Newspapers / The Elkin Tribune (Elkin, … / June 28, 1934, edition 1 / Page 2
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FIRST INSTALLMENT Life was not real. It was a cas tle of lovely brittle glass, and it was cracking and splintering air around her. The girl in the cream-colored roadster tried to realize it in all its ugly implications, tried to see her way through the bristling wreckage which had closed in on her. Things didn't happen like that; they simply didn't. To some, per haps, to the reckless and hardboiled who did things that invited disaster; lived on excitement and wild parties. Not to girls who led normal, healthy lives and did the usual pleasant, agreeable things, and were thrilled to pieces over their work and the glorious chance of success in it. It could not happen. But it had. What was she going to do about it? The girl kept haunted young eyes on the road ahead, mechani cally efficient while her thoughts darted and turned, hunting franti rally for a way out. The speedo meter needle trembled at sixty, and slid back to forty-five. She must not drive too fast, and risk being stopped for speeding. Of all times, not now. What was she going to do? For the first time the firm little hands on the wheel slackened and shook, but she steadied them again resolutely. The roadster hummed softly on. The wind that rushed by her face was sharp with the night chill and damp with the smell of the Pacific. Long fingers of light reached out for her and were dim med; a nondescript car rattled past, its driver sending a curious glance at the smart roadster with the pretty girl at the wheel, alone. The air on her cheek was notice ably wet, bringing its own message. A thin fog was creeping in from the sea. Presently it would be thicker, a fleecy white blanket. She saw its wooly whiteness closing silently around a dark beach bungalow, miles back of her, shrouding it, hiding it, smothering sight and sound. There were no lights in that bungalow, to beat through in a golden haze. She saw it as she had ON A STRENUOUS ROUND OF GOLF Camels taste mighty good. Even tiredness drops away! For Camels have a remarkable "energizing effect." And steady smokers find that Camel's costlier tobaccos never jangle the nerves. "Get a lIS with a Camel!" New Interest Period On Savings Accounts Begins July Ist I After July 1 all deposits will be insured to $5,000.00 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The Bank of Elkin R. C. Lewellyn Garland Johnson President Cashier 'ast seen it, blank-windowed, dark md furitive on its strip of sheltered oeach. A silhouette against the pale rectangle of a door. A man's silhouette. Memories came like black wings, swooping down on her. Other things . . . things that were said. She didn't want to think of them. The road curved again. She saw a single light ahead, and her own headlights picked up a motorcycle drawn to one side of the highway, and a man in uniform bending over it. A motorcycle policeman. He looked up, with a professional eye on the oncoming car. She wanted to step on the gas and go roaring past him, but she didn't. Somehow she stopped. Somehow she kept her voice cool and natural. "Any trouble, officer? Can I call up a garage for you—or any thing?" "Why no, lady. Much obliged." The man in uniform was disillu sioned and hardboiled, but he grinned appreciatively at the small creature competently offering help. Drivers of speedy cars didn't usu ally waste much grief over a motor cop stalled by the roadside. And this was a pretty girl, pretty even for this favored strip of the coast, where pretty girls flocked from all parts of the country. A little thing with big soft eyes and a red beret pulled at a gallant angle over a small, dark head. Looked like a nice kid, for all she was tearing around the country alone at this hour of the night. A swell car too; It must have cost a hatful of money. Later he was to remember that car, and the girl who had driv en it. He swung a sturdy leg over his saddle. "Better detour inland if you're going far. The fog's getting thick back there. Driving's going to be bad before long." "Thanks, I'll remember." She smiled, and the cream-c6lored roadster slid past him. Fog, and dangerous driving along the coast road. It was so very simple. She had been up and down this road a score of times since the new roadster had been hers. She knew THE ELKIN TRIBUNE, ELKIN, NORTH CAROLINA its curves, its grades, its ragged coast line. She knew, now, where she was going. The speedometer needle crept a little higher. A road appeared, branching