The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 274, Ed. 2 Saturday, March 21, 1942 Page: 4 of 8
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Editorial Page
The Abilene Reporter-fems
PAGE 4
MARCH 21, 1942
HAUNTED HOUSES
Don't Worry About the Women
Some of our national leaders have become
concerned about the part American women
are taking in the war. Mrs. Elinore M. Her-
rick, regional director of the NLRB in New
York, has urged that the government pro-
ceed at once to take inventory of our re-
sources in women.
A recent Washington report showed that
of five million workers in war plants in this
country only 10 percent are women. This is
contrasted to the waning days of the first
world war when 25 percent of the nine mil-
lion workers were women. Inasmuch as it is
expected that 15 million workers will be em-
ployed in war production jobs by the first
of the year. Mrs. Herrick suggests a labor
registry be conducted without delay.
The problem of labor shortages in defense
industries already is on us, with so many
men marching off to war.
We commend Mrs Herrick’s idea of seeing
what we’ve got in the way of women work-
ers, but we hope she doesn’t worry too much
about the possible failure of our feminine
folk to bear their share. We may be compla-
cent, but we feel she is going to be bowled
over by the response of our womenfolk,
once they know exactly what the needs are.
That, we feel, is all that really is necessary
—tell the women about it, and watch them
sail into things.
Much has been said recently of how the
women of Russia are driving street cars,
buses, tractors and locomotives, piloting
planes, toiling'at blast furnaces, helping to
produce weapons and ammunition. They
have won praise for their heroism on the
battlefields and tending the wounded in hos-
pitals.
We have heard, too, of the fine work Brit-
ish women are performing in munitions fac-
tories.
Not much has been told of the part our
women are taking. Here and there we read
of a mother whose son has met death in the
flaming Philippines, or a widow who glories
in the braverv of her mate who has gone to
a heroic death. For us, up to now, it has
seemed to be mostly a man’s war. Though
there is now in congress a proposal to set up
a women’s army auxiliary corps, perhaps
most of us have assumed women would just
go on being wives and mothers, serving in
the home, bolstering the morale of the sol-
diers, and serving as nurses with the armies
and in the hospitals.
But we have utter faith in the women of
America to arise to the need when they see
it. Our mothers and our grandmothers might
not have worked in munitions factories, but
they had what it took when the emergency
became plain to them. We have only to cast
a brief glance backward to the deeds of our
pioneer women in helping to blaze the trail
through the wilderness to know that they
will not fail.
completely free to analyze and criticize offi-
cial action.
Hull Has Done His Best
There are disquieting indications that Sec-
retary Hull may have lost his desperate fight
to keep the French navy out of Hitler’s
hands.
The veteran Tennessean is a pretty realis-
tic gentleman. In his negotiations with To-
kyo. Vichy, Madrid, he never has been un-
der misapprehension as to the results he
might achieve. Like MacArthur in the Phil-
ippines. Hull has fought an impossible battle
against insurmountable odds. Every day that
he delayed Japan’s entry into the war, every
day that he kept the French battlewagons
out of German hands, gave the United Na-
tions a little longer to prepare for the inev-
itable.
If it develops that the Reich actually has
obtained possession of the French vessels,
the little left-wing coterie of Hull-baiters at
Washington undoubtedly will go to work
again on the long-suffering secretary of
state. As for the public, let those who have
accomplished the impossible in this war cast
the first stone at a statesman who did his
best.
Today's Thought
For unto every one that hath
shall be given, and he shall
have abundance: but from him
that hath not shall be taken
away even that which he hath.
—Matthew 25:29.
Who gives to friends so much
from Fate secures, that is the
only wealth for ever yours.-
Martial.
Manhattan
Moments
The Abilene Reporter-News
Published Twice Daily Except Once
on Bunday
Published By the
REPORTER PUBLISHING Co.
North Second & Cypress, Abilene, Texas
TELEPHONE: DIAL 1311
Entered as Second
Class Matter Oct 4.
1908 at the post I
office, Abilene, Tex
as, under the Act 01
March 2nd. 1879.
