Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 3 April 1937 — Page 14

. all her remaining

that mattered.” That was.

PAGE 14

By Nard Jones

BEGIN HERE TODAY Martha Brittain and Betty Haynes begin a trip up the West Coast to demonstrate the new Airspeed trailer. They pick up Gerry Neal, handsome young hitch-hiker. Neal tells them he is to meet a friend, Jack Speddon, at the Long Beach auto camp. But at Long Beach, Neal disappears from the trailer and Speddon drives away with Betty, failing to return. Frantic, Martha calls police. Then she gets a wire, hours later, signed “Betty” and advising that Betty will meet her in San Francisco at a designated hotel. Feverishly, Martha starts out, trying fo trace Betty en route. Returning to her trailer the second day, she is startled to meeet Neal. H: tells her that “this thing may be bigger” than she imagines. She agrees to accompany Neal back to San Francisco to find Betty. Martha is troubled because she dois not know whether to trust Neal. Yc: she likes him more than she cares to admit. They wire San Francisco and find that neither Betty nor Speddo:, are registered at the designated hotel Neal persuades Martha to spend the diy in Del Monte. They drive along the coast, then stop to swim at a secluded pirt of the beach. Martha dives deep fnio the breakers and in that moment she iinows that she is caught, facing death ajainst the jagged rocks of the cove. NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY

CHAPTER TEN

HE seemed to be plunging in a sweeping arc—then suddenly she felt something clutchini her arm. Her head broke the surface, sank again, with that firm hand still gripping her. Fantas.ically she wondered if this could le the last mad delusion of the drowning. And then, miraculously; she felt the sand beneath her feet. | “Steady . . . hold steady i. . |” It was Neal's voice. It was Neal who gripped her fiercely with one hand, his other fending them off from the wall of rock. With strength Martha dug her bare feet into the sand as a wave receded. She tried he: best to make that last struggle which would bring her to.a safe tiepth. Then everything went black. | When she opened her eyes she saw Gerry Neal’s anxious face between her and the bright blue bowl of sky. Under her body the sand felt deliciously warm and | soft. “You're all right now,” Nezl was saying. “You fainted just zs we were getting in.” She started to raise her head, but he remonstrated. “No. yet. Take it easy. I—I'm {rightfully sorry, Martha.” “It wasn’t your fault. An inland girl should know better than to go plunging into a surf like that. “Ordinarily it would have been all right. ‘But close to those rocks there’s a dangerous undercurrent. I've sat here by the hour and watched what it does to pieces of driftwood. That's how I knev just where to ait—and I could see that red bathing suit, too!” Martha smiled. “Mind if I just lie here a minute and close my eyes? I feel kind) of shaky.”

5 z 5 HY long her eyes were c.osed she did not know. Perhaps; she dozed in the warm sun. But when she raised her lashes she was startled to see Neal's face quite

" close, as though he had been study-

ing her. Then slowly, yet somehow swiftly, too, he kissed her. Martha did not move. The color rose slowly from her throat. Deliberately she raised herself tJ her feet, left Neal sitting there on the sand. “I'm going to dress. It's time we started back to town.” “Right,” said Neal oddly. meet you at the car.” He was standing by the road, smoking a cigaret, when Martha came up the | path swinging her damp swim suit. Wordlessly’, he held open the car door for her then climbed behind the wheel. “I shouldnt have done tha” he said at last. “Shouldn’t “You know what I mean. no right to kiss you.” “Kiss me?” repeated Martha., She laughed lightly. ‘Either you've been ‘affected by our recent. experience— or I have. I don’t remember a kiss.” ” " 8 NEAL flushed angrily. The car swerved to the side of the road, stopped suddenly. “If you choose not to remember that kiss, perhaps you will remember this one!’ He grasped Martha by the shoulders-— and as quickly released her. For a long moment, he met her eyes squarely. Then: “I—I don’t know what the devil is \'wrong with me. Will you forgive me, please?” ‘Martha's glance did not flinch. Her reply was direct, almost impersonal. “Of course,” she said. “I suppose,’ he went on dismally when the car was under way again,

