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Show a . a . a PTO s a a a By EDNA FERBER , Doki4r. ru c WNU Sal-Vie proportionate. Tlia nam Dirk bad sounded to Sellna like something tall, straight, and sllui. Pervus bad cbosea It It had been bla grandfather'! name. Sometimes, during those ynontha. Sellna would look back on her Brat winter win-ter la High Prairie that winter of the ley bedroom, the chill black drum, the achoolhouae (Ire, the chilblains, chil-blains, the I'ool pork and It seemed a lovely dream ; a time of ease, of freedom, free-dom, of careless happiness, Pervus DeJong loved his pretty young wife, and she him. But young love thrives on color, warmth, beauty. It becomes prosulc and Inarticulate when forced to begin Ha day at four In the morning by reaching blindly, dasedly. for limp and obscure garments dungllng from bedpost or chair, and to end that day at nine, numb and sodden with weariness, after seventeen hours of physical labor. It whs a wet summer. Terms' choice tomato plants, so carefully set out In the hope of a dry season, be- lapped her slim wslst ; her slender little lit-tle bosom did not Oil out the generous width ef the bodice; but the effect of the whole was amazingly quaint as well as pathetic. They were married at the Pools. Klaus and Maartje had Insisted on furnishing the wedding supper ham, chickens, sausages, cakes, pickles, beer. The Reverend Dekker married them, and all through the ceremony Sellna chlded herself because she could not keep her mind on hU words In the fascination of watching his short, stubby beard as It waggled with every motion of his jaw. Pervus looked stiff, solemn and uncomfortable In his wedding blacks not at all the handsome hand-some giant of the everyday corduroys and blue shirt In the midst of the ceremony Sellna had her moment of panic when she actuully saw herself running shrieking from this company, this man, this house, down the road, on, on towurd toward what? The feeling was so strong that she was surprised to find herself still standing there In the Dutch wedding gown answering an-swering "1 do" In the proper place. After the wedding they went straight to DeJong's house. In May the vegetable farmer cannot neglect his garden even for a day. The house hnd been made ready for them. Throughout the supper Sellna hnd had thoughts which were so foolish and detached as almost to alarm her. "Now I am ninrrled. I am Mr. Pervus Per-vus DeJong. Tliut's a pretty name. It would look quite distinguished on a calling curd, very spidery and line: "MRS. PERVUS DE JONO At Home Fridays." She recalled this later, grimly, when she was Mrs. Pervus DeJong, at home not only Fridays, but Saturdays, Sundays, Sun-days, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays Wednes-days and Thursdays. They drove down the road to De Jong's place. Sellna thought, "Now I am driving home with my husband, I feel his shoulder against mine. I wish he would talk. I wish he would say , something. Still, I am not frightened." 4 , MARRIED SYNOPSIS. Introducing "Be Bla" (Dirk DtJong) in hit In' fancy- And bit mother, Sellna DeJonf. daughter of Slmeoa Peak. (ambler and gentleman of fortune. Htr Ufa, to young womanhood In Chicago In till, has bean unconventional, eome-what eome-what aeamy, but generally enjoy-able. enjoy-able. Al school her cbum la Julie Ilempel, daughter of August Hempel, butcher. Simeon is killed In a quarrel that la not Ms own, and Belina, nineteen yeara old and practically destitute, eecurea a poeltlon as teaoher at the High Prairie school. In the outsklrta of Chicago, living at the home of a truck farmer, Klaaa Pool. In Roe If, twelve yeara old, son of Klaaa. Sellna perceives a kindred kin-dred aplrlt, a lover of beauty, like herself. Sellna hears gossip concerning the affection of the "Widow raarlenberg," rich and good-looking, for Pervus DeJong, poor truck farmer, who la lnaea-elble lnaea-elble to the widow's attraction. For a community "aoclable" Sellna Se-llna prepare a lunch boa. dainty, but not of ample proportions, which la to be "auctioned," according ac-cording to custom. The sinallnosa of the box excite derision and Sellna la heartbroken. But the bidding becomes apirlted, DeJong finally eecurlng It for $10, a ridiculously high price. Over their lunch basket, which Sellna and DeJong aliare together, the school-teacher arranxea to Instruct In-struct the farmer, whose education educa-tion has been negjected. CHAPTER V Continued Ffellna opened McBrlde's grammar. Ahem !" a school-teacherly cough. "Now, then, we'll parse this sentence: Rlucher arrived on the fleld of Waterloo Water-loo Just as Wellington was receiving the lust onslaught Of Napoleon. 