"Friends," said Allan Theoder, speaking for the first time, "I do not hear you say any thing about this tax."He went to bed early with the birds and beasts. Before he climbed into the bed, lying broad and white and dim in the background of the candleless room, he opened the window, to drink in the scent of his land as it fell asleep. The breeze whiffled in the orchard, fluttering the boughs where the young green apples hid under the leaves, there was a dull sound of stamping in the barns ... he could see the long line of his new haycocks beyond the yard, soft dark shapes in the twilight.While she spoke, her eyes brightened, and her pale face for a short time glowed with the fervor of her soul.
