this flower was still to be won by
him, and this morning, aware of what scant grounds he had upon which
to venture any forecasts, he felt as full of doubt as he had been
of confidence last night. It had been a saddening experience, but
fortunate, for all that, inasmuch as nothing serious had come of it,
except that he was greatly sobered. Martin could not understand that
mysterious something which had risen up in his nature and threatened to
wreck a carefully-built life. It was his first meeting with the little
demon that rebels in a man after he thinks his character and his
reactions thoroughly established, and he shuddered as he realized how
close the strange imp had pulled him to the precipice. Yesterday, that
precipice had seemed a new paradise; now it was a yawning chasm--and he
drew back, frightened.

Cows, horses, sheep, pigs, chickens, turkeys, dogs, barn cats--all do
not remain patient while the man who owns them lies in bed dreaming
dreams. They wait a while and then get nervous. The many messages for
food which they sent to Martin forced him to spring out of bed and hurry
to them, for nothing is as unbearably insistent as a barn and yard full
of living things clamoring their determination to have something to eat.
As Martin ran to stop the bedlam, he saw the world as an enormous, empty
stomach, at the opening of which he stood, hurling in the feed as fast
as his muscles would permit. It was all there was to farming--raising
crops and then shovelling the hay and the grain into these stomachs.
Martin stood back a few feet and with loving eyes watched his animals
enjoy their food. Here were the creatures he loved. The fine herd of
Holstein cows--their big eyes looked at him with such trust! And their
black and white markings--so spick and span with shininess because he
threw salt on them that each cow might lick the other clean--their heavy
milk veins, great udders, and backs as straight as a die--all appealed
to his sense of the beautiful. "God Almighty!" he thought, "but they're
wonders! There's none like them west of Chicago." The mule colts, so
huge and handsome, and oh, so knowing! made him chuckle his pride and
satisfaction in a muttered: "Man's creation, are you, you fine young
devils? Well, you're a credit, the lot of you, to whoever deserves it."
His eyes wandered over the rest of his stock, swept his wide realm. It
was all a very part of himself. Yes, here was his life--here was his
world. It would be