| Show N Neighbors By ROBERT STEAD STEAD Author o of The Cow Puncher 0 The Homesteaders Service Copyright b by Robert Stead SUad CHAPTER XIII XIII-Continued XIII Continued 13 13 You Ton suppose she repeated rl right ht It just supposition Nobody knows that Is the public doesn't know But nut what Is their happiness An ox like ox-like like acceptance of or the routine Breakfast work dinner work supper supper sup sup- per work sleep breakfast the breakfast the whole circle over n again ain I couldn't stand It It Frank theres there's no use pretending I could Id I'd Id I'd-I'd Id I'd run away with some someone someone one I I Jean 1 1 I Yes I know what youre you're thinking But It would break brenk the routine anway anyway anyway any any- way It wouldn't be that way I would lose m my soul perhaps that wa way I might save It y Toure Youre oure a strange girl Jean T can Yes I After all these years ears I am mn amBO BO too glad As long as I am strange you will be Interested In me That's the trouble with you youre you're not strange I know all about you And I wouldn't be your housekeeper for life for tor the sake Bake of being your lover for a week Jean I Shocking isn't It But true Don Dont you know that's what happens nearl nearly always It must happen unless there are new v points of or Interest always arts Ing I have the misfortune to think and so I see these things In advance and try to shield you ou from them The misfortune to think Of course Otherwise I could accept accept accept ac ac- ac- ac the ox routine and grind out my soul In n the treadmill of three meals a day I suppose that's what people call morality morality Ideal Ideal wife and mother etc Id I'd run away from It all I 1 too punched the snow with my heel beet I never ne heard you talk like that Jean I said at length I III didn't think you thought thought along along those lines You wouldn't excuse people who run run run- who disregard their marriage vows The first of ot which Is to love she shot back When that falls all tails falls Why make a mockery of or It 1 But I would love loye you always always-al- alwn always salwa s al al wa ways s You would be to me the the only only only- the only possible girl In the world 1 I Slowly she turned her face toward me she had been giving me an opportunity opportunity opportunity op op- for profile study during this dialogue Her eyes found mine her lips In Ups In them again I saw the roseleaf roseleaf rose- rose leaf leat beauty of her childhood When she spoke her voice olce wits low and tremulous and musical You dear boy I You think so I J Ionly only wish It were true 1 The last words came with a catch catchIn In her breath I thrust forward and and clasped her hands in n mine You mean that Oh Ob Jean if you do do Y Yes s I mean meun It That is the great difficulty It isn't true You wouldn't l love ve me always I wouldn't ahva always s 's be bethe bethe the only girl Jean you rou would I swear It 1 Then I 1 must reverse It I wouldn't love lo alwa You wouldn't you ou always s always lc be e the only man in n the world My I spirit sl which had gone pounding upward fell Cell like a burst balloon J Why J demanded MB B c ause your our vision Is too small Because It is bounded by the corner posts of Fourteen Because I couldn't live five penned up In such a a ja a pasture be breaking out toward out toward section sec sec- tion Two w I wFrank Frank I It was her turn to ex ex- claim Yes toward section Two T Youve You've done some plain talking Jean T ean now Its It's m my lay turn It Is Spoof that has upset upset upset up up- set your mind put mind put all ail these wild notions notions no no- In your head It Is Spoof thai that you ou are thinking about not me I sup SUl suppose suppose pose you ou think you OU could marry him and not drop Into the routine you ou would be less an ox as us you put It on Two than on Fourteen Perhaps that would be he best after all Perhaps If you you were fenced in on Two Iwo you ou might break brenk out toward Fourteen 1 Frank Please dont don't be unkind unkind- and unfair I am thinking thinking- about Spoof and It Is just because he heIs heIs heis Is not bounded by section Two You and Jack and Jake think hes he's a greenhorn green horn born and you ou play your sill silly little tricks on him but his world Is the world and yours Is IB Fourteen and Jacks Jack's Is two Twenty-two and Jakes Jake's Is Is- Is whatever his section Is lies lie's so big S so big I see Spoof has traveled more than we wc have He has seen more of ot tho the world He has met more people And so he Is big I I bet I grow more un outs oats to the acre than he does does you you should see his plowing looks like like like- be guess an and ue be C d d-d d as' as Jake sa says s Q Quite Itc an elegant remark suitable to Ja Juke Jake e hardy hardly to b be expected from you ou And your argument would be Ir ir- Irresistible resistible resistible-It resistible If I were an ox OL OLY Y Youre oure sharp arent aren't you W Well ell Something to eat is not to be despised oven even b by big people like Ulee you ou and Spoof l Even Kven ven the soul I you are ure afraid afraid of losing on Fourteen will pick up and and leave you on Two unless you feed teed that body In IIi which It lives That's what the soul itself thinks about about people who dont don't hustle