One anxiety alone clouded the prospect; not his ill health,—for already he felt stronger and was assured that he was on the way to complete recovery,—but tender thought for his widowed mother. Up to this time he had been able, from time to time, to send her gifts of money; now he took counsel with his friends as to how he might best provide for her future comfort. A family who owns its home is free from the monthly bill of rental to a landlord. A “roof over the head” is of prime importance to ease of mind. Possibly Fulton’s remittances of money had been devoted to house rent; be that as it may, he decided before he set sail for England to provide his mother with a home of her own. She was fond of a garden, and flowers were her delight; so he decided that a small farm, where food could be produced for the family of growing girls and the younger brother, would prove to be the best and wisest gift he could bestow. Our next chapter will tell of the pleasant farm on which Fulton established his mother and family before he set sail for the old world. CHAPTER IV THE GIFT OF A FARM Did you ever hold a camera film to the light? All things are turned about; the right side becomes the left, and the first object in view appears to be the last, at the extreme end of the picture. So it seems when we take a mental review of the past,—the point of contact is reversed and we can balance accurately the lights and shadows that appear. To the mind of Robert Fulton, about to make a venture which called for courage,—a voyage to an unknown land,—the chief aim of his life was the care of his mother, whom he must leave behind. The longer he thought, the more was he convinced that better than a sum of money, which might be lost or stolen, would be the gift of a farm-home where she could settle down to enjoy an old age of security and peace. We can well imagine that he cast about in his mind properly to determine the best location for this purchase. It appears that a relative, the Rev. Joseph Smith, had been called to the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church in the town of Hopewell, Washington County, Pennsylvania. In order that his mother might have the care and protection of this relative, Robert Fulton decided to buy the new home in Hopewell. He selected a farm of more than eighty acres on Cross Creek, a fertile spot near running water, not unlike the farm which had been his mother’s earlier home and his own birthplace.