So we had their company on the way home; and much
astonished both of them were at the sight of so many geese.
The two households shared the goose feathers. The meat was in excellent
condition for cooking, and our two families had many a good meal of
roast goose. We sent six of the birds to the town farm, and we heard
afterwards that the seventeen paupers there partook of a grand goose
dinner, garnished with apple sauce. But I have often thought of that old
gander flying north to the breeding grounds alone.
The following week we walked the remaining part of the town line and
received the fee.
CHAPTER XII
THE ROSE-QUARTZ SPRING
Throughout that entire season the old Squire was much interested in a
project for making a fortune from the sale of spring water. The water of
the celebrated Poland Spring, twenty miles from our place--where the
Poland Spring Hotel now stands--was already enjoying an enviable
popularity; and up in our north pasture on the side of Nubble Hill,
there was, and still is, a fine spring, the water of which did not
differ in analysis from that of the Poland Spring. It is the "boiling"
type of spring, and the water, which is stone-cold, bubbles up through
white quartzose sand at the foot of a low granite ledge.
Pages:
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140