"Every blade and ear on which the louse has fastened itself must be destroyed. We must be ruthless in rooting the plague out."
Battick groaned aloud. He hated to think of losing a single grain of the new wheat. "How are you going to do it?" he asked.
"It must be pulled up and burned. And this may not be the only spot where the pest was thrown."
"I'll look all around the field," Battick said eagerly. "You don't see any place where the scoundrel has walked into the wheat to spread the pest, do you?"
"No. He probably did nothing to trample down the wheat and so reveal to us where he had worked.
"I would make sure how wide the area of affection is before pulling up any wheat, Mr. Battick," said Hiram. "I'll bring the boys down here and we'll burn a wide enough area to surely put the louse out of business in this field. No use cutting off the dog's tail half an inch at a time."
Battick understood this homely saying, and only groaned again.
Hiram and the girls returned to the road, and Miss Pringle and Sister climbed into the buggy. Hiram walked beside the vehicle to the Pringle cottage, and remained there for supper.
The change in Sister in the time since Hiram had last seen her seemed marvelous. Not having seen a picture of her in all that time, the surprise Hiram felt was even greater that it otherwise would have been. Sister positively had become a pretty girl.
Battick came up to report after supper. He had found but that one place where the grain louse was at work. Hiram took Orrin and Jim Larry and one of the new men and went down with Battick to burn the affected wheat.