Newspapers / The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, … / Aug. 8, 1946, edition 1 / Page 3
Part of The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
unci be r miiZovo, l REGGY DERM W.N.U. RELEASE otuAi inus rai: uicu U a caller at the MacTavtsh home, aid Jim MacTavtsh, always with aa eye for ft pretty womaa, finds her attractive. He U Battered when the widow asks him to re over to her hoose to help her. Lan rence Martin, with whom Meg has kept company for two years, calls that might. Rejected for military service,.Laurence had gone to the county seat to work for ?Id Judge Graham. Jim MacTavlsh an nounces guiltily that he Is going for a walk. When Laurence arrives he Is In good spirits and announces that Jndge Graham Is going to retirs within a year and wants him to lake over. "1 want yos to marry me, Meg." She hesitated a kmg time. CHAPTER V He was freshly shaven. Immacu lately groomed?and, ihe told her self, almost a little surprised, he was downright handsome. He looked less than his forty-nine years, holding himself erectly, as though in an effort to disclaim the threat of im pending overweight. "For a walk? At this time of night?" she protested, surprised. "It's seven o'clock, and there'U be a moon," her father told her almost curtly. Almost before she had finished there was the brisk ring of purpose ful footsteps on the old bricked walk, and a moment later the outer door opened and Laurence came In, beaming as he saw her, greeting her eagerly. He shed his light top coat and hung it with his hat in its accustomed corner of the closet be neath the stairs. "That looks good." He greeted the open fire and stood before it, warming his hands. "It's a bit nip py out tonight, and darker than a pocket. I was glad of my pocket Bash before I got here." "There is no moon?" asked Me gan in surprise. "Not yet," answered Laurence. "Not before nine, I should say." He stood, tall and boney, and a Httle stooped, as though his height had run away from his weight. His thick, dark hair was brushed neat ly back from an intelligent fore head. His eyes were brown and steady behind the hornrimmed eye glasses, his jaw was square and dogged, his mouth thin-lipped, rath er generous but pleasant. Suddenly he grinned at her, and said, "Well? Do you see anything different about me? Have I changed?" Megan's eyebrows went up a lit tle. "No ? has something hap pened?" "Well, the old Judge called me in this afternoon, and told me that he plans to retire next year," Lau rence told her eagerly. "The old fellow's getting on and he is pretty fired. But he wants me to take over, beginning now, so that in a year he can slip gracefully out of the picture and I can carry on!" "That's splendid, Larry?but no more than you deserve," Megan told him swiftly and eagerly. He nodded, his eyes very steady and very serious behind his rimmed glasses. "Thanks, honey," he an swered, and went on before she could take note of the endearment, "It affects you, too, of course. That is, I hope it does." His smile was confident, assured. Obviously he was so sure of her that his qualification of the state ment had been merely a surface matter. u s no secret 10 you, Meggie, that you've been my inspiration all these years, and you must have known all along that as soon as I got to the point where I felt sure I could take care of you, 1 wanted jrou to marry me," he went on quietly. "I've got to that point now, so?will you, Meggie?" But (or some queer reason, Me gan hesitated before answering. Hesitated so long, her eyes on the fire, her hand lax beneath his own, that Laurence looked at her in sud den sharp alarm and said quickly, "Hi, look here, lady?it's polite to speak when you're spoken to." "I'm sorry, Larry." She turned to him in quick, contrite apology. "It's Just that?well, I scarcely know what to say." Laurence was surprised and a little dashed. But his hand closed more warmly over hers and he said with an effort at lightening the threatening tension, "Well, 'yes' would be nice." "I wish?it could be 'yes'," she admitted frankly. Laurence turned sharply, so that he was sitting sideways on the lounge, facing her squarely. His thick, dark brows were drawn to gether in a puzzled frown and his eyes were apprehensive. "See here, Meggie, what are you giving me? You're not suddenly go ing all coy on me?" he demanded anxiously. "Of course not." She tried to teugh at the idea, but it was not a convincing laugh. "Of course, I didn't do it with the proper build-up," he admitted with a little crooked grin. "Maybe f should have dropped on one knee In front of you, with one hand on my heart, the other outflung in a pleading gesture, and said some thing like, 'Miss MacTaviah?Miss Megan?may I call you Meggie? Will you do me the honor to accept my undying devotion?" Shall I do II that way?" "Don't be an ldlott" Megan was grateful for the lightness and tried to rise to It. "It's only that?well, you have taken me a little by sur prise?" "Oh, come, now, Meggie?not 