Buckner turned her eyes upon
Charles Jenkin. He was not only to be the heir, however, he was to
be the chief hand in a somewhat wild scheme of family farming.
Mrs. Jenkin, the mother, contributed 164 acres of land; Mrs.
Buckner, 570, some at Northiam, some farther off; Charles let one-
half of Stowting to a tenant, and threw the other and various
scattered parcels into the common enterprise; so that the whole
farm amounted to near upon a thousand acres, and was scattered over
thirty miles of country. The ex-seaman of thirty-nine, on whose
wisdom and ubiquity the scheme depended, was to live in the
meanwhile without care or fear. He was to check himself in
nothing; his two extravagances, valuable horses and worthless
brothers, were to be indulged in comfort; and whether the year
quite paid itself or not, whether successive years left accumulated
savings or only a growing deficit, the fortune of the golden aunt
should in the end repair all.
On this understanding Charles Jenkin transported his family to
Church House, Northiam: Charles the second, then a child of three,
among the number.
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