HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1940-12-19, Page 16PAGE EIGHT WINGHAM ADVANCE-TIMES
contract with Tony Stefano had been
Canceled, and her place on the radio
had-been taken by another singer who
was making quite a success of it. The
broadcasting chain was eager to have
Sue back as soon as possible. Dusty
said there was no hurry about it, es
pecially since Sue seemed so relaxed
and unworried. The main thing was
io get her strong and well.
Gran certainly was an amazing per
son. After Sue had passed the crisis
and was definitely recovering, the "old
lady put away her knitting and said
•that now she could do her Christmas ■
Shopping. She hadn’t been to any of
the big shops in ten years. Then, ra
ther hesitalnly, she asked Joel if he
would take her to a night club. She
had been hankering to hear some of
this swing music and see some of the
goings-on. Joel mustn’t think that be
cause she was such an old lady she
was trying to be astonishing, like the
old folks who went airplane riding on
their ninetieth birthdays.
c $ * * *
In her living room at White Creek
Gran bent over two chairs, their backs
together, winding a skein of yarn into
a ball.
“Now, ain’t that just Providence?”-
she asked, her eves bright and beady
under the crimped bangs, as Joel
came in. "Sit down, Joey, and hold
.this for me like a good boy. When
we finished we’ll have some of Lucy’s
chocolate cake out in the butt’ry.”
The dark blue yarn was destined to
be a hug-me-tight for Sue to wear un
der her fur coat. It was Gran’s opin
ion that young girls didn’t wear half
enough clothes. She was perfectly
certain that a return to the short red
flannel, petticoat would do much to re
duce the number of pneumonia cases.
“My stars!” said Gran, “if one of them
fancy doctors didn’t agree with me.
He told me he had prescribed that
very treatment for one-of his patients.
The evening was well on when Joel
reached the point he had come to dis
cuss. Gran knew Jinny Ransom, of
course.
Yes, Gran did. Her mother was a
Halsey. She peered at Joel with
shrewd old eyes.
Joel had been going, with Jinny
Ransom for quite a while. About a
year. He had intended to ask her to
marry him. That is, until he went to.
New York. “Only, Gran—” and there
was a world of dark tragedy in Joel’s
voice, “there’s Sue.”
“It seems to me—” and the words
hung in the air while Gran counted
her stitches, “—it seems to me that
somebody told me — mebbe it was
you — that Sue was a-goin’ to marry
your’brother.”“Yes,” said Joel limply. “Yes. She
is.” .' .Gran waited. “What is it you arc
askin’ me, Joey? I can’t rightly an
swer until I know what’s in your
mind.” .Joel paced the room. Lhere iSn t,
I suppose, any question or any an
swer, Gran. I just had the faint hope
that you might — well, say that all
is fair in love and war.”
“It sounds; to me as if you were
askin’ my permission to court Sue.
And, Joey, you may have it. I haven’t
any objections to you or Dusty, eith-
er. It’s up to Sue. Too bad she wasn t
twins.” ' , , .* “Oh, Gran.” said Joel, his face
twisted, “you know that isn’t it. Its
Dusty. He doesn’t know how I feel.”
“Now you’re askin’ me if it’s right
for you to cut in on your brother.
That I can’t tell you. That is some
thing only you can decide. I do know
that things like this can’t be hurried.
I don’t s’pose this makes sense to you,
but the best blooms in my garden take
the longest time to blossom. And it
takes lots of sun and waterin’ and a
deal df patience to make ’em grow.’
• “But, Gran—” .
After a row of knitting Gran said,
“I’ve always liked Jinny.” .............
“Yes,” said Joel, “Jinny’s all right.
Jinny was all right, too, he thought,
as he walked home in the chill De
cember air. The Ransom brick house
on the corner was dark, except for a
light upstairs in Jinny’s room. He d
call her tomorrow. He’d make a date.
He’d, take a look at the Peterson
house which belonged to the estate
and see about remodeling.
, Only — only — Sue liked him. He
could tell. It wasn’t ‘fair. .He was al
most certain that Sue had liked him
in just the same way he had liked her.
They had known at that first moment
that there was something mevtiable
about their meeting. What he hadn t
known then was that circumstances
would contrive to make her as unat
tainable as the farthest distant star.
