Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-10-04
ADAMS GARDEN
"a NOVEL

)VEL
[Lcox PUTNAM
sacks, the beautiful mystery Of seed
catalogues. and the sun and rain and
the promise Of summers place where
leathered friends came and Chartered
Mostly; congresses OF brown sparrowa
Al! talking at nee about nothing at
all; and whore. overhead, there pass
ed I times that great white bird. with
the sun in its pinions and thunder in
It's tail-feAthers. and q. guiding figure
In Its midst. . 1t had seemed that the
world had little to offer which could
be better than this.
But the sudden appearance Of Breck
had marred the vista ahead. What was
there in the future? Where would he
end! He felt like tho grasshopper who
Is suddenly confronted with the pros
pect/of the cold-only a tribe more
foresighted. inasmuch as the realiza-
ton had come to him months ahead.
All summer long he might flourish.
But what Of the winter to come? What
OF the years Of life beyond? What
would he have to offer any woman,
say! The thought made him hot with
ALARM He was useless, useless: his
future was a blank, while Breck's was
hlled with success-nne houses, mo-
tors. money with which to buy Jewels,
could desire. And there was no way
OF approxtmating his cousins position.
Too late. now, to go back and grind
away At an office desk. The something
IN him which had always rebelled at
commercialism, had now grown to
such proportions as made the idea of
going back impossible. Salvation must
come in some other fashion. All the
afternoon he set out geranium slips
and troubled that slowly awakening
thing, his soul.
And all the evening, while he and
Woolcraft sat silently smoking before
The glowing stove, he %pondered, carry
Ing the puzzle to bed with him, and
arising to 1t in the morning. It refused
to be dismissed, but kept knocking
MIN. He thought Of old Jerryh merrily
playing a tuneful way through the
budding countryside; and he thought
ol,the hundreds Of happy poor he had
passed in the lamp-lit avenue Of little
homes. to the east. And he wondered.
with the deep amazement of the
novice, at the strange sense Of values,
the distorted standards of success, to
which he had been reared, and which
now. though he began dimly to see
now little they were really related to
human desires, still might be potent
IN keeping him from h%appiness if he
Breck. who could scarcely understand
the existence of the part Of life which
wears no tangible, material clothing,
might succeed when Adams poverty
would fail utterly.
This was not right. 1t was all wrong,
and something must be done. He
clenched his hands 1aercely. crushing
an unofending seed envelope to de-
struction. He felt as though the
strength of his grip were upon, the
neck OF the world, and that he must,
somehow, contrive to make it feel him.
1t was strange TO experience such an
emotion; strange and terrible in a
way, for 1t opened up vistas Of other
feelings hitherto unexpected in him
SELF. 1t was like getting a sudden
glimpse down an interminable street,
where there were unknown people
n things which he had new con-
sidered, but which. once glimpsed. he
would eve be satisfied about until
they. meant, and, il needful. to suffer
IN the going go. For 60 he must, If
o today. then later; and he felt,
vaguely, that in the end he would be
glad, o would miss what he wanted
to ind. One thing, at least, was plain.
There were people in the world who
mad nothing" and yet were happy;
and there were also those who had
e%yerything and yet had nothing. And
cards In the world had not taught him
this. until he found it out for himself,
and marvelled at the wisdom Of the
S~pencerian penmanship statements,
n the knowledge of the great un-
known which produces post cards.
Otherwise he was in the predicament
OF knowing only that he must do
something, or he vas no good. The
immovable law Of nature, that man.
kind must in some way succeed, held
him remorselessly. He burst out to
Woolcraft. over the potting of some
seedlings.
They were kneeling, both Of them,
unpacking little urns OF clean terro-
Gotta, brushing off the straw, and
stacking them beside the frames
Lovely objects. those common earth
pots, OF q simple. graceful shape that
no one seems to notice, and Of a Sur
face and color which people stupidity
hide in jardinieres, as II such utter
"SAo. uAO4Sy Which, IuUS
be covered for the sake Of the popular
conception OF decency. Adam held one
up, saw its beauty, and wondered WHY
he had never noticed 1t before. He sci
1t down with the thought that 1t wa
probably because he was not accus-
toned to noticing. q great deal which
passed beneath his gaze, and asked
Woolcraft a question.
III you had made a mess Of ufe,'
said, he. and wanted to succeed and
didn't know how, what would you
do ?"
Woolcraft met this large order with
une1pected calm. Without seeming in
the least disconnected by it he replied
In IN even, conversational tone, which
meant far more than 1t said.
. do my damnedest best with the
thing closest under my fst," he an.
for something vague. I'd Grace up and
do whatever I was at we'll"
Adam made no reply to this. bu,
kneeling upright, he looked about al
the great clean space which had been
the junk-yafd % short a time. before
and asked himself IL perhaps thi,
were not true. After all, this was mos1
completely and literally under hia
hst," while outside, beyond the. high
poster-covered fences, was the seeth.
ing caldron out Of which he had beer
spilled In the boil-over. Here wal
something under his fst, and he ad.
mitted he was puzzled about the ma.
ture Of success. It was all topsy-turvy
But IL he did this thing we'll. ..whc
could tell? He resumed his stackine
with a new vtgor.
Tho spirit which 20 prompted him
to new efforts lasted, and the garden
grew accordingly. The fact that Eve.
Ign Endicott omitted her usual visi,
an added spur. He pretended to him;