on had
shod their horses and oxen, had grown in the course of years into the
Gershom axe-factory, which bade fair to make a rich man of his
daughter's son.

But the slow and sure process which had served their fathers in their
advances toward wealth were not likely to content the men of Gershom
now, and there had been much talk among them about the forming of a
company to be called "The Gershom Manufacturing Company," the object of
which was to be the establishment of new industries in the town.

Meetings were held, and speeches were made. The "enterprise and public
spirit of certain of our fellow-townsmen" were highly lauded, and a
wonderful future of prosperity for the town of Gershom and the
surrounding country was foretold as the result of the step about to be
taken. The Beaver River was made the subject of long and laudatory
discussion. Its motive power was calculated and valued, and the long
running to waste of its waters deplored. A committee was appointed for
the arranging of preliminaries, and that was as far as the matter
progressed at that time.

Other attempts were made later in the same direction. Some of them
passed beyond preliminary arrangements, and more than once the more
sanguine among the promoters of these schemes made sure of a successful
issue, but all had failed when the practical part of the business had
been touched.

The cause of this did not always clearly appear. Once at least it was
attributed by some of the disappointed towns-people to the obstinacy and
avarice of Jacob Holt. The old woollen-mill built by Gershom Holt in
the early days of the settlement had served a good purpose in the
country for a good many years. But it was time now, it was thought, for
the work to be carried on in Gershom on a larger scale. The old
building itself was of little value, and the old-fashioned machinery it
contained was of less, but the site was considered to be the best in
Gershom for a manufactory of the kind. Jacob Holt professed to be quite
ready to dispose of it to the company on reasonable terms; but when it
came to the point, no agreement could be made as to what were reasonable
terms, and so the old mill plodded on in the old way for a while, and
within a year a new mill was built in the neighbouring township of
Fosbrooke. There was much indignation expressed with regard to this
matter in Gershom, but Jacob troubled himself little about it. The old
mill had gone the way of most old