Across the Fruited Plain

ms were picking; the next day they had joined with two other families and hired a tr

sure nice there!" Pauline assured them happily. "I belong to a girls' club that meets every day after schoo

Then they said good-by to Miss Abbott. That was hard for Jimmie. He butted

e land. "God has taken all the red and yellow he's got, and just splash

to see the men getting in the sa

hen farmers used horses there, they fastened broad wooden shoes on the

otatoes. The Beechams were nearing the salt-water inlets of the bay, wh

t of Oystershell. The rows of wooden houses, the oyster-sheds and the comp

was bad for my rheumatiz

k at," he acknowledged, "but the rent ain't much, either. The roofs are tig

n would ever be a luxury!" Grandma muttered. "But,

he house had a kitchen-dining-sitting room and one bedroom, with

a peekaneeka, sure,"

uld tell she was nervous about it, by the way her foot jerked up and down when she gave Sally h

hey woke, mush simmered on the cookstove and a bottle of milk stood on the table. It took time to feed Sally and wash dishes

step stood a man or woman, in boots and heavy clothes, facing the desk. Only instead of pen and paper, these people had buckets,

llen and Jimmie peeked. They were startled wh

a big man. "If you want to s

and smelling of fish; Dick and Rose-Ellen were pr

he man who said we could." She stuck in her ch

Daddy said, laughing. "Guess it's

y in a strange place." Grandm

into the oyster-house. "Ez," he called, "her

knife, and spilling them into h

hook their hea

fe and dropped it

he boats had gone out at three o'clock in the morning, he said, in the deep dark. They were coming in now heavily, loaded high with horny o

m all," Jimmie said suddenl

s looked as if they were carrying sponges in their mouths, but Ez said it was a kind of moss that grew there. Already the

hucked oysters. First the oysters were dumped into something that looked like Mrs. Albi's electric washer, and washed and washed. Then they were emptied into a flume, a narrow trough along which

l these oysters?" Dick demanded in a b

in months that don't have R

ning your dress if you put it on wrong side out. Summer's when oysters lay eggs. You don

ast the mountains of

rown folks were too tired. And on Monday Dick and Rose-E

had trouble, too, for the seventh grade was well started on United States history, and he couldn't catch up. But that was not the worst of it. The two children could not seem to fit in with their schoolmates. The village girls gathered in groups by themselves and acted as

ho begged not to go anyway. Besides,

lot of these middle-sized oysters to make a gallon. To keep the oysters fresh, the sheds were left so cold that the workers must often dip their numb hands int

ng hours when the grown folks were working and the older children at school, she had to stay in a chair with a gate across the front which her father had f

f oyster-houses. He was so busy drawing roofs that he had forgot all about Sally until he was startled by her scream. He jerked around in terror. Sally had clambered over the fence of his legs

ged the wool quilt off Grandma's bed and scooted across the floor in a flash. While Sally

Jimmie and Sally white and shaky but safe. The woolen quilt had smothered out the

ma kept saying, while she sat and rocked the whimpering baby. "And i

ddy said in a shaky voice, crouching besi

they had a Center, like at the bogs. I don't believe I can bear it to stay here

we're making a fair living and the Boss says there'll be work through

Grandma's tone was tart. "No, sir, I ain't going to stay, tied

f little use when Grandma was set. "I bet we could

straight chair, jerkin

slowly, "is trying to get families t

sight of good, and I always did hanker af

ou so much a head and feed and lodge you into the barg

into s

peekaneeka!" crowed Rose