“Sue,” he said into the night, wond
ering if any vibrant Wave could carry
such a thought to her, “I came back
to forget you. And I’ve got to try.
Because outside of you, my brother is
to me the most important person in
the world.”
CHAPTER XIII
Jinny Ransom's eyes were large and
dark; he hair was black and curly.
Melting softness lingered around her
soft red mouth. When she walked,
Joel imaginediher leaning against the
wind as it blew her green tweed skirt
back and billowed ■under her Scotch
plaid coat.
They sat in the Coffee Shop and
Jinny smiled, which was, in a sense,
her way of talking. As she bent ov
er her sandwich, Joel noticed that her
cheeks were faintly pink jn her
smooth, creamy skin and that her
lashes, unbelievably long, were shad
owed by the overhead light into a
long thick fringe.
Joel had been explaining his plans
for opening the mills and Jinny was
a good listener. Now she said, “Joel,
dear, I hope it works out. It would
mean such a lot to White Creek if it
did. I’ve talked to Father about it and
he will do everything he can to help
you. He’s for you, Joel.” She looked
up at him with warm, dark, loving
eyes.
It would be swell to have a girl like
Jinny beside you, helping and caring
about your work, Joel thought.
“There ought to be something I
could do on your project, Joel.” Jinny
spread out her white hands and look
ed at them. “I’m really not useless—
although sometimes I think I am. It
hurts when I realize how hard I’ve
tried and that I still haven’t a job.
Every now and then I get frightened
and think: What if I should grow in
to the sort of dependent soul Aunt
Sally is? If you don’t make use of
your strength, you don’t "have any.
Joel. I am strong and willing — there
must be a place for’ me.”
“There is, too,” Joel asserted stout
ly. “You just haven’t found it — the
right place. You will. I know you
will; Jinny.”
“All I can do now,” Jinny said dis
piritedly, “is»housework. I’m learning
to cook, and I’m compiling a recipe
book.” She smiled wryly. “Mother
has fifteen recipes for lemon chiffon
pie, cut from newspapers and maga
zines. I practice, and once in a while
I work down at'the office. I could do
more, but Mary Jones, who .has been
there practically .since she was born,
resents me. Of course she is good and
Father couldn’t get along without her.
They, don’t want me unless they are
in a jam. I wish that school job had
materialized. I’d love to teach his
tory and economics and the principles
of government. But they wanted a
person with experience. Tell me, Joel,
how can .you get experience if no one
will give you a chance to try out?”
Joel said comfortingly, “For my '
sake, anyway, I’m glad it didn’t. I
wouldn’t have wanted you to go so
far away.”
But Joel offered her no job on his
project. -His mind wasn’t on Jinny’s
problems so much as it was on his
own. “If it isn’t too late, let’s go over
the house plans. I have the blueprints
of, the prefabricated houses which are
inexpensive to put up. And that land
of ours beyond the Guidepost is just
growing up to scrub oak. Good land,
too. — good enough for home gardens.
It isn’t crazy, is it? I know we have
to be very sure so that some unfore
seen difficulty doesn’t trip up. Al
though — oh, Jinny, I haven’t told
you — Dusty won’t put up any mon
ey.”
“Oh!” said Jinny. "Oh! But pome
body will. Somebody will,. I’m sure.
Joel, how much would it cost to ex-
tend the water main? Flow much
would it take to get the light poles
up to the Guidepost? I wonder. Could
you work it on a co-operative basis
With the town?”
“I’d thought of that, too,” Joel said
eagerly. “If you’ve finished, let’s take
a look at the plans and work out the
costs.”
Jinny’s house on the corner was
built of brick. It was old and mellow
ed; the shrubbery was thick and tall.
Inside, it was quiet, comfortable and
a little shabby, but it was, Joel ob
served as he had many times before,
a real home. A fire flickered on the
hearth, casting orange lights on the
'brass and irons. A blue bowi on the
living room table was filled with pol
ished fed apples; a pan of freshly
popped corn was balanced on top of
the radiator.
Jinny brought out the card table,
snapped open the legs while Joel pull
ed the rubber band from the roll of
blueprints.