'Just' may be treated as a modifier of the dependent de-pendent clause. That Is: 'Just' means: at the time at which. Well. Just here modifies at the time. And Wellington Is the . . ." This for half an hour. Sellna kept her eyes resolutely on the book. Ills voice went on with the dry business of parsing and Its deep resonance struck a response from her as a harp responds re-sponds when a band Is swept over Us strings. Sellna kept her eyes resolutely reso-lutely on the book. Yet she saw, as though her eyes rested on them, his large, strong hands. On the backs of them was a fine golden down that deepened at his wrists. Heavier and darker at the wrists. She found herself her-self praying a little for strength for strength against this horror and wickedness. wick-edness. This sin, this abomination that held her. A terrible, stark and pitiful prayer, couched In the Idiom of the Bible. air of fatality. It was as If she were being drawn Inexorably, against her will, ber judgment, her plans, Into something sweet and terrible. Wben with Pervus she was elated, gay, voluble. vol-uble. He talked little; looked at ber dumbly, worshlpingly. There were days when the feeling of unreality possessed ber. She, a truck fanner's wife, living In High I'ralrie the rest of her days! Why, no! Not Was this the great adventure that her father had always spoken of? She, who was going to be a happy wayfarer way-farer down the path of life any one of a dozen things. This High Prairie winter was to have been only an episode. epi-sode. Not her life I She looked at Maartje. Oh, she'd never be like that. That was stupid, unnecessary. Pink and blue dresses In the house, for her. Frills on the window curtains. Flowers Flow-ers In bowls. Some of the pangs and terrors with which most prospective brides are assailed as-sailed she confided to Mrs. Pool while that active lady was slumming about the kitchen. "Did you ever feel scared and and sort of scared when you thought about marry, Mrs. Pool?" Maar'Je Pool's hands were In a great batch of bread dough which she pum-meled pum-meled and slapped and kneaded vigorously. vig-orously. She shook out a handful of flour on the baking board while she held the dough mass In the other hand, then plumped It down and again began be-gan to knead, both hands doubled luto fists. She laughed a short little laugh. "I ran away." "You did I Tou mean you really ran but why? Didn't you lo like Klaas?" Maartje Pool kneaded briskly, the color high In her cheeks, what with the vigorous pummellng and rolling, and something else that made her look strangely young for the moment girlish, girl-ish, almost. "Sure I liked him. I liked him." "Rut you ran away?" "Not far. I came back. Nobody ever knew I ran, even. But I ran. I knew." "Why did you come back?" Maartje elucidated her philosophy without being In the least aware that It could be called by any such high-sounding high-sounding name. "Vou can't run awuy far enough. Except you stop living you can't run away from life." The girlish look had fled. She was world-old. Her strong arms ceased their pounding and thumping for a moment. mo-ment. On the steps outside Klaas and Jakob were scanning the weekly reports re-ports preparatory to going Into the city late that afternoon. Sellna had the difficult task of winning win-ning Roelf to her all over again. He was like a trusting little animal, who, wounded by the hand be has trusted, Is shy of It. Still, he could not withstand with-stand her long. Together they dug and planted flower beds In Pervus' dingy front yard. It was too late for tulips now. Pervus had brought her some seeds from town. They ranged all the way from popples to asters; from purple Iris to morning glories. The last named were to form the back- Pervus' market wagon was standing In the yard, shafts down. He should have gone to market today j would certainly cer-tainly have to go tomorrow, starting early In the afternoon so as to get a good stand In the Haymarket. By the light of his lantern the wagon seemed to Sellna to be