to make us boys clear out as soon as we got old enough.
All my brothers went West, and took up land; but I
hung on to New England and I hung on to the old farm,
not because the paint-mine was on it, but because the
old house was--and the graves. Well," said Lapham,
as if unwilling to give himself too much credit,
"there wouldn't been any market for it, anyway. You can go
through that part of the State and buy more farms than you
can shake a stick at for less money than it cost to build
the barns on 'em. Of course, it's turned out a good thing.
I keep the old house up in good shape, and we spend a month
or so there every summer. M' wife kind of likes it,
and the girls. Pretty place; sightly all round it.
I've got a force of men at work there the whole time,
and I've got a man and his wife in the house. Had a
family meeting there last year; the whole connection from
out West. There!" Lapham rose from his seat and took
down a large warped, unframed photograph from the top
of his desk, passing his hand over it, and then blowing
vigorously upon it, to clear it of the dust. "There we are,
ALL of us."

"I don't need to look twice at YOU," said Bartley,
putting his finger on one of the heads.

"Well, that's Bill," said Lapham, with a gratified laugh.
"He's about as brainy as any of us, I guess. He's one
of their leading lawyers, out Dubuque way; been judge
of the Common Pleas once or twice. That's his son--just
graduated at Yale--alongside of my youngest girl.