182 THE FAT OF THE LAND 
and withal very much of a home girl. Every one 
makes much of Jane, and she is not spoiled, but 
rather improved by it. She was in her second 
year at Farmington, and, like all Farmington 
students, she cared more for girls than for boys. 
These were the children whom I was to trans. 
port from the city, where they were born, to the 
quiet life at Four Oaks. After carefully taking 
their measures, I felt little hesitation about mak- 
ing the change. They, of course, had known of 
the plan, and had often been to the farm; but 
they were still to find out what it really meant 
to live there. A saddle horse and dogs galore 
would square me with Jane, beyond question ; 
but what about Jack? Time must decide that. 
His plan of life was not yet formed, and we 
could afford to wait. We did not have much 
time in which to weigh these matters, for the 
Christmas holidays were near, and the young- 
sters would soon be home. We planned to be 
settled in the new house when they arrived. 
