Official Paper of Box Butte County
TWICE A WEEK TUESDAY AND FRIDAY
Official Taper of the City of Alliance
VOLUME XXIX
THIRD SECTION
ALLIANCE, BOX BUTTE COUNTY, NECUASKA, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1921.
No: 7
WHITE GOODS
By FANNIES HURST
Ooprrtght. 1318, by Harper and Brothcn.
Fvma throvsk apMial inuituu ultb Tlx W beater SrrrtlMM, 1
CHAPTER I.
On a slope a white 'fprlnkllnfj of
wood anemones lay ahead like a patch
f linen blenching In the sun. From
valley a lark cut a swift diagonal
upward with a coloratura burst of
song. A stream slipped Its Ice and
took up Its murmur where It had left
off. A truant squelched bis toes In
the warm mud and let It ooze over and
between them.-
A mole stirred In Its hole, and be
cause spring will find a way, even down
In the bargain basement of the Titanic
store, which Is far below the level of
the mole, Sadie Harriet, who had never
seen a wood anemone and never sniffed
of thaw or the wet wild smell of vio
lets, felt the blood rise In her veins like
sap, and across the aisle behind the
white-goods counter Max Meltzer
writhed In his woolens, and Sadie
Barnct, presiding over a bin of spe
cially priced mill-end's In mld-nlsle be
tween the white goods and the muslin
underwear, leaned toward him, and
her smile was as vivid as her lips.
"Say, Max, guess why I think you're
like a rubber band."
Classic Delphi was never more ready
with ambiguous retort.
Behind a stack of Joy-of-the-Loorn
bed-sheets, Max Meltzer groped for
oracular divination, and his heart
beats fluttered in his voice.
"Like a rubber bund?"
"Yeh."
"Give up."
"Aw, give a guess."
"Well, I don't know, Miss Sadie, un
less unless it's because I'm stuck od
you."
Do not, ascetic reader, gag sit the
unsocratlc plane. True, Max Meltzei
bad neither the brain nor the leisure of
a sophist, a capacity for tenses or .an
appreciation of Kant. lie had oevci '
built a bridge, led a Bible class, or at-1
tempted the first inch of the five-foot
book-shelf. But on a two-figure saLarj
he subscribed an annual donation to a
skln-and-cancer hospital, wore non-re
verslble collars, ' and maintained a
smile that turned upward like the cur-1
ners of a cycle moon. Remember, then,
ascetic reader, that a rich man once !
kicked a leper ; Kant's own heart, that j
It might turn the world's heart out
ward, burst of pain ; and In the gran- J
ite canon of Wall Street, one smile In (
every three-score and ten turns up
ward. Sadie Barnet met Max Meltzer'i
cycle-moon smile with the blazing eyes
of scorn, and her lips, quivering to a
mile, met In a straight Hue that ml-.
most Ironed out the curves. I
" 'Cause you're stuck on me 1 Ilnh !"
Max Meltzer leaned across a counter
display of fringed breakfast napkins.
"Ain't that a good reason, MUs Sadie 1
It's a true one."
"You're one swell little guesser, you
are not. You couldn't get Inside a
riddle "with a can-opener. 'Cause you're
stuck on me I Gee I"
"Well, I am."
"I didn't ask you why you was like a
she tlashe J the" fuTT Hue 6T her feeth.
and with an Intensity his features 111
concealed he noted how sweet her
throat as it arched.
"It's the spring fever gets Inside of
me and makes me so stretchy, Miss
Sadie. ' It's a good thing trade is slow
down here In the basement today, be
cause It's the same with tne every
year; the Saturday before spring-open
tng week I just get to feeling like all
outdoors."
"Wait till you see me with a new
red-sntin bow stuck on my last sum
mer's shape. Dee Dee's got to lend me
the price r two yards of three -Inch
red-satin ribbon for my spring open
ing." Ills heart rose In his throat.
I bet you look swell In red, Mls
Sadie. But a girl like you looks swell
In nnything."
"Red's my color. Dee Dee says my
mama was a gay one, too, when It
came to color. Gimme red every time.
Dee Dee's the one that's always kick
ing against red; she says I got too
flashy taste."
"Say, If she keeps bossing and boss
ing at you, whnt do you keep on living
with her for?"
