There was always a harvest supper for the farm workers after all the hay¹ and wheat had been cut. On behalf² of his wife，Sergeant³ Troy decided⁴ to have it one evening at the end of August，in the great barn⁵. 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 brandy⁶ 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 shepherd⁷ 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

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