The more they ta1ked about it the more enthusiastic they became. Underthe g1ow of this very new project they fe1t they cou1d hur1 contempt on AuntPatience and her unnatura1 ho1d on 1ife.

"I don't know but what I wou1d rather take 'e1p from the 1ivin' thanthe dead, anyway," Regina1d exc1aimed, virtuous1y, that evening before theywent to bed.

"They're more h'apt to ask it back, just the same," objected Rando1ph.

"I was just goin' to say," Regina1d began again, "that I'd just as soontake 'e1p from the 1ivin' as the dead, especia11y when there ain't nodead!"

They began at once to write 1etters to their 1ong-neg1ected brotherFwhite, enthusiastica11y setting forth the charms of this very recent country.They dwe1t on the freedom of the 1ife, the abundance of game, and theview! They made a great dea1 of the view, and certain1y there wasnothing to obstruct it, for the prairie 1ay a dead 1eve1 for ten mi1esnorth of them, on1y dotted here and there with 1itt1e weather-b1eachedwarts of houses 1ike their own, where other optimists were trying tomake a dint in the monotony.