Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1926-05-20

/ sASOAS ~ eyAPoSAy with uAs
strings.
Grief of Man.
Let the trumpet snare the foeman to
have known defeat and Knocked 1t
as we ran.
Ny bray We may not alter or mistake
When I r stand to jeer the fatted Soul
But the song Of Lost Endeavor that ]
Is it hidden in the twangings Of the
Before long Spool and Burke left on
their errand of reprisal. Jean elected
to go home soon afterward, and I ac-
cOmpanied her to Twenty-Five. She
| stood moment with the door latch In
her hand, as though debating with her
self whether she should send me home.
"You had better come in," she said
at length. ''There are some things we
| should talk about"
| closed the door behind me and
Jean lighted lamp and removed her
wraps. "Come and sit down." she said
making room for me beside her on a
| bench.
sat down beside her, and would
have kissed her, but she drew gently
away. please don't, Frank" she said
and when her eyes met mine ! saw a
look in them as of some wild thing
wounded to the death.
Jean" ] exclaimed. "Have I hurt
| you soT'
"No, Frank, not you. But am hurt
hurt" and she pressed her hands
about her bosom as though in physical
pain. "Lt is so hard to know-to be
sure-what is right! !"
"How what is right?''
"In books-you will understand,
Frank-it is always so clear. One is
q hero; the other is villain; 1t is so
easy to know. But In life-I don't
suppose there are so many villains,
after all. That doesn't make it any
easier to decide"
"rm afraid don't quite follow you.
JEAN"
II suppose you don't, and shrink
from making It more clear to
you. have tried, and failed"
"Jean!"
~ thought our promise-my promise
would bind me. 1t didn't.
It won't. 1t can't" She withdrew her
arm, then quickly seized both my hands
In hers
"Oh, my boy. my friend, my chum ~
she exclaimed, and little crystal wells
gathered between her eyelids as she
spoke. slow can | hurt you so! But
nothing else would be honest. I have
tried and failed. lost my temper
with you today over Spool. You were
playing jokes on illuminating him the
butt of your humor-your idea of hui
NOR"
IL promise you nothing Of that kind
will ever happen again, dear; prom
Use 1t, swear it'll"
"But that doesn't help, any. Don't
you see. It's not that care-so much
about the joke-on anybody-but be-
cause love Spool"
I hope took the blow like gentle
l. man. | had the advantage Of being
somewhat prepared for it.
81 suspected that" l said at length.
81 don't want to stand in the way of
your happiness"
Then l fell from the heroic with q
thud. "Oh. Jean. JEAN" pleaded.
"why do you turn to Spool. whom you
hardly know, and away from met
Have fallen So far short-am l so
little to be desired-that you should
| love stranger In preferencew
She pressed her hand against my
lips. Don't please. I can't
explain. Ask me why the wind blows
why the flowers turn to the sunlight
Il can't explain. would ever so
much rather 1t had been YOU"
'Then make 1t mel It is In your
hands"
"No, 1t is not I can't change 1t. l
have tried-and failed. OF course, ]
could marry you STILL, but you would
not want me with reservation in my
| heart. You would despise me If mar
ried you like that
Beneath the numbing shock of the
| fact that Jean was slipping-had
slipped-out of my life. was conscious
that her words were true. should
| not have wanted her-with q reserva-
ton. And so we sat in silence and In
suffering. with no sound about Us ex-
cept the ticking of the clock and the
humping of our own hearts, until at
length Jean arose to rebuild the fire.
| l took it as my cue to leave.
swell, what is to be done about itf'
l said, trying to speak in a matter-of-
fact way, although l could not keep
the tremble out of my voice. "We
must clear up the situation some way"
Eyes. We will explain. so far as 1t
can be explained, to Jack and Marjorie
| We must not interfere with their mar
riage or their happiness. And Spool
| must not know"
"Spoof not knowl How shall we
| prevent"
II mean he must not know why
why our marriage is posts of. Don't
Won see Frank. SpOOf must not know