Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-11-10
SYNOPSIS.

'Soio VI "lllOlu graduates lIOul olO06-
eft college near Minneapolis. goes to
Chicago for a year. and returns to work
in a library in st. Paul. Through col
lege, and three years Of library work,
Carol harbors a desire to so to a small
er community. where she . might do a
little uplift work., and spread the Cos
pei of "culture' as she sees it.. Then
she meets DR.. Will Kennicott OF Gopher
Prairie. N
Carol and DR.. Kennicott are married,
and when they reach Gopher Prairie:
Carol finds 1t the usual small town, and
tries not to be disappointed.
Carol finds a maid, Bea Sorenson, be-
gins housekeeping and also plans 10
reform the village.
CHAPTER V.-Continued.
Like a child playing Grandma in a
trailing skirt. Carol, paraded uptown
for her marketing, crying greetings to
housewives along the way. Everybody
bowed to her, strangers and all, and
made her feel that they wanted her,
hat she belonged here. In city shops
was merely A Customer hat, q
voice to bore a harassed clerk. Here
she was Mrs. Doc kennicott, and her
preferences in grapefruit and man
ners were known and remembered
and worth discussing even
ii they weren't worth fulfilling.
Shopping vas a delight of brisk
conferences. The very merchants
whose droning she found the .dullest
at the two OF three parties which were
given to welcome her were the pleas
ATTEST confidants Of all when they
had something to talk about-lemons
or cotton wolfe or floor-oil. With hat
skip-jack Dave Dyer. the druggist,
she conducted a long mock-quarrel.
She pretended that he cheated her
in the price Of magazines and candy;
he pretended she was a detective
from the Twin Cities. He hid behind
the prescription-counter, and when
she stamped her foot he came out
wailing. Honest, I haven't done moth
ing crooked today--.not. yet.
She never recalled her first impress
sion of Main Street; I've had pre-
cisely the same despair at its ugliness.
By the end of two shopping tours ev-
erything had changed proportions. AS
she never entered it, the Minnie
mashie House ceased to exist for her.
Clark's Hardware Store, Dyer's Drug
Store, the groceries of Ole Jcnson
and Frederick Ludclmyer and How
land & Gould, the meat markets.; the
notions shop-they expanded, and hid
al other structures. When n enter
ed Mr.. L~udelmeyer's store and he
wheezed, "Goot mornin', Mrs. Kenni-
colt. Veil, dis ISIS a fine day." she
did not notice the business of the
shelves nor the stupidity of the girl
clerk; and she did not remember the
mute colloquy with him on her first
view of Main Street.
She could not find half the kinds
of food wanted, but that made
shopping more of an adventure. When
she did contrive to get sweetbreads
at Dahl & Oleson's Meat Market t*IS
triumph was so S that she buzzed
with. excitement and admired the
strong wise butcher, Mr.. Dahl.
She appreciated the homely case
of village life. She liked the old men.
farmers. G. A. r. veterans, who when
they gossiped sometimes squatted on
their heels on the sidewalk. like rest
ing Indians, and reflectively spat over
the curb.
She found beauty in the children.
She had suspected that her married
friends exaggerated their passion for
children. But{in her work in the H.
brary. children had become individ-
uals to her, citizens of the state with
their own rights and their own senses
,;ofsshumor. In the library she had
ihotI had much time to give them, but
now she knew the luxury Of stopping
gravely asking Bessie Clark whether
her doll had yet recovered from its
rheumatism. and agreeing with Oscar
Martinsen that 1t would be Good Fun
to go trapping "pushrats."
She touched the thought. 1T would
be sweet to have q baby Of my own:
I do want one. Tiny No! Not yet!
There's 50 much to do. And I'm still
tired from the job. It's in my bones"
She rested at home. She listened
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