So he entered upon his new venture--the great upland farm, with its broad cornfields, its expanse of sheep walk and down, its meadows in the hollow, its copses (the copses alone almost as big as his original holding), with plenty of money in his pocket, and without being beholden to bank or lawyer for a single groat.

Men thought that the size of the place, the big manor-house, and so on, would turn his head.

Nothing of the kind; he proceeded as cautiously and prudently as previously.

He began by degrees.

Instead of investing some thousand pounds in implements and machinery at a single swoop, instead of purchasing three hundred sheep right off with a single cheque, he commenced with one thing at a time.