The Seattle Star Newspaper, October 19, 1921, Page 11

MAIN STREET The Story of Carol Kennicott BY SINCLAIR LEWIS Copyright, 1920, Harcourt, Brace & Howe, Ine, SsYNOrsIs OF CAROL MILFORD, your small Minnesota coll Deautifying (he ualy the St Paul library. DR Ww BEA SORENSON street, To her It seems lively SAM CLARK, hardware Prairte (Continued From Yesterday) CHAPTER V @ “We'll steal the whole day, and go huntin 1 want you to see the country round here.” Kennicott a nounced at breakfast. “I'd tak the car—want you to see how sweil/ she runs since I put in a new piston. But we'll take a team, so we can get) Tight out into the fields, Not many | < chickens left now, but we Pymight just happen to run onto a il covey.” He fussed over his hunting-kit. He/ Pulled hia hip boots out to full length and examined them for holes. He feverishly counted his shotgun/ shells, lecturing her on the qualities of smokeless powder. He drew the new hammerless shotgun out of! its heavy tan leather case and made her Peep thru the barrels to see how Gazalingly free they were from rust. ‘The world of hunting and camping. Outfits and fishing-tackle was un- familiar to her, and in Kennicott's Wterest she found something creative and joyous. She examined the Smooth stock, the carved hard rub- ber Dutt of the gun. The shells.) their brass caps and sleek green and hieroglyphics, on the! hunting-coat with vast pockets lin- the inside, corduroy trousers bulged at the wrinkles, peeled red shoes, a scarecrow feit In this uniform he felt virile. They clumped out to the livery Dugsy, they packed the kit and the mission in tite te ree & position in And 9 physician Kennteott takes le terrified at the : ° the late thirties tied, and She te bored by their dull conver, walking was hard trained feet. The earth was lumpy, the stubble prickly and lined with grass, thistles, abor- uve stumps of clover, She dragged and floundered. She heard Kennicott gasp, “Look! Three gray birds were starting up from the stubble, They were round, dumpy, like enormous bumble bees. Kennicott was sighting, moving the barrel, She was agitated. Why didn't he fire? The birds would be gone! Then a crash, another, and two | birds turned somersaults in the air, | plumped down. When he showed her the birds she }had no sensation of blood, These heaps of feathers were so soft and | undruised—there was about them no hint of death. She watched her con- quering man tuck them into his in- side pocket, and trudged with him back to the buggy. They found no more prairie chick- ens that morning. At noon they drove into her first farmyard, @ private village, a white | house with no porches save a low and quite dirty atoop at the back, a crimson barn with white trimmings, a glazed brick silo, an ex-carriage. shed, now the garage of a Ford, an unpainted cow stable, chicken house, & pig pen, a corn crib, & granary, the galvanized iron skeleton tower of a windmill. The dooryard was of packed yellow clay, treeless, barren’ of grass, littered with rusty plow. shares and wheels of discarded culti- vators. Hardened taampled mud, like lava, filled the pig pen. The doors of the house were grime-rubbed, the | corners and caves were rusted with ft if Be rete. teh 2 eeay ile ha i f 5 uo dy! Hee i, all i . i i g E i 28 gk g H sf & z ef f s i i I A baz Bg } get Hi gut i ag rain, and the child who stared at them from the kitchen window was . | smeary-faced. But beyond the barn was a clump of scariet gerantums: the prairie breese was sunshine tn motion, the flashing metal blades of the windmill revolved with a lively hum; @ horse neighed, a rooster crowed, martins flew in and out of the cow stable. A small spare woman with flazen hair trotted from the house. She twanging a Swedish patois— monotone, like Engiish, but with a way 7 & ray pas g 3 i $3 i i i fale i i Hi g i icf 1 gE ae Bs i ifs at i li j i Z ie i A g55 3 4 rE if Silver Wing heard one of the gnomes “Say, kiddies,” called Cap’n Penny- inkle, galloping up on Curly in a t hurry. “Did you see a bag of gold?” “No, sir?’ said Nick “TI didn’t, did . Nancy?” But Nancy hadn't either. “Did nebody lose it?’ she asked. “Well, not exactly,” answered the . Teaching into his pocket ‘Ain pulling out a letter. “But the Fairy Queen sent me this, and I ‘thought I'd ask you.” He unfolded the letter and handed