“Oh，comenow，Wilson；that’stoothin!Weallknowthatruleaboutdarkmarryin’light。“
“I’llwagershe’llbetall，“continuedWilson。“I’llwageryou，friendRodemaker，she’llbeblondeandtall。“
TherestroaredatRob’sastonishmentandcontusion。Theabsurdityofitgrew，andtheywentintospasmsoflaughter。ButWilsonremainedimpassive，notthetwitchingofamusclebetrayingthathesawanythingtolaughatintheproposition。
Mrs。Whitingandthekitchengirlscamein，wonderingatthemerriment。Robbegantogetuneasy。
“Whatisit？Whatisit？“saidMrs。Whiting，ajollylittlematron。
Riversputthecase。“Rob’sonhiswaybacktoWisconsint’getmarried，andWilsonhasofferedtobethimthathiswifewillbeablondeandtall，andRobdassentbet!“Andtheyroaredagain。
“Why，theidea!Theman’scrazy!“saidMrs。Whiting。Thecrowdlookedateachother。Thiswashintenough；theysobered，noddingateachother。
“Aha!Isee；Iunderstand。“
“It’stheheat。“
“AndtheBostonbeans。“
“Letuponhim，Wilson。Don’tbadgerapoorirresponsiblefellow。I
thoughtsomethingwaswrongwhenIsawthecollar。“
“Oh，keepitup!“saidRob，alittlenettledbytheirevidentintentionto“havefun“withhim。
“Soothehim-soo-o-o-o-thehim!“saidWilson。“Don’tbeharsh。“
Robrosefromthetable。“Gotothunder!Youmakemetired。“
“Thefitisonhimagain!“
Herosedisgustedlyandwentout。Theyfollowedhiminsingiefile。
Therestofthetown“caughton。“FrankGrahamheavedanappleathimandjoinedtheprocession。Robwentintothestoretobuysometobacco。Theyfollowedandperchedlikecrowsonthecounterstillhewentout；thentheyfollowedhim，asbefore。Theywatchedhimcheckhistrunk；theywitnessedthepurchaseoftheticket。Thetownhadturnedoutbythistime。
“Waupac!“announcedtheonenearestthevictim。
“Waupac!“saidthenextman，andthewordwaspassedalongthestreetuptown。
“Makeanoteofit，“saidWilson：“Waupa-acountywhereaman’sproposalformarriageishonoreduponpresentation。Sightdrafts。“
Riversstruckupasong，whileRobstoodaround，patientiybearingthejokesofthecrowd：
“We’relookin’ratherseedynow，Whileholdin’downourclaims，Andourvittlesarenotalwaysofthebest，AndthemiceplayslylyroundusAswelaydowntosleepInourlittleoldtarredshantiesontheclaim。
“YetweratherlikethenoveltyOflivin’inthisway，Thoughthebilloffareisoftenrathertame；
An’we’rehappyasaclamOnthelandofUncleSamInourlittleoldtarredshantyontheclaim。“
Thetraindrewupatlength，totheimmensereliefofRob，whosestoicalresiguationwasbeginningtoweaken。
“Don’ty’wishy’hadsand？“heyelledtothecrowdasheplungedintothecar，thinkinghewasridofthem。
Butno；theirlaststrokewastofollowhimintothecar，nodding，pointingtotheirheads，andwhispering，managinginthehalf-minutethetrainstoodattheplatformtoseteverypersoninthecarstaringatthecrazyman。Robgroanedandpulledhishatdownoverhiseyes-anactionwhichconfirmedhistormentors’
wordsandmadeseveralladiesclicktheirtonguesinsympathy-“Tick!tick!poorfellow!“
“Allabo-o-o-a-rd!’saidtheconductor，grinninghisappreciationatthecrowd，andthetrainwasoff。
“Oh，won’twemakehimgroanwhenhegetsback!“saidBarney，theyounglawyerwhosangtheshoutingtenor。
“We’llmeethimwiththetimbrelandtheharp。Anybodywanttowager？I’vegottwotooneonashortbrunette，“saidWilson。
“Followitfarenoughanditmaypassthebendintheriverwherethewaterlaughseternallyoveritsshallows。“
ACORNFIELDinJulyisahotplace。Thesoilishotanddry；thewindcomesacrossthelazilymurmuringleavesladenwithawarmsickeningsmelldrawnfromtherapidlygrowing，broad-flungbannersofthecorn。Thesun，nearlyvertical，dropsafloodofdazzinglightandheatuponthefieldoverwhichthecoolshadowsrun，onlytomaketheheatseemthemoreintense。
