January, 1912 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
45 
His friends, of course, were willing to grant all this. They 
considered him unwise because they did not see how he could 
make good at the new undertaking, whereas if he started all over 
again in the city, in the game in which he was trained, a reason¬ 
able success was, in time, certain. But there was something to be 
said on the other side. Although he knew practically nothing 
about the methods of the work into which he was about to plunge, 
he realized several facts that to him justified his decision. First 
of all, men of meager ability and not over energetic were able to 
make at the worst a sure living from the soil. Discomforts, incon¬ 
veniences in plenty they put up with, but there were many compen¬ 
sating advantages. His knowledge of business methods would 
give him a big advantage over most of his competitors. He could 
see that the farm to wTich he had so strangely fallen heir was, 
although at present undeveloped, much better than the average. 
He was convinced that the 
man whom chance had thrown 
in his way had a practical 
knowledge of the things to be 
done. He could see that a 
good local market, in the in¬ 
dustrious and growing town 
of Priestly, was awaiting for 
some one. And last, and by 
no means least, he had in Mrs. 
Mantell a capable partner 
who was firmly confident in 
the undertaking. 
Robert and Helen were at 
the explosion point with ex¬ 
citement. It was due to the 
argument of the hired man— 
whom they quite worshiped, 
that they were present at the 
conference. It was a good 
move; nothing could have 
more thoroughly enlisted their 
earnest support. 
The humor of the situation 
was apparent to Mr. Mantell. 
He smiled broadly as he 
rapped on the table and said: 
“We are called to order. I 
suggest that Raffles, as he 
knows more about the busi¬ 
ness in hand than the rest of 
us, take the chair.” 
Raffles, however, a little 
self-conscious, declined. “My 
only reason for being here at 
all is that I may be able to 
give a little information on 
things you don’t know about. 
Please consider me,” he added, 
coloring a little, “not a mem¬ 
ber of the board, but simply 
as manager of the manufacturing department, say, called in to 
furnish a little technical information.” 
Mr. Mantell glanced quickly at his single employee. Every 
day he wondered more where and what this man had been, but 
only the most general statement as to his past doings could 
he get from him. 
“Let’s not waste any time on formalities,” put in Mrs. Man¬ 
tell, “there’s too much to do.” 
“Well, then,” said the head of the house, taking out his pen 
and jabbing holes in the pad before him, “the situation is just 
this: we’re here to start a new business. We have a fairly good 
manufacturing plant, though it's in more or less run down con¬ 
dition-—that’s the farm. Then we have buildings that are in 
fair shape, and adequate for our present needs. Of machinery 
there is practically none at all, either implements, or stock, which, 
as I understand it, is an important and expensive part of farm 
machinery. We have very little capital, no credit, and a good 
but undeveloped market. That is the situation; what are we 
going to do about it?” 
“Well put,” exclaimed Raffles; “that’s getting down to brass 
tacks.” 
“I would like to ask, in the first place,” said Mrs. Mantell, 
“what you would do under similar circumstances in an ordinary 
business?” 
“Well,” answered the chairman, “we would figure out what 
we thought we could sell, what it would cost to produce it, and 
what the running expenses 
would be, what salaries and 
wages would demand, etc. 
That would give us an idea 
of how much capital would 
be needed. If we didn’t have 
enough, we’d form a company 
and try to raise the balance. 
With a good proposition we 
could probably do it.” 
“And what,” asked Mrs. 
Mantell, again turning to 
Raffles, “would the average 
farmer do?” 
“That I cannot answer defi¬ 
nitely,” replied the manufac¬ 
turing department manager. 
“I have never been one. I 
think he would buy a horse, 
and a couple of cows. He 
would not bother about mak¬ 
ing any definite plans. In the 
spring he would plow and sow 
about what his neighbors do. 
He would aim. in a general 
way, at getting a few more 
cows and shipping a can or 
two of milk to the city. He 
would not know what it cost 
him to produce it. He would 
continue to work along in an 
indefinite way, and at the 
year’s end could not tell you 
whether his business had 
shown a loss or a profit.” 
“The business man’s way 
certainly sounds best,” said 
Mrs. Mantell. 
Raffles laughed. “I know,” 
he said, “but the funny thing 
is that at the end of four 
years you would probably find the farmer still plugging along, 
while the chances are that the business man would have failed!” 
“That doesn’t sound very encouraging for us,” said Mr. 
Mantell. 
A long discussion followed, in which Raffles, as everyone 
called him, explained more fully what he meant, and that he 
thought in the present instance they would be in a position to 
combine the theoretical and the practical, or rather to do practical 
farming, but to do it in a business like way as possible. 
The result of the conference was that the business was 
{Continued on page 65) 
The endless vista of trees and snow far-stretching, the palpable, unbroken 
silence awoke the primitive in the man 