obliquely from the main highway. Tall trees marched along each side of it, and a denser planting showed ahead. In the darkness beneath the trees she brought the roadster to a standstill and let her hands drop from the wheel. It was lucky that she had remem bered this place. So accessible and yet so secluded, with no curious eye to see the queer preparations that she had to make . . . Funny how wobbly she felt, now that she could just drop back and let go ... It wouldn't do. She must get herself in hand, keep her head clear and her nerve steady. It was not so easy. She seemed to be two people, and one of them was a sly, persistent imp which hovered close to her ear, fleering and wheedling. "You're running away. Running away. You've never been a quitter before." "But I've never," she found her self arguing, "been in such a ghast ly jam before." "If you go now, you can't come back. You'll be giving up every thing. All this that you've worked for. You can't ever go back to that." "I know. That's all finished . . ." She shook herself impatiently and swung the door open with a vigor ous jab. The pocket of her light sports coat bumped clumsily against her as she stepped down. She stood very still for a moment, with an odd, ar rested look on her face. Then she thrust her hand into the overloaded pocket and drew out the thing which had weighed it down. Starlight had all but vanished be fore the stealing mist, but even in that obscurity it was a bright and lovely trifle, a woman's jeweled bag, extraordinarily full. The strained catch must have been too hastily snapped shut, for it yawned open at a touch, and the bulging contents ozzed into view. Bills. The bag was fairly stuffed with them, high de nomination bills, tightly crammed in. The girl in, the red beret stared at it soberly. It seemed to give her no pleasure, not even any particular sense of the risk she ran in carrying such a sum with her through lonely roads and at all hours of the night. She just let the bag lie there on her open hand, looking at it. There was a faint aversion in that look. The palm tilted slowly as though she meant deliberately to let that opulent roll slide to the dust at her feet. Then with a brief grim ace of distaste she righted her hand hand again, thrust the bag deep in to the coat pocket and turned, a lit tle blindly, back to the car. The girl looked very small be side the big car, very young and troubled, yet somehow determined .and every move now was brisk and efficient. A vigorous tug, and a smart traveling case came out of the car—was hidden behind a mass of shrubbery. "Lucky," she reflected, "that I was all set to stay ... If there is any luck in such a miserable snarl as this." She slipped quickly into her seat again, and the engine's heavy pun cut abruptly into the stillness. The roadster swung smoothly out of the shadowed drive and down toward the highway. The fog had thick ened perceptibly and the road was dark, but she drove without lights. Time enough to switch those on. There must be no one who could re member, later, a distant glimpse of flaring lights. On the last turn she had a good view of the main road in both direc tion. No dazzle of oncoming lights showed either way, blurring through the fog. She swept out into the highway, and her own came on. There was no placid strips of beach here; only rough ground and dark rocky headland, now fairly close, now farther away, dropping sheer. About an eighth of a mile beyond there should be a place where it jutted boldly into the sea. There it was. A queer little tin gle went skipping over her as she caught sight of it, vaguely outlined. How much distance would she need? Ten—no, twenty feet before strik ing the incline. It would be too dan gerous beyond that. She brought the car slowly to a standstill. Shut off the engine. For a moment she sat listening, every nerve alert. There was not a sound except for the heavy murmur of the sea below. Even though fog might muffle distant sounds, it was not dense enough yet to matter. She started the engine again. Her heart was beating fast as she stepped down. The roadster was pointing at a strange angle. It looked so sleek and beautiful, and she let a hand rest on it softly. This was a shabby trick to play on a good friend but It had to be done. She would miss it, too. There was no time to be wasted. She stepped up and leaned in, and her hands moved swiftly and com petently. She gave a last tug and a hasty glance toward the naked ledge beyond. The car lurched and started, and left the smooth roacf With a protest ing