Newspapers / The Alleghany News and … / Aug. 23, 1945, edition 1 / Page 7
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Ihe GIRL Jrom 7/jeDOUBLE R k BY BETTY BLOCKLINGER CHAPTER IV ‘They’ll probably leave your ranch alone for a while,” he was saying. “It would take a ouija board to tell where they’ll strike next. Meanwhile, you -keep off the range. When there are wom en involved, neither side can op erate freely.” Shortly after Rusty’s talk with Doctor Westmore, she and Man ny drove away. “Gosh,” breathed Manny, “he sure is one swell guy! Only he’s got more ‘don’t touches’ around his spread. Don’t touch this and don’t go in there. There were tough guys in there too—that shed room, I mean.” “You—you didn’t hear any thing, did you?” asked Rusty. Then, as Manuel gave her a re proving look, “And don’t look like that. If ever anyone was born to hear things not meant for his ears—” “Yeah, but they were too care ful,” admitted her brother. Fortified by a drug-store count er lunch, she left him at a mo tion-picture theater while she made the rounds of employment agencies in search of a cook to take Conchita’s place. Some of the reception clerks were poilte; some laughed open ly when she said she was looking for household help. The one or two cooks available demanded such exorbitant wages, Rusty couldn’t consider them. She had no better luck at the Cattlemen’s Association. The secretary of the association shook his head. “Darned if I know why it’s considered patriotic to assure our fighting men food; however, if we try to hold riders on the ranches when they want to go into war industries, we’re accus ed of hindering the war effort.” Rusty went on with the doubt ful assurance of “Anyone turns up, we’ll send him on.” Manny, torn from an exciting reproduction of aerial warfare, zoomed and machine gunned un til Rusty demanded he be quiet, “You’re going to be drafted in to the Double R Army,” she told him, “and you’re on KP until fur ther notice. That wood box has to be kept filled, and the coal hod. And it’s up to you to do much of Pedro’s work, feeding the chick ens and the hogs and hoeing the garden!” With Manny quieted by visions of his immediate future, Rusty’s mind could return to the problem which had lain dormant through out the day. Doctor Herb Westmore. How could she become so interested in such a person? Yet she was. Even though she doubted him, the thought of him made her sing. She turned off the main high way, dipped through the tiny stream of the Little Sandy, and spun along the road until the Big Sandy lay in sight. “Gee, you sound happy,” re marked Manny. “Guess you’re in love. Doc says it affects some folks that way; makes them sing—” Kusty nearly stalled tne oia car in the middle of Big Sandy. “Manuel Rowland, why did he say that? What had you said?” “Oh, I just asked how a guy could tell whether or not his sis ter was going to marry a guy. I didn’t mention no names. I just said I’d heard of a guy who’d heard another guy pop the ques tion to his sister and didn’t know if she was ready for the fade-out or not because all she told the guy was there was something missing, and when he asked what, she said ‘mud in his hair.” “Manny!” wailed Rusty. “How —I mean, what did Doctor West more say?” “Well, he sort of lit up, red like. Then he began to sing, and then he said when people were in love, they sang. He said he could love a girl if he wasn’t so busy. What did he mean by that? And why did he say if a guy really loved a girl, he’d for get it sooner than involve her in —in—gosh, Sis, I don’t remem ber what” “It doesn’t matter,” Rusty an swered softly. The lights of the ranch house starred the black hulk of the No pocos as she drove into the Dou ble R. More stars burst into the darkness when she drew up be fore the house. Rusty wondered if she had stumbled onto some celebration. Decker appeared beside the car to open the door. “Where on earth have you been? Jed said you took Babe to Doc Harness’ successor, but when I telephoned, he said you weren’t there nor had you been there" “What?" demanded Rusty. “After the futore he’s started among the ranch girls where he I called, I thought I’d better let him know you’d been claimed. I asked to speak to my fiancee, told him who I was and that I was calling from the Double R.” “Yes?" There were sparkles in the blue-gray of Rusty’s eyes. “And he said tjiat not only was my fiancee not there, but she had not beeii there, and then—then he made that same remark you did the other night, something about mud in my eye. Naturally, I hung up, and believe me, if we had another decent vet within five hundred miles, Til never call him again.” “Imagine condemning a man for telling the truth,” murmured Rusty and, gathering up her new kitten, she started for the veran da. Rusty found the house filled with neighbors, the men deep in argument in the living room, the women milling around in the kitchen. “Community dinner,” her mo ther told her as she entered the kitchen. “Each one brought some thing—” Rusty slipped into the pantry long enough to pick up a pitcher of milk Then she carried her kitten out to the brooder pen. “This will have to do you for the night,” she said, tossing fresh straw into the little house at the end of the pen. “There’s big busi ness afoot and I don’t want to miss anything.” When