Mrs. Curtis clasped her hands as she exclaimed,—
"Oh, Lawrence! what a kind husband you are!"
"I have ascertained," he went on, smiling, "that the village is so healthy no physician can be supported. There is one church and good schools; though there is no hotel and not one dram-shop. I think we shall like it; and if you say you will try to be contented, I shall conclude the bargain at once and turn farmer."
"Why, Lawrence, what do you know about such business?"
"You forget, my dear, that I was born and brought up in the country."
The next morning, when they left the farm-house, Mr. Curtis had agreed to buy sixty acres of land adjoining the lake, with a right to the use of the water for boating or fishing, or whatever else he pleased. He had also engaged board for the rest of the summer with the farmer's family, and promised to return in a fortnight. In the meantime, he intended to look up the titles to his new land, and if it was all right, as he expected, to proceed at once to build a new house.
Mr. Curtis, ever since his marriage, had done business as a merchant in a large city. He owned ships which he sent out to foreign lands, and in this way he had become very rich. After his wife's sickness, the physician who attended her, told him that if she could live in some quiet, healthy, country village, her life would probably be lengthened for years.
Mr. Curtis loved his wife so well that he would gladly give all his ships, his money lying at interest in the banks, and his warehouses filled with goods, to keep her well; and this was what made him so ready to buy a place in the country.
He was sure, too, that it would be much better for Bertie and Winifred to grow up surrounded by the beauties of nature; and he was also sure that if he and his wife had hearts to do good, they could find abundant opportunities for it in this beautiful village. On every account, then, he was pleased with his purchase, and drove away from Oxford with the happiest anticipations of a long and useful life passed within its limits.
