Settlers of the Marsh by Frederick Philip Grove Page A

about a good deal,” he said at last. “I’ve seen Lund’s place; Hahn’s; and a few others. Of course, I believe the men do work hard …”
    â€œLund doesn’t,” Ellen interrupted.
    â€œNo,” Niels agreed quite seriously. “Not Lund. But Hahn. He’s strong. If he does work hard, he can stand it. His wife works just as hard …”
    â€œHarder,” Ellen interrupted again.
    â€œYes,” Niels went on. “She has the house and the children; the cows to milk; the sheep to feed. In summer she stacks the grain and the hay; and when threshing time comes …”
    â€œHelp is hard to get,” Ellen objected.
    â€œPerhaps … Then why not do a little less?”
    â€œWell,” Ellen pondered, “I’ll tell you. During the first few years it is really the woman that makes the living on a pioneer farm. She keeps chickens, cows, and pigs. The man makes the land.”
    â€œBut when it is made?”
    â€œThat’s where the trouble comes in. Then there are children; and the house takes a fearful amount of time. Nobody thinks of relieving her of any work. She has always done it. Why can she not do it now?”
    â€œI passed Kelm’s place last year,” Niels said. “He was breaking with his new tractor . He sat on his engine. But she walked behind the plows, bare-footed, and picked out the stones and dragged the roots into piles. Kelm passes as a well-to-do man.”
    Ellen laughed. A low, self-possessed laugh. “I’ve done it myself,” she said. “I am still doing it, though on a smaller scale.”
    â€œYou shouldn’t,” he answered boldly.
    â€œI’m independent,” she objected and resumed her work. But after a silence of a few minutes she dropped it again. “Isn’t it strange that we should have been neighbours for over a year and have never spoken?”
    â€œI did not dare,” Niels said.
    â€œDare?”
    â€œYou looked so forbidding. As if you would resent it if I spoke.”
    She mused for a while. “Do you remember,” she said at last, “how you first came here to dig the well and spoke only Swedish?”
    Niels blushed. “I do.”
    â€œDo you know what I thought? One morning you did speak. ‘A penny for your thoughts, miss,’ you called.”
    Niels felt uncomfortable under the remembrance.
    â€œAnd I probably frowned. Another one of those silly youngsters, I thought. When they see a girl, they think they must act up in order to please her. I knew the kind …”
    â€œI was silly enough,” Niels admitted ruefully.
    â€œI suppose. But you kept silent after that.”
    And silent they kept for another half hour.
    Then Niels stirred. “Hadn’t I better go?”
    â€œIf you wish.”
    He did not wish; but he got up nevertheless.
    â€œWell, good-by,” he said and hesitated.
    Ellen held out her hand; and he touched it.
    â€œTill to-morrow,” she said. “I shall have dinner ready at twelve.”
    The hand he had touched was small and shapely; but it was hard and calloused from work.
    W HAT A FOOL I have been! What a fool I have been! Niels said to himself as he drove home …
    Next morning, Sigurdsen joined Niels in the meadow west of Lund’s place only after he had taken Lund home. It was easily seen that he was out of sorts.
    â€œAnything wrong?” Niels asked.
    Sigurdsen grunted. “That man! He keep me awake till two in the morning.”
    â€œTalking?”
    â€œYea,” Sigurdsen grumbled. “Begging.”
    â€œHe didn’t ask you for money, I hope.”
    â€œNo? He ask you?”
    â€œYes,” Niels said. “He asked me for thirty-five dollars.”
    â€œGet it?”
    â€œNo. I hope he got nothing from you.”
    â€œEvery cent. Twenty-two dollars.”
    â€œWhat a shame!” Niels exclaimed.
    He was angry with himself for having taken