Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-05
A Crop of
Potatoes
It Was Connected With a
Romance.
By f. A. MICHEL

VhOh thC LII dpPlOuCAco LUZ OuI
going to u modest country home for
the summer l had just parted with my
fifth seryant In as many months. I
concluded to advertise for another. l
wrote out a tempting description of
the place, expatiating on the delicious
country air and mentioning that the
house stood in a four acre lot.1
1 received just one reply. A few
days after the issue of the advertise
ment a girl came to see me who said
that she was looking for a situation.
She was very plainly dressed, but there
was an air about her that did not ac-
cord with her attire. She did not seem
so interested In the wages l proposed
to pay as In the place where she was
to spend the summer. She asked me
If there was room for a kitchen gar
den, adding that she would like to try
her hand at raising vegetables. When
/ Informed her that she could have all
the land she could plant, that the soil
was excellent and had never grown
anything but grass, she accepted the
position, but on condition that she
might be permitted to go to the place
by the middle Of April in order to get
her planting done In season. 1t was
not my intention to go to the country
before the 1st of May.
Margaret, my new maid, agreed to
fill her position in my household for
the few weeks remaining till she was
to depart for the country. She came
one day at noon and cooked the din
ner. l had told my husband that
had secured a prize, and when he saw
Margaret and ate the dinner she had
prepared be admitted that I was right
in my assumption.
"But l fear,' he said, shat she will
be above her work. She Is evidently
not Of the servant class. I can't ex-
actly make out to what class she be-
longs; but, from her personality, leav-
ing out the fact that she is a serv-
ant, 1 would place her well up In the
social scale. 1 don't believe she will
be satisfied to remain long with you"
"If she plants a garden she will have
to remain with me-" l replied, 'till she
has gathered her crop"
Margaret showed no disposition to be
dissatisfied with her work so long as
we were in the city nor, for that mat
ter, ever displayed such ~dissatisfac-
ton. True, l treated her with more
consideration than l had ever treated
q servant before. But she did not
exact such consideration and was al
ways perfectly respectful to me, though
she never addressed me as "ma'am."
1t was always Eyes, Mrs. Ackerman,"
and mo, Mrs. Alderman"
On the 18th of April my maid left me
for the country. I supposed that b
would fear to sleep alone in the house,
but she said she might have a sister
with her some of the time, with my
permission. This l of course granted.
We missed the delightful meals Mar
garet prepared for us, for she was the
best cook l ever knew. l was glad
when the time came to follow her,
though my husband said that if she
were to make a farmer of herself she
would deteriorate as a cook.
When l reached my cottage l found
Margaret domesticated. She was alone,
her sister having gone away the day
before my arrival. What was my sur
prise to see two-thirds of the ground
laid out for a garden and a few sprouts
here and there. | asked Margaret who
had turned over the ground, and she
said she had hired a farmer in the
neighborhood to plow it and a friend
of hers had leveled 1t. She had done
the rest herself.
GtVIvhof have Won nlonfo6 MQTOQrQf9 ~
| asked.
81 have put in a variety in that cor
ner," she said, pointing, for your Ia
BILE; the rest has been given up to po-
tatoes."
"Potatoes!' I exclaimed. what do
you propose to do with so many po-
tatoes?"
"Sell them. You see, Mrs. Acker-
man, that the worlds war is reducing
the earth's products. Not only will
this tend to raise the price of food,
but spectators will make this an ex-
cuse to hoard their products, which
will greatly enhance the market value.
nave put In this crop Oh speculation"
1 was astonished. A servant girl
had secured a situation that brought
with it a piece of ground and had used
1t to enter upon a speculation. Her
action was p%redicated upon sound rea-
soning and business principles. My
husbands prediction that I would find
her above her business was true in
Dne respect, but false In another. She
knew her place as a servant, but was
competent to act in a far wider field.
AS the weather warmed the vegeta-
bles in Margaret's garden came up, and
since both the soil and the weather
were admirably fitted for the growth of
potatoes there was every prospect of
her securing a fine crop. The stalks
were not too luxuriant, and Margaret
said she did not fear that the crop
would be mostly stalk with few pota-
hoes. The corner that she had planted