Page:Frank Owen - Rare Earth, 1931.djvu/264

 he worked for a few hours in the fields with him. Jethro was doing all the farm work alone. He could easily have spared men from his own farm but he did not wish help. This was work that he wished to do himself. The only exception was Samuel Gage.

Jethro liked to have Samuel with him even though he was not much of a farmer, more of an idler. However he enjoyed life in his easygoing way and after all what greater thing can man attain than that?

He had known Jethro for more than twenty years but it was only now that they had become friends because of a mutual interest. Jethro was not much of a believer in friendship. In fact he had never had a real friend except the soil. They had been inseparable. Otherwise he preferred to live his life unmolested. Friendship, he considered, was overrated. Its value was open to question. It has been eulogized in story, poem and legend but has it truly benefited the world much?

Samuel Gage viewed with amazement the changes which Jethro brought about on the