While they sat opposite each other
Joel thought, “I’ve known Jinny Ran-
some ever since I was big enough to
toddle. Right now I remember a soap
bubble party she gave when she was
seven. There .were clay pipes for dll
of Us asd a bowl of warm soapsuds
with rainbow lights in them out in
the yard. And I don’t know how or
why, but we all went down the garden
path and climbed a ladder to the
freshly tarred roof of the hen house.
I was an Indian with a chicken feath
er in my hair and Jinny screamed be
cause I was intending to scalp her
and she thought I meant it, And of
course we were discovered and order
ed into the house, but all of us had
tar on our legs for weeks afterwards.
“And again, we were coasting on
Dakin Hill. Jinny wore a Roman
striped cap with a long tassel on the
end of it and cried a little because
her hands were cold, and I told her to
take her mittens off and I would
warm them on my bosom. I must’ve
read something about warming hands
on one’s bosom-
“Jinny was the first girl I ever kiss
ed. We were playing Post Office at
a party and the room was dark and I
had to feel her shoulders and find her
mouth. It was surprising — that first
contact ran through both of us like an
electric current. I think I’ve always
known I’d ask Jinny to marry me
some day.”
The old clock in the hall struck
twelve slow notes. Joel looked up in
amazement, “Jinny, can it be that
late?” He stacked up the sheets of
paper covered with figures. “I’ve
stayed very late.”
“Oh, Joel—” her eyes were dark and
bright with the vision of a workers’
farm village created out of purely
waste land “—if - it would work out!”
She stood with her back to the fire
which had burned to white ashes, with
here and there a, glowing ember. Joel
noticed that the red sweater caressed
her small high bosom, that the green
skirt flared from her hips like a bell.-
pie stepped over and gathered her to
him.
Jinny’s soft arms stole around his
neck as he buried his face in the frag
rant cloud of her hair. “Oh, Jinny,
Jinny, darling, I do love you,”
Jinny whispered, “I love you,. Joel.
I’ve always loved you, I think. I’ve
never really cared for anyone else.”
That was how it would be, Joel sud
denly saw very clearly. Jinny would
be his own, his dear one. Jinny would
listen to him always, and help him
with.-, his plans, Jinny belonged, to
White Creek, too. They belonged to
gether.
But even as he kissed her it came
over him,, with a bit of a shock, that
in less than two weeks he had told
two different girls that’he loved them.
He had vowed to each that he .really
meant it—and he had.
Sue Garland was the forbidden, the
unattainable, the bright star, the
drcam, the glory girl,, who would un
doubtedly marry his brother, Dusty.
Had Dusty ever failed to "get what he
really wanted? If he wanted Sue, no
thing on earth could drag her out of
his arms.
Under the most unusual circum
stances. the last time, Joel had told
Sue that he loved her. When a girl
lay at the brink of the dark, valley,
anything one could say to bring her
back was permissable and ..could be
discounted afterwards. I't was quite
likely that Sue never even heard the
words and if she had, she most cer
tainly had forgotten them. If Gran
had heard them, she discounted them,
too. He had, tried her out the other
night and she had given no sign. In
fact, it was very doubtful if anything
he had said had been of the slightest
importance in Sue’s recovery. Would
anyone ever know? Might it not have
been the work of the doctor, or Gran
telling her it was time to get up? Did
it matter, so long as Sue had recover
ed, and with amazing rapidity after
that critical moment? <
Did the vague gloriousness of Sue
matter at all? Dit it matter that When
he. was kissing Jinny he could not
quite forget that when he had kissed
Sue it had been in the midst of a snow
storm; that something had swept ov
er them as swift and fierce and un
controlled as a December gate?
Did Sue matter to him when he held
Jinny in his arms—Jinny, loving him
wholeheartedly, with a sweetness un
surpassed? Holding her, his face hot,
his blood running high, he rained
kisses on her soft lips, on het closed
eyes with the black lashes Sweeping
her soft, rounded cheeks*
“Jinny,” he whispered over and ov
er. “Jinny—darling!”