she returned to the house, she went to the living room, to be greeted by a pause in the men’s conversation. “Well, Rusty,” said her uncle. “We’re organizing the ranch vig lantes—” Decker spoke up hotly. “They ’re trying to fight 1945 gangsters with 1845 methods.” “Your 1945 methods didn’t keep them from getting more cattle last night, Ladue,” someone re minded him. “Losing the first skirmish does n’t mean the battle’s lost,” he re torted. “Does this mean you’re not coming in with us?” asked Jed. “What else can I do?” Decker said. A buzz of conversation started, to be stopped by the ringing of the telephone. Rusty answered it, then returned to the room looking stupefied. “Decker, that was your mo ther. There’s been a raid on your ranch. One of your men, Slim Jack, has been shot.” The fried chicken glazed in its grease, the cole slaw lay limp in the salad bowls, yet the men did not return from Decker’s. Rusty paced the veranda and yearned alternately for Ralph and Babe — Ralph to handle things; Babe to carry her tt Decker’s for every car and hors* on the place had disappeared. (To Be Continued) Poultrymen Must Develop Markets Glutted markets for eggs and poultry in North Carolina were the rule rather than the excep tion before the war. While these gluts were season al in nature, still their existence; and persistance for a period of years indicatd a great need for the development of a market ing program on a state-wide bas is to prevent such gluts. Prof. Roy Dearstyne of State College says that to a certain ex tent North Carolina producers have lost their local markets be cause many chain stores are sel ling eggs produced outside the state. This has been largly due to the fact that the great majority of poultry products produced in North Carolina is by small units, and also facilities for collection, grading, and storage of the prod ucts are not adequate. “If an orderly progress is to be made in the future the situation must be attacked in a vigorous manner,” Dearstync suggests. “Group action on the part of pro ducers seems to offer at least a partial solution to the problem. It is very likely that there will be more direct marketing in the future than in the past, with the curb market playing an impor tant part in this movement. Enough time was lost from farm accidents last year to have produced five bushels of wheat for each of the 137,000,000 per sons in the United States, says National Safety Council. Concentrates for livestock feeding in the next year will to tal about 153 million tons as compared with 162 million in the 1944-45 year. Seed alfalfa, permanent pas tures, and temporary grazing crops on September 1. Early Peace brings reconversion problems in agriculture as well &: in industry. WANTED Chestnut Wood & Tan Bark O. P. A. CEILING PRICES PAID Wilkes Extract Works NORTH WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA They Also Serve Who Wait... Down the block, across the re d, around the corner from you lives the Mother with the Service Flag. You’ve watch ed her tend her Victory garden, you’ve seen her at the grocery store, the Red Cross and at church. She is your neighbor and your friend. Yet, though she gives you a smile and a cheerful greeting, you do not really know her. She is the Woman Who Waits. This war is personal to her. And while her’s may not be the loudest voice you hear at a War Bond rally and she may wear no uniform of any kind, you can be sure her rationing coupons are her own. Only she and her God will ever know what it means to wait—and wait—as the days go by; though the postman can tell a thing or two. For the Woman Who Waits the war still goes on. It will not end until her boy comes home. Never complaining, seldom showing her fears and anxiety, facing the world with a smile, the Mother with the Service Flag, more than any single one of us, continues to set an example of Courage and Devotion. We rise to salute HER on this day of VICTORY! Smithey’s Store ... SPARTA, “Tins PLACE FOR BARGAINS” N. CAROLINA Miles - Waddell - Thompson "Firestone SPARTA, N. C. ★ ★ ★ Specials If you need accessories for your automobile then come to see us. We have just received a shipment of those hard-to-get articles that you’ve been wanting. Automobile Accessories Seat Covers Floor Mats Seal - Beam Lights Horns Jacks Tubes 100% Pure Pennsylvania Motor Oil When You Get a Tire Rationing Certificate Buy the Bestjy^ ^DELUXE. CHAMPION (U1 Tin Cm#cM* NnM The only tire built with the famous Gear-Grip Tread for extra protection against skidding. The only tire built with Safti-Lock, Gum-Dipped Cord Body for ex tra strength and blowout protection. The only tire built with Safti-Sured Construction for greater and longer mileage. Get the best! IRWIN MOTOR CO. AND JUDY’S SERVICE STATION ARE ASSOCIATE FIRESTONE DEALERS. Announcement We Have Just Opened Automobile Service Department in Basement of Alleghany Motor Company Garage Building opposite Tire Service Co. If you need a battery installed, tires changed, seat covers put on, seal-beam lights, horns, and other accea siries put on your automobile, come to us. We also do wash jobs, polishing and waxing.
The Alleghany News and Star-Times (Sparta, N.C.)
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Aug. 23, 1945, edition 1
7
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