The movers moved on, leaving me four of their cows instead of two of mine, and I went diligently to work breaking them to the yoke.  New prairie schooners came all the time into view from the East, and others went over the sky-line into the West.

4

And that day the Fewkes family hove into sight in a light democrat wagon drawn by a good-sized apology for a horse, poor as a crow, and carrying sail in the most ferocious way of any beast I ever saw.  He had had a bad case of poll-evil and his head was poked forward as if he was just about to bite something, and his ears were leered back tight to his head with an expression of the most terrible anger—­I have known people who went through the world in a good deal the same way for much the same reasons.

Old Man Fewkes was driving, and sitting by him was Mrs. Fewkes in a faded calico dress, her shoulders wrapped in what was left of a shawl.  Fewkes was letting old Tom take his own way, which he did by rushing with all vengeance through every bad spot and then stopping to rest as soon as he reached a good bit of road.  The old man was thin and light-boned, with a high beak of a nose which ought to have indicated strength of character, I suppose; but the other feature that also tells a good deal, the chin, was hidden by a gray beard which hung in long curving locks over his breast and saved him the expense of a collar or cravat.  His hands were like claws—­I never saw such hands doing much of the hard work of the world—­and, like his face, were covered with great patches which, if they had not been so big would have been freckles.  His wife was a perfect picture of those women who had the life drailed out of them by a yielding to the whiffling winds of influence that carried the dead leaves of humanity hither and yon in the advance of the frontier.  She sat stooped over on the stiff broad seat, with her shoulders drawn down as no shoulders but hers could be drawn.  It was her one outstanding point that she had no collar-bones.  It doesn’t seem possible that this could be so; but she could bring her shoulders together in front until they touched.  She was rather proud of this—­I suppose every one must have something to be proud of.

I guess the old man’s chin must have been pretty weak; for the boys, who were seated on the back seat, both had high noses and no chins to speak of.  The oldest was over twenty, I suppose, and was named Celebrate.  His mother explained to me that he was born on the Fourth of July, and they called him at first Celebrate Independence Fewkes; but finally changed it to Celebrate Fourth—­I am telling you this so as to give you an idea as to what sort of folks they were.  Celebrate was tall and well-built, and could be a good hand if he tried; which he would do once in a while for half a day or so if flattered.  The second son was named Surajah Dowlah Fewkes—­the name was pronounced Surrager by everybody.  Old Man Fewkes said they named him this because a well-read man had told them it might give him force of character; but it failed.  He was a harmless little chap, and there was nothing bad about him except that he was addicted to inventions.  When they came into camp that day he was explaining to Celebrate a plan for catching wild geese with fish-hooks baited with corn, and that evening came to me to see if he couldn’t borrow a long fish-line.