almost as well as any of
+us, for he had no long back to ache in getting down to it. The crop,
+also, could be gathered and sold before the raspberry season began, and
+this was an important fact. We should also have another and earlier
+source of income. I had read a great deal about the cultivation of the
+strawberry, and I had visited a Maizeville neighbor who grew them on a
+large scale, and had obtained his views. To make my knowledge more
+complete I wrote to my Washington-Market friend, Mr. Bogart, and his
+prompt letter in reply was encouraging.
+
+"Don't go into too many kinds," he advised, "and don't set too much
+ground. A few crates of fine berries will pay you better than bushels
+of small, soft, worthless trash. Steer clear of high-priced novelties
+and fancy sorts, and begin with only those known to pay well in your
+region. Try Wilson's (they're good to sell if not to eat) and Duchess
+for early, and Sharpless and Champion for late. Set the last two kinds
+out side by side, for the Champions won't bear alone. A customer of
+mine runs on these four sorts. He gives them high culture, and gets big
+crops and big berries, which pay big. When you want crates, I can
+furnish them, and take my pay out of the sales of your fruit. Don't
+spend much money for plants. Buy a few of each kind, and set 'em in
+moist ground and let 'em run. By winter you'll have enough plants to
+cover your farm."
+
+I found that I could buy these standard varieties in the vicinity; and
+having made the lower part of the garden very rich, I procured, one
+cloudy day, two hundred plants of each kind and set them in rows, six
+feet apart, so that by a little watchfulness I could keep them
+separate. I obtained my whole stock for five dollars; therefore,
+counting our time and everything, the cost of entering on strawberry
+culture was slight. A rainy night followed, and every plant started
+vigorously.
+
+In spite of occasional frosts and cold rains, the days grew longer and
+warmer. The cherry, peach, plum, and pear buds were almost ready to
+burst into bloom, but Mr. Jones shook his head over the orchard.
+
+"This ain't apple year," he said. "Well, no matter. If you can make it
+go this season, you will be sure of better luck next year."
+
+He had come over to aid me in choosing a two-acre plot of ground for
+corn and potatoes. This we marked out from the upper and eastern slope
+of a large meadow. The grass was running out and growing weedy.
+
+"It's time it was turned over," my neighbor remarked; "and by fall
+it'll be in good condition for fruit."
+
+I proposed to extend my fruit area gradually, with good reason, fearing
+that much hired help would leave small profits.
+
+That very afternoon Mr. Jones, with his sharp steel plow, began to turn
+over clean, deep, even furrows; for we had selected the plot in view of
+the fact that it was not stony, as was the case with other portions of
+our little farm.
+
+When at last the ground was plowed, he said: "I wouldn't harrow the
+part meant for corn till you are ready to plant it, say about the tenth
+of next month. We'd better get the pertater ground ready and the rows
+furrowed out right off. Early plantin' is the best. How much will ye
+give to 'em?"
+
+"Half the plot," I said.
+
+"Why, Mr. Durham, that's a big plantin' for pertaters."
+
+"Well, I've a plan, and would like your opinion. If I put Early Rose
+potatoes right in, when can I harvest them?"
+
+"Say the last of July or early August, accordin' to the season."
+
+"If we keep the ground clean and well worked the sod will then be
+decayed, won't it?"
+
+"Yes, nigh enough. Ye want to grow turnips or fodder corn, I s'pose?"
+
+"No, I want to set out strawberries. I've read more about this fruit
+than any other, and, if the books are right, I can set strong plants on
+enriched ground early in August and get a good crop next June. Won't
+this pay better than planting next spring and waiting over two years
+from this time for a crop?"
+
+"Of course it will, if you're right. I ain't up on strawberries."
+
+"Well," I continued, "it looks reasonable. I shall have my young plants
+growing right here in my own garden. Merton and I can take them up in
+the cool of the evening and in wet weather, and they won't know they've
+been moved. I propose to get these early potatoes out of the ground as
+soon as possible, even if I have to sell part of them before they are
+fully ripe; then have the ground plowed deep and marked out for
+strawberries, put all the fertilizers I can scrape together in the rows
+and set the plants as fast as possible. I've read again and again that
+many growers regard this method as one of the best."
+
+"Well, you're comin' on for a beginner. I'm kind o' shy of book-plans,
+though. But try it. I'll come over, as I used to when old man Jamison
+was here, and sit on the fence and make remarks."
+
+Planting an acre of potatoes was no light task for us, even after the
+ground was plowed and harrowed, and the furrows for the rows were
+marked out. I also had to make a half-day's journey to the city of
+Newtown to buy more seed, since the children's appetites had greatly
+reduced the stock in the root-cellar. For a few days we worked like
+beavers. Even Winnie helped Merton to drop the seed; and in the evening
+we had regular potato-cutting "bees," Junior coming over to aid us, and
+my wife and Mousie helping also. Songs and stories enlivened these
+evening hours of labor. Indeed, my wife and Mousie performed, during
+the day, a large part of this task, and they soon learned to cut the
+tubers skilfully. I have since known this work to be done so carelessly
+that some pieces were cut without a single eye upon them. Of course, in
+such cases there is nothing to grow.
+
+One Saturday night, the last of April, we exulted over the fact that
+our acre was planted and the seed well covered.
+
+Many of the trees about the house, meantime, had clothed themselves
+with fragrant promises of fruit. All, especially Mousie, had been
+observant of the beautiful changes, and, busy as we had been, she,
+Winnie and Bobsey had been given time to keep our table well supplied
+with wildflowers. Now that they had come in abundance, they seemed as
+essential as our daily food. To a limited extent I permitted blooming
+sprays to be taken from the fruit-trees, thinking, with Mousie, that
+"cherry blossoms are almost as nice as cherries." Thus Nature graced
+our frugal board, and suggested that, as she accompanied her useful
+work with beauty and fragrance, so we also could lift our toilsome
+lives above the coarse and sordid phase too common in country homes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+CORN, COLOR, AND MUSIC
+
+
+In early May the grass was growing lush and strong, and Brindle was
+driven down the lane to the meadow, full of thickets, which bordered on
+the creek. Here she could supply herself with food and water until the
+late autumn.
+
+With the first days of the month we planted, on a part of the garden
+slope, where the soil was dry and warm, very early, dwarf sweet corn, a
+second early variety, Burr's Mammoth, and Stowell's Evergreen.
+
+"These several kinds," I said, "will give us a succession of boiling
+ears for weeks together. When this planting is up a few inches high, we
+will make another, for, by so doing, my garden book says we may have
+this delicious vegetable till frost comes."
+
+After reading and some inquiry during the winter I had decided to buy
+only McLean's Gem peas for seed. This low-growing kind required no
+brush and, therefore, far less labor. By putting in a row every ten
+days till the last of June, we should enjoy green peas of the sweet,
+wrinkled sort till tired, if that were possible. We also planted early
+dwarf wax-beans, covering the seed, as directed, only two inches deep.
+It was my ambition to raise a large crop of Lima beans, having read
+that few vegetables yield more food to a small area than they. So,
+armed with an axe and a hatchet, Merton and I went into some young
+growth on the edge of our wood lot and cut thirty poles, lopping off
+the branches so as to leave little crotches on which the vines could
+rest for support. Having sharpened these poles we set them firmly in
+the garden, four feet apart each way, then dug in some very fine and
+decayed manure around each pole, and left the soil for a day or two to
+grow warm and light. My book said that, if the earth was cold, wet, or
+heavy the beans would decay instead of coming up. The 10th of the month
+being fine and promising, I pressed the eye or germ side of the beans
+into the soil and covered them only one inch deep. In the evening we
+set out our cabbage and cauliflower plants where they should be allowed
+to mature. The tomato plants, being more tender than their companions
+started in the kitchen window, were set about four inches apart in a
+sheltered place. We could thus cover them at night and protect them a
+little from the midday sun for a week or two longer.
+
+Nor were Mousie's flowering plants forgotten. She had watched over them
+from the seed with tireless care, and now we made a bed and helped the
+happy child to put her little nurslings in the open ground where they
+were to bloom. The apple-trees made the air fragrant, and some of the
+delicate pink of their blossoms was in Mousie's cheeks.
+
+"Truly," I thought, as I looked into her sparkling eyes, "if we can but
+barely live in the country, I am glad we came."
+
+The next morning Merton and I began our great undertaking--the planting
+of the other acre of ground, next to the potatoes, with field corn. Mr.
+Jones had harrowed it comparatively smooth, I had a light plow with
+which to mark out the furrows four feet apart each way. At the
+intersection of these furrows the seed was to be dropped. I found I
+could not drive our old bay straight across the field to save my life,
+and neighbor Jones laughed till his sides ached at the curves and
+crooks I first left behind me.
+
+"Here, Merton," I cried, nothing daunted, "we must work together again.
+Get a pole and stand it on the farther side of the plot four feet in
+from the edge of the sod. That's right. Now come here; take old Bay by
+the head, and, with your eyes fixed on the pole, lead him steadily
+toward it."
+
+A furrow was now made of which Mr. Jones himself need not have been
+ashamed; and he laughed as he said, at parting "You'll do. I see you've
+got enough Yankee in you to try more ways than one."
+
+We kept at work manfully, although the day was warm, and by noon the
+plot was furrowed one way. After dinner we took an hour's partial rest
+in shelling our corn and then resumed our work, and in the same manner
+began furrowing at right angles with the first rows. The hills were
+thus about four feet apart each way. Merton dropped the corn after we
+had run half a dozen furrows.
+
+"Drop five kernels," I said; for Mr. Jones had told us that four stalks
+were enough and that three would do, but had added: "I plant five
+kernels, for some don't come up, and the crows and other vermints take
+others. If all of 'em grow, it's easier to pull up one stalk at the
+first hoeing than to plant over again."
+
+We found that putting in the corn was a lighter task than planting the
+potatoes even though we did our own furrowing; and by the middle of May
+we were complacent over the fact that we had succeeded with our general
+spring work far better than we had hoped, remembering that we were
+novices who had to take so much counsel from books and from our kind,
+practical neighbor.
+
+The foliage of the trees was now out in all its delicately shaded
+greenery, and midday often gave us a foretaste of summer heat. The
+slight blaze kindled in the old fireplace, after supper, was more for
+the sake of good cheer than for needed warmth, and at last it was
+dispensed with. Thrushes and other birds of richer and fuller song had
+come, and morning and evening we left the door open that we might enjoy
+the varied melody.
+
+Our first plantings of potatoes and early vegetables were now up and
+looked promising. So a new phase of labor--that of cultivation--began.
+New broods of chickens were coming off, and Winnie had many families to
+look after. Nevertheless, although there was much to attend to, the
+season was bringing a short breathing-spell, and I resolved to take
+advantage of it. So I said one Friday evening: "If to-morrow is fair,
+we'll take a vacation. What do you say to a day's fishing and sailing
+on the river?"
+
+A jubilant shout greeted this proposal, and when it had subsided,
+Mousie asked, "Can't Junior go with us?"
+
+"Certainly," I replied; "I'll go over right after supper, and make sure
+that his father consents."
+
+Mr. Jones said, "Yes," and Merton and Junior were soon busy with their
+preparations, which were continued until the long twilight deepened
+into dusk.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+WE GO A-FISHING
+
+
+The following day, happily, proved all that we could desire. The
+children were up with the dawn, and Junior was not long in joining us.
+By eight o'clock we had finished breakfast and the morning work, our
+lunch-basket was packed, and the market-wagon stood at the door. Mr.
+Jones had good-naturedly promised to take a look at the premises
+occasionally to see that all was right. I had put but one seat in the
+wagon for my wife and myself, since the young people decided that a
+straw-ride to the river would be "more fun than a parlor-car."
+
+My wife entered into the spirit of this little outing with a zest which
+gave me deep content. Her face indicated no regretful thoughts turning
+toward the Egypt of the city; her mother love was so strong that she
+was happy with the children. The robins, of which there seemed no end
+about the house, gave us a tuneful and hilarious send-off; the grown
+people and children whom we met smiled and cheered, following us with
+envious eyes. Each of the children held a pole aloft, and Merton said
+that "the wagon looked as if our Lima-bean patch was off on a visit."
+
+In the village we increased our stock of lines and hooks, and bought a
+few corks for floats. We soon reached the mouth of the Moodna Creek,
+where stood a weather-beaten boat-house, with a stable adjoining, in
+which old Bay could enjoy himself in his quiet, prosaic way. A
+good-sized boat was hired, and, as the tide was in, we at first decided
+to go up the creek as far as possible and float down with the ebb.
+This, to the children, was like a voyage of discovery, and there was a
+general airing of geography, each little bay, point, and gulf receiving
+some noted name. At last we reached a deep, shaded pool, which was
+eventually dubbed "Bobsey's Luck;" for he nearly fell into it in his
+eagerness to take off a minnow that had managed to fasten itself to his
+hook.
+
+Merton and Junior, being more experienced anglers, went ashore to make
+some casts on the ripples and rapids of the stream above, and secured
+several fine "winfish." The rest of us were content to take it easy in
+the shade and hook an occasional cat and sun fish. At last the younger
+children wanted variety, so I permitted them to land on the wooded
+bank, kindle a little fire, and roast some clams that we had bought at
+the boat-house. The smoke and the tempting odors lured Merton and
+Junior, who soon proved that boys' appetites can always be depended
+upon.
+
+Time passed rapidly, and I at last noticed that the tide had fallen to
+such a degree as to fill me with alarm.
+
+"Come, youngsters," I cried, "we must go back at once, or we shall have
+to stay here till almost night."
+
+They scrambled on board, and we started down-stream, but soon came to
+shallow water, as was proved by the swift current and the ripples. A
+moment later we were hard aground. In vain we pushed with the oars; the
+boat would not budge. Then Junior sat down and coolly began to take off
+shoes and stockings. In a flash Merton followed his example. There was
+no help for it, and we had no time to lose. Over they splashed,
+lightening the boat, and taking the "painter," or tie-rope, at the bow,
+they pulled manfully. Slowly at first, but with increasing progress,
+the keel grated over the stones, and at last we were again afloat. A
+round of applause greeted the boys as they sprung back into the boat,
+and away we went, cautiously avoiding shoals and sand-bars, until we
+reached Plum Point, where we expected to spend the remainder of the
+day. Here, for a time, we had excellent sport, and pulled up sunfish
+and white perch of a very fair size. Bobsey caught so large a specimen
+of the former variety that he had provided himself with a supper equal
+even to his capacity.
+
+The day ended in unalloyed pleasure, and never had the old farm-house
+looked so like home as when it greeted us again in the evening glow of
+the late spring sun. Merton and Junior divided the finny spoils to
+their satisfaction, while Winnie and I visited the chicken-coops and
+found that there had been no mishaps during our absence. I told my boy
+that I would milk the cow while he cleaned the fish for supper, and
+when at last we sat down we formed a tired, hilarious, and hungry
+group. Surely, if fish were created to be eaten, our enjoyment of their
+browned sweetness must have rounded out their existence completely.
+
+"O papa!" exclaimed Merton, at the breakfast table, on Monday morning;
+"we haven't planted any musk and water melons!"
+
+"That is true," I replied. "I find that I overlooked melons in making
+out my list of seeds. Indeed, I passed them over, I imagine, as a
+luxury that we could dispense with the first year."
+
+"I'll take care of 'em if you will only let us have some," persisted
+the boy; and the other children joined in his request.
+
+"But the garden is all filled up," I said, thoughtfully; "and I fear it
+is too late to plant now."
+
+Looks of disappointment led me to think further and I got one of my
+seed catalogues.
+
+"Here are some early kinds named and perhaps they would mature; but
+where shall we put them?"
+
+"Seems to me we had better have a little less corn, if room can be made
+for melons," was Merton's suggestion.
+
+"I'll tell you what we'll do," I continued. "We've had such good
+fortune in accomplishing our early work, and you have helped so nicely,
+that you shall try your hand at melons. Drive your mother and Mousie
+down to the village this morning, and get some seeds of the nutmeg
+musk-melon and Phinney's early watermelon. I'll take two rows in the
+early corn on the warm garden slope, pull up every third hill, and
+make, in their places, nice, warm, rich beds for the seed which we will
+plant as soon as you come back. I don't believe the corn will shade the
+melon vines too much; and as soon as we have taken off the green ears
+we will cut away the stalks. Thus we shall get two crops from the same
+ground."
+
+This plan was carried out, and the melon seed came up in a very
+promising way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+WEEDS AND WORKING FOR DEAR LIFE
+
+
+The beautiful transition period of spring passing into summer would
+have filled us with delight had we not found a hostile army advancing
+on us--annual weeds. When we planted the garden, the soil was brown and
+clean. The early vegetables came up in well-defined green rows, the
+weeds appearing with them, too few and scattered to cause anxiety. Now
+all was changed. Weeds seemed created by magic in a night. The garden
+was becoming evenly green throughout; and the vegetables, in some
+cases, could scarcely be distinguished from the ranker growth of
+crowding, unknown plants among and around them. I also saw that our
+corn and potato field would soon become, if left alone, as verdant as
+the meadow beyond. I began to fear that we could not cope with these
+myriads of foes, little now, but growing while we slept, and stealing a
+march on us in one part of the place while we destroyed them in another.
+
+With something like dismay I called Mr. Jones's attention to these
+silent forces, invading, not only the garden and fields, but the
+raspberries and, indeed, all the ground now devoted to fruit.
+
+He laughed and said: "The Philistines are on you, sure enough. I'm busy
+whackin' them over myself, but I guess I'll have to come and give you a
+lift, for you must get these weeds well under before hayin' and
+raspberry-pickin'-time comes. It's warm to-day, and the ground's
+middlin' dry. I'll show you what can be done in short metre. By the
+way, I'll give you a little wrinkle worth knowin'. I've observed that
+you didn't bring the children to the country to be like weeds--just ter
+grow and run ter seed, ye know. It's 'stonishin' how soon weeds,
+whether they're people or pusley, get seedy. Well, now, call the
+children and come with me to the garden."
