The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1907-04-24
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; A Too Successful Prize-Winner.
= BY CARROLL WATSON RANKIN.
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BY CARROLL WATSON RANKIN.

Mrs. Bai1ey's good lunches to cheer
me-" ''I'm your friend for lifep sale
Gilbert, lifting the bicycle up the steps
Virginia promptly separated the
sheep from the goats to be accurate
the pumpkins from the Battenbure
lace When the secretary looked in at
hour later things were going finely
the piles of entry-tags had been materi
allv reduced, and the crowd Of waiting
exhibitors had dwindled to a few
scattered individuals.
"Now that was bright idea," sale
the secretary, catching sight Of Vir
ginia 1T takes feminine mind tt
grapple with works of art, fancy worl
and homegrown preserves. Hope
you'll stay right by us, Miss Virginia.
Virginia worked all the Afternoon
and promised to return the following
morning. She would need to come
anyway, She said, to enter some things
Of her own.
In addition to being bright in school
the girl was clever with her fingers
and was IN many ways unusually git
ted. She painted in water colors, made
pen-andink sketches, and the walls
OF her schooln1ates' rooms were a.
dorned with her spirited football pos
tiers. Moreover, she was skilfu1 with
her needle, as many dainty bit o.
embroidery attested
Just at that time a certain blue
silk waist, marked down from ten to
seven dollars, was tempting her sore
ly. 1t was precisely what she wanted
for the Saturday evening concert; bur
her mother had shaken her head anc
said:
mo, Virginia, it's very pretty ano
most beautifully made, but I can'1
afford to buy it for YOU Why DOM
you take some Of your work to the
fair? The premiums might pay fol-
it,"
II did think of it, but Mrs. Blake
does everything I can do so much
better that she would surely take
all the first prizes. The second ones
aren't worth trying for
After day with the entry-books
however, Virginia changed her mind
She had made mental note OF the
articles after which only one entry
number, or perhaps no number al
all, had been placed; and she wen1
home prepared for business.
Tired as she was, when she had fin
ished her supper, she flew from cup
board to closet, from drawer to shelf
literally from garnet to cellar, gather.
ing up every article she had en-
broidered from the time she was frs
able to hold needle, every sketch she
= oH Hro1x,r1 hoI i,o+
ed. Even the doubtful result Of he1
one attempt at preserving went to
swell the pile in the center Of her bed
room rug.
The resources of the house ex.
hausted, Virginia flew to the garden
candle in hand, and stripped the sol
itary, stunted plum-tree Of two quarts
of plums its entire crop. Those from
the sunny side of the tree were tingec
with purple; the rest were undersizec
and decidedly green.
Returning to her room, Virginia sal
down on the rug to label her exhibits
Her three glasses of strawberry pre-.
serves received new names. The ja1
in which whole berries were most il
evidence was relabeled "Home-Growr
Strawberries" The one containing
much broken fruit was marked "Straw
berry Jam" Virginia removed thu
cover from the third, stirred in little
ground cinnamon she had carried u1
from the kitchen, and christened the
mixture ''Spiced Strawberries.
Six plate doilies were compelled tc
do duty as a tray-cloth, a specimen
of silk embroidery, an embroidered
stand cover, a bureau cover, a pin.
cushion top and Kensington embroid