Yet when drawn out, he could talk well, preferring to reason rather
than argue. His chief outdoor sport was swimming. The home was only a
few miles inland from the Atlantic coast, and he and his brothers often
rode over for a dip.
His father was of industrious and thorough-going type. The family
motto was "Thorough," and the Colonel lived up to it. "K. of K." also
became a master of detail; and here on his father's estate he learned
his first lessons in it. Colonel Kitchener constantly preached the
value of time--and practised what he preached. Instead of settling
down to a life of ease, he was always at work on the estate. He
reclaimed large tracts of bogs, turning them into fertile land. He
raised breed horses and cattle. He set up his own factory for making
bricks, tiles, and drain-pipes. His own life of energy and
organization was the best possible example to his boys. That Herbert,
with all his apparent indolence, was profiting by it, became evident
years afterward.
When the boy was fifteen, his father determined on a complete change of
environment for him. "I want you to see something else besides
Ireland," he said. Herbert was accordingly sent to Switzerland, to a
French school conducted by a Mr. Bennett. It was in Villeneuve, at the
eastern end of Lake Geneva.
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