+
+We were all soon there, including my wife, who shared my solicitude.
+
+"You see," resumed Mr. Jones, "that these weakly little rows of
+carrots, beets, and onions would soon be choked by these weeds, not an
+inch high yet. The same is true of the corn and peas and other sags.
+The pertaters are strong enough to take care of themselves for a time,
+but not long. I see you and Merton have been tryin' to weed and hoe
+them out at the same time. Well, you can't keep up with the work in
+that way. Take now this bed of beets; the weeds are gettin' even all
+over it, and they're thicker, if anywhere, right in the row, so that it
+takes a good eye to see the beets. But here they are, and here they run
+across the bed. Now look at me. One good showin' is worth all the
+tellin' and readin' from now to Christmas. You see, I begin with my two
+hands, and pull out all the weeds on each side of the little row, and I
+pull 'em away from the young beets so as not to disturb them, but to
+leave 'em standin' straight and saucy. Careless hands will half pull
+out the vegetables at the same time with the weeds. I had to strap
+Junior once before he learned that fact, and it was amazin' how I
+helped his eyesight and trained his fingers through his back. Well,
+now, you see, I've cleared out this row of beets half across the bed
+and the ground for an inch or two on each side of it. I drop the weeds
+right down in the spaces between the rows, for the sun will dry 'em up
+before dinner-time. Now I'll take another row."
+
+By this time Merton and I were following his example, and in a few
+moments a part of three more rows had been treated in the same way.
+
+"Now," continued Mr. Jones, "the weeds are all out of the rows that
+we've done, and for a little space on each side of 'em. The beets have
+a chance to grow unchoked, and to get ahead. These other little green
+varmints in the ground, between the rows, are too small to do any harm
+yet. Practically the beets are cleaned out, and will have all the
+ground they need to themselves for three or four days; but these weeds
+between the rows would soon swamp everything. Now, give me a hoe, and
+I'll fix THEM."
+
+He drew the useful tool carefully and evenly through the spaces between
+the rows, and our enemies were lying on their sides ready to wither
+away in the morning sun.
+
+"You see after the rows are weeded out how quickly you can hoe the
+spaces between 'em," my neighbor concluded. "Now the children can do
+this weedin'. Your and Merton's time's too valyble. When weeds are
+pulled from right in and around vegetables, the rest can stand without
+harm for a while, till you can get around with the hoe and cultivator.
+This weedin' out business is 'specially important in rainy weather, for
+it only hurts ground to hoe or work it in wet, showery days, and the
+weeds don't mind it a bit. Warm, sunny spells, when the soil's a little
+dry, is the time to kill weeds. But you must be careful in weedin'
+then, or you'll so disturb the young, tender sass that it'll dry up,
+too. See, I'll pull some weeds carelessly. Now obsarve that the beets
+are half jerked up also. Of course that won't answer. I'll come over
+this afternoon with my cultivator, and we'll tackle the corn and
+pertaters, and make such a swath among these green Philistines that
+you'll sleep better to-night. But ye're goin' to come out right, mind,
+I tell ye so; and I've seen mor'n one city squash come to the country
+with the idee that they were goin' to beat us punkins all holler."
+
+And he left us laughing and hopeful.
+
+"Come, Winnie and Bobsey, begin here on each side of me. I'll show you
+this morning and then I trust you can be left to do the weeding
+carefully by yourselves to-morrow. Pressing as the work is, you shall
+have your afternoons until the berries are ripe."
+
+"Can't I help, too?" asked Mousie.
+
+I looked into her eager, wistful face, but said, firmly: "Not now,
+dear. The sun is too hot. Toward night, perhaps, I'll let you do a
+little. By helping mamma in the house you are doing your part."
+
+We made good progress, and the two younger children speedily learned
+the knack of working carefully, so as not to disturb the little
+vegetables. I soon found that weeding was back-aching work for me, and
+therefore "spelled" myself by hoeing out the spaces between the rows.
+By the time the music of the dinner-bell sounded, hosts of our enemies
+were slain.
+
+Mr. Jones, true to his promise, was on hand at one o'clock with his
+cultivator, and began with the corn, which was now a few inches high.
+Merton and I followed with hoes, uncovering the tender shoots on which
+earth had been thrown, and dressing out the soil into clean flat hills.
+As our neighbor had said, it was astonishing how much work the
+horse-cultivator performed in a short time. I saw that it would be wise
+for us, another year, to plant in a way that would permit the use of
+horse-power. Even in the garden this method should be followed as far
+as possible.
+
+Mr. Jones was not a man of half-way measures. He remained helping us,
+till he had gone through the corn, once each way, twice between the
+long rows of potatoes, then twice through all the raspberry rows,
+giving us two full days of his time altogether.
+
+I handed him a dollar in addition to his charge, saying that I had
+never paid out money with greater satisfaction.
+
+"Well," he said, with a short, dry laugh, "I'll take it this time, for
+my work is sufferin' at home, but I didn't want you to get discouraged.
+Now, keep the hoes flyin', and you're ahead once more. Junior's at it
+early and late, I can tell ye."
+
+"So I supposed, for we've missed him."
+
+"Good reason. When I'm through with him he's ready enough to crawl into
+his little bed."
+
+So were we for a few days, in our winning fight with the weeds. One hot
+afternoon, about three o'clock, I saw that Merton was growing pale, and
+beginning to lag, and I said, decidedly: "Do you see that tree there?
+Go and lie down under it till I call you."
+
+"I guess I can stand it till night," he began, his pride a little
+touched.
+
+"Obey orders! I am captain."
+
+In five minutes he was fast asleep. I threw my coat over him, and sat
+down, proposing to have a half-hour's rest myself. My wife came out
+with a pitcher of cool butter-milk and nodded her head approvingly at
+us.
+
+"Well, my thoughtful Eve," I said, "I find that our modern Eden will
+cost a great many back-aches."
+
+"If you will only be prudent like this, you may save me a heart-ache.
+Robert, you are ambitious, and unused to this kind of work. Please
+don't ever be so foolish as to forget the comparative value of
+vegetables and yourselves. Honestly now" (with one of her saucy looks),
+"I'd rather do with a few bushels less, than do without you and
+Merton;" and she sat down and kept me idle for an hour.
+
+Then Merton got up, saying that he felt as "fresh as if he had had a
+night's rest," and we accomplished more in the cool of the day than if
+we had kept doggedly at work.
+
+I found that Winnie and Bobsey required rather different treatment. For
+a while they got on very well, but one morning I set them at a bed of
+parsnips about which I was particular. In the middle of the forenoon I
+went to the garden to see how they were getting on. Shouts of laughter
+made me fear that all was not well, and I soon discovered that they
+were throwing lumps of earth at each other. So absorbed were they in
+their untimely and mischievous fun that I was not noticed until I found
+Bobsey sitting plump on the vegetables, and the rows behind both the
+children very shabbily cleaned, not a few of the little plants having
+been pulled up with the weeds.
+
+Without a word I marched them into the house, then said: "Under arrest
+till night. Winnie, you go to your room. I shall strap Bobsey in his
+chair, and put him in the parlor by himself."
+
+The exchange of the hot garden for the cool rooms seemed rather an
+agreeable punishment at first, although Winnie felt the disgrace
+somewhat. When, at dinner, nothing but a cup of water and a piece of
+dry bread was taken to them, Bobsey began to howl, and Winnie to look
+as if the affair was growing serious. Late in the afternoon, when she
+found that she was not to gather the eggs or feed her beloved chickens,
+she, too, broke down and sobbed that she "wouldn't do so any more."
+Bobsey also pleaded so piteously for release, and promised such
+saint-like behavior, that I said: "Well, I will remit the rest of your
+punishment and put you on trial. You had no excuse for your mischief
+this morning, for I allow you to play the greater part of every
+afternoon, while Merton must stand by me the whole of the week."
+
+My touch of discipline brought up the morale of my little squad
+effectually for a time. The next afternoon even the memory of trouble
+was banished by the finding of the first wild strawberries. Exultation
+and universal interest prevailed as clusters of green and red berries
+were handed around to be smelled and examined. "Truly," my wife
+remarked, "even roses can scarcely equal the fragrance of the wild
+strawberry."
+
+From that day forward, for weeks, it seemed as if we entered on a diet
+of strawberries and roses. The old-fashioned bushes of the latter, near
+the house, had been well trimmed, and gave large, fine buds in
+consequence, while Mousie, Winnie, and Bobsey gleaned every wild berry
+that could be found, beginning with the sunny upland slopes and
+following the aromatic fruit down to the cool, moist borders of the
+creek.
+
+"Another year," I said, "I think you will be tired even of
+strawberries, for we shall have to pick early and late."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+NATURE SMILES AND HELPS
+
+
+The Saturday evening which brought us almost to the middle of June was
+welcomed indeed. The days preceding had been filled with hard, yet
+successful labor, and the weeds had been slaughtered by the million.
+The greater part of our crops had come up well and were growing nicely.
+In hoeing the corn, we had planted over the few missing hills, and now,
+like soldiers who had won the first great success of the campaign, we
+were in a mood to enjoy a rest to the utmost.
+
+This rest seemed all the more delightful when we awoke on the following
+morning, to the soft patter of rain. The preceding days had been
+unusually dry and warm, so that the grass and tender vegetables were
+beginning to suffer. I was worrying about the raspberries also, which
+were passing out of blossom. The cultivator had been through them, and
+Merton and I, only the evening before, had finished hoeing out the
+sprouting weeds and surplus suckers. I had observed, with dread, that
+just as the fruit was forming, the earth, especially around the hills,
+was getting dry.
+
+Now, looking out, I saw that the needful watering was not coming from a
+passing shower. The clouds were leaden from horizon to horizon; the
+rain fell with a gentle steadiness of a quiet summer storm, and had
+evidently been falling some hours already. The air was so fragrant that
+I threw wide open the door and windows. It was a true June incense,
+such as no art could distil, and when, at last, we all sat down to
+breakfast, of which crisp radishes taken a few moments before from our
+own garden formed a part, we felt that nature was carrying on our work
+of the past week in a way that filled our hearts with gratitude. The
+air was so warm that we did not fear the dampness. The door and windows
+were left open that we might enjoy the delicious odors and listen to
+the musical patter of the rain, which fell so softly that the birds
+were quite as tuneful as on other days.
+
+The children joined me in the porch, and my wife came out laughing, and
+put her hand on my shoulder as she said, "You are not through with July
+and August yet."
+
+Mousie held her hands out in the warm rain, saying: "I feel as if it
+would make me grow, too. Look at the green cherries up there, bobbing
+as the drops hit them."
+
+"Rain isn't good for chickens," Winnie remarked, doubtfully.
+
+"It won't hurt them," I replied, "for I have fed them so well that they
+needn't go out in the wet for food."
+
+The clouds gave us a more and more copious downfall as the day
+advanced, and I sat on the porch, resting and observing with conscious
+gratitude how beautifully nature was furthering all our labor, and
+fulfilling our hopes. This rain would greatly increase the hay-crops
+for the old horse and the cow; it would carry my vegetables rapidly
+toward maturity; and, best of all, would soak the raspberry ground so
+thoroughly that the fruit would be almost safe. What was true of our
+little plot was equally so of neighbor Jones's farm, and thousands of
+others. My wife sat with me much of the day, and I truly think that our
+thoughts were acceptable worship. By four in the afternoon the western
+horizon lightened, the clouds soon broke away, and the sun shone out
+briefly in undiminished splendor, turning the countless raindrops on
+foliage and grass into gems, literally, of the purest water. The
+bird-songs seemed almost ecstatic, and the voices of the children,
+permitted at last to go out of doors, vied with them in gladness.
+
+"Let July and August--yes, and bleak January--bring what they may," I
+said to my wife, "nevertheless, this is Eden."
+
+In spite of the muddy walks, we picked our way around the garden,
+exclaiming in pleased wonder at the growth made by our vegetable
+nurslings in a few brief hours, while, across the field, the corn and
+potato rows showed green, strong outlines.
+
+I found that Brindle in the pasture hadn't minded the rain, but only
+appeared the sleeker for it. When at last I came in to supper, I gave
+my wife a handful of berries, at which she and the children exclaimed.
+I had permitted a dozen plants of each variety of my garden
+strawberries to bear, that I might get some idea of the fruit. The
+blossoms on the other plants had been picked off as soon as they
+appeared, so that all the strength might go toward forming new plants.
+I found that a few of the berries of the two early kinds were ripe,
+also that the robins had been sampling them. In size, at least, they
+seemed wonderful compared with the wild fruit from the field, and I
+said:
+
+"There will be lively times for us when we must get a dozen bushels a
+day, like these, off to Mr. Bogart."
+
+The children, then, thought it would be the greatest fun in the world.
+By the time supper was over, Mr. Jones and Junior appeared, and my
+neighbor said in hearty good-will:
+
+"You got your cultivatin' done in the nick of time, Mr. Durham. This
+rain is a good hundred dollars in your pocket and mine, too."
+
+I soon perceived that our enemies, the weeds, had millions in reserve,
+and on Monday--the day after the rain--with all the children helping,
+even Mousie part of the time, we went at the garden again. To Mousie,
+scarcely an invalid any longer, was given the pleasure of picking the
+first green peas and shelling them for dinner. We had long been
+enjoying the succulent lettuce and the radishes, and now I said to
+Winnie: "To-morrow you can begin thinning out the beets, leaving the
+plants three inches apart. What you pull up can be cooked as spinach,
+or 'greens,' as country people say. Our garden will soon enable us to
+live like princes."
+
+As the ground dried after the rain, a light crust formed on the
+surface, and in the wetter portions it was even inclined to bake or
+crack. I was surprised at the almost magical effect of breaking up the
+crust and making the soil loose and mellow by cultivation. The letting
+in of air and light caused the plants to grow with wonderful vigor.
+
+On Wednesday morning Merton came running in, exclaiming, "O papa!
+there's a green worm eating all the leaves off the currant and
+gooseberry bushes."
+
+I followed him hastily, and found that considerable mischief had
+already been done, and I went to one of my fruit books in a hurry to
+find out how to cope with this new enemy.
+
+As a result, I said: "Merton, mamma wishes to go to the village. You
+drive her and Mousie down, and at the drug-store get two pounds of
+white hellebore, also a pound of Paris green, for I find that the
+potato bugs are getting too thick to be managed by hand. Remember that
+these are poisons, the Paris green a deadly one. Have them carefully
+wrapped up, and keep them from everything else. When you return I'll
+take charge of them. Also, get a new large watering-can."
+
+That afternoon I mixed a heaping tablespoonful of the hellebore through
+the contents of the watering-can, on which I had painted the word
+"Poison." With this infusion I sprinkled thoroughly every bush on which
+I could find a worm, and the next morning we had the pleasure of
+finding most of these enemies dead. But some escaped or new ones were
+hatched, and we found that we could save our currants only by constant
+vigilance. Every evening, until the fruit was nearly ripe, we went over
+the bushes, and gave the vile little pests a dose wherever we found
+them. Our other can I also labelled "Poison," with dashes under it to
+show that it was to be used for Paris green alone. A teaspoonful of
+this deadly agent was enough, according to my book, for the amount of
+water held by the ordinary wooden pail. I kept this poison out of
+Bobsey's reach, and, indeed, where no one but myself could get at it,
+and, by its aid, destroyed the potato beetles and their larvae also.
+Whatever may be true in other parts of the world, in our region,
+certainly, success can be secured only by prompt, intelligent effort.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+CHERRIES, BERRIES, AND BERRY-THIEVES
+
+
+An evening or two after this we were taught that not even in our
+retired nook had we escaped the dangers of city life. Winnie and
+Bobsey, in their rambles after strawberries, had met two other
+children, and, early in the acquaintance, fortunately brought them to
+the house. The moment I saw the strange girl, I recognized a rural type
+of Melissa Daggett, while the urchin of Bobsey's age did not scruple to
+use vile language in my hearing. I doubt whether the poor little savage
+had any better vernacular. I told them kindly but firmly that they must
+not come on the place again without my permission.
+
+After supper I went over and asked Mr. Jones about these children, and
+he replied, significantly, looking around first to make sure that no
+one heard him:
+
+"Mr. Durham, steer clear of those people. You know there are certain
+varmints on a farm to which we give a wide berth and kill 'em when we
+can. Of course we can't kill off this family, although a good
+contribution could be taken up any day to move 'em a hundred miles
+away. Still about everybody gives 'em a wide berth, and is civil to
+their faces. They'll rob you more or less, and you might as well make
+up your mind to it, and let 'em alone."
+
+"Suppose I don't let them alone?"
+
+"Well--remember, now, this is wholly between ourselves--there's been
+barns burned around here. Everybody's satisfied who sot 'em afire, but
+nothin' can be proved. Your cow or horse, too, might suddenly die.
+There's no tellin' what accidents would happen if you got their
+ill-will."
+
+"I can't take the course you suggest toward this family," I said, after
+a little thought. "It seems to me wrong on both sides. On one hand,
+they are treated as outlaws, and that would go far to make them such;
+on the other, they are permitted to levy a sort of blackmail and commit
+crime with impunity. Of course I must keep my children away from them;
+but, if the chance offers, I shall show the family kindness, and if
+they molest me I shall try to give them the law to the utmost."
+
+"Well," concluded Mr. Jones, with a shrug, "I've warned you, if they
+git down on yer, yer'll find 'em snakes in the grass."
+
+Returning home, I said nothing to Winnie and Bobsey against their
+recent companions, but told them that if they went with them again, or
+made the acquaintance of other strangers without permission, they would
+be put on bread and water for an entire day--that all such action was
+positively forbidden.
+
+It was evident, however, that the Melissa Daggett element was present
+in the country, and in an aggravated form. That it was not next door,
+or, rather, in the next room, was the redeeming feature. Residents in
+the country are usually separated by wide spaces from evil association.
+
+It must not be thought that my wife and children had no society except
+that afforded by Mr. Jones's family. They were gradually making
+pleasant and useful acquaintances, especially among those whom we met
+at church; but as these people have no material part in this simple
+history, they are not mentioned.