a symbol. She hud often seen It before, but now that It was to be a part of ber Life this the DeJong market wagon and she Mrs. DeJong she saw dourly what a crazy, disreputable and poverty-proclaiming old vehicle It was, in contrast with the neat strong wagon In Kluus Pool's yard, smart with green paint and red lettering that announced, "Klaas Pool, Garden Produce." With the two sleek farm horses the turnout looked as prosperous and comfortable as Klaus himself. Pervus swung her down from the seat of the buggy, his hand about her waist, and held her so for a moment, close. Sellna said: "Tou must have that wagon painted, Pervus. And the seat-springs fixed and the sideboard mended." He stared. "Wagon I" "Yes. It looks a sight" The bouse was tidy enough, but none too clean. Pervus lighted the lumps. There was a fire In the kitchen stove. It made the house seem stuffy on this mild May night Selina thought that her own little bedroom at the Pools', no longer hers, must be dellclously cool and still with the breeze fanning fresh from the west Pervus was putting the horse Into the burn. The bedroom was off the sitting room. The window was shut. This lust year had taught Sellna to prepare the night before for next morning's rising, so as to lose the least possible time. She did this now, unconsciously. She brushed her hair, laid out tomorrow's garments, put on her high-necked, long-sleeved nightgown night-gown li nd got Into this strung bed. She heard Pervus DeJong shut the kitchen door; the latch clicked, the lock turned. Heavy quick footsteps across the bare kitchen floor. This man was coming Into her room. , . . "You can't run fur enough," Maartje Pool hnd said. "Kxopt you stop living liv-ing you can't riln away from life." "Farm Work Grand! Farm Work Is Slave Work." enme draggled gray specters In a waste of mire. Of fruit the fleld bore one tomato the size of a marble. For the rest, the crops were moderately moder-ately successful on the DeJong place. But the work necessary to make this so wus henrtbreuklng. Sellna bad known, during her winter at the Fools', that Kluus, Roelf, and old Jakob worked early and late, but ber months there had encompassed what Is really the truck farmer's leisure period. She had arrived In November. She had married mar-ried In May. From May until October it was necessary to tend the fields with a concentration amounting to fury. Sellna had never dreamed that human beings tolled like that for sustenance. Toll was a thing she had never en count ered until coming to High I'ralrie. Now she saw her husband wrenching a llvinj out of the eurth by sheer muscle, mus-cle, sweat, and pain. During June, July, August, and September the good blatk prairie soil for miles around was teeming, a hotbed of plenty. There was born in Sellna at this time a feeling feel-ing for the land that she was never to lose. Perhaps the child within hei had something to do with this. She was aware of a feeling of kinship with the earth; an Illusion of splendor, ot fulfillment. As cabbages had been cabbages, and no more, to Kluus Pool, so, to Pervus, these carrots, beets, onions, turnips, and radishes were Just so much produce, prod-uce, to be planted, tended, gathered, marketed. But to Sellna, during that summer, they became a vital part In the vast mechanism of a living world. Pervus, earth, sun, rnln, all elemental forces that labored to produce the food for millions of humans. She thought of Chicago's children. If they had red checks, clear eyes, nimble brains It was because Pervus brought them the food that made them so. Something of this she tried to convey to Pervus. He only stared, Ills blue eyes wide and unresponsive. "Farm work grand ! Farm work Is slave work. Yesterday, from the load of carrots In town I didn't make enough to bring you the goods for the child so when It comes you should have clothes for it. It's better I feed them to the live stock." Do Selina and her husband "live happily ever afterward"? It is obvious that there is potential po-tential tragedy In the situation. TO BB CONTINUED.) "Oh, God, keep my eyes and my thoughts away from him. Away from his hands. Let me keep my eyes and my thoughts away from the golden hairs on his wrists. Let me not think of his wrists. . . . "The owner of the southwest quarter sells a strip 20 rods wide along the south side of his farm. How