for a living It gets up and andl l J cs 5 them G Good od for tor you l I cried Jean You fire are actually thinking I have goaded you ruu into It Now where Now where are arc we we sere ere bt t 1 Spoof You tou say you could rave ve vc veme me for tut a Q week and him forever 1 I 1 didn't say aay that t. t You as much as said It lt Spoof spoor may have hae advantages I I admit his travel and all nIl that that but but will those things keep him big Wont Won't section Two bound him in a year or so Just as you say Fourteen bounds me now Is he different cla clay less ox more soul Section Two can never hold Spoof because he because he-because because he Is big dont don't you ou see He reads he thinks he sings he dreams No section can hold one who does those things Does he write poetry I Inquired Innocently I I 1 I dont don't think so said she not scenting m my trap but he Is very fond of It You should hear him read read- read Hear him read Come to me Spoof l 1 She turned to me fairly a again She had lad withdrawn her hands from mine and was crushing little crusts of ot snow between her mittens Now she dropped the snow shook her hands free of Its powdery powder residue then linked them about her knee For a n long moment she held me under her e eyes es without blinking So you saw that did you Jean Jean Im Im I'm sorry I apologize I saw It by accident I I couldn't help that I could have hae helped speaking about it I apologize Then her eyes dropped It was very foolish she murmured You h haVe ve a right to be amused But Im I'm not amused I protested And Im I'm not sure It Is really foolish At any r rate te Ill I'll confess something Tean Jean when I found it I tried to write a poem poem to to you you hut but I couldn't The only rhymes I could think of were Jean and bean Splendid I Oh Frank Frnnk Im I'm beginning beginning beginning begin begin- ning to be afraid afraid to to hope that hope that I 1 didn't quite know you after atter all Fancy Fanc you trying to write poetry poetry and and about me I Lets Let's write a verse now Ill I'll help you ou She whipped a mitten from her hand and sat with her fingers lightly drumming drumming drum drum- ming on her lips summoning the muse have to write It I said Ill sign It All right I she exclaimed at length and turning to the huge drift behind us she traced on its hard surface with her ler forefinger this Inscription It If f you Ou will only be my wife No matter what the tho past has hns been rim Ill 11 tako take a broader view of ot life And try to keep you guessing Jean Oh lOh you used m my rh rhymes mes l I I ex claimed But Isn't that last line slangy I t said when we had it well laughed over and I had added at thi side an Idealistic sketch of Jeans Jean's fact fact- under a bridal veil My drawing i rather lost Its point in the fact that I 1 had lad to explain what It t was No not slang slang poetic poetic license That That's Thata a great advantage antage poets have an any anything thing hing that isn't quite good English can always be called poetic license Now sign It it itI t. t I signed It In bold printed letters and then we the fell Into silence I the answer Jean I said i at length ry Oh Ob Frank I cant can't give you an an answer not saver not now That may mar have been slang about keeping me guessing but butt it t goes a long way down in ones one's nature nature nature na ture If It you ou would only rend read and stud study and think and learn to appreciate elate beautiful things things- things Oh Jean I do I 1 I appreciate you ou Rather clever Frank but that isn't just lust what I mean I mean like Spoof we might as well vell be frank about It Ive I've seen him watch the sunset In the the- pond watch the colors change and blend and run in little ripples with a tI touch of breeze as thou though h the water ha had 1 been stirred with a feather Iv Ive I've seen seen him sit for tor hours watching UK tit ambers and and champagne of the prairie sunset and and And that's wh why he got so little plowing done Stop It 1 And he knows vs ever flower lower on the prairies and all you on snow know Is pigweed and und he takes note o 0 Ittle things like when I w worked anew r. r new strip of lace luce Into the yoke of or m dress anti and on when I put a dash of ribbon m in m my hat he said it gave m m- Just the touch of color that one needed on the prairies and It was no wonder that the Red lied Indians lo loved loed ed color an and how v much wiser In some things the they were than we and and and- He lie was spoofing you Jean He Then he be was making love to you ou Perhaps But It was ver very nice You never noticed my lace Ince or my ray rib rib- hon bon You didn't even notice this cap capI I have on today I made It out of ot an anold anold anold old muff muir all myself and I Just said to myself I T wonder If It Frank Franl will notice it but you didn't I III did too I saw It first thing and andI I thought how nice It looked on you ou Spoof would have said how nice 1 I looked under It Oh d n d-n n Spoof Spoofs an artist Frank Youre You're not Nor yet a poet But I reckon Ill Til make a good farmer We WO thrashed out the ox question a awhile awhile awhile I while ago Lets Let's keep on new ground Very Tery well Heres Here's some rome new ground When did Spoof tell you OU all these things I 1 understood he hadn't