The Rain Upon the Roof 



thus effectually broken, if you are a 

 boy, old or young, and living on a farm, 

 you may get a lot of satisfaction out of 

 contemplation of the great miracle 

 being wrought if you will seek with the 

 live stock the shelter of the barn. In 

 there somehow you seem to be closer 

 to the heart of the things most vitally 

 affected. You know that all animal 

 and vegetable life has been suffering 

 tortures from the intolerable heat. 

 Birds and beasts, fields and forests 

 alike have felt the strain far more than 

 we humans with our various artificial 

 devices for ameliorating our own situa- 

 tion during such a period. But what 

 of those galled and sweating teams, 

 those thriftless cattle in bare pastures 

 seeking the shelter of some friendly 

 tree, and fighting the tormenting flies 

 that permit no peace by day or night? 

 What of the poultry with uplifted wings 

 almost too tired and hot in their 

 feather coats to forage for their slack- 

 ening food? What of that once-fine 

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