Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-10-07

raA Z SV0lE ElA AS o0A1s - '.-H'H'. +
II was sayin'.' said Jenny. that you're
booked to tote me tn rounds t'night. See
you after, tn show. Will you so, Nancy"
81 shall be too tired" |
Bancroft did not care to SO the rounds
with Jenny; ne wanted to see Nancy home
The theater, but he had no good excuse
to offer Jenny.
Say, what's tn big idea?" demanded
Jenny, breathlessly.
What idea?" said Bancroft.
This yankin' me across alleys . If you
thought a truck was comm out"
Did II"
You did. an l felt my sleeve seams rip.
1t aln't ony. trnight; you've been doin' it
right along. Some bill collector chasin'
your" .@ Z
Jenny, I'm afraid Of alleys
Y you are!"
I'm not Joking. My horoscope Says
What kind Of a scope is that?"
The things that are going to happen to
you sometime in the future
40, you amt telin' me you've been Wis.
itin' mediums? I can see, you with tn
ouija board on your knees-nix! You're
goin' t. be rich some day, an marry q lovely
girl. Lived In peace an died in grease an
buried IN mutton taller That's what they
used t. say when I was a kid" She began
to sing.
Some little bug is goin' T. get you-u--u
Some ddy!
= He laughed. Jenny was good company.
She was never still, physically or vocally.
and occasionally, when something touched
her heart, she was almost as beautiful as
Nancy.
II am honestly afraid Of dark aleyways.
Some. day the little bug you speak about is
going to jump out at me, and If I have time
1'm'going to beat it as Aast as ever I can"
TO- hshy for me- Say. amt Nancy
regular, though? You0 on't realize what ,
smash she's had. She's always been a bug on
grand opera, an old Sorrentino tells her t
forget it an stick t. tn Job she's got. Next
War she'll be tn best Coincidence in Amer.
lea. She: is now, but tn public amt wise
yet. That mechanical doll stunt has got-
tn critics comm back. What d you know
about that?", ="
The elevated, rearing above then-f,r
they were mounting the stairs-saved him
from commenting. It was a queer feeling,
but he did not like to discuss Nancy with
p. Jenny.
house in Ninth street there happened one
of those tragi-comedies that are always tread
ing upon the heels Of youth. Without the
least premonitibn Of what he was going 20
do Bancroft threw his arms clunsily around
Jenny's neck and kissed her. ~.
Jenny stood perfectly still, the Color. gene
from her face, her mouth partly open, and
a something in her eyes as perhaps would
come there had the handsome boyish face
vanished, and a Japanese devil.mask re-
placed it. ~I
Jenny, Jenny! I didn't mean to do that;
I'm sorry! But you looked SO sweet. I'm
sorry. I didn't mean to do it!' .
That was to be Jenny's tragedy, forever
after. He was sorry. He hadn't meant to
kiss her. +
A kiss is a perfectly foolish thing. But
what are you scientific old graybeards going
to- do about it? There it is; dissecc' 1t,
analyze it how you will, but where do you
60 from .there?. Nowhere. Who taught hu.
man beings-white human beings-to kiss
one another? Nobody. It was the Begin,
ming Of Things; it Is with us Now; it will
always be HereN Bugs? Who cares?
Two pairs of lips. male and female
watch out! There it is, come and gone,
hence or whence nobody knows. Damnation
sometimes; always a revelation. 1t is often
like two clouds meeting, there is thunder
4 and lightning; again, it is as the falling leaf
touching the stream. light and inconsequent.
Sometimes there is the inconsequence of the
leaf on one side and thunder and stark light
ming on the other. Take care! A queer un-
na,neable reaction upon the senses. The
llIsI. XII WV y 81" SAS A~Ns '~NN
Vulnerable intermediate instances.
The whites alone possess it., the act and
art of kissing. The. Jap, viewing white low
ers on. the screen. is moved to laughter at
the sight of a man putting his lips to- those
Of a woman. The Jap does not understand
what it means. Neither do we! 1t Is the
act, the desire, that is incomprehensible;
but Heaven help us with the aftermath, that
is clear enough to us. We find ourselves
trapped in the middle of all manner OF emo
tons. good and evil. joyous and miserable,
ecstatic and ~despairing.
And what Of Jenny? In receiving that
kiss. she. too, made a discovery: that she
loved this queer boy better than ~life itself.
Tnunderiand lightning. That he was be far
out of her orbit as the. farthest star. That
she had not the intellect to trap and engage
his affections beyond the point Of friendship.
That, with the loyalty and willingness Of q
dog. she would have come to his heel up and
down the world. to the end Of time. AL in q
moment, like that! H
Tenebrihc-the darkness that followed the
spangles of that osculatory contact.
And never to kiss him again! she thought
For she had kissed him.
First to recover, she said, defensively
:" jeremiah. I ought Z hand you one on tn
jaw for that"
Jenny, I'm sorry. I don't know wha
made me do it. AS God Is witness, I never
did such q thing before" 81,
"You don't have Z tell your Aunt Mar,
that, Aloysiunn! It's no fun bein' choked an
kissed all. at once" She could smile! i
was wonderful what you could do with YOU
face when you had to.
WI you forgive mel"
"Sure-if you'll promise never Z slip on
over like that again" Hoping he would
hoping with all the healthy nre Of her hear
that he would. and knowing that, for tn,
peace Of her mind, she must not let him!
"'On my word OF honori You're such
: good comrade I've been SO lionel.
all my life. sS.st !"
:. Fosgat II, Jeremiah. an toddle along, I
bed. That's whore I'm goin'. I'm tired
HaS, write out that sGJennylkissed-rne thtHl
an ri call Il sauar3.r M
She gave him gentle, push toward tn
stairs. ana ssfollowed. It was hours befor
sleep came to her. $50