The Valley of the Moon

were encountered, and few were the opportunities for conversation with chance wayfarers. Numbers of tramps, carrying rolls of blankets, were met,

e places they mentioned were always a long way off. One thing she did glean from them, and that was that the district she and Billy

agons, but never invited them to ride. When chance offered and Saxon did ask questions, t

illy fretted. "Why, in the old days

red her last talk

. Besides, these people are too near. Wait till we get farth

these ones are

. "For all you know, more than one of the

thousand acres, any man hikin' with his blankets might be just as good a man as me

g reply was that there was no work. A few said there would be plowing after the first rains. He

how to plow?" S

ick to turn. Besides, next man I see p

ty came. He climbed on top of the fence of a small f

ommented scornfully. "If an old codger like

try it,"

s the

to do is ask him. All he can do is say no. And what if he does

n dropped to the ground inside the fence.

, and ask him if he'll let you drive around a

ty I'll take his blam

d to Billy's neck, the handles to his hands. Then the team started, and the old man, delivering a rapid fire of instructions, wal

fore, a little

hook he

. But he knows how

k." Here the farmer chuckled and cut himself a chew from a pl

n the fence was deep in conversation. Saxon's questions flew fast and furious, and she was not long in con

There was a disused outbuilding where they would find a small cook stove, he said, and also he would give

ashioned. There was no intensive cultivation. There was too much land too little farmed. Everything was slipshod. House and barn and outbuildings were fast falling into ruin. The front yard was weed-grown. There was no vegetable garden. The small orchard was old, sickly, and neglected. The trees were twisted, spindling, and overgrown with a g

asked Billy as he smoked

ent up in a com

an' shoot 'em both. You bet you don't see the Porchugeeze with horses like them. An' it ain't a case of bein' proud, or puttin' on side, to have good horses. It's brass tacks an' business. It pays. That's the game. Old horses eat more 'n young ones to

, after an early breakf

The ranch just about keeps me and the old woman, now that the children are gone. An' then it don't al

on the outskirts of San

eclared, "unless they set the dogs on me.

lls and spacious ranges for his ho

he flowers growing along the borders! Th

e's the money come in from flowers that take up th

with a trowel; in front of the tiny bungalow. "I don't know what she's like, but at the worst she

se, the other old and of some dark-eyed foreign breed. Here were neatness, efficiency, and intensive cultivation with a vengeance-even her untrained eye could see that. The woman stood up and t

id, before Saxon could speak, administ

k-covered telescope basket. Evidentl

dling," she ex

orry for th

even pleasanter, and she waite

, Saxon took

nd we want. And seeing your pretty place has just filled me up with questions. You see, we don't know anything about far

emed to grow quizzical, though

ou will be happy in th

here they have labor troubles all the time. If they can't be happy in the cou

es. But you must remember that there are many po

poor nor unhappy,"

ARE a

h in the other's face, whi

ntry. As you say yourself, you've spent your life in the city. You don't

o the terrible months in

that or nothing. Besides, our folks before us were all of the country. It seems the more natural way. And better, here I am, which proves

val, and looked at her

ng man-"

big strike came. My name is Roberts, Saxon

if you will ask your husband in, I shall try to answer some of your many questions. Tell him t

n all the different kinds of things, and which grew best and which paid best? What is the best way to sell them? How do you sell them?" Saxon paused and laughed. "Oh, I

Let me answer the last first. It

explanation was deferred un

ng them in to see my flowers... and vegetables, of course. Everything was sweet, clean, pretty. It all appealed. And-" Mrs. Mortimer shrugged her shoulders. "It is well known that the stomach sees through the eyes. The thought of vegetables growing among flowers pleased their fancy. They wanted my vegetables. They must have them. And they did, at double the market price, which they were only too glad to pay. You see, I became the fashion, or a fad, in a small way. Nobody lost. The vegetables were certainly good, as good as any on the market and often fresher. And, besides, my customers killed two birds with one stone; for they were pleased with themselves for philanthropic reasons. Not only did they obtain the finest and freshest possible vegetables, but at t

s. Mortimer, glancing at Billy, noted not e

she encouraged. "Wh

nd to her double surprise, his criticism was

lly expounded. "That's

er interrupted, her eyes dancing

farmer was to mix flowers an' vegetables, then every farmer would get double the market pr

The fact is that all the farmers do not do it. The fact is tha

vinced, though

t get the hang of it. There's something wrong so far as we're concer

and I'll tell you about the beginning. You see-" she bent her gaze on Saxon-"I want you thoroughly to understand that you can succeed in the country if you

. Billy, too, was interested, but he left the talking to Saxon, himself rarely asking a question. At the rear of the bungalow, where everything was as

idea what they netted me this year. I never keep

n' you, Saxon, about h

doing, I have them laying in the winter when most hens stop laying and when eggs are highest. Another thing: I have

illy, and guessed that he was s

thing?" sh

y-old eggs, there wouldn't be no ten cents higher 'n the

the eggs would be one-day eggs, you mustn

hang of, an' now I got it. You talk about theory an' fact. Ten cents higher than top price is a theory to Sax

s nodded sym

n that I don't get the hang of," he pursued. "I can't

es given and received for pedigreed Persians, pedigreed Ohio Improved Chesters, pedigreed Scotch collies, and pedigreed Jerseys. For the milk of the last she also had a special private market, receiving five cents more a quart than was fetched by the best dairy

ory of how she had drummed up the jam and jelly trade, dealing only with the one best restaurant and one best club in San Jose. To the proprietor and the steward she had gone with her samples, in long discussions beaten down their op

es were moody with dissatisfactio

at the beginning

to stop for supper. Saxon frowned Billy's r

years. Then I married Mr. Mortimer. He was a book man, a professor in San Miguel University. He had a long sickness, and when he died there was nothing left. Even his life insurance was eaten into before I could be free of creditors. As for myself, I was worn out, on the verge of nervous prostration, fit for nothing. I had five th

cres!" Sa

retty small?"

