“Hello! who’s there?” asked Zeek, as he heard some one behind him. Zeek had gone up to empty the hay fork after each full trip.
“I came up to watch,” said Nan.
“All right—stand over there and you’ll be safe,” said the hired man.
As one wagon was emptied of its load in this quick fashion, another drove into the yard, and the fork began taking the hay off that. Then some one called Zeek away and Nan was left alone in the mow. As she stood there the horse on the ground below started off, raising a fork full of hay and pulling it toward the open mow door.
“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Nan. “Here’s a lot of hay coming and no one to open the fork. I wish I could do it. I think I could. I watched Zeek. All he does is to pull the short rope. I’ll do it!”
And so, when the fork full of hay swung into the barn, Nan made a jump for the dangling short rope and pulled on it. But the hay fork did not open. Something was caught, or jammed. Nan fairly lifted herself off the ground in her eagerness to pull, and hung dangling by the rope fast to the fork full of hay.
Just then Zeek, who had gone out of the barn, looked up and saw the fork full of hay in the open door.
“What did you haul that up for?” he asked the man, who was driving the horse. “I’m not there to open the fork!”
“Oh,” said the man, “I didn’t know that. I thought you were there. I’ll let the hay come back again!”
He spoke to the horse. The animal began backing, and the big bundle of hay began to roll down the inclined trolley rope.