"She hasn't any cows yet?"
She? any cows! But Fleda only said they had not come; she believed they were coming.
"What help has she got?"
"Two women Irishwomen," said Fleda.
"Mother, you'll have to take hold and learn her," said Mr.
Plumfield.
"Teach her?" cried Fleda, repelling the idea "aunt Lucy? she cannot do anything she isn't strong enough; not anything of that kind."
"What did she come here for?" said Seth.
"You know," said his mother, "that Mr. Rossitur's circumstances obliged him to quit New York."
"Ay, but that aint my question. A man had better keep his fingers off anything he can't live by. A farm's one thing or t'other, just as it's worked. The land wont grow specie it must be fetched out of it. Is Mr. Rossitur a smart man?"
"Very," Fleda said, "about everything but farming."