292 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



and see how he measures. Some one will get it 

 before long, and it might as well be you." 



Jackson galloped off, and Kyiie and I sat on 

 the porch and divided the widow's 160-acre mite. 

 It was a good strip of land, lying a fair mile on 

 the south road and a quarter of a mile deep. 

 The buildings were of no value, the fences were 

 ragged to a degree, but I coveted the land. It 

 was the vineyard of Naboth to me, and I planned 

 its future with my friend and accessory sitting 

 by. I destroyed the estimable old lady's house 

 and barns, ran my ploughshares through her gar- 

 den and flower beds, and turned the home site 

 into one great field of lusty corn, without so much 

 as saying by your leave. Thus does the greed 

 of land grow upon one. But in truth, I saw that 

 I must have more land. My factory would re- 

 quire more than ten thousand bushels of grain, 

 with forage and green foods in proportion, to 

 meet its full capacity, and I could not hope to 

 get so much from the land then under cultiva- 

 tion. Again, in a few years a very few the 

 fifty acres of orchard would be no longer avail- 

 able for crops, and this would still further reduce 

 my tillable land. With the orchards out of use, 

 I should have but 124 acres for all crops other 

 than hay. If I could add this coveted 160, it 

 would give me 250 acres of excellent land for 

 intensive farming. 



I should like it on this side of the road," said 

 I, " but I suppose that will have to do." 



