We could just see her sun
hat and her face over the hay; she looked very pink and triumphant.
Carefully avoiding stones and all the inequalities in the field, the old
Squire drove at a slow walk. I surmise that he had his fears. It was
certainly the highest load we had hauled to the barn that summer.
The rest of us followed after, glad indeed that the long task of haying
was now done, and that the last load would soon be in the barn. Halfway
to the farm buildings the cart road led through a gap in the stone wall
where two posts with bars separated the south field from the middle
field. There was scanty space for the load to pass through, and in his
anxiety not to foul either of the posts the old Squire, who could not
see well because of the overhanging hay, drove a few inches too close to
one of them, and a wheel passed over a small stone beside the wheel
track. The jolt was slight, but it proved sufficient to loosen the
unstable "podgum." The load had barely cleared the posts when the entire
side of it came sliding down--and grandmother Ruth with it! We heard her
cry out as she fell, and then all of us who were behind scaled the wall
and rushed to her rescue.
Pages:
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234