JuliaPeterson，faintwithfatigue，wastollingbackandforthbetweenthecornrows，holdingthehandlesofthedouble-shovelcornplowwhileherlittlebrotherOttorodethesteaminghorse。
Herheartwasfullofbitterness，andherfaceflushedwithheat，andhermusclesachingwithfatigue。Theheatgrewterrible。Thecorncametohershoulders，andnotabreathseemedtoreachher，whilethesun，nearingthenoonmark，laypitilesslyuponhershoulders，protectedonlybyacalicodress。Thedustroseunderherfeet，andasshewaswetwithperspirationitsoiledhertill，withawoman’sinstinctivecleanliness，sheshuddered。Herheadthrobbeddangerously。whatmattertoherthatthekingbirdpitchedjoviallyfromthemaplestocatchawanderingbluebottlefly，thattherobinwasfeedingitsyoung，thatthebobolinkwassinging？Allthesethings，ifshesawthem，onlythrewherbondagetolaborintogreaterrelief。
Acrossthefield，inanotherpatchofcorn，shecouldseeherfather-abig，gruff-voiced，wide-beardedNorwegian-atworkalsowithaplow。Thecornmustbeplowed，andsoshetoiledon，thetearsdroppingfromtheshadowoftheuglysunbonnetshewore。
Hershoes，coarseandsquare-toed，chafedherfeet；herhands，largeandstrong，werebrowned，ormoreproperlyburned，onthebacksbythesun。Thehorse’sharness“creak-cracked“asheswungsteadilyandpatientiyforward，themoisturepouringfromhissides，hisnostrilsdistended。
Thefieldrandowntoaroad，andontheothersideoftheroadranariver-abroad，clear，shallowexpanseatthatpoint，andtheeyesoftheboygazedlonginglyatthepondandthecoolshadoweachtimethatheturnedatthefence。
“Say，Jule，I’mgoin’in!Come，can’tI？Come-say!“hepleadedastheystoppedatthefencetoletthehorsebreathe。
“I’veletyougowadetwice。“
“Butthatdon’tdoanygood。Mylegsisallsmarty，’causeol’Jacksweatsso。“Theboyturnedaroundonthehorse’sbackandslidbacktohisrump。“Ican’tstandit!“heburstout，slidingoffanddartingunderthefence。“Fathercan’tsee。“
Thegirlputherelbowsonthefenceandwatchedherlittlebrotherasbespedawaytothepool，throwingoffhisclothesasheran，whoopingwithuncontrollabledelight。Soonshecouldhearhimsplashingaboutinthewaterashortdistanceupthestream，andcaughtglimpsesofhislittleshinybodyandhappyface。Howcoolthatwaterlooked!Andtheshadowstherebythebigbasswood!
Howthatwaterwouldcoolherblisteredfeet!Animpulseseizedher，andshesqueezedbetweentherailsofthefenceandstoodintheroadlookingupanddowntoseethatthewaywasclear。Itwasnotamain-travelledroad；noonewaslikelytocome；whynot？
Shehurriedlytookoffhershoesandstockings-howdeliciousthecool，softvelvetofthegrass!-andsittingdownonthebankunderthegreatbasswood，whoserootsformedanabruptbank，sheslidherpoorblistered，chafedfeetintothewater，herbareheadleanedagainstthehugetreetrunk。
Andnowassherested，thebeautyofthescenecametoher。Overherthewindmovedtheleaves。Ajayscreamedfaroff，asifansweringthecriesoftheboy。Akingfishercrossedandrecrossedthestreamwithdippingsweepofhiswings。Theriversangwithitslipstothepebbles。Thevastcloudswentbymajestically，farabovethetreetops，andthesnapandbuzzingandringingwhirofJulyinsectsmadeaceaseless，slumberousundertoneofsongsolventofallelse。Thetiredgirlforgotherwork。Shebegantodream。Thiswouldnotlastalways。Someonewouldcometoreleaseherfromsuchdrudgery。Thiswasherconstant，tenderest，andmostsecretdream。HewouldbeaYankee，notaNorwegian；theYankeesdidn’tasktheirwivestoworkinthefield。Hewouldhaveahome。
Perhapshe’dliveintown-perhapsamerchant!AndthenshethoughtofthedrugclerkinRockRiverwhohadlookedather-A
voicebrokeinonherdream，afresh，manlyvoice。
“Well，byjinks!ifitain’tJulia!JusttheoneIwantedtosee!“
