THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 



were a great help to their mother morn- 

 ings and evenings and during vacation. 

 She paid them the same as she did the 

 other pickers, and they entered into the 

 work with a good deal of enthusiasm, but 

 with the quietness that was the character- 

 istic of their mother. 



When the fifth year the crop was gath- 

 ered and marketed, Mrs. Ellis very quiet- 

 ly drew in the money she had placed out 

 at interest. She went about her work 

 with a new and strange feeling of ner\'ous 

 elation, and yet a great anxiety had been 

 lifted from her mind and she could now 

 look into the future with clear, untroubled 

 eyes. 



But in November of this year a new 

 trouble came to the Ellis household. Mr. 

 Ellis had been thrown from his wagon 

 and had sustained serious internal injuries 

 and was brought home in a very critical 

 condition, and for several weeks, while he 

 was slowly nearing recovery, Mrs. Ellis 

 had no other thought than care and anxiety 

 for her husband. 



But as his physical condition improved 

 his mind seemed to grow troubled. When 

 well and able to work he had thought in 

 his careless, contented way that they 

 would be able to manage somehow. He 

 planned that when the mortgage was fore- 

 closed they would rent a house some- 

 where and get along someway, but now 

 the somehow and the someway did not 

 seem so easy. He was no longer able to 

 work, the doctor's bills were heavy, there 

 was nothing but his share of the crop to 

 keep the wolf from the door, and next 

 month, yes, even on Christmas Day, the 

 mortgage would be foreclosed and they 

 would be without a roof over their heads. 

 The outlook was indeed dismal, and no 

 wonder Mr. Ellis, who really was a kind- 

 hearted man, was nearly crazed with care 

 and anxiety. 



He would look at his wife in a pathetic, 

 heartbroken way as she went about her 

 household tasks, but could not bring him- 

 self to speak of the terrible calamity which 

 he felt was coming upon his family 



For the first time he realized how much 

 he loved the old farm, and what it would 

 be to see it pass into the hands of stran- 



FROM 



RANCH TO HOME 



Right from the home of the Angora goat 

 to your own home 



Beautiful Angora 

 Rugs and Robes 



and express i)repaicl. Oretjon raises 

 the finest. I was awarciecl a gold 

 medal on rugs at the Portlaud 

 Exposition in 1905. Satisfaction, or 

 money refunded. 



A. L. Hampton, OlaHa, Oregon 



gers, and what it would mean to them to 

 leave the roof that had sheltered them 

 since the first day of their married life. 

 No wonder he mended slowly with this 

 trouble on his mind, while his wife, 

 thinking only of his physical suffering, 

 ministered to him lovingly and cheerfully. 



The day before Christmas Harry and 

 Hazel decorated the rooms with ever- 

 greens and trailing vines and scarlet ber- 

 ries, and Mrs. Ellis went about her prep- 

 arations for a bountiful feast. Mr. Ellis 

 watched her with almost feverish impa- 

 tience as she went smilingly about her 

 tasks, wondering if she had forgotten or 

 did not care that on the morrow — thai 

 brightest and most joyous day of all the 

 year — they would be homeless. 



When at last the children had gone to 

 bed and they were alone Mr. Ellis called 

 his wife to him, and in a voice trembling 

 with emotion, said: "I have been a 

 rather poor stick of a husband to you, 

 Mary, and now the prospects look darker 

 than ever to me. Have you forgotten 

 that tomorrow the mortgage runs out.^ 

 Do you suppose Mr. Lester intends to 

 foreclose.'' And what shall we do if he 

 does.''" 



"No, Allen, I had not forgotten, and 

 Mr. Lester has sent me notice that he in- 

 tends to foreclose. He says he has a 

 purchaser for the place. I thought you 

 had forgotten that the time had expired. 

 Have you been worrying about it, dear.^" 



"Worrying.? Yes. And blaming my- 

 self more than I can tell you, Mary. I 

 have been a poor manager, and altogether 

 too slack; and now my family must suffer 

 for my mismanagement. You would have 

 done better than I have, and I wish I had 

 listened to you oftener and taken your 

 advice. But it is too late now for repen- 

 tance." And for the first time in her life 

 Mrs. Ellis saw her husband's face wet with 

 tears. Now in every woman's heart there 

 are instincts of motherhood so deep and 

 tender and infinite that they not only en- 

 compass her own children, but go out to 

 all humanity, and in this moment of his 

 self-abnegation Mr. Ellis caught this 

 look of soothing and comforting mother- 

 love in the face of his wife as she bent 

 over him and smoothed the hair from his 

 burning forehead. All her trouble and 

 worry and hard work of the past five 

 years was forgotten in this moment of her 

 supreme love and compassion for her 

 suffering and remorseful husband. 



"Listen, Allen," she said gently; "you 

 have no need to worry so. I have a sur- 

 prise for you, dear. I thought to keep it 

 as a Christmas gift,' but now it does not 

 matter," and going across the room to 

 her desk she returned with a small box in 

 her hand and sat down upon the edge of 

 the bed. 



"It is true, Allen, that Mr. Lester ex- 

 pects to foreclose the mortgage tomorrow, 

 and he has served notice that he wishes 

 us to vacate the premises. But we shall 



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not have to give up the old farm — the 

 faithful old place that has yielded such 

 splendid returns for the labor of the last 

 five years, for the money is ready for him." 



"Money — ready for him — what do you 

 mean, Mary.''" and the face of her hus- 

 band grew pale with excitement. 



Mrs. Ellis' eyes were full of tears, but 

 she patted her husband soothingly as she 

 explained that the big roll of bills which 

 she spread out on the bed before his 

 astonished eyes was the proceeds of the 

 sales from her strawberry patch during 

 the last four years. 



"There are nineteen hundred and fifty 

 dollar-s Allen. Twelve hundred for the 

 mortgage and seven hundred and fifty for 

 the future. And then we have the five 

 acres of plants all in fine condition, which 

 are a gold-mine in themselves. Not so dis- 

 couraging an outlook as you thought, is it 

 Allen.?" 



It is just as well that we draw a curtain 

 over the remainder of the interview be- 

 tween husband and wife, for some things 

 are too sacred for the eyes and ears of 

 even the friendliest observers. But we 

 cannot refrain from telling that the next 

 morning Mr. Ellis had an interview with 

 Mr. Lester and a lawyer behind closed 

 doors, and after they were gone he called 

 his wife into the room and placed a deed 

 to Spring Brook Farm, made out to Mrs. 

 Mary Ellis, in her hands. 



"It is all yours, Mary," he said, in re- 

 sponse to her protests, "and this is indeed 

 a day of Christmas joy, and a happier 

 one than I ever expected to see again. 

 You are the Captain hereafter, and all 1 

 ask is that you will let me stay and work 

 under your orders." 



"Well, I think I'll let you stay," re- 

 plied his wife teasingly, "and as a great 

 favor I think I shall allow you the priv- 

 ilege of playing in my strawberry bed." 



