A Daughter of the Land

He wanted to start out buying at once, but that was going too far

in the future for Kate. While the stream was low, and the banks

firm, Kate built her dam, so that it would be ready for spring,

put in the abutments, and built the bridge. It was not a large

dam, and not a big bridge, but both were solid, well constructed,

and would serve every purpose. Then Kate set men hauling stone

for the corner foundations. She hoped to work up such a trade and

buy so much and so wisely in the summer that she could run all

winter, so she was building a real mill in the Bates way, which

way included letting the foundations freeze and settle over

winter. That really was an interesting and a comfortable winter.

Kate and George both watched the children's studies at night,

worked their plans finer in the daytime, and lived as cheaply and

carefully as they could. Everything was going well. George was

doing his best to promote the mill plan, to keep Kate satisfied at

home, to steal out after she slept, and keep himself satisfied in

appetite, and some ready money in his pockets, won at games of

chance, at which he was an expert, and at cards, which he handled

like a master.