In a spring countryside alive with labor, gossip, and song, Andrew Cutler clears and sows his field by hand, a strong young farmer whose bond with the land is tested by toil, beauty, and the uneasy price of progress. His dog Rufus, a bird's nest, and a mysterious voice in the woods draw him from practical work into a world of tenderness and longing. That voice belongs to Judith Moore, a celebrated singer resting in the country, whose fragile beauty and radiant talent conceal loneliness and strain. When Andrew and Judith meet, attraction flashes into sharp-witted conflict, exposing pride, curiosity, and the stirrings of deeper feeling. Around them, rural life unfolds with comic bustle and quiet sorrow. Old Sam Symmons, a faded relic of another era, gathers neighbors over a sick mare, where Hiram Green's remedies, Jack Mackinnon's rambling tales, and the animal's eventual death reveal both village absurdity and plain resilience. Judith's stay with the Morris family brings further warmth and insight: Mrs. Morris's talk, superstition, and buried grief for her five dead children mingle with humor and sympathy, while Judith herself begins to awaken to love, self-knowledge, and the hidden emotional lives of women. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.