CHAPTER XIV
“Sue,” Dusty said With enthusiasm,
“I’ve never seen you looking better I”
It was true. The tenseness which had
been part of Sue’s eager enjoyment of
life had disappeared, and in. it§ plate
was a becoming serenity which Dusty
often found puzzling. Since her ill
ness Sue seemed no longer the heed
less girl he had met at the boat, but
someone more mature. He wondered
if she knew how sick she had been.
They had all nearly, broken under the
strain, To have her alive and well and
the fact that she was was here at all
seemed to him little short of a miracle.
They had had dinner in a near-by
restaurant and now Sue sat in front
of Dot’s modern fireplace with its
glass key-shaped andirons, and sipped
a cordial. The small fire consumed a
miniature birch log at which Sue
looked thoughtfully. She said, “Dusty
— you know a lot about money, don’t
you?”
“Oh,” said Dusty, relieved, “so
that’s it. You’re worrying about mon
ey. Well, don’t. It will come rolling
in fast enough when we get you back
on your feet.”
“It’s awfully expensive being ill,
isn’t it? The bills keep coming in. Ew
ery day there is something I had for
gotten about. Dustyi I must have
spent a lot of money! I’ve charged
things and now I haven’t money to
pay for them. Another thing — I
don’t know why I didn’t tliink of it
before, but it’s hardly fair for me to
park on Dot like this, is it? I mean,
I’ve been here an awfully long time.
Of course she hasn’t said anything and
won’t. Dot’s that kind of a person.
But I should be sharing her rent or
something, shouldn’t I?” • ‘
“Look here,” Dusty said, “you have
post-hospital blues, or something.
Forget- it all. Let’s have a little mus
ic.”
How he could ever have made such
a blunder Dusty afterwards couldn’t
imagine, but he happened to tune in
on Sue’s old hour, just, in time for the
announcer’s fulsome introduction of
Gloria, her successor. There Wash’t
• any mention of Sue, of course, btit
.just that the other girl’s voice was
something to listen to.
“Oh,” he said, and snapped it off.
“Wait.” Sue put out her hand. "I’d
like to hear her. She did get her
chance. But I never thought she’d get
it because I failed.”
As they listened they could not es
cape picturing themselves in the
studio. Sue wondered when the queer
huskiness in her voice would be cured
so that she could get back to work.
Dusty kept thinking what an idiot he
was, and that this was the most inane
thing he could have done..
After* a little Sue said, “She is
good.”
“Have a little more cordial?” Dusty
asked.
“No, thanks. I’ve been wondering
what to do for money. Christmas is
coming, you know. I’ve worked the
entire day on my checking account,
and it is quite hopeless. It’s like tuck
ing in a blanket that’s too small. You
turn it in at the bottom and then it
doesn’t come up far enough. When
you pull it up, your feet are cold.
Somehow, I must earn some money
soon. The next time I’m on a pay roll
I’ll have to work out a budget and
stick to it, although budgets and I
aren’t really compatible.”
“Tony Stefano,” said Dusty, "calls
up nearly every day to inquire about
your health. As soon as you’re ready
you can begin. As a matter of fact,
wouldn’t two weeks’ salary from Tony
straighten out yoUr finances?”
“I haven’t told you, Dusty, but the
last time the throat specialist examin
ed me there was the queerest look on
his face. Do you suppose .there is
anything incurably wrong?”
"Of course not. But if you like I’ll
call him up.”
. “I wish you would,” Sue said sober
ly. “I think it’s odd that I can’t get
my high notes back. My register is
much lower than it’s ever been before.
Tell me, Dusty, do. you 'think being
so ill could have injured the vocal
cords?”
“No,” said Dusty promptly, “I
don’t.. You’re just staying consistent
ly in the dumps. I do wish you’d give
me the bills and let me advance the
money to pay them.. I really want to,
my dear,”
“Oh, no, Dusty. Thank you. I
made this mess for myself and I’m
afraid I’ll have to get myself out of
it. I don’t understand how I could
have been so foolish.”
“See here. Sue. I can eVen charge
you interest if you’d feel better about
it. Like a bank. Anything for your
peace of mind, It’s-part of my job to
keep you free from Worry?’
“You’re kinder than I deserve; Will
yott listen to a song and give me an
honest opinion? I ran over some
things this morning and they sounded