Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-10-12
GARDEN.
a, NOVEL
BY NINA WILCOX N

lANOA
pspsr boxes-sfe almost :. scare as
hsn's teeth. owing, % the neirhbors
asAy, to the str1ngsncy o fsthe srubbish
iaws which 10 apparently framed for
z express purpose Of p~Arsscuting all
innocent boxes which hide in cellars
70 await Z period Of renewed useful
mesa. Now that we've got these.
we've got 70 take care Of them!"
yer early next morning. they were
al astir in tho interests Of the nut
teflng pink and white ,dsbutAntes.
d and Woolcraft did the cutting
and old Mr.. Kipp the 6unchinx ana
packing in the beds Of wet Tissue pa
which Pearl furnished him.
sprinkltng layer on layer. And when
tho four great boxes were filled, and
Adarn and WoolcrafN ladened with
hem two apiece. It ~ not vet 1--WE
The city wa still very silent; its
mu1led strings further e%nshrouded
oy the damp heat which already lay
over the streets nike a pail. The desc
laton and Generalization which sum-
mer forces upon Manhattan each year
were already setting in. and as the
two made their way toward the Ninth
avenue elevated railroad, Adam began
to realize. with a little shock of sur
prise. the change which had come
upon the city during the period Of his
isolation. Suddenly the weeks which
had slipped by 80 swiftly that he had
scarcely noticed their passing. took
on calendar form, gagged, by the
dusty, warm aspect Of street and ave-
nue., and he realized with astonish-
1onf hAfto1Va~ tI~oA ->>-AA-H" ~
elapsed since the night OF his last
escapade. Three months! It seemed
almost incredible. Only three months
remained Of the time before Brock
must come into possession of the
property-his property! The thought
gave him q passing wave Of anger at
the injustice OF fate. Three months!
What a lot had happened in that
time! There was, Judging by the past
weeks. no telling what miracle three
months to come might bring forth. -.
He had reached the steps OF the Ele-
waited by this time. and shaking him
self out OF his reverie, Adam mounted
with his friend.
The dingy little station perched on
top of the steel Orders like a dirty
old birds nest on a wintry tree. The
board floor was filthy, the building
abeminally odorous, and they fastened
out past the browsing, slatternly negro
guard, onto the unsubstantial little
the eye could see, the rails stretched
emptily. On either side of the canon
of the avenue. the cave-dwellers slept
behind closed windows. Here and
there the, tousled head Of some early
riser peered forth at the new morning.
At some windows were little gardens,
growing in tin cans and old tobacco
boxes; fragile yet undeniable evidence
Of how hard it is to keep beauty from
the poor. and how hard tho instincts
Of soil die. even amidst brick and
mortar. The slow stir Of sleepers
about to awaken was in the air, as
though the city heaved and sighed
like a single huge body, arising to it's
tasks.
Down the long vista came a train,
mumbling over the rails.a green lamp
winking in its head like a wicked eye.
Adam and Woolcraft ventured into its
almost empty, fane-upholstered' nav.
and the train resumed its mun1bling
way, jolting along over the aerial
roadway, and complaining. under it's
breath. as it were, of the hard exist
ence of trains in general. Adam felt
a little al IL he were riding inside q
dragon: a sort of dry-land Jonah. It
was years since he had been upon the
Elevated. having left that, along with
q good many other things. to the COM
mon herd. The experience interested
him. and he watched the windows that
they passed with a genuine curiosity
which n~egatived it's impertinence.
The train jolted southwark, sweep
ing east through Fffty-third street,
past the tall, narrow houses with
their dim windows, its dense negro
population, its shabby prison so grim,
so pitiful, so in%effective; and out into
the higher caste Of Sixth avenue.
Southwark again past pawnshops and
bakeries mahicuras and florists. The
Hippodrome with its hundred little
flags. the e a Of the public library
with its windows arched like raised
eyebrows, past the towering; depart
ment~ stores and>cheap theaters, until,
just below the grim old "Haymarket"
they left the train at Twenty-eighth
street and turned west afoot.
It was the rush hour for the flower
market. and the street presented a
strange confusion in which swearing
Of every conceivable kind. played a
part. Great trucks were backed
against the curb, and every door was
open wide, splitting great masses Of
color. Bales of blossoms. shrouded
plants in pots, young trees, thousands
OF ferns, all showed about, bargained
for, checked up, and>slung from hand
to hand exactly as II they had been
lumber or cotton. The men swore
and chaffed; great hulking fellows for
the most, part. unsoftened by their
delicate profession. The shirt-sleeved
foremen. their fancy linen held back
from deflemept by hat strangely
feminine device, the sleeve garter,
their hats far back on their heads,
yelled out demands and instructions
for Them twelve hundred pink roses