Rosabelle Shaw by D. E. Stevenson

Author:D. E. Stevenson [Stevenson, D. E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Lume Books
Published: 2022-02-03T05:00:00+00:00

21

The field called Golgotha

Jay had to put up with a good deal of chaff about his first-footing when the family met at breakfast. He took it in good part, and kept his own counsel, but after breakfast, when he and John were riding round the farm, he was more communicative.

“I drank too much of their beastly whisky,” he said, laughing a trifle ruefully. “My head feels like a cannon-ball this morning.”

John laughed. “That’ll learn ye,” he said.

“It has,” agreed Jay. “I felt awful. Aunt Alison helped me to bed.”

John looked at him in surprise. “You must have been pretty bad,” he said. “Don’t let it happen again.”

“I won’t,” said Jay grimly. “It was horrible.”

They said no more. John was rather pleased that the boy had told him about it frankly—frankness was what John admired more than anything else. After all, there was no need for Jay to have said anything, and that made his confession all the more laudable. John had found Jay improved out of all recognition when he came home from school and settled down at Shaws. At first he had distrusted the improvement, and had kept a wary eye upon the boy, but he had soon found that there was no need for the wary eye. Jay was a different creature; he was polite and pleasant and amusing. He picked up the work very quickly, for he was clever and intelligent—there had never been any doubt about that—and he made himself very useful to John. They rode about the farm together, and John taught Jay all that he could; he showed him the differences in the soil, and told him why certain weeds flourished in one part of the farm where the soil was light and sandy, and why other fields—with heavy loam—were afflicted with a different species of weed. He showed him an ear of good grain and an ear of inferior grain, and explained the reason for the difference. He explained the rotation of crops, and discoursed upon the diseases of potatoes and other roots. He pointed out ditches which must be drained, and hedges which must be pruned or mended, and fields which must be manured. Jay listened intently, and remembered what he had been told, and gradually John began to depend upon him and even to consult him about matters connected with the farm. John would say: “By the way, that ditch has never been cleared—the ditch in the Fifty Acre field above the burn,” and Jay would smile and say: “It’s all right, I told Burnett you said it was to be done. He’s sent two men up there this morning.” “You’ll make a farmer yet,” John would laugh, and Jay would join in the laughter.

At first John had thought that Jay would shirk the hard work, for he had always been a shirker, but apparently he had changed in that also, for shortly after his arrival John had found him working in the hayfield with the men. Jay had taken off his coat, and his brow was wet with perspiration; he grinned and waved his hand as John rode by.

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