Page:The New Arcadia (Tucker).djvu/154

144 traditional misbeliefs, as you do with respect to certain of your fellow-beings. Some working-men are indolent and ill-conditioned—therefore all are. Some poor people live in slums, are dirty and wretched—therefore all must be. Fallacy of the particular to the universal. You ought to know better, Tom."

"But how on earth can you keep pigs clean?"

"You see that race over the stream. Every day all the piggies," exclaimed Frank, "are driven through that trough before they get in here for their breakfast. If such care had ever been taken, Moses would not have condemned swine's flesh."

From the milk-duct, women and girls were drawing off the skim-milk and bearing it to round kiosk kind of sties with triangular-shaped compartments.

"What are those other sets of kiosks?" asked Tom, putting up his eye-glass; "not more pigs, I hope."

"We have a soul above bacon, though there are tons of it in the store—some of my own fattening too. That you are looking at is the poultry-farm."

"You wash your hens in that race as you do your pigs? I am getting quite sophisticated."

"Not unless they have a mania for setting. The geese and ducks revel in that mimic lake."

"You are a soaring sort here. I see your very ducks and geese take their pastime high in air," said Tom, pointing to a flight of birds sweeping above the water.

"By Jove! they settle in the trees too. 'Pon my soul I never saw a duck do that before. Do your fishes fly?"

"My dear fellow, you have everything to learn. Those are wild-fowl."

"They are mighty tame nevertheless, to judge by the way they make themselves at home."