Page:Frank Owen - Rare Earth, 1931.djvu/81



HE life of Jethro Trent had been a veritable epic of planting. He had no existence that was not entwined with the soil. For more than a hundred years the Trents had all been farmers. There had been no single instance of one of them breaking away from the rock whence he was hewn. Nor is there recorded even an isolated suggestion of rebellion. It cannot be said that the Trent men had ever been happy. They were grim, gaunt, silent men, empire builders. They lacked the capacity for happiness. They did not joke nor dance nor sing. Perhaps in their silence they recorded contentment even as do trees in the cool night wind.

The Trents had been pioneers throughout