ds! It was a period demanding patience and
understanding in Curtis, for as the first flush of enthusiasm over the
sowing died away, apathy and indifference sprang up naturally as
thistles. These childlike souls said: "Behold we have done our part, now
let Mother Earth and the Father Sun bring forth the harvest. We cannot
ripen the grain; we can only wait. Besides, we are weary."

To them harvest should follow seeding without further effort. They were
like boys wearied with waiting for the trees to grow. The seed and the
apple were too far apart. Curtis, understanding this lack of training in
their lives, did not allow himself to express the impatience he
sometimes felt. He told them that the new life they were to lead
involved constant care, but care would bring a reward. "In the old days
when you hunted, these things were not so." He also made honorable
examples of men like Two Horns and Crane's Voice, who kept their gardens
clean of all noxious plants.

He organized mimic war-parties. "To-day," he said, "the warriors of Elk
will go forth with me against these evil ones, the weeds. Each man will
be armed with a bright hoe. Elk, old as he is, will lead, and I will go
by his side. We will work busily till the sun has climbed half-way to
his hill; then we will smoke."

His knowledge of their needs, their habits, their modes of thinking,
made all that he did successful. He allowed the women to bring cool
drinks, flavored with herbs, and to build little bowers to shade their
sons and husbands from the fierce sun while they rested. There was
grumbling, there was envy, naturally, but less than he expected.

On the first day of July he was confident of a big crop, and wrote to
Elsie, saying: "The potatoes are in bloom, the wheat is waving in the
wind like a green sea. I am waiting."

To this she replied: "Papa's mind turns to the mountains these hot days,
and so we are coming; also my heart yearns for a certain soldier in the
West--a commander of shining hoes and a leader of destructive red
ploughmen. I ought, for my own peace and comfort, to forget this
singular creature; but, alas! I cannot. My perplexity grows daily. I
long to see him, yet I am afraid!"

These words made him tireless and of Job-like patience. "You need not
wait till the harvest is ended," he wrote, in reply. "Come and watch the
grain ripen, so that you will be garmented duly and ready for the feast.
Moreover, we will snatch so many more days of joy ou