much does he receive at $150 per acre?" He triumphed In this transaction, began the struggle with the square root of 670. Square roots agonized him. She washed the slate clean with her little sponge. He was leaning close In his effort to comprehend the fiendish little figures that marched so tractably under Sellna's masterly pencil. pen-cil. She took It np, glibly. "The remainder remain-der must contain twice the product of the tens by the units plus the square of the units." He blinked. She was breathing rather fast The fire in the kitchen stove snapped and cracked. "Now, then, suppose you do that for me. We'll wipe It out There ! What must the remainder contain?" He took It up, slowly, haltingly. The house was terribly still except for the man's voice. "The remainder . . . twice . . . product , . . tens , . . units ..." A something In his voice a note a timbre. She felt herself swaying queeriy, as though the whole house were gently rocking. Little delicious de-licious agonizing shivers chased each other, hot and cold, up her arms, down her legs, over her spine. . ; . "plus the square of the units Is the same as the sum twice the tens . . . twice . . . the tens . . , the tens." His voice stopped. Sclina's eyes leaped from the book to his hands, uncontrollably. Something Some-thing about them startled her. They were clenched fists. Her eyes now leaped from those clenched fists to the face of the man beside her. Her head came up, and back. Her wide, stprtled eyes met his. His were a blaze of blinding blue in his tanned face. Some corner of her mind that was still working work-ing clearly noted this. Then his hands unclenched. The blue blaze scorched her, enveloped her. Her cheek knew the harsh, cool feel of a man's chert She sensed the potent, terrifying, pungent odor of close contact a mixture mix-ture of tobucco smoke, his hair, freshly fresh-ly laundered linen, an Indefinable Dody smell. It was a mingling that disgusted and attracted her. She was at once repelled and drawn. Then she felt Ws lips on hers and her own, incredibly, in-credibly, responding eagerly, wholly to that pressure. Chapter Vl They were married the following May, Just two months later. Sellna was at once bewildered and calm ; rebellious re-bellious and content Overlaying these emotions was something like grim amusement Beneath them, something tike fright She moved with a strange Next morning it was durlt when lie awakened her at four. She started up with a little cry and eat up, straining her ears, her eyes, "la that you, futher?" She wus little Selina Peake again, and Simeon I'eake had come In. gay, debonair, from a night's gaming. Pervus DeJong was alreiidy padding about the room In stocking feet. "What what time Is It? What's the mutter, father? Why are you up? Haven't you gone to bed. . . Then she remembered. re-membered. Pervus DeJong laughed and enme toward her. "Get up, little lazy bones. It's after four. All yesterday's work I've got to do, and ull today's. Iireak-fast, Iireak-fast, little LIna, breakfast. You are a farmer's wife now." a a e a e a e ' Dirk DeJong was born In the bedroom bed-room off the sitting room on the fifteenth fif-teenth day of March, of a bewildered, somewhat resentful, but deeply Interested Inter-ested mother; and a proud, foolish, and vainglorious father whose air of achievement, considering th really slight part he had played In the long, tedious, and racking business, waa dis- Her Cheek Knew the Harsh Cool Feel of a Man's Cheek. porch vine, of course, because they grew quickly. Sellna. city-bred, was Ignorant of varieties, but Insisted she wanted an old-fashioned garden marigolds, pinks, mignonette, phlox. She snd Uoelf dug, spaded, planted. Her trousseau was of the scuntlest. Pervus' household was already equipped with such linens as they would need. The question of a wedding wed-ding gown troubled her until Maartje suggested that she be married in the old Dutch wedding dress that lay In the bride's chest In Sellna's bedroom. "A real Dutch bride," Maartje said. "Tour man will think that Is fine." Pervus was delighted. Sellna basked In his love like a kitten In the sun. She was, after all, a very lonely little bride with only two photographs on the shelf In her bedroom to give her courage and counsel. The old Dutch weddlns sows . many laches too large for ber. The skirt-band ever- |