THE FILLMORE ELDERBERRIES by LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY

A young man who has just lost his father and needs to support his mother tries to find work but no one, inluding his own uncle, will hire him due to his deceased father's bad reputation as a shirker. Finally a local farmer offers the young man a job to clear an entire field of elderberries down to the roots for a pittance, provided he finishes the job. The young man has nowhere else to turn and accepts the offer.