"Wouldn't you live with your own
mother's sister If she raised you from
a kid? Whut am I going to do, put
her in cold storage, now that her eyes
are going back on her? Up in the rib
bons she can't hardly keep her colors
graduated no more, that's how blind
she's getting. What am I going to
dor
"Jionest, Miss Sadie, J didn't know
that she was your aunt and That ner
eyes was bnd. I Just thought she was
some old girl up In the ribbons you
was living with for company. Hon
est, I didn't know she had bad eyes.
Gee r .
"No, they ain't bad. Only she's so
blind she rends her paper upside down
and gets sore If you tell her about It."
"And tne thinking she was nothing
but a near-sighted old grouch with a
name like a sparrow."
Miss Baruet laughed with an up
ward trill.
"Dee Dee ain't her real name. When
I was a kid and she took me to raise,
that's the way I used to pronounce
Aunt Edith. Gee I you don't think Dee
Dee was the name they sprinkled on
her when they christened her, did
you?"
Max Meltzer leaned to the breath of
her laughter as If he would fill his
lungs with It.
"Gee I but you're a cute little lady
when you luut;h like that." ' "
"Sny, and ain't you a freshlel Just
becuuse you're going to be promoted to
buyer for your deportment won't get
your picture In the Sunday supple
ment, white-goods buyer I know
of ever had to build white marble li
braries or present a bread-line to the
city to get rid of his pin-money.
"Sny, ain't It hot? With the Open
lug on Monday, they letter get the fans
working. Last yeur three girls keeled.
Honest, sometimes I think I'd rather
spend the summer under the daisies
out on the hill than down hire In this
basement."
"Don't I wish I had an auto to take
you spinning In tonight!"
"You ought to see the flyer a friend
of mine hns got. A Mercury Six with
.a limousine top like a grand-opera
box."
"Your your friend? I I guess If
'you got swell friends like that, a boat
excursion down the river alnt got
much of a sound for you."
"He says he's got a launch In sum
mer "
"Honest, Miss Sadie, I I Just been
trying for the better part of two weeks
to ask permission If I couM coiae and
call on you some evening, Miss Sadie,
but" , 1
"Whoops. ! ain't bo the daredevil l"
"The first boat of the season, Miss
Sndle, a swell new one they call the
White Gull, goes down to Coney to
night, and, It being rent springtime,
and you feeling kind of full of It, 1
thought maybe. It being the first boat
of the season, maybe you would take
a river ride this grand April night.
Miss Sadie." .
Her glance slanted toward him, full
of quirks.
"My Aunt Dee Dee, Mr. Meltzer
she's right strict with me. She don't
think I ought to keep company with
any boys that don't come to see me
first at my bouse."
"I know It. Miss Sadie ; that's the
right wny to do It, but I think I can
get around her all right. Wnn't she
down here In the basement the first
day I heard about my promotion, and
didn't she give tne the glud hand and
seem right friendly to me?"
"Anyways. If her eyes ntn't too bnd.
Mr. Meltzer, I got a date with ray
friend If his enr Is out of tho shop
from having the limousine top taken
off. We we're going for a Uttls
spin."
A quick red belled her Insouciance
and she made a little foray Into the
bin of mill-end.
"Gee! U I've made three sain this
livelong day I don't know nothing
about two of theni."
Max Mvltaer met her dancing gaze,
pinioning It with his own quiet eyes.
"You're right to pick out the lucky
fellow who can buy a. good time. A
little girl Ilk you oatfit to hdve ewy
enjoyment there Is. Tf I Could slv It
to yon. do you think I would let the
other fellowt beat me t It? The best
alnt none too good for a UttHs lady
like ym."
"Aw, Mr. MeltsifTf" Her bosmu filled
and waned. "Aw, Mr. Meltzerl"
"I min It."
An !eotrlc tel1 grilled through M
word". Miss Rnxnot sprnnx reflexty
from tne harness f an eight-bour day.
"Aw. looka. and I wanted to sneak
up bfpre closing and get Dee Dee trt
snip tne two yards of red satin, and
she won't cut tm inch after the beTL
Aint that luck for you? Aint that
Tuck?'
Iter Hps nrew to a pout.
