Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 February 1916 — THE EDELWEISS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE EDELWEISS

By HAROLD CARTER.

weasessssß' Tommy Griswold was very unhappy. For two years be had been’ in love with Marion Chester and during that time he had seen her drift farther and farther from him. If he had spoken to her during the first glamour of their love perhaps —but he hadn't. Afterward things just drifted. Sometimes they were tacitly engaged and sometimes they were almost strangers. * "You see, Tommy," explained Marion, with her engaging frankness, “you’re so ordinary. There’s about as much romance about you as about —” ■*The average American man,” said Tommy, sarcastically. "All right, Marion, perhaps some day I’ll convince you." ' ~ Bnt then, again, Marion would say: "I don’t care for any of them, Tommy, dear, only you. You’re like a dear, big brother to me and —” ‘Some day?” Tommy would ask, trying to control the hammer in his chest. But that day seemed farther off all the time. However, there was this consolation: in a few months Tommy would automatically be raised to fifty, and then, even in New York, two people could scrape along somehow. _ It was really to tell Marion about that prospective fifty that he followed her to Grundelwald that summer. He could just make the trip on his vacation schedule and have five days to spare. On his arrival he surprised Marion considerably, but she did not seem in one of her most amiable moods. She was talking to a big blond beast of a man, as Tommy described him, a Roumanian count with half a

dozen names and a sneer that fastened itself aggressively on .Tommy. Tommy learned that the pair had been together for days, walking, moun-tain-climbing. Also that the count’s matrimonial status was extremely unsatisfactory and depended largely upon the judgment to be delivered by the Roumanian court of appeals. However, he posed as a married man and wore an aggressive wedding ring, which he regarded as a safeguard, apparently* against feminine wiles', particularly American ones. “I don’t like to see that fellow with you,” Tommy blurted out on the third day. ‘‘Why do you go round with him like that, Marion?” ‘‘Since when have you had the prerogative of asking me that question?” inquired Marion with great dignity. ‘‘See, here, Marion,” cried Tommy, "I came over here —you know why I came. And I can’t stand this sort of 'thing any longer. You’ve got to tell me there’s a chance, and more than a chance, or I’ll—l’ll really quit. Yes, Marion, I mean just that, isn’t there any chance at all?” “I don’t know, Tommy,” said Marion candidly. ‘You see,” she went on, “I like you—well, awfully. But somehow you’re always the same. There isn’t any romance about you. Couldn’t you do something desperate for my sake, Tommy?” She had fallen back into her bantering mood. , She looked up at him teasingly. “I'll do anything if you’ll give me a dog’s chance,” said Tommy impulsively- • "Then get me an edelweiss from the top of Grundelwald,” said Marion. The rare Swiss edelweiss grows only In a few almost inaccessible places. Of these the treacherous top of Grundelwald is one. The mountain is never ascended except with an experienced guide. The ascent seems easy, but the crevasses are almost hidden from sight under the heavy snowfalls. A false step and one falls clear of the needlelike summit sheer down to the fangs of ■ the rocks below. Neither Marion—who had almost forgotten her Jesting words—nor Tommy knew that. Tommy had found the edelweiss early in the afternoon. He had had fool’s luck to guide him and he had been within a few inches of death ,/wlttlflUt the,, .least suspicion of that fact. Marlon did not even know that he bad gone. She was engaged in a flirtation with Count Skopianu on the hotel balcony when the talk turned to Tommy. • “l like him, that young American,” said the count. ‘‘But why does he scowl at me as if 1 was his bitterest •new?” J '•. - .

. "I guess he's a little Jealous," said Marion. “He loves you, then? He knew you, perhaps, in America?" “Yes, Tommy's a dear boy,” said Marion, penitently. “I believe he’s going up Grundelwald to get me an edelweiss as a proof of his devotion.’’ The count stared at her. “That is not the young man who ascended Grundelwald this morning and refused a guide?" he asked. "I don’t know; it would be just like him,” said shrugging her shoulders. The count got up abruptly and left her. Marlon, looking after him in astonishment and indignation, presently saw him talking with Hofer, the head guide, and pointing up the mountain side. Presently the two men set off with ropes. The sun was already half way down the western slope. It was not until ten at night, under a brilliant moon, that the three returned. Tommy, in a state of exhaustion and frostbite, was wrapped in blankets and put to bed. All the hotel was talking about his foolhkrdy exploit. But in one hand he clutched the edelweiss. The count, at his bedside, opened his heart in indignation. exclaimed indignantly. "Had I known —why, I should have told you the dangers. Love does not set tasks like that. She is worthless.” Tommy opened his eyes feebly. "Much obliged to you for saving my life, count,” he said in a weak voice, “but I’ll say good-by to you now.” The count, whose temper had been soured hy the receipt of an adverse decision from the court that afternoon, bn his return, looked at Tommy tot a few moments. “Poor fool!" he thought. Then he shrugged his shoulders and left him. Perhaps he had never cared for Marion. At any rate, he passed out of her life in that moment

Tommy lay silent until Marion came in. Then he looked up to see her standing beside his bed. “Tommy,” she whispered, kneeling down, “I didn’t know. I didn’t know the dangers. I was wicked, Tommy. Everybody thinks I am thoroughly ba<L What do you think, Tommy?” She burst into tears and kneeled close to him, resting her wet face on the damp pillows. “I was just foolish, Tommy. I wouldn’t let a hair of your head be harmed for anybody in the world. Why, the count was old enough to be my father.” "That’s all right, dear,” answered Tommy. “You see, Marion, I understood you all along. Only tell me one thing, Marion. Here’s your edelweiss. And is there just a chance?” “A big, big chance, Tommy,” sobbed Marion, thrusting the white flower into her bosom. (Copyright, 1916, by W. G. Chapman.)

Saw Him Talking With Hofer, the Head Guide.