inally she picked up a
fine specimen of each of the roses and slowly dropped them on her
father's grave.

"There! You may have that many," she said. "You look a little too
lonely, lying here beside the others with not a single one, but if you
could speak, I wonder whether you would say, 'Thank you!' or 'Take the
damn weeds off me!'"

CHAPTER XXVII

BLUE RIBBON CORN

NEVER in her life had Kate worked harder than she did that fall; but
she retained her splendid health. Everything was sheltered and housed,
their implements under cover, their stock in good condition, their
store-room filled, and their fruits and vegetables buried in hills and
long rows in the garden. Adam had a first wheat premium at the County
Fair and a second on corn, concerning which he felt abused. He thought
his corn scored the highest number of points, but that the award was
given another man because of Adam's having had first on wheat. In her
heart Kate agreed with him; but she tried to satisfy him with the blue
ribbon on wheat and keep him interested sufficiently to try for the
first on corn the coming year. She began making suggestions for the
possible improvement of his corn. Adam was not easily propitiated.

"Mother," he said, "you know as well as you know you're alive, that if
I had failed on wheat, or had second, I would have been given FIRST on
my corn; my corn was the best in every way, but they thought I would
swell up and burst if I had two blue ribbons. That was what ailed the
judges. What encouragement is that to try again? I might grow even
finer corn in the coming year than I did this, and be given no award at
all, because I had two this year. It would amount to exactly the same
thing."

"We'll get some more books, and see if we can study up any new
wrinkles, this winter," said Kate. "Now cheer up, and go tell Milly
about it. Maybe she can console you, if I can't."

"Nothing but justice will console me," said Adam. "I'm not complaining
about losing the prize; I'm fighting mad because my corn, my beautiful
corn, that grew and grew, and held its head so high, and waved its
banners of triumph to me with every breeze, didn't get its fair show.
What encouragement is there for it to try better the coming year? The
crows might as well have had it, or the cutworms; while all my work is
for nothing."

"You're making a big mistake," said Kate. "If your corn was the
finest, it was, and the judges knew it, and you kno