“Hey, Asher, come out and see the sky now,” he called. “It’s prairie fire and equinoctial storm combined.”
Asher hurried out to see the dull southwest heavens shutting off the sunlight out of which raged a wind searing the sky to a dun gray.
“Don’t stand there staring, you idiot. Why don’t you get your plowing done?” he cried to Shirley.
Shirley began to loose the trace-chain from the plow.
“That strip is wide enough now,” he declared. “I’ve got a clover guard, anyhow. I don’t need to back-fire like my neighbors do.”
As Asher untied his ponies and climbed into the wagon, Jim held their reins. 38
“Stop a minute. Let a single man offer you a word of advice, will you?” he asked.
“All right, I need advice,” Asher smiled down on Jim’s earnest face.
“Then heed it, too. No use to tell you to take care of your wife. You’ll do that to a fault. But don’t make any mistake about Mrs. Asher Aydelot. She went through Rebel and Union lines once to save your life. Don’t doubt her strength to hold her own here as soon as the first fight is over. She is like that Kentucky thoroughbred of hers; she’s got endurance as well as grace and beauty.”
“Bless you, Jim,” Asher said, as he clasped Shirley’s hand. “I wish you had a wife.”