Thegirlturned，sawapleasant-facedyoungfellowinaderbyhatandafifteen-dollarsuitofdiagonals。
“RodRodemaker!Howcome-“
Sherememberedhersituation，andflushed，lookeddownatthewater，andremainedperfectlystill。
“Ain’tyegoin’toshakehands？Y’don’tseemverygladt’seeme。“
Shebegantogrowangry。“Ifyouhadanyeyesyou’dsee!“
Roblookedovertheedgeofthebank，whistled，turnedaway。“Oh，Isee!Excuseme!Don’tblameyehabit，though。Goodweatherf’rcorn，“hewenton’lookingupatthetrees。’Cornseemstobeprettywellfor-ward，“hecontinuedinaloudervoiceashewalkedaway，stillgazingintotheair。“Cropsislookingfirst-classinBoomtown。
Hello!ThisOtto？H’yarey’littlescamp!Getontothathorseagin。
Quick，’rI’lltakey’rskinoffan，hangitonthefence。whaty’beendoing？“
“Beninswimmm’。Jimminy，ain’titfun!when’dy’getback？“saidtheboy，grinning。
“Neveryoumind，“repliedRob，leapingthefencebylayinghislefthandonthetoprail。“Getontothathorse。“Hetossedtheboyuponthehorse，hunghiscoatonthefence。“Is’posetheol’manmakesherplowsameasusual？“
“Yup，“saidOtto。
“Doddingamanthat’lldothat!Idon’tmindifit’snecessary，butitain’tnecessarymhiscase。“Hecontinuedtomutterinthiswayashewentacrosstotheothersideofthefield。Astheyturnedtocomeback，Robwentupandlookedatthehorse’smouth。“Gettin’
purtynearofage。Say，who’ssparkin’Julianow-anybody？“
“Nobody’ceptsomeol’Norwegians。Shewon’thavethem。Porwantsherto，butshewon’t。“
“Goodf’rher。Nobodycomest’seeherSundaynights，eh？“
“Nope，only’TiasAndersonan’OleHoover；butshegoesoffan’
leaves’em。“
“Chk!“saidRob，startingoldJackacrossthefield。
Itwasalmostnoon，andJackmovedreluctantly。Heknewthetimeofdayaswellastheboy。Hemadethisroundafterdistinctprotest。
InthemeantimeJulia，puttingonhershoesandstockings，wenttothefenceandwatchedtheman’sshiningwhiteshirtashemovedacrossthecornfield。Therehadneverbeenanyspecialtendernessbetweenthem，butshehadalwayslikedhim。Theyhadbeenatschooltogether。Shewonderedwhyhehadcomebackatthistimeoftheyear，andwonderedhowlonghewouldstay。Howlonghadhestoodlookingather？Sheflushedagainatthethoughtofit。Buthewasn’ttoblame；itwasapublicroad。Shemighthaveknownbetter。
Shestoodunderalittlepoppletree，whoseleavesshookmusicallyateveryzephyr，andhereyesthroughhalf-shutlidsrovedovertheseaofdeep-greenglossyleaves，dappledhereandtherebycloud-shadows，stirredhereandtherelikewaterbythewind，andoutofitallalongingtobefreefromsuchtoilroselikeabreath，fillingherthroat，andquickeningthemotionofherheart。Mustthisgoonforever，thislifeofheatanddustandlabor？whatdiditallmean？
Thegirllaidherchinonherstrongredwrists，andlookedupintothebluespacesbetweenthevastclouds-aerialmountainsdissolvinginashorelessazuresea。Howcoolandsweetandrestfultheylooked!lishemightonlylieoutonthebillowy，snow-white，sunlitedge!Thevoicesofthedriverandtheplowmanrecalledher，andshefixedhereyesagainupontheslowlynoddingheadofthepatienthorse，ontheboyturnedhalfaboutonthehorse，talkingtothewhite-sleevedman，whosederbyhatbobbedupanddownquitecuriously，likethehorse’shead。Wouldsheaskhimtodinner？
whatwouldherpeoplesay？
“Phew!it’shot!“wasthegreetingtheyoungfellowgaveashecameup。Hesmiledinafrank，boyishwayashehunghishatonthetopofastakeandlookedupather。“D’y’know，Ikindo’enjoygettingatitagain。Fact。Itain’tnoworkforagirl，though，“headded。
“When’dyougetback？“sheasked，theflushnotyetoutofherface。Robwaslookingatherthick，finehairandfullScandinavianface，richasaroseincolor，anddidnotreplyforafewseconds。
Shestoodwithherhideoussunbonnetpushedbackonhershoulders。Akingbirdwaschatteringoverhead。