Saturday Eve
BLONDIE
<UN
For a Free Press
At a time when civil liberties are curtailed
by the exigencies of world war, there is en-
couragement in the Louisiana Supreme
Court's decision dismissing contempt pro-
ceedings against New Orleans newspapers
Too unquestioningly, some of us fear, the
nation's press is permitting bureaucracy to
dictate what shall and shall not be printed.
Every responsible newspaper editor shrinks
from the dread responsibility of publishing
war and production data which official
Washington thinks might help the axis.
Under such restrictions, the spotlight of
publicity may be kept off of incompetence
and corruption? This makes it doubly imper-
ative that where no confidential facts are
concerned, the newspapers should remain
On Protective Custody
Alien Japanese are discovering “protec-
tive custody” in the United States is quite
different from the brand they, are familiar
with at home and in the countries of their
axis partners. 1
Over here it isn’t a grimly ironical phrase
that calls up tragic stories of concentration
camps and seizure and slaughter. It actually
denotes protection and guardianship. These
aliens are being removed from the Califor-
nia seacoast to an established military zone
by a government that is standing by with all
possible assistance. It has established agen-
cies to shield them from forced sales and
sharp creditors, to help them operate their
farms, to store their goods, to assist and ad-
vise them in selling or leasing their property.
This is decent and orderly fair dealing,
but it should not be mistaken for softness or
laxity. The pursuit of subversive action con-
tinues. Meanwhile, these aliens may well be
thankful they are in a country where race
or color is not in itself an invitation to plun-
der, and where a man—even in war-time—
enjoys the full protection of law as long as
he deserves it.
From Other Viewpoints
Texas' Mineral Wealth
From Wichita Falls Daily Times:
A scientific survey of Texas mineral re-
sources is to be undertaken by the Univer-
sity of Texas in collaboration with federal
agencies. Presumably it will add much new
information to what is already known about
Texas' mineral wealth. We can’t help won-
dering pessimistically if the new facts will
mean as little to the development of Texas
as have the long-known ones.
Texas has coal and iron ore in abundance.
There are ghost towns marking the sites of
early efforts to develop them. Texas has in-
exhaustible quantities of granite and of lime-
stone, but usually sends to other states for
such building material. Texas has natural
gas. and permits it to be wasted in a manner
little short of criminal. Texas oil and Texas
sulphur have been extensively developed,
but other mineral wealth has been neglect-
ed. To study Texas’ experiences in such mat-
ters is to have doubts that any real advan-
tage will accrue to this state from the sur-
vey now about to be made.
Cairo, Once Tourists' Mecca, Enjoying War Boom
By RAYMOND CLAPPER
CAIRO Mar 20— (By Wire-
less)—This is one of the im-
portant military centers of the
war, although it doesn’t seem
so to the visitor.
Once a “mecca for American
tourists, Cairo is now a center
for troops on leave. Thousands
of them come m for a week-
end of respite from hard fight-
ing in the desert. But the
ancient city seems remote from
the war despite the many uni-
forms and the fact that this is a
the headquarters of the Brit-
ish Middle East command and
of the American North Afri-
can mission which covers all
the Middle East and is destin-
ed to be one of the major fun-
nels of the American war ef-
fort.
The city is as crowded as
Washington it is difficult to
find seats in the restaurants
and bars Hotel rooms are at
a premium The telephone
service has been unable to keep
up with the demands It lakes
weeks to get phones in.
There are three meatless
days a week, yet there is plen-
ty of excellent food, including
fruit because local produce
abounds. The blackout is not
as tight as London’s, so it is
possible to get around at night.
But on a basis of completely
second-hand reports — Cairo
night life is not what might be
inferred from the Cairo side-
shows in America. All the
Cairo fan dancers must have
gone to the United States.
Soldiers on weekend leave
gang up in the cafes, singing
around the bars It sounds like
a Shriners’ convention back
home The big weekend sight-
seeing expedition is to the py-
ramids snd the Sphinx, out-
side the city. Soldiers who
have just come in from the des-
ert fighting spend their Sunday
in an exhausting climb to the
top of the great pyramid, which
is only 100 feet shorter than
the Washington monument.
