hter, the air
there, or something, and he says he couldn't be at the bother
of two establishments without a housekeeper in nary one of
'em. And I think he's right. I don't see how he could."

Winthrop watched the quick mechanical way in which his
mother's knife followed the paring round and round the
potatoes, and he longed to say something. "But it is not my
affair," he thought; "it is for Rufus. It is not _my_ business
to speak."

Nobody else spoke for a minute.

"What makes him want to send his children here?" said Mrs.
Landholm without looking up from her work.

"Partly because he knows me, I suppose; and maybe he has heard
of you. Partly because he knows this is just the finest
country in the world, and the finest air, and he wants them to
run over the hills and pick wild strawberries and drink
country milk, and all that sort of thing. It's just the place
for them, as I told him once, I remember."

"You told him! --"

"Yes. He was saying something about not knowing what to do
with his girls last winter, and I remember I said to him that
he had better send them to me; but I had no more idea of his
taking it up, at the time, than I have now of going to Egypt."

Mrs. Landholm did not speak.

"You have somewhere you can put them, I suppose?"

"There's nobody in the big bedroom."

"Well, do you think you can get along with it? or will it give
you too much trouble?"

"I am afraid they would never be satisfied, Mr. Landholm, with
the way we live."

"Pho! I'll engage they will. Satisfied! they never saw such
butter and such bread in their lives, I'll be bound, as you
can give them. If they aren't satisfied it'll do 'em good."

"But bread and butter isn't all, Mr. Landholm; what will they
do with our dinners, without fresh meat?"

"What will they do with them? Eat 'em, fast enough, only you
have enough. I'll be bound their appetites will take care of
the rest, after they have been running over the mountains all
the morning. You've some chickens, hav'n't you? -- and I could
get a lamb now and then from neighbour Upshur; and here's
Winthrop can get you birds and fish any day in the year."

"Winthrop will hardly have time."

"Yes he will; and if he don't we can call in Anderese. He's a
pretty good hunter."

"I'm not a bad one," said Rufus.

"And you have Karen to help you. _I_ think it will be a very
fine thing, and be a good start maybe towards Rufus's going to
College."

Another pause, during wh