Page:Emma Speed Sampson--The shorn lamb.djvu/273

Rh received his rents regularly. Up to this time Philip had been able to accomplish no improvements beyond a general cleaning and a wholesale whitewashing. Philip's dream was to make enough money on the farm, above what his father expected, to provide a surplus to be used in converting The Quarters into a model settlement. It could be done with time and energy and a little money. It was beautifully situated on a ledge on the side of a hill overlooking the busy little river. A fine spring furnished excellent water to its inhabitants, although to their minds water was one of the least of blessings.

As Robert Taylor passed The Quarters he encountered a little band of small darkeys on their way home from school. He was astonished to note the improvement in the children. He could hardly believe they belonged to The Quarters. He remembered them on a former visit he had paid the settlement on the business of getting extra labor for the hub factory as being mere ill-mannered tatterdemalions. Now they were a neatly dressed lot of children, carrying their books proudly and actually speaking to him politely.

"That Bolling boy is what I said, a throwback," he said to himself. "He must have worked to accomplish all this! He must have