They ate in silence, sleepy and yet ______ with excitement, for it was the first day of their first spring sowing as man and wife. And each felt the ______ of that day on which they were to ______ the earth together and plant seeds in it. But somehow the ______ of an event that had been long expected loved, feared and ______ for made them ______ . Mary, with her ______ woman’s mind, thought of as many things as there are in life as a woman would in the first joy and ______ of her mating . But Martin’s mind was fixed on one thought. Would he be able to prove himself a man ______ of being the head of a family by doing his spring ______ well?