Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1917-04-15
;DISpOSING OF THE cROp'
By JOAN RUGBY.

i S<y<yASAHA%HNASAvX9.14HAHASAAA
 Howard threw his fountain pen furi- ousiy on the desk as a timid tapping ! came on the door.
 Blame that squint-eyed Oriental! what do you want?" he cried.
 Please, MT. Landreth, the telephone
 rings"
 Howard jerked open the door. We'll
 might the little Japanese tremble for
 his masters scowl was terrible to be-
 mold. Gone was the elusive idea he
 had Just managed to grasp after days or futile effort. His mind was just peglnnlng to yield to the quiet sooth-
 ing peace of the country after days of
 irritation and unrest following a quar-
 rel With Sylvia, and now his chance of writing for the day was gone. lie strode ts the phone and jerked
 down the receiver. "Hello!" he snarled.
 A feminine voice came over the
 Wire. "Have you any potatoes to sell?"
 "No," roared Howard.
 "Oh!' came the voice. "Well, have you any corn or onions?" "No!" answered the master of Yamasani. T have no corn or onions p Well, have you anything at all to sell? Tomatoes or cabbage or apples
 or eggs or anything?'
 Nothing, madam, but ideas, but 'ntely the crop has been small" 1e hung up and turned away. "What
 are you fussing about, Yamasani !?
 We're not running a market garden
 just because we're in the country.'
 "Will master come and see? There is so much potatoes! Men dig all day
 yesterday. Outside there is like a
 house of potatoes. And the corn Enough for all America. And cabbage,
 sol" Spreading his arms high and
 wide. "And onions, so! And beets and
 turnips! Everything there is so much And the eggs! The chickens make
 so many I fill the basket every night. One day, two days, a week, two weeks Some baskets I throw over the hill
 when they got old. Mister eat only one. 1 bake cake. Throw out. l
 make everything. Throw out. Yama-
 sani tell mister many days before and mister say only, Shut up.'"
 Howard laughed. "All right, Yama-
 sani I guess you did say something
 about 1t and I told you not to bother
 me. Well, if the lady calls up again
 or if you can find out who she is, give her all she wants for nothing" Howard put on his hat and went out
 1t was beautiful day in early autumn and the country was exquisite with
 bronzes and reds. Although he had taken the same walk many times be- fore he had never been able to see any. thing but Sylvia. After all, perhaps she was right to go away, if some o1 those English chaps in Bermuda don't carry her off and marry her before she gets back.
 He felt better after his walk in the cool bracing air and called the Jap
 "Yamasani, have you found out who the neighbor is who wants the onionS?"
 "Yes, think, MT. Landreth. A man drive by and stop. He say there is a big house over there with many chil dren and they eat, eat, eat everything "Oh, see! An orphan asylum ol children's home. Well, get those mer that were here yesterday and hau
 over all the stuff you can find. After this I'm going to write, and if the tele
 phone rings smash 1t. Do anything but don't you call me-" The days sped on and Howard lost track of them. One afternoon as he
 reached for his pipe he found some let ters he had forgotten to open. He tore them open without interest al first, but an itemized bill puzzled him and he unfolded the inclosed check with considerable interest. It was
 made out to cash for $45, and it was signed Sylvia Farnsworth. Sylvis Farnsworth, his Sylvia-what could il mean? It announced that Miss Syl via Farnsworth was debtor to "a kint neighbor" for the following items 20 bushels potatoes at 80 cents, bushels tomatoes at $1, and so on. But what had Sylvia to do with al this? Without waiting to wonder any longer he went back to the road tha led to his neighbours farm. As ht came near to the house he heard thu shouts of children. There were hun dreds of them, it seemed, all sorts O-
 sunburned, healthy-looking little boy' and girls.
 "Is Miss Farnsworth here?' he asked one of them.
 "Yes, she's in the house. Just go or | up," advised the small informant. Then Sylvia came in, not the Sylvia he had known, the languid society gir he had accused of being useless il the heat of the quarrel. This on' was brisk and alert and with an ail of one who enjoys responsibility. "St 1 MT. Kind Neighbor has called at last 7
 'I thought you were in Bermuda y
 sThe others went but-well, I de l c;tod that to bring these kiddieS aWay