Chapter VIII 



|OUND carries wonderfully 

 through the unvexed hush 

 of a farmland night. As 

 dusk deepens to thick dark- 

 ness the stillness of woods 

 and fields becomes impres- 

 sive. Night noises break 

 up the stillness as a stone dropped into a pool 

 breaks up its glassy surface. 



Joe loved to listen for the night noises. 

 He thought if he should go to sleep, and wake 

 suddenly months afterward, he would know 

 the season by the night sounds. The sounds 

 made a sort of aural calendar. Every month 

 had its own, and every sort of weather. Sum- 

 mer sounds were so many they blurred and 

 blended ; so did those of the full springtime. 

 Upon winter nights the noises were littleislands 

 set in washing seas of silence, unless the wind 

 blew very hard. Fall nights were vocal, but 

 the voices were always distinct, rising with 

 clean-cut cadences, and dying as they rose. 