"Lcmnte get It for you, Miss Sndle,
I know a girl up In the ribbons "
"No, no, Mr. Meltzer. I I got to
charge It to Dee Dee and, anyways, sh
gets mad like anything If I keep het
waiting. I gotta go. 'Night, Mr.
Meltzer I 'Night I" '
She was off through the maze of th
emptying store. In the very act of pin
ning on her little hat with Its Jaunty
Imitation fur pompon, and he breathed
In as she passed, as tf of the perfume
of her personality.
At the ribbon counter on the main
floor the last of a streamlet of out
going women detached hurself from
the file as Miss Barnet ascended the
staircase.
''flurry up, Sadie."
"Doe Dee I How'd you girls up here
got on your duds so soon? I thought
mnybe if I'd hurry upstairs you you'd
find time to cut me a two-yard piece
of three-Inch red sntln for my lint, Dec
Dee tomorrow being Sunday. Two
yards, Iee Doe. and that'll make two-slity-nlne
I owe you. Aw, Dee Dee,. It
won't take a minute, tomorrow Suuday
and all 1 Aw, Deo Deo !"
Miss Burnet slid Ingratiating fingers
Into the curve of the older woman's
arm; her voice was smooth as salve,
"Aw, Ih?e Deo. wlu ever heard of
wearing fur on a hat In April? I gotta
stick a red bow on my last summer's
sailor, Iee Dee."
Miss Edith Wortc stiffened so that
the muscles sprang out In the crook of
her arm and the, cords In her long,
yellowing neck. Years had dried on
her face, leaving ravages, and through
twr high-power spectacles her pale
yes might have liven staring through
Dim and straining to see.
"Ilmse, Doe De 1"
Miss Baniet held backward, a tittle
slngwmg note of appeal running
through her voice.
Miss Worte Jerked forward toward
the open door. April dusk, tto color
of cold dish-water, shod through It
Itat-k In the city conn's sadly, crowd
lit Into narrow streets and riddled
wSt'i an Immediate aulck-ehot of elee
tile bulbs.
"Ain't you Rot no sense a-talt? Ain't
got no sense In that curiy buud of
i
"I Didn't Ask You Why You Was Llkt
a Bottls of Glue. I Asked You Why
You Was Liks a Rubber Band."
bottle of glue. I asked you why you
was like a rubber band." I
"Aw, I give It up, Miss Sadie." '
"Cause you're so stretchy, see?
'Cause you're so stretchy you'll yawn
your arm off If you ydon't watch K."
Across the specially priced mill-ends
t
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1 1 " TWWSJ BT W W "TjSF W IW m J 1
, The Herald Announces ia Series of Eight
Novelettes by
FANNY HURST
Comprising the Best Stories by the O. Henry of the Female Sex; Startlingly Vivid and
Candid, Remarkable for Every Quality that Goes to Create Gripping: Interest
These are tales of city life, the kind of short stories
which have brought fame and emolument to their tal
ented author. No writer is more faithful to life and con
ditions than Fannie Hurst. Aside from her very great
ability as a writer, much of her merit exists in the very
engaging frankness of her depictions. She plays upon
the heart strings as upon a harp and absolutely refuses
to gloss a vice or sugar a situation in order to serve a
mawkish sentiment.
Fannie Hurst's novelettes are not for people with sick
imaginations. They are for the sane, the courageous ; for
people who do not cover their eyes when a white light is
thrown, but instead are intent upon seeing what that
light reveals.
Fannie Hurst's heroines are not from the class whose
names appear in the society columns, the financial col
umns or the columns devoted to intellectual activities;
neither are they of that submerged group which figures
in crime or police courts. They are of that great strttg
glrrrg, honest-at-heart working class, to whom the prob
lems of life are poignant in the extreme and to whom a
ray of sunshine is not merely a ray, but an emanation
from the Almighty. As such they are real heroes and
heroines, and not the lay figures, decked in fanciful attire,
of the average novelist.
REALISM AND HUMAN INTEREST
Read the First Novelette, Complete in This Issue, and You Won't Think of Missing the Rest
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- , Neb., Dec 1921
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youriri lint ruination notions?"
"Aw, Dee leo 1"
They were In the flood tide which
burrts through the dam at six o'clock
like a human torrent flooding the
streets, then spreading, thinning, and
finally seeping into homes, hall bed
rooms and Harlem flats.
