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Show Mother Builds On By ANTHONY WADE (Associated Newspapers.) (WNU Service.) HpHE usual crowd of loafers was sitting about the stove in Jake Blair's office regardless of the fact that the balmy spring weather had permitted him to let the Are go out. A worn, tired-looking little woman emerged from the inner office, Jake following. A bright new spring bonnet bon-net failed to freshen the woman's tired face. "I want it built just as soon as you can get to it. And you don't need to spare expense," she said as she left the office. The men about the ftove were interested. in-terested. "I believe that woman's crazy," said Bill Smart. "I can't see what she wants with more room. There all by fcerself. I thought she would stop when Sam died anyway," injected Lew Beggs. "She doesn't need the room. But she's building her dream house. And she's justifying Sam, in a way," answered an-swered Jake. "I see some of you fellows don't know the story. I'll tell you how it was." This was the story Jake Blair told to the group of men in his office that spring afternoon: The Berry family had started life in very humble circumstances, but, as the years went by they added to their little store and by the time they reached middle age had accumulated ac-cumulated a competence. When he was married Sam had no money to buy the furniture for his house, but as a steady young workman he had credit and, by saving, the debt was soon paid. Then they wanted a home. As usual they began to plan modestly. Two more years of saving paid for a 10-acre plot. "I want a 10-room house," Mrs. Berry said. She had reason for that. Her father had not approved of Sam. "What kind of a place will you live in with him?" he had asked her. "You've got 10 rooms here." "Sam will get me 10 rooms, too," she had answered. But the house Sam built her had only one room. "We'll build on next year," he told her. But when the time came a baby was coming and they had to put off building. The first three children were born in that room. After 10 years of waiting Mrs. Berry became despondent. The pretty pret-ty rooms, which she had furnished so many times in her imagination, were given up. When Bill Southern sold his old house after he built the new one Mother Berry was satisfied satis-fied when Sam bought the old summer sum-mer kitchen and moved it up behind their one room. Two rooms now seemed a palace. Years passed. The children were growing up. They were as healthy and apparently appar-ently happy, all six of them. The girls entertained their sweethearts sweet-hearts in the front room, the family retiring tactfully to the lean-to. In that front room the daughters were married. The boys went away to work, leaving the father and mother moth-er alone, their need for building seemingly over. ' But with the expense of the family gone the bank account grew from year to year. Mother Berry began to talk of building a dining room. The children were coming home now and she needed room to set the table ta-ble for the new grandchildren. Father Berry wanted to build a new house, but she would not hear of it. "What does an old couple like us want of a new house?" she asked, and he let her have her way. The summer after the dining room was built Mother Berry's father came to visit her. His first question ques-tion after greetings were over was, "Where's the 10-room house?" Mrs. Berry did not answer, but in her soul the old dream was reborn. re-born. A new room became a yearly event. Each new room was added to the back of the house until it looked like a string of apartments. When the new room was opened for occupancy the front room would be deserted and after a while closed. The bank account was kept low by these expenditures. ex-penditures. The children complained to the father about their mother's extravagance, but he would not heed them. "She gets a lot oj pleasure out of it," he would say. "I'll let her do as she pleases." When the house consisted of nine rooms Sam Berry died. But Mrs. Berry was building on. "I came out of a 10-room house when I married mar-ried Sam," she had said to Jake that day. She was building her dream house and through it justifying her defiance of her father, even though he was dead now. When Jake Blair finished even the men who had scoffed were silent. They saw in the dream house of Mrs. Berry the symbol of their own defeated hopes. The house had come too late for her greatest happiness. She had the courage to accept it in the face of disappointment. |