nd that it would be unwise for me to
take up work again for at least another year. In my own mind there was a
fixed opinion that I should never take it up again. I loved it dearly;
but I had given long, hard service to it, and felt that I had earned the
right to freedom from its exacting demands. I have never lost interest
in this, the noblest of professions, but I had done my share, and was
now willing to watch the work of others. In my mind there was no doubt
about the desirability of the change. I have always loved the thought of
country life, and now that my thoughts were taking material shape, I was
keen to push on. Polly looked toward the untrammelled life we hoped to
lead with as great pleasure as I.

But how about the children? Would it appeal to them with the same force
as to us? The children have thus far been kept in the background. I
wanted to start my factory farm and to get through with most of its dull
details before introducing them to the reader, lest I should be diverted
from the business to the domestic, or social, proposition.

The farm is laid by for the winter, and most of the details needed for a
just comprehension of our experiment have been given. From this time on
we will deal chiefly with results. We will watch the out-put from the
factory, and commend or find fault as the case may deserve.

The social side of life is quite as important as the commercial, for
though we gain money, if we lose happiness, what profit have we? Let us
study the children to see what chances for happiness and good fellowship
lie in them.

Kate is our first-born. She is a bright, beautiful woman of
five-and-twenty, who has had a husband these six years, one daughter for
four years, and, wonderful to relate, another daughter for two years.
She is quick and practical, with strong opinions of her own, prompt with
advice and just as prompt with aid; a woman with a temper, but a friend
to tie to in time of stress. She has the education of a good school, and
what is infinitely better, the cultivation of an observing mind. She is
quick with tongue and pen, but her quickness is so tempered by
unquestioned friendliness that it fastens people to her as with a cord.
She overflows with interests of every description, but she is never too
busy to listen sympathetically to a child or a friend. She is the
practical member of the family, and we rarely do much out of the
ordinary without first talking it over with Kate.

Tom Hami