still leased after all this time. Even the ten I'd retained was much too large fo

ted you an' two hired men

clapped her ha

en. Let me tell you. I have four hired men. The ten acres certainly must support them, as it supports Hannah-she's a Swedish widow who runs the house and who is a perfect Trojan during the jam and jelly season-and Hannah's daughter, who goe

he young lineman had sa

it," she cried. "It was your head

be treated generously, and that is something the old style American farmer can't get into his head. So it IS head that counts. Even when h

l you all I know, but, first, you must be very tired. I noticed you were li

ted her sparkling glances which took in everything, and went out of her way to show Saxon around, doing it under the guise of gleeful boastings, stating the costs of the different materials, explaining how she had done things with her own hands, such as staining the doors, weathering the bookcases, and

Mrs. Mortimer mourned; "then I should

you just the same. But we'll catch the el

ty to put them up for the night, and Saxon chang

make." She indicated shelves of farm books and files of farm magazines that lined the walls. "And I continued to study. I was resolved to be up to date, and I sent for all the experiment station reports. I went almost entirely on the basis that whatever the old type farmer did was wrong, and, do you know, in doing that I was not so far

didn't! Y

mer smiled

an old rattletrap ruin where the bungalow now stands. I put up with it, but I immediately pulled down the cow barn, the pigsties, the chicken houses, everything-made a clean sweep. They shook their heads and groaned when they saw such wanton waste by a widow struggling to make a living. But worse was to come. They were paralyzed when I told them the price of the three beautiful O.I.C.'s-pigs, you know, Chesters-which I bought, sixty do

odded a

and, assisted by his hostess, he gave a very creditable disquisit

bout herself and Billy, and betrayed not the slightest shock whe

judgment. Why, he must, for here he is with you on this pilgrimage which is wholly your idea." Mrs. Mortimer sighed. "You are very fortunate, dear child, very fortunate. And you don't yet know what a man's brain is. Wait till he is quite fired with en

sted with the city,

re than it hurt him. It was you who lost the dear little babe. His interest, his connectio

her head to Billy,

ng of what was bothe

wered, taking the indicated

, and so are you, at any rate big and strong, and your little wife is very weary

. "Now, sir-and you look delicious, the pair of you-re

you had pull-well-to-do acquaintances, people that knew you'd been a librarian an' your husband a professor. An' you had...." Here he floundered a moment, seeking definiteness for t

could learn what was ne

hook hi

feel outa place. That'd make me have a chip on my shoulder an' lookin' for trouble, which is a poor way to do business. Then, too, I'd be thinkin' he was thinkin' I was a whole lot of a husky to be peddlin' jam. What'd happen, I'd be chesty at the

here is your wife. Just look at her. She'd make an impression

rbidding expression s

ne now?" their

o tradin' on my wife's lo

Winkles. Who ever heard, in these degenerate times, of a young man and woman of the city putting their blankets on their backs and starting out in search of land? Why, it's the old Argonaut spirit. Y

and Billy's were friendly once

. My grandfather, Jason Whitney, came around the Horn and took part in the raising of the Bear Flag at Sonoma. He was at M

Street. It's near Russian Hill. Saxo

tributed. "His father was a little baby boy, and lived with the Indians, until cap

catalogued and read everything covering those times. You-" she indicated Billy, "you are historical, or at least your father is. I remember about him. The whole thing is in Bancroft's History.

en bound for Oregon. It was all wiped out. I wonder if you know anyth

of it p

ered. "In the old

ou know a

re's one

tle muse has learned to sing, And California's b

ar," Mrs. Mortime

another I remem

the groves, Where the nude statues st

don't understand it all. I

"I remember it. Wait a minute.... Da-da

ts Tremble lightly a moment on bosom and hands,

f the seed-amethysts, though I d

aisy-" Sa

rtimer corrected with

body called

it that way. W

Wiley

helves and quickly returned wit

the old newspaper files." Her eyes running down the index suddenly stopped. "I was right. Dayelle Wiley Brown. There it

ded. And the Indians wouldn't shoot at her. Everybody said it was a miracle." She sprang out of Billy's arms, reaching for the book and crying: "Oh,

remained silent while Saxon devoured her mother's lines. At the end, staring at t

r knew, I n

would be model, and it meant that she would require more help. Billy and Saxon were just the two. By next summer she could have them installed in the cottage she intended building. In the meantime she could arrange, one way and another, to get work for Billy through the winter. She would guarantee thi

n. In the end Saxon succinctly

ve got to go farther, and see all kinds of places and all kinds of ways, in order to find out. We're not in a hurry to make up our minds. We want t

to present Saxon with "The Story of the Files"; bu

you buy me one, and keep it till we get settle

cepting the money. "But you must promise to w

em to the

he pair of you. If ever I can do anything for you, just let me know. You're bound to succeed, and I want a hand in it myself. Let me know

lly. Saxon she caught i

y proposition. But remember, it, or better, will always be open to you. You're young yet, both of you. Don't be in a hurry. Any time you stop anyw