"That's all well and good," said Johannes; "but don't be angry, cousin,
only I must ask whether you think that every one will consent? There's a
lot of folks have to have their say in this, if it's to be done. What
will your folks say? Joggeli's awfully queer sometimes. And your
children will put in their oar too and want to make the farming as
profitable as possible. Uli has a risky undertaking. A single bad year,
with sickness of the stock or the like, can ruin him. On such a farm a
thousand francs more or less in earnings can scarcely be seen, whereas
in a single year four or five thousand can be lost."
"Cousin Johannes," said she, "you mustn't think we're such heartless
creatures as to ruin our tenant on account of a single bad year. If we
had the farm, shouldn't we have the bad year ourselves, and why should
the tenant have to stand the loss if it's too dry or too wet? It's our
farm all the time, and how can he avoid it? It's often seemed cruel to
me when the leaseholder always has to pay the same rent, whether or no.
No, cousin, Joggeli's queer, but he's not the worst, and, if everything
else failed, it isn't as if I didn't have something of my own to help
out with."
"No harm intended," said Johannes; "but to do a thing properly one has
to mention everything. I should be awfully glad of it, for your sake and
for Uli's and for my own too; for I set some store by Uli.
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