The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1915-09-16

tent and for a modest nickel was sup
piled with a fork and a box OF sardines
previously opened. 1t Is true, but NOR
than half full. He consumed the sar
dimes utterly. but left the tin box ant
the fork, after which he INDUCED In al
inexpensive half pint Of lukewarm CT
der at one Of the open booths. Mug IL
hand, q gentle glow radiating toward
his surface from various centers OF ac
tivity deep inside him. he paused fol
breath, and the cool, sweet cadences OF
the watermelon mar fell delectabll
upon his ear:
"Ice cole watermelon; ice cole water
melon. The biggest slice Of Ice cole
ripe, red, ice cole, rich an rare; the
biggest slice of ice cole watermelon
EVER cut by the hand of man! Buy our
Ice cole watermelon"
Penrod, having drained the last droE
of cider, complied with the watermelon
mans luscious entreaty and received
a round slice of the fruit, magnificent
in circumference and something over
an inch In thickness. Leaving only the
really dangerous part of the rind be
hind him, he wandered away from the
vicinity of the watermelon nan and
supplied himself with II bag of pea,
nuts. which, with the expenditure OF a
dime for admission, left a quarter still
warm In his pocket. However, he
managed to break" the coin at a
stand inside the tent, where a large.
Oblong paper box Of popcorn was hand
ed him with 20 cents change, The box
was too large to go into bis pocket, but
having seated himself among some
wistful Polack children he placed 1t
In his lap and devoured the contents
at leisure during the performance. The
popcorn was heavily larded with par
TALLY boiled molasses, and Penrod
sandwiched mouthfuls of peanuts with
gobs Of this mass until the peanuts
were all gone. After that he ate with
less avidity, a sense almost Of safety
beginning to manifest itself to him,
and II vas not until the close OF the
performance that he disposed ~ the
last morsel.
He descended a little heavily to the
outlowing crowd In the arena and
bought a caterwauling toy balloon, but
showed no great enthusiasm In manip-
ulating II. Near the exit as he came
out was a hot waffle stand which he
had overlooked, and q sense of duty
obliged him to consume the three waf-
fles, thickly powdered with sugar,
which the waffle man cooked for him
upon command.
They left a hottish taste In his
mouth; they had not been quite up to
his anticipation, indeed, and 1t was
with a Of relief that he turned
to the ho~key-pokey cart which stood
close at hand, laden with square slabs
Of Neapolitan ice cream wrapped In
paper. He thought the ice cream would
be cooling. but somehow it fell short
Of the desired effect and left a peculiar
SAVIOR in his throat.
He walked away, too languid to blow
his balloon, and passed a fresh taffy
booth with strange indifference. A
bare armed man was manipulating the
taffy over a hook. pulling a great white
mass to the desired stage of candy
Ing" but Penrod did not pause to
watch the operation. In fact, he avert.
ed his eyes (Which were slightly glazed)
In passing. He did not analyze his
motives. Simply he was conscious
that he preferred not to look at the
mass Of taffy.
For some reason he put a considera-
BILE distance between himself and the
taffy stand. but before long halted in
the presence of a red faced man who
aourished a long fork over a small
cooking apparatus and shouted jovial-
iy: "Winnies! Here's your hot win.
mics! Hot winny wurst! Food for the
overworked brain. nourlshing for the
weak stummick. entertaining for the
tired business man! Here's your hot
winnies! Three for a nickel, a half a
dime, the twentieth pot of a dollah"
This above all nectar and ambrosia
vas the favorite dish of Penrod Scho-
field. Nothing inside him now craved
,it-on the contrary. But memory is
the great hypnotist. His mind argued
against his inwards that opportunity
knocked at his door. "Winny wurst'
was rigidly forbidden by the home au-
thorities. Besides. there was a last
nickel In his pocket, and nature pro
tested against its survival: also the
red faced nan had himself proclaimed
his wares nourishing for the weak
stummick.
Penrod placed the nickel in the red
hand Of the red faced mar.
He ate two Of the three greasy, cigar.
like shapes cordially pressed upon him
In return. The first bite convinced
him that he had made a mistake.
These winnies seemed Of a very in
ferior flavor. almost unpleasant In
fact But he felt obliged to conceal
his poor opinion Of them for fear OF
offending the red faced nan He ate
without haste or eagerness, SO slowly
indeed that he began to think the red
faced man might dislike him as a
deterrent Of trade. Perhaps Penrod's
mind was not working well, for he
failed to remember that no law com.