'this is so sudden,' " he protested mockingly. "I know?I do sound like a fool," she admitted quite honestly. The raillery was gone from his voice and his eyes when he spoke again. His tone was quiet and steady, his eyes gentle and warm. "You have known all along, Meg gie, that I love you. I think it first started when we were kids. Every man has somewhere in his mind or his heart, or both, a picture of the ideal?and there's never for a mo ment been anyone but you in that place for me. Everything I've done, every thought I've had for the future, has had you all woven into it and through it. It's been pretty bad these last two or three years watching you struggle to hold on to things here and not being able to help you. But now?well, all that's changed, Meggie. I've got an in come that is modest enough in all conscience, but it can take care of you, Meggie, and I promise it will be easier for you than it has been in the past. I'll see to that! So?will you let me, Meggie? Because I love you and because I can't visu alize any kind of life without you." There were tears in her eyes, and her heart gave a warm throb as she turned to him and said, "Yes, Larry?if you're sure you want me." Laurence said huskily, "As if I could ever be as sure of anything else in my life!" Laurence turned sharply, so that he was sitting sideways on the lounge, facing her squarely. He took her into his arms, awk wardly, as though she had been something so infinitely fragile and precious that the slightest careless touch might destroy her; yet there was a strength and an urgent ten derness in his touch that made her heart stir unaccustomedly. She loved his very awkwardness, loved the fact that when he bent to kiss her, his lips touched her cheek be fore finding her lips. She was the one love of his life; his inexpert ness, his confusion, told her that. And the fact that he had not had enough experience with other girls to be deft and smooth with ber en deared him to her. There were so many things to be considered, so many problems to be settled. But tonight was no time for them. Tonight it was enough just to know one's self deeply be loved; to know that she was first in Laurence's thoughts, as she had been for a long, long time. When he left, with fifteen minutes to catch his bus, she went slowly up the stairs to her own room and sat for a while in the darkness, lit by the silver square of autumn moonlight that spilled through the window. She was ashamed of her self that she should feel, not the ex ultant, delicious happiness of a girl newly engaged, but only a weariness that seemed to drug her limbs and to slow her heart. She was still awake when she heard her father come in, and, puz zled, she looked at the little clock on the dressing table. A quarter past twelve! An incredible time for him to come in from a mere walk, when he had left the house at seven. To add to the surprise of his com ing in so late, she could not but mark the caution with which he mounted the stairs, the wariness with which he walked, heavily on tip-toe, past her door to his own room. Only by straining her ears could she hear his door close. And then she gave herself a mental ahaka and got up to prepare for bed. The explanation of her father's late return was quite simple, after all. He had been playing pinochle with some of his cronies, probably in the back of the barbershop, which, she knew, was a favorite meeting place for some of the rather raffish citizens who were his particular friends. And with that explanation, she crawled into bed and finally fell asleep. The news of her engagement to Laurence was accepted without any surprise whatever in Pleasant Grove. Mrs. Stuart summed up the attitude of the town when she said, comfortably, "Well, it ain't no sur prise to none of us. 'Course, we're all mighty glad and we know you and Laurence are goin' to be happy. He's a fine boy and you're both lucky to get each other." Megan, doing the Saturday morn ing baking, with Annie's assistance, felt her cheeks warm as she man aged the conventional reply. "You all goin' to live in Meaders vllle, I 'spose?" Mrs. Stuart went on, accepting with relish a slice of the hot gingerbread Annie offered. Megan paused in her kneading of the smooth white dough that was going to be hot rolls when she had finished with it. "I suppose so," she admitted al most reluctantly. "It wouldn't be very sensible for Larry to try to go to and fro, on the bus. It's too un certain." Mrs. Stuart nodded understand ing^. "I reckin then you'll sell the farm," she contributed wisely. "Sell the farm?" Megan repeat ed in astonishment. "We really haven't had time to discuss that," she admitted finally. "We aren't going to be married until the spring, and that will give us plenty of time?" "Well, now, I dunno," Mrs. Stuart countered, licking the last fragrant, spongy crumbs of the gingerbread from her fingertips. "Folks that's going to farm a year always wants to get in and settled by January, or February at the