How Laddie Cured Father's Rheumatism 



By Edgar L. Vincent 



BEEN out to see 'em lately, Father?" 

 Father had not. He had been 

 too busy to spend much time 

 fussing with berries. 1 hen, 

 rheumatism had him fast by the legs these 

 days. It was all he could do to get 

 around and do the farm work that was 

 actually necessary, saying nothing about 

 such frills as Laddie was giving his spare 

 time to this summer 



"They're dandies, Father!" Laddie 

 cried enthusiastically. "Better come out 

 and see 'em." 



Father did not hurry much, though. 

 He was too lame for that; but some time 

 that forenoon Laddie did capture him and 

 march him down to the garden. 



He had been down there before and, in 

 order to make the surprise he had in store 

 for his father, he had covered the one 

 plant upon which he had spent all his 

 time and strength when he could be 

 spared from other things, with an old 

 newspaper. 



Now pulling this aside he triumphantly 

 exclaimed, while Father smiled in spite 

 of his incredulity. 



"How do they look to you. Father.? 

 Didn't I tell you they were dandies.? 1 

 didn't stretch it any, did F?" 



tJh, no. Laddie had not told half the 

 truth. Such a beautiful plant as it was 

 that greeted Father's eyes! 'Fhe stems 

 lifted themselves bravely, drooping under 

 the tufted foliage. But the grandest 

 of all was the burden of bright red ber- 

 ries clustering about the splendid plant. 

 Every berry seemed to be perfect in form. 

 Many of them were now fairly ripe, 

 while there were dozens still only half 

 developed. Laddie had cared for his pet 

 plant well. Father could see that. It 

 looked so rich and well cultivated. 



" 'Twon't do anything on this soil, 

 Laddie, he had said when his boy first 

 spoke about setting out some of the plants. 

 "No use to spend your time and strength 

 fussing with such things. It will be all 

 we can do, and more too, to take care of 

 the corn and potatoes. You know I can't 

 get around to help much. You'll have 

 it all to do in a year or two, unless I get the 

 start of this lameness." 



"Wish you could take a Jay-ofF a few 

 months and go somewhere till that lame- 

 ness went away." 



Laddie looked serious. It was a thing 

 he and Mother had often talked over 

 when Father was not present. I'hey 

 hoped it would leave — that miserable 

 rheumatism. Seemed as if Father might 

 have been spared that. He had enough 

 besides to trouble him. The debt on the 

 place must be cleared off, somehow. He 

 could not stop till that was done. At 

 least, he would not feel that he could. It 

 worried him and kept him from being 

 quite his own old self. Dear Father! 



How Laddie would like to help him 

 more! The shadow on his face was like 

 a big cloud coming over the face of the 

 sun on a fall day. It hid a great many 

 things beside the smile on Father's face. 



"'\'ou wouldn't care if I tried just a few 

 plants, would you. Father.? I'll take care 

 of 'em. They shan't stand in the way of 

 the other work." 



So Laddie sent a letter away to a firm 

 that made a business of growing plants. 

 He told them about the nature of the soil 

 of the old farm and they sent him half a 

 dozen good plants, adapted to the condi- 

 tions as stated by Laddie. 



But a dry time came on after the boy 

 had set out the plants. He did not know 

 how much water a strawberry plant can 

 use and had not heard the statement of 

 one of our leading growers, made a good 

 many years ago: 



"The strawberry needs three things to 

 make it do its best. First, water; second, 

 water; third, more water." So only one 

 of the plants came through. But how he 

 did fight for that one! He dug around 

 it. He kept the weeds down. He put 

 plenty of fertilizer about it. He loosened 

 the soil about it and after he came to un- 

 destand the noed of moisture he watered 

 the precious thing two or three times a 

 day, no matter how tired he was or what 

 else might come in the regular work of 

 the day. 



After that little exhibition, and espec- 

 ially after they had all enjoyed a great 

 feast from the grand old strawberry plant, 

 it was not quite so hard work to convince 

 Father that perhaps it might not be alto- 

 gether wasted time to set out a few more 

 plants. Two dollars was all Father felt 

 that he could invest at that time for the 

 lad's new venture. A.nother year the 

 rheumatism might leave him, so that he 

 could help some about it. The debt 

 would be paid by that time, too, and 

 things might brighten up a bit. 



He never knew just what Laddie wrote 

 to the house when he ordered the plants. 

 But Laddie told them about Father's 

 rheumatism and how he hoped to be able 

 to help him to take a trip away to the 

 "Springs" for a few weeks and asked 

 them if they would trust him for plants 

 enough to set out a quarter of an acre. 



"I'll pay for every one of them," he 

 wrote. "You needn't be afraid to trust 

 me. We're good for it." 



And the firm took Laddie's word for it 

 and forwarded the plants. A letter ac- 

 companied the shipment, giving Laddie 

 some instructions how best to care for the 

 plants and assuring him that the house 

 shared his hopes that Father would soon 

 be all over his lameness. 



The berry patch was away down in 

 the back lot. Laddie never said a word 

 when father suggested that that land was 



Page 219 



not good for much else. He couldn't 

 afFord the best land for berries. That 

 must be given to something that would 

 amount to more. He just shut his teeth 

 and buckled in the harder to bring that 

 field up to the right state of fertility. 



"I'll plow it and take all the care of it. 

 Father. Don't you think a single thing 

 about it. When you're off at the Springs 

 '11 be time enough for you to think about 

 the berries!" 



Father smiled a bit. What a grand 

 thing hope is! And there is no hope like 

 the hope of a boy like Laddie. Father 

 wished he were a boy again, just for the 

 sake of knowing the joy of such a spirit 

 once more. 



The next two years were pretty hard 

 ones for Father. The rheumatism did 

 not seem to get any better. More and 

 more of the farm work fell on the boy. 

 He was getting to be a big boy, though, 

 as tall now as his father. Slender, but 

 strong. Still, it was almost too much for 

 him to do. Mother felt it, and often she 

 went down to the berry field with him 

 after the day's work with the other crops 

 was done, and together the two toiled till 

 the moon was bright in the eastern sky, 

 weeding and otherwise caring for the 

 berry plants. 



"Wish Father could see 'em now!" 



Laddie had half a mind to hitch up and 

 bring him down, just to let him see what 

 a glorious sight it was. For he never 

 had been in sight of the field since it had 

 been set out. He was too lame and too 

 busy. It seemed to him Laddie ought 

 to be resting when he was down there 

 fussing with the berries. It did not seem 

 to him anything would ever come of it. 

 How many men have thought just that 

 way about berries. Well enough for the 

 men that make a business of it; but for 

 farmer folks — why, it was just a waste of 

 time. 



But there came a time when Laddie 

 hitched up quite a while before day and 

 slipped away to the city. He and Mother 

 had worked a good deal later than com- 

 mon for a few evenings before that. 

 Father wondered what they could be do- 

 ing so late in the field. But he was too 

 tired to follow them. He was still sleep- 

 ing when Laddie drove out of the yard. 

 He and mother did the milking and other 

 chores and most of the rest of the day he 

 sat waiting and looking down the road 

 for the boy's return. 



"Queer how we miss Laddie when 

 he's gone, ain't it Mother.? It's getting 

 to be so, though. He'll have to take the 

 load on his shoulders pretty soon. If I 

 could get rid of this lameness! But I 

 don't suppose that'll ever be now." 



"Don't you get discouraged, Father! 

 Things come 'round the way we don't 

 always expect them to. I wouldn't a 



