THE RED COW 



the good of the water supply he had to be disturbed. 

 We found that all we needed to do was to enlarge 

 the opening, give his tail a twist and let him do the 

 rest. Then we cleaned out another well of the same 

 kind so that the water came clear and cold from the 

 quicksand and closed the first one so that nothing 

 could get in. I know that a quicksand bottom is not 

 considered a good thing on a farm, but there is only 

 this spot of it, and in a dry season it seems like a 

 dispensation of Providence. 



* * * * 



On the way home I had an experience that I had 

 not enjoyed since returning to the farm. While we 

 were busy cleaning out the well clouds began to 

 gather, and even though a thunderstorn did not de- 

 velop, rain began to fall. It was a sun shower of 

 the kind that used to make children sing: 



"Rain, rain sunshine ! 

 Sure to rain to-morrow!" 



We had no time to make a dash for the house, so 

 we took shelter under some spreading beech trees at 

 the edge of the woods. There used to be a tradition 

 that lightning never strikes a beech tree, but that was 

 not our reason for choosing them. They had the thick- 



34 



