"You do amuse me so, Robert! You'd like to pass for something of a philosopher, with your brown studies into the hidden causes and reasons for things, yet you don't half know yet that when a woman sets her heart on something, she hasn't much left with which to long for anything else. That is, if she has a heart, which seems to be left out of some women." "I think it is, and others get a double allowance. I should be content, for I was rich the moment I won yours." "I've been more than content; I've been happy--happy all these years in city flats. Even in my tantrums and bad days I knew I was happy, deep in my heart." "I only hope you will remain as blind about your plodding old husband who couldn't make a fortune in the city." "I've seen men who made fortunes, and I've seen their wives too." I thanked God for the look on her face--a look which had been there when she was a bride, and which had survived many straitened years. So we chose our country home. The small patrimony to which we had added but little--(indeed we had often denied ourselves in order not to diminish it)--was nearly all to be invested in the farm, and a debt to be incurred, besides. While yielding to my fancy, I believed that I had at the same time chosen wisely, for, as John Jones said, the mature fruit trees of the place would begin to bring returns very soon. CHAPTER IX "BREAKING CAMP" We were now all eager to get away, and the weather favored our wishes. A warm rain with a high south wind set in, and the ice disappeared from the river like magic. I learned that the afternoon boat which touched at Maizeville would begin its trips in the following week. I told my wife about the furniture which still remained in the house, and the prices which John Jones put upon it. We therefore found that we could dispose of a number of bulky articles in our city apartments, and save a goodly sum in cartage and freight. Like soldiers short of ammunition, we had to make every dollar tell, and when by thought and management we could save a little it was talked over as a triumph to be proud of. The children entered into the spirit of the thing with great zest. They were all going to be hardy pioneers. One evening I described the landing of the "Mayflower," and some of the New-England winters that followed, and they wished to come down to Indian meal at once as a steady diet. Indeed, toward the last, we did come down to rather plain fare, for in packing up one thing after another we at last reached the cooking utensils. On the morning of the day preceding the one of our departure I began to use military figures of speech.