Jane, for they looked serious, and
she was not made unhappy by them. Jarvis was all that was honest and
manly, but I could not think of giving up Jane, even to the best of
fellows. I wanted her for my old age. I suspect that a loving father can
dig deeper into the mud of selfishness than any other man, and yet feel
all the time that he is doing God service. It is in accord with nature
that a daughter should take the bit in her teeth and bolt away from this
restraining selfishness, but the man who is left by the roadside cannot
always see it in that light.

CHAPTER LII

THE THIRD BECKONING

On the afternoon of December 31 I called a meeting of the committee of
ways and means, and Polly and I locked ourselves in my office. It was
then two and a half years since we commenced the experiment of building
a factory farm, which was to supply us with comforts, luxuries, and
pleasures of life, and yet be self-supporting: a continuous experiment
in economics.

The building of the factory was practically completed, though not all of
its machinery had yet been installed. We had spent our money
freely,--too freely, perhaps; and we were now ready to watch the
returns. Polly said:--

"There are some things we are sure of: we like the country, and it likes
us. I have spent the happiest year of my life here. We've entertained
more friends than ever before, and they've been better entertained, so
that we are all right from the social standpoint. You are stronger and
better than ever before, and so am I. Credit the farm with these things,
Mr. Headman, and you'll find that it doesn't owe us such an awful amount
after all."

"Are these things worth $100,000?"

"Now, John, you don't mean that you've spent $100,000! What in the world
have you done with it? Just pigs and cows and chickens--"

"And greenhouses and sunken gardens and pergolas and kickshaws," said I.
"But seriously, Polly, I think that we can show value for all that we
have spent; and the whole amount is not three times what our city house
cost, and that only covered our heads."

"How do you figure values here?"

"We get a great deal more than simply shelter out of this place, and we
have tangible values, too. Here are some of them: 480 acres of excellent
land, so well groomed and planted that it is worth of any man's money,
$120 per acre, or $57,600; buildings, water-plant, etc., all as good as
new, $40,000; 44 cows, $4400; 10 heifers nearly two years old, $