it over. “Read h ftr’ he nodded. Now the twins were not very far r} on in school. Indeed, they had only As where the schoo} reader said: has been a big bun on the ." But the letter was written in language, s0 of course it was nite easy to read. Nancy read it ut loud. It went like this: “Dear Captain Pennywinkle: “The gnomes have dug a lot of out of one of my mountains and it into w beg and run off with it. My fairy helpers have searched and searched in every one of my Nine | Hundred and Ninety-nine Kingdoms | and all over the country of the | gnomes, but they always come home jempty-handed. The other day, how- jever, Silver-Wing, flying thru the | forest, overheard one of the gnomes |say that they had buried it at the ‘foot of the rainbow. | “We looked under one end of the rainbow, but the other end foes down under the ocean waves, Will you kindly ask the Wigglefin peo ple if they have seen it. Perhaps | Nancy and Nick could Pind it, as | they were smart enough to find my \pink pearl. | “Hoping you may have good news |for me, I am Your friend, “THE FAIRY QUEEN.” “Of course, we'll find we, Nick,” sald Nancy qtickly. (To Be Continued) (Copyright, 1921, by Seattle Star) . it, won't) THE SEATTLE STAR DOINGS OF THE DUFFS HELEN, } JUST HAD MY HAIR BOBBED! How DOES IT Look P ‘YOU LOOK A PICTURE OF ME WITH MY HAIR ABOUT AS GOOD AS THE OTHERS Do THAT HAVE IT BOBBED FRECKLES AND HIS FRIENDS Loour Ww BS DIECE oF MEAT, TASALONG. farmers think they pay too muah for the services of the towns?” “Oh, of course there's a lot of cranks among the farmers eame as/ there are among any class. Listen to some of these kickors, a fellow'd think that the farmers ought to run the state and the whole shooting. matech—probably if they bad their way they'd fill up the legislature “But why shouldn't they? “Why? That bunch of— Telling me— Oh, for heaven's sake, let's quit arguing. All this discussing may be all right at a party, but-— Let's forget it while we're hunting.” “I know. The Wonderlust—prob- ably It's a worse affliction than Wandertust. I just wonder—"* She told herself that she had every. the world. And after each she stumbled again on/ wile! il i : z . E x Gh ee 5 5 juirrel, and at dusk he had a dra- at a flight of ducks whirl. from the upper air, skim- ming the lake, instantly vanishing. Grove home under the sunset. straw, and wheat stacks, | hives, stood out in startling} gold, and the green-tufted| eit 3 table, had the decency of clean bare-| ness. | In the line of unsmiling, method. | feally chewing guests, like horses at | & manger, Carol came to distinguish | one countenance: the pale, long,| mpectacled face and sandy pormpa-| dour hair of Mr. Raymond P. Wuth-| erspoon, known as “Raymie,” pro- fessional bachelor, manager and one- | half the mies force in the shoe de partment of the Bon Ton Store. “You will enjoy Gopher Prairie very much, Mrs. Kennicott,” peti- tioned Raymie. His eyes were like those of a dog waiting to be let in out of the cold He passed the stewed apricots effusively. “There are a great many bright, cultured people here. Mra. Wilks, the Chris- tian Science reader, is a very bright woman—tho I am not a Scientist my- | self, in fact I sing in the Episcopal choir. And Miss Sherwin of the high school—she is such a pleasing, bright girk—I was fitting her to a pair of tan gaiters yesterday, I de clare, it really was a pleasure.” “Gimmé the butter, Carrie,” was Kennicott's comment. She defied him by encouraging Raymie: “Do you have amateur dramatics and so on here?” “Oh yes! The town's just full of talent. The Knights of Pythiag put on @ dandy minstrel show last year.” “It's nice you're so enthusiastic.” “Oh, do you really think so? Lots of folks jolly me for trying to get up shows and so on. I tell them they have more artistic gifts than they know. Just yesterday I was saying to Harry Haydock: if he would read poetry, like Longfellow, or tf he would join the band—I get so much Pleasure out of playing the cornet, and our band leader, Del Snafflin, is such s good musician, I often say he ought to give up his barbering and become a professional musician, he could play the clarinet in Minneapo- lis or New York or anywhere, but— WUSH = YOU Go OUTSIDE AND WAIT FoR MOTHER, y EVERETT TRUE < Top Mov Tuice, JoHNSan),} Hat ad M ee Co ve THe Now % iv Of IL Tee You f MG ON WHSRE To Go! AW-W-w 00 VERY Wert, B'L ComPROMISS cw Go Wern you A Few STSRPS tare Seallle _+ Sd . Page 498 NOT SO VERY WICKED Once more the first policeman) around the wharf and south of b * SERRE Cherry, nights were often—sort of wild. smiled. “How bad was Seattle in 13667" “Well, one night I was walking he said. my beat—" “Yes,” said daddy, “that’s what “What year were you elected David and I came to find out| chief of police?’ interrupted daddy. about. We know, of course, that! “17 issq@ ne reptied. “I was no town, old or new, big or little,| aown on Second and Cherry when is all good, but we'd like to hear I hear a commotion up the hill some of your memories about ar-| nd down the wooden sidewalk I rests and things. By the way, do saw Chris come running. you happen to remember the first “‘Here, officer,” he called to me, ‘arrest those men. They're lawbreaker you had to arrest in Seattie?” disturbing the peace. “There werent se many laws “I hurried up to the comer and thete in front of his beer room to break in those days,” he re’ plied. “Nobody ever exceeded the were two sailor boys and some other men. i speed limit with what we got} “Chris had got all the boys’ around in then, And a man could| money for beer and then tried to hitch his horse to anything| put them out, and the boys had handy without fear of a ‘no park-| put Chris out of his own place. ing’ sign. “Prohibition hadn't been “One of them threw a brick at thought of, I guess, but it was in me, but I caught it in my hand and nobody was hurt, but I had connection with beer that that first arrest was made. to arrest the boys and put them inch planks and when the tide was “Chris owned a little saloon| in it was surrounded by water. down at the foot of Cherry st. and “I got the boys In and locked a little’ sort of beer shop up on badaten and went on about my Fourth and Cherry which men ines, sort of used to sit around in and “Now, T'é fined Wem $25 apiece loaf. and two months tn jafl, but the “We'd had some trouble with| more I thought about ft, the more - rowdies before (that’s why the| I felt it was somehow wrong. council elected me chief of police, “ “There are those boys,’ I'd say I guess). Up to that time we'd had | to myself, ‘away from home, Al only @ town marshal. But down | alone. Chris got them drunk and. got all their money; they aren't sand spit and was built of four aeirhkkk but I couldn't get Harry to see it at sounded like “gentleman hen.” all and—I hear you and the doctor| But Raymie’s pale eyes were water went out hunting yesterday. Lovely|ing at her, She helped him with, country, isn’t it? And did you make|“So you like to read poetry?” some calls? The mercantile life isn't} “Oh yes, so much—tho to tell inspiring like medicine. It must be| the truth, I don’t get much time wonderful to see how patients trust| for reading, we're always so busy you, doctor?” at the store and— But we had the “Huh, It’s me that’s got to do all| dandiest profersional reciter at the the trusting. Be damn sight more| Pythian sisters’ sociable last win- wonderful ‘f they'd pay their bills,” | ter.” grumbled Kennicott and, to Carol,| Carol thought ahe hear a grunt he whispered something which! from the traveling salesman at the walt A MinuTe! "VE GOT A SUGGES TION To MAKE! *e~ BOTTLE OF BLoop “Has anything been heard from Philip Ames?” I asked. Mrs, Ames recoiled visibly. “He has called many times—but I have not talked to him,” she said. “Do you know anything about how he is?" I ventured. I hesitated at pressing something which I knew was painful, upon Mrs. Ames, but I had been unable to throw off a certain queer, uneasy feeling about Philip. “Helga,” Mrs. Ames was serious, “I can't exactly say I hate Philip | Ames, because I am as guilty as he —but I can’t talk about him.” And that closed the subject for | the day, but I had a feeling as I looked out over the lilac hedge of spring night memories, that Philip Ames had not been dismissed. As the shadows lengthened, Lila left me to the quietness of my own room. I was glad to be alone with my own thoughts. end of the table, and Kennicott's jerking elbow was a grunt embod- ied. She persisted: “Do you get to see many plays, Mr. Wutherspoon?