“I’moneo’MissEricson’stenants。Lookafteroneofherplaces。Ididowntheplacemyselfonce，butIlostitawhileback，inthebadyearsjustaftertheWorld’sFair。Justaswell，too，Isay。Letsyououto’payin’taxes。TheEricsonsdoownmostofthecountynow。Iremembertheoldpreacher’sfavoritetextusedtobe，’Tothemthathathshallbegiven。’They’vespreadsomethingwonderful——runoverthisherecountrylikebindweed。ButIain’tonethatbegretchesitto’em。Folksisentitledtowhattheykingit；andthey’rehustlers。Olaf，he’sintheLegislaturenow，andalikelymanfurCongress。Listen，ifthatain’ttheoldwomancomin’now。WantIshouldstopher？“
Nilsshookhishead。Heheardthedeepchug-chugofamotorvibratingsteadilyinthecleartwilightbehindthem。Thepalelightsofthecarswamoverthehill，andtheoldmanslappedhisreinsandturnedclearoutoftheroad，duckinghisheadatthefirstofthreeangrysnortsfrombehind。Themotorwasrunningatahot，evenspeed，andpassedwithoutturninganinchfromitscourse。Thedriverwasastalwartwomanwhosatateaseinthefrontseatanddrovehercarbareheaded。Sheleftacloudofdustandatrailofgasolinebehindher。Hertenantthrewbackhisheadandsneezed。
“Whew！IsometimessayI’dasliefbebeforeMrs。Ericsonasbehindher。Shedoesbeatall！Nearlyseventy，andneverletsanothersoultouchthatcar。Putsitintocommissionherselfeverymorning，andkeepsittunedupbythehitch-barallday。I
neverstopworkforadrinko’waterthatIdon’thearhera-
churnin’uptheroad。Ireckonherdarter-in-lawsneversetsdowneasynowadays。Neverknowwhenshe’llpopin。Mis’Otto，shesaystome:’We’resoafraidthatthing’llblowupanddoMasomeinjuryyet，she’ssoturribleventuresome。’SaysI:’I