+
+The most important activities of the season were now drawing very near.
+The cherries were swelling fast; the currants were growing red, and
+were already pronounced "nice for pies;" and one morning Merton came
+rushing in with a red raspberry from the Highland Hardy variety. I was
+glad the time was at hand when I should begin to receive something
+besides advice from Mr. Bogart; for, careful as we had been, the drain
+on my capital had been long and steady, and were eager for the turn of
+the tide.
+
+I had bought a number of old Mr. Jamison's crates, had painted out his
+name and replaced it with mine. I now wrote to Mr. Bogart for packages
+best adapted to the shipping of cherries, currants, and raspberries.
+For the first he sent me baskets that held about a peck. These baskets
+were so cheap that they could be sold with the fruit. For currants,
+crates containing twenty-four quart baskets were forwarded. These, he
+wrote, would also do for black-caps this season, and for strawberries
+next year. For the red raspberries he sent me quite different crates,
+filled with little baskets holding only half a pint of fruit. Limited
+supplies of these packages were sent, for he said that a telegram would
+bring more the same day.
+
+The corn and potatoes were becoming weedy again. This time I made use
+of a light plow, Merton leading old Bay as at first. Then, with our
+hoes, we gave the rows a final dressing out. By the time we had
+finished, some of our grass was fit to cut, the raspberries needed a
+careful picking over, and the cherries on one tree were ready for
+market. The children and robins had already feasted, but I was hungry
+for a check from New York.
+
+I had long since decided not to attempt to carry on haying alone at
+this critical season, but had hired a man, too aged to hold his own
+among the harvesters on the neighboring farms. Mr. Jones had said of
+him: "He's a careful, trusty old fellow, who can do a good day's work
+yet if you don't hurry him. Most of your grass is in the meadow, some
+parts fit to cut before the others. Let the old man begin and mow what
+he can, every day. Then you won't have to cure and get in a great lot
+of hay all at once, and perhaps, too, when your raspberries most need
+pickin'."
+
+So, during the last days of June, old Mr. Jacox, who came at moderate
+wages, put in his scythe on the uplands. I spread the grass and raked
+it up when dry, and, with the aid of Merton and a rude, extemporized
+rack on the market-wagon, got the hay gradually into the barn. This
+labor took only part of the day; the rest of the time was employed in
+the garden and in picking fruit.
+
+On the last day of June we gathered a crate of early raspberries and
+eight baskets of cherries. In the cool of the afternoon, these were
+placed in the wagon, and with my wife and the three younger children, I
+drove to the Maizeville Landing with our first shipment to Mr. Bogart.
+
+"We are 'p'oducers,' at last, as Bobsey said," I cried, joyously. "And
+I trust that this small beginning will end in such big loads as will
+leave us no room for wife and children, but will eventually give them a
+carriage to ride in."
+
+Merton remained on guard to watch our precious ripening fruit.
+
+After our departure he began a vigilant patrol of the place, feeling
+much like a sentinel left on guard. About sun-down, he told me, as he
+was passing through the raspberry field, he thought he caught a glimpse
+of an old straw hat dodging down behind the bushes. He bounded toward
+the spot, a moment later confronting three children with tin pails. The
+two younger proved to be Winnie's objectionable acquaintances that I
+had told to keep off the place. The eldest was a boy, not far from
+Merton's age, and had justly won the name of being the worst boy in the
+region. All were the children of the dangerous neighbor against whom
+Mr. Jones had warned me.
+
+The boy at first regarded Merton with a sullen, defiant look, while his
+brother and sister coolly continued to steal the fruit.
+
+"Clear out," cried Merton. "We'll have you put in jail if you come here
+again."
+
+"You shut up and clear out yerself," said the boy, threateningly, "or
+I'll break yer head. Yer pap's away, and we ain't afraid of you. What's
+more, we're goin' ter have some cherries before--"
+
+Now Merton had a quick temper, and at this moment sprang at the fellow
+who was adding insult to injury, so quickly that he got in a blow that
+blackened one of the thief's eyes.
+
+Then they clinched, and, although his antagonist was the heavier,
+Merton thinks he could have whipped him had not the two younger
+marauders attacked him, tooth and nail, like cats. Finding himself
+getting the worst of it, he instinctively sent out a cry for his stanch
+friend Junior.
+
+Fortunately, this ally was coming along the road toward our house, and
+he gave an answering halloo.
+
+The vagrants, apparently, had a wholesome fear of John Jones, junior,
+for, on hearing his voice, they beat a hurried retreat; but knowing
+that no one was at the house, and in the spirit of revengeful mischief,
+they took their flight in that direction. Seeing Mousie's flower-bed,
+they ran and jumped upon that, breaking down half the plants, then
+dashed off through the coops, releasing the hens, and scattering the
+broods of chickens. Merton and Junior, who for a few moments had lost
+sight of the invaders in the thick raspberry bushes, were now in hot
+pursuit, and would have caught them again, had they not seen a man
+coming up the lane, accompanied by a big dog. Junior laid a hand on
+headlong Merton, whose blood was now at boiling heat, and said, "Stop."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+GIVEN HIS CHOICE
+
+
+Junior had good reason for bringing Merton to a sudden halt in his
+impetuous and hostile advance. The man coming up the lane, with a
+savage dog, was the father of the ill-nurtured children. He had felt a
+little uneasy as to the results of their raid upon our fruit, and had
+walked across the fields to give them the encouragement of his
+presence, or to cover their retreat, which he now did effectually.
+
+It took Junior but a moment to explain to my boy that they were no
+match "for the two brutes," as he expressed himself, adding, "The man
+is worse than the dog."
+
+Merton, however, was almost reckless from anger and a sense of
+unprovoked wrong, and he darted into the house for his gun.
+
+"See here, Merton," said Junior, firmly, "shoot the dog if they set him
+on us, but never fire at a human being. You'd better give me the gun; I
+am cooler than you are."
+
+They had no occasion to use the weapon, however. The man shook his fist
+at them, while his children indulged in taunts and coarse derision. The
+dog, sharing their spirit and not their discretion, started for the
+boys, but was recalled, and our undesirable neighbors departed
+leisurely.
+
+All this was related to me after nightfall, when I returned with my
+wife and younger children from the Maizeville Landing. I confess that I
+fully shared Merton's anger, although I listened quietly.
+
+"You grow white, Robert, when you are angry," said my wife. "I suppose
+that's the most dangerous kind of heat--white-heat. Don't take the
+matter so to heart. We can't risk getting the ill-will of these ugly
+people. You know what Mr. Jones said about them."
+
+"This question shall be settled in twenty-four hours!" I replied. "That
+man and his family are the pest of the neighborhood, and everyone lives
+in a sort of abject dread of them. Now, the neighbors must say 'yes' or
+'no' to the question whether we shall have decency, law, and order, or
+not. Merton, unharness the horse. Junior, come with me; I'm going to
+see your father."
+
+I found Mr. Jones sleepy and about to retire, but his blue eyes were
+soon wide open, with an angry fire in them.
+
+"You take the matter very quietly, Mr. Durham;" he said; "more quietly
+than I could."
+
+"I shall not fume about the affair a moment. I prefer to act. The only
+question for you and the other neighbors to decide is, Will you act
+with me? I am going to this man Bagley's house to-morrow, to give him
+his choice. It's either decency and law-abiding on his part, now, or
+prosecution before the law on mine. You say that you are sure that he
+has burned barns, and made himself generally the terror of the region.
+Now, I won't live in a neighborhood infested by people little better
+than wild Indians. My feelings as a man will not permit me to submit to
+insult and injury. What's more, it's time the people about here abated
+this nuisance."
+
+"You are right, Robert Durham!" said Mr. Jones, springing up and giving
+me his hand. "I've felt mean, and so have others, that we've allowed
+ourselves to be run over by this rapscallion. If you go to-morrow, I'll
+go with you, and so will Rollins. His hen-roost was robbed t'other
+night, and he tracked the thieves straight toward Bagley's house. He
+says his patience has given out. It only needs a leader to rouse the
+neighborhood, but it ain't very creditable to us that we let a
+new-comer like you face the thing first."
+
+"Very well," I said, "it's for you and your neighbors to show now how
+much grit and manhood you have. I shall start for Bagley's house at
+nine to-morrow. Of course I shall be glad to have company, and if he
+sees that the people will not stand any more of his rascality, he'll be
+more apt to behave himself or else clear out."
+
+"He'll have to do one or the other," said Mr. Jones, grimly. "I'll go
+right down to Rolling's. Come, Junior, we may want you."
+
+At eight o'clock the next morning, a dozen men, including the
+constable, were in our yard. My wife whispered, "Do be prudent,
+Robert." She was much reassured, however, by the largeness of our force.
+
+We soon reached the dilapidated hovel, and were so fortunate as to find
+Bagley and all his family at home. Although it was the busiest season,
+he was idle. As I led my forces straight toward the door, it was
+evident that he was surprised and disconcerted, in spite of his attempt
+to maintain a sullen and defiant aspect. I saw his evil eye resting on
+one and another of our group, as if he was storing up grudges to be
+well paid on future dark nights. His eldest son stood with the dog at
+the corner of the house, and as I approached, the cur, set on by the
+boy, came toward me with a stealthy step. I carried a heavy cane, and
+just as the brute was about to take me by the leg, I struck him a blow
+on the head that sent him howling away.
+
+The man for a moment acted almost as if he had been struck himself. His
+bloated visage became inflamed, and he sprang toward me.
+
+"Stop!" I thundered. My neighbors closed around me, and he
+instinctively drew back.
+
+"Bagley," I cried, "look me in the eye." And he fixed upon me a gaze
+full of impotent anger. "Now," I resumed, "I wish you and your family
+to understand that you've come to the end of your rope. You must become
+decent, law-abiding people, like the rest of us, or we shall put you
+where you can't harm us. I, for one, am going to give you a last
+chance. Your children were stealing my fruit last night, and acting
+shamefully afterward. You also trespassed, and you threatened these two
+boys; you are idle in the busiest time, and think you can live by
+plunder. Now, you and yours must turn the sharpest corner you ever saw.
+Your two eldest children can come and pick berries for me at the usual
+wages, if they obey my orders and behave themselves. One of the
+neighbors here says he'll give you work, if you try to do it well. If
+you accept these terms, I'll let the past go. If you don't, I'll have
+the constable arrest your boy at once, and I'll see that he gets the
+heaviest sentence the law allows, while if you or your children make
+any further trouble, I'll meet you promptly in every way the law
+permits. But, little as you deserve it, I am going to give you and your
+family one chance to reform, before proceeding against you. Only
+understand one thing, I am not afraid of you. I've had my say."
+
+"I haven't had mine," said Rollins, stepping forward excitedly. "You,
+or your scapegrace boy there, robbed my hen-roost the other night, and
+you've robbed it before. There isn't a man in this region but believes
+that it was you who burned the barns and hay-stacks. We won't stand
+this nonsense another hour. You've got to come to my hay-fields and
+work out the price of those chickens, and after that I'll give you fair
+wages. But if there's any more trouble, we'll clean you out as we would
+a family of weasels."
+
+"Yes, neighbor Bagley," added Mr. Jones, in his dry, caustic way,
+"think soberly. I hope you are sober. I'm not one of the threatening
+barkin' sort, but I've reached the p'int where I'll bite. The law will
+protect us, an' the hull neighborhood has resolved, with Mr. Durham
+here, that you and your children shall make no more trouble than he and
+his children. See?"
+
+"Look-a-here," began the man, blusteringly, "you needn't come
+threatenin' in this blood-and-thunder style. The law'll protect me as
+well as--"
+
+Ominous murmurs were arising from all my neighbors, and Mr. Jones now
+came out strong.
+
+"Neighbors," he said, "keep cool. The time to act hasn't come yet. See
+here, Bagley, it's hayin' and harvest. Our time's vallyble, whether
+yours is or not. You kin have just three minutes to decide whether
+you'll take your oath to stop your maraudin' and that of your
+children;" and he pulled out his watch.
+
+"Let me add my word," said a little man, stepping forward. "I own this
+house, and the rent is long overdue. Follow neighbor Jones's advice or
+we'll see that the sheriff puts your traps out in the middle of the
+road."
+
+"Oh, of course," began Bagley. "What kin one feller do against a crowd?"
+
+"Sw'ar, as I told you," said Mr. Jones, sharply and emphatically. "What
+do you mean by hangin' fire so? Do you s'pose this is child's play and
+make-believe? Don't ye know that when quiet, peaceable neighbors git
+riled up to our pitch, they mean what they say? Sw'ar, as I said, and
+be mighty sudden about it."
+
+"Don't be a fool," added his wife, who stood trembling behind him.
+"Can't you see?"
+
+"Very well, I sw'ar it," said the man, in some trepidation.
+
+"Now, Bagley," said Mr. Jones, putting back his watch, "we want to
+convert you thoroughly this mornin'. The first bit of mischief that
+takes place in this borough will bring the weight of the law on you;"
+and, wheeling on his heel, he left the yard, followed by the others.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+GIVEN A CHANCE
+
+
+"Come in, Mr. Bagley," I said, "and bring the children. I want to talk
+with you all. Merton, you go home with Junior."
+
+"But, papa--" he objected.
+
+"Do as I bid you," I said, firmly, and I entered the squalid abode.
+
+The man and the children followed me wonderingly. I sat down and looked
+the man steadily in the eye for a moment.
+
+"Let us settle one thing first," I began. "Do you think I am afraid of
+you?"
+
+"S'pose not, with sich backin' as yer got," was the somewhat nervous
+reply.
+
+"I told Mr. Jones after I came home last night that I should fight this
+thing alone if no one stood by me. But you see that your neighbors have
+reached the limit of forbearance. Now, Mr. Bagley, I didn't remain to
+threaten you. There has been enough of that, and from very resolute,
+angry men, too. I wish to give you and yours a chance. You've come to a
+place where two roads branch; you must take one or the other. You can't
+help yourself. You and your children won't be allowed to steal or prowl
+about any more. That's settled. If you go away and begin the same
+wretched life elsewhere, you'll soon reach the same result; you and
+your son will be lodged in jail and put at hard labor. Would you not
+better make up your mind to work for yourself and family, like an
+honest man? Look at these children. How are you bringing them up?--Take
+the road to the right. Do your level best, and I'll help you. I'll let
+bygones be bygones, and aid you in becoming a respectable citizen."
+
+"Oh, Hank, do be a man, now that Mr. Durham gives you a chance," sobbed
+his wife; "you know we've been living badly."
+
+"That's it, Bagley. These are the questions you must decide. If you'll
+try to be a man, I'll give you my hand to stand by you. My religion,
+such as it is, requires that I shall not let a man go wrong if I can
+help it. If you'll take the road to the right and do your level best,
+there's my hand."
+
+The man showed his emotion by a slight tremor only, and after a
+moment's thoughtful hesitation he took my hand and said, in a hoarse,
+choking voice: "You've got a claim on me now which all the rest
+couldn't git, even if they put a rope around my neck. I s'pose I have
+lived like a brute, but I've been treated like one, too."
+
+"If you'll do as I say, I'll guarantee that within six months you'll be
+receiving all the kindness that a self-respecting man wants," I
+answered.
+
+Then, turning to his wife, I asked, "What have you in the house to eat?"
+
+"Next to nothin'," she said, drying her eyes with her apron, and then
+throwing open their bare cupboard.
+
+"Put on your coat, Bagley, and come with me," I said.
+
+He and his wife began to be profuse with thanks.
+
+"No, no!" I said, firmly. "I'm not going to give you a penny's worth of
+anything while you are able to earn a living. You shall have food at
+once; but I shall expect you to pay for it in work. I am going to treat
+you like a man and a woman, and not like beggars."
+
+A few minutes later, some of the neighbors were much surprised to see
+Bagley and myself going up the road together.
+
+My wife, Merton, and tender-hearted Mousie were at the head of the lane
+watching for me. Reassured, as we approached, they returned wonderingly
+to the house, and met us at the door.
+
+"This is Mrs. Durham," I said. "My dear, please give Mr. Bagley ten
+pounds of flour and a piece of pork. After you're had your dinner, Mr.
+Bagley, I shall expect you, as we've agreed. And if you'll chain up
+that dog of yours, or, better still, knock it on the head with an axe,
+Mrs. Durham will go down and see your wife about fixing up your
+children."
+
+Winifred gave me a pleased, intelligent look, and said, "Come in, Mr.
+Bagley;" while Merton and I hastened away to catch up with neglected
+work.
+
+"Your husband's been good to me," said the man, abruptly.
+
+"That's because he believes you are going to be good to yourself and
+your family," was her smiling reply.
+
+"Will you come and see my wife?" he asked.
+
+"Certainly, if I don't have to face your dog," replied Winifred.
+
+"I'll kill the critter soon's I go home," muttered Bagley.
+
+"It hardly pays to keep a big, useless dog," was my wife's practical
+comment.
+
+In going to the cellar for the meat, she left him alone for a moment or
+two with Mousie; and he, under his new impulses, said: "Little gal, ef
+my children hurt your flowers agin, let me know, and I'll thrash 'em!"
+
+The child stole to his side and gave him her hand, as she replied, "Try
+being kind to them."
+
+Bagley went home with some new ideas under his tattered old hat. At
+half-past twelve he was on hand, ready for work.
+
+"That dog that tried to bite ye is dead and buried," he said, "and I
+hope I buried some of my dog natur' with 'im."
+
+"You've shown your good sense. But I haven't time to talk now. The old
+man has mown a good deal of grass. I want you to shake it out, and, as
+soon as he says it's dry enough, to rake it up. Toward night I'll be
+out with the wagon, and we'll stow all that's fit into the barn.
+To-morrow I want your two eldest children to come and pick berries."
+
+"I'm in fer it, Mr. Durham. You've given me your hand, and I'll show
+yer how that goes furder with me than all the blood-and-thunder talk in
+Maizeville," said Bagley, with some feeling.
+
+"Then you'll show that you can be a man like the rest of us," I said,
+as I hastened to our early dinner.