come into the house all the time we were away He didn't either elther hardly But he be used to come over regularly to see that everything was all right about the place and to have his and he had the handsomest bathing suit suit sult- white and yellow ellow trimmings trimmings and and Marjorie MarJoric Mar Mar- jorie and I fixed up bathing suits too and we used to go In In- In Together Of course Only Marjorie only went In once or twice hice she said she was afraid of ot the frogs MarjorIe Is a knowing girl My ly own sister r I And she would conspire I crunched a clump of or crust viciously under my heel Well Yell se that you h have we confessed confessed confessed con con- I suppose I should own up too I said after a n silence I III never ne told you that there was a girl out where I worked this summer No What was she like Jeans Jean's voice oice was steady but I caught a new note In It It augured well for my first attempt at romancing Oh she was a nice girl all right Her folks thought she would make mal a good hood ox but she didn't quite fall faU in n line She had that broader vision you set so much on Sort o 0 hinted that she and I might do well running a rooming house at Moose Jaw they say sar things are humming at the Jaw Rather nather suggested suggested- Oh Frank she never did I Wanted you to marry her I suppose No she slIe didn't Just say that But she's dies big you know takes a big view of things s. s Of course It might have come to that In time I remember one afternoon It rained and we couldn't work in the fields and that night she and I dance dance- went to a Does she dance well i Oh quite well And free tree You Ton know nothing know nothing standoffish or anything like that Well VeIl the storm came up again during the night and we couldn't get et home and It was only a small farm house so some of or us had to sleep In the hayloft and Nellie said shed she'd be a dead game sport sport sport- Now Frank dont don't tell me any more I dont don't believe It What happened happened happened hap hap- next Oh nothing much It was about noon when we got home and the old man was pretty sore but I told him I thought a good deal of ot Nellie and wouldn't mind marrying her if It It came cameto to that and I asked her to come over here and visit us next summerY summer summer- Y Youre oure lying Frank Lets Let's go home heme As we walked home In silence trailing trailing trailing trail trail- ing our sleigh the nip of ot the late afternoon afternoon afternoon after after- noon stung our cheeks to roses and our breaths trailed behind like the gaseous tall tail of a very young and leisurely comet Jean complained that one of ot other her hands was growing cold so I took the mitten off oft It and drew the hand down Into my deep warm overcoat pocket where we took all precautions against frostbite The other hand had to take a chance We Ve walked walled along the bottom of ot the gully jully ull for shelter from the wind which was rising with sunset As we neared two Twenty-two Jean stopped Frank I want to ask you a question question ques queSt tion she said suld There was no truth n that story you told me You care cure Of course purse I care Tremendously Dont you JOU want me to be big Not that way Ive I've been talking Intellectual things thins things spiritual pings I suppose Spoofs bathing suit with he white and yellow ellow Is quite spiritual spir spir- That Isn't fair Oh yes yos CS It Is It Is merely the other x X IX getting ettIn gored An Anyway wa your ur story wasn't wasat true Vou rou made it up to tease me If It I answer your YOUl question will you mine I cant can't Frank I cant can't not cant not now I I 1 haven't seen Spoof since Christmas Perhaps hes he's sick Perhaps hes he's dead Something awful may have happened His smoke e goes up every morning just the same some Oh youve you've been watching It It too But something has happened I I-I I I cant can't answer you ou now At the door of ot Jacks Jack's house we paused a again aln We were in n the shadow there and as she turned on the step her form swung close to mine For a n moment I seized her no longer able to I play the semi But there was no truth in It was Vas there she whispered There was some truth In It I confessed confessed confessed con con- as I turned toward th the empty empt shack on Fourteen CHAPTER XIV Next morning I was stirring my ray oatmeal oatmeal oatmeal oat oat- meal and water when the door opened and In burst hurst Jack His attire gave evi evidence dence deuce of ot haste he be had thrown a pea pea- jacket about a somewhat Incomplete toll t. t I 1 was about to summon up a Jocular remark when something In his face silenced me Have you seen Jean he demanded No Why Why Why- not In her bel room Gone Was Vas there last nl night part night part of the eight Ight- Sure she's not In the house 1 Hard to lose her In our two by Frank Not at the stables Ive I've Ive I've hunt nt ed Its It's snowing and the wind Is rIsIng rising ris rIs- ing theres there's no trail This was serious Jack sat do don Ta I and a fa as though oppressed with heat threw open his e Jacket and exposed MJ his undershirt Jean tone gone one I In a moment he sprang to his feet teet again and seized me by the arm His grip was stronger than he knew Sites not here Frank Straight now Frank she's not here r rI |
