Not only was Merton to be the awkward country boy in the little hillside farmhouse, but his mother and sister were like the other mother and sister.
Still, he began to observe differences.

The little sister--played by the Montague girl--was a simple farm maiden as in the other piece, but the mother was more energetic.

She had silvery hair and wore a neat black dress, with a white lace collar and a cameo brooch at her neck, and she embraced her son tearfully at frequent intervals, as had the other mother; but she carried on in her kitchen an active business in canning fruits and putting up jellies, which, sold to the rich people at the hotel, would swell the little fund that must be saved to pay the mortgage.

Also, in the present piece, the country boy was to become a great inventor, and this was different.

Merton felt that this was a good touch; it gave him dignity.
He appeared ready for work on the morning designated.