Why the Boys Leave Home 63 



the place with considerable enthusiasm, but his heart 

 swelled with pride when he reached the magnificent 

 barn, one side of which was devoted to the propaga- 

 tion of a high-grade strain of Duroc Jersey swine. 

 Every convenience and comfort for the hogs was 

 provided. He boasted about his success with them, 

 showed an affectionate regard for the different in- 

 dividuals, calling them by name. The horses, too, 

 might have aroused the envy of the entire neighbor- 

 hood. They were sleek and well-fed, full in flesh 

 and fair in form. There was provided every con- 

 venience for feeding and caring for the horses and 

 the hogs, so that the hired men found the work 

 about the barn exceedingly easy and pleasant. 



Then the attention of the visitors was turned to the 

 farmhouse. Yes, it was small and run down and 

 poor, the intention being to build a larger one " some 

 time." But that same intention was known to 

 have been expressed repeatedly for a period of 

 twenty years past. And where were the boys ? 

 Well, that was the trouble, and furnished the excuse 

 for his willingness to sell the place. He simply 

 could not induce the boys to stay there and take an 

 interest in things. Two of them, barely more than 

 boys, had left the home nest in its meanness and 

 degradation and hired out in town. The mother 

 of the boys was living there because she had to, but 

 upon her face were lines of suffering and disappoint- 

 ment and degradation. Yet in the midst of it all, 



