The Fat of the Land: The Story of an American FarmStreeter, John Williams
Science
The Fat of the Land: The Story of an American Farm
Streeter, John Williams
Agriculture
The farm is laid by for the winter, and most of the details needed for a
just comprehension of our experiment have been given. From this time on
we will deal chiefly with results. We will watch the out-put from the
factory, and commend or find fault as the case may deserve.
The social side of life is quite as important as the commercial, for
though we gain money, if we lose happiness, what profit have we? Let us
study the children to see what chances for happiness and good fellowship
lie in them.
Kate is our first-born. She is a bright, beautiful woman of
five-and-twenty, who has had a husband these six years, one daughter for
four years, and, wonderful to relate, another daughter for two years.
She is quick and practical, with strong opinions of her own, prompt with
advice and just as prompt with aid; a woman with a temper, but a friend
to tie to in time of stress. She has the education of a good school, and
what is infinitely better, the cultivation of an observing mind. She is
quick with tongue and pen, but her quickness is so tempered by
unquestioned friendliness that it fastens people to her as with a cord.
She overflows with interests of every description, but she is never too
busy to listen sympathetically to a child or a friend. She is the
practical member of the family, and we rarely do much out of the
ordinary without first talking it over with Kate.
Tom Hamilton, her husband, is a young man who is getting on in the
world. He is clever in his profession, and sure to succeed beyond the
success of most men. He is quiet in manner, but he seems to have a way
of managing his quick, handsome wife, which is something of a surprise
to me, and to her also, I fancy. They are congenial and happy, and their
children are beings to adore. Tom and Kate are to live in town. They are
too young for the joys of country life, and must needs drag on as they
are, loved and admired by a host of friends. They can, and will,
however, spend much time at Four Oaks; and I need not say they approved
our plans.
Jack is our second. He was a junior at Yale, and I am shy of saying much
about him lest I be accused of partiality. Enough to say that he is
tall, blond, handsome, and that he has gentle, winning ways that draw
the love of men and women. He is a dreamer of dreams, but he has a
sturdy drop of Puritan blood in his veins that makes him strong in
conviction and brave in action. Jack has never caused me an hour of
anxiety, and I was ever proud to see him in any company.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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