PAINTERS ARBORETUM. 23 



and magazines, and bj' the editing of books. They willingly 

 loaned books from their library to their neighbors, but on the 

 inside of each volume was inscribed, " Reader, please soon 

 return this book." One of the brothers, suffering somewhat 

 from indigestion on account of coarse fare and lack of exer- 

 cise, borrowed a book on the subject from Dr. Trimble ; but 

 he soon returned it, remarking that it required a dictionary to 

 make anything out of it, and he thought it not worth while. 

 Probably his dyspepsia was better. 



When alone in their dwelling they occupied mostly the 

 back part. A neighbor tells me he never was in the front 

 rooms until MinshalTs funeral, though frequently at the house 

 on errands. One evening the same neighbor arrived with a 

 message while the botanists were at supper. He entered as 

 usual by the back door. The kitchen was a large room, half 

 of it paved with big, flat stones, the rest board. On the stone 

 portion was an old fashioned " ten plate " stove, in the other 

 part, near one side was the dining table. The old men were 

 finishing their meal of cold, fat pork and vegetables, and 

 were so absorbed in some discussion as hardly to notice the 

 young man's entrance. When through, Minshall crossed the 

 room and stretched out on a wooden bench against the wall 

 behind the fire, and Jacob drew up a chair and tipped back 

 with his feet up against the well filled stove. Thus comfort- 

 ably fixed, the}' were so interested in everything going on, 

 and plied the visitor so actively with questions and remarks, 

 that he could scarcely get in a word on the business for 

 which he came. 



Both of the brothers were decidedly talkative, and if one 

 met them on the road, it meant a conversation of an hour or 

 so. Jacob, like other stout people, was quite jolly, and had 

 a good store of anecdotes. He used to tell about his trip to 

 Chicago, and what he saw by the way. The stages travelled 

 on mere trails across the prairies, and the soil was so soft that 

 a few wagons cut it into ruts. Then a new track would be 

 made beside the old one, until the roads were so wide that 



