Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1930-03-20

overlooking of discarded letters, little
white angels. which had accompanied
the contributions to The home. Ginger
was systematic and orderly. These
angels were to be burned. So with
waste basket in one hand. lantern in
the other. she made her way carefully
over the narrow beams, and down the
wabbly ladder.
She noted, comfortably, that the
two doors remained closed as she had
left them, and pleasantly soothing
stiffness pervaded the house. Softly.
happily, with waste basket and Ian
tern, she slipped around the curve
Of the circular staircase and stopped.
She stopped aghast, electrified, spell
bound. For beneath her. before her
very eyes. there lay revealed scene
whose unutterable disgustingness was
beyond her power of description.
The wide living room was lighted,
dimly lighted, by one small corner
reading lamp. and in the shadOwy,
semi-darkness. Ginger saw two figures
her sister, Marjory, and Hiram
Buckworth-w whom she had left be-
hind their separate closed doors not
twenty minutes previous. By what
strange intuitiveness each had dis.
covered, behind those barring doors,
that the other was descending to the
pnnnfinn Of tho lfufnO
room below, Ginger never knew-nor
even which had made the initial move.
But one fact was evident-there they
were
sisters shoulders, and his free hand
was fOndling very gently, very caress-
ingly, the soft gold of her hair. Mar
jory herself, plainly not to be out
distanced in madness, was raising her
soft white fingers to his cheek, his
lips, his eyes. Ginger's irrepressible
gasp startled them. They looked up
at her, gravely. They did not move.
Excuse me-" Ginger's voice was
cold and subdued, very small. 81
thought you were in different places
doing other things"
She turned short around upon the
stairs, and went up to the attic. In
the studio she sat herself down, heav-
lily, and fell to deep consideration.
She saw clearly that the situation was
critical. MarjOry was hopeless. She
had Ogled the grocery clerk. She had
almost held hands with Tub Andrews
and the ukulele. She even practiced
her Establishments on Eddy Jackson,
who had the fortitude to Withstand
her wiles. And now she was fragrant
ly necking the young minister. Ginger
writhed In helpless fury. The lin
lister Even a grocery clerk may aspire
to ownership, a bank janitOr may
progress slowly upward. But once q
preacher, always preacher.
Plainly. then, responsibility rested
upon none other than Ginger. and
Ginger squared her shoulders to re-
ceive it. MarjOry was lacking in
strength of character-so much was
evident But Hiram Buckworth, now
he was minister, he must have
some right pinciple whitman appeal
to him, perhaps Ginger regretted
that she could not entirely abandon
Marjory to her own misguided ways
The home for the blind was on Its
way to firm establishment, 1t was true
but alas, so many dimes went into the
purchase of load If coal, months
groceries, a delicate operation for the
eyes. An appeal, then, to Hiram
Buckworth.
The next morning before breakfast
Ginger, alert and watchful, saw him
walking down the fiagstone path be-
tween the rows Of flowers, inhaling
great breaths of the fresh morning
air, his entire manner and countenance
rejecting a SNUG and satisfied con
tentment with the world at large She
hurried down. and joined him.
"Mr Buckworth," she began firmly
excuse me for butting Inland Il
really isn't thing against Marjory
you know, for she is just as nice as
she seems to be-"
81 should say she Isl"
but I've known her a long time
and really, she Is terrible flirt
though a; heart she doesn't mean q
thing 6y it. don't know whethe,
she has told you mean Yor
see, it is already arranged"
"Ellenl You don't mean that Mar
jory-that she is engaged"
The use of the word relieved her
She was finding 1t unaccountably hare
to express herself in way that would
gain the desired result, without com
vniftipu borcaIf m 20