A Fool For Luck 



By Elizabeth Clarke Hardy 



YES, sir, it takes a fool for luck, an' 

 that little fruit farm across the way 

 goes to prove what 1 say. You 

 can see for yourself that it is the 

 purtiest and snuggest little place anywhere 

 around, an' they do say that the feller that 

 owns it is makin' money hand over fist, 

 an' we never any of us thought he was so 

 awful smart either. 



"You see it was this way, stranger. 

 When old Sam Brayton, who kept a 

 grocery store over at Misha Mokwa, died, 

 he left two boys, an' Jim the oldest was 

 smart as a whip. His father had sent him 

 to business college, though I guess it was 

 a pretty tight squeak to pay the bills, and 

 then Jim had got a position as bookkeeper 

 in a big store in the city. 



"But Ben was different; never seemed 

 to have no ambition, nohow, an' just 

 worked for old Judge Hill as a common 

 farm hand till he had saved up money 

 enough to take him through Agricultural 

 College. Now I never could see what a 

 man could learn about farmin' at any sort 

 of school. If he knows how to plow an' 

 seed an' harvest his crops that's all there 

 is to it. But anyway, Ben went to school 

 to learn to farm, an' about the time he 

 came home his father died, an' after the 

 debts was paid there was nothin' left for 

 the boys an' their mother except the 

 household stuff. 



"Jim told Ben that he could not take 

 care of his mother, he said it was about 

 all a feller could do to take care of him- 

 self where it cost so much to live, an' Ben 

 told him not to worry, fer he would look 

 out for his mother. 



"So Jim went back to his work in the 

 city, an' what did Ben do but come out 

 here an' buy this poor, run-down ten acre 

 farm of a man who said he couldn't make 

 a livin' on such a measly place, an' he 

 wanted to go to the city an' drive a de- 

 livery wagon. 



"Ben got the place cheap, an' it seems 

 that he borried the money of old Judge 

 Hill. Anyone'd trust Ben Brayton for he 

 didn't know enough to be dishonest, 

 nohow. Well, sir, Ben an' his mother 

 moved right into that old shack an' Ben 

 worked around for farmers durin' corn- 

 huskin' an' thrashin' and put in all his 

 spare time fi.xin' up the place agin' winter 

 an' by cold weather you'd never have 

 known the place. My woman said Mis' 

 Brayton had real nice housekeepin" things 

 and they seemed to allers have plenty of 

 everything, but how Ben was goin' to 

 make a livin' off that place was more than 

 we could guess. 



"That winter Ben cut cordwood an' 

 earned enough to buy him a team, an' in 

 the spring he covered every foot of that 

 ten acres with manure six inches deep. 

 He cleaned up his own place an' then 



bought all his neighbors didn't need, an' 

 he plowed an' harrowed an' made that 

 whole ten acres as fine an' level as a par- 

 lor floor. An' then, to cap the climax, 

 he bought strawberry plants enough to set 

 out hve acres, an' took as much pains 

 settin' them out as though he expected 

 they would bring him in a livin'. 



" 'Thoroughbred plants' he called them, 

 an' every minnit he wan't to work his nose 

 v\as into some sort of a berry book, study- 

 in' up fruit culture as he called it, an' in 

 the fall it would have tickled you to death 

 to see him cover up them plants with 

 straw, same as if they were a lot of babies 

 he was goin' to keep warm durni' winter. 



"There's no use in denyin' that the 

 next spring that strawberry bed was a 

 sight to behold. First it was white as 

 snow with blossoms, an' then it was red 

 with the biggest berries you ever see. I 

 guess he done pretty well sellin' his crop, 

 too, for he built that snug little barn in 

 the fall, and fixed up the house an' out 

 buildin's, paintin' 'em all himself, beside 

 buyin' a cow an' some farmin' tools. 



"But most everyone was laughin' in 

 their sleeves because Ben went an' bought 

 more plants an' set out the hull blame 

 ten acres, just leavin' a little plot for a 

 garden. 



"Well sir, the next year Ben made a 

 big payment on his place beside fixin' up 

 what he calls a lawn around the house. 

 I ain't denyin' but what it looks fine, an' 

 since he built on them new porches an' 

 laid new hardwood floors, the house is 

 fine enough for anybody. He bought a 

 fine new buggy too, an' he and his mother 

 ust to drive around lookin' fine as silk. 



"The yearafter,that Ben finished payin' 

 for his place' an' then he give us all the 

 surprise of our lives. He up an' married 

 old Judge Hall's daughter, an' I hear 

 that the Judge was perfeckly willin' and 

 it would a tickled you to death to see 



how proud she was of Ben an' his berry 

 farm. 



"Of course, Ben built a packin' shed 

 and had all kinds of berry tools. My 

 youngsters ust to pick berries for him an' 

 you'd a laughed to hear them tell how 

 particular he was to have the berries graded 

 up just right. He never let them put the 

 small berries in the bottom of the box an' 

 the large ones on top as most everybody 

 does that sells berries. He told them that 

 would be cheatin' an' wasn't good busi- 

 ness anyhow, an' they got so honest work- 

 in' for him that they would watch me in 

 apple pickin" time an' see that I didn't 

 put the small fruit in the bottom o' the 

 barrel; an' they got so carried away with 

 the way he kept things picked up around 

 his place that they begun tidying up things 

 around home, an' wouldn't give me any 

 peace until I had fixed the front gate an' 

 mended the steps of the back porch 

 This spring they set out a big strawberry 

 bed with plants that Ben Brayton give 

 them, an' they are countin' big on what 

 they are goin' to make off their berries. 



"Now when we raise anything to sell 

 we just cart it down to Misha Mowka an' 

 sell it for what we can get for it, but Ben 

 shipped all his berries to the city market. 

 Yes, sir, actually shipped them himself 

 an' got the top price of the market. I 

 guess he is makin' a good bit of money, 

 for my nephew that is cashier of the bank 

 told me that Ben Brayton was now one 

 of the stockholders, an' I hear that he has 

 just bought the old Judson farm that 

 joins him on the north. Maybe his wife's 

 money is goin' into that. I dunno, but if 

 it does it will be hern, I can tell you, for 

 Ben is a mighty independent feller. 



"An' Jim.' Well, Jim married too, an' 

 lives in one of them city flats. I hear he 

 is still workin' at bookkeepin". He's smart 

 you know, an' kin do most anything. 

 Last summer he an' his wife came out to 



SCENE IN THE STRAWBERRY FIELD OF J. W. TAYLOR, EXETER, ONTARIO 



P>«e 185 



