35 Singing Valleys 



Peyton, with Sally at his heels, went down to the hog-lot and 

 spent half an hour throwing corn to his herd. 



"Go on, you pigs/' he muttered. "Eat. Go on and eat. . . ." 



That fall Peyton swapped five of his pigs with Sam Baxter 

 for a mule that was blind in one eye. His father approved the 

 deal. He said, "If you'll plow and plant five acres of corn next 

 year you can have the crop." 



Later he told his wife, "I don't know but that boy will 

 make a farmer yet." 



The boy kept his share of the bargain. He and the blind 

 mule conquered the stubborn soil. The corn they planted 

 grew. Meanwhile Sally nursed her third litter of pups under 

 the big locust by the well-house, and a second generation of 

 Poland China pigs rooted for beechnuts, and did their best 

 to squeeze under the fence to get into the corn. 



On a day in Indian summer Peyton harnessed the blind 

 mule to a spring wagon, loaded on the corn from his five 

 acres, six Poland Chinas and two setter pups, and drove into 

 town. When he came home he was walking. He led by a rope 

 a colt whose grandsire was said to have almost won the 

 Kentucky Derby. 



After all, Mrs. Locker told herself after feeling the colt's 

 soft, nuzzling nose, a colt wasn't the same as a horse. 



Every year the County Fair was held in Charlottesville, 

 twenty miles away. Peyton and Cousin Joe's boy Wynne had 

 permission to go. They drove the colt, now a two-year-old, and 

 stayed the nights with Second-Cousin Mamie Potts whose 

 home was in Charlottesville. Together they had five dollars 

 to spend. 



The greatest yearly event in the county was the Free-To-All- 

 Entries Race which was held regularly on the last day of the 

 Fair. The horses came from all parts of the county, and were 

 of every size, age, class and rate of speed. The prize was a 

 purse of two hundred and fifty dollars. 



When the entry booth opened that morning, the first 



