T l l E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
May 1926
F I N E GO L D OR TH E P E A R L OF G R E A T P R I C E JOSEPHINE HOPE WESTERVELT
a Joy to the parents and a blessing to the mission work as well, the tender care bestowed upon them proving an effi cient object-lesson to the Christian converts and helpers. * • • * • • • • * * * Five years passed on the farm and saw many changes: in added helpers; in more converts; in more improvements; and in the richer spiritual lives of the missionaries. The farm was beginning to be a factor for progress and power in that part of Peru. Mr. Foster was prevailed upon to make a show of the different products of. the mission farm at an Exhibition to be held in Cuzco in September.
(Continued from last month) CHAPTER 23 THE MYSTERIOUS SPANIARD FOUND
SILLIAM arrived at Lima and hastened to the Free man house. Their home was in a better locality this time, and he had a little difficulty in finding it at first. When he knocked at the door, he was thinking of his and Randall’s arrival long ago. When the door opened, he expected to see Mrs. Freeman’s smiling face, but it was fully a second before he realized that Louise Birdsey was standing before him. ______ “ Louise, is it really you or is it but a dream?" he asked.
There were record-breaking corn, oats, wheat and other products. William, who had specially cared for the oats, stood lit tle Joyce in front of an eight-foot shock of oats, and teok her picture for Uncle Jack. Little Jpyce was her father’s com panion many times. She was the picture of her father and was often called Billie Bob II, to her great pleasure, for she adored her father. She could speak the Quechua language as readily as her own, and also the Spanish language. Children so aasily learn languages when young, and Joyce was especially quick at learning. With great care they all prepared a number of exhibits and took them to Cuzco for entrance. They were allowed to arrange a booth as they wished, and it attracted wide attention. In fact, Mr. Fos ter was awarded the Gold Medal for his exhibition.
God never withhold» any good thing from those who obey and follow Him. What if William had-married Louise and gone hack into the world? His life would have been a f a i l u r e like his father’s. God may not always give us our desires, hut if we trust and follow Him, He will work all things for our greatest good.
"It is really I, and I am no dream,” she had time to answer happily before Will iam’s greeting made further reply impos sible. Mrs. Freeman, coming into the room, hastily withdrew, and the two lovers poured out their hearts to each other in confidences such as only lovers know. Louise told him that before she had received his letter she had been accepted by the mission board for work in South America, and that when his letter came, she arranged, with her father’s help, to hasten her departure and to answer his letter in person. There was much to ex plain, much to tell; but the past years of musunderstanding and pain were soon a thing of the past, and gratefully the two lovers thanked God for their new-found happiness. ,
The daily paper of Cuzco, the “ El Nacional,” in speaking of the exhibit from the mission farm said, “ The privileged condition of the soil and climate exceptionally favor the growth of agriculture. Of this we have a practical example in the farm of Urco, the property cf an enthusiastic group of foreigners. Their magnificent products exhibited in the exposition have caused general surprise, owing to their quality and size." A number of estencieros, or plantation owners, constantly flocked about the booth asking many questions as to where certain seed was obtainable, and as to the proper time for planting, and methods of cultivation. Mr. Foster was kept busy answering questions. “ Red Fife,” a grain introduced by him, attracted the particular' notice of the government, and was purchased from him to be distributed in various places. There was wheat which had been sent by an inter ested friend from Manitoba, Canada, and had become acclimatized on the farm at an altitude of 10,000 feet above the sea level. The wheat, as it stood in shocks, was higher than a man’s head, and caused much comment. Senor Fernaldo was a gentleman who was interested in the development of a farm which he had recently taken in charge for the wealthy owner, who lived in Lima. He held (Continued on page 307)
t , ,__ Busy days followed for William, and before he left Lima, a quiet, happy wedding took place in the mission chapel and Louise accompanied her husband on his return Journey. Nothing seemed a hardship to her in the journey, for er Joy, in being with William ajnd being a missionary, was supreme. , Louise’s welcome at the farm was warm, and soon she was entering into the mission work whole-heartedly. William’s novel plan for getting the lumber for the new house to the fa r* was a decided success in money-saving as well as in speed. With the aid of his Indian helpers they floated the lumber on rafts for twenty-five miles down the river. ____ . , . When the new ¡Louse was completed, William and Louise were the first occupants, for William’s house had been but a mud hut, which Louise insisted on sharing with him until the new house was done. A year had passed from the time of Louise’s arrival before they moved into the new quarters, and they held the housewarming on their first wedding anniversary. Two months later little Joyce Merle Harmon came to gladden the hearts of her parents. This made three children on the farm, for Mr. and Mrs. Foster’s second child had arrived three months before. The children were
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