wish I could have a party.” Suddenly, through the darkness she heard:
(f S ir t lid a y Z y ie ó t a
“Happy birthday, dear Ella, Happy birthday, dear Ella, Happy birthday, dear Ella, Happy birthday to you.”
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By Dorothy C . Haskin
Ella looked up and there, standing on the steps, was a laughing, singing group of Mexican boys and girls. When they finished their song, Ramona stepped onto the porch and said, “ We have come to make for you a birthday fiesta. We bring you a present and we will sing. See, Manuel has the guitar. It is bad that we have no ice cream but we have the much fiesta spirit.” “ How nice of you!” “ See this is the present from all of us. You like it, yes?” Ramona passed Ella a small gaily wrapped package. Excited, Ella unwrapped it. It was a large pink handkerchief. Her eyes filled with tears. “ Thank you very, very much.” “ Now, I make the friends. Ella, this is Isidra, Dolores, Juliana, Manuel and Carlos. And now, we sing.” Manuel strummed his guitar and the boys and girls began to sing in Spanish. Ella leaned against the porch rail, lis tening. “ They are nicer than I thought,” she told herself. “ Of course they sound a little funny when they talk, but they are nice to me.” Ella noticed her mother in the door way, so she hurried over and explained, “ They have come to give me a birthday fiesta. Do you think Dad would get us some ice cream?” “ Of course,” her mother said. Ella took hold of her hand. “Mom, do they know about Jesus?” “ I don’t know.” “ Do you suppose I could tell thepi about Him? I’m not old enough to be a missionary, but I could tell them a story about Jesus and invite them to Sunday school.” “ Go right ahead, dear. You can be a real missionary right here.” With a happy smile, Ella walked back to the singing boys and girls. How to Join the K. Y. B. Club To become a member of the Know Your Bible Club, read through the Gospel according to John, using either your own Bible, or a Gospel of John which will be sent upon request. When the Gospel has been read and a statement to this effect, signed by parent or Sunday school teacher, has been sent to the Editor of the Junior King’s Business, a K. Y. B. C. pin will be mailed. Sun day school classes or clubs desiring to order ten or more Gospels or pins may wish to share the cost of these supplies, as the Lord directs: Gospels, postpaid five cents each— in quantity, three cents : pins, without charge, two cents each. However, no one is to do without a Gospel or pin because of lack of money. Address: Junior King’s Business, 558 S. Hope St., Los Angeles 13, Calif.
E LLA sat on the steps of the front porch of her home in California. Around the large, white house were rows and rows of orange trees. The scent of the oranges filled the air. Ella looked her prettiest. Her white shoes had been newly cleaned, and she had on her best pink dress. But her blue eyes were sad. “ ’Lo, Ella,” Susan, her best friend, called, as she hurried down the road be tween the trees. “ Am I late?” “ No,” Ella nodded, and her pink bow bobbed among her blonde curls. “ Dad is not ready yet.” “What’s wrong?” Susan stared at Ella. “ You look sad.” “ I’m not going to have a birthday party this year.” “ Oh, that’s too bad!” Susan sat be side Ella on the steps, carefully spread ing out her green dress so it wouldn’t wrinkle and putting her Bible down be side her. “Why not?” “ There just isn’t anyone to invite. Usually Mom asks the children of the ‘hands,’ but --------- ” “Why don’t you invite them this year?” “How could I?” The girls stared through the orange trees to the row of houses where the “hands” lived. Usually Ella’s dad hired American fruit »pickers, who followed the fruit from place to place. But this year he had hired “ Nationals,” Mexi cans who had been brought to the United States to work during the har vest. “ They sound so funny when they talk and they’re so dark; why, I couldn’t invite them to a party.” At that moment Mr. Parsons drove around the corner of the house in the station wagon and called, “ Ready, girls?” They climbed into the back seat and when they passed the houses where the “Nationals” lived, they saw the boys and girls playing tag. “ I wonder why they don’t go to Sun day school,” Ella said, but no one an swered her. The girls had a nice Sunday school. The ranchers in the neighborhood had built a cobblestone building for their church and the girls liked Miss Baxter, their teacher. They all listened while she told them a Bible story. Then she called attention to the Lord’s last com mand, “ Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” She told of some missionaries she knew and their work in Africa and China. Ella thought it would be thrilling to be a missionary for Jesus, but she sighed as she thought how many birth days it would take before she would be F E B R U A R Y . 1 9 5 0
old enough to go to a foreign country to tell others about Him. Friday morning, Ella’s birthday, was a warm, sunny day. On her way to school, she met Susan at the end of the road and they walked down the highway together. Susan handed her a package wrapped in white tissue paper, tied with a pink ribbon. “ Oh, a present!” Ella exclaimed, and excitedly unwrapped it. “ It’s a game, something we can play together. Thank you!” '
“ They are nicer than I thought,” Ella told herself. She wrapped up her package again and the girls hurried toward the school- house. When they entered the school- yard, Ramona, one of the Mexican girls, noticed Ella’s package. Her black eyes gleamed as she asked, “ Present?” “ It’s my birthday.” “When is the party?” “ I’m not going to have a party,” Ella said sadly. “ No party? Too bad, too bad,” Ra mona shook her dark head. Yes, it was a shame, Ella agreed. She was a little sad all day; even that night when at dinner there was a cake with candles and presents from her parents. It was not the same. Afterwards, she went out onto the porch, and sat in the twilight. She thought, “ Presents are grand, but still I
JUNIOR KINGS BUSINESS
Martha S. Hooker
Page Nineteen
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