Freddy carried the bale over and stood on tip-toe so he could push it onto the floor of the hay wagon.  

Freddy heard Ma ring the dinner bell on the back porch.   "Noon time. Time for dinner," Freddy said to all the men.  

They trudged through the rain up to the house, being careful to take off their greasy coveralls and muddy boots and leave them on the back porch.   The porch was covered with a roof so their clothes would be protected from the rain.  

When they entered the kitchen, wonderful aromas filled their noses.   Ma had two big platters of fried chicken.   Her biggest china serving bowl was filled with mashed potatoes, a smaller boat-shaped bowl was filled with gravy.   Two baskets, lined with linen towels, were filled with steaming home-made rolls.   She had filled two smaller bowls with peas and corn.   All was spread on the kitchen table.  

Over on the kitchen counter were the four pies.   Ma had warmed them in the oven and now, they were out and ready to be served.  

The men sat down and noisily started to eat.   Freddy didn't think too much of their table manners.   In fact, he didn't think they had any at all!  

They stuffed their mouths with food until their cheeks bulged out.   Ma was kept busy running from the stove to the table to bring them cups of coffee or to refill the bowls of food.  

Freddy forgot to eat because he was so busy watching the men.   One man, who sat across from Freddy, dipped his table knife into the mashed potatoes on his plate, then into the peas.   He put the knife between his lips and cleaned the whole thing off with his tongue, washing down his food with noisy gulps of coffee.  

When the men were finished with their meal, Ma handed them pie plates with a slice of apple and cherry pie.   It took only a few bites for one man to finish his off.   "Canna have more, Ma'am?"  

Freddy looked out of the corner of his eye, wondering if there would be any pie left for him.  

As soon as they were done eating, they stood and bowed to Ma and said, "Much obliged Ma'am," then quickly walked out onto the porch to get back into their coveralls.  

Ma sat down in one of the chairs and fanned her face with her apron.   She looked at the bowls on the table.   All of them were empty.  

"Whew! I have never seen anyone eat that much in that short a time."  

Pa shook his head.   "It was like a pack of hungry wolves passed through here."  

"Do you want your pie now, Walter?"  

"Nope," said Pa.   "We gotta get back to the barn.   Come on Freddy.   We will have our pie after supper tonight."