s
for the two boys following the reaper, and often when the day's work was
done they could with difficulty draw their legs home and to bed. Indeed,
there were nights when Dick, hardly the equal of his brother in weight
and strength, lay sleepless from sheer exhaustion, while Barney from
sympathy kept anxious vigil with him. Morning, however, found them stiff
and sore, it is true, but full of courage and ready for the renewal
of the long-drawn struggle which was winning for them not only very
substantial financial profits, but also high fame as workers. The end of
the harvest found them hard, tough, full of nerve and fit for any call
within the limit of their powers. It was Ben who furnished the occasion
of such a call being made upon them. A rainy day found him at the
blacksmith shop with the Mill team waiting to be shod. The shop was full
of horses and men. A rainy day was a harvest day for the blacksmith. All
odd jobs allowed to accumulate during the fine weather were on that day
brought to the shop.

Ben, with his crutch and his wooden leg, found himself the centre of a
new interest and sympathy. In spite of the sympathy, however, there was
a disposition to chaff poor Ben, whose temper was brittle, and whose
tongue took on a keener edge as his temper became more uncertain.
Withal, he had a little man's tendency to brag. To-day, however, though
conscious of the new interest centring in him, and though visibly
swollen with the importance of his new partnership with the Boyle boys,
he was exhibiting a dignity and self-control quite unusual, and was, for
that very reason, provocative of chaff more pungent than ordinary.

Chief among his tormenters was Sam Morrison, or "Fatty" Morrison, as
he was colloquially designated. Sam was one of four sons of "Old King"
Morrison, the richest and altogether most important farmer in the
district. On this account Samuel was inclined to assume the blustering
manners of his portly, pompous, but altogether good-natured father, the
"Old King." But while bluster in the old man, who had gained the respect
and esteem that success generally brings, was tolerated, in Sammy
it became ridiculous and at times offensive. The young man had been
entertaining the assembled group of farmers and farm lads with vivid
descriptions of various achievements in the harvest field on the part of
himself or some of the members of his distinguished family, the latest
and most notable achievement being the "slash