The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1920-01-01


well, we'll" he said. 81 was too
old Cor such foolishness to be getting
into my head, anyhow"
mo, no" she sObbed. "And If you
knew how | desplse myself fOr-for
ever having thought one instant about
oh, Miss Fanny called him the right
name: that monkey! He is"
There, think | agree with YOU"
Eugene said grimly, and in his eyes
there was a steady light Of anger that
you about that"
There's only one thing to do with
such a person." she said vehemently.
That's to put him out of our thoughts
forever-forevcr
And yet, the next day, at six o'clock,
which was the hour, Fanny had told
her, when George and his mother were
to leave upon their long journey, Lucy
touched that scOrChed place on her
mantel with her hand just as the little
clock above 1t struck Then, after this
odd, unconscious gesture, she went to
a window and stood between the cur
tains, looking out into the cold No
vember dusk; and in spite Of every
reasoning and reasonable power within
her, pain Of loneliness struck through
her heart, The dim street below her
window, the dark houses across the
way, the vague air itself-all looked
empty, and cold and (most Of al) I'M
interesting. Something more sombre
than November dusk took the color
from them and gave them that air Of
desertiOn.
The light of her fire, flickering up
behind her, showed suddenly flying
group of tiny snowflakes nearing the
-indow-pane and for an instant she
felt the sensation Of being dragged
through a snow-drift under a broken
cutter, with boys arms about her
an arrogant, handsome, too-conquering
boy, who nevertheless did his best to
get hurt himself, keeping her from any
possible harm.
She shook the picture out Of her
eyes Indignantly, then came and sat
before her fire, and looked long and
long Mt the blackened mantelpiece
She did not have the mantelpiece re
painted-and, since she did not,
might as well have kept his photo
graphs. One forgets what made the
scar upon his hand but not what made
the scar upon his wall.
New faces appeared at the
dances Of the winter; new faces had
been appearing everywhere, for that
matter, and familiar ones were disap-
pearing, merged in the increasing
crowd, or gone forever and missed
little and not long; for the town was
growing and changing as It never had
grown and changed before.
1t was heaving up In the middle In
credibly; 1t was spreading incredibly;
and as 1t heaved and spread, 1t be-
fouled itself and darkened its sky.
You drove between pleasant fields and
woodland groves one spring day; and
In the autumn. passing over the same
ground, you were warned Off the tracks
by an interurban trolley-car's gong
Ing, and beheld, beyond cement side
walks just dry, new house-owners busy
moving In" Gasoline and electricity
were performing the miracles Eugene
had predicted.
But the great change was in the
citizenry itself. What was left Of the
M Fri otic old ctncL ro,, ara tio,> that b,1
fought the Civil war, and subsequently
controlled politics, had become vener-
able and was little needed. What hap
pened to Boston and to Broadway hap
pened In degree to the Midland city;
the old stock became less and less typ
ical, and Of the grown people who
called the place home, less than
third had been born In 1t.
A new spirit of citizenship had al
ready sharply defined itself. It was
idealistic, and its ideals were ex-
pressed In the new kind Of young men
In business downtown. They were OPP
timists-optimists to the point of bel
ligerence-their motto being Boost
Don't Knockw And they were hus-
tiers, believing In hustling and in hon.
esty because both paid. They loved
their city and worked for 1t with q
plutonic energy which was always ar
IDENTIFY vocal. They were viciously gov
erned, but they sometimes Went so far
as to struggle for better government on
account Of the helpful effect Of good
government on the price of real estate
and "betterment" generally; the politi-
clans could not go too far with them,
and knew 1t. The idealists planned and
strove and shouted that their city
should become better, better, and
better city-and what they meant,
when they used the word better" was
more prosperous" and the core Of
their idealism was this: "The more
prosperous my beloved city. the more
prosperous beloved II"
These were bad times for Anderson
addition. This quarter. already old. lay
within mile Of the center of the
town, but business moved in other
directions; and the Additions share of
Prosperity was only the smoke and
dirt. with the bank credit left out. The
owners Of the original big houses sold
them or rented them to hoardins-house