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Good Knight Stories © 1967

To Town

Story Twenty Seven

When the children were finished resting, Arthur thought first of wading in the stream, again. Then he remembered he had not wheeled his barrow in the forenoon. Without practice he would never be able to balance it by the time Father and Mother came back to Beverly Hall.

"Come along, Ardath, and watch me push the wheelbarrow." Arthur coaxed. Ardath went along with Arthur to the barn. There, something else attracted Arthur's attention.

Adam was hitching Will Power to a wagon. "Where are you going with the horse?" Arthur asked Adam.

"To town, to get some staples and wire for a new dog yard. Those puppies have that fence about pushed out with their jumping against it .Adam told Arthur.

"Could we go with you, to Berryville?" Ardath got the exciting idea.

"Well, now, maybe you could do that," Adam considered. "If the ‘Boss' says you may, it is all right with me."

The Children remembered that Adam called Grandfather, ‘Boss'. Ardath said she would go ask Grandfather since it was her idea to go to town.

Arthur stayed with Adam and asked questions about the wagon. It had no roof on like the surrey and only one seat in front. In the back was a long, broad wagon box, used for hauling things.

"This is a ‘spring wagon'," Adam explained. "We use it to fetch things from town and to haul implements or tools about the farm.."

Grandfather came back to the barn with Ardath and asked Adam a few questions, like, "How long will you be gone?" and "How many stops must you make?"

Adam said the only stop he planned to make was at the hardware store. "It may take half an hour to cut the wire and make the other purchases. I'‘ll be coming right back as soon as I have everything I need for the new fence."

"All right, they may go with you, Adam, but keep your eyes open." Grandfather cautioned.

Arthur looked at Adam's eyes. He had no expected him to close them.

At dinner that night, the children told Grandfather what they had seen in Berryville and who had talked to them.

"We saw a moving picture theater in town." Ardath said then asked, "Do you ever go to motion pictures, Grandfather?"

"Not unless it rains." Grandfather replied, promptly, "I enjoy first hand experiences rather than looking at other people having fun on a picture screen.

Ardath had never thought of motion pictures as other person's fun, but she thought about it now.

Grandfather proved that he liked doing things instead of watching others do them. He had another interesting walk to suggest, after dinner. Of course, the children were eager to go with him because they always learned so much from adventures with Grandfather.

They took a walk to a stone quarry a mile from Beverly Farm. There was a huge stone crusher. It was the biggest piece of machinery the children had ever seen. Grandfather said it was "terribly noisy" when it was in use. They went to see it in the evening, when it was shut down, so the noise would not be deafening and they could talk about it.

On the way home from the quarry, Grandfather told them about earth fairies, or gnomes. "They live and work in mines and quarries. They are the guardians of the earth's treasures. If they like you, they will lead you to great treasure." Grandfather told Ardath and Arthur as they walked along the country road toward home, in the dusk.
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