heave. It was gathering speed, bumping over the uneven ground. ! She jumped, staggered for a few steps and fell. Huddled there on "hands and knees, panting but unhurt, she saw the big car strike the slope and go hurlting down. Lurching with lights flaring toward the empty sea. On the brink it seemed almost to rear back, hung for a split second and flashed \iown. She saw it turn ing, and pressed her hands to her ears against the grinding crash of its fall. i The silence that followed was blank and empty. She pulled her hands down shamefacedly and found the palms moist. "That's donef she muttered shakily, and got to her feet.' Her face was a white patch against the darkness. She knew that she must hurry away, before some belated motorist | came by and saw her. A girl in a red beret had ceased to exist, and her i flitting ghost must not be seen. How I queer it seemed . . . there wasn't any I such girl any more. TO BE CONTINUED One of the hardest speeches in the world to make sound convincing is the one setting forth the reasons why your son can't buy a dog. EXPERT RADIO SERVICE J. M. CHEEK, Jr. With Hayes & S pease Phone 70 Elkin, N. C. DR. C. E. NICKS VETERINARY SURGEON Phone 240 Church St. - Elkin, N. C. Mattie Mae Powell NOTARY PUBLIC Building & Loan Office Main Street A nnouncing The "BUILDING and LOAN Plus INSURANCE Plan" You can insure the unpaid portion of your Building and Loan stock, so that should you die before it matures, the full amount will be paid immediately to your estate, thus providing for your loved ones as though you had lived and saved the par value of your stock. Subscribers, between the ages of 15 and 60 years, who can give an ac ceptable health certificate, can assure themselves that upon their death, should that occur before the maturity of their stock, their subscription will be paid in full. The cost is very small when you consider the benefit derived. For example, take the age of thirty years, the cost per share of $160.00 is as follows: For the First Year 96 cents or 8 cents per month For the Second Year 84 cents or 7 cents per month For the Third Year 72 cents or 6 cents per month For the Fourth Year 60 cents or 5 cents per month For the Fifth Year 48 cents or 4 cents per month For the Sixth Year 36 cents or 3 cents per month For the Seventh Year 24 cents or 2 cents per month The average cost per share will be 66 cents per year or 5 cents per month. This insurance feature can be taken on stock for which you have previous ly subscribed, as well as on new subscriptions. The taking of this insur ance is optional on the part of the stockholder, and can be carried) whether you are a borrower or not. The object in offering this insurance feature is in line with our constant endeavor to widen our scope of service to our stockholders. For your convenience, we have made arrangement whereby the small month 1 y premiums may be paid at our association!' at the Bame time you pay youit regular building and loan payments. , TO THE BORROWING STOCKHOLDER this insurance GUARANTEES that the build ing and loan mortgage will be paid off immediately at death, leaving no payments to be made by your loved ones, and eliminates possibilities of foreclosure. The very low cost and the convenient manner of paying the premiums should appeal to all persons having their homes financed with us. TO THE INVESTMENT STOCKHOLDER this insurance does immediately at death what you would have done if you had lived to complete your payments. You can also guarantee funds for your children's education by subscribing to a few shares in each series and insuring your future payments against death. INSURED SHARES PROVIDE AN ESTATE FOR YOU IF YOU LIVE; GUARANTEE AN ESTATE FOR YOUR LOVED ONES IF YOU DIE. Subscribe to a Few Investment Shares in Every Series • Elkin-Jonesville Building & Loan Association MASON LILLARD, President PAUL GWYN, Sec.-Treas. MEMORIES Without Reproach .mSO CONSOLATION can exceed the ]*B J knowledge that in the final tribute | w there was a perfect expression of your love and esteem, coupled with sincere regard for preferences of the de parted one. We believe it is this knowledge which causes those we have served to re gard us ever afterward more as friends than as hired servants. AMBULANCE SERVICE At Any Time of the Day or Night Reich-Hayes-Boren, Inc. FUNERAL DIRECTORS Day Phone 70 Night Phones 40 and 282 Thursday, Jane 28, 1934
The Elkin Tribune (Elkin, N.C.)
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June 28, 1934, edition 1
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