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158
Adventures in Contentment
·
David Grayson
65
"You
take
hold
there,"
I
said,
without
waiting
for
him
to
catch
his
breath,
"and
I'll
get
hold
here.
Together
we
can
easily
get
the
wheel
off."
Without
a
word
he
set
his
cane
against
the
barn
and
bent
his
back,
up
came
the
axle
and
I
propped
it
with
a
board.
"Now,"
I
said,
"you
hang
on
there
and
steady
it
while
I
get
the
wheel
off"--though,
indeed,
it
didn't
really
need
much
steadying.
As
I
straightened
up,
whom
should
I
see
but
Harriet
standing
transfixed
in
the
pathway
half
way
down
to
the
barn,
transfixed
with
horror.
She
had
recognised
John
Starkweather
and
had
heard
at
least
part
of
what
I
said
to
him,
and
the
vision
of
that
important
man
bending
his
back
to
help
lift
the
axle
of
my
old
wagon
was
too
terrible!
She
caught
my
eye
and
pointed
and
mouthed.
When
I
smiled
and
nodded,
John
Starkweather
straightened
up
and
looked
around.
"Don't,
on
your
life,"
I
warned,
"let
go
of
that
axle."
He
held
on
and
Harriet
turned
and
retreated
ingloriously.
John
Starkweather's
face
was
a
study!
"Did
you
ever
grease
a
wagon?"
I
asked
him
genially.
"Never,"
he
said.
"There's
more
of
an
art
in
it
than
you
think,"
I
said,
and
as
I
worked
I
talked
to
him
of
the
lore
of
axle-grease
and
showed
him
exactly
how
to
put
it
on--neither
too
much
nor
too
little,
and
so
that
it
would
distribute
itself
evenly
when
the
wheel
was
replaced.
"There's
a
right
way
of
doing
everything,"
I
observed.
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