Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1920-09-02
masculine thing available when her
mother was In great distress.

masculine thing available when her
mother was in great distress.
Later Isohel said that as a woman
she knew of course that I loved her,
but this is evident fiction. She did
no such thing, and it would be an un-
Kindness to her to think so. What
was only comedy If were. as she
thought was, an Indifferent, unfeel-
Ing man. would have been cruelty II
1t had been known that the position
was lnockery Of denied hopes.
Isobel used me to gain her liberty.
She affected familiarities and called
me "JOhn" derisively. or worse dear"
or "old dear" protested. In more
pain than she could guess.
I'VE are engaged" she said. "What
should I call you?"
you might consider the fact that
we are not engaged" suggested.
"But we are. If we do1't act as If
we were, you'll not be any protection
against Jed. Don't you want me to
call you John?"
"Of course l do" said. "It's per-
fectly Straightforward. natural and
proper"
"Then it's the dear and old dear
you object to, and perfectly delight
in calling you old DEAR 1t fits SO
well-t Is really wonderful. 1t is al.
most complete description as well
as charming appellatio2. adore it."
Il object to Unnecessary freedom"
sai6.
"But II helps to deceive jed"
Nothing deceives Jed. He was de-
ceive,l OILY for short while. Then he
tried to kill me. He apologized after
ward for his mistake. He knows the
character Of our engagement"
Just the same, he has not bothered
mother since then as he did before"
"That Is because he is coward and
have him where can control him."
Mrs. Sidney did not understand her
daughter. That was not astonishing;
1sobel was young American woman;
Mrs. Sidney had Spanish traditions.
1sobel came naturally, through her
father, to candor which never ceased
to amaze and-occasionally- dis
tress her mother. Isobel said what
she thought. Her frankness came
from honesty of character. Her lovely
mother regarded life as something to
be managed by reticence and denial.
Mrs. Sidney was esthetic, and if fact
were unesthetic, she denied 1t and put
1T out of her consideration. It was, to
her, the only proper thing to do.
Isobel was a clever tennis-player
and poor one. She beat me three
or four sets every fine afternoon. She
liked to drive car and ride horse.
I drove and rode with her.
When Isobel said for the first time
that she wanted to take me for drive
in the car, her mother made gesture
Of dismay. Esobel stood before her a1d
smiled.
"You know we are engaged, mother"
she said.
l thought Of the hen at the ponds
edge seeing her brood of ducklings in
the water. Mrs. Sidney was not In
panic and she did not futter, but her
distress was acute. She knew the girl
had to develop and she knew that she
had to live in North, not South Amer
lea. But knowledge is not complete
anodyne to pain.
Isobel took her mothers hand and
kissed 1t, and then her lips. She smiled
in such an honest, frank, perceptive
fashion, know that smile can con-
tain all the human understanding in
the world. becauseI saw Isobel's-and
then, holding her mothers hand. she
allowed Mrs. Sidney to have the mo-
ment of distress with the intimate sup
port of her own presence.
It may seem small struggle that
mother and daughter went through,
but it did not seem small to me who
witnessed it, and it had no rhetorical
and little emotional expression.
Isobel knew her mother suffered. but
she was wise. Mrs. Sidney dreaded
her daughters adopted mode of life.
but knew her daughter.
Goodbye, mother" said Isobel. 1--WE
sha'n't be gone long. Come on, John
That was the first time she had
called me John honestly and without
comedy. knew her finesse. She did
it to give her mother the comfortable
sense that she was not going upon a
wild adventure of an automobile ride
with an unrelated man but was within
the strict intimacy Of the family.
We went driving, Isobel at the wheel
She liked to drive fast and do not.
I am timid. do not think that loco
motion is genuine human pleasure.
Possibly it u.s.. behind either fast or
a ploddiag horse. prefer the plodding
horse. Locomotion then merely reveals
gradually changing facets Of the scene;
one likes to- see the manifold aspects
3 !