* He shone at her like a dim blue March moon, and sighed, “No, but I do love the movies. I'm a real fan. One trouble with books ts that they’.e not so thoroughly safe- guarded by intelligent censors as the movies are, and when you drop into the library and take out a book you never know what you're wast- ing your time on. What I like in books is a wholesome, really improv- ing story, ahd sometimes— Why, once I started a novel by this fellow Balzac that you read about, and it AT THE. CORNISH Wednesday Eve., Oct. 19 be po” “Riders to the Sea” AND “Joint Owners in Spain” Teo meet the demand of those whe could not procure tickets last SINGLE TICKETS, 62.00 At the Bex Office, Plus War Tax Daddy, Boldt’s Butterhorng are de- liclous.—Advertisement, SNAP IT Quick! SHE LOOKS LIKE A FOOTBALL PLAYER DOESH'T SHE,HELEN P JOHN HUTCHINS WAS JOSTLED AND DROPPED AIS DOLLAR, JUST AS WE WAS LEAVING DOCTOR SWANTONS SHOW LAST NIGHT. (Copyright 1931 by Geettic Star; a I téok out from under the little Jewel case on my dressing table a much-creased bit of white paper and read again the words there: “I thought, at first, it was you. ‘Thank God it wasn’t” ‘ I was glad, even though fate should always conspire to keep Tom and me apart, that I had no lilac | hedge memories. I went to sleep with a sense of se- curity, glad that I had at least been trying to be four-square. - The house was stirring early the next morning. Mrs. Ames, it seemed, had not slept well in anticipation of her trip to her husband, She was up with the dawn. §& sparkled at breakfast. She was her old self, except that there was something more mel- low and more sweet about her” at- tractiveness. Tom came early and we set out. told how @ lady wasn't living with her husband, I mean she wasn’t his wife. It went into. details, dis- gustingly! And the English was real poor, I spoke to the brary about it, and they took it off the shelves. I'm not narrow, but I must say I don't see any use in this deliberately dragging in immorality! Life itself is so full of temptations that in lit- erature one wants only that which is pure and uplifting.” “What's the name of that Balzac yarn? Where can I get hold of It?” Siggled the traveling salesman. Raymie ignored him. “But the movies, they are mostly clean, and their humor— Don’t you think that the most essential quality for a per son to have is a sense of humor?” “I don't know. I really haven't much,” said Carol. He shook his finger at her. “Now, now, you're too modest. I’m sure we can all see that you have a perfectly corking sense of humor, Besid Dr. Kennicott wouldn't marry lady that didn't have. We all know how he loves his fun!” WHEN A WOMAN TELLS. By RUTH AGNES ABELING CHAPTER LXV—WE GO TO SEE JOHN AMES i ‘ Tom rode tn front with the chauffeur and Mrs. Ames and I in back. It was « wonderful road that we took. It wound thru little like some threatening skeleton, And somehow, later, as we sped ure found with mirage- (To Be Continued) ways said—when Haydock & Simons were finishing the new front on the Bon Ton building, the old man came to me, you know, Harry’s father, ‘D. H.,.’ I always call him, and he asked me how I liked it, and I sald to him, ‘Look here, D. H.,’ I said— you see, he was going to leave the front plain, and I said to him, ‘It's all very well to have modern light- ing and a big display space,’ I said, ‘but when you get that in, you want to have some architecture, too,’ I said, and he laughed and sald he guessed maybe I was right, and so he had ‘em put on a cornice.” “Tin! observed the traveling salesman, Raymie bared his teeth like a bek ligerent mouse, “Well, what if it is tin? That's not my fault. I told D. H. to make it polished granite, You make me tired!” . “Leave us go! Come on, Carrié, leave us go!’ from Kennicott. Raymie waylaid them in the and secretly informed Carol that she mustn't mind the traveling sale coarseness—he belongéd to man’s |. | the hwa pollwa, y marked Kennicott, Raymie implored, “And what ts your chief artistic interest, Mrs. Kennicott?” “Ob—" Aware that the traveling salesman had murmured, “Dentist- ry," she desperately hazarddtt, “Architecture.” “That's @ real nice art. I've al- Kennicott chuckled, “Well, child, how about it? Do you prefer an artistic guy like Raymie to stupid boobs like Sam Cla “My dear! Le play pinochle, and laugh, foolish, and slip up to bed, and without dreaming. It's beautiful to be just a golid citizeness!”" (Continued