Miss Edith Worte turned her sparse
face toward the downtown tide and
against the light wind that tasted of
rnlu, and flapped her skirts around her
thin legs.
"Vetch out, Dee Deal Step down;
there's a curb." , , '
"I don't need you. It's lots you care
If I go blind on the spot."
"Dee, Deel"
"God I If I didn't have nothing to
worry nw but red ribbons I I told the
doctor today, while he whs putting the
drops In my eyes, that If he d let me go
blind I I "
"I forgot, Dee Dee, today was your
eye-doctor day. He's always scnrln'
you up. Just don't pay no attention.
I forgot It was your day."
"Sure you forgot. But you won t for
get If I waks up alouo In the dark
some dny."
"Dee Dee l"
"You won't forget then. . You won't
forget to nag mo even then for duds
to go automobtllng with fly men that
can t bring you no goou."
"Dee Dee, I oln't been but one night
this week. I been saving up all my
nights for for tonight."
"Tonight. Say, If I can't keep you
from going to the devil on skutes If"
"It's only tho second time thla week,
Dee Dee, and I I promised. He'll have
the limousine top off tonight and
feel, It's Just like summer. A girl's
gotta have a little something once In
a while."
"What do I gotta have? What do I
gotta have but slave and work
AM!
CHAPTER II.
"It's different with you Dee Dee.
You're older even than my mama was,
and didn't you say when you and her
was girls together there wasn't a live
lier two sisters? Now, didn't you, Deo
Deel" , . ,
"In a 'respectable . way,' yes. But
there wasn't the oily -mouthed, bald
headed divorced man alive, with little
rat eyes and ugly Hps, who could hava
took me or your mama out auto-rid
log before or after dark." .
Awr . ;
"Yes. 'aw' I You keep running
around with the kind of men that don't
look at a girl unless she's served up
with rum-sauce and see where It lands
you. Just keep running If you want
to. but my money don't buy you no
ml ribbons to help to drive you to tha
revll I"
The way you keep fussing at me,
when I don't even go to dances like the
other girls I I sometimes I Just wish,
I was dead. It's the limit. Even Max
Meltzer gimme the luugh today."
"You'd never hear me 6ay natch the
clock If you keep company with a bo
(Ike Max Meltzer. A straight, clean boy
with honest Intentions by a girl look
In' right out of his face. You let a
boy like Max Meltzer begin to keep
steady with you and see whut I say.
You dou't see no yellow streak In his
facet he's as white as the goods he
"I know. I know. You think now
becanse he's going to be made buyer
for the white goods In September he's
the whole show. Gee ! Nowadays that
ain't so tnucby much for a fellow to
te."
"No. I think that the kind of fellowi
that fresh Mamie Grant gets you ae
qualnted with are muchy much. I'm
strong for the old rat-eyed sports like
Jerry Beck, thtit ain't got a honest
thought In his head. I bet he gives you
the creeps, too. only you're the kind of
a girl, God help you. that's so crazy
for luxury you could forget the devil
had horns if he hid 'em under a auto
mobile cap."
"Sure I ana. I ain't seen nothing but
slaving and drudging and pinching nil
my life, while other girls are strutting
the Avenue In their furs, and sleeping
mornings as long as they want under
eider-down quilts. Sure, when a man
like Jerry Beck comes along with a
carriage-check Insteud of a subway
ticket 1 can thaw up to him like a
water-Ice, and I ain't ashamed of It.
neither."
Miss Worte withdrew her arm
sharply and plunged ahead, her Hps
wry and on the vere of trembling.
' hen a girl gets twenty, like you.
it ain't none of my put-iu no more.
Only I hope to God your mother up
there is witness that If ever a woman
slaved to keep a girl straight and done
her duty by her it wus tne. Thut man
ain't got no good Intentions by "
Oh, ain't you ain't you a mean-
thinking thing, ain't you? What kind
of a girl do you think I am? If he
didn't have the rlht Intentions by me
do you think "
"Oh, I guess he'll marry you if he
can t get you no other ay. A di
vorced old guy like him, with a couple
of kids and Us mean little eyes knows
he's got to pay up If he wants a young
girl like you. Oh, I Oucb oh oh !"
"Dee Dee, take my arm. That was
only an ash-can you bumped Into. Go
B,.XaJtemy jirm. PgfiDee. Here wa