Twice, during the first day, there was trouble with
the two oldestbinders. Shall I tell you what Ivebeen praying for? But Abe turned
away,the thresherman staring after him. On forty thousand bushels aquarter of a cent
meant a saving of a hundred dollars.
One of the assets which we are counting on. Shall I
tell you what Ivebeen praying for? Whats thatyellow stuff around their
beaks?
Theboy had had contact with others; the school had
interposed itselfbetween parent and child.
Abe was thinking of that night when the child had
come to his bed.
They were glad to take his cash but thought him
crazy to spend it.
It shows what I may be able to do, with hard work
andindustry. Again the boy laughed his excitedly silly laugh.
As the rainswept over, it blotted with veil after
veil all things to the east.
Daddy, said a sing-song voice, I know a vesper
sparrows nest onthe road past the field. From the beginning hefelt drawn to Abe, and
admittedly because Abe was Mary Vanbruiksbrother.
I see why you were absent from the last meeting. A
small bird as big as a sparrow, with white stripes in his tail. Abe was restless; it
seemed incredible that he should have escaped. Next morning Stanley came to Abes
asking for a repairpart for his binder. Something passed between the two men, like
an electric current.
Threshing fees were running high; there were
reportsof heavier rains in the south. I dont know, he said slowly, how much you can
understand ofthis.
His chief characteristicwas introspectiveness. The
weather was singularly propitious; but the morepropitious it seemed, the more Abe
worried.
For every step Abetook, the boy took two or three,
jumping ahead and doubling back. Abe listened; butsuddenly, without giving an
answer, he walked away.
Consequently,fall-ploughing remained
incomplete.
Hedrew a load of hay to the margin of the field and
spread it on theground.
Abe nodded and squeezed his bulk into one of the
larger seats.
Drops were falling from the edge of the opening.
The binder expert brought baskets full ofsandwiches and jugs full of coffee and beer
to the field. Never did the grain suffer from excessivemoisture or lack of it.
Abeestimated his yield at forty bushels per acre.
Although Abe was indifferent, he took his family.