52 WHEAT AND WOMAN 



place, and Guy Mazey threshed you out, and 

 charged you at the rate of a thousand bushels to 

 each of they two granaries, an' you paid it ? " he 

 inquired. 



" Not he nor I," I answered. " I'm not likely 

 to forget my first year for many reasons, but, as a 

 matter of fact, the grain was not measured at all. 

 I paid Guy Mazey a hundred dollars spot cash on 

 account, and he took my figure of weight from the 

 return bills of the elevator net — not even gross. 

 When it was all sold we calculated what was left 

 for seed, and in the following spring I paid him the 

 balance." 



" Took the figures from the elevator weigh-bills ! 

 Golly ! I wish all the threshing outfits would work 

 out their sums that way. My returns ain't never 

 once been quite up to the level of the threshing 

 bill. Wall now, if that ain't news to me ! I've 

 always heard tell that he charged you a thousand 

 bushels each for them two granaries — an' that you 

 paid it. Any you fellows heard the same ? " he 

 demanded. 



" Sure thing ! That's right," came the chorus. 



To return to the threshing of 1905. On the 

 second day down came a snowstorm. 



" It's horribly annoying for you," said our 

 neighbour, " but Guy means to shut down and pull 

 over to Haynes. They have their wheat stacked, so 

 it will thresh out all right in spite of the snow. 

 But he is quite right not to risk this. We shall 

 probably get the Indian summer after the snow- 

 storm, which means six or eight weeks of very hot 

 weather, so that if the grain passed into the 

 granary in a moist condition it would probably 



