The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1904-04-30
Bob and Charlie watched her m

! D~o oAN NHAi ilo WdlClVu AeT n0f
rowly, but made no comment. Plain
ly they were satisfied, or she wouls
have heard to the contrary.
[ The lane led over the stone bride,
and across the creek flats, and thence
directly up the steep hill, with leve
break near the middle. which made
up the greater part of the Valleyvlev
Farm. On the summit we're the twt
grain>felds Of twenty acres each
. wheat having been sown north OF the
lane and oats to the south. The latte:
were not yet ripe. !.
BY the time they had reached the
gate leading to the wheat-feld the
blacks had been quieted by the steer
ascent, and were no longer prancing
Bob offered to mount the binder and
make the first few circuits Of the
field, but Louise waved him back,
saying ~ - ~, g.
mo. sir: shall d the whole thing
for if l am to have fine gown mean
to earn it. All ask is that you
throw the machine into gear"
He did as she requested and she
started to the east: the horses tramp
Z ling in the grain. while swath eight
feet in width was cut close to the
fence, - :.ss' --s~ .~
Thus she went about from right to
left, and then, turning. circled from
left TO right, cutting the grain through
which the horses had walked in their
first round. Formerly Eastern farm.
ers always cut first swath by hand, but
in recent years the four.horse self.
binder has been made to do the whole
work. As Louise started on the sec
ond round, Dolly, the mother of the
leaders, leaped high In the air and
plunged wildly to the right. At the
same instant Pomp and Prince start
ed at headlong pace. the three drag
ging the unwilling Joe for few rods
when he, too, squealed loudly and
bounded ahead as eagerly as the 9th
ers. Without warning. and seeming
~ without cause. Louises four-in-
hand was beyond her control. and
racing through the standing grain.
The girl tugged frantically at the
reins. wholly unable to understand the
reason for the break. Something
struck her smartly on the cheek, and
the blow was followed by q sensation
as il a red-hot iron had been applied
to the smooth skin. Then she recoe-
nized the painful sting Of 4 yellow
jacket, or American field hornet, one
OF whose domeshaped nests the reap
er-knives had destroyed. A side glance
showed her some of the paper-like
shreds still clinging to the cutter
bar.
About the horses 4 score Of the
insects were circling. and two
or three Of the hornets were making
vicious rushes At Louise, who already
had been stung several times on the
face and arms. Such an attack ordin-
arily would have inspired her with
terror, but in the present
she almost forgot the
yellow-jackets, thinking only Of the
infinitely greater danger from the
runaway.
There are some fortunate persons
whom supreme danger makes cool
md Louise discovered to her surprise
hat. far from being confused and
she was keenly on the
llert. She noted that the swift click
If the knives had changed to a throb-
'ing hum, so rapidly were they oscil-
atins. while she kept her seat only
~ swaying to the violent bounding
md rocking Of the ponderous machine
,eneatf her
The horses in their mad effort to es-
ape, had swung to the right In a
ew seconds they would collide with
he fence at the edge of the lane un-
ess she could steer them through the
,ate. lower down.
Louise had every reason to fear that
he leader would be upset II she
urned down the slope, but even that
catastrophe involved less danger than
0 rush headlong into the strong stone
nd rail fence. The effort must be I
nade at once II at all.
She drew the leaders almost at |
light angles to the wheel horse before
he latter swerved. Then, as the four
prang with great leaps toward the
ate. all that saved the machine from
verturning was the wide table. the
dge Of which furrowed the loose soil
Ike q gang-plow. The binder bore
ne tremendous strain we'll; apparent
7 nothing had broken.
Charlie and Bob were running and
houting far behind, but Louise could
OF understand what they were say