IN THE CATSK3LLS 



man must not take another's swath unless he ex- 

 pects to be crowded. Each expects to take his turn 

 leading the band. The scythe may be so whetted 

 as to ring out a saucy challenge to the rest. It is 

 not good manners to mow up too close to your 

 neighbor, unless you are trying to keep out of the 

 way of the man behind you. Many a race has been 

 brought on by some one being a little indiscreet in 

 this respect. Two men may mow all day together 

 under the impression that each is trying to put 

 the other through. The one that leads strikes out 

 briskly, and the other, not to be outdone, follows 

 close. Thus the blood of each is soon up; a little 

 heat begets more heat, and it is fairly a race before 

 long. It is a great ignominy to be mowed out of 

 your swath. Hay-gathering is clean, manly work 

 all through. Young fellows work in haying who do 

 not do another stroke on the farm the whole year. 

 It is a gymnasium in the meadows and under 

 the summer sky. How full of pictures, too ! the 

 smooth slopes dotted with cocks with lengthening 

 shadows; the great, broad-backed, soft-cheeked 

 loads, moving along the lanes and brushing under 

 the trees; the unfinished stacks with forkfuls of 

 hay being handed up its sides to the builder, and 

 when finished the shape of a great pear, with a 

 pole in the top for the stem. Maybe in the fall and 

 winter the calves and yearlings will hover around 

 it and gnaw its base until it overhangs them and 

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