Page 102 - RotalTutor

At first her father was reserved about shaking their hands, but soon he was visiting warmly with them. Alexander pulled out the seed corn and shared it with the farmers in the village, describing how to plant it, how to harvest it, etc. He made them promise to save half of their harvest and to share half of that. He said he would really appreciate knowing if it would grow up there. Many people had to tell him how well their strawberries were doing. Louise didn’t even know he had taken strawberries up there, but it seems he had done it the previous year. He was very pleased to find out they produced quite abundantly in their second summer. Louise’s concerns about Alexander vanished as, here in the element to which he was accustomed, he forgot all else and became Alexander. When they brought some late season strawberries, Louise watched her father as he sampled them. She smiled at the pleasure his face showed. Nell’s grandmother had to tell them that the chicken they brought was giving an abundance of eggs. Alexander was very pleased to hear that, and smiled at Louise as she blushed. All too soon it was time to leave, even though the people begged them to stay and offered them rooms for the night. Alexander assured them that they needed to return. They were just preparing to mount when, right on cue, the children gathered around Alexander. The king looked curiously at Louise. She just smiled. Nell tugged on Alexander’s coat and pointed at his saddlebag. Alexander 100