"No! No matter what happens, I don't feel I've been cheated."
"Is that true?"
He looked at her steadfastly and replied: "It is."
"Where is your land?"
"Right here." He waved his hand at the Flower Prairie, at the
elderberry jungle.
"Here?" she cried, leaning forward eagerly. "Do you mean it? Really?"
"Right here," he repeated, kicking the ground vigorously.
"Oh, I'm glad!" she murmured. "I'm so glad!"
"Why?"
"I was afraid--maybe my suspicions aren't true after all." She was
silent for a moment. "But I can't leave--I can't leave now!"
"Wait!" he cried, leaping toward her, but with one spring the horse was
out of reach and galloping away. Payne watched till she was out of
sight, but she did not look back.
XVIII
Higgins and the first ox wagon of his train arrived soon afterward, and
in the morning he led the six negro laborers he had brought in an
attack with heavy machetes upon the elderberry jungle. The big knives,
wielded by the powerful blacks, cut through the-soft wood at a single
stroke. The brush was then piled and burned, and the land was ready
for the tractor and breaking plow which were coming in pieces from
Citrus Grove via ox team.
Payne watched the work for a while, then turned his attention to the
fencing job out on the prairie.
Pages:
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126