Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1939-08-24

"Am I? Well, / think am. And
I am going to conquer the world,
Mumsie."
His exaltation lasted during the
reading of the diary. It was fat
little book, and the pages were writ
ten close in his fine firm script. He
found things between the leaves-a
four-leaved clover Jane had sent
him when he made the football
team. A rose, colorless and dry.
Florence Preston had given it to
him.
He dropped the rose in the waste
basket. How could he ever have
thought of Florence? Love wasn't a
thing of blue eyes and pale gold
hair. 1t was thing of fire and
flame and fighting.
Fighting! That was it. With your
back to the wall-and winning!
For some day he meant to win
Jane. Did she think she could be
in the world and not be his? And if
she loved strength she should have
it. He bent his head in his hands
his hands clasped tensely. There
was prayer in his heart. His
whole being ached with the agony
of his effort.
"Oh, God, let me fight and win.
Bring me back to the full measure
of man."
Again he opened the book. Bits of
printed verse dropped out of it. Jane
had sent him this, Zone who never
turned his back, but marched
breast-forward" :
He opened the book and read of
Jane, and of himself as he had once
been. He skipped the record of his
college days, except where he found
such reference as this: Little Jane
is growing up. She met me at the
station and held out her hand to me.
I used always to kiss her, but this
time I didn't dare. She was differ
ent somehow, but some day I'll
kiss her."
And this: "Jane is rather a dar-
ling. But I am beginning to believe
that like 'em fair" That was when
he had a terrible crush on Florence
Preston, whose coloring was blue
and gold But it hadn't lasted, and
he had come back to Jane with a
sense of refreshment.
He found at last the pages given
over to those first days after he had
been admitted to the Washington
bar, and had hung out his single.
"Sat at my desk all the morning.
Great bluff One client received
with great effect of busy-ness. Had
lunch with a lot of fellows-pan-
cakes and sausages-ate an armful.
Tea with three debutantes at the
Shoreham-peaches. Dance at the
Oakleys' in Georgetown. Corking
time. One deadly moment when the
butler took my overcoat. Poor peo-
pie ought not to dance where there
are buffers"
Autumn came: "Jane and I went
today to gather fox grapes. Mother
is making jelly and so is Jane. The
vines were great tangle. Shut in
among them we seemed a thousand
miles away from the world. Jane
made herself a wreath of grape
leaves, and looked like a nynph of
the woods. ] told her so and she
gazed at me with those great gray
eyes of hers and said, Evans, when
the gods were young they must have
lived like this-with grapes for their
food, and the birds to sing for them,
and the little wild things of the wood
for company. It would be heaven
ly, wouldn't it?' She's a queer kid.
Life with her wouldn't be humdrum.
She's so intensely herself"
'We talked bit about the war.
I told her I should go if France
needed me. am not going to wait
until this country gets into it. We
owe debt to France :"
He stopped there, and closed the
book. He did not care to read far
Their. Oh, his debt to France had
been paid. And after that day with
Jane among the tangled vines things
had moved faster-and faster.
He didn't want to think of it