+
+My wife beamed and nodded at me. "I'm not going to say anything to set
+you up too much," she said. "You are great on problems, and you are
+solving one even better than I hoped."
+
+"It isn't solved yet," I replied. "We have only started Bagley and his
+people on the right road. It will require much patience and good
+management to keep them there. I rather think you'll have the hardest
+part of the problem yet on your hands. I have little time for problems
+now, however, except that of making the most of this season of rapid
+growth and harvest. I declare I'm almost bewildered when I see how much
+there is to be done on every side. Children, we must all act like
+soldiers in the middle of a fight. Every stroke must tell. Now, we'll
+hold a council of war, so as to make the most of the afternoon's work.
+Merton, how are the raspberries?"
+
+"There are more ripe, papa, than I thought there would be."
+
+"Then, Winnie, you and Bobsey must leave the weeding in the garden and
+help Merton pick berries this afternoon."
+
+"As soon as it gets cooler," said my wife, "Mousie and I are going to
+pick, also."
+
+"Very well," I agreed. "You can give us raspberries and milk to-night,
+and so you will be getting supper at the same time. Until the hay is
+ready to come in, I shall keep on hoeing in the garden, the weeds grow
+so rapidly. Tomorrow will be a regular fruit day all around, for there
+are two more cherry-trees that need picking."
+
+Our short nooning over, we all went to our several tasks. The children
+were made to feel that now was the chance to win our bread for months
+to come, and that there must be no shirking. Mousie promised to clear
+away the things while my wife, protected by a large sun-shade, walked
+slowly down to the Bagley cottage. Having seen that Merton and his
+little squad were filling the baskets with raspberries properly, I went
+to the garden and slaughtered the weeds where they threatened to do the
+most harm.
+
+At last I became so hot and wearied that I thought I would visit a
+distant part of the upland meadow, and see how Bagley was progressing.
+He was raking manfully, and had accomplished a fair amount of work, but
+it was evident that he was almost exhausted. He was not accustomed to
+hard work, and had rendered himself still more unfit for it by
+dissipation.
+
+"See here, Bagley," I said, "you are doing well, but you will have to
+break yourself into harness gradually. I don't wish to be hard upon
+you. Lie down under this tree for half an hour, and by that time I
+shall be out with the wagon."
+
+"Mr. Durham, you have the feelin's of a man for a feller," said Bagley,
+gratefully. "I'll make up the time arter it gets cooler."
+
+Returning to the raspberry patch, I found Bobsey almost asleep, the
+berries often falling from his nerveless hands. Merton, meanwhile, with
+something of the spirit of a martinet, was spurring him to his task. I
+remembered that the little fellow had been busy since breakfast, and
+decided that he also, of my forces, should have a rest. He started up
+when he saw me coming through the bushes, and tried to pick with vigor
+again. As I took him up in my arms, he began, apprehensively, "Papa, I
+will pick faster, but I'm so tired!"
+
+I reassured him with a kiss which left a decided raspberry flavor on my
+lips, carried him into the barn, and, tossing him on a heap of hay,
+said, "Sleep there, my little man, till you are rested."
+
+He was soon snoring blissfully, and when I reached the meadow with the
+wagon, Bagley was ready to help with the loading.
+
+"Well, well!" he exclaimed, "a little breathin'-spell does do a feller
+good on a hot day."
+
+"No doubt about it," I said. "So long as you are on the right road, it
+does no harm to sit down a bit, because when you start again it's in
+the right direction."
+
+After we had piled on as much of a load as the rude, extemporized rack
+on my market wagon could hold, I added, "You needn't go to the barn
+with me, for I can pitch the hay into the mow. Rake up another load, if
+you feel able."
+
+"Oh, I'm all right now," he protested.
+
+By the time I had unloaded the hay, I found that my wife and Mousie
+were among the raspberries, and that the number of full, fragrant
+little baskets was increasing rapidly.
+
+"Winifred, isn't this work, with your walk to the Bagley cottage, too
+much for you?"
+
+"Oh, no," she replied, lightly. "An afternoon in idleness in a stifling
+city flat would have been more exhausting. It's growing cool now. What
+wretched, shiftless people those Bagleys are! But I have hopes of them.
+I'm glad Bobsey's having a nap."
+
+"You shall tell me about your visit to-night. We are making good
+progress. Bagley is doing his best. Winnie," I called, "come here."
+
+She brought her basket, nearly filled, and I saw that her eyes were
+heavy with weariness also.
+
+"You've done well to-day, my child. Now go and look after your
+chickens, big and little. Then your day's work is done, and you can do
+what you please;" and I started for the meadow again.
+
+By six o'clock, we had in the barn three loads of hay, and Merton had
+packed four crates of berries ready for market. Bobsey was now running
+about, as lively as a cricket, and Winnie, with a child's elasticity,
+was nearly as sportive. Bagley, after making up his half-hour, came up
+the lane with a rake, instead of his ugly dog as on the evening before.
+A few moments later, he helped me lift the crates into the market
+wagon; and then, after a little awkward hesitation, began:
+
+"I say, Mr. Durham, can't ye give a feller a job yerself? I declar' to
+you, I want to brace up; but I know how it'll be down at Rollins's.
+He'll be savage as a meat-axe to me, and his men will be a-gibin'. Give
+me a job yerself, and I'll save enough out o' my wages to pay for his
+chickens, or you kin keep 'nuff back to pay for 'em."
+
+I thought a moment, and then said, promptly: "I'll agree to this if
+Rollins will. I'll see him to-night."
+
+"Did yer wife go to see my wife?"
+
+"Yes, and she says she has hopes of you all. You've earned your bread
+to-day as honestly as I have, and you've more than paid for what my
+wife gave you this morning. Here's a quarter to make the day square,
+and here's a couple of baskets of raspberries left over. Take them to
+the children." "Well, yer bring me right to the mark," he said,
+emphasizing his words with a slap on his thigh. "I've got an uphill row
+to hoe, and it's good ter have some human critters around that'll help
+a feller a bit."
+
+I laughed as I clapped him on the shoulder, and said: "You're going to
+win the fight, Bagley. I'll see Rollins at once, for I find I shall
+need another man awhile."
+
+"Give me the job then," he said, eagerly, "and give me what you think
+I'm wuth;" and he jogged off home with that leaven of all good in his
+heart--the hope of better things.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXV
+
+"WE SHALL ALL EARN OUR SALT"
+
+
+Raspberries and milk, with bread and butter and a cup of tea, made a
+supper that we all relished, and then Merton and I started for the
+boat-landing. I let the boy drive and deliver the crates to the freight
+agent, for I wished him to relieve me of this task occasionally. On our
+way to the landing I saw Rollins, who readily agreed to Bagley's wish,
+on condition that I guaranteed payment for the chickens. Stopping at
+the man's cottage further on, I told him this, and he, in his emphatic
+way, declared: "I vow ter you, Mr. Durham, ye shan't lose a feather's
+worth o' the chickens."
+
+Returning home, poor Merton was so tired and drowsy that he nearly fell
+off the seat. Before long I took the reins from his hands, and he was
+asleep with his head on my shoulder. Winifred was dozing in her chair,
+but brightened up as we came in. A little judicious praise and a bowl
+of bread and milk strengthened the boy wonderfully. He saw the need of
+especial effort at this time, and also saw that he was not being driven
+unfeelingly.
+
+As I sat alone with my wife, resting a few minutes before retiring, I
+said: "Well, Winifred, it must be plain to you by this time that the
+summer campaign will be a hard one. How are we going to stand it?"
+
+"I'll tell you next fall," she replied, with a laugh. "No problems
+to-night, thank you."
+
+"I'm gathering a queer lot of helpers in my effort to live in the
+country," I continued. "There's old Mr. Jacox, who is too aged to hold
+his own in other harvest-fields. Bagley and his tribe--"
+
+"And a city wife and a lot of city children," she added.
+
+"And a city greenhorn of a man at the head of you all," I concluded.
+
+"Well," she replied, rising with an odd little blending of laugh and
+yawn, "I'm not afraid but that we shall all earn our salt."
+
+Thus came to an end the long, eventful day, which prepared the way for
+many others of similar character, and suggested many of the conditions
+of our problem of country living.
+
+Bagley appeared bright and early the following morning with his two
+elder children, and I was now confronted with the task of managing them
+and making them useful. Upon one thing I was certainly resolved--there
+should be no quixotic sentiment in our relations, and no companionship
+between his children and mine.
+
+Therefore, I took him and his girl and boy aside, and said: "I'm going
+to be simple and outspoken with you. Some of my neighbors think I'm a
+fool because I give you work when I can get others. I shall prove that
+I am not a fool, for the reason that I shall not permit any nonsense,
+and you can show that I am not a fool by doing your work well and
+quietly. Bagley, I want you to understand that your children do not
+come here to play with mine. No matter whom I employed, I should keep
+my children by themselves. Now, do you understand this?"
+
+They nodded affirmatively.
+
+"Are you all willing to take simple, straightforward directions, and do
+your best? I'm not asking what is unreasonable, for I shall not be more
+strict with you than with my own children."
+
+"No use o' beatin' around the bush, Mr. Durham," said Bagley,
+good-naturedly; "we've come here to 'arn our livin', and to do as you
+say."
+
+"I can get along with you, Bagley, but your children will find it hard
+to follow my rules, because they are children, and are not used to
+restraint. Yet they must do it, or there'll be trouble at once. They
+must work quietly and steadily while they do work, and when I am
+through with them, they must go straight home. They mustn't lounge
+about the place. If they will obey, Mrs. Durham and I will be good
+friends to them, and by fall we will fix them up so that they can go to
+school."
+
+The little arabs looked askance at me and made me think of two wild
+animals that had been caught, and were intelligent enough to understand
+that they must be tamed. They were submissive, but made no false
+pretences of enjoying the prospect.
+
+"I shall keep a gad handy," said their father, with a significant nod
+at them.
+
+"Well, youngsters," I concluded, laughing, "perhaps you'll need it
+occasionally. I hope not, however. I shall keep no gad, but I shall
+have an eye on you when you least expect it; and if you go through the
+picking-season well, I shall have a nice present for you both. Now, you
+are to receive so much a basket, if the baskets are properly filled,
+and therefore it will depend on yourselves how much you earn. You shall
+be paid every day. So now for a good start toward becoming a man and a
+woman."
+
+I led them to one side of the raspberry patch and put them under
+Merton's charge saying, "You must pick exactly as he directs."
+
+Winnie and Bobsey were to pick in another part of the field, Mousie
+aiding until the sun grew too warm for the delicate child. Bagley was
+to divide his time between hoeing in the garden and spreading the grass
+after the scythe of old Mr. Jacox. From my ladder against a
+cherry-tree, I was able to keep a general outlook over my motley
+forces, and we all made good progress till dinner, which, like the help
+we employed, we now had at twelve o'clock. Bagley and his children sat
+down to their lunch under the shade of an apple-tree at some distance,
+yet in plain view through our open door. Their repast must have been
+meagre, judging from the time in which it was despatched, and my wife
+said, "Can't I send them something?"
+
+"Certainly; what have you to send?"
+
+"Well, I've made a cherry pudding; I don't suppose there is much more
+than enough for us, though."
+
+"Children," I cried, "let's take a vote. Shall we share our cherry
+pudding with the Bagleys?"
+
+"Yes," came the unanimous reply, although Bobsey's voice was rather
+faint.
+
+Merton carried the delicacy to the group under the tree, and it was
+gratefully and speedily devoured.
+
+"That is the way to the hearts of those children," said my wife, at the
+same time slyly slipping her portion of the pudding upon Bobsey's plate.
+
+I appeared very blind, but asked her to get me something from the
+kitchen. While she was gone, I exchanged my plate of pudding, untouched
+as yet, for hers, and gave the children a wink. We all had a great
+laugh over mamma's well-assumed surprise and perplexity. How a little
+fun will freshen up children, especially when, from necessity, their
+tasks are long and heavy!
+
+We were startled from the table by a low mutter of thunder. Hastening
+out, I saw an ominous cloud in the west. My first thought was that all
+should go to the raspberries and pick till the rain drove us in; but
+Bagley now proved a useful friend, for he shambled up and said: "If I
+was you, I'd have those cherries picked fust. You'll find that a
+thunder-shower'll rot 'em in one night. The wet won't hurt the berries
+much."
+
+His words reminded me of what I had seen when a boy--a tree full of
+split, half-decayed cherries--and I told him to go to picking at once.
+I also sent his eldest boy and Merton into the trees. Old Jacox was
+told to get the grass he had cut into as good shape as possible before
+the shower. My wife and Mousie left the table standing, and, hastening
+to the raspberry field, helped Winnie and Bobsey and the other Bagley
+child to pick the ripest berries. We all worked like beavers till the
+vivid flashes and great drops drove us to shelter.
+
+Fortunately, the shower came up slowly, and we nearly stripped the
+cherry-trees, carrying the fruit into the house, there to be arranged
+for market in the neat peck-baskets with coarse bagging covers which
+Mr. Bogart had sent me. The little baskets of raspberries almost
+covered the barn floor by the time the rain began, but they were safe.
+At first, the children were almost terrified by the vivid lightning,
+but this phase of the storm soon passed, and the clouds seemed to
+settle down for a steady rain.
+
+"'Tisn't goin' to let up," said Bagley, after a while. "We might as
+well jog home now as any time."
+
+"But you'll get wet," I objected.
+
+"It won't be the fust time," answered Bagley. "The children don't mind
+it any more'n ducks."
+
+"Well, let's settle, then," I said. "You need some money to buy food at
+once."
+
+"I reckon I do," was the earnest reply.
+
+"There's a dollar for your day's work, and here is what your children
+have earned. Are you satisfied?" I asked.
+
+"I be, and I thank you, sir. I'll go down to the store this evenin',"
+he added.
+
+"And buy food only," I said, with a meaning look.
+
+"Flour and pork only, sir. I've given you my hand on't;" and away they
+all jogged through the thick-falling drops.
+
+We packed our fruit for market, and looked vainly for clearing skies in
+the west.
+
+"There's no help for it," I said. "The sooner I start for the landing
+the better, so that I can return before it becomes very dark."
+
+My wife exclaimed against this, but I added: "Think a moment, my dear.
+By good management we have here, safe and in good order, thirty
+dollars' worth of fruit, at least. Shall I lose it because I am afraid
+of a summer shower? Facing the weather is a part of my business; and
+I'd face a storm any day in the year if I could make thirty dollars."
+
+Merton wished to go also, but I said, "No; there must be no risks of
+illness that can possibly be avoided."
+
+I did not find it a dreary expedition, after all, for I solaced myself
+with thoughts like these, "Thirty dollars, under my wife's good
+management, will go far toward providing warm winter clothing, or
+paying the interest, or something else."
+
+Then the rain was just what was needed to increase and prolong the
+yield of the raspberry bushes, on which there were still myriads of
+immature berries and even blossoms. Abundant moisture would perfect
+these into plump fruit; and upon this crop rested our main hope.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+A THUNDERBOLT
+
+
+From the experiences just related, it can be seen how largely the
+stress and strain of the year centred in the month of July. Nearly all
+our garden crops needed attention; the grass of the meadow had to be
+cured into hay, the currants and cherries to be picked, and fall crops,
+like winter cabbages, turnips, and celery, to be put in the ground. Of
+the latter vegetable, I set out only a few short rows, regarding it as
+a delicious luxury to which not very much time could be given.
+
+Mr. Jones and Junior, indeed all our neighbors, were working early and
+late, like ourselves. Barns were being filled, conical hay-stacks were
+rising in distant meadows, and every one was busy in gathering nature's
+bounty.
+
+We were not able to make much of the Fourth of July. Bobsey and Winnie
+had some firecrackers, and, in the evening, Merton and Junior set off a
+few rockets, and we all said, "Ah!" appreciatively, as they sped their
+brief fiery course; but the greater part of the day had to be spent in
+gathering the ripening black-caps and raspberries. By some management,
+however, I arranged that Merton and Junior should have a fine swim in
+the creek, by Brittle Rock, while Mousie, Winnie, and Bobsey waded in
+sandy shallows, further down the stream. They all were promised
+holidays after the fruit season was over, and they submitted to the
+necessity of almost constant work with fairly good grace.
+
+The results of our labor were cheering. Our table was supplied with
+delicious vegetables, which, in the main, it was Mousie's task to
+gather and prepare. The children were as brown as little Indians, and
+we daily thanked God for health. Checks from Mr. Bogart came regularly,
+the fruit bringing a fair price under his good management. The outlook
+for the future grew brighter with the beginning of each week; for on
+Monday he made his returns and sent me the proceeds of the fruit
+shipped previously. I was able to pay all outstanding accounts for what
+had been bought to stock the place, and I also induced Mr. Jones to
+receive the interest in advance on the mortgage he held. Then we began
+to hoard for winter.
+
+The Bagleys did as well as we could expect, I suppose. The children did
+need the "gad" occasionally and the father indulged in a few idle,
+surly, drinking days; but, convinced that the man was honestly trying,
+I found that a little tact and kindness always brought him around to
+renewed endeavor. To expect immediate reform and unvaried well-doing
+would be asking too much of such human nature as theirs.
+
+As July drew to a close, my wife and I felt that we were succeeding
+better than we had had reason to expect. In the height of the season we
+had to employ more children in gathering the raspberries, and I saw
+that I could increase the yield in coming years, as I learned the
+secrets of cultivation. I also decided to increase the area of this
+fruit by a fall-planting of some varieties that ripened earlier and
+later, thus extending the season and giving me a chance to ship to
+market for weeks instead of days. My strawberry plants were sending out
+a fine lot of new runners, and our hopes for the future were turning
+largely toward the cultivation of this delicious fruit.
+
+Old Jacox had plodded faithfully over the meadow with his scythe, and
+the barn was now so well filled that I felt our bay horse and brindle
+cow were provided for during the months when fields are bare or snowy.
+
+Late one afternoon, he was helping me gather up almost the last load
+down by the creek, when the heavy roll of thunder warned us to hasten.
