The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1900-07-20
OUR GREAT EVENT FARAvLLE FAIR OCTOBER INCLUSIVE

bowed uncovered heads, while East
Side" pronounced in solemn tones;
"Oh. Lord, for what we are about
to receive make us devoutly thankful.
Amen"
\ prayer was n prayer 10 East
Side" Anything that began with
"Lord" in reverent terms and ended
with "amen" was a prayer. His
grandfather had been a godly man,
and he had said it, therefore it was
appropriate on this occasion. The
effect was the same upon the others,
for the words smacked of the phrase
ology of the wandering exhorters
they had heard
After the passing of the Mssourian
there was even less to do; the men
were more taciturn with each other,
but there was noticeably less pro-
family among them, possibly because
jealously and the eXertion was un-
necessary, or becaus" their mouths
were too dry TO articulate many
words 1t was now six weeks since
they had set out across the sink"
expecting TO get the cattle off their
hands and have little time" in the
city before starting back TO the camp,
but the wild-Hyed, sorry-looking
things seemed unpromising enough
now even for glue factory.
As "East-Side" lay on the ground
l. 4J~a,,,,h I, hgIoo g, hfc
hat-they stood upright and walked
no more than was absolutely neces-
sary, for that required an eXpendi-
ture of strength-lazily watching the
flocks of birds that swooped and
poised in the air above him. he dis
covered or thought he did. that they
cast a shadow against the sky-a tiny
gray shadow that he watched for the
utter lack of anything else TO watch.
When the birds flew lower, the shadow
seemed to grow larger and darker.
With a wild whoop he sprang to mis-
feet, forgetting the value of harbor-
ing his strength as he grasped the
import of that shadow. II was a
cloud Every man sprang up at that
tiny speck and went to work with
white face and unsteady hands. The
speck grew larger and the men
worked harder; every hole or trough
that led TO the basin was cleared for
action so that not one precious drop
might be lost. Their words were few
but kindly as they scraped away,
with one eve on the ground and the
other on the cloud slowly but unmis-
takably growing larger and coming
their way.
Duringthe night those sun-scOrched
dreamers dreamed of moist winds,
and rain drops pattering gently until
they made a soaking downpour But
they had often dreamed that-dreamed
It when their parched tongues hung
out OF their mouths and cracked for
dryness. BY this time they had grown
wary; even in their sleep they were
on their guard and not to be beguiled
into believing.
When at last in the early morning
the rain did come, with the first pat
tering drops every man forgot every
thing in the world but the all-con-
suming passion to slake his burning
thirst: until their hats had caught
enough to drain, they sucked their
shirt sleeves. Then, because his own
need for that last charge was no long
er imperative. the outfit boss drew q
bead on the lileliest animal In the
herd. and they feasted royalty. JOY
ously. uproariously on steak and wa
ter. And in the exuberance OF their
glee no one noticed that for con-
venience they had chosen the mound
that covered the Missourlan for their
table.
After the feast every man lay down
I'm his trench, which was now filled
with water. and soaked, soaked
through to the marrow, rousing him
self only to drain his hat, then fall
ing back and soaking more. And
when. after % hours Of soaking. they
got up ont Of their trenches each wa
ter-loggcd man was firm believer in
the efficacy Of prayer.-san Francisco
Argonaut.