They climb over stones a yard
square until the sloping wall of
the pyramid appears from the
top like a sheer droop down
the side of the Empire State
building. It takes a hardy
youngster to do it.
she nas" broken ON relations
with Germany, Italy, Vichy and
Japan. Perhaps that is why
Cairo seems remote from the
war. The desert fighting is 500
miles away, just beyond the
M x n Maihitott—da the sealed
Egyptian border but except
for air-raid shelters and other
protections there is no sign
here of any connection with the
hostilities.
The British have a right, by
treaty, to use Egyptian facili-
ties, and they actually afford
the only protection Egypt has,
while creating a boom for
Cairos merchants. There is
also the prospect of increasing
numbers of Americans based on
Cairo as the most central point
See CLAPPER, Pg. 7
SSM-N
ROBERTA COUR
A1
mi
Chapter 12
PLOT BY DOLORES
Appalled, Melissa stood still, and
before she could escape Alice look-
ed up and saw her Instantly Alice
jerked erect and her white face
was convulsed by the effort to
check her tears.
“I'm terribly sorry, Alice — I
wasn't snooping, honestly,” said
Melissa in a swift, abject apology.
‘I just wanted to ask you for
something — and I didn't realize
that I was moving ao quietly you
couldn’t hear me
Alice sniffed, blew her nose
rigorously and said unsteadily.
“It’s all right. Mel Im glad It was
you that caught me off-center in-
stead of that hell-cat of a Dolores!
Sorry I slopped over. Just forget
it, will you, babe?”
warm rush of words she said
swiftly, “Im terribly sorry you’re
unhappy. Alice I don’t suppose
there's anything I can do, but I’d
Alice managed a grin that con-
tained a faint semblance of her
usual gaiety.
"Thanks, Mel, I know you
would,” she answered. "But there’s
not much anybody can do It s just
that — well, I guess I m homesick
for my baby! Darn it, why wouldn’t
I be? He’s only eight months old.
and he's growing up without his
mother around, and—well, a baby
only grows up once, and—it’s only
right that hia mother should have
the fun of watching him do it.
isn’t It?"
"Of course!" Melissa was vigor-
--------, ous about It. “But'I didn't even
“Of course,” answered Melissa know you had a baby, Alice.”
instantly, and then in a little“Very lew people do,” said Alice
By GEORGE TUCKER
NEW YORK — Waterfront
scene:
A British battleship is lying
off Governor's island, in New
York harbor British soldiers
on the Island can see the ship
quite plainly. A few miles
away, an American submarine
is taking on a torpedo Its
mission is to sink the British
battleship. The attempt is
made in the dead of night,
fails.
A movie? No. A sham bat-
tle? A practice maneuver?
Believe me. the submarine
tried its best to sink this Brit-
ish battleship, and that it
failed has been set down as
"poor management on the part
of the submarine" rather than
to alertness on the part of the
battleship.
All this happened during the
Revolutionary War. You can
stand on the waterfront to-
day and see quite plainly the
position where the battleship
lay. This was HMS Eagle, 50
guns. Washington still held
Manhattan, but the British
were on Long Island. British
soldiers witnessed part of the
action, and they are unques-
tionably the first troops on
record to witness the attack
by submarine of a battleship.
What about this submarine?
It was invented by David Bush-
nell. He called it The Turtle.
Contemporaries described it as
looking like a clam wearing a
hat. It had a cork nose and
a crude propeller that was
cranked by hand. Its hull was
scraped out of oak, and it had
a glass window which permit-
ted enough light to read by in
three fathoms of water.
It was in the night hours of
August 17, 1776, that Sergeant
Ezra Lee. who had been a
classmate of Nathan Hale at
Yale, made his historic at-
tempt. A whaleboat towed the
sub within striking distance of
the Eagle, and Lee, who was
all the crew there was, went
aboard. He could submerge
because of ballast and hand-
pumps which drove the water
out of a special compartment.
