WE TAKE POSSESSION 43 



before I can build my factory. Let the hens 

 alone for the present ; you can eat them during 

 the winter. 



"Now, about the crops. The hay in barns 

 and stacks is all right ; the wheat is ready for 

 threshing, but it can wait until the oats are also 

 ready ; the corn is weedy, but it is too late to 

 help it, and the potatoes are probably covered 

 with bugs. I will send out to-morrow some 

 Paris green and a couple of blow-guns. There 

 is not much real farm work to do just now, and 

 you will have time for other things. The first 

 and most important thing is to dig a cellar to 

 put your house over; your comfort depends on 

 that. Get the men and horses with plough and 

 scraper out as early as you can to-morrow morn- 

 ing, and hustle. You have nothing to do but 

 dig a big hole seven feet deep inside these lines. 

 I count on you to keep things moving, and I will 

 be out the day after to-morrow." 



The mason had finished his estimate, which 

 was 1560. After some explanations, I concluded 

 that it was a fair price, and agreed to it, pro- 

 vided the work could be done promptly. The 

 carpenter was not ready to give me figures ; he 

 said, however, that he could get a man to move 

 the house for $120, and that he would send me 

 by mail that night an itemized estimate of costs, 

 and also one from a plumber. This seemed like 

 doing a lot of things in one afternoon, so Polly 

 and I started for town content. 



