It is the beginning of winter in the Irish countryside, where the people are poor and life is very hard. Kelly, the farmer, is driving his tractor to the field where he and his workers will spend the day digging up potatoes. The four workers are in the trailer behind the tractor. Two of the workers are young men who have permanent jobs with farmer Kelly. The other two workers are boys, who are truanting from school. Joe is 13 and his brother Philly is 12.
On the way to the potato field Joe and Philly pass their friend Dicey O'Donnell's house. When they start shouting and cheering, Kelly tells them to be quiet. He doesn't want the school attendance officer to know the boys are working for him that day. The boys then talk about what to buy with the money they will earn for their work in the field. It is clear from their conversation that they will have to give their wages to their mother. She will decide how much to give back to them to keep, but it won't be very much.
They start digging up potatoes, with Philly working particularly quickly. They continue their discussion about what to buy, and they laugh about their friends sitting in school. (Note: When the boys talk, they use many words they have heard in cowboys films; e.g., coyote and vamoose.)
At noon they stop for lunch. They are beginning to feel pain from the hard work they have done. Their discussion about what to buy continues. They predict that they will be beaten when they return to school. Later that afternoon their friend Dicey O'Donnell passes their field on his way home. He tells them that their teacher knows where they are and will give them a terrible beating the next day.
Finally, their work is finished. They are exhausted and aching on their way home in the trailer. Again they talk about what they are going to buy, and again they realise that their mother will give them back only a small part of what they have earned.