latest. If you're going to sell, you better let folks know right away. Reckin you won't have no trouble gettin' a good prica for the place, farmland bein' higher than it ever has been before." "I suppose so," Megan agreed. She was secretly, if unashamedly, glad when Mrs. Stuart took herself off. With the last of the baking in the stove, and Annie safely in charge, Megan stripped off her apron, went out of doors, and whistled to the dogs. Reaching the top of the hill, where the big flat stone lay at the foot of the tallest, most majestic pine, she sat down and drew up her knees and encircled them with her arms. The dogs rushed about, delirious with joy. Below her to the left she could see the roof and the backyard of the Westbrook place. There was the remnant of an orchard on the slope back of the house; shrubbery that had never been pruned and so grew riotously tall, formed a sort of hedge along the front. The nearest neighbor to the Westbrook place was Stevens, which was around a bend in the road and so out of sight of the shabby little old house. Behind het, Megan knew the Ridge sloped into a valley that was threaded by the small brook that watered her own meadow, and that widened out a little so that there were rich bottom lands bordering it. It was a peaceful scene in the mild autumn morning. Here in this shel tered coastal country, winter played a mild hand; there was hardly ever any ice, seldom a killing frost. Two crops a year grew from the farmr, and life was peaceful and placid. Or it had been until Alicia Steven son came to live here. Megan jerked her thoughts away from the un pleasant riddle of Alicia Stevenson, because she had something of far more importance, to herself at least, to think about. Mrs. Stuart had taken It for grant ed that Megan would sell the farm when she married Laurence. No body who knew Jim MacTavish could visualise him running the farm or even living there after Me gan was gone. He'd take the money Megan got from the sale and run through it and be "on" Laurence and Megan's hands for support the rest of his life. Megan was unapolo getic for the thoughts; she was not conscious of any disloyalty towards her father in holding such a thought. She was simply facing facts She knew him so well that she did not make mistaken plans that maybe Jim would look after himself. She U1U11 I CVCil CAJrtV-l II. She looked out over the beloved acres ot the old (arm. Not to be here when the early spring broke, not to go out with tractor and har row and turn back the rich dark earth, to drop the tiny seeds Into the ground and witness the age-old, ever-recurring miracle that brought food and sustenance from the dark earth by means of those tiny, hard seeds. She was of the soil; ahe had been born to it; she had inherited it, not only from her mother but from her mother's people before her, people who had turned their backs on a known and beloved Scot land, who had faced the terrors and hardships of a brand new world, that they might have land thwt was their own. Land that had been cleared by her forefathers, land that had been fed and watered by the very sweat of their tired bodies; every inch of the place was part of her. (TO BX COMTTKUXOl * IMPROVED"1 UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL Sunday i chool Lesson By HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST. D. D. Of Th* Moody Blblo Institute of Chicago. Released by Western Newspaper Union. Lesson for August 11 Lesson aublecta and Scripture texta se lected and copyrighted by International Council of Religious Education; used by permission. JESUS AND HOME RELATIONSHIPS LESSON TEXT?Exodua 30:13: Mark 7:9-13; Luke 3:51. S3; Epheatana 6:1-4. MEMORV SELECTION?Honor tby la ther and thy mother; that thy days may be king upon the land which the Lord thy God flveth thee.?Exodua 30:13. Home?that place so dear to the heart of each one of us?is even more precious in the sight of God. He is concerned about our homes and those who live in them. Right relationship between chil dren and parents have much to do with the oeace and prosperity of a community and a nation. Experi ence has demonstrated that to be true, but even more basic is the fact that it is in accord with the promise of God. One of the sad breakdowns in modern life is that of proper honor and obedience to parents by chil dren. In all too many homes God's order has been reversed and in-' stead of honoring and obeying their parents, children (both young and old) have taken the place of "boss," and mother and father must obey if they want peace and rest. The problem of juvenile delin quency, or perhaps we should say more correctly, parental delinquen cy, is right on our doorsteps now. That means that the need for our lesson is both great and acute. The future happiness of hundreds of thousands of children and the pres ent welfare of thousands of neglect ed and boss-ridden parents will de pend on the intelligence and faith-' fulness with which this lesson is taught in our churches, and