CHAPTER XL 



THE TIMOTHY HARVEST 



ON Friday, the 25th, the children came home 

 from their schools, and with them came Jim 

 Jarvis to spend the summer holidays. Our in- 

 vitation to Jarvis had been unanimous when he 

 bade us good-by in the winter. Jack was his 

 chum, Polly had adopted him, I took to him 

 from the first, and Jane, in her shy way, admired 

 him greatly. The boys took to farm life like 

 ducks to water. They were hot for any kind 

 of work, and hot, too, from all kinds. I could 

 not offer anything congenial until the timothy 

 harvest in July. When this was on, they were 

 happy and useful at the same time, a rare 

 combination for boys. 



The timothy harvest is attractive to all, and 

 it would be hard to find a form of labor which 

 contributes more to the sesthetic sense than does 

 the gathering of this fragrant grass. At four 

 o'clock on a fine morning, with the barometer 

 " set fair," Thompson started the mower, and 

 kept it humming until 6.30, when Zeb, with a 

 fresh team, relieved him. Zeb tried to cut a 

 little faster than his father, but he was allowed 



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