Unobserved, he got to the
Eagle and submerged. But
somehow he couldn't get his
torpedo into position. His tor-
pedo was hewn out of oak. It
weighed about 150 pounds and
was filled with black powder
and primed with a flint "that
couldn't miss fire."
After awhile Lee had to rise
to the surface, rearrange his
"torpedo " and submerge again.
It is claimed the copper plat-
ing of the Eagle's belly
thwarted his efforts. Again
Lee brought his crude craft to
the surface. Dar was break-
ing. British soldiers, attracted
by so odd a sight, had gath-
ered on shore and were ob-
serving him curiously Lee
wisely concluded that the jig
was up, and he beat a hasty
retreat, pausing meanwhile to
loose his torpedo at a raft of
British soldiers who had put
out from shore to observe him
more closely The “load" miss-
ed its target, and exploded
harmlessly In the water.
When Washington heard of
Lees attempt he thought it
was a work of genius '*
Today the ferries ply over
the exact spot where the
Eagle lay, unsuspecting of the
disaster that came so close to
her and millions of passen-
gers have gazed at the scene
without realizing that here
sea-power passed through a
historic phase.
PLE FACTORIES
LE ECUI
Hsapee.
Remember Pearl Harbor!—Buy Defense Savings Stamps and Bonds
On The Record: Will Spirit of France Survive?
By DOROTHY THOMPSON
We who love France would like
to avert our eyes from the Riom
trials, where one set of "in" French-
men have been accusing another
set of "out” Frechmen of respon-
sibility for a national disaster.
What can be said about Daladier,
Gamelin, and Blum except that
they were not great enough for
their task? And their accusers—
were they great enough?
Yet in this tragic farce not one.
not even the collaborationist ac-
cusers, is prepared to put upon
France the guilt for this war Some
last vestige of national pride on
the part of Vichy prevents her
from rendering a verdict against
France on behalf of Germany.
And that is proof that France is
still a nation.
The problem of defeat, whether
for a person or a nation is the
problem of how defeat is digested
Defeat can be turned into the
greatest victory in the end if the
nation is awakened by It to the
will to cast off dross, to begin a
new life.
In a defeated nation the spirit
that says “Rise again” is never un-
iversal The recreation of a defeat-
ed nation can, and usually does,
start with a very small group One
man can be a nation—one man
out of fifty million—if he alone
represents what the nation re-
members of its past greatness and
burningly wishes to become There
was a time when the whole French
nation was one woman: Joan of
Arc. In the days of Napoleon III
the French nation was one man: France? If we ask, out of whet sort
U. S. has 80 percent of the
world’s autos—the owners of SO
percent of which are wondering
, how soon they'll have to stop driv-
ing 'em.
Offering to stay and help your
hostess carry the dishes back to
where she borrowed them is In-
correct.
Numerous famous people have
grimly “Our agent tried to tell
us we were a couple of fools when
we decided to turn down all con-
tracts for a year while we retired
and had a baby. He said we could
never come back ’ We were at the
top of the heap, dancing in the
swankiest New York night spots,
and they wanted us for a movie.
"But I’m twenty-six and I
didn’t want to wait longer for a
baby so I persuaded Hugh it would
be all right. Well, we had some
money saved up and invested, and
we thought we had the world by
the tail on a downhill drag!"
She paused and wiped her eyes
again and sniffed.
But it didn't work out that way.
Funny, things seldom do. I guess,"
she went on after a moment as
though it relieved her to talk about
It. Some of our investments
weren’t ao hot, and I had rather
Today's Smile
NOWATA. Okla. —( — “Give
me a couple gallons of water,” Boo
Smith told the filling station at-
tendant The operator compiled
and Smith carefully poured the
water into his gasoline tank while
the lad looked on in amazement.
Victor Hugo. To them the spirit
of France repaired.
