Will's blood began to grow hot in his face. If Bill had said much
more, or mentioned her name, he would have silenced him. To
have this rough joking come so close upon the holiest and most
exquisite evening of his life was horrible. It was not the words they
said, but the tones they used, that vulgarized it all. He breathed a
sigh of relief when the sound of the machine began again.

This jesting made him more wary, and when the call for dinner
sounded and he knew he was going in to see her, he shrank from it.
He took no part in the race of the dust-blackened, half-famished
men to get at the washing place first. He took no part in the scurry
to get seats at the first table.

Threshing time was always a season of great trial to
- the housewife. To have a dozen men with the appetites of
dragons to cook for was no small task for a couple of women, in
addition to their other everyday duties. Preparations usually began
the night before with a raid on a hen roost, for "biled chickun"
formed the piece de resistance of the dinner. The table, enlarged
by boards, filled the sitting room. Extra seats were made out of
planks placed on chairs, and dishes were borrowed of neighbors
who came for such aid, in their turn.

Sometimes the neighboring women came in to help; but Agnes and
her mother were determined to manage the job alone this year, and
so the girl, with a neat dark dress, her eyes shining, her cheeks
flushed with the work, received the men as they came in dusty,
coatless, with grime - behind their ears, but a jolly good smile on
every face.