There was always a harvest supper for the farm workers after all the hay and wheat had been cut. On behalf of his wife，Sergeant Troy decided to have it one evening at the end of August，in the great barn. The weather was unpleas-antly warm that night. On his way to the harvest supper Gabriel stopped to check the eight huge hay－and wheat－ricks. If，as he suspected，there was a storm，the ricks，which were all uncovered，would be badly damaged.

He went on to the barn，where the farm workers had already finished eating and started dancing. Gabriel had to wait until Sergeant Troy had finished his dance with Bathshe-ba before he could warn him about possible damage to the ricks. Troy，however，was enjoying himself too much to listen to Gabriel's message.

‘Friends，’he was saying，‘I've ordered brandy to be served to you all，so that we can celebrate my wedding properly. ’

‘No，Frank，don't give them brandy，’begged Bathsheba，‘it will only do them harm！’

‘Don't be silly！’said Troy. ‘Friends，let's send the women home！Then we men can drink and sing as much as we like！’Angrily，Bathsheba left the barn，followed by the other women.

Gabriel left soon afterwards Later，when he went to check that Bathsheba's sheep were safe，he noticed that they looked very frightened. They were crowded together in a corner，their tails pointing the same way. To the shepherd this meant they were expecting a storm. He went to look at the ricks again. Should the whole harvest of the farm，worth at least seven hundred and fifty pounds，be lost because of a woman's weakness？Never，if I can prevent it！thought Gabriel.

He returned to the barn to ask the other farm workers to help him cover the ricks. But the only noise he could hear coming from the barn was the men's loud and regular breathing，and when he entered，he found them all asleep，in-cluding Troy. The brandy，which they had been too polite to refuse，had made them drunk in a very short time，as they were not used to drinking anything stronger than beer. It was useless trying to wake them.

Gabriel left the barn，and returned to the ricks，two of which he managed to cover with the heavy material kept on the farm for this purpose. The only way to cover the other six ricks was by thatching them with straw，and this was a long and difficult job to do alone.

The moon disappeared，and there was a slow，light wind，like the breath of a dying man，as Gabriel climbed the ladder and started thatching high up on top of the third rick. Light－ning flashed in the sky，and there was a loud crash of thunder. In the sudden brightness Gabriel could see every tree around him，until the light disappeared just as suddenly，leaving him in the blackest darkness. He knew his position was dangerous，but considered his life was not valuable enough to worry about.

Another flash of lightning allowed him to see the figure of a woman running towards the rick. Was it Bathsheba？

‘Is that you，ma'am？’he called to the darkness.

‘Who's there？’said Bathsheba's voice.

‘It's Gabriel. I'm on the rick，thatching. ’

‘Oh Gabriel！I'm so worried about the ricks！Can we save them？The thunder woke me. I can't find my husband. Is he there？’

‘No，he isn't. He's—asleep in the barn. ’

‘He promised me the ricks would be covered，and he hasn't done it！Can I help you？Let me help！’

‘You can bring the straw up to me in armfuls，if you aren't afraid to climb the ladder in the dark，’said Gabriel.

‘I'll do anything to help！’she said. She started to go up and down the ladder，carrying the straw. In the brightness of the lightning Gabriel saw their two shadows，wildly enlarged，on the hill in front of him. Then came the loudest crash so far.

‘How terrible！’cried Bathsheba，and held on to his arm. The lightning flashed in a wild dance of death，and thunder came from every part of the huge sky. Bathsheba and Gabriel could only stare，and tremble at the strange and dangerous beauty of the storm.

As they watched，a tall tree in front of them seemed to be burning with a white flame. There was a final，violent crash of thunder，and in the bright light they saw that the tree had been torn in half by the lightning.

‘That was close to us！’said Gabriel. ‘We'd better go down. ’They climbed down and stood............