Soon the men began to gather,surveying their own children,speaking of planning and rain,tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their joked were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed. The women, wearing faded house dressed and sweaters,came shortly after their menfolk.They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husband. Soon the women, standing by their husband, began to call to their children, and the children came reluctantly,having to be called four or five time. Bobby Martin ducked under his mother's grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to his place between his father and his oldest brother.