"God grant you may both be happy," responded her Aunt.

"Mary, did you ever hear this Persian proverb? You will understand why
I have so much to say after hearing it."

"'Says a proverb of Persia provoking mirth;
When this world was created by order divine.
Ten measures of talk were put down on the earth,
And the woman took nine.'"

Speaking to Mary of life on the farm one day, Ralph laughingly said:
"I am taught something new every day. Yesterday your Uncle told me it
was 'time to plant corn when oak leaves were large as squirrels'
ears.'" Ralph worked like a Trojan. In a short time both his hands and
face took on a butternut hue. He became strong and robust. Mary called
him her "Cave Man," and it taxed the combined efforts of Aunt Sarah
and Mary to provide food to satisfy the ravenous appetite Mary's "Cave
Man" developed. And often, after a busy day, tired but happy, Mary
fell asleep at night to the whispering of the leaves of the Carolina
poplar outside her bedroom window.

But country life on a farm has its diversions. One of Mary's and
Ralph's greatest pleasures after a busy day at the farm was a drive
about the surrounding country early Summer evenings, frequently
accompanied by either Elizabeth or Pauline Schmidt, their nearest
neighbors.

One of the first places visited by them was a freak of nature called
"Rocky Valley," situated at no great distance from the farm.