"So you do here, sometimes, when the droutht or too much rain has ruined the potato crop," retorted Jed. "I guess it's about an even thing, Will." "Maybe so. But I guess dad wouldn't let us go West." "Probably not. Come on, we'll do ten more rows each, and then it will be time to go home to supper. My! But I'm glad this day will soon be over! It's been a scorcher!" It had been very hot, and the unclouded sun, beating down on the two lads in the cornfield, seemed to fairly be trying to shrivel them up. "I'm done!" exclaimed Jed at length, as he reached the end of the tenth row, which he had set as his "stent." "So'm I," added his brother a minute later. "Come on, Pete. You're moving slow on account of the run you had this morning. Hark! What's that, Jed?" "Sounded like thunder." The two brothers listened a moment. Off in the west there was a dull rumble, where some copper-colored clouds had gathered. "It is thunder!" exclaimed Will. "Say, I do believe it's going to rain. Won't dad be glad!" "He sure will," spoke Jed. "But I'm afraid it's too late to do any good," went on Will. "Nonsense! There you go again. Always looking on the dark side of things. Why don't you say the rain will do all sorts of good?" "I suppose I'm not built that way. But I hope it does." "Of course it will. Come on. Let's hurry up. I don't want to get wet." "I'll be glad to," declared Will. "Seems as if I never was so hot. I'd like to get in a tubful of ice water and stay there an hour or so." As the lads unhitched the horses from the cultivators, leaving the machines in the field, in readiness for the work on the next day, and started homeward with the steeds, the rumble of thunder became louder, and there were flashes of lightning in the western sky. "She's a-coming!" cried Jed. "It'll be a corker, too, after this long dry spell." The boys had scarcely reached home before it began to rain. First there were only a few large drops, each the size of a half dollar. There was no wind, and the crack of thunder seemed like the discharge of heavy guns. Then the trees began to bend before the blast. The wind howled through their branches. The dust from parched fields and long dry highways rose in big clouds, making a yellow haze as the sun shone through it. Then the sky was quickly overcast with a yellow cloud. The wind blew harder. Louder crashed the thunder and then, with a rushing, hissing sound, the rain fell in torrents. "Just in time!" cried Gabe Harrison, as the boys, having put the horses in the barn, rushed up on the side porch of the farm house. "This is going to be a great shower. I knew my old corn wasn't aching for nothing." "I guess your corn isn't any gladder of the rain than the corn we've been cultivating all day," retorted Jed. "It was almost parched with the heat."