"Cather, Willa - O Pioneers!" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cather Willa Sibert)let him saw her horn off and daub the place
with tar." Emil had been watching his sister, his face reflecting the sufferings of the cow. "And then didn't it hurt her any more?" he asked. Alexandra patted him. "No, not any more. And in two days they could use her milk again." The road to Ivar's homestead was a very poor one. He had settled in the rough country across the county line, where no one lived but some Russians,--half a dozen families who dwelt together in one long house, divided off like barracks. Ivar had explained his choice by saying that the fewer neighbors he had, the fewer temptations. Nevertheless, when one considered that his chief business was horse- doctoring, it seemed rather short-sighted of him to live in the most inaccessible place he could find. The Bergson wagon lurched along over the rough hummocks and grass banks, fol- lowed the bottom of winding draws, or skirted coreopsis grew up out of the clear water and the wild ducks rose with a whirr of wings. Lou looked after them helplessly. "I wish I'd brought my gun, anyway, Alexandra," he said fretfully. "I could have hidden it under the straw in the bottom of the wagon." "Then we'd have had to lie to Ivar. Besides, they say he can smell dead birds. And if he knew, we wouldn't get anything out of him, not even a hammock. I want to talk to him, and he won't talk sense if he's angry. It makes him foolish." Lou sniffed. "Whoever heard of him talking sense, anyhow! I'd rather have ducks for sup- per than Crazy Ivar's tongue." Emil was alarmed. "Oh, but, Lou, you don't want to make him mad! He might howl!" They all laughed again, and Oscar urged the horses up the crumbling side of a clay bank. |
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