“Do you mean to say you can run a farm, Hi Strong?” she asked.
“I do,” and he smiled confidently at her.
“And make it pay?”
“Perhaps not much profit the first season; but if the farm is fertile, and the marketing conditions are right, I know I can make it pay us both in two years.”
“I've got a little money saved up. I could sell the house in a week, for it's always full and there are always lone women like me with a little driblet of money to exchange for a boarding house—heaven help us for the fools we are!” Mrs. Atterson exclaimed.
“And I expect you could raise vegetables enough to part keep us, Hi, even if the farm wasn't a great success?”
“And eggs, and chickens, and the pigs, and milk from the cow,” suggested Hiram.
“Well! I declare, that's so,” admitted Mrs. Atterson. “I'd been lookin' on all them things as an expense. They could be made an asset, eh?”
“I should hope so,” responded Hiram, smiling.
“And I could get rid of these boarders—My soul and body!” gasped the tired woman, suddenly. “Do you suppose it's true, Hi? Get rid of worryin' about paying the bills, and whether the boarders are all going to keep their jobs and be able to pay regularly—And the gravy!