FROM CITY TO COUNTRY 171 



tive comforts after a year of experience. I did 

 not plan our exodus for the sake of economy, or 

 because I found it necessary to retrench ; our 

 rate of living was no higher than we were will- 

 ing and able to afford. Our object was to change 

 occupation and mode of life without financial 

 loss, and without moulting a single comfort. We 

 wished to end our days close to the land, and we 

 hoped to prove that this could be done with both 

 grace and profit. I had no desire to lose touch 

 with the city, and there was no necessity for do- 

 ing so. Four Oaks is less than an hour from the 

 heart of town. I could leave it, spend two or 

 three hours in town, and be back in time for 

 luncheon without special effort ; and Polly would 

 think nothing of a shopping trip and friends 

 home with her to dinner. The people of Exeter 

 were nearly all city people who were so fortunate 

 as not to be slaves to long hours. They were 

 rich by work or by inheritance, and they grace- 

 fully accepted the otium cum dignitate which this 

 condition permitted. Social life was at its best 

 in Exeter, and many of its people were old 

 acquaintances of ours. A noted country club 

 spread its broad acres within two miles of our 

 door, and I had been favorably posted for mem- 

 bership. It did not look as though we should 

 be thrust entirely upon our own resources in the 

 country ; but at the worst we had resources 

 within our own walls and fences that would fend 

 off all but the most violent attacks of ennui. 



