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A Mexican woman once told my fortune, interposed Clara with a smilethat was not
all mirth. Lucy heard the babble and tinkle ofwater she could not see. All the
same, I had mine told once,down at Sadies. Wal, Im hopin Dick or Joe
willhomestead hyar some day. Wal, heres where we start, announced Edd
enthusiastically.
Oh, Clara hed be a fool if he wasnt, retorted Lucy.
Well,
sistermine, why do you stare at me?
You look great, rejoined Clara, with one of
her sweet, rare smiles.
This triangle of three acres, then, represented
something vastlyimportant in their simple lives.
She did notresent them, though
she stood aghast at intimations beyond her control.
Thatll throw Sam off
thetrail an then we wont have no call to hurry. Wal, Im hopin Dick or Joe
willhomestead hyar some day.
That old Jasper went alonghere last night. Lucy in
her passionate devotionhad thought only of her sister. Wal, itd shore make bad
feelin between the Denmeades an Johnsons ifSam homesteaded on the mesa. Instead
it flaredup, blazed, crackled, and roared. Is he drinkin or movin his legs in
the water? But as to the latterthe roar of rushing water would have drowned any
ordinary sound. Perhaps she had given too much thoughtto herself.
It was a
tolerable pickin, though Ive seen better, he said. She was not anadept at
building fares, and expected this to go out. Corn and beans and sorghum
requiredthe sun. Ill show youwhere an old she bear jumped on me. Suiting action
to word, Denmeade started off.
It has been a lovely day, she said as she turned
away.
Shefelt like a callow girl taking her first walk with a boy.
Yet they
were compelledto farm to raise food for themselves and grain for horses and
hogs. My dear, youve slept three-fourths of the time youve been here, day
aswell as night. Then the other trees were as large in proportion.
Lucy
regarded his presence there as a small triumph of her own. Theres a wild bee,
the kind Im gointo line to-day.
The children made it a play, a game,a delight,
over which they screamed and fought.
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