+As we came up to the high ground near the house, we were both impressed
+by the ominous blackness of a cloud rising in the west. I felt that the
+only thing to do was to act like the captain of a vessel before a
+storm, and make everything "snug and tight." The load of hay was run in
+upon the barn floor, and the old horse led with the harness on him to
+the stall below. Bagley and the children, with old Jacox, were started
+off so as to be at home before the shower, doors and windows were
+fastened, and all was made as secure as possible.
+
+Then we gathered in our sitting-room, where Mousie and my wife had
+prepared supper; but we all were too oppressed with awe of the coming
+tempest to sit down quietly, as usual. There was a death-like stillness
+in the sultry air, broken only at intervals by the heavy rumble of
+thunder. The strange, dim twilight soon passed into the murkiest gloom,
+and we had to light the lamp far earlier than our usual hour. I had
+never seen the children so affected before. Winnie and Bobsey even
+began to cry with fear, while Mousie was pale and trembling. Of course,
+we laughed at them and tried to cheer them; but even my wife was
+nervously apprehensive, and I admit that I felt a disquietude hard to
+combat.
+
+Slowly and remorselessly the cloud approached, until it began to pass
+over us. The thunder and lightning were simply terrific. Supper
+remained untasted on the table, and I said: "Patience and courage! A
+few moments more and the worst will be over!"
+
+But my words were scarcely heard, so violent was the gust that burst
+upon us. For a few moments it seemed as if everything would go down
+before it, but the old house only shook and rocked a little.
+
+"Hurrah!" I cried. "The bulk of the gust has gone by, and now we are
+all right!"
+
+At that instant a blinding gleam and an instantaneous crash left us
+stunned and bewildered. But as I recovered my senses, I saw flames
+bursting from the roof of our barn.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+RALLYING FROM THE BLOW
+
+
+Our house was far enough from the barn to prevent the shock of the
+thunderbolt from disabling us beyond a moment or two. Merton had fallen
+off his chair, but was on his feet almost instantly; the other children
+were soon sobbing and clinging to my wife and myself.
+
+In tones that I sought to render firm and quiet, I said: "No more of
+this foolish fear. We are in God's hands, and He will take care of us.
+Winifred, you must rally and soothe the children, while Merton and I go
+out and save what we can. All danger to the house is now over, for the
+worst of the storm has passed."
+
+In a moment my wife, although very pale, was reassuring the younger
+children, and Merton and I rushed forth.
+
+"Lead the horse out of the barn basement, Merton," I cried, "and tie
+him securely behind the house. If he won't go readily, throw a blanket
+over his eyes."
+
+I spoke these words as we ran through the torrents of rain precipitated
+by the tremendous concussion which the lightning had produced.
+
+I opened the barn doors and saw that the hay was on fire. There was not
+a second to lose, and excitement doubled my strength. The load of hay
+on the wagon had not yet caught. Although nearly stifled with
+sulphurous smoke, I seized the shafts and backed the wagon with its
+burden out into the rain. Then, seizing a fork, I pushed and tossed off
+the load so that I could draw our useful market vehicle to a safe
+distance. There were a number of crates and baskets in the barn, also
+some tools, etc. These I had to let go. Hastening to the basement, I
+found that Merton had succeeded in getting the horse away. There was
+still time to smash the window of the poultry-room and toss the
+chickens out of doors. Our cow, fortunately, was in the meadow.
+
+By this time Mr. Jones and Junior were on the ground, and they were
+soon followed by Rollins, Bagley, and others. There was nothing to do
+now, however, but to stand aloof and witness the swift destruction.
+After the first great gust had passed, there was fortunately but little
+wind, and the heavy downpour prevented the flames from spreading. In
+this we stood, scarcely heeding it in the excitement of the hour. After
+a few moments I hastened to assure my trembling wife and crying
+children that the rain made the house perfectly safe, and that they
+were in no danger at all. Then I called to the neighbors to come and
+stand under the porch-roof.
+
+From this point we could see the great pyramid of fire and smoke
+ascending into the black sky. The rain-drops glittered like fiery hail
+in the intense light and the still vivid flashes from the clouds.
+
+"This is hard luck, neighbor Durham," said Mr. Jones, with a long
+breath.
+
+"My wife and children are safe," I replied, quietly.
+
+Then we heard the horse neighing and tugging at his halter. Bagley had
+the good sense and will to jerk off his coat, tie it around the
+animal's eyes, and lead him to a distance from the fatal fascination of
+the flames.
+
+In a very brief space of time the whole structure, with my summer crop
+of hay, gathered with so much labor, sunk down into glowing, hissing
+embers. I was glad to have the ordeal over, and to be relieved from
+fear that the wind would rise again. Now I was assured of the extent of
+our loss, as well as of its certainty.
+
+"Well, well," said the warm-hearted and impulsive Rollins, "when you
+are ready to build again, your neighbors will give you a lift. By
+converting Bagley into a decent fellow, you've made all our barns
+safer, and we owe you a good turn. He was worse than lightning."
+
+I expressed my thanks, adding, "This isn't as bad as you think; I'm
+insured."
+
+"Well, now, that's sensible," said Mr. Jones. "I'll sleep better for
+that fact, and so will you, Robert Durham. You'll make a go of it here
+yet."
+
+"I'm not in the least discouraged," I answered; "far worse things might
+have happened. I've noticed in my paper that a good many barns have
+been struck this summer, so my experience is not unusual. The only
+thing to do is to meet such things patiently and make the best of them.
+As long as the family is safe and well, outside matters can be
+remedied. Thank you, Bagley," I continued, addressing him, as he now
+led forward the horse. "You had your wits about you. Old Bay will have
+to stand under the shed to-night."
+
+"Well, Mr. Durham, the harness is still on him, all 'cept the
+head-stall; and he's quiet now."
+
+"Yes," I replied, "in our haste we didn't throw off the harness before
+the shower, and it has turned out very well."
+
+"Tell ye what it is, neighbors," said practical Mr. Jones; "'tisn't too
+late for Mr. Durham to sow a big lot of fodder corn, and that's about
+as good as hay. We'll turn to and help him get some in."
+
+This was agreed to heartily, and one after another they wrung my hand
+and departed, Bagley jogging in a companionable way down the road with
+Rollins, whose chickens he had stolen, but had already paid for.
+
+I looked after them and thought: "Thank Heaven I have not lost my barn
+as some thought I might at one time! As Rollins suggested, I'd rather
+take my chances with the lightning than with a vicious neighbor. Bagley
+acted the part of a good friend to-night."
+
+Then, seeing that we could do nothing more, Merton and I entered the
+house.
+
+I clapped the boy on the shoulder as I said: "You acted like a man in
+the emergency, and I'm proud of you. The bringing out a young fellow
+strong is almost worth the cost of a barn."
+
+My wife came and put her arm around my neck and said:
+
+"You bear up bravely, Robert, but I fear you are discouraged at heart.
+To think of such a loss, just as we were getting started!" and there
+were tears in her eyes.
+
+"Yes," I replied, "it will be a heavy loss for us, and a great
+inconvenience, but it might have been so much worse! All sit down and
+I'll tell you something. You see my training in business led me to
+think of the importance of insurance, and to know the best companies.
+As soon as the property became yours, Winifred, I insured the buildings
+for nearly all they were worth. The hay and the things in the barn at
+the time will prove a total loss; but it is a loss that we can stand
+and make good largely before winter. I tell you honestly that we have
+no reason to be discouraged. We shall soon have a better barn than the
+one lost; for, by good planning, a better one can be built for the
+money that I shall receive. So we will thank God that we are all safe
+ourselves, and go quietly to sleep."
+
+With the passing of the storm, the children had become quiet, and soon
+we lost in slumber all thought of danger and loss.
+
+In the morning the absence of the barn made a great gap in our familiar
+outlook, and brought many and serious thoughts; but with the light came
+renewed hopefulness. All the scene was flooded with glorious sunlight,
+and only the blackened ruins made the frightful storm of the previous
+evening seem possible. Nearly all the chickens came at Winnie's call,
+looking draggled and forlorn indeed, but practically unharmed, and
+ready to resume their wonted cheerfulness after an hour in the
+sunshine. We fitted up for them the old coop in the orchard, and a part
+of the ancient and dilapidated barn which was to have been used for
+corn-stalks only. The drenching rain had saved this and the adjoining
+shed from destruction, and now in our great emergency they proved
+useful indeed.
+
+The trees around the site of the barn were blackened, and their foliage
+was burned to a crisp. Within the stone foundations the smoke from the
+still smouldering debris rose sluggishly.
+
+I turned away from it all, saying: "Let us worry no more over that
+spilled milk. Fortunately the greater part of our crates and baskets
+were under the shed. Take the children, Merton, and pick over the
+raspberry patches carefully once more, while I go to work in the
+garden. That has been helped rather than injured by the storm, and, if
+we will take care of it, will give us plenty of food for winter. Work
+there will revive my spirits."
+
+The ground was too wet for the use of the hoe, but there was plenty of
+weeding to be done, while I answered the questions of neighbors who
+came to offer their sympathy. I also looked around to see what could be
+sold, feeling the need of securing every dollar possible. I found much
+that was hopeful and promising. The Lima-bean vines had covered the
+poles, and toward their base the pods were filling out. The ears on our
+early corn were fit to pull; the beets and onions had attained a good
+size; the early peas had given place to turnips, winter cabbages, and
+celery; there were plenty of green melons on the vines, and more
+cucumbers than we could use. The remaining pods on the first planting
+of bush-beans were too mature for use, and I resolved to let them stand
+till sufficiently dry to be gathered and spread in the attic. All that
+we had planted had done, or was doing, fairly well, for the season had
+been moist enough to ensure a good growth. We had been using new
+potatoes since the first of the month, and now the vines were so yellow
+that all in the garden could be dug at once and sold. They would bring
+in some ready money, and I learned from my garden book that
+strap-leaved turnips, sown on the cleared spaces, would have time to
+mature.
+
+After all, my strawberry beds gave me the most hope. There were
+hundreds of young plants already rooted, and still more lying loosely
+on the ground; so I spent the greater part of the morning in weeding
+these out and pressing the young plants on the ends of the runners into
+the moist soil, having learned that with such treatment they form roots
+and become established in a very few days.
+
+After dinner Mr. Jones appeared with his team and heavy plow, and we
+selected an acre of upland meadow where the sod was light and thin.
+
+"This will give a fair growth of young corn-leaves," he said, "by the
+middle of September. By that time you'll have a new barn up, I s'pose;
+and after you have cut and dried the corn, you can put a little of it
+into the mows in place of the hay. The greater part will keep better if
+stacked out-doors. A horse will thrive on such fodder almost as well as
+a cow, 'specially if ye cut it up and mix a little bran-meal with it.
+We'll sow the corn in drills a foot apart, and you can spread a little
+manure over the top of the ground after the seed is in. This ground is
+a trifle thin; a top-dressin' will help it 'mazin'ly."
+
+Merton succeeded in getting several crates of raspberries, but said
+that two or three more pickings would finish them. Since the time we
+had begun to go daily to the landing, we had sent the surplus of our
+vegetables to a village store, with the understanding that we would
+trade out the proceeds. We thus had accumulated a little balance in our
+favor, which we could draw against in groceries, etc.
+
+On the evening of this day I took the crates to the landing, and found
+a purchaser for my garden potatoes, at a dollar a bushel. I also made
+arrangements at a summer boarding-house, whose proprietor agreed to
+take the largest of our spring chickens, our sweet corn, tomatoes, and
+some other vegetables, as we had them to spare. Now that our income
+from raspberries was about to cease, it was essential to make the most
+of everything else on the place that would bring money, even if we had
+to deny ourselves. It would not do for us to say, "We can use this or
+that ourselves." The question to be decided was, whether, if such a
+thing were sold, the proceeds would not go further toward our support
+than the things themselves. If this should be true of sweet corn,
+Lima-beans, and even the melons on which the children had set their
+hearts, we must be chary of consuming them ourselves. This I explained
+in such a way that all except Bobsey saw the wisdom of it, or, rather,
+the necessity. As yet, Bobsey's tendencies were those of a consumer,
+and not of a producer or saver.
+
+Rollins and one or two others came the next day, and with Bagley's help
+the corn was soon in the ground.
+
+Then I set Bagley to work with the cart spreading upon the soil the
+barn-yard compost that had accumulated since spring. There was not
+enough to cover all the ground, but that I could not help. The large
+pile of compost that I had made near the poultry-house door could not
+be spared for this purpose, since it was destined for my August
+planting of strawberries.
+
+Perhaps I may as well explain about these compost heaps now as at any
+other time. I had watched their rapid growth with great satisfaction.
+Some may dislike such homely details, but since the success of the farm
+and garden depend on them I shall not pass them over, leaving the
+fastidious reader to do this for himself.
+
+It will be remembered that I had sought to prepare myself for country
+life by much reading and study during the previous winter. I had early
+been impressed with the importance of obtaining and saving everything
+that would enrich the soil, and had been shown that increasing the
+manure-pile was the surest way to add to one's bank account. Therefore
+all rakings of leaves had been saved. At odd times Merton and I had
+gone down to the creek with the cart and dug a quantity of rich black
+earth from near its bank. One pile of this material had been placed
+near the stable door, and another at the entrance to the poultry-room
+in the basement of our vanished barn. The cleanings of the horse-stable
+had been spread over a layer of this black soil. When the layer of such
+cleanings was about a foot thick, spread evenly, another layer of earth
+covered all from sun and rain. Thus I had secured a pile of compost
+which nearly top-dressed an acre for fodder corn.
+
+In the poultry-room we managed in this fashion. A foot of raked-up
+leaves and rich earth was placed under the perches of the fowls. Every
+two or three weeks this layer was shovelled out and mixed thoroughly,
+and was replaced by a new layer. As a result I had, by the 1st of
+August, a large heap of fertilizer almost as good as guano, and much
+safer to use, for I had read that unless the latter was carefully
+managed it would burn vegetation like fire. I believe that this
+compost-heap by the poultry-room window would give my young strawberry
+plantation a fine start, and, as has been shown, we were making great
+calculations on the future fruit.
+
+I also resolved that the burning of the barn should add to our success
+in this direction. All the books said that there was nothing better for
+strawberries than wood ashes, and of these there was a great heap
+within the foundations of the destroyed building. At one time I
+proposed to shovel out these ashes and mix them with the compost, but
+fortunately I first consulted my book on fertilizers, and read there
+that this would not do at all--that they should be used separately.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+AUGUST WORK AND PLAY
+
+
+I was now eager to begin the setting of the strawberry plants in the
+field where we had put potatoes, but the recent heavy shower had kept
+the latter still green and growing. During the first week in August,
+however, I found that the tubers had attained a good size, and I began
+to dig long rows on the upper side of the patch, selling in the village
+three or four barrels of potatoes a week for immediate use. By this
+course I soon had space enough cleared for ten rows of strawberries;
+and on the 6th of August Mr. Jones came and plowed the land deeply,
+going twice in a furrow. Then I harrowed the ground, and, with a
+corn-plow, marked out the space with shallow furrows three feet apart.
+Through five of these furrows Merton sprinkled a good dressing of the
+poultry compost, and in the remaining five drills we scattered wood
+ashes. Thus we should learn the comparative value of these fertilizers.
+Then I made a rude tray with two handles, so that it could be carried
+between Merton and myself. When the sun declined, we went to the
+strawberry bed, and having selected the Duchess variety to set out
+first, soaked with water a certain portion of the ground that was thick
+with plants. Half an hour later, we could dig up these plants with a
+ball of earth attached to their roots. These were carried carefully on
+the tray to the field, and set out in the furrows. We levelled the
+ground first, so that the crown of the plant should be even with the
+surrounding surface. We set the plants a foot apart in the rows, and by
+dusk had three rows out. Early the next morning we gave these plants a
+good soaking in their new starting place, and, although the weather was
+now dry and warm, not a leaf withered, and all began to grow as if they
+had not been moved. It seemed slow work, but I believed it would pay in
+the end, especially as Merton, Winnie, and I performed nearly all the
+labor.
+
+We had now dispensed with Bagley's services, a good word from me having
+secured him work elsewhere. I found that I could not make arrangements
+for rebuilding the barn before the last of August, and we now began to
+take a little much-needed rest. Our noonings were two or three hours
+long. Merton and Junior had time for a good swim every day, while the
+younger children were never weary of wading in the shallows. I
+insisted, however, that they should not remain long in the water on any
+one occasion, and now and then we each took a grain or two of quinine
+to fortify our systems against any malarial influences that might be
+lurking around at this season.
+
+The children were also permitted to make expeditions to mountain-sides
+for huckleberries and blackberries. As a result, we often had these
+wholesome fruits on the table, while my wife canned the surplus for
+winter use. A harvest apple tree also began to be one of the most
+popular resorts, and delicious pies made the dinner-hour more welcome
+than ever. The greater part of the apples were sold, however, and this
+was true also of the Lima-beans, sweet corn, and melons. We all voted
+that the smaller ears and melons tasted just as good as if we had
+picked out the best of everything, and my account-book showed that our
+income was still running well ahead of our expenses.
+
+Bobsey and Winnie had to receive another touch of discipline and learn
+another lesson from experience. I had marked with my eye a very large,
+perfect musk-melon, and had decided that it should be kept for seed.
+They, too, had marked it; and one morning, when they thought themselves
+unobserved, they carried it off to the seclusion of the raspberry
+bushes, proposing a selfish feast by themselves.
+
+Merton caught a glimpse of the little marauders, and followed them.
+They cut the melon in two, and found it green and tasteless as a
+pumpkin. He made me laugh as he described their dismay and disgust,
+then their fears and forebodings. The latter were soon realized; for
+seeing me in the distance, he beckoned. As I approached, the children
+stole out of the bushes, looking very guilty.
+
+Merton explained, and I said: "Very well, you shall have your melon for
+dinner, and little else. I intend you shall enjoy this melon fully. So
+sit down under that tree and each of you hold half the melon till I
+release you. You have already learned that you can feast your eyes
+only."