the hon i esty of heart with which we all re i ceive its truth. i. xne Responsibility Stated (Exod. 20:12). I "Honor thy lather and thy moth ' er"?how good, and substantial, and right those words sound. We are told by Paul that this is the "first command meat with prom- | ise" (Eph. 6:1-3), The Lord was pot making a bargain with man, or seeking to draw out obedience by a prize, but there is obviously a great reward in the observing ot this com mandment. Then too. as the children ef Qod (if we are such) through Jesus Christ, the first and most important consideration to come before us is, I What is I he mind and will of the Maker of us all regarding this mat ter of the relationship between par ents and children? His words are plain: we are to "honor" our fa thers and our mothers. The word "honor" carries with it 1 a great many things, but per haps the three outstanding elements are respect, obedience and affection. But men do not wish to follow God's direction, so we see next II. The Responsibility Evaded (Mark 7:9-13). Such iin important commandment naturally held a high place in the thinking of the community. To vio late it involved a measure of shame which men sought to avoid. So the Jews of Christ's day devised a scheme which made it possible for a man to appear to be very religious even as 'he deprived his parents of the honor and help to which they were entitled by the law of God. The man who did not wish to sup port his aged and needy parents could entirely evade that God-given responsibility by declaring that his property was "Corban"; that is, dedicated by a vow to God. There after no matter how great was the need of his parents they could re ceive nothing, and yet he could keep it and use it for himself. Thus do men make "the word of God of none effect" (v. 13) through their traditions. The method differs but the spirit persists even in our day. Jesus made short work of such trickery Snd evasion. He declared their mal^made creeds and tradi tions to bis simply a means of mak ing the Command of God of none effect. On re more he condemns that formal religious observance which serves as a cloak for sin and selfishness. Ill si,. ????mm? - M?spviMUiaHIJ ruiuucg (Luke 2:51-52; Eph. 6:1-4). The manner in which children should be obedient to their parents and honor them In the home is beau tifully exemplified in the life of our Lord, living as a boy in Nazareth. In the home the growing youth finds the best place for normal, well rounded development (v. 52). There is no substitute for the home. The words of the Holy Spirit through Paul In Ephesians 6:1-4 stress the same truth and enlarge upon it. This matter of honoring and obey- J ing parents "is right." says Paul. It is the Lord's way, but it is also that which commends itself to ev ery right-thinking person. There is tremendously Important truth on the other side of the ptc ?ure. Parents are not to provoke their children to anger, to disre spect or disobedience. May God help us who are parents that we may take to heart this part of our lesson. Our children are our most valuable possession. MAJOR UNDERTAKING?As hirhMght of its year's activities the Youth Council of Richfield Springs, N. Y., annually stages an I Am an American program. The above picture shows members of the high school orchestra and a vocalist participating in the program. IN THESE UNITED STATES Youth Council- Sets Pace In Developing N.Y. Town By E. L. KIRKPATRICK WNU Futiraa A a. : iL a is a. n. town wun a past can live In the present and look to the future, say young people of Richfield Springs, upstate New York center with 1,200 popula tion. This is the consensus of the town's Youth council, started more than three years ago from a panel discussion on "Young People's Pres ent Day Problems." Some of the charter members as well as their followers were out-of school young people. On the present membership list are the names of a beautician, bookkeeper, clerk, farmer, housewife, laboratory tech nician, machinist, secretary, school custodian, telephone operator, sten ographer, and typesetter, so "ev erybody gets in and pitches or helps play the field. Each works where he fits and is most needed." Stage Annual Program. Chief activity is I Am an Ameri can Day program staged annually under the council's direction. Use is made of school band and chorus, American Legion, church groups, town board and boys' and girls' clubs. Highlights of this year's pro gram were demonstrations by Cub, Boy and Girl Scouts, remarks by a new voter and an address by one of the town's ministers. This youth group tackles other things as the months come and go. They "dig a bit into the annals of history" for indication of what's happened to Richfield Springs, which in the Gay Nineties was New York State's most popular spa be cause of the healing powers of its sulphur spring waters. "Then, we had hotels filled with visitors, liv ery stables of fine horses and all kinds of carriages that outshone most cars in today's modern