Read To Make My Bread for Free Online Page A

was a sight to be seen in Swain’s meadow. Granpap and the boys went with Frank McClure. They saw the frozen animals piled up against the cliff, like a monument carved out of the rock. Below was a mass of twisted legs, curved backs and upturned bellies frozen stiff together. On this mass were two yearlings. One of them had bitten into the neck of its brother. The bitten head leaned against the rock cliff, and its frozen eyes stared wide open at a laurel bush growing out of a crack in the rock just above. The mouth of the yearling, Granpap said, was wide open and the teeth showed. It seemed to be laughing at the others below.
    The carefree days and evenings did not last very long. The shot gave out and about the same time Emma reached the bottom of the meal bag. There were other things needed at this time—seed and a steer for plowing. Granpap appealed to Swain. What he got was two pounds of meal—a back-door gift—but no credit. Granpap took the meal gratefully, but halfway back to the cabin he began to get angry at himself and at Swain. He was willing to pay debts. Hal knew he would pay what he owed. There and then he made up his mind that he would get some money and pay Hal for the little two pounds of meal, the back-door gift.
    He carried the meal to Emma, and without waiting for a taste of corn pone, started away again. Emma wanted to know where he was going. Granpap did not answer. It was not necessary for Emma to know he was going to the McEacherns.
    He was away three days. It took him this long to drive a load of wood far down the mountains to the outside. Under the wood there were some jugs and he carried them to a certain place, the back door of a cheap restaurant in Leesville. There he unloaded the wagon after dark and received some money, of which Bud and Sam gave him a small part. He took what the McEacherns offered to give, and it was not much. They were true to the promise they had made before, and added a bottle of drink to the money.
    The old man stopped by Swain’s and bought the necessary supplies. There were shot in his jeans and he could feel their weight. It made him proud and confident to have the shot there, though some of his pride and confidence came from the drink out of Sam’s bottle. When Granpap left the store a steer hired from Swain plodded along behind him. Along the way he found it necessary to drink often. By the time he reached the cabin the bottle was empty. No one was waiting in front of the cabin. Granpap left the steer hitched outside and lifted the supplies into the room. Emma came in the back door and watched the old man trying to place them on the table.
    â€œSo ye’re back,” she said. Granpap let the bundles slide to the floor. He looked around for the others. It was important for them all to know what he had done.
    â€œThey are over to Ora’s,” Emma said, answering his look.
    â€œI made money, Emma,” Granpap said. “And I paid Hal Swain for his back-door meal. And I bought more and have got money left ” He took five nickels from his pocket and shook them in his hand. They clinked together and made a sound of big money. It sounded as if there was a fortune done up in his big fist. He walked unsteadily to the fireplace and held the money over the gourd. He tried to make the gesture big and strong, but it ended up wavering and uncertain. The coins he dropped from his hand fell to the floor and rolled away. They struck the floor with flat sounds as if they were of no account.
    â€œSit down, Pap. Do sit down,” Emma said.
    â€œAin’t ye glad, Emma?”
    â€œYes, I’m glad. I’m proud we’ve got so much.” Emma looked up from the floor where she was searching for the lost pieces of change. “Yes, I’m glad,” she repeated. “But I wish you would sit down.”
    Granpap walked to Emma and stood above her. He balanced backward and forward on his toes first, and then on his heels.