The Clearing Finn and I were pruning the plum trees around our garden when a rock came

cracking among the branches of the tree I was pruning, Where did that come from I asked Finn, who was on the ground below piling the branches. I dont know, he said. Then we heard the inton bo!s laughing on the other side of the "alle!. I went back to pruning. In less than a minute, a rock hit the limb abo"e m! head, and another rock hit at Finns feet. Then I came down from the tree. Finn and I started throwing rocks. In a few minutes, rocks were falling like hailstones around them and around us. The land was rock! on both sides of the "alle!, and there were plent! of rocks to throw. #ne of their rocks hit Finn on the foot, and one of our rocks hit the largest inton bo!s head. Think of it, Finn said. We fight before we know each others names$ What will it be as time goes on We fought all afternoon with rocks. %t sunset the inton bo!s took off up the path and o"er the hill. We went home. When &a asked wh! we hadnt finished pruning the trees, we told him. I told !ou, he said to 'om. (oull see whether we can li"e apart$ Wait until we get to know each other, 'om said. )ut how are we e"er going to know people like them &a asked. #h, something will happen, she replied calml!. (oull see. The ne*t da!, 'ort inton was with his bo!s. The! climbed higher on the hill, cutting the briers and brush and tree branches and stacking them neatl! into piles. Finn and I pruned our trees. Ill sa! one thing for the intons, 'om said. The!re good workers. When the! dont throw rocks, Finn said. #n the fourth da!, m! guineas flew across the "alle! where the intons were clearing land. +et these guineas back on !our side of the "alle!, 'ort inton !elled. +et em back where the! belong. I didnt want to put m! guineas in the hen house. )ut I had to. I knew 'ort inton would kill them. I wanted to tell him that the! would help his land. The!d get rid of insects that might destro! his crop. )ut I was afraid to tell him an!thing. % week had passed before m! guineas got out and flew across the "alle!. If !ou dont keep !our guineas on !our side of the "alle!, 'ort inton hollered to me, Ill wring their necks. That night I put m! guineas in again. I fi*ed the hen house so the! couldnt get out and roam the hills as the! had alwa!s done. While Finn, &a, and I cleared land on one side of the "alle!, the intons cleared on the other side. Though wed ne"er been close enough to the intons to talk with them, and we didnt want to get that close, we found oursel"es tr!ing to do more work than the four of them. ,ach da!, that earl! 'arch, rain or sunshine, four intons worked on their side of the "alle!, and &a, Finn, and I worked on our side. #ne da! a inton bo! hollered at us, (ou cant clear as much land as we can. -ont answer him, &a said. When %pril came and the intons had finished clearing the hill and had burned the brush, 'ort inton brought a skinn! mule hitched to a plow and started plowing the new ground. e plowed slowl! the first da!. The second da! m! guineas got out again and flew across the "alle! to the plowed ground. 'ort inton caught two of them. The others flew back home when he tried to catch them. Then he !elled across to where we were plowing our new ground and told us what he had done. I feel like taking a shotgun and sprinkling him, I said. (our guineas were on his land, 'om said. e told !ou to keep them off his land. 'ort inton plowed his new ground b! working from da!light until dusk, while the bo!s carried armloads of roots from the field and stacked them in great heaps. )! the first of 'a!, the! had made this ground soil like a garden. Then came a rain! season in earl! 'a!, and the! carried baskets of tobacco plants and set them in the newl! plowed rows. The!re workers, all right, &a said. #n a dark night about a week later, I watched a mo"ing light from m! upstairs window. It came from the direction of the intons, o"er the hill and down into the "alle! below our house. In a few minutes, I heard foot.steps on the porch. Then there was a loud knock on our door. I heard &a get out of bed and open the door. Im 'ort inton, a "oice said. '! wife sent for !our wife. I heard 'om getting out of bed. Ill be read! in a minute, she called out. either &a nor 'ort said another word. Ill be back when e"er!thing is all right, 'om said as she hurried off. The ne*t morning, &a cooked breakfast for us. e muttered about the The! are friendl! enough when need something o"er there, &a said. We were read! to sit down to breakfast when 'om came home. -ollie intons got a health! girl bab!, were 'oms first words. What did the! name the bab! +lenna asked.

intons as he stood near the hot sto"e fr!ing eggs.