+
+There they were kept, hour after hour, each holding half of the green
+melon. The dinner-bell rang, and they knew that we had ripe melons and
+green corn; while nothing was given them but bread and water. Bobsey
+howled, and Winnie sobbed, but my wife and I agreed that such
+tendencies toward dishonesty and selfishness merited a lasting lesson.
+At supper the two culprits were as hungry as little wolves; and when I
+explained that the big melon had been kept for seed, and that if it had
+been left to ripen they should have had their share, they felt that
+they had cheated themselves completely.
+
+"Don't you see, children," I concluded, "that acting on the square is
+not only right, but that it is always best for us in the end?"
+
+Then I asked, "Merton, what have the Bagley children been doing since
+they stopped picking raspberries for us?"
+
+"I'm told they've been gathering blackberries and huckleberries in the
+mountains, and selling them."
+
+"That's promising. Now I want you to pick out a good-sized water-melon
+and half a dozen musk-melons, and I'll leave them at Bagley's cottage
+to-morrow night as I go down to the village. In old times they would
+have stolen our crop; now they shall share in it."
+
+When I carried the present on the following evening, the children
+indulged in uncouth cries and gambols over the gift, and Bagley himself
+was touched.
+
+"I'll own up ter yer," he said, "that yer melon patch was sore temptin'
+to the young uns, but I tole 'em that I'd thrash 'em if they teched
+one. Now yer see, youngsters, ye've got a man of feelin' ter deal with,
+and yer've got some melons arter all, and got 'em squar', too."
+
+"I hear good accounts of you and your children," I said, "and I'm glad
+of it. Save the seeds of these melons and plant a lot for yourself. See
+here, Bagley, we'll plow your garden for you this fall, and you can put
+a better fence around it. If you'll do this, I'll share my garden seeds
+with you next spring, and you can raise enough on that patch of ground
+to half feed your family."
+
+"I'll take yer up," cried the man, "and there's my hand on it ag'in."
+
+"God bless you and Mrs. Durham!" added his wife "We're now beginning to
+live like human critters."
+
+I resumed my journey to the village, feeling that never before had
+melons been better invested.
+
+The Moodna Creek had now become very low, and not more than half its
+stony bed was covered with water. At many points, light, active feet
+could find their way across and not be wet. Junior now had a project on
+hand, of which he and Merton had often spoken lately. A holiday was
+given to the boys and they went to work to construct an eel weir and
+trap. With trousers well rolled up, they selected a point on one side
+of the creek where the water was deepest, and here they left an open
+passage-way for the current. On each side of this they began to roll
+large stones, and on these placed smaller ones, raising two long
+obstructions to the natural flow. These continuous obstructions ran
+obliquely up-stream, directing the main current to the open passage,
+which was only about two feet wide, with a post on either side,
+narrowing it still more. In this they placed the trap, a long box made
+of lath, sufficiently open to let the water run through it, and having
+a peculiar opening at the upper end where the current began to rush
+down the narrow passage-way. The box rested closely on the gravelly
+bottom, and was fastened to the posts. Short, close-fitting slats from
+the bottom and top of the box, at its upper end, sloped inward, till
+they made a narrow opening. All its other parts were eel-tight. The
+eels coming down with the current which had been directed toward the
+entrance of the box, as has been explained, passed into it, and there
+they would remain. They never had the wit to find the narrow aperture
+by which they had entered. This turned out to be useful sport, for
+every morning the boys lifted their trap and took out a goodly number
+of eels; and when the squirmers were nicely dressed and browned, they
+proved delicious morsels.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+A TRIP TO THE SEASHORE
+
+
+In the comparative leisure which the children enjoyed during August,
+they felt amply repaid for the toil of the previous months. We also
+managed to secure two great gala-days. The first was spent in a trip to
+the seashore; and this was a momentous event, marred by only one slight
+drawback. The "Mary Powell," a swift steamer, touched every morning at
+the Maizeville Landing. I learned that, from its wharf, in New York,
+another steamer started for Coney Island, and came back in time for us
+to return on the "Powell" at 3.30 P.M. Thus we could secure a
+delightful sail down the river and bay, and also have several hours on
+the beach. My wife and I talked over this little outing, and found that
+if we took our lunch with us, it would be inexpensive. I saw Mr. Jones,
+and induced him and his wife, with Junior, to join us. Then the
+children were told of our plan, and their hurrahs made the old house
+ring. Now that we were in for it, we proposed no half-way measures.
+Four plump spring chickens were killed and roasted, and to these were
+added so many ham sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs, that I declared that
+we were provisioned for a week. My wife nodded at Bobsey, and said,
+"Wait and see!"
+
+Whom do you think we employed to mount guard during our absence? No
+other than Bagley. Mr. Jones said that it was like asking a wolf to
+guard the flock, for his prejudices yielded slowly; but I felt sure
+that this proof of trust would do the man more good than a dozen
+sermons.
+
+Indeed, he did seem wonderfully pleased with his task, and said, "Ye'll
+find I've 'arned my dollar when ye git back."
+
+The children scarcely slept in their glad anticipation, and were up
+with the sun. Mr. and Mrs. Jones drove down in their light wagon, while
+Junior joined our children in another straw-ride, packed in between the
+lunch-baskets. We had ample time after reaching the landing to put our
+horses and vehicles in a safe place, and then we watched for the
+"Powell." Soon we saw her approaching Newtown, four miles above, then
+speeding toward the wharf, and rounding into it, with the ease and
+grace of a swan. We scrambled aboard, smiled at by all. I suppose we
+did not form, with our lunch-baskets, a very stylish group, but that
+was the least of our troubles. I am satisfied that none of the elegant
+people we brushed against were half so happy as we were.
+
+We stowed away our baskets and then gave ourselves up to the enjoyment
+of the lovely Highland scenery, and to watching the various kinds of
+craft that we were constantly passing. Winnie and Bobsey had been
+placed under bonds for good behavior, and were given to understand that
+they must exercise the grace of keeping moderately still. The sail down
+the river and bay was a long, grateful rest to us older people, and I
+saw with pleasure that my wife was enjoying every moment, and that the
+fresh salt breeze was fanning color into her cheeks. Plump Mrs. Jones
+dozed and smiled, and wondered at the objects we passed, for she had
+never been much of a traveller; while her husband's shrewd eyes took in
+everything, and he often made us laugh by his quaint remarks. Junior
+and Merton were as alert as hawks. They early made the acquaintance of
+deck-hands who good-naturedly answered their numerous questions. I took
+the younger children on occasional exploring expeditions, but never
+allowed them to go beyond my reach, for I soon learned that Bobsey's
+promises sat lightly on his conscience.
+
+At last we reached the great Iron Pier at Coney Island, which we all
+traversed with wondering eyes.
+
+We established ourselves in a large pavilion, fitted up for just such
+picnic parties as ours. Beneath us stretched the sandy beach. We
+elderly people were glad enough to sit down and rest, but the children
+forgot even the lunch-baskets, so eager were they to run upon the sand
+in search of shells.
+
+All went well until an unusually high wave came rolling in. The
+children scrambled out of its way, with the exception of Bobsey, who
+was caught and tumbled over, and lay kicking in the white foam. In a
+moment I sprang down the steps, picked him up, and bore him to his
+mother.
+
+He was wet through; and now what was to be done?
+
+After inquiry and consultation, I found that I could procure for him a
+little bathing-dress which would answer during the heat of the day, and
+an old colored woman promised to have his clothing dry in an hour. So
+the one cloud on our pleasure proved to have a very bright lining, for
+Bobsey, since he was no longer afraid of the water, could roll in the
+sand and the gentle surf to his heart's content.
+
+Having devoured a few sandwiches to keep up our courage, we all
+procured bathing-dresses, even Mrs. Jones having been laughingly
+compelled by her husband to follow the general example. When we all
+gathered in the passage-way leading to the water, we were convulsed
+with laughter at our ridiculous appearance; but there were so many
+others in like plight that we were scarcely noticed. Mrs. Jones's dress
+was a trifle small, and her husband's immensely large. He remarked that
+if we could now take a stroll through Maizeville, there wouldn't be a
+crow left in town.
+
+Mrs. Jones could not be induced to go beyond a point where the water
+was a foot or two deep, and the waves rolled her around like an amiable
+porpoise. Merton and Junior were soon swimming fearlessly, the latter
+wondering, meanwhile, at the buoyant quality of the salt water. My
+wife, Mousie, and Winnie allowed me to take them beyond the breakers,
+and soon grew confident. In fifteen minutes I sounded recall, and we
+all emerged, lank Mr. Jones now making, in very truth, an ideal
+scarecrow. Bobsey's dry garments were brought, and half an hour later
+we were all clothed, and, as Mr. Jones remarked, "For a wonder, in our
+right minds."
+
+The onslaught then made on the lunch-baskets was never surpassed, even
+at that place of hungry excursionists. In due time we reached home,
+tired, sleepy, yet content with the fact that we had filled one day
+with enjoyment and added to our stock of health.
+
+The next morning proved that Bagley had kept his word. Everything was
+in order, and the amount of work accomplished in the garden showed that
+he had been on his mettle. Hungry as we had been, we had not emptied
+our lunch-baskets, and my wife made up a nice little present from what
+remained, to which was added a package of candy, and all was carried to
+the Bagley cottage.
+
+Juvenile experiences had not exactly taught the Bagley children that
+"the way of the transgressor is hard,"--they had not gone far enough
+for that,--and it certainly was our duty to add such flowers as we
+could to the paths of virtue.
+
+The month of August was now well advanced. We had been steadily digging
+the potatoes in the field and selling them in their unripened
+condition, until half the acre had been cleared. The vines in the lower
+half of the patch were now growing very yellow, and I decided to leave
+them, until the tubers should thoroughly ripen, for winter use. By the
+20th of the month we had all the space that had been cleared, that is,
+half an acre, filled with Duchess and Wilson strawberries; and the
+plants first set were green and vigorous, with renewed running
+tendencies. But the runners were promptly cut off, so that the plants
+might grow strong enough to give a good crop of fruit in the following
+June.
+
+I now began to tighten the reins on the children, and we all devoted
+more hours to work.
+
+During the month we gathered a few bushels of plums on the place. My
+wife preserved some, and the rest were sold at the boarding-houses and
+village stores, for Mr. Bogart had written that when I could find a
+home market for small quantities of produce, it would pay me better
+than to send them to the city. I kept myself informed as to city
+prices, and found that he had given me good and disinterested advice.
+Therefore, we managed to dispose of our small crop of early pears and
+peaches as we had done with the plums. Every day convinced me of the
+wisdom of buying a place already stocked with fruit; for, although the
+first cost was greater, we had immediately secured an income which
+promised to leave a margin of profit after meeting all expenses.
+
+During the last week of August the potatoes were fully ripe, and
+Merton, Winnie, Bobsey, and I worked manfully, sorting the large from
+the small, as they were gathered. The crop turned out very well,
+especially on the lower side of the field, where the ground had been
+rather richer and moister than in the upper portion.
+
+I did not permit Merton to dig continuously, as it was hard work for
+him; but he seemed to enjoy throwing out the great, smooth,
+white-coated fellows, and they made a pretty sight as they lay in thick
+rows behind us, drying, for a brief time, in the sun. They were picked
+up, put into barrels, drawn to the dry, cool shed, and well covered
+from the light. Mr. Jones had told me that as soon as potatoes had
+dried off after digging, they ought to be kept in the dark, since too
+much light makes them tough and bitter. Now that they were ripe, it was
+important that they should be dug promptly, for I had read that a warm
+rain is apt to start the new potatoes to growing, and this spoils them
+for table use.
+
+So I said: "We will stick to this task until it is finished, and then
+we shall have another outing. I am almost ready to begin rebuilding the
+barn; but before I do so, I wish to visit Houghton Farm, and shall take
+you all with me. I may obtain some ideas which will be useful, even in
+my small outlay of money."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+A VISIT TO HOUGHTON FARM
+
+
+Houghton Farm, distant a few miles, is a magnificent estate of about
+one thousand acres, and the outbuildings upon it are princely in
+comparison with anything I could erect. They had been constructed,
+however, on practical and scientific principles, and I hoped that a
+visit might suggest to me some useful points. Sound principles might be
+applied, in a modest way, to even such a structure as would come within
+my means. At any rate, a visit to such a farm would be full of interest
+and pleasure. So we dug away at the potatoes, and worked like ants in
+gathering them, until we had nearly a hundred bushels stored. As they
+were only fifty cents a bushel, I resolved to keep them until the
+following winter and spring, when I might need money more than at
+present, and also get better prices.
+
+Then, one bright day toward the end of August, we all started, after an
+early dinner, for the farm, Junior going with us as usual. We had been
+told that the large-minded and liberal owner of this model farm
+welcomed visitors, and so we had no doubts as to our reception. Nor
+were we disappointed when, having skirted broad, rich fields for some
+distance, we turned to the right down a long, wide lane, bordered by
+beautiful shrubbery, and leading to the great buildings, which were
+numbered conspicuously. We were courteously met by Major Alvord, the
+agent in charge of the entire estate. I explained the object of my
+visit, and he kindly gave us a few moments, showing us through the
+different barns and stables. Our eyes grew large with wonder as we saw
+the complete appliances for carrying on an immense stock-farm. The
+summer crops had been gathered, and we exclaimed at the hundreds of
+tons of hay, fodder, and straw stored in the mows.
+
+"We use a ton of hay daily, after the pasture season is over," remarked
+our guide.
+
+When we came to look at the sleek Jersey cows and calves, with their
+fawn-like faces, our admiration knew no bounds. We examined the stalls
+in which could stand thirty-four cows. Over each was the name of the
+occupant, all blood animals of the purest breed, with a pedigree which
+might put to shame many newly rich people displaying coats-of-arms. The
+children went into ecstasies over the pretty, innocent faces of the
+Jersey calves, and Mousie said they were "nice enough to kiss." Then we
+were shown the great, thick-necked, black-headed Jersey bull, and could
+scarcely believe our ears when told that he, his mother, and six
+brothers represented values amounting to about a hundred thousand
+dollars.
+
+We next visited a great Norman mare, as big as two ordinary horses, and
+the large, clumsy colt at her side; then admired beautiful stallions
+with fiery eyes and arching necks; also the superb carriage-horses, and
+the sleek, strong work animals. Their stalls were finely finished in
+Georgia pine. Soon afterward, Bobsey went wild over the fat little
+Essex pigs, black as coals, but making the whitest and sweetest of pork.
+
+"Possess your soul in patience, Bobsey," I said. "With our barn, I am
+going to make a sty, and then we will have some pigs."
+
+I had had no good place for them thus far, and felt that we had
+attempted enough for beginners. Moreover, I could not endure to keep
+pigs in the muddy pens in ordinary use, feeling that we could never eat
+the pork produced under such conditions.
+
+The milk-house and dairy were examined, and we thought of the oceans of
+milk that had passed through them.
+
+A visit to "Crusoe Island" entertained the children more than anything
+else. A mountain stream had been dammed so as to make an island. On the
+surrounding waters were fleets of water-fowl, ducks and geese of
+various breeds, and, chief in interest, a flock of Canada wild-geese,
+domesticated. Here we could look closely at these great wild migrants
+that, spring and fall, pass and repass high up in the sky, in flocks,
+flying in the form of a harrow or the two sides of a triangle,
+meanwhile sending out cries that, in the distance, sound strange and
+weird.
+
+Leaving my wife and children admiring these birds and their rustic
+houses on the island, I went with Major Alvord to his offices, and saw
+the fine scientific appliances for carrying on agricultural experiments
+designed to extend the range of accurate and practical knowledge. Not
+only was the great farm planted and reaped, blood stock grown and
+improved by careful breeding, but, accompanying all this labor, was
+maintained a careful system of experiments tending to develop and
+establish that supreme science--the successful culture of the soil.
+Major Alvord evidently deserved his reputation for doing the work
+thoroughly and intelligently, and I was glad to think that there were
+men in the land, like the proprietor of Houghton Farm, who are willing
+to spend thousands annually in enriching the rural classes by bringing
+within their reach the knowledge that is power.
+
+After a visit to the sheep and poultry departments, each occupying a
+large farm by itself, we felt that we had seen much to think and talk
+over.
+
+It was hard to get Winnie away from the poultry-houses and yards, where
+each celebrated breed was kept scrupulously by itself. There were a
+thousand hens, besides innumerable young chickens. We were also shown
+incubators, which, in spring, hatch little chickens by hundreds.
+
+"Think of fifteen hundred eggs at a sitting, Winnie!" I cried; "that's
+quite a contrast to the number that you put under one of your biddies
+at home."
+
+"I don't care," replied the child; "we've raised over a hundred
+chickens since we began."
+
+"Yes, indeed," I said. "That for you--for you have seen to it all
+chiefly--is a greater success than anything here."
+
+I was thoughtful as we drove home, and at last my wife held out a penny.
+
+"No," I said, laughing; "my thoughts shall not cost you even that. What
+I have seen to-day has made clearer what I have believed before. There
+are two distinct ways of securing success in outdoor work. One is ours,
+and the other is after the plan of Houghton Farm. Ours is the only one
+possible for us--that of working a small place and performing the
+labor, as far as possible, ourselves. If I had played 'boss,' as Bagley
+sometimes calls me, and hired the labor which we have done ourselves,
+the children meanwhile idle, we should soon come to a disastrous end in
+our country experiment. The fact that we have all worked hard, and
+wisely, too, in the main, and have employed extra help only when there
+was more than we could do, will explain our account-book; that is, the
+balance in our favor. I believe that one of the chief causes of failure
+on the part of people in our circumstances is, that they employ help to
+do what they should have done themselves, and that it doesn't and can't
+pay small farmers and fruit-growers to attempt much beyond what they
+can take care of, most of the year, with their own hands. Then there's
+the other method--that of large capital carrying things on as we have
+seen to-day. The farm then becomes like a great factory or mercantile
+house. There must be at the head of everything a large organizing brain
+capable of introducing and enforcing thorough system, and of skilfully
+directing labor and investment, so as to secure the most from the least
+outlay. A farm such as we have just seen would be like a bottomless pit
+for money in bungling, careless hands."
