mind her heavy, running step, or her clattery
way with pans. Grandmother was in high
spirits during the weeks that Antonia worked
for us.

All the nights were close and hot during
that harvest season. The harvesters slept in
the hayloft because it was cooler there than
in the house. I used to lie in my bed by the
open window, watching the heat lightning play
softly along the horizon, or looking up at the
gaunt frame of the windmill against the blue
night sky. One night there was a beautiful
electric storm, though not enough rain fell to
damage the cut grain. The men went down to
the barn immediately after supper, and when
the dishes were washed Antonia and I climbed
up on the slanting roof of the chicken-house
to watch the clouds. The thunder was loud
and metallic, like the rattle of sheet iron, and
the lightning broke in great zigzags across the
heavens, making everything stand out and
come close to us for a moment. Half the
sky was checkered with black thunderheads,
but all the west was luminous and clear: in
the lightning-flashes it looked like deep blue
water, with the sheen of moonlight on it; and
the mottled part of the sky was like marble

[[158]]

p157 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p158w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p158x6a

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