A Colonial Wooing
you see that great ash-tree at the bend of the stream? Is it on your land or mine? Is it a boundary tree?"
"It is my corner, where it abuts against Hutchinson's land."
"So I supposed you'ld say. If you'll read the deed over again, you'll find it's the small ash twenty feet to the westward that marks the line. Freshets have carried off monuments, winds have uprooted trees, and if you wanted to put up a fence, you would be puzzled in the particulars, if right in a general way. I have induced John to buy the Hutchinson marshes, for some day, if ditched and banked, they will become excellent pasture, and what he does not buy I will take myself. We have seen the proprietor and agreed upon the price."
"Why was I not consulted?" asked Matthew, impatiently.
"About what,—our business?" replied Robert. "And since when have you shown such friendly interest in our affairs as to wish to advise with us? Really, Friend Watson, your manner is a puzzle to me. Would
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