The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1924-01-25

ganization Of any sort. He'd got most
| of his jobs, back In those years-the
| troubled, panicky, early nineties-
working as a strike-breaker. He
showed her what it meant to load pig
iron all day, day being an eternity
of ten hours; and then, before he
could regain what shelter he called
home. to have to evade, or Outright, the
pickets-to stink along in the shadows.
alert for ambuscades. ready at any mo-
ment to fight or flee for his life.
She said very little while the tale
went on, but that extra, jungle sense
of his told him that she was COM
pletely plastic to 1t. She didn't look
at him much-sat staring off into va
cancy; and this permitted his gaze TO
feed upon her at will. He devoured
every line and contour of her. He
could see the faint pulse at the base
of her throat; he watched her breathe.
1t was thus, at last, that he lost the
thread of his story and stopped.
She allowed this silence TO lie I'M
broken between them for so long that
he was upon the point of some banal
apology for having talked so much
about himself. when at last she spoke.
"AVell, bet you're glad 1t all hap
pened, because 1t never beat you down.
You never got meek and resigned, and
you never turned socialist, wanting to
divide everything up, or anything silly
like that. l suppose you didn't want
1t divided up; you wanted 1t all for
yourself. So you went Off to the
| jungle, and made your fortune some
how. and then you came back and
showed them"
He didn't correct this chronological
misconception of hers; the picture as
she saw it accorded better with her
mood 1T wasn't much of fortune
made down there" he qualified.
'Twenty-seven hundred dollars that l
got for some curios brought out with
me in bag and sold to museum
She frustrated a little touch of
drama he'd prepared, by not asking
him what the curios were. She got
reluctantly to her feet. you'll have
to tell me about that next time" she
said. 81 know 1t would be like The
Arabian Nights and if let you get
started again, I'll sit here listening all
day. I've got to drive over to the
STANDARDS at Lake Geneva for lunch,
with John, and expect I'm horribly
late now Oh, that doesn't matter"
she went on, across his attempt to ex-
press contrition. "He probably won't
speak to me all the way, but that'll
only give me more time to think about
! the things you've been telling me-"
They were walking now. she setting
very leisurely pace, down the slope
toward the house.
what / can't get over" she re-
marked, sis the places you must have
been, the things you must have scent
I've never been in any place more ex-
citing than st. Moritz or Paris"
well, you've got 1t on me-" he said.
"I've never been to any of those
places"
She stopped to stare at him. "You
mean you've never been to Europe at
all?" she asked.
ne SHOOK MS neau. never mad
time. I'll get around to it some day,
of course"
She laughed. 81 was just thinking"
she explained, "that I'd like to be there
when you do. Like to go along and
show it to you; see how it-took you
oh, the galleries and the cathedrals
and such, Of course; but other things,
too: Longchamps and Henley, and the
Easter week bull-fghts in Madrid"
That's what Sorolla said" he told
her.
She stopped again to stare. $50
rolla?'
He nodded. "Just what you said
that he'd like to see how took it, the
bull-ring and the Prado and ALL"