She first filled the
opposite ends of the rack and kept the middle low; then when the load
was high as the rails of the rack she began prudently to lay the hay out
on and over them, so as to have room to build a large, wide load.
But in this instance there was a hindrance to good loading that even
grandmother's skill could not wholly overcome. Much of the hay for that
last load was from the swales at the lower side of the field, where the
grass was wild and short and sedgy, a kind that when dry is difficult to
pitch with forks and that, since the forkfuls have little cohesion and
tend to drop apart, does not lie well on the rails of the rack. Such hay
farmers sometimes call "podgum."
Fully aware of the fact, the old Squire now said in an undertone to the
elder and to Jim that they had better make two loads of the thirty-three
tumbles. But grandmother Ruth overheard the remark and mistook it to
mean that the old Squire did not believe she could lay the load. It
mortified her.
"No, sir-ee!" she shouted down to the old Squire. "I hear your talk
about two loads, and it's because I'm on the cart! I won't have it so!
You give me that hay! I'll load it; see if I don't!"
"Bully for you, Gram!" shouted Halstead.
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