ga rages," an old-timer recalls. Varied Projects. "So," the group asks, "what can we do about what's left with us?" They consider how to clean and make use of deserted hotels and other buildings, explore the needs and possibilities of local industries such as cannery and dairy. Outstanding project is a fo rum to study the creation of good citizenship to world aifalrs. This reaches 154 youth and adults who meet weekly during the winter to formulate ques tions and work out unbiased an swers to them. Under direction of the council sponsor and the high school social science teacher it has quickened initiative, developed new view points, broadened horizons and brought needed co-operation in def inite community projects. One of these was a community carnival, which was a financial success and a concrete demonstration of how folks can and will work together. Another was the realization of $1,000 through contributions and a commu nity dance for Christmas boxes and gifts to 200 hometown men and women in the service. List Accomplishments. To prove that other communi ties can "do as well as ours," Youth Council members explain that in their farming section of cash crop ping, dairying and poultry raising, a dairy manufacturing plant, two fishing tackle factories and a sports wear mill have been established as a result partially of their interest and agitation. As war clouds lift, the council proposes to improve facilities for tourists at nearby Canadaraga lake, which offers boating, fishing and swimming in summer and skating in winter. "While we are planning for things ahead, we are doing more real liv ing in the present with due respect to the past for cornerstones to build on," say Richfield Springs young people. Texas Politicians Slow in Own Towns TAYLOR, TEXAS ?Two William son county politicians, Mr. A. and Mr. B., are running against each other. Mr. A. went to Mr. B.'s hometown and reported jubilantly that' o had contacted 100 voters and that 90 of them promised to vote for him. Mr. B. then visited Mr. A.'s home town and reported with deep satis faction that he had talked to 100 people and that 90 of them had in dicated they would definitely vote for him. BIG CHEESE TO ''BIG CHEESE"?Wisconsin's dairy queen, Cather ine Mueller, 21, of Lake, Wis., presents Selden F. Waldo, newly elected president of I). S. junior chamber of commerce, with the first Wiscon sin natural rindless Cheddar (American) cheese ever offered the public at national Jaycee convention in Milwaukee. Heralded as major devel opment in dairy industry, the cheese does not form a hard crust when cut, has no rind and possesses a texture of processed cheese with all the flavor of natural cheese. Waldo Is municipal judpe of Gainesville, Fla. To the left is Henry Kearns of Pasadena, Calif., outpoint Jaycee national president. 2-Year-Old Child Has Unusual Vocabulary CRANSTON R. I.-Guests at the home of Thomas Stabile are amazed when they are greeted by his two year-old daughter Donna Jean who calmly inquires about their com fort and continues to carry on a lively conversation. Psychologists who have examined the pert blonde child agree that her rapidly expanding vocabulary is highly unusual for her age. Donna Jean uses 400 words in complete sentence* whereas average vocabu lary for two-year-olds ranges from 60 to 200 words. In checkers which Is her favor ite game of wits Donna Jean al ready has learned a self-appeasing trick. Because she always geta beaten when she plays with her fa ther Donna Jean has contrived a game she plays with her doll. Asked who wine hi the contest she in variably replies: "I do, at course." . "I Low-Cost Protection For Your Furniture 641 i D RIGHTER days ahead . . . and 1 your chairs, footstools and sofas deserve them, too! Have fun making slipcovers with these directions. ? * ? Easy, low-cost upholstery protection! Instructions Ml has step-by-step direc tions for slipcovers for 8 chairs, 4 foot stools and a couch. Due to an unusually large demand and current conditions, slightly more time is required In filling orders for a few of the most popular pattern numbers. Br wing circle Needleeraft Deft. t2 Eighth Ave. New fork Enclose 20 cents for Pattern. No Mam? AHriraf (sleep) You don't appreciate how | wonderful sleep is until you | have had one or two wakeful nights. When occasionally ner voua tension keeps you awake' half the night, or when you are I nervous, keyed up, jittery. | Try Mite NERVINE I It has been making good fori more than sixty years. CAU-j TION?use only as directed. | Get Miles Nervine at your drug j store. Effervescent tablets, 35c' < and75c?Liquid, 25c and $1.00.1 Mi lbs Labobatobibs, Inc., I Elkhart, Indiana. / _ * Buy U. S. Savings Bonds! Vot cues slioved^/^ ? clinical improve V meat sfter only 10 dsrs treatment with ^ ^R I ^R losrroNi ia impsrtisl, V^| scieaciSc cat. I ISORETDNE 5*3iuji .
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 8, 1946, edition 1
3
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75