The spring had been backward, cold, bitter, inhospitable, and Jadwin began to suspect that the wheat crop of his native country, that for so long had been generous, and of excellent quality, was now to prove⁠—it seemed quite possible⁠—scant and of poor condition. He began to watch the weather, and to keep an eye upon the reports from the little county seats and centres in the winter wheat States. These, in part, seemed to confirm his suspicions.