+
+"I'm content with our own little place and modest ways," said my wife.
+"I never wish our affairs to grow so large that we can't talk them over
+every night, if so inclined."
+
+"Well," I replied, "I feel as you do. I never should have made a great
+merchant in town, and I am content to be a small farmer in the country,
+sailing close to shore in snug canvas, with no danger of sudden wreck
+keeping me awake nights. The insurance money will be available in a few
+days, and we shall begin building at once."
+
+The next day Merton and I cleared away the rest of the debris in and
+around the foundations of the barn, and before night the first load of
+lumber arrived from the carpenter who had taken the contract.
+
+This forerunner of bustling workmen, and all the mystery of fashioning
+crude material into something looking like the plan over which we had
+all pored so often, was more interesting to the children than the
+construction of Solomon's temple.
+
+"To-morrow the stone-masons come," I said at supper, "and by October we
+are promised a new barn."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+HOARDING FOR WINTER
+
+
+As was stated early in this simple history the original barn was built
+on a hillside, the rear facing the southeast; and since the foundations
+were still in a fair condition, and the site was convenient, I
+determined to build on the same spot, somewhat modifying the old plan.
+I had read of the importance of keeping manure under cover, and now
+arranged that by a trap door the cleanings of the horse and cow stable
+should be thrown into the basement, which, by a solid brick partition,
+should be so divided as to leave ample room for a dark cellar in which
+to store roots and apples. Through this trap door in the stable rich
+earth and muck from the banks of the creek could be thrown down also,
+covering the manure, and all could be worked over and mixed on rainy
+days. By this method I could make the most of my fertilizers, which may
+be regarded as the driving-wheel of the farm.
+
+I had decided that the poultry-house and pigsty should form an
+extension to the barn, and that both should be built in the side of the
+bank also. They would thus have an exposure to the south, and at the
+same time, being formed in part by an excavation, would be cool in
+summer. The floor of the sty should have a slight downward slope, and
+be cemented. Therefore it could be kept perfectly clean. This residence
+of Bobsey's future pets should be at the extreme end of the extension,
+and above it should be a room in which I could store picked-up apples,
+corn, and other food adapted to their needs, also a conduit by which
+swill could be poured into the trough below without the necessity of
+entering the pen. I proposed to keep only two or three pigs at a time,
+buying them when young from neighboring farmers, and fattening them for
+our own use according to my own ideas.
+
+The poultry-house, between the barn and sty, was to be built so that
+its side, facing the south, should be chiefly of glass. It was so
+constructed as to secure the greatest amount of light and warmth. Eggs
+in winter form the most profitable item in poultry keeping, and these
+depend on warmth, food, shelter, and cleanliness, with the essential
+condition that the hens are young. All the pullets of Winnie's early
+broods therefore had been kept, and only the young cockerels eaten or
+sold. We had the prospect of wintering about fifty laying hens; and the
+small potatoes we had saved would form a large portion of their food.
+Indeed, for some weeks back, such small tubers, boiled and mashed with
+meal, had formed the main feed of our growing chickens.
+
+I learned that Bagley was out of work, and employed him to excavate the
+bank for these new buildings. We saved the surface earth carefully for
+compost purposes, and then struck some clean, nice gravel, which was
+carted away to a convenient place for our roads and walks. On a
+hillside near the creek were large stones and rocks in great quantity,
+and some of these were broken up for the foundations. Along the edge of
+the creek we also found some excellent sand, and therefore were saved
+not a little expense in starting our improvements.
+
+It did not take the masons long to point up and strengthen the old
+foundations, and early in September everything was under full headway,
+the sound of hammer, saw, and plane resounding all day long. It was
+Winnie's and Bobsey's task to gather up the shavings and refuse bits of
+lumber, and carry them to the woodhouse.
+
+"The ease and quickness with which we can build fires next winter," I
+said, "is a pleasant thing to think of."
+
+Meanwhile the garden was not neglected. The early flight of
+summer-boarders had greatly reduced the demand for vegetables, and now
+we began to hoard them for our own use. The Lima-beans were allowed to
+dry on the vines; the matured pods of the bush-beans were spread in the
+attic; thither also the ripened onions were brought and placed in
+shallow boxes. As far as possible we had saved our own seed, and I had
+had a box made and covered with tin, so as to be mouse-proof, and in
+this we placed the different varieties, carefully labelled. Although it
+was not "apple year," a number of our trees were in bearing. The best
+of the windfalls were picked up, and, with the tomatoes and such other
+vegetables as were in demand, sent to the village twice a week. As fast
+as crops matured, the ground was cleared, and the refuse, such as
+contained no injurious seeds, was saved as a winter covering for the
+strawberry plants.
+
+Our main labor, however, after digging the rest of the potatoes, was
+the setting of the remaining half-acre in the later varieties of the
+strawberry. Although the early part of September was very dry and warm,
+we managed to set out, in the manner I have described, two or three
+rows nearly every afternoon. The nights had now grown so long and cool
+that one thorough watering seemed to establish the plants. This was due
+chiefly to the fact that nearly every plant had a ball of earth
+attached to the roots, and had never been allowed to wilt at all in the
+transition. About the middle of the month there came a fine rain, and
+we filled the remainder of the ground in one day, all the children
+aiding me in the task. The plants first set out were now strong and
+flourishing. Each had a bunch of foliage six inches in diameter.
+
+Thus, with helping on the new barn and other work, September saw a
+renewal of our early-summer activity.
+
+"The winds in the trees are whispering of winter," I said to the
+children, "and all thrifty creatures--ants, bees, and squirrels--are
+laying up their stores. So must we."
+
+I had watched our maturing corn with great satisfaction. For a long
+time Merton had been able to walk through it without his straw hat
+being seen above the nodding tassels. One day, about the 20th of the
+month, Mr. Jones came over with some bundles of long rye straw in his
+wagon, and said, "Yer can't guess what these are fer."
+
+"Some useful purpose, or you wouldn't have brought them," I replied.
+
+"We'll see. Come with me to the corn patch."
+
+As we started he took a bundle under his arm, and I saw that he had in
+his hand a tool called a corn-knife. Going through the rows he
+occasionally stripped down the husks from an ear.
+
+Finally he said: "Yes, it's ready. Don't yer see that the kernels are
+plump and glazed? Junior and I are going to tackle our corn ter-morrow,
+and says I to myself, 'If ourn is ready to cut, so is neighbor
+Durham's,' The sooner it's cut after it's ready, the better. The stalks
+are worth more for fodder, and you run no risk from an early frost,
+which would spile it all. You and Merton pitch in as yer allers do, and
+this is the way ter do it."
+
+With his left hand gathering the stalks of a hill together above the
+ears, he cut them all olf with one blow of the corn-knife within six
+inches of the ground, and then leaned them against the stalks of an
+uncut hill. This he continued to do until he had made what he called a
+"stout," or a bunch of stalks as large as he could conveniently reach
+around, the uncut hill of stalks forming a support in the centre. Then
+he took a wisp of the rye-straw, divided it evenly, and putting the
+ends together, twisted it speedily into a sort of rope. With this he
+bound the stout tightly above the ears by a simple method which one
+showing made plain to me.
+
+"Well, you are a good neighbor!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Pshaw! What does this amount to? If a man can't do a good turn when it
+costs as little as this, he's a mighty mean feller. You forget that
+I've sold you a lot of rye-straw, and so have the best of yer after
+all."
+
+"I don't forget anything, Mr. Jones. As you say, I believe we shall
+'make a go' of it here, but we always remember how much we owe to you
+and Junior. You've taken my money in a way that saved my self-respect,
+and made me feel that I could go to you as often as I wished; but you
+have never taken advantage of me, and you have kept smart people from
+doing it. Do you know, Mr. Jones, that in every country village there
+are keen, weasel-like people who encourage new-comers by bleeding their
+pocket-books at every chance? In securing you as a neighbor our battle
+was half won, for no one needs a good practical friend more than a city
+man beginning life in the country."
+
+"Jerusalem! how you talk! I'm goin' right home and tell my wife to call
+me Saint Jones. Then I'll get a tin halo and wear it, for my straw hat
+is about played out;" and away he went, chuckling over his odd
+conceits, but pleased, as all men are, when their goodwill is
+appreciated. If there is one kind of meanness that disgusts average
+human-nature more than another it is a selfish, unthankful reception of
+kindness, a swinish return for pearls.
+
+After an early supper I drove to the village with what I had to sell,
+and returned with two corn-hooks. At dusk of the following day, Bagley
+and I had the corn cut and tied up, my helper remarking more than once,
+"Tell you what it is, Mr. Durham, there hain't a better eared-out patch
+o' corn in Maizeville."
+
+On the following day I helped Bagley sharpen one of the hooks, and we
+began to cut the fodder-corn which now stood, green and succulent,
+averaging two feet in height throughout the field.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII
+
+AUTUMN WORK AND SPORT
+
+
+The barn was now up, and the carpenters were roofing it in, while two
+days more of work would complete the sty and poultry-house. Every
+stroke of the hammer told rapidly now, and we all exulted over our new
+and better appliances for carrying out our plan of country life. Since
+the work was being done by contract, I contented myself with seeing
+that it was done thoroughly. Meanwhile Merton was busy with the cart,
+drawing rich earth from the banks of the creek. I determined that the
+making of great piles of compost should form no small part of my fall
+and winter labor. The proper use of fertilizers during the present
+season had given such a marked increase to our crops that it became
+clear that our best prospect of growing rich was in making the land
+rich.
+
+During the last week of September the nights were so cool as to suggest
+frost, and I said to Mousie: "I think we had better take up your
+geraniums and other window plants, and put them in pots or boxes. We
+can then stand them under a tree which would shelter them from a slight
+frost. Should there be serious danger it would take us only a few
+minutes to bring them into the house. You have taken such good care of
+them all summer that I do not intend that you shall lose them now. Take
+your flower book and read what kind of soil they grow best in during
+the winter, and then Merton can help you get it."
+
+The child was all solicitude about her pets, and after dinner she and
+Merton, the latter trundling a wheelbarrow, went down to the creek and
+obtained a lot of fine sand and some leaf-mould from under the trees in
+the woods. These ingredients we carefully mixed with rich soil from the
+flower-bed and put the compound in the pots and boxes around the roots
+of as many plants as there was room for on the table by the sunny
+kitchen window. Having watered them thoroughly, we stood them under a
+tree, there to remain until a certain sharpness in the air should warn
+us to carry them to their winter quarters.
+
+The Lima-beans, as fast as the pods grew dry, or even yellow, were
+picked and spread in the attic. They could be shelled at our leisure on
+stormy winter days.
+
+Early in September my wife had begun to give Mousie, Winnie, and Bobsey
+their lessons again. Since we were at some distance from a schoolhouse
+we decided to continue this arrangement for the winter with the three
+younger children. I felt that Merton should go to school as soon as
+possible, but he pleaded hard for a reprieve until the last of October,
+saying that he did not wish to begin before Junior. As we still had a
+great deal to do, and as the boy had set his heart on some fall
+shooting, I yielded, he promising to study all the harder when he began.
+
+I added, however: "The evenings have grown so long that you can write
+for half an hour after supper, and then we will review your arithmetic
+together. It will do me good as well as you."
+
+During the ensuing weeks we carried out this plan partially, but after
+a busy day in the open air we were apt to nod over our tasks. We were
+both taught the soundness of the principle that brain work should
+precede physical exercise.
+
+The 1st day of October was bright, clear, and mild, and we welcomed the
+true beginning of fall in our latitude most gladly. This month competes
+with May in its fitness for ideal country life. The children voted it
+superior to all other months, feeling that a vista of unalloyed
+delights was opening before them. Already the butternuts were falling
+from several large trees on the place, and the burrs on the chestnuts
+were plump with their well-shielded treasures. Winnie and Bobsey began
+to gather these burrs from the lower limbs of an immense tree, eighteen
+feet in circumference, and to stamp out the half-brown nuts within.
+
+"One or two frosts will ripen them and open the burrs," I said, and
+then the children began to long for the frost which I dreaded.
+
+While I still kept the younger children busy for a few hours every
+clear morning in the garden, and especially at clipping the runners
+from the strawberry plants in the field, they were given ample time to
+gather their winter hoards of nuts. This pursuit afforded them endless
+items for talk, Bobsey modestly assuring us that he alone would gather
+about a million bushels of butternuts, and almost as many chestnuts and
+walnuts. "What will the squirrels do then?" I asked.
+
+"They must do as I do," he cried; "pick up and carry off as fast as
+they can. They'll have a better chance than me, too, for they can work
+all day long. The little scamps are already taking the nuts off the
+trees--I've seen 'em, and I wish Merton would shoot 'em all."
+
+"Well, Merton," said I, laughing, "I suppose that squirrels are proper
+game for you; but I hope that you and Junior won't shoot robins. They
+are too useful a bird to kill, and I feel grateful for all the music
+they've given us during the past summer. I know the law permits you to
+shoot them now, but you and Junior should be more civilized than such a
+law."
+
+"If we don't get 'em, everybody else will, and we might as well have
+our share," he replied.
+
+I knew that there was no use in drawing the reins too tight, and so I
+said: "I have a proposition to make to you and Junior. I'd like you
+both to promise not to shoot robins except on the wing. That will teach
+you to be expert and quick-eyed. A true sportsman is not one who tries
+to kill as much game as possible, but to kill scientifically,
+skilfully. There is more pleasure in giving your game a chance, and in
+bringing it down with a fine long shot, than in slaughtering the poor
+creatures like chickens in a coop. Anybody can shoot a robin, sitting
+on a bough a few yards off, but to bring one down when in rapid flight
+is the work of a sportsman. Never allow yourself to be known as a mere
+'pot-hunter.' For my part, I had rather live on pork than on robins or
+any useful birds."
+
+He readily agreed not to fire at robins except when flying, and to
+induce Junior to do likewise. I was satisfied that not many of my
+little favorites would suffer.
+
+"Very well," I said, "I'll coax Mr. Jones to let Junior off to-morrow,
+and you can have the entire day to get your hands in. This evening you
+can go down to the village and buy a stock of ammunition."
+
+The boy went to his work happy and contented.
+
+"Papa, where can we dry our butternuts?" Winnie asked.
+
+"I'll fix a place on the roof of the shed right away," I said. "Its
+slope is very gradual, and if I nail some slats on the lower side you
+can spread the millions of bushels that you and Bobsey will gather."
+
+Now Bobsey had a little wagon, and, having finished his morning stint
+of work, he, with Mousie and Winnie, started off to the nearest
+butternut-tree; and during the remainder of the day, with the exception
+of the time devoted to lessons, loads came often to the shed, against
+which I had left a ladder. By night they had at least one of the
+million bushels spread and drying.
+
+As they brought in their last load about five o'clock in the afternoon
+I said to them, "Come and see what I've got."
+
+I led the way to the sty, and there were grunting three half-grown
+pigs. Now that the pen was ready I had waited no longer, and, having
+learned from Rollins that he was willing to sell some of his stock, had
+bought three sufficiently large to make good pork by the 1st of
+December.
+
+The children welcomed the new-comers with shouts; but I said: "That
+won't do. You'll frighten them so that they'll try to jump out of the
+pen. Run now and pick up a load of apples in your wagon and throw them
+to the pigs. They'll understand and like such a welcoming better;" and
+so it proved.
+
+At supper I said: "Children, picking up apples, which was such fun this
+evening, will hereafter be part of your morning work, for a while. In
+the room over the sty is a bin which must be filled with the fallen
+apples before any nuts can be gathered."
+
+Even Bobsey laughed at the idea that this was work; but I knew that it
+would soon become so. Then Mousie exclaimed, "Papa, do you know that
+the red squirrels are helping us to gather nuts?"
+
+"If so, certainly without meaning it. How?"
+
+"Well, as we were coming near one of the trees we saw a squirrel among
+the branches, and we hid behind a bush to watch him. We soon found that
+he was tumbling down the nuts, for he would go to the end of a limb and
+bite cluster after cluster. The thought that we would get the nuts so
+tickled Bobsey that he began to laugh aloud, and then the squirrel ran
+barking away."
+
+"You needn't crow so loud, Bobsey," I said. "The squirrel will fill
+many a hole in hollow trees before winter, in spite of you."
+
+"I'll settle his business before he steals many more of our nuts,"
+spoke up Merton.
+
+"You know the squirrel wasn't stealing, my boy. The nuts grew for him
+as truly as for you youngsters. At the same time I suppose he will form
+part of a pot-pie before long."
+
+"I hate to think that such pretty little creatures should be killed,"
+said Mousie.
+
+"I feel much the same," I admitted; "and yet Merton will say we cannot
+indulge in too much sentiment. You know that we read that red squirrels
+are mischievous in the main. They tumble little birds out of their
+nests, carry off corn, and I have seen them gnawing apples for the sake
+of the seeds. It wouldn't do for them to become too plentiful.
+Moreover, game should have its proper place as food, and as a means of
+recreation. We raise chickens and kill them. Under wise laws, well
+enforced, nature would fill the woods, fields, and mountains with
+partridges, quail, rabbits, and other wholesome food. Remember what an
+old and thickly settled land England is, yet the country is alive with
+game. There it is protected on great estates, but here the people must
+agree to protect it for themselves."
+
+"Junior says," Merton explained, "that the partridges and rabbits in
+the mountains are killed off by foxes and wild-cats and wood-choppers
+who catch them in traps and snares."
+
+"I fancy the wood-choppers do the most harm. If I had my way, there
+would be a big bounty for the destruction of foxes, and a heavy fine
+for all trappers of game. The country would be tenfold more interesting
+if it were full of wild, harmless, useful creatures. I hope the time
+will come when our streams will be again thoroughly stocked with fish,
+and our wild lands with game. If hawks, foxes, trappers, and other
+nuisances could be abolished, there would be space on yonder mountains
+for partridges to flourish by the million. I hope, as the country grows
+older, that the people will intelligently co-work with nature in
+preserving and increasing all useful wild life. Every stream, lake, and
+pond could be crowded with fish, and every grove and forest afford a
+shelter and feeding-ground for game. There should be a wise
+guardianship of wild life, such as we maintain over our poultry-yards,
+and skill exercised in increasing it. Then nature would supplement our
+labors, and furnish a large amount of delicious food at little cost."
