well filled by the provident old man. There was ample cellar room,
which was also a safeguard against dampness. Then I went out and
walked around the house. It was all so quaint and homely as to make
me feel that it would soon become home-like to us. There was nothing
smart to be seen, nothing new except a barn that had recently been
built near one of the oldest and grayest structures of the kind I
had ever seen. The snow-clad mountains lifted themselves about me in
a way that promised a glimpse of beauty every time I should raise my
eyes from work. Yet after all my gaze lingered longest on the
orchard and fruit-trees that surrounded the dwelling.

"That's sensible," remarked Mr. Jones, who followed me with no trace
of anxiety or impatience. "Paint, putty, and pine will make a house
in a few weeks, but it takes a good slice out of a century to build
up an orchard like that."

"That was just what I was thinking, Mr. Jones."

"Oh, I knowed that. Well, I've got just two more things to say, then
I'm done and you can take it or leave it. Don't you see? The house
is on a slope facing the south-east. You get the morning sun and the
southern breeze. Some people don't know what they're worth, but I,
who've lived here all my life, know they're worth payin' for. Again,
you see the ground slopes off to the crick yonder. That means good
drainage. We don't have any malary here, and that fact is worth as
much as the farm, for I wouldn't take a section of the garden of
Eden if there was malary around."

"On your honor now, Mr. Jones, how far is the corner around which
they have the malaria?"