136 THE TIM BUNKER PAPERS. 



&quot; Suppose you go down and see, Sally ; I have a little 

 business in the city, and shall be glad of your company.&quot; 



Mrs. Bunker s trunk was packed next day, and we took 

 the boat for the city. At first, she was inclined to think 

 the whole story was a hoax, for she did not see, where 

 houses were so plenty, how folks could find any room for 

 pastures and woodlands. But after riding up on a rail 

 road that went by horses, six or seven miles, with houses 

 and stores on both sides, considerable thicker than they 

 are on Hookertown street, and we began to get sight of 

 some vacant lots and trees, she thought there might be 

 something in it. 



The ci% pretty much faded out after a while, and we 

 came to a place they told us was the Park. We found 

 some very wide roads, they called avenues, about as smooth 

 as a barn floor, and wide enough for six loads of hay to 

 drive along abreast. &quot;Now,&quot; exclaims Mrs. Bunker, 

 &quot; what are .these people thinking of? Don t they expect 

 to leave the road behind them when they ride out ? Fred 

 ought to have told them better than that.&quot; I should think 

 there were more people at work -there, than we have got 

 on all the farms in Hookertown, some drilling rocks, some 

 carting stone, some setting out trees, and some moving 

 dirt from one place to another, without any particular ob 

 ject in view. I could n t help thinking what lots of corn 

 and potatoes they would raise this summer, if they were 

 only working on farms. 



They called one place &quot;a Ramble, and had guide-boards 

 put up, all round, pointing that way, as if it was some 

 thing remarkable. Mrs. Bunker said &quot; it reminded her, for 

 all the world, of Uncle Jotham Sparrowgrass s cow past 

 ure, before he drained the muskrat pond, and she didn t 

 think the lay of the land was a bit handsomer.&quot; 



It is curious to see how folks minds work. Here in the 

 country, the great object seems to be to get rid of water, 

 rocks, and brush. You see, I spent considerable in drain- 