+
+"Well, papa, I fear I shall be gray before your fine ideas are carried
+out. From what Junior says, I guess that Bagley and his children, and
+others like them, will get more game this winter than we will, and
+without firing a shot. They are almost as wild as the game itself, and
+know just where to set their snares for it. I can't afford to wait
+until it's all killed off, or till that good time comes of which you
+speak, either. I hope to shoot enough for a pot-pie at least to-morrow,
+and to have very good sport while about it."
+
+"I have good news about the Bagley children," said my wife. "I was down
+there to-day, and all the children begin school next Monday. Between
+clothes which our children have outgrown, and what Mrs. Bagley has been
+able to buy and make, all three of the young Bagleys make a very
+respectable appearance. I took it upon myself to tell the children that
+if they went to school regularly we would make them nice Christmas
+presents."
+
+"And I confirm the bargain heartily," I cried. "Merton, look out for
+yourself, or the Bagley boy will get ahead of you at school."
+
+He laughed and, with Junior, started for the village, to get their
+powder and shot.
+
+The next morning after preparing a good lot of cartridges before
+breakfast, the two boys started, and, having all day before them, took
+their lunches with the intention of exploring Schunemunk Mountain. The
+squirrels, birds, and rabbits near home were reserved for odd times
+when the lads could slip away for a few hours only.
+
+Our new barn, now about completed, gave my wife and me as much pleasure
+as the nuts and game afforded the children. I went through it, adding
+here and there some finishing touches and little conveniences, a
+painter meanwhile giving it a final coat of dark, cheap wash.
+
+Our poultry-house was now ready for use, and I said to Winnie,
+"To-night we will catch the chickens and put them in it."
+
+The old horse had already been established in the stable, and I
+resolved that the cow should come in from this time. In the afternoon I
+began turning over the fodder corn, and saw that a very tew more days
+would cure it. Although I decided not to begin the main husking until
+after the middle of the month, I gathered enough ears to start the pigs
+on the fattening process. Toward night I examined the apples, and
+determined to adopt old Mr. Jarmson's plan of picking the largest and
+ripest at once, leaving the smaller and greener fruit to mature until
+the last of the month. The dark cellar was already half filled with
+potatoes, but the space left for such apples as we should pick was
+ready. From time to time when returning from the village I had brought
+up empty barrels; and in some of these, earlier kinds, like tall
+pippins and greenings, had been packed and shipped to Mr. Bogart. By
+his advice I had resolved to store the later varieties and those which
+would keep well, disposing of them gradually to the best advantage. I
+made up my mind that the morrow should see the beginning of our chief
+labor in the orchard. I had sold a number of barrels of windfalls, but
+they brought a price that barely repaid us. My examination of the trees
+now convinced me that there should be no more delay in taking off the
+large and fine-looking fruit.
+
+With the setting sun Merton and Junior arrived, scarcely able to drag
+their weary feet down the lane. Nevertheless their fatigue was caused
+by efforts entirely after their own hearts, and they declared that they
+had had a "splendid time." Then they emptied their game-bags. Each of
+the boys had a partridge, Merton one rabbit, and Junior two. Merton
+kept up his prestige by showing two gray squirrels to Junior's one. Bed
+squirrels abounded, and a few robins, brought down on the wing as the
+boys had promised.
+
+I was most interested in the rattles of the deadly snake which Junior
+had nearly stepped on and then shot.
+
+"Schunemunk is full of rattlers," Junior said.
+
+"Please don't hunt there any more then," I replied.
+
+"No, we'll go into the main Highlands to the east'ard next time."
+
+Merton had also brought down a chicken hawk; and the game, spread out
+on the kitchen table, suggested much interesting wild life, about which
+I said we should read during the coming winter, adding: "Well, boys,
+you have more than earned your salt in your sport to-day, for each of
+you has supplied two game dinners. We shall live like aldermen now, I
+suppose."
+
+"Yes," cried Merton, "whether you call me 'pot-hunter' or not, I mean
+my gun to pay its way."
+
+"I've no objections to that," was my laughing answer, "as long as you
+shoot like a sportsman, and not like a butcher. Your guns, boys, will
+pay best, however, in making you strong, and in giving you some
+well-deserved fun after your busy summer. I feel that you have both
+earned the right to a good deal of play this month, and that you will
+study all the harder for it by and by."
+
+"I hope you'll talk father into that doctrine," said Junior, as he sat
+down to supper with us.
+
+The boys were drowsy as soon as they had satisfied their keen
+appetites, and Mousie laughed at them, saying that she had been reading
+how the boa-constrictor gorged himself and then went to sleep, and that
+they reminded her of the snake.
+
+"I guess I'll go home after that," said Junior.
+
+"Now you know I was only poking a little fun," said Mousie, ruefully,
+as she ran into the kitchen and gathered up his game for him, looking
+into his face so archly and coaxingly that he burst out: "You beat all
+the game in the country. I'll shoot a blue jay, and give you its wings
+for your hat, see if I don't;" and with this compliment and promise he
+left the child happy.
+
+Merton was allowed to sleep late the next morning, and was then set to
+work in the orchard, I dividing my time between aiding in picking the
+apples and turning over the fodder corn.
+
+"You can climb like a squirrel, Merton, and I must depend on you
+chiefly for gathering the apples. Handle them like eggs, so as not to
+bruise them, and then they will keep better. After we have gone over
+the trees once and have stacked the fodder corn you shall have a good
+time with your gun."
+
+For the next few days we worked hard, and nearly finished the first
+picking of the apples, also getting into shocks the greater part of the
+corn. Then came a storm of wind and rain, and the best of the apples on
+one tree, which, we had neglected, were soon lying on the ground,
+bruised and unfit for winter keeping.
+
+"You see, Merton," I said, "that we must manage to attend to the trees
+earlier next year. Live and learn."
+
+The wind came out of the north the day after the storm, and Mr. Jones
+shouted, as he passed down the road, "Hard frost to-night!"
+
+Then indeed we bustled around. Mousie's flowers were carried in, the
+Lima-bean poles, still hanging full of green pods more or less filled
+out, were pulled up and stacked together under a tree, some
+tomato-vines, with their green and partially ripe fruit, were taken up
+by the roots and hung under the shed, while over some other vines a
+covering was thrown toward night.
+
+"We may thus keep a supply of this wholesome vegetable some weeks
+longer," I said.
+
+Everything that we could protect was looked after; but our main task
+was the gathering of all the grapes except those hanging against the
+sides of the house. These I believed would be so sheltered as to escape
+injury. We had been enjoying this delicious fruit for some time,
+carrying out our plan, however, of reserving the best for the market.
+The berries on the small clusters were just as sweet and luscious, and
+the children were content.
+
+Sure enough, on the following morning white hoar-frost covered the
+grass and leaves.
+
+"No matter," cried Winnie, at the breakfast-table; "the chestnut burrs
+are opening."
+
+By frequent stirring the rest of the corn-fodder was soon dried again,
+and was stacked like the rest. Then we took up the beets and carrots,
+and stored them also in the root cellar.
+
+We had frost now nearly every night, and many trees were gorgeous in
+their various hues, while others, like the butternuts, were already
+losing their foliage.
+
+The days were filled with delight for the children. The younger ones
+were up with the sun to gather the nuts that had fallen during the
+night, Merton accompanying them with his gun, bringing in squirrels
+daily, and now and then a robin shot while flying. His chief exploit
+however was the bagging of half a dozen quails that unwarily chose the
+lower part of our meadow as a resort. Then he and Junior took several
+long outings in the Highlands, with fair success; for the boys had
+become decidedly expert.
+
+"If we only had a dog," said Merton, "we could do wonders."
+
+"Both of you save your money next summer, and buy one," I replied;
+"I'll give you a chance, Merton."
+
+By the middle of the month the weather became dry and warm, and the
+mountains were almost hidden in an Indian summer haze.
+
+"Now for the corn-husking," I said, "and the planting of the ground in
+raspberries, and then we shall be through with our chief labors for the
+year."
+
+Merton helped me at the husking, but I allowed him to keep his gun
+near, and he obtained an occasional shot which enlivened his toil. Two
+great bins over the sty and poultry-house received the yellow ears, the
+longest and fairest being stored in one, and in the other the
+"nubbin's," speedily to be transformed into pork. Part of the stalks
+were tied up and put in the old "corn-stalk barn," as we called it, and
+the remainder were stacked near. Our cow certainly was provided for.
+
+Brindle now gave too little milk for our purpose, whereas a farmer with
+plenty of fodder could keep her over the winter to advantage. I traded
+her off to a neighboring farmer for a new milch cow, and paid twenty
+dollars to boot. We were all great milk-topers, while the cream nearly
+supplied us with butter.
+
+Having removed the corn, Mr. Jones plowed the field deeply, and then
+Merton and I set out the varieties of raspberries which promised best
+in our locality, making the hills four feet apart in the row, and the
+rows five feet from one another. I followed the instructions of my
+fruit book closely, and cut back the canes of the plants to six inches,
+and sunk the roots so deep as to leave about four inches of soil above
+them, putting two or three plants in the hill. Then over and about the
+hills we put on the surface of the ground two shovelfuls of compost,
+finally covering the plants beneath a slight mound of earth. This would
+protect them from the severe frost of winter.
+
+These labors and the final picking of the apples brought us to the last
+week of the month. Of the smaller fruit, kept clean and sound for the
+purpose, we reserved enough to make two barrels of cider, of which one
+should go into vinegar, and the other be kept sweet, for our
+nut-crackings around the winter fire. Bobsey's dream of "millions of
+bushels" of nuts had not been realized, yet enough had been dried and
+stored away to satisfy even his eyes. Not far away an old cider-mill
+was running steadily, and we soon had the barrels of russet nectar in
+our cellar. Then came Saturday, and Merton and Junior were given one
+more day's outing in the mountains with their guns. On the following
+Monday they trudged off to the nearest public school, feeling that they
+had been treated liberally, and that brain-work must now begin in
+earnest. Indeed from this time forth, for months to come, school and
+lessons took precedence of everything else, and the proper growing of
+boys and girls was the uppermost thought.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII
+
+THANKSGIVING DAY
+
+
+November weather was occasionally so blustering and stormy that I
+turned schoolmaster in part, to relieve my wife. During the month,
+however, were bright, genial days, and others softened by a smoky haze,
+which gave me opportunity to gather and store a large crop of turnips,
+to trench in my celery on a dry knoll, and to bury, with their heads
+downward, all the cabbages for which I could not find a good market.
+The children still gave me some assistance, but, lessons over, they
+were usually permitted to amuse themselves in their own way. Winnie,
+however, did not lose her interest in the poultry, and Merton regularly
+aided in the care of the stock and in looking after the evening supply
+of fire-wood. I also spent a part of my time in the wood lot, but the
+main labor there was reserved for December. The chief task of the month
+was the laying down and covering of the tender raspberries; and in this
+labor Bagley again gave me his aid.
+
+Thanksgiving Day was celebrated with due observance. In the morning we
+all heard Dr. Lyman preach, and came home with the feeling that we and
+the country at large were prosperous. Mr. and Mrs. Jones, with Junior,
+dined with us in great state, and we had our first four-course dinner
+since arriving in Maizeville, and at the fashionable hour of six in the
+evening. I had protested against my wife's purpose of staying at home
+in the morning, saying we would "browse around during the day and get
+up appetites, while in the afternoon we could all turn cooks and help
+her." Merton was excepted, and, after devouring a hasty cold lunch, he
+and Junior were off with their guns. As for Bobsey, he appeared to
+browse steadily after church, but seemed in no wise to have exhausted
+his capacity when at last he attacked his soup, turkey drum-stick, and
+the climax of a pudding. Our feast was a very informal affair, seasoned
+with mirth and sauced with hunger. The viands, however, under my wife's
+skill, would compare with any eaten in the great city, which we never
+once had regretted leaving. Winifred looked after the transfers from
+the kitchen at critical moments, while Mousie and Winnie were our
+waitresses. A royal blaze crackled in the open fireplace, and seemed to
+share in the sparkle of our rustic wit and unforced mirth, which kept
+plump Mrs. Jones in a perpetual quiver, like a form of jelly.
+
+Her husband came out strong in his comical resume of the past year's
+experience, concluding: "Well, we owe you and Mrs. Durham a vote of
+thanks for reforming the Bagley tribe. That appears to me an orthodox
+case of convarsion. First we gave him the terrors of the law. Tell yer
+what it is, we was a-smokin' in wrath around him that mornin', like
+Mount Sinai, and you had the sense to bring, in the nick of time, the
+gospel of givin' a feller a chance. It's the best gospel there is, I
+reckon."
+
+"Well," I replied, becoming thoughtful for a moment with boyish
+memories, "my good old mother taught me that it was God's plan to give
+us a chance, and help us make the most of it."
+
+"I remembered the Bagleys to-day," Mrs. Jones remarked, nodding to my
+wife. "We felt they ought to be encouraged."
+
+"So did we," my wife replied, sotto voce.
+
+We afterward learned that the Bagleys had been provisioned for nearly a
+month by the good-will of neighbors, who, a short time since, had been
+ready to take up arms against them.
+
+By eight o'clock everything was cleared away, Mrs. Jones assisting my
+wife, and showing that she would be hurt if not permitted to do so.
+Then we all gathered around the glowing hearth, Junior's
+rat-a-tat-snap! proving that our final course of nuts and cider would
+be provided in the usual way.
+
+How homely it all was! how free from any attempt at display of style!
+yet equally free from any trace of vulgarity or ill-natured gossip.
+Mousie had added grace to the banquet with her blooming plants and
+dried grasses; and, although the dishes had been set on the table by my
+wife's and children's hands, they were daintily ornamented and
+inviting. All had been within our means and accomplished by ourselves;
+and the following morning brought no regretful thoughts. Our helpful
+friends went home, feeling that they had not bestowed their kindness on
+unthankful people whose scheme of life was to get and take, but not to
+return.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV
+
+WE CAN MAKE A LIVING IN EDEN
+
+
+Well, our first year was drawing to a close. The 1st of December was
+celebrated by an event no less momentous than the killing of our pigs,
+to Winnie's and Bobsey's intense excitement. In this affair my wife and
+I were almost helpless, but Mr. Jones and Bagley were on hand, and
+proved themselves veterans, while Mrs. Jones stood by my wife until the
+dressed animals were transformed into souse, head-cheese, sausage, and
+well-salted pork. The children feasted and exulted through all the
+processes, especially enjoying some sweet spareribs.
+
+I next gave all my attention, when the weather permitted, to the proper
+winter covering of all the strawberries, and to the cutting and carting
+home of old and dying trees from the wood lot.
+
+The increasing cold brought new and welcome pleasures to the children.
+There was ice on the neighboring ponds, and skates were bought as
+premature Christmas presents. The same was true of sleds after the
+first fall of snow. This white covering of the earth enabled Merton and
+Junior to track some rabbits in the vicinity, which thus far had eluded
+their search.
+
+By the middle of the month we realized that winter had begun in all its
+rather stern reality; but we were sheltered and provided for. We had so
+far imitated the ants that we had abundant stores until the earth
+should again yield its bounty.
+
+Christmas brought us more than its wonted joy, and a better fulfilment
+of the hopes and anticipations which we had cherished on the same day
+of the previous year. We were far from regretting our flight to the
+country, although it had involved us in hard toil and many anxieties.
+My wife was greatly pleased by my many hours of rest at the fireside in
+her companionship, caused by days too cold and wintry for outdoor work;
+but our deepest and most abiding content was expressed one evening as
+we sat alone after the children were asleep.
+
+"You have solved the problem, Robert, that was worrying you. There is
+space here for the children to grow, and the Daggetts and the Ricketts
+and all their kind are not so near as to make them grow wrong, almost
+in spite of us. A year ago we felt that we were virtually being driven
+to the country. I now feel as if we had been led by a kindly and divine
+hand." I had given much attention to my account-book of late, and had
+said, "On New Year's morning I will tell you all the result of our
+first year's effort."
+
+At breakfast, after our greetings and good wishes for the New Year, all
+looked expectantly at me as I opened our financial record. Carefully
+and clearly as possible, so that even Winnie might understand in part,
+I went over the different items, and the expense and proceeds of the
+different crops, so far as I was able to separate them. Bobsey's
+attention soon wandered, for he had an abiding faith that breakfast,
+dinner, and supper would follow the sun, and that was enough for him.
+But the other children were pleased with my confidence, and tried to
+understand me.
+
+"To sum up everything," I said, finally, "we have done, by working all
+together, what I alone should probably have accomplished in the
+city--we have made our living. I have also taken an inventory or an
+account of stock on hand and paid for; that is, I have here a list on
+which are named the horse, wagon, harness, cow, crates and baskets,
+tools, poultry, and pigs. These things are paid for, and we are so much
+ahead. Now, children, which is better, a living in the city, I earning
+it for you all? or a living in the country toward which even Bobsey can
+do his share?"
+
+"A living in the country," was the prompt chorus. "There is something
+here for a fellow to do without being nagged by a policeman," Merton
+added.
+
+"Well, children, mamma and I agree with you. What's more, there wasn't
+much chance for me to get ahead in the city, or earn a large salary.
+Here, by pulling all together, there is almost a certainty of our
+earning more than a bare living, and of laying up something for a rainy
+day. The chief item of profit from our farm, however, is not down in my
+account-book, but we see it in your sturdier forms and in Mousie's red
+cheeks. More than all, we believe that you are better and healthier at
+heart than you were a year ago.
+
+"Now for the New Year. Let us make the best and most of it, and ask God
+to help us."
+
+And so my simple history ends in glad content and hope.
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Driven Back to Eden, by E. P. Roe
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