one!"

It gave me a peculiar thrill of pleasure; there is nothing more
pleasing than the frank admiration of a boy.

We paused a moment and I said to the man: "This looks like fine
potato land."

"The' ain't any better in these parts," he replied with some
pride in his voice.

And so we went at the planting again: and as we planted we had
great talk of seed potatoes and the advantages and disadvantages
of mechanical planters, of cultivating and spraying, and all the
lore of prices and profits. Once we stopped at the lower end of
the field to get a drink from a jug of water set in the shade of
a fence corner, and once we set the horse in the thills and moved
the seed farther up the field. And tired and hungry as I felt I
really enjoyed the work; I really enjoyed talking with this busy
father and son, and I wondered what their home life was like and
what were their real ambitions and hopes. Thus the sun sank lower
and lower, the long shadows began to creep into the valleys, and
we came finally toward the end of the field. Suddenly the boy Ben
cried out:

"There's Sis!"

I glanced up and saw standing near the gateway a slim, bright
girl of about twelve in a fresh gingham dress.