ge his mind and agree to
accept the Putnam homestead as a gift was Uncle Ike's suggestion that he
deed the Pettengill homestead to Alice, and pay her all he received for
the sale of products from the present Pettengill farm; but 'Zekiel would
not accept any loan. He said Deacon Mason had given his daughter five
thousand dollars outright, and that would be all the cash they would
need to stock and carry on both the farms.

Then 'Zekiel said he might as well settle on who was to live in the two
houses. He knew that Cobb's twins would like to stay with him, and he
would take them up to the Putnam house with him. Mrs. Pinkham had been
hired by the executors to remain with Samanthy until some one came to
live in the house. Ezekiel said Samanthy was a good girl, and he and
Huldy both liked her, and he felt pretty sure she'd be willing to live
with them, because she was used to the house, and as it was the only one
she'd ever lived in, it would seem like going away from home if she left
there and went somewhere else.

Then 'Zekiel was of the opinion that Abbott Smith and Billy Ricker had
better board with Hiram and Mandy, because the grocery teams and horses
would have to be kept in the Pettengill barn, as there was no stable to
the grocery store. "'Twon't be stealin' anythin' from Mrs. Hawkins if
they don't board with her, cuz none of 'em ever lived with her afore."

"Don't you think, 'Zekiel," asked Huldy, "that Uncle Ike ought to come
down stairs and have a better room? It will be awful hot up there in the
summer. Alice and I used to play up there, and in July and August it was
hot enough to roast eggs, wasn't it, Alice?"

Alice, thus appealed to, said it might have been hot enough, but she was
positive that they never did roast any up there, although she remembered
setting the attic floor on fire one day with a burning glass. 'Zekiel
remembered that, too, and how they had to put new ceilings on two rooms,
because he used so much water to put the fire out.

When Uncle Ike got a chance to speak, he said to Huldy, "Thank you, my
dear Mrs. Pettengill," with a strong accent on the Mrs., which made
Huldy blush a rosy red, "but I wouldn't swap my old attic for all the
rest of the rooms in the house. My old blood requires warmth, and I can
stand ninety-six without asking for a fan. When I come up to see you,
you can put me in one of your big square rooms, but I sha'n't stay long,
because I don't like them."

The noise of whe