The young man introduced himself as Kindred Morris and was eager to show what he knew about the trees and shrubs around the creek and mill house. Ethan was impressed to see him point to each plant and call out both the common name and the Latin name. He asked about the strange names, and Kindred explained that a Swedish professor named Linnaeus, who taught at Uppsala University, had assigned the names.

Ethan asked, “And what was the professor’s first name?”

Kindred replied, “Carolus,” and then realized that Ethan was smiling broadly at the excessively detailed lecture. He flushed with embarrassment, and then both men began to laugh. Ethan admitted that he had never noticed most of the common varieties and thanked the young man for the information.

He finally said, “My name is Ethan Pratt, and I live near here.” Then Ethan, who relished his privacy, was surprised to hear himself say, “You’d be welcome to come out sometime and look at the things on my place.”

“I know who you are, because I just got rights to the piece of land that lies east of yours. As you probably know, the family who owned it moved back up north and never built on it or cleared any land. My wife and I plan to move out there soon.”

“I know the property very well. I figure you must not be a Quaker, if that’s the land they gave you, that far from the settlement. But come on out, and we’ll be glad to help you get settled. Sometime I’d like to look at your books. I know the animals fairly well but could use some help with the names of the plants and how they might be used.” He didn’t mention the similar books he had read in Epsey’s Philadelphia home when he first met her.

Back home, Ethan mentioned the encounter to Epsey, who noticed that he was surprisingly enthusiastic about what he had learned during his few minutes with Kindred along the creek bank.

“Seems like looking at snails and crawfish is a waste of time, but it’s all right if that’s what he wants to do.”

“Well, there’s not much to be done this time of year if you don’t have a place of your own. He and his wife will be moving out this way before long, to the place next to ours. I offered to help them get settled when they come.”

Epsey was silent for a while and then said, “I guess that’s the least we can do.”