What is France? It is the beauty
of Paris, that most gracious of
cities, so clear, so triumphant, and
so homelike—homelike to all the
world? Or is it the valley of the
Rhone—that continual garden in
which men seem to have kissed the
soil into blooming? Or is it the val-
ley of the Loire—a visible history
of chivalry? Or is it the literature
of France? The mordant wit of
Voltaire, the humane passion of
Hugo, the biting satire of Moliere,
the civilised intellectual erotic of
Stendhal? Or is it the painting of
France? Is it that blooming ten-
derness that only French paint-
ing seems ever wholly to have cap-
tured-the civilized gaiety touch-
ed with melancholy of Renoir or
Manet, Monet or Cezanne?
It is not these. These are eman-
ations of the French spirit, eman-
ations of the specifically French
civilization And the characteristics
of this civilization are: Humanism
—the humanizing of everything,
including the very land: clarity,
lucidity—the glory of the French
language: light—the light of th*
French sky and the enlightenment
of the French mind: wit—the wit
that despises cant and sham, and
always cuts sharp through it,
whenever it speaks; gaiety—the
love of love and the love of life:
chivalry, which adores the noble
and often has broken a lance for
a lost cause. And in everything the
sense for form, the sense of pro-
portion—nothing too much; every-
thing enough
So. If we think, who will save
War Quiz
T. What could you tell about a
1 man wearing this medal? It is
a gold medal in the form of a cross
s 85
IN AGAIN,
soon "
(A)
Smith then produced two small
pills, dropped them in the tank,
replaced the cap and drove away.
What the attendant didn't know
superimposed,
on a wreath of 1
le avesThe
center of the
1 cross bears the
| arms. Each arm
of the cross
contains an an-
chor. The rib-s
bon is light
blue with 11
stars.
2. A cross, a
dot and a cat
originated in an
often - bomber 1
British strong-1
K7.A I’M
was that Smith's gasoline tank had
sprung a leak and he had a new
one installed in the trunk com-
partment. leaving the old one in
had their faces on American . aper ______
mony. Most of us would prefer to.place, just to get laughs with the
have our hands on it. ' pill stunt.
pill stunt.
hold in thel-f-Dr
Mediterranean. 7
What la the A
strong holds 43o
name?
3 Who Is Harold R Stark?
Answers an this Page, Col. 8
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The publishers are not responsible for
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of minds will come a French ren-
aissance, we can only answer: He
who is French, those who are
chivalrous, clear, humane, loving,
gallant, and honest, with the pe-
culiar French intellectual honesty.
I discern this honesty in the
speeches of Leon Blum at his trial.
It makes him French.
French is the behavior of count-
less anonymous Frenchmen who
maintain a witty scorn for their
conquerors, not admitting that de-
feat includes the necessity of ad-
miring the top dogs. The quiet
pride of those who refuse to hold
their hats before their mouths like
serfs, or sing the praises of what
they loathe.
And the test of who is a friend
of France is in the answer to the
question: What sort of France do
you want to see? Is the medieval
mysticism that Petain is trying
to wrap France in—is that French?
See ON THE RECORD, Pg. S
Fellowship
For D Lenten Season 1942
Prepared by
GAIUS GLENN ATKINS
For the Federal Coumell of the
Churches of Christ
in America.
PEACEABLE HABITATIONS
Saturday, March 21. "And my
people shall dwell in a peaceable
habitation" Read Isaiah 32:16-20..
The Old Testament with an ar-
resting insight uses habitation ' as
we use "home." For a home is a
house which has become a habit of
the spirit.
A house thus loved and lived in
becomes more than wood or stone.
Its rooms grow rich in memory. Its
walls, tested by many storms, as-
sures us; its thresholds are hospi-
tality; order is its beauty: content-
ment its blessing; goodness Its
crown and its foundations support
the structure of society. It needs
Washington
Daybook
By JACK STINNETT
WASHINGTON-The Capital In
Wartime:
The day of the broomstick army
is well over. The supply of rilles,
I am told, has long since passed
the requirements for equipping
every man in our rapidly expand- |
ing army. It was, therefore, with
some consternation that a good
many other Washingtonians and I
observed two smartly turned-out
young privates marching along in
front of the White House on Penn- 4
sylvania avenue the other after-
noon with brooms, at shoulder
arms.