The!"e not named her !et, 'om said I think the! plan to call her ,thel. The!re tickled to death. Three bo!s and now a girl$

What kind of people are the!, an!wa! &a asked. /ike other people, 'om said. The! dont ha"e much furniture in their house. The!re working hard to pa! for their farm. Will the! be an! better neighbors &a asked. I think so, 'om said. That hill o"er there is not a fence between us an! longer. Theres more than a hill between us, I said. What about m! guineas 'ort inton caught -id he sa! an!thing about em last night %nd what about the inton bo! that hit me on the foot with a rock Finn said. Id like to meet up with him sometime. ! the time we had, finished our breakfast, 'ort inton was plowing the !oung tobacco. is three sons were hoeing the tender plants with long.handled hoes. (oud think 'r. ilton would be sleep!, 'om said. e didnt go to bed last night. %nd the bo!s slept on the ha! in the barn loft. &a, Finn, and I didnt ha"e too much s!mpath! for the intons. Through the dining.room window, we could look across the "alle! and watch 'ort keep the plow mo"ing steadil!. We watched his bo!s dig with their hoes, ne"er looking up from the ground. This will be a dr!, sunn! da!, &a said. Well burn the brush piles on the rest of our clearing. We gathered our pitchforks, hoes, and rakes and went to the hill where we had cleared ground all spring. There were hundreds of brush piles on our twent! acres of cleared ground. The wind was still. The sun had dried the dew from the lea"es that carpeted the ground between the brush piles. Its the right time to burn, &a said. I cant feel an! wind. The brush has aged in these piles until it is as dr! as powder. a struck a match to the brush pile at the bottom of the clearing. The fire started with little leaps o"er the leaf.carpeted ground. Finn, &a, and I set fire to the bottom of the clearing until we had a continuous line of fire going up the slope. Then a wind sprang up from nowhere. %nd when flames leaped from brush pile to brush pile, &a looked at me. This is out of control, &a said. +rab a hoe and start raking a ring. Im afraid we cant stop it, Finn said. Well ha"e to work fast to sa"e the orchards. 0un to the house and get 1al and +lenna, &a !elled. /ook, &a, Finn said, pointing down the hill. 'ort inton was in front. e was running up the hill. is three sons were, running behind him, each with a hoe across his shoulder. Its out of control, &a shouted to 'ort before he reached us. We"e come to help, 'ort said. Can we keep it from the orchards &a asked. /ets run to the top of the hill and fire against it, 'ort said. I"e burnt hundreds of acres of clearings on hillsides, and I alwa!s fire the top first and let it burn down$ I fire the bottom last. 'a!be well not be too late to sa"e the orchards$ 'ort ran up the hill and we followed. Finn and I didnt speak to his bo!s, and the! didnt speak to us. )ut when we started raking a ring side b! side, we started talking to the intons. We forgot about the rock fight. 2ow wasnt the time to remember it, when flames down under the hill were shooting twent! to thirt! feet high. In no time, we raked the ring across the top of the clearing. %nd the fire 'ort inton set along the ring burned fiercel! down the hill and made the ring wider and wider. #nl! once did fire blow across the ring, and &a stopped it then. %s soon as we had this spot under control, we raked a ring down the west side near the peach orchard. 'ort set a line of fire along this ring and let it burn toward the middle of the clearing. Then we raked a ring on the east side and fired against the fire that was approaching our plum trees and our house. 1oon the leaping flames met in the clearing. We had the fire under control. #ur clearing was burned clean as a whistle. ow much do I owe !ou &a asked 'ort inton. (ou dont owe me an!thing, 'ort said. Were 3ust pa!ing !ou back for the help !our wife ga"e us. Then lets go to the house for dinner, &a said. 1ome other time, 'ort said. We must go home and see about -ollie and the bab!. %s we went down the hill, Finn and I talked with the inton bo!s about fishing and wild.bee trees, while &a and 'ort laughed and talked about weather and crops. 4esse 1tuart