Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1935-01-24
Dolls
By J. T. BARBER
@. Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.
WNU Service.

i change the course of Mr.. HOOpla
Kelley's life in the time-honOred man.
ner, began with the mOnOtOnOus pulse
Of a thousand half hours wherein he
leaned upon an elbow and surveyed
speculatively the dust-grimed patrons
Of the Algonquin county fair.
Rosie de Veen. appraising him from
the next booth. yielded to wave OF
pretty confusion which she buried in a
mixture of onions and mustard and
sold to a man wearing green blur
Its those dolls" she'd said many
times Mostly to herself. of course, be-
cause hardly anyone else would quite
have understood.
Rosie de Veen was a statuesQue sort
CT person, grand and beautiful She
would have been ashamed to admit her
natural contempt for the tiny bright
CARRIED cherubs which occupied Mr..
Kelley's flash" in tempting array.
Naturally. too. as Mr.. Kelley smiled
oftener at Rosie de Veen, this resent
ment extended itself to women. Rosie
watched them alertly and without COM
promise. But it seemed that nothing
could take Mr.. Kelley's attention from
his dolls. He examined them every
morning, to check on the little velvet
projections behind most of the doll
stands which he had said, reminded
him so much Of real women on &C.
count they was teasers which wouldn't
let the chumps throw the hoops all the
way over, see?
Life" Hoopla Kelley had remarked,
sis finding dame with handicap you
think you can handle. You got to
know what to depend on"
And in this vague way Rosie de veen
figured out that what he meant was
that man must know what sort of
virtues a woman has so he won't have
to spend lot of time misplacing judg-
ment in critical moments.
Consequently, she was conscious Of a
rising note in Mr.. Hoopla Kelley's
voice when his spiel poured it's nasal
toned cascade out upon golden-brOwn
man and a pink and-white baby-faced
girl.
"Hi-yahl hi-yah! Step right up,
folks, and try your hand at the easy,
simple fiddle game Of science and skill.
Its the oppytunity Of lifeteym, folks.
No risks, no messes. On'y dime; ten
cents. Hi-yah-hiyah take home doll,
folks -"
At this point Rosie de Veen became
acutely conscious of the pink-and- white
customer.
Instantly alert Miss de Veen ignored
scOrching hamburgers to listen intently
to Mr.. Hoopla Kelley's spiel which be-
came so persuasive that within the next
twenty minutes the golden-brown man
spent two dollars without result and
went away still with the unearthly
light of Illustration in his eye.
But the pink-and-white girl, lengthen-
ing a half dollar into an unseasOnably
long try, seemed unwilling to admit
defeat. There was Il vague suggestion
Of tears. And when presently she said
that she was determined to persist and
handed Mr. HoOpla Kelley a ten-dollar
bill he broke it with cold profession
al avidity that was balm to Rosie de
Veen's suspicious soul.
Then the pink-and- woman
being wOman-changed her mind.
After placing the small bills into her
pOcketbook, she looked uncertainty at
the courteous Mr.. Kelley and said that
she thought she would rather not break
the ten-dOllar bill after all. Being an
expert in matters of public confidence,
Mr.. Kelley promptly returned it to her.
'To tell You the TRUTH" she said,
smiling because she realized that she
was putting the man to an awful lot
of trouble, I'D rather have those two
tives you have there than the ten-dollar
bill" WhereupOn HoOpla Kelley
promptly produced the two fives and
took back the ten-dollar bill, seeming
not to be concerned with the complica-
lions involved.
Not so the watchful Rosie de veen.
Miss de Veen had observed that Op-
portunity had come to roost upon her
battlements. Hey. Hoopla, wasn't
there some change or somethin'?"
1t was pretty tactful but adequate.
Mr.. Kelley looked inquiriugly at the
girl and she burned. She reached into
her pocketbook. pulled out her small
fist and showed lump into Mr.. Kelley's
hand, which he dropped carelessly on
the counter much to Miss De Veen's
distress.
"Aint you goin' to count it," she
asked, almost before she thought.
Mr.. Kelley obeyed her suggestion
almost YEARLY. He opened the roll and
found II to contain nothing more than
dollar bin wrapped around a tiny
blue handkerchief But his further ex-
animation was interrupted by a sudden
scraping of small, sharp heels In gravel
and wall Of alarm from Rosie de
veen. He looked up to find Rosie in
pursuit OF the golden-haired one.
Miss De Veen returned in due course,
bringing the pink-andwhite creature
triumphantly and left her with Mr..
Kelley. Craftily she said nothing, but
retired to her stand to fry hamburgers.
She was still Mt it when Mike "Pop-
eye" Wells came around on his nightly
checkup and hailed her cordially.
"How come this Hoopla Kelley fash
Is closed up. Roster"
Miss De Veen grinned. "Kelley's gone
hipped on his own racket"
You mean he's sick"
Rosie de veen brushed white fist