And honest dealing, and untainted speech,
And pure good-will, and hospitable cheer;
That made the very thought of country life
A thought of refuge, for a mind detained
Reluctantly amid the bustling crowd."

_Wordsworth._

CHAPTER XVI

THE COUNTRY GIRL'S WAGE

A vision had certainly visited the soul of a certain fifteen-year-old
Country Girl of New York State who claimed that the girls of the present
day have a progressive spirit, and that if this spirit of progress is
not found on the farm, they will seek it in the city. The bearing of
this spirit on the question of the Country Girl's wage has made her
think more deeply and feel more keenly than words can express. She
cannot resist the conclusion that unless the young people are paid
definite wages for the work they do on the farm, it will not seem to
them that they are getting on so well as they might in a city office.
This is a delicate diagnosis of a very painful trouble.

Many of the girls realize that the tenure of industry in the city is
light for the person that comes unprepared for it; many realize that the
dangers are thickly set about her path; many know well that the lure of
the city is to be valiantly resisted; but the majority, being but little
accustomed to the handling of money, and having sadly little instruction
as to real values, cannot see why eight dollars a week gained in some
city industry does not represent a fortune. In making her budget at home
the cost of rental and food have not been taken into account, and she
has never been made to realize what these items mean in the new
environment. Parents and teachers and ministers and all sober people in
the farming community are cruelly to blame for the ineptitude of their
neglect in leaving these things unimpressed upon the mind of the young
women in the community and for not watching out for the strangers who
may fill their minds with glowing descriptions not founded on fact
about the abundant opportunity and the free and enjoyable life to be
found in the walks of city work and play. "Let the child earn money,
have money, spend money, save money," advised a country mother; and if
this were done, wisely and all the time, from earliest years up, the
boys and girls would not come to the age of question and desire with so
little preparation for its responsibilities.

From a wide correspondence with Country Girls in many parts of America,
the conclusion is forced upon us that ver