Fill in the blanks with appropriate linkers given in brackets:
In summer, the rumor of a famine swept through the province which was a baseless one. The crops were growing well .......... the weather was perfect for a bumper harvest. ......... on the strength of that rumor, thousands of small farmers abandoned their farms and fled to the cities. ........... of this, crops **, thousands starved. .......... the rumour about the famine proved true.
[and, thus, as a result, but]
