racter and depth of the
soil. I do not hesitate to affirm that he knew more about these things
at the end of that half-hour than I shall know at the end of ten years'
daily association with them. I took pains, however, to make the most
of what small knowledge I had, and with considerable flourish I called
Mr. Black's attention to our lilac and gooseberry bushes, and with
conscious pride pointed out the wild grape vine in the corner of the
yard. I told Mr. Black that it was our intention to have a kitchen
garden back of the house, and that among other things we should
cultivate onions of the choicest quality. I had an object in
specifying the onions particularly, for I knew that Mr. Black had a
fondness (amounting almost to a passion) for this succulent fruit.

In all that I pointed out and in all that I said Mr. Black appeared to
take more than common interest. One thing that seemed to please him
particularly was the discovery that three of our currant bushes had
escaped the malice of the workmen, and he promised Alice to write to
his niece at Biddeford for her recipe for making currant wine, a
beverage which, he assured us, would cheer but not inebriate.

Alice and I had made it up beforehand that we would leave Mr. Black and
Uncle Si together for a spell after we had introduced them to each
other; for we wanted our patron to learn for himself (unembarrassed by
our presence) just what had been done and how it had been done. I take
it for granted that the two enjoyed their three hours' confabulation,
but I more than half suspect they spent precious little of that time in
a discussion of our affairs. Mr. Black told me afterward that he had
ascertained that Uncle Si (or Silas, as he called him) was, as he had
surmised, a son of Elnathan Plum of Aroostook.

"Silas looks more like his mother's side of the family," said Mr.
Black. "The Eastmans, as I remember them, were tall and spare, with
blue eyes and straight noses. We have an Eastman in Cincinnati who
looks enough like Silas to be his brother, although he belongs to the
Ebenezer Eastman branch of the family, who located in Westboro, Mass,,
in 1765. Tooker Eastman, the Cincinnati representative of the family,
is pastor of the First Church; he married Sukey, the widow of Amos
Sears, who (that is to say, Amos) was a son of Calvin Sears, who was
postmaster at Biddeford while I was a young man in that town."

From this and other similar morsels of information wh