Page:Frank Owen - Rare Earth, 1931.djvu/255

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Rare Earth

ing. His eyes had tiny wrinkles about the corners that proclaimed his kindness.

"It is quite easy to get food for the body," went on the stranger. "At almost every farmhouse, no matter how poor, I have been given food. Sometimes I help with the chores to pay for my meals. It is nice to have worked on farms all over the country. I've tramped through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and perhaps other states as well for I pay no attention to boundaries. And always I've found it easy to get food for the body but it is not so easy to get food for the soul. That is why I like to pause and chat with anyone who can spare the time to converse with me."

"Well I've got plenty of time," said Jethro. "Guess it's good for every man to stop occasionally to rest."

"You are right," agreed the stranger. "God would not have made the gorgeous country pastorals, the broad murals of the plains, the sky canvases if he did not expect man to pause to drink in their beauty. Why men should

want to view stodgy paintings in museums

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