I told him that I could trim them. He told me that the women folks would show me what to do, then he drove away. His wife gave me an axe and a long saw, telling me to trim up the trees. She showed me where the orchard was and I started out for my work. It was a good sized orchard with about seventy trees. I wondered if the boss thought that I could do the job in one day.
On account of my failure the day before to hang the gate, I wanted to redeem myself so I set about with axe and saw and by six o’clock, every tree in the orchard lay flat on the ground and my hands were blistered. But I felt that they could not kick on that job, although it would take two days more, at least, to trim those trees up.
The boss was late again for supper and did not get home until after dark. I was anxious for him to see the big day’s work I had done but the orchard could not be seen from the house where we sat at the evening meal. This meal proved to be my last one in that house.
The master asked me if I had finished trimming the trees in the orchard. I gazed at him and then at his wife and I just
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