The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-01-08

! thrust forward bis foot to steady him.
self and then raise the great fragrant
heap slowly and swing 1t up to tho
waiting hay cart amid the applause Of
the crowd.
the man on top Of the load and getting
nearly buried each time as the mass
descended upon him. but doing his
slender best to distribute and tread It
down properly. while his young heart
glOwed with pride at Cousin Ivory's
prOwess.
Independence day had passed. with
its usual gayeties for the young peo-
pie. in nOn Of which the Baxter fam
lily had Joined. and now. at II O'clock
on this burning July morning. Wait.
still was driving the old mare past the
Wilson farm OF her way to the river
field.
Her father was working there. to-
gether with the two hired men whom
he took on for a fortnight during the
height Of the season. If moving. rak-
ing. pitching and carting of the pre-
cious crop could only have been done
at odd times during the year or at
night he would not have embittered
the month Of July by paying out mon
ey for labor. But nature was inexOra-
BILE In the ripening Of hay. and Old
Foxy was obliged to succumb to the
Inevitable.
Waitstill had a basket packed with
luncheon for three and a great demi-
john Of cool ginger tea under the wag-
on seat. Other farmers sometimes
served hard cider or rum, but her ia
Tiers principles were dead against
this riotous extra vagance. Temperance.
in any and all directions. was cheap,
and the deacon was a very temperate
man, save In language.
The fields on both sides of the road
were full Of haymakers. and every
where there was hustle and stir.
There would be three or four men-one
leading. the others following-slowly
swinging their way through a noble
piece Of grass, and the smell Of the
mown fields in the sunshine was
sweeter than honey in the comb.
There were patches Of black eyed
Susans in the meadows here and there.
while pink and white bareback grew
by the road. with day lilies and bios
soming milkweed. The bobolinks were
1uting from every tree. There were
thrushes in the alder bushes and orr
Oles In the tops Of the elms, and Wait
stills heart Overfowed with joy at be-
Ing in such a world of midsummer
beauty, though life during the great
heat and incessant work of haying
time was a little more rigorous than
usual.
The extra food needed for the hired
men always kept her father in a state
Of mind closely resembling insanity.
Coming downstairs to cook breakfast.
she would find the coffee or tea meas
ured out for the pot. The increased
consumption Of milk angered him be-
yond words. because it lessened the
supply Of butter for sale.
Everything that could be made with
buttermilk was ordered so to be done,
and nothing but water could be Used
in mixing the raised bread. The corn
cake must never have an egg: the pie
crust must be shortened only with lard
or with a mixture of beef fat and drip.
ping. and so on, and SO on. e%ternally.
When the girls were respectively sew
enteen and thirteen, Waitstill had beg
ged a small plot Of ground for them
to use as they liked. and beginning at
that time, they had gradually made a
little garden. with a couple of fruit
trees and a thicket of rcd. white and
black currants. raspberry and black
berry bushes.
For several summers nov they had
sold enough of their own fruit to buy
a pair of shoes or gloves. a scarf or a
hat. but even this tiny income was be-
ginning to be menaced. The deacon
positively suffered as he looked at that
odd corner of earth. not any bigger
than his barn floor. and saw what his
girls had done with no tools but q
spade and a hoe and no help but their
own hands. He had no leisure (sO he
gr0wled) to cultivate and fertilize
ground for small fruits and no money
to pay u man to do it. yet here was
food grown under his very eye and it
did not belong to him!
The girls worked in their garden
chiefly at sunrise in spring and early
summer or after supper in the even
ing. All the same. Waitstill had been
told by her father the day before that
she was not only using ground. but
time that belonged to him. and that he
should expect her to provide pie FILL
ing" out Of her garden patch during
haying to help satisfy the ravenous
appetites of that couple Of great.
CORNING, greedy lubbers" that he was
hiring this year. He had stopped the
peeling of potatoes before boiling be-
cause he disapproved Of the thickness
Of the parings he found in the pigs
pail. and be stood yer Patty at her
work in the kitchen until Waitstill was
in daily fear of q tempest Of some sort.