THE DAILY LIFE OF OUR FARM. 135 



now ? " to which won't there come the nice reply, 

 " Not to day, Edward, dear, but when our visitors are 

 gone " ? And then I shall emerge along the passage 

 with a mingled feeling, containing somewhat of hope, 

 that when she does discover, she will duly appreciate 

 her husband's inventiveness ; for have I not saved a 

 twenty-pound note in the transaction, and may she not 

 want a bonnet or so when the spring fashions come 

 out? 



We have to-day commenced operations for utilising, 

 as I described, the spring upon our hill-side, and in 

 course of the work came across an effect, which most 

 may know, but which had not certainly occurred to my 

 mind before. I found out that if you want to obtain 

 a pan of clear drinkable water, in the very heart and 

 in defiance of a muddy river, why, having safely 

 moored, just sink up to the lips a stout floatably- 

 inclined tub, having holes bored in the bottom, which 

 should be strewn a few inches deep with gravel, having 

 a coating of fine sand a-top : through this the exploring 

 water will ascend, being determined, as its human 

 superiors, to attain and keep its level ; but having in 

 this instance, as a pauper casual, to suffer cleansing in 

 consideration of its lodging. Simply, in plain words, 

 the water that will rise in the tub will be purified and 

 transparent, and a contrast to the muddy stream outside 

 its oak-stave barrier. You may fill your kettle there- 

 from with delighted impunity. 



But here comes the charcoal-burner, whom I have 

 engaged to turn into this useful material the oak 

 boughs which were intended to have been sold for cord- 

 wood to the tin-works in the Forest, and so, for to-day, 

 adieu. 