“Tl

ave done what'” [ had

“that now you won't want tc go io the Del Monte dance with ite tonight?” : Martha shrugged: “Why rot? I

think it would be fun.” §

Neal turned, admiration shining from his eyes. “You know, you're about the grandest girl I've ever known!” “And you've many?” I - “I get around.” : “Ever save| a girl's life bi¢fore?” Martha laughed. “N-no. Not that I recall "And I can’t really count this tinie, because I was a fool not to wa:'n you. Suppose you'd jumped in before I got down to the beach?” Martha - shuddered. “I'd rather _uot imagine that!” 2 2 on S Martha danced in th: Bali room of the Del Mont: that night it seemed to her that it had been ‘ages since she’d heard a rhythmic swing for dancinz, So much had happened in the 1ist two days, so much that was friglitening and inexplicable, that she owned the feeling of having livec years since she and Betty had started so blithely from San Diego. : And now—she knew it almost beyond a doubt—she was faliing in love with Gerry Neal. Falling in love with a man she hardly knew, a man she should be regarding wi h suspicion rather than tenderness. But there it was. Since first she had been able to reason, Martha had never dodged the trutr about herself. And the truth was cirtainly this: either she was in love with Neal, or she was precarious y close to it. As she danced in Gerr:’ Neal's arms she remembered, curiously, something she had said t Betty

known a great

- Haynes not long before. Trey had

been reading in the newspajer of a wife testifying for her husb:ind accused of murder and racketeering.

“I don’t know what he did,” the

wife had said. “He’d never tell me. But I loved him and that was all

RE re ne

r fairing. The nose of the

‘hope in his

'& wom- } the.

an’s testimony, and Martha remembered saying, “It doesn’t sound right to me. I can’t imagine loving a man you didn’t know any more about than that.” #..8 =» : ELL, it could happen. It was happening now in hundreds of places all over the world. At this moment hundreds of women were realizing it could happen, just as she was now. It gave her a queer, fatalistic feeling to think that she was one of them. Coming back from the beach that afternoon she began to realize it. Gerry Neal's kiss was still on her lips, and she had sat there, remembering it. She had hurried to the trailer to change for dinner, happy to be getting into her blue gown and slippers, ‘wanting her hair te be right. - .

And now she and this man were |.

dancing | together, without words, content to let the music speak for them, not caring that they were

} ¢ strangers in this gay ballroom and

could dance with no one else. “But I mustn't let him see it,” Martha warned herself. “I've got to find Betty—I've got to know what Gerry Neal is.” There was another warning which ‘slipped unwanted into her brain. A warning not to let herself in for anything, not to be hurt. A warning so many women have refused, and so few have heeded, when the time came. Suddenly Neal locked down at her. “You're very quiet, Martha .. . I can call you Martha?” “You've already. done it once before,” she told him. “On the beach this afternoon, after you yanked me ashore.” Neal laughed. “I guess I was too, excited to notice. Anyhow, that] proves it comes natural—and not for effect.” He looked at her oddiy. “But you remembered!” “Yes,” Martha said, “I remembered.” :

(To Be Continued)

Daily Short Story

DESPERATE CHANCE—By William De Lisle

ARRIGAN was asurvivor of the old flying days—one of those who could remember when men rode the sky in box-kite contraptions. hy Now, in a great tri-motored cabin monoplane, he found himself in as dangerous a predicament as he had ever experienced. Often enough he had known fear in the air, but always, before, there had been some loop-hole through which a man of his experience could find a way to safety. - This time, nothing but luck could save him. He was not only caught in a dense fog, but all three motors were threatening to quit. He gazed into the fog, then at the instrument board with its turn and bubble indicators for blind flying. What good would that be if the motors gave out? ; Sh HE weather reports had not mentioned fog when, after four ys of waiting for just the right combination of moon, visibility and tailwind, he had taken off from New York on this attempt at a nonstop solo flight to Rome in record time. He had sped across the Atlantic without a hitch and, with his three motors still playing the sweetest tune a pilot can hear, had left the Spanish coast behind to head over the blue waters of the Mediterra~ nean on the last lap of his fight. Then, less than halfway on this last lap, the fog had come up, white and menacing, Possibly the cold, penétrating vapor had seeped into the ignition [system. At all events, the song of the three motors was no longer a rhythmic chorus. If was broken by coughs and wheezes that threatened complete stoppage. He could fly with two motors; he could stay aloft for some time, losing altitude gradually, with only one. But with none. . . . “Gro-o-o-omph!” The starboard motor cut out. A split second later, Harrigan was div-ing-through the white blanket in an effort to bring life. back to the dead weight with the useless propeller out there on the wing. Speed, more speed—it was all a lone hand could do—and it failed. . No use losing too much altitude with the invisible sea waiting for him below. Harrigan checked her, flew straight on by compass and dancing bubble.