For a moment it appeared that
the Army was picketing its com-
mander in chief. But near East
Executive avenue, the two privates
halted, grounded their brooms with
perfect precision, and then broke
their two-man rank.
It was simply a detail whose
order it was to sweep in and
around the sentry boxes that Jut
out from the iron lense that sur-
rounds the White House.
Employes of the Department of
Interior who, a few months ago,
were saying unkind things about
Employer Harold L. Ickes are now
practically unanimous in their
vote of thanks.
During the threatened gasoline
shortage in the eastern states,
Ickes conducted a departmental
campaign to force his employes to
share their cars in going to and
from work, In spite of complaints,
the idea caught on. By late Sep-
tember, It was estimated that each
Interior employe car was carrying
an average of 1.6 passengers. P
Through the winter, car owners
who drove to work daily, mapped
out pick-up routes and made ar-
rangements with other drivers to
exchange rides.
Now, with lire and auto priori-
ties beginning to pinch and a gas-
oline shortage threatened again,
the Interior department workers
are miles ahead on their share-
the-car program and the average
passenger figure has almost dou-
bled.
The cub reporter who learned
his news values in peace time
would have a bit of heavy going in
.Washington these days. A four-
alarm midtown fire that gutted a
three-story furniture building and
resulted in seven firemen being
overcome and 25 others slightly in-
jured turned up in one of the
local papers on page 13, and was
given no more prominent display
in the opposition sheet. *
Latest scheme of the racketeers
who prey on the war effort is that ‘*
of men who go about representing
themselves as federal "tire in-
spectors" and either lay the
groundwork for "government re-
quisition” of tires on private auto-
mobiles or “case the tires" for fu-
ture thievery.
Leon Henderson's OPA says that
the only government tire Inspec-
tors at work now are those check-
ing dealers’ stocks and there will
be ample information given in ad-
vance before any others take the
field.
SCORCHY SM
y I HEAR
/HER MOTOR
SHES START
7AGAIN! E
627,
HERE 6
I'LL SAY ‘M
DON’T MIS
On The Rec
(Continued 1
Certainly not. Or
Saxon world wish
France, or an
France. God forb!
we go? We want 1
self—her best self
us. We cannot Im
THE THRILL?
many kinds of peace to make a
peaceable habitation: an Inner peace
for each dweller; the peace of love
and comradeship; the peace of eco-
nomter security; the peace of there Questions on Editorial Page
War Quiz Answers
State- and "the peace of God
which passeth understanding.”
Our world is sick with longing for
peaceable habitations Must the pro-
phet's vision remain forever unful-
filled?
Prayer: O Father of us all. Who
dost establish the solitary in fam-
ilies. praise Thee for our homes
May we make the houses of our
habitation, though they be spacious
or humble, beautiful with care and
bright with love and, by Thy grace,
secure in peace. In His Name Who
blessed all homes He entered. Amen
1. You’d know that the man had "
been gallant in naval acton The
medal is the Navy Medal of Hon-
or. presented for gallantry In ac-
tion.
2. Malta—hence Maltese cross, ,
cat and dog.
J. Admiral Harold R. Stark la
chief of naval operations, top U.
8 Navy rank which corresponds
with Army’s chief of staff.
You have to have some eanrt if
you hope to leave any footprints
there.
WELL
IS TH’
OF Sf
SEEM:
PAST
TH’ w
SEE,
"To H.
- AN
‘CoR
THEF
DOW
HAR
a bad time of it when Skippy came.
And then I couldn't get back to
work as soon as I had planned, and
our agent was so busy saying, ‘I
told you so,' that he didn’t try very
hard to find anything for us, and
—well we wound up here We've
kept the baby a secret because it
seems patrons of night-clubs, ac-
cording to managers and booking
agents, don’t think a dancer with a
baby is 'glamorous'—God save the
mark!”
