Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1945-04-27
CHAPTER XIV

With the secrecy of youth, said
nothing to anyone. Even when Ma
asked me how I liked the city boys
and girls said, All right. I had no
friends, yet I liked people and
yearned desperately to make
friends.
I wore shoes, except in stormy
weather when I wore boots, as did
on the farm. One morning, as
was saddling Dave, he bumped my
foot. That day at school my foot
was sore and I quietly slipped off
my boot. Colonel Cox, who sat
behind me, saw that I had it off
and got it away from me. In
few minutes the teacher told me to
come to the board and explain some
thing. I said I didn't know how, but
she told me to come and try. l
imped up, one boot on, one boot
off humiliating moment.
People were fascinating to me.
But I had seen very few, only our
relatives and neighbors; now sud-
denly there was whole new world.
I listened to the students recite, in
trigued far more by them than by
what they were saying. l would
discover some item of interest about
one of the students; the next day I
would discover something else. Ev-
cry day I added to my collection of
facts about each student. No longer
were they formless horde, all lined
up against me, each was an lndl-
vidual; each had traits and charac-
teristics a good deal like my knabb
neighbors. The discovery just about
f1oored me.
began to feel bit more at home
and made few shy advances, so
stimulating were people to me. Lit
tie by little I accumulated few
friends, like tree making rings. l
pulled up out of the areaway and
began taking my lunch to the school
yard and eating it on bench. Some
times some of the very boys had
slid down the areaway to avoid
would rush through their lunch at
home to come and sit on the bench
with me.
A change had taken place. But I
did not know why.
became acquainted with a farm
girl from another part of the county.
It seemed to me she was wonderful
and I began to ego" with her.
knew her father owned more land
than mine, but I didn't realize how
important this was going to be.
One day, when I happened to
mention that my father owned a
quarter section, she said, II know
that"
was surprised, as knew hadn't
mentioned it before. So asked her
how she knew it.
81 looked it up in the plat book"
My ardor fell off, and a young
man whose father owned far more
land than mine succeeded, later, in
winning her. Another example Of
the aristocracy of land.
AS I plowed and narrowed and
hayed, thought how wonderful it
would be to 60 to St. Joseph and get
a job as reporter. The same
feeling of doubt and lack of self
confidence laid hold of me that l
had had when I had first decided to
60 to high school. What if I should
fail! Yet I did want desperately to
work on "city" paper.
had graduated from high school,
but the world I knew was the Croy
farm and our town. But how thor
oughly 1 knew then, our neighbors
and the people I came in contact
with l had been out of the county
but once and that was when I had
gone to the Omaha Exposition. But
I thought nothing of that. None of
the other boys or girls had been any
farther. One day one of the boys
told me he was going to Oregon on
a visit.
I thought of it all the way back
on Dave. When 1 told Ma about it
in an awed tone, she laughed and
said, "He means Oregon, Missouri"
And that was what he had meant, a
distance of about thirty miles.
1t hurt my father when I told him
I wanted to 60 to St. Joseph and
try to get job. Why did l want to
go off and leave our good farm?
It panied me to insist, but there
was that inner urge to do the kind of
work I wanted to do. And Pa was
panied, too. Never had Croy, or a
Sewell for that matter, wanted to
leave the land. But finally he said
Lo mould MT Sbo1d o,If -
When we went to get the family
telescope, there was hole in the
corner. A telescope, I must explain,
was made of two pieces. The top
of one fitted over the other, like
pillbox lid. Around the middle was
a single leather strap, and there was
a handle. Some way or other a
mouse had been trapped and had
.gnawed its way to freedom. II
wish you didn't have to 60 off to the