Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1933-01-12
where she was visiting. and how she

where she was. visiting. and how she
had come to get lost that morning.
OF course, then Henrik told his
name and who he was, and then he
offered to escort her to her uncle's
place. or, at least, far enough so she
would know her way home. Alto
gether very satisfying and very nice.
Sunday morning Henrik saw Katie
come into church in company with
her uncle and aunt; and after the
sermon the old folks came up to in
vite the minister to their house for
supper and. of course. also to thank
their niece the day before.
Henrik came, saw (again), and
was conquered, completely. After
that he came when he was invited =
and when he was not invited; that is:
when he was not invited by anybody
or anything but Katies soft. brown
eyes and the persistent voice of his
own heart.
Before the girls six weeks stay at
her uncle's house came to an end,
Henrik had found an opportunity to
talk to her about the thing that was
uppermost in his mind, had been so
ever since that fatal Saturday morn
ing at exactly twenty minutes to
eleven, when he first had looked into
Katie's brown eyes. And Katie had
answered him in a most satisfying
manner. The thing they talked about
was something like this: If it should
ever happen that they, Henrik and Ka-
tie, found themselves to be the only in
habitants of this old earth Cleft overs
from deluge, an earthquake, or the
like), that would not matter so much
as long as they only had each other
or, at least, something to that effect.
Katie went home, very happy. Hen
rik went home (when he had seen her
to the train), not so happy as he may
be might have been, but not exactly
unhappy. He wrote letter to Katie's
parents, a very nice letter. Also Ka-
ties uncle wrote letter to his broth
er and .sister-in-law. very nice let
ter of recommendation and told lot
of nice things about the young man.
Not that all this had been at all
necessary, of course; in the year 1880
or so, girl makes up her own mind
about the one she wants to marry.
and may, if need be, make up the
mind of the young man too. and then
she goes ahead and marries him. Very
simple. And Katie would have mar
ried Henrik even if her parents had
not written very nice letter to him
and welcomed him into the family, or
rather, told him that they would
sometime welcome him as member
of the family.
Shortly after Christmas Henrik
went to New York and spent two won
derful weeks in the home of his be-
loved, and now, in June, he had gone
east again, and this time brought
home his young wife with him. And
so we are back again at the Sunday
where we started.
Henrik had housekeeper, Mrs.
Peterson. kind. elderly lady. who
had promised to stay with the young
folks for few months yet. The rca-
son was a good one-although we
know that it is not customary for
married small town ministers to have
extra hOusekeepers besides their
wives. You see, Katie could not cook.
She had never wanted to learn. She
salad, and had, once mixed the batter
for a cake. That was all And as
70 one can live, day in and day out,
year in and year out, on one certain
kind of fruit-salad and nothing else,
Katie was glad that kind old Mrs.
Peterson would stay with her for a
while, teaching her some of the Sc
crets of good cooking, and. at the
same time, relieving her of most of
the responsibility of keeping house in
general. Katie was sensible enough
to know that she really did not know
very much about housekeeping. Hith-
erto she had not cared about such
prosaic things as floor-sweeping or
DISTINGUISHING or the like. Not that |
am insisting-far from it-that she
had come to care about these things
now, oh, no, but as they must be done,
Katie was willing to learn how to do
them, and do them in the best pos
sible way. Mrs. Peterson would teach
her that, and many, many other
things. And Katie was determined to
learn. Thus began the married life
of Mr.. and Mrs. Henrik Woodwork.
Just one week after Katie's arrival
at her new home, the terrible hap
pened. 1t came in the shape of let
ter from Mrs. Peterson's son-in-law.
His wife had fallen on the stairs and
broken leg. The family was in
a very bad way, what with the little
ones and him having to go out to
work. Very bad. Would Grandma
come?
Oh. yes, of course grandma would
come. She had to. She could not ig-
more the call for help. Her only child
needed her. The two babies, three
months and two years of age, needed
her. She would come. telegram
was sent, telling them that she would
start next morning. Bags were
packod E,varvt hipu wac m ado roa1,,