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 $560. 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. 
