"But we've got to get to a place where there's work," Daddy
reminded him.
They went to see the car, and found it a big, strong old Reo,
with fairly good tires. So they bought it.
Grandma had one piece of jewelry left, besides her wide gold
wedding ring--a cameo brooch. She traded it for a nanny goat.
On the ever useful dump the men found a wrecked trailer and they
mended it so that it would hold the goat, which the children
named Carrie. Later, Grandma thought, they might get some laying
hens, too.
Two days after the Big Storm, they set out for the Texas
cottonfields. Mrs. King stuck a big box of lunch into the car,
and an old tent which she said she couldn't use.
"I hope I'll be forgiven for never paying heed to fruit
tramps--fruit workers--before," she said soberly. "From now on I
aim to. Though I shan't find none like you-all, with a Seth
Thomas clock and suchlike."
[Illustration: Off to the cotton fields]
After the truck ride from Jersey even a fifteen-dollar automobile
was luxury, with its roomy seats and two folding seats that let
down between.
Grandma joked, in her tart way, "I never looked to be touring the
country in my own auto!"
Rose-Ellen jiggled in the back seat. "Peekaneeka, Gramma!" she
said.
When it rained, the children scurried to fasten the side curtains
and then huddled together to keep warm while they played
tick-tack-toe or guessing games.
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