THE COTTON ROOT-LOUSE 127 



something that he could not have prevented and to 

 worry about things that he could not change. The 

 truth is that they had noticed nothing wrong with 

 their cotton except that they had very broken stands ; 

 they did not think much about it because they said 

 that it had been that way every year as long as they 

 could remember, and that it was natural. When 

 Joe would not agree to this some of the older men said 

 it was because he was so young. "Wait till he is a 

 little older and he will know better/' one old neigh- 

 bor said. His close friends, however, did not talk 

 that way, but shook their heads gravely and said, 

 " Joe does not often make a serious mistake." 



Will Gray was, no doubt, the most successful 

 farmer next to Joe, and even he had not been able 

 to see why Joe should be so discouraged. 



Joe explained, "I took great pains and did every- 

 thing I thought ought to be done in preparing my 

 land for this planting and the cotton came up beau- 

 tifully, but now the stand is broken everywhere. 

 You can find a number of places in some rows where 

 nearly every plant is dead or sickly over a distance 

 of a hundred feet." 



" You are grumbling over spilled milk, Joe/' said 

 Will. 



Just then Bill Green, who lived near the old bridge 

 on a knoll on the south bank of Clear Creek, came 

 along the road and heard the conversation. Bill 



