in to be above turnen your own hand to work?"

Ishmael had a moment's qualm. What ploughing he had done had been but
slight, and he was not free from an uneasy impression that John-James
was laying a trap for him into which he would not be sorry to see him
fall. It would be no better to put it off, for he could imagine the
comments that would fly, so he nodded his head.

"We'll set to work this morning on it," he agreed lightly; "I suppose
you're still using wooden ploughs down here?"

"Wooden ploughs ...? And what'd 'ee have ploughs made of, I should like
to knaw? Gold, like what Arch'laus has in Australy?"

"Iron. All modern ploughs are made of iron, and so are rollers."

"Iron ... iron rollers. What's wrong weth a geart granite roller, lad?"

"Well, it's very cumbersome, isn't it? It's three men's work to cart it
from one place to another, for one thing. Anyway, I've brought down an
iron plough and a chain-harrow...."

Over John-James's face came a gleam of interest. "A chain-harrow?" he
repeated; "I've long wanted one o' they. Us allus has to take the
yard-gate off its hinges and weave furze in and out of it and drag that
over the ground."

"Well, now you've got a real chain-harrow and won't have to do that any
more. I tell you what it is, John-James, I want you and me between us to
make this the finest farm in the country; I don't want Archelaus to
sneer at us when he comes home and say how much better he could have run
it. Of course, I can't do it without you; but if you'll only help...."

John-James held silence for a space. Then he said:

"I've allus said as how us wanted carts, 'stead of carr'n all our furze
and the butter and everything as goes in or out upon they harses and
lil' dunkies. And gates ... if us could have a few more gates to the
place 'stead of thrawing the hedges up and down all our days.... It'll
cost money, but what you do put into the land you get out of the land.
Same as weth cows."

It was a long speech for John-James, and he paused with his countenance
suffused a deep purplish hue. Ishmael seized his hand and wrung it with
a sudden young gust of enthusiasm that he could not control.

"You'll help. I know you will. Oh, we'll pull the old place up yet.
We'll make such a thing of it...."

But John-James had withdrawn his hand limply. "Go maken it so fine it'll
be a pretty place for gentry, s'pose," he said; "be shamed to see I
about the place then, I reckon."

Ishmael laughed