Evening star., 1916-07-28

times when a little cool outside help
would have prevented trouble. Sound
sense an hard work are most, but not
all. They're liable to have gaps. an so
far as we can them gaps ought to be
provided for. At least, that's my idea"
why not empty that stocking heel or
tin box or wherever it's kept into the
or,ds idsa suggested Fes his son; teas'nsiy
The old man chuckled. Have your
fun, son." he said. Boys will be boys.
You're only forty an I'm eighty-an
that makes me think I must go right
out and cut over my 'sparagus bed"
He rose and went out and his son.
after few words with young Marion
and Alice about their school books,
went back to the planting he had left
at sound of the breakfast bell.
ALI the Websters were workers-the
children, with their two or three hours
before and after school; Mrs. Webster.
who looked after the poultry and dairy
and superintended the kitchen garden,
in addition to doing the regular house,
teen or sixteen hours a day. and
gran'ther, who was always "puttering'
around.
Gran'ther was something Of mys-
terry to the others. 1t was evident that
most of his 'puttering' had direct. tan
gible results, as with his asparagus.
and scarcely less profitable "rosberry''
patch and strawberry vine. He doled
out enough fruit for table use and took
all the rest into town himself. hitching
the old horse, who had long outlived
field usefulness, to a buggy even more
ancient HeNnever took the new buggy
or one of the other horses The old
companions were the more suitable, he
chuckled. They were three of kind"
What the children and their father
and mother earned could be seen in food
and clothing, few school books and
other things The money their labor
T. -I,t h I'D for- ~.
visible objects almost to a cent. When
grah'ther's fruit and asparagus disap-
peared at bend in the road it was the
end. He never brought anything back.
He never spent money on himself. He
had given up the use of tobacco years
before because it cost too much"
But not one of them ever thought Of
Granther Webster as a miser. Dear
no! The gentle-voiced old man, who al
ways had a CHEEKY word or kindly act
for others. with never a thought for
himself, was the last man in the world
to be miserly. They knew. Somewhere
in stocking heel or a tin box or per-
haps under a loose board was a little
hoard waiting for something that
gran'ther had in mind.
Prosperity was not smiling on the
little rocky farm these days. The four
teen or sixteen hours. the mothers di-
versified labors. the children's help. all
went to make up a trife less than the
living and mortgage interest and taxes.
The rest went to swell the mortgage.
There was only one apparent way
out. 1t occurred to Marion Webster
more than once. and was dismissed
with repugnance. Mrs. Webster
thought Of it, and her face clouded
Even the children knew. and it was
young Marion who first spoke the
thought aloud.
Wen have to sell or rent the farm
and move over to the factory village.
father" he said. I'VE can all get jobs
in the mill at good pay The Phillipses
have gone. and the Wilburs. The boys
say it's easier than farm work and
better pay"
And life sentence. maybe" added
his father. mo. no. my boy, we won't
think of that. There's an apt saying
Once in a factory never out. 1 was
put in mill when a small boy. not
out until long after 1 was a man