Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1926-08-12


cutie Cancelled. Or had it7 tried 70
recall, but my mind blurred. Once We
were engaged; we were to have been
married before this time; Jean and ]
were to have been married AT Christ
mas Then Spool / was not clever
enough for her. Perhaps Spool
would be, thought. and hated myself
for thinking It
Perhaps she was right was good
bit OF dub. Never read much. never
thought much. Bounded by the corner
stakes Of Fourteen An OK. Jean had
as much as called me an OK. Thinking
more about oats than sunsets.
Didn't even mention her new cap.
When / did i turned my compliment
upside down: pinned 1t to the cap. in
stead OF to her. Spool would not have
done that.
Our poem. The snow would be deep
ON 1t now. Or perhaps not 1t might
have whipped clear. lift anything
happened to Jean I would go to that
poem, / would yearn over 1t, ] would
caress 1t, / would lean upon it 1t
was snow, and would be gone In the
spring. Something about keeping her
guessing. / was to keep her guessing
Well. she was keeping me guessing
just now, with a vengeancel
tried to call Jean up in my memory,
to visualize her profile. her eyes. her
hair, her lips, the fitting lift Of her
ankle, the joyous stride Of her young.
free limbs Il was all q mist; a pic
ture out Of focus 1t was a nebulous
thing, vague, indistinct, uniformed
Through and beyond 1t saw the gray
snow falling eternally. Then about
this central fgure-if one may call a
thing SO ethereal a.fgure-
circle Of light, and II grew and glowed
and frightened until 1t haloed about
her head. 1t was Jeanl
'Oh! my Cd" I cried. Mot yet
Not yeti"
/ fell In the snow. floundered aim
lessly in the broken crust
When came back to realization the
vision was gone. Only the snow. shot
through with its thin mists of light.
fell on forever.
Was / freezing7 The thought prod
ded me to consciousness. l drew a
hand from my mitt and thrust it
against my face. The fingers were
warm. The skin of my forehead would
wrinkle / was able to wriggle my
toes in my boots. No, was not freez-
ing. Ny troubles were Of the mind;
nay bodily engines were functioning
properly. got the wind over
my right shoulder and pressed on.
Jean wanted me to keep her guess
ing. That was the easy, slangy way
Of putting 1t. Poetic license, she had
called 1t. What she meant was that
/ must always have something in re-
serve; some mysterious corner Of my
self into which she had not explored
Something to keep up the sense of
mystery, the spirit of adventure, In
which romance is born, without which
right. After all, why should she marry
me? What was / more than q biped
beast Of burden, an animal designed
to eat, sleep, labor. and reproduce
itself? Spool was something
more than that. Was / wise to inter
rupt them at all? Why not leave them
alone?
1t was while / wrestled with the
thought of great Remuneration that
the light broke about me- was sure
that animal for animal-ox for OK
Jean preferred me to Spool. 1t was
in those qualities that were not animal
that she preferred him. 1t was for me,
therefore, by all means, to delay her
decision, and then to set about deliber-
ately to develop the qualities in which
/ was at disadvantage. I must read
These idle winter months gave me the
very opportunity to read, and / cursed
myself that SO many weeks had slipped
by unimprcved. What to read?
had my old school books and q Bible
little else Still, II one knew his Bible
If / were to read up some book in ii.
develop a simple philosophy out Of 1t,
enveigle Jean into an argument, and
best her, that would be keeping her
L SuOSSAhSs "ooAoAh
could borrow books from Spool. 1t
was a strange sidelight on my feel
4 ings toward Spool that even at this
moment and for this purpose there
seemed nothing unnatural In the
thought that I should borrow books
from him. Other neighbors might have
books; one never can tell Most peo-
pie remain unread not from lack of
books, but from lack Of application.
There was Reverend Locke. / would
make an excuse to town, and would
borrow books from him. I would even
spend few of my hard-earned dollars
on magazines, or on membership In a
mail order library. OF all this Jean
was to know nothing. I would keep
her guessing
| trudged on in mood akin to cheer
fulness. / had made my decision. /
had stepped out of an old world into
new one. Something which must
have lain dormant all these years
awoke and thrilled me with the pos
sibilities of what might become. Life