BERT'S EXPERIENCE AS A FARMER'S BOY.
Bert followed the farmer into the kitchen, in the center of which a table was set. A bony and angular woman was just placing on it a large pitcher of water.
"Mis' Wilson," said the farmer, "this is Bert Barton, who is helping me about the farm work."
Bert was no stranger to Mrs. Wilson, whose pew in church was near the one he occupied.
"How's your ma?" she inquired jerkily.
"Pretty well, thank you, Mrs. Wilson."
"I'm glad to hear it. She looks like a friend of mine, Mrs. Dusenberry, who died of heart disease."
"I don't think her heart is affected," said Bert, not without anxiety.
"Maybe not, but you can't tell. Folks lives along for years with their hearts out of kilter, who never find it out till some day they drop dead."
Mrs. Wilson decidedly was not a cheerful converser. She prided herself on detecting signs of unsuspected diseases.