Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-11-03

a opened a magazine of saffron de-
tectiva stories, she sat upright.
Here-she meditAted-is the new
est empire Of the world; the North
ern M~iddlewest; a land of dairy herds
and exquisite lakes. Of new automo-
biies n Taxpayer shanties and sdlos
like red towers, of clumsy speech and
a hope that is boundless. An empire
which feeds a quarter Of the world
yet it's work is merely begun. They
are pioneers, these sweaty wayfarers,
for all their telephones and bank ac-
counts and automatic pianos n CO.
operative leagues. And for al its fat
What is its future? she wondered. A
future Of: cities and factory niu
where now are Looping empty fields?
Homes universal n secure? Or
placid chateaux ringed with sullel
huts? Youth free to find knowledge
and laughter? Willingness to sft the
sanctified lies? Or creamy-skinned
fat women. smeared with grease and
chalk, gorgeous in the skins Of beasts
| and the bloody feathers of s'ain birds,
playing bridge with puffy p~ink-nailed
jeweled fingers, women who after
much expenditure Of labor and bad
temper still g~rotesquely resemble their
" flatulent lap-dogs? The ancient
stale inequalities, or something differ
.ent in history, unlike the tedious ma
turity OF other empires? What fu-
lure and what hope?
Carols head acnel with the riddle.
She saw the prairie. flat in giant
patches or rolling In long hummocis.
had expanded her spirit IN hour ago,
began to frighten her. 1t spread out
so; it went on. SO uncontrollably; she
, could never know 1t. Kennicott was
closeted In his detective story. With
the loneliness which, comes most de-
pressingly in the midst Of many peo-
pie she tried to forget problems, to
look at the prairie effectively.
The grass beside the railroad had
been burnt, over; it. was a smudge
prickly with charred stalks of weeds.
Beyond the undertaking barbed wire
fences were clumps Of golden rod.
Only this thin hedge shut them off
. from the plains-shorn Wheat-lands
of autumn, a hundred acres to a field,
prickly and gray nearby but in the
blurred distance like tawny velvet
stretched over dipping hi The
) long rows of Wheat-shocks marched
like soldiers in worn yellow tabards
The newly plowed fields were black
banners fallen on the distant slope. II
was~c martial immcnsity, vigorous, q
lite rsh, unsoftened by kindly gar
dens.
The expanse was relieved by clunpi
of oaks with patches of short wild
grass; and every mile or two was q
chain of cobalt slews, with the flicker
of blackbirds' wings across them.
All this working land was turned
into e~xuberance by the light The
sunshine was dizzy on open stubble;
shadows from immense cuu'us cloud.
were forever sliding across low
mounds; and the sky was wider and
, loftier and more rasolutely blue thar
[ the sky of cities she declared
It's a glorious country; q land tt
be big In" she crooned n.
: Then Kennicott startled her b,
. after the next Is Gopher Prairie
That one word-home@t terrified
: her. Had she really bound Herself t
live. inescapably, in this town callet
n Gopher Prairie? And this thick ma,
y beside her, who dared to define he
future, he was q stranger! She turne'
t in her seat, stared at him. Who wa
he? Why was he sitting with her
y He wasn't Of her kind! His neck wa
! heavy: his speech was heavy; he wa
twelve or thirteen years older tina,
t she; and about him was none Of tn
magic Of shared adventures and eager
j ness. She could not believe that sh
had ever slept In his arms. That wa
n one of the dreams which you had bu
e did not officially admit.
She told herse'f how good he wa.
how dependable and understanding
She touched his ear. smoothed tn
plane OF his splid Jaw, and, turntn
away again, concentrated upon .likin
his town. It wouldn't be like thea