e machine; a great stream of chaff which rapidly piled up in
a yellow mountain, and another stream of the heavy grain, pouring thick
and fast into a wagon. One of the men told us that they had threshed
fourteen hundred bushels the day before, working fourteen hours in fine,
clear weather.
Everywhere the lovely grey doves were flying. There were hundreds of
young meadow larks, too, and great numbers of red-winged blackbirds. It
was on the 17th of July that I saw brown thrushes for the first time. It
is interesting to watch the movements of the birds as the machine
approaches. The doves in the road fly promptly. They do not take chances
on being struck by the car. The sparrows wait until the last moment and
then neatly save themselves. I often wondered how they could escape
with so narrow a margin. We thought that the redheaded woodpeckers must
be rather clumsy, as we saw a number of them that had been struck by
other cars, and thrown just off the road.
It was impossible to reach Lincoln that night, so we stopped at a
country inn some miles away. Rising early, we drove into Lincoln for
breakfast. After a run about the city and a look at the buildings of the
State University, we drove on toward Omaha. Unfortunately we attempted
to take a cross-cut and found ourselves in an odd situation. We were
driving down an unfrequented hill road, in an attempt to cut across to
the main road, marked by white bands on the telephone poles. We suddenly
found ourselves hanging high and dry above the ruts of the road. The
rain had worn them so deep and the middle of the road had remained so
hard and dry, that on the hillside we were literally astride the ridge
in the middle of the road. This meant a long journey on foot to a
farmhouse to borrow a spade and a pick. It also meant much hacking and
digging away at the hard earth under the body of the machine to release
the axles and drop the wheels to the road. Finally it was accomplished.
We picked up the farmer's children who had come out to see the rescue
and drove down the long hill to the farmhouse. There we left our
implements and our hearty thanks. How hopeless it seems when one is hung
up on the road! And how blissful it is to bowl along freely once more!
Still the doves flew about us by the hundred and the brown thrushes
increased in number. We had more level country now, and it was only as
we approached Omaha that it became hilly.
We left Omaha, after looking about the city, late
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