И проиграли бой
Chapter 3
"You’llprobablycusshelloutofmebeforewe’rethroughifwegetinamessdownthere.It’sgoingtobenopicnic.IheartheGrowers’Associationisprettywellorganized."
Jimgaveuptryingtoeatthehotstew."Howwegoingtogoaboutit,Mac?Whatdowedofirst?"
Maclookedoverathimandsawhisexcitement,andlaughed."Idon’tknow,Jim.That’sthetroublewithreading,yousee.Wejusthavetouseanymaterialwecanpickup.That’swhyallthetacticsintheworldwon’tdoit.Notwoareexactlyalike."Forawhileheateinsilence,finishedoffhisstew,andwhenheexhaled,steamcameoutofhismouth."Enoughforanotherhelping,Jim?I’mhungry."
Jimwenttothekitchenandfilledhisbowlagain.
Macsaid,"Here’sthelayout.Torgasisalittlevalley,andit’smostlyappleorchards.Mostofit’sownedbyafewmen.Ofcoursethere’ssomelittleplaces,butthere’snotverymanyofthem.Nowwhentheapplesareripethecroptrampscomeinandpickthem.Andfromtheretheygoonovertheridgeandsouth,andpickthecotton.Ifwecanstartthefunintheapples,maybeitwilljustnaturallyspreadoverintothecotton.NowthesefewguysthatownmostoftheTorgasValleywaiteduntilmostofthecroptrampswerealreadythere.Theyspentmostoftheirmoneygettingthere,ofcourse.Theyalwaysdo.Andthentheownersannouncedtheirpricecut.Supposethetrampsaremad?Whatcantheydo?They’vegottoworkpickingapplestogetouteven."
Jim’sdinnerwasneglected.Withhisspoonhestirredthemeatandpotatoesaroundandaround.Heleanedforward."Sothenwetrytogetthementostrike?Isthatit?"
