Boy life on the prairie . gan shoe) in addi-tion. If the sun were especially warm, they all filledtheir hats with cool, green cottonwood leaves, and bore down on the handle of their forks, whichwere three-tined, with smooth, curved handles, quiteunlike the clumsy, two-tined things which Lincoln hadoften seen in pictures. The companionship, the merryvoices of the men, the song of the machine, made hay-ing very pleasant to all hands, although Lincolns backsometimes ached with lifting the rake teeth, and theold mare grew stubborn and stupid as the day wore on. Dinner came, bringing joy. Oh, the c
Boy life on the prairie . gan shoe) in addi-tion. If the sun were especially warm, they all filledtheir hats with cool, green cottonwood leaves, and bore down on the handle of their forks, whichwere three-tined, with smooth, curved handles, quiteunlike the clumsy, two-tined things which Lincoln hadoften seen in pictures. The companionship, the merryvoices of the men, the song of the machine, made hay-ing very pleasant to all hands, although Lincolns backsometimes ached with lifting the rake teeth, and theold mare grew stubborn and stupid as the day wore on. Dinner came, bringing joy. Oh, the cool water atthe well! And the fried pork, and the volcano ofmashed potatoes, with a lump of butter in the crater !llie salt pork, when dipped in bread-crumbs, tasted sogood that the boys nearly foundered themselves, asJennings used to say. There was very little ceremonyat these meals. Man and boy went to the table as theycame from the field, wet with sweat and sprinkled withtimothy bloom. Napkins were against the law, and. /.i-< /// The Wild Meadows iii steel knives were used to help out the three-tined were no courses, and no waiting on the host merely said : Now, boys, help you cant reach, yell for. The weather was glorious, with only occasional show-ers to accentuate the splendid sunlight. There were noold men and no women in these fields. The men wereyoung and vigorous, and their action was swift and sup-ple. Sometimes it was hot to the danger point, especiallyon the windless side of the stack (no one had hay barnsin those days), and sometimes the pitcher complained ofcold chills running up his back. Sometimes Jack flunga pailful of water over his head and shoulders beforebeginning to unload, and seemed the better for it. kept plenty of switchel (which is composedof ginger and water) for his hands to drink. He hada notion that it was less injurious than water or beer,and no sunstrokes occurred among his men. The sun
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Keywords: ., bookauthoramericanpopularlitera, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890
