Page:Frank Owen - Rare Earth, 1931.djvu/138

 better to be a happy dwarf and live in the low side of the room than a sad giant and attain the heights."

"I don't wan' to be either," declared Enoch. "I wan' to be a man 'at drives a plow."

"That at least," mused Benda, "is something attainable. When a man turns to the earth, he succeeds."

Almost every evening when the nights were cold the three of them gathered around the open-fire. Although there was usually a large log burning in the grate Enoch loved to gather bits of twigs and branches during the daytime which he fed to the fire at night.

"The fire is really a person," drawled Benda, "who lives in this house with us, a very important person, a warm friend. The log is its supper and the twigs are its dessert. I think I can hear it smack its lips as it devours them. Not only are they nutritious but they are tasty too."

Benda as a rule fell asleep in his chair before the fire. He was very tired after working in the fields. Besides he had a barn and