The spectator., 1920-11-02
By ROBERT J. C. STEAD
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Author of The CotD Puncher |" Efc.

IVY " " " " " " " W " ~~~ l Any disappointment which had been occasoned by backward conditions earlier in the season was effaced by the wonderful crop which now crowned the efforts of the pioneers. On their finest eastern farms they had seen nothing to equal the great stand of wheat and oats which now envel- Oped them, neck-high. whenever they invaded it. The great problem before the settlers was the harvesting of this crop. It was mighty task to at- tempt with their scythes. but there was no self-bnder, or even reaper, within many miles.
 Finally Morrison solved the problem for the whole community by placing an order, at fabulous figure. for self-binder from the United States. It was cumbrous, wooden frame con- trivance, guiltless of the roller bear. ings, floating aprons, open elevators. and sheaf carriers of later day, but it served the purpose, and with its aid the harvest of the little settlement was safely placed in sheaf. The farni- CTS then stacked their grain in the fields. taking care to blow double fire- guards. with a burnt space between, as a precaution against the terrifying fires which broke over the prairie as soon as the September frOSts had dried the grass. A community some 20 miles to the eastward boasted threshing mill. and arrangements were made for C.. 1T ties of it's own locality.
 When Harris thrashng was done he found he had GOO bushels of wheat and 1W bushels of oats in cone-shaped piles on his fields. The roads were fine and hard, and no snow had vet fallen, so he determined to begin at once with the marketing of his wheat. His last cent had been spent months before; indeed. it had been only through the courtesy of the storekeep- CT at Plainvile, who was also post master. and who had stretched the law to the point of accepting hen eggs as legal tender in exchange for post age stamps, that Mary Harris had been able to keep up the brave, opti- ihAotit StliCc ol lNlltlS Nil(ttii Huluc. So Harris decided that he would at once market some of his wheat. Most of the oats would be needed for his horses and for seed, and what re- mained would command good prices from new settlers the following spring, but some of the wheat must be turned into money at once During the lat ter part of the summer they had lived exclusively on the produce of their farm: on vegetables from the garden, fish and ducks from the stream, prai, rie chickens and an occasional rab- bit from the fields. The wild geese had deserted them early in the spring. and returned only after harvest. But now they should have a change on their table. Mary had accepted the pioneer fare of the summer without complaint. but of late Harris had discovered a strange longing in her eyes, and moro than once she had arrested herself in the words "I wish we had" Then two penitent little tears would steal softly down her checks. and she would bury her head in his arms as he soothed her with loving words and promised that "After thrashlng things would be different"
 So now he set out for Emerson with the best load his horses could draw. The first few miles he drove in silence. for there was a heavy weight at his heart as he thought of the little wifa alone with the responsibilities of the farm. ~ That she would he faith ful to every responsibility he knew beyond question. But he was not quite satisfied A strange moodi- ness had come over her, and even with him at home she had at times given way to fits of downheartedness which seemed altogether alien to her nature. Ten days later he retraced his course in the teeth of blinding bli=- gard. A dozen times he had been lost in the last IS hours, but he had devei- oped the prairie dweller's sense of di- rection, and had always been able again to locate the trail. The Ar. thurs would have detained him, al- most by force, but the thought of . pale, patient face, wrung with an ag- ony of anxiety not for itself, made him adamant in his resolve to go home at whatever cost. The roads were almost impassable; he left his lumber at Ar. thurs, but carried with him his win- dow, few boards for door, and . little bundle of dry goods Everything else had gone by the way surrendered in exchange for food and shelter for himself and horses.