Argosy: The Short Story Magazine — page 39: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE GOOD CORN 39 She laughed again and shook herself, twisting her body in a way that suddenly reminded him of the twist of dark air running among the ripening corn. He tried to kiss her again and /she said, “ Not here, I keep telling you. Some time, if you like, but not here. Not in broad daylight. I don’t like people watching me.”’ All right—”’ “Some other time. It’s so public here,’ she said. “ There’ll be another time.”’ By the end of August, the corn was cut and carted. The stubbles were empty except for the girl and Mrs. Mortimer, - gleaning on fine afternoons, and a few brown hens scratching among the straw. “IT could never quite give up the hens,” Mrs. Mortimer said. “It would be an awful wrench to give them up. I didn’t mind the cherries, and I didn’t even mind the calves so much. But the hens are company. I can talk to the hens.” About the house, in the yard, bright yellow stacks stood ready for threshing, and there was a fresh clean smell of straw on the air. During summer the face of the girl had reddened with sun and air, and as autumn came on it seemed to broaden and flatten, the thick skin ripe and healthy in texture. “Soon be winter coming on, Elsie,” Mrs. Mortimer said. “You think you’ll stay up here with us for the winter? ”’ “Well, I expect I shall if nothing happens,” Elsie said. “Happens? If what happens? ”’ “Well, you never know what may happen,” Elsie said, “ do you?” ““T want you to stay if you can,’’ Mrs. Mortimer said. “ They get a lot of snow up here some winters, but perhaps we'll be lucky. Stay if you can. I got now so as I think of you as one of our own.” In a growing fondness for the girl Mrs. Mortimer occasionally remembered and reflected on the incident of the baby. It was very strange and inexplicable to her, the incident of the baby. It filled her with mystery and wonder. It was a mystery beyond comprehension that a girl could conceive and bear a child and then, having delivered it, give it away. She felt she would never be able to grasp the reasons for that. ‘“ You’d think it would be like tearing your own heart out to do a thing like that,” she thought. Towards the end of November the first snow fell, covering the hillsides down to within a hundred feet of the valley. The house stood almost on the dividing line of snow, like a boat at comiclooks.comn)