Free The Work and the Glory by Gerald N. Lund

watched them go, then cupped his hand to his mouth. “Watch out for hornets.” Joseph raised one hand briefly without turning. It was an unnecessary warning, for hornets were the bane of the frontier farmer. It was still a little early for them to be fully out of their dormancy, but it had been warm enough the past few days to make one be on alert. In a week or two, as the plowing got fully underway, they would have to constantly watch the ground ahead. Particularly in virgin fields like these, one could hit a nest of yellow jackets every second or third furrow, unleashing a deadly cloud of fury that could leave a farmer and his team half-dead.
    Joshua stepped to where three shirts hung from a bush. On the ground next to the bush was a water jug and several rags. He took one of the rags and mopped at his forehead. Nathan and Hyrum moved to join him. The rain and overcast from the day before had gone, and while the temperature was pleasant enough, the humidity was still high, and they had removed their shirts. But the first swarms of mosquitoes were out now, and they didn’t allow one to sit around with bare back for long without regretting it.
    Hyrum pulled his shirt over his head and tucked it into his trousers, then grabbed the water jug and drank deeply. He handed it to Nathan, then picked up a rag of his own and began to wipe at the sweat across the back of his neck. Joshua watched him for a moment, then cleared his throat. “Hyrum?”
    “Yes.”
    Joshua tossed the rag aside. “We were in town yesterday,” he continued.
    Hyrum looked up. “Yes.”
    Nathan, sensing suddenly what was coming, shot his brother a warning look, but if Joshua saw it, he ignored it. “Some men stopped to talk to Joseph.”
    Wary now, Hyrum waited.
    “They said Joseph has some kind of gold Bible.”
    There was no change of expression, and no outward signs of response, but there was a sudden, unmistakable coolness in the air. Finally, he spoke. “The Murdocks, you mean?” He pronounced the name with great disdain.
    “Yeah. Will Murdock and his brother. And a cousin.”
    Hyrum gave a soft snort of disgust.
    Joshua went on more slowly now, but still determined. “He also said somethin’ about angels.”
    “Joshua!” Nathan broke in sharply. “It ain’t our place to pry.”
    Joshua glared at him, but he wasn’t about to back down. “Well?” he pressed.
    Hyrum lifted his head, his eyes searching across the field. About a hundred rods away, Joseph and Benjamin were unhooking the log and getting ready to start back. Hyrum stood up abruptly and brushed off his pants. “You’ll have to ask Joseph about that,” he said shortly.
    It was just barely sundown. The spring air was cooling quickly now, leaving a misty haze across the fields and meadows. The songbirds seemed muted and still. The smoke from the cabin’s chimney rose in lazy, gentle eddies. Nathan hurried through unhitching the mules, then forked some hay into the manger. He had left the others cleaning up the last of the brush, but he knew Joseph and Hyrum would soon be leaving for home and if he didn’t hurry he would miss them.
    As he came out of the barn, he saw with relief that the Smith brothers were just saying good-bye to Matthew and Becca near the front porch of the cabin. His mother was there too, wiping her hands on her apron, then waving to them as they moved off.
    Nathan hurried over to his mother. “I think I’ll walk a ways with Joseph and Hyrum,” he said. “I’ll be back in time for supper.”
    She looked a little surprised, then shrugged. “All right. We’ll be eating in about an hour.”
    “I’ll be back.” He hurried off to join the two figures starting down the lane toward the main road.
    Joseph and Hyrum seemed glad for the company, and for the first few minutes as they walked they chatted idly about the day’s work, the warming weather, the prospects of this year’s crops. But as they turned onto the road leading to Palmyra Village and