The Washington herald., 1915-12-19


kins sat reading and the house was very
quiet. All of a sudden. Mr.. Perkins
gave a loud smack with his lips. 1t was
almost like a report of a pistol.
Good Lord, what ails you" exclaimed
Mrs. Perkins.
Il should think you did. Did you
think you We're biting into an apple?
No; / was thinking of that straw,
berry jam we had for supper: ! could
have eaten three times what l did
And it's that very strawberry jam
that ought to make you ashamed OF
yourself. Mr.. Perkins. 1t was sent over
10 me by a neighbor. Turn to the diary
you always carry in your pocket and see
If under date OF January of last year
we owed anything in regard to straw
berry jam
Mr.. Perkins consulted the ever-ready
book and after moment said:
Here il is. We had strawberry jam
with our supper. 1t was fine: 1t was
grand. 1t was toothsome. II l live un-
til strawberries come again / shall buy
five bushels and have them made into
JAM
There it is. Mrs. Perkins. and what
about it?"
There is this much about it. sir You
lived until Strawberries came again"
Il did, my dear wife"
And you didn't buy five bushels of
berries
No. did not. but I have very good
reasons for it,
"Oh yes" exclaimed Mrs. Perkins.
You are ready to dodge and twist, as
usual
MY dear. second wife, replied Mr..
Perkins. as he laid aside his paper. "a
plain statement of facts is neither dodg-
ing nor twisting. l owe you an eAplana-
tion and you shall have it. Yes. straw
berries came again and my mouth began
to water for strawberry jam the very
first thing. As you will remember. II
was a very wet season and Strawberries
were soft and the price was high. How
ever, this did not alone prevent me from
carrying out my plans. j saw Mr.. Doty.
pick and send me five bushels Of nice
Strawberries"
But you didn't say anything to me
about it, said Mrs. Perkins.
NO: | did not want to worry YOU.
worried my first wife into the grave and
| did not want to be guilty of doing the
same thing by you. You see, you would
have to make all that jam alone and II
YOU thought of 1t. Mr.. Doty did not send
me the berries"
of course he didn't" was retorted.
But there were good reasons, my
angel wife, why he didn't. Mr.. Doty just
got ready to fill the order and was at
the Telephone to tell me so, when there
came a flash of lightning and he fell over
as dead as a door nail. I was not to
blame and he was not to blame. 1t was
an act of Providence. dead man can
not fill an order for strawberries. His
grave she was overcome by grief and
fell and broke her leg Mrs Perkins. i
leave IT to YOU if the widow of a dead
man. who falls and breaks leg. can
fill an order for five bushels of straw
berries?"
Il don't believe a word of it, replied
Mrs. Perkins, with toss of her head.
Had the poor widow not broken a leg
at the time she did she could not have
fiiled the order anyhow It began to
rain and there were showers every day
to the end of the strawberry season. I'll
YOU will kindly repember there wasn't
another quart of Strawberries in the mar
ket. This was probably another act of
Providence Was I to blame. Mrs. Per
anyone or ANYTHING to blame except
Providence? You will-you must-you
cannot help but reply in the negative"
Il shall not reply at all to such trans
couldn't hold candle to you.''
Thanks for the compliment. my dear,
There is one thing more ! ought to tell
it would take a barrel of sugar to make |
Jam of those berries. I spoke to Green. |
the grocer. about it and he promised to
order a special brand for me. Along |
about the time when the berries should |
have come. he informed me that he |
could not get the sugar for me unless |
paid cash In advance. T could not do |
that II would be AGAINST my lifelong
principles. I never pay cash in advance |
for anything. Mrs. Perkins, and seldom |
pay cash at any time if it can be
avoided
81 think YOU have that reputation"
said Mrs Perkins. in a very tart voice |
II have reasons to think so from the un-
paid bills reaching this house by every
MALL"
But we must not side-track the main
issue, my dear. which is why We shall
have no strawberry jam this winter un-
less the neishbors send it in. In leaving
the grocery, where ! had been asked to
pay cash in advance for the sugar. I met |
our family doctor. I presume ! looked |
disnirited and disconsolated. Most men |
do when asked to pay cash in advance l