Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1924-11-19
| No Turkey,
| e but e.
Thanksgiving.
ByH. LOUIS RAYBOLD

Janet morn sat In the couch ham,
mock on the shaded lanai and looked
out across a purple blue sea to some
far invisible shore. Somewhere be-
yond that misty horizon lay home. Not
that home meant very much to Janet
since the death of her only relative, an
aunt. But, somehow, around Thanks
giving time stranger in strange
land is likely to be homesick.
And this beautiful Hawaii, with all
its glories, still had no adequate sub
stitute to offer for the cold wintry
skies and bleak harvested landscape
for the cranberry sauce and aroma of
roasting turkey with which the nation
al holiday is associated.
Therefore Janet sighed and found
herself wishing that Jim Deming, the
good-looking young principal of the
school where she taught, were not en-
gagged to the daughter of the islands
wealthiest sugar planter
If he hadn't been-oh, if only he
hadn't been! Then the friendliness he
had shown her since her arrival could
have meant so much more to her-the
fOrerunner, perhaps, of something 80
much more satisfying even than friend
ship!
Janet rose and, with an almost I'M
conscious gesture, stretched out her
arms toward the purple sea. "What
does life hold for one?" she murmured
wistfully.
"a trip to Hflo and the crater"
Janet thought for an instant that
someone had spoken, then realized that
1t was merely her own thought That
little imp within which represented a
great longing as yet unfulfilled had
taken this moment when lonesOmenesS
surged within her and time hung
heavy on her hands to prompt her.
Why not use the emergency fund. and
take the trip to Hilo? Not that it
would take the whole of it, at that,
only, once the meager hoard were
broken into, it would not again easily
withstand temptation.
For Janet had decided to lay by
each week out Of her small salary q
little contribution toward an amount
to take her home should the occasion
ever arise. To draw on what little
she had already accumulated would
be to put the goal still farther away.
Yet the psychological combination Of
the moment proved Janet's undoing
I'm going to Hilo I'm going to Hilo ~
She sang the words, pirouetted madly
on one foot, and turned indoors to get
ready.
If that same little wicked demon
within her whispered that she knew
she was going to Hilo because jim
Deming had told her she ought to-,
she pretended not to hear. What in
fiuence ought he, engaged as he was
to the naughty Gloria Tremans, to
have on her life? Janet felt sorry for
Jim. In fact, she had felt sorry ever
since the day when Gloria had called
for him at the school, had found him
telling her about the wonders of Kill
auea, and had peremptorily summoned
him to her side with the most frigid
of glances at Janet. Jim engaged to
that iceberg!
Two days later, seated luxuriously
III Tie party dQlOLuODII6 WHICH TuUS
TO the crater of Kilauea for the bene-
fit of tourists, Janet wondered why she
was not happier. Here she was, tenn
porarily seated in the lap of luxury
hired though it was, about to gaze on
one Of the worlds greatest sights, the
bubbling, restless lake of molten lava
which is the crater of Kilauea. 1t
must be because she was, in spite Of
the score or so of effervescent, gush-
ing tourists, in reality alone. She had
no one with whom to share the wonder.
Then, as she stood on the very brink
of the vast lava sea, she saw him-the
man who had been so persistently in
her thoughts. He was alone, and had
withdrawn apparently from a second
group of tourists whose automobile
had. no doubt, preceded hers. He
stood with arms folded, gazing down
TO the colorful depths below.