that each hen will bring up but five chickens. The chickens that will
live, out of those I consider as dead, will more than pay for the feed."

"That is not what I was going to ask you, although of course it ought to
be considered. But you know you are only going to set common hens, and
you do not intend to raise any. Now, are those four hens to do all the
setting and mother-work for five years, and eventually bring up over
sixty-four thousand chickens?"

"Well, I DID make a mistake there," she said, coloring a little. "I'll
tell you what I'll do; I'll set every one of my hens every year."

"But all those chickens may not be hens. You have calculated that every
one of them would set as soon as it was old enough."

She stopped a minute to think this over.

"Two heads are better than one, I see," she said, directly. "I'll allow
that one-half of all the chickens are roosters, and that will make the
profits twenty-four thousand three hundred dollars--more than enough to
buy this place."

"Ever so much more," I cried. "This Rudder Grange is ours!"

CHAPTER IX. WE CAMP OUT.

My wife and I were both so fond of country life and country pursuits
that month after month passed by at our little farm in a succession of
delightful days. Time flew like a "limited express" train, and it was
September before we knew it.

I had been working very hard at the office that summer, and was glad to
think of my two weeks' vacation, which were to begin on the first
Monday of the month. I had intended spending these two weeks in
rural retirement at home, but an interview in the city with my family
physician caused me to change my mind. I told him my plan.

"Now," said he, "if I were you, I'd do nothing of the kind. You have
been working too hard; your face shows it. You need rest and change.
Nothing will do you so much good as to camp out; that will be fifty
times better than going to any summer resort. You can take your wife
with you. I know she'll like it. I don't care where you go so that it's
a healthy spot. Get a good tent and an outfit, be off to the woods, and
forget all about business and domestic matters for a few weeks."

This sounded splendid, and I propounded the plan to Euphemia that
evening. She thought very well of it, and was sure we could do it.
Pomona would not be afraid to remain in the house, under the protection
of Lord Edward, and she could easily attend to the cow and the chickens.
It would be a holiday fo