” n ”

ITH another man to take over the controls, he could have gone wing-walking to find the fault in the silent motor on the starboard wing. Once, in the war, he had crawled out on a bomber’s wing to put out a fire. Now, even, a desperate attempt like that was impossible. “Lone” Harrigan they called him where flying: men gathered—and this was the price of loneliness. However, even when the port motor spluttered and stopped, Harrigan did not regret having come alone. It was so easy to find a partner in this sort of adventure, but there was no certainty of bringing him out of it alive. Harrigton had survived, so far, because he had never trusted the air, but the list of his dead friends had yearly grown longer. Harrigan realized that the time must come

rwhen the wisest old pilot must pay

the bill. #2 2 a

ow, he called to his aid the instinct developed during 25 years of flying. The flickering altimeter needle was too slow, but that did not matter. Harrigan didn’t fear the inevitable landing on the water. He would know when to flatten out. There was an instrument in his brain which had helped him in emergency landings many times before—a warning of approaching contact that would save him from a crash and a swift drowning. ; Possibly he smelled the water, Just as some sailors in a fog can smell land. The altimeter was still registering 2000 feet when he pancaked on the calm surface. It was as gentle a touch as Harrigan’s steady hands could make it. Spray rattled against the cabin A plane dipped a little under the weight of the bow motor, but the wings held and the whole | fuselage floated bravely. ik

ARRIGAN ripped out the escape panel above his head and climbed out. A faint breeze greeted him as he stood on the wing. Wind! Wind would disperse the fog! He dropped back into the cockpit and, to lighten the plane, threw out, every piece of equipment .that he could spare. Sharks nosed his parachute as it floated off. They moved away quickly when tools and heavier gear splashed overboard. Packages of sandwiches and fruit he kept— also a Very pistol and cartridges. When he returned to the wing surface, the sun had struck through the fog, and the dense vapor was clearing. Late afternoon on the Mediterranean,” Harrignn scanned the widening - horizon with fresh Jeans. Though there was nothing in sight at the moment —except the sharks—he felt cheered by-the- lifting of the white blinderred: the sharks to

‘what I should have done... .

E remembered a conversation with a fellow pilot who had been forced down in the Channel. “I just lit a cigaret and waited,” the pilot had said. “There were plenty of ships around—no need to wave or anything. But if there had been only one ship, far away, I know

Harrigan was just lighting a cigaret when the steamer lifted her smoke stacks over the long swell. He stood motionless, staring at the ship. Coming this way . . .—passing! "He fired a Very light, then watched intently. No sudden change of course—the steamer could not have seen him. “Better at night, and then it will be too late,” he thought. He waited, fired another light. Then, as the ship drew abreast, miles away, he fired the last cartridge. ” - ”n

T= ship steamed on. Harrigan pictured the officer of the watch pacing the bridge, glancing port, starboard, ahead—but not, oft- | en astern. - If he could attract attention now, he might be saved— within a few minutes, it would be too late. - Harrigan saw himself as a doomed airman standing at the cash desk of death, about to pay the bill. No other ship would pass that way while he fumbled for the money. A bold stroke now, and the. shadow gloating there over another airman might have to wait unsatisfied.

A long decision for Harrigan—five seconds. ‘Tick . . . There went the steamer. Tick . four sharks prowling around the wreck. Tick . he had strapped on his lifejacket. Tick . . . he was unscrewing the cap of the main fuel tank. Tick . . . he struck a match. Black smoke poured out, and flames raced along the wings as Harrigan struck out, swimming rapidly away from the monoplane. Soon the sea, too, was alight, after, the tanks had exploded but, by that time, Harrigan was beyond the edge of the circle of flame. He spiashed vigorously, swinging around in the water for a glimpse of the sharks— and the ship. The sharks had vanished, frightened off by the blaze—but the ship was bearing down on him now.