"Alice, that’s terrible Where is
your baby?" asked Melissa, burn-
ing with pity and sympathy for
the other girl.
"My mother's taking care of him
Oh, he’s being well cared for. I
know—only I miss him so darned
bad" She set her teeth hard
against the tears that threatened
her After a moment she looked
up at Melissa And said straightly,
"Keep all this under your hat. will
you, youngster? If that cat. Do-
lores. found out about It. shed
broadcast it so that wed have a
still more difficult time getting
another job, agents and managers
being what they are!"
"Of course I won't tell anybody
—only I think it’s a shame you
can't have the baby here on the
boat with you!" said Melissa vig-
orously.
Alice grinned and looked more
nearly her old. Insouciant self.
"Well, I'm not sure that it's ex-
actly the atmosphere in which to
bring up an infant, at that,” she
admitted
THREE’S A CROWD
"Of course I don't know just
what the object is in your sitting
here like this,” said Dolores cool.
Insolent voice above their absorbed
heads, "but if you are really fish-
ing, you might be interested to
know there's a fish on your line
The pole is bent almost double "
Alice sat up and stored at the
bobbing cork with wide, startled
eyes. She looked up at Dolores
and then at Melissa and laid a
finger against her Up in a “shush-
Ing" gesture. “Be quiet and may-
be he’ll go away," she whispered
dramatically. "He's making a big
mistake He doesn’t really want
to be caught—he just got in here
by error." J
Dolores snapped harshly.! "Oh.
don't be a fool!" and walked away.
Alice landed the fish, shivered
a little, carefully unhooked the
struggling creature and slid him
back Into the water, where with
a grateful flip of his tail he sped
"And let that be a lesson to
you not to go around snapping at
everything that looks good to eat,”
Alice called after him
Randy, coming along the deck
toward them, chuckled as he greet-
ed them. "I’m driving in to town
on an errand or two—like to go
along?" he asked them both, but
his eyes were on Melissa with an
almost pleading look.
"I’d love it," she answered in-
stantly, while Alice pleaded lazi-
ness as her excuse for not going.
Melissa sped away to dress for
the trip to town When she came
back. It waa to find Randy waiting
in the car beside the tiny pier.
But her heart stumbled and fell
flat on its face as she saw that
Dolores, sUm and cool and smart in
pale blue linen and a shady white
hat, sat beside him.
For a moment Melissa fought
her tears. She didn't want to go
if Dolores was going. But that was
childish and she couldn't on the
spur of the moment think of a
graceful way of evading the trip.
And so, trying very hard not to
display her disappointment, she
climbed into the car while Dolores,
smiling sweetly, graciously slid
closer to Randy to make room for
her.
Dolores was in excellent spirits
Obviously she was crowing a bit
at having spoiled any chance Me-
lissa might have had to get Randy
to herself for the drive. Melissa
was too sunk in her own disap-
pointment to be conscious that
Randy was a bit curt with Do-
lores or that he did not seem at
all delighted at her little affec-
tionate terms or proprietary ges-
tures.
TEA FOR SEVERAL
Reaching the city, Randy parked
the car near an office building and
excused himself to attend to some
business There was nothing tor the
two girls to do but sit in the car.
waiting for Randy's return.
Dolores didn’t bother to talk to
Melissa. She slid beneath the
wheel, resting her hands upon It. ,
as she looked out into the hot.
sunny street, humming a little
song And Melissa was perfectly »
willing to be as silent.
A tall young man coming to-
ward them from the office build-
ing greeted them with every out-
ward indication of delight, his
eyes lingering on Melissa.
"Hello, you two,” he greeted
them, and Melissa recognized
Jimmy Marston. “Ace sent me out
to tell you that he’s going to be
tied up for an hour or more He
and Dad are up to their ears in
skull-duggery of some sort—and
so I am to have the honor of tak- •
See SERIAL Pg. 1
THE LA
WINT E
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The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 274, Ed. 2 Saturday, March 21, 1942, newspaper, March 21, 1942; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1635313/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Public Library.