CO ATE FARM. 19 



"That day they had a leg of mutton a 

 special occasion a joint to be looked on 

 reverently. Mr. Iden had walked into the 

 town to choose it himself some days pre- 

 viously, and brought it home on foot in a flag 

 basket. The butcher would have sent it, and 

 if not, there were men on the farm who could 

 have fetched it, but it was much too important 

 to be left to a second person. No one could 

 do it right but Mr. Iden himself. There was 

 a good deal of reason in this personal ca.re of 

 the meat, for it is a certain fact that unless 

 you do look after such things yourself, and 

 that persistently, too, you never get it first- 

 rate. For this cause people in grand villas 

 scarcely ever have anything worth eating on 

 their tables. Their household expenses reach 

 thousands yearly, and yet they rarely have 

 anything eatable, and their dinner- tables can 

 never show meat, vegetables, or fruit equal to 

 Mr. Iden's. The meat was dark-brown, as 

 mutton should be, for if it is the least bit 

 white it is sure to be poor ; the grain was 

 short, and ate like bread and butter, firm, and, 

 yet almost crumbling to the touch ; it was full 



22 