THE END

(Copyright. 1937. by United Feature Syndicate. Inc.)

The characters in this story are fictitious

Ask The Times

Inclose a 3-cent stamp for reply when addressing any question of fact or information to The Indianapolis Times Washington Service Bureau, 1013 13th St., N. W., Washington, D. C. Legal and medical advice cannot be given, nor can extended research be undertaken.

Q—Is the Resettlement Administration an independent Government agency? A—On Dec. 31, 1936, the President by executive order transferred all the powers, functions, and duties heretofore vested in the Resettlement Administration and in its Administrator and Deputy Administrator, to the Secretary of Agriculture. All funds, personnel, property, records, and equipment of the Resettlement Administration were transferred by the same order to the Department of Agriculture, effective Jan. 1, 1937.

Q—Is there a superstition among merchants ‘that it is a bad omen to lose the first sale of a week, and will they take any price a customer offers rather than lose the sale? A—There is an old custom in Judaism that, if a merchant is suc-

cessful in selling to his first cus-. :

tomer of the week, it is a good omen for the rest of the week. Some hold so closely to:this tradition that they will offer an article for almost nothing in order to make the sale. The week opens after sundown Saturday night, as soon as three stars are seen, and closes at sundown Friday.

Q—How many male and female cooks are in the United States? A—The 1930 census enumerated 194,297 males and 371,095 females.

Q—Is Armistice Day celebrated as a national holiday in Germany? A—The German embassy says it is not celebrated.

Q—How are chestnuts roasted? A—Cut through the outer shell and place on a griddle over a hot fire. Shake the nuts from time to time and when the shells are crisp the nuts are roasted.

Q—What is the value of a United States half cent dated 1809? / A—They are cataloged at 5 to 15 cents. ie

Q—Where is the old ship Constitution, nicknamed “Old. Irensides”? ° A—At the Boston Navy Yard.

Q—Is there any opium legally produced in the United States?

A—No.

Q—How many males and females aged 10 to 15 years were gainfully occupied in the United States in 1900 and 1930?

A—In 1900 there were 1,264,411 boys, 26.1 per cent, and 485,767 girls,

10.3 per cent. In 1930 th

ak JL

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

UT OUR WAY

By Williams

1D LIKE AN ORDER FER A NEW ONE ~ THIS 1S WORN

WHY, HAD

esa — CAPR 1937 BY NEA SERVICE INC. T M REC U

COUPLE OF WEEKS ~ WHY DON'T YOU LET TH' MACHINE DO SOME OF TH' WORK, INSTEAD OF WEARIN' OUT FILES LIKE

YOU'VE ONLY THAT A

THAT?

& PAT. OFF.

WHY DON'T HE LET TH OWNER DO SOME OF. TH WORRYIN, INSTEAD OF WEARIN' OUT NERVES, LIKE

BUT HE'S A VERY VALUABLE ASSET TO TH’ COMPANY = SAY- HE SAVES TEN FILES IN TEN YEARS,AN' SPENDS ONLY A MONTH IN. A SANITARIUM, "PAY = WHY ~ UH...

J RWILUAMS 4:3,

| FLAPPER FANNY

~ 3 conse

SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1937 By Sylvia

: , “Could you slip in ‘The Buttercup Walt? a few times

while you're t practicing.”

uning, mister? I'm an hour

LI'L ABNER

N \

ICANT TELL! THE OWNER WILL HAVE TO COME IN FoR THEM! I USE “THE

THESE ARES

MISTAH LOYE’- = OH -MISTAH LOVE, , WHAR IS YO ?

D-DIZZzY

HAS THE CORRESPOND - ING HALF OF THE TICKET,

FOR THE JOB Tu BE FINISHED

HELL BE IN TO GET HIS SHOES... |

PEOPLE. -

TH-THAR'S = S-50 MANY AUTYS -AN’ SO N PEOPLE = STRANGE . =IT GITS ME

MANY®

short on my

—By Al Capp

OH-WHAR IS HE 7

#{ HE 1S SPOSED “MAR

MISTAN L- --

QVE ”

OQ LOVE , MISTAH

T°

Y/N

WE'LL BE BACK MR. KRING! IF THE OWNER. OF “THOSE SHOES COMES IN, STALL FOR TIME wa AND DON'T LOSE * Your HEAD !

