A calendar might be laid out in great squares upon the
earth," she had written in her notebook, "and the months would tell
their own stories." It was all a great wonder, that man had learned so
perfectly how to draw from the mute soil its sweetness and vigor.
Nothing man did seemed more interesting than this tilling and sowing.
She noted how even snow had its use in catching and holding seed against
the wind, and watched the sower marking his own progress and regulating
the distribution by his tracks. Ultimately the clover would give its own
life to nourish and strengthen the wheat--these things kindled her
fancy. Here was poetry in the making, with suns and frosts, rains and
snows taking their part in it. And Fred felt it too; she knew that. In
his shy, guarded way he had spoken of it. But to-day he was not a
dreamer but a man of action.

"Got all the help you want, Fred?" Amzi was asking.

"Yes, sir. No troubles. I'm using my old place for a boarding-house for
the hands. Suppose you won't stay for supper?" he suggested, a little
perfunctorily.

"Just because you're so enthusiastic, we will! But we've brought our own
fodder--Phil packed the hamper; enough for a couple of regiments. We'll
meet you at my house at supper-time and have an indoors picnic."

They waited to watch him start the team. Phil took the wheel, and as
they rolled away Lois and Amzi exchanged a glance.

"You trust him?" she asked, glancing meaningly at Phil's back.

"Thunder!" said Amzi; "I don't know about _that_."

"It might be worse," Lois replied, and her brother looked at her in
surprise.

"He's a straightforward, manly fellow; seems to have escaped the family
curse. It must be this"--Lois indicated the fields--"that makes the
difference. There's a moral influence in it; and," she added with a
smile, "there's always a market for corn."

"He's as square a chap as they make 'em, but as for that--" and he
nodded towards Phil.

"It isn't for us to say, brother, but I believe I should trust him; and
they seem to understand each other. He's far from stupid, and the kind
of man to watch over her and protect her."

These utterances greatly astonished Amzi. He wondered whether Lois's own
experiences were responsible for her feeling that Phil needed a
protector, and her frankly expressed liking for Fred in that connection.
He was surprised but not displeased though the thought of Phil's
marrying gave him a distinct shock when considered concre