Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1912-08-15

hing out OF you, TeIudrkeu hllcu
~complacently. ~ bought twelve quarts
Of cherries from him. and the little
rascal charged me Is cents a quart for
'em."
Fifteen cents a quartz" echoed AL
berta in dismay. "They told me down
to the store they'd take all could
spare for s cents. That boy must
have made $3.50 off my tree. That's
mans wages" Alberta was becoming
excited.
Miss Green only paid 2 cents a
quart to have hers picked" said Mrs.
Snively significantly, land she sold
'em for Is, making 13 cents a quart.
I thought 1t was too bad he should be
making all the money off you, and so
/ ran in to tell you. l got to run
along and get ready for prayer meet
ing now. You coming?'
"By and by" groaned Alberta weari-
". 81 got to think this cherry bust
ness out first. / feels II that boy had
cheated me. I've a good mind to go
over there and make him give me
some of that money back. | didn't
know that cherries was selling so high
or 1 wouldn't have let him pick on
shares"
"Even sharesT' demanded Ellen
Snively.
"Quarter shares. And that's enough"
"Plenty enough" agreed Ellen.
II don't know as l can get down to
meeting, Ellen, but you might as well
take along my contribution to that
missionary, vacation fund. l promised
S." said Alberta with conscious gen.
crosby. She brought the money and
placed 1t In a small envelope. Il ex-
pect it's hard work for them mission
aries to convert the heather to the
Golden Rule" she sighed.
Hiram says he should think the
heather would want a vacation in
stead Of the missionaries" giggled FL
len Snively frivolously as she pocket
ed the money.
"Tm sorry Hiram amt a protesting
Christian-its a great comfort" OBJ
served Miss Ely primly as Ellen dis
appeared around the corner of the
house.
Half an hour later she returned from
q trip to the little brown house. She
had recovered 80 cents Of Duncan's
money and had amended her bargain
by paying him 2 cents a quart for the
cherries he had picked and thus re-
duced his earnings to 81. She felt very
uncomfortable over the matter also,
for once inside the modest brown cot
tage she found herself in refined sur
roundfngs. Mrs. Bartlett was a charm
ing woman and had introduced her
husband, DR.. Bartlett, a whole souled,
genial man, who inwardly chuckled at
his little sons business venture, but
outwardly treated it with great ser1-
BUSINESS and consideration, much to
Duncan's comfort.
Alberta Ely surmised that her new
neighbors were far from being In
straitened circumstances and had mere
~ sought the little cottage for a
summers recreation in the valley.
Their simple courtesy put Alberta's
niggardly errand to shame, and her
money down on her kitchen table. II
wish Ellen Snively had stayed at
home" she said impatiently. "Tve
got to get oil that fruit down cellar,
and it's dark now"
She lighted a lamp and set 1t down
In the cellar; then while the darkness
closed In and the air grew more hot
and sultry every moment she toiled up
and down the stairs, carrying basket
after basket Of the canned fruit she
had worked 80 hard to preserve At
last she carried the basket of cherries,
and halfway down the steep stairs she
stepped on her skirt, tottered and then,
O~verbalanced by the basket Of fruit,
she fell down the remaining steps,
twisting her ankle badly as she did so.
For many dreadful moments Alberta
Ely lay there on her cellar floor unable
to nov her foot. Pangs Of exquisite
pain stabbed her ankle to be succeeded
by hot burnings. She felt 1t swelling
within her shoe, and at last she extri-
Gated herself from the mass Of crushed
cherries and assumed a sitting posture,
but 1t was impossible to move farther.
Thunder reared and shook the house
to its foundations. The fermenting
Jars Of 1907 cherries yielded to the
heat and exploded with astounding 70
ports At last there came a Kissing,
sizzling fash of white light outside the
cellar windows. followed by a deafen-
ing crash, succeeded by another crash
Of splintering glass Alberta Ely faint
ed from pain and fright.
When she regained consciousness she
was in her OWL sitting room, sur
rounded by the entire Bartlett family.
The doctor had skillfully bound her
injured ankle, and his wife was hold
ing wet cloths to Alberta's brow, while
Duncan pressed strong smelling salts
to her thin nose.
"Your preserve shelves came down
last night, and 1t looks as though you'd
lost all your fruit" explained Mrs.
Bartlett after awhile. "T'm afraid
that's not the worst Of it, Miss Ely.
The lightning struck your cherry tree
and split 1t In two halves. We saw 1t
and came over. We were afraid the
bolt might have entered the house."
Alharfa Elv lookod hrouCh taor flIo6