Z 2 L fi

i il

HIYAH, TOOTS. WHATCHA GOT THERE ? UMM! SAY - WHATCHA AMIN’ TDO WITH THAT 2. FOR THE

ALLEY OOP... ~~

"I'VE A NICE SHELL OF STEW .

PRISONER,

WHAT 2 THAT NICE STEW FOR THAT BUM ? HAH, NIX, SISTER, BUT ¥ SURECAN USE IT — 4 HERE, GIMME THAT!

By Lichty

: x \/ . ~~ 4

- ——

1937 by United Feature Syndicate, Ine

+ eo WON SS MW SOD 0)

. mn Nai suraa ng, }

- ante

+3 AER * nF —

"——and den suddenly, in a fit of pique—I bashes ‘im!’

460,742 boys, 6.4 per cent, 206,376 girls, 2.9 per cent.

Q—Which nations have “United States” included in their official names?

-A—The United States of America, the United States of Mexico, the

and

| United States of Brazil, and the

United States of Venezuela. _ Q—What proportion of the number of children

States between 7 and 12 years attend school? A—About 95.3 per cent of the 16,400,000 children of that age.

Q—When was the coronation of Edward VIL of Great Britain? A—Aug, 9; 1902. Q—Was the furniture manufactring Indusiey, severely affected by

niture reduced the replacement demand to a minimum, and the drastic decline in new building caused an almost total curtailment in the market for furnishing new homes. Q—Name the first woman aviator who flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean. A—Amelia Earhart Putnam.

Q-—-How is dictionary pronounced? |.

p 4

0 ql ¢

WORD WAS EVER

SPOKEN I” » YUM!

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

HORIZONTAL 1, 7 Pictured singer. 11 Poetic foot. 12 Herb.

13 Like. 14 Wholly. 15 Ream. 16 Pound. 18 Rubber tree. 20 Note in scale. 21 Pastry. 22 To barter 24 Entreaty. 25 Obese. 27 Scarlet. 29 Elf. 30 Sun god. 32 Aeriform fuel. 34 To attempt. 35 Street. 36 Form of *'be.” 38 Herd'’s grass 41 Taro paste. 42 Flannel. 44 To pay back. 45 Young cow. 46 To assist. 48 Corded cloth. | 2 {3

5 Jo

Answer to Previous Puzzle

Vv J CE

E SIT

wn)

J 0

Umm

I> r ~~ >I 0M >> OMI

I C

MIZIME> > 0

D =

ZIM ZIM Z>

= <

49 Male cat. 50 Dutch measure, 52 Tatter, 54 Lug. 56 Chum. 58 Beverage. 60 Eerie. 62 The tip. 63 Her first name : 64 She sang in —— here and abroad (pl.).

VERTICAL

2 Path between tiers of seats. 3 To accomplish 4 Data. 5 Flour factory. 6 Splendor. 7 Market. 8 Tree. 9 Behold. 10 To misrepresent. 13 She was born in —,

e— SOprano voice. 19 Fairy. 21 To handle. 23 To loiter 24 To remunerate 26 To make lace, 28 To run away 29 To cook in fal.

31 Constellation. 33 Courtesy title, 34 Form of “thee.”

| 35 Sun.

37 Glossy paint 39 To mingle. 40 Candle. 41 To indulge. 43 Sloth. 45 Company. 47 Doctor. 49 Transposed. 51 Devoured. 53 Reverence. 55 Stir. 57 Striped fabriey 59 Morindin dye. 61 Neuter pronoun. 62 Northeast.

17 She had a

2 Jo

30. 30 42

ab)

50 [51 58

Life’s: crowning old gracefully. .. natural as growth

and doctors should give it as much

attention as they

ter,

glory is to grow

We have got to work to maine

. Old age is as|tain our neutrality. We must get

and development | Jegislation in line

do the tiny babe. | flict, and while

with this principle,

hefore we are drawn into any con-

still

hey

we are