The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1902-11-22
....THE....
RACKET Dug STORE
AT BEEN0,

ant till about six months before he
died Then Harold Upd!ke. one Of the
Gown boys" came back from the
city a graduated. f,ill-nedged pharma
cist and DR.. Poppits employed him
iD the drug store. "The Racket Drug
Store, Beena, Ark" that was the sign
over the door, but on little tin sign
near tho side entrance was the legend
Herr Poppitz, Apotheke." The al
vent of Harold Updike lent rev glory
to che drug store. he wore pink
, shirt and silk garters to hold up --.s
Sleeves. Ho parted his hair in the
middle. and kept it dropping. name
like, over his eyes after the manner
Of the college football hero. He was
the envy of all the young men in town
| because he ruled the soda fountain
! and every girl in town called him
Hal" and quit buying stamps at the
pcStoficc. Meanwhile DR.. Poppitz
who, by the way, wasn't doctor at
all, was disabled almost entirely by
accelerated diabetes, and Harold
, came pretty near running things in
the store.
Would you like cooling beverage,
Miss Sue?" asked Harold one evening,
when pretty Miss Clayton, who had
set into long dresses within the year.
had bought box of note paper and
some stamps. with me, you know.
Ny treat"
And while she was ribblins daint-
lily at it. he eyed her admiringly and
stammcred: Two years have made
quite a change in you, Susie"
They've changed you, too, Hal.
We're all glad to see you back-there
aren't enough boys round. you see,
and-you know Dan Atterbury-
"Oh, that's so. forgot about Dan!
Where is he?"
"He hasn't come back from the
army yet" she said, getting deeper
into the confection, but blushing. too.
"I-that is, we, have been expecting
him. He said he'd be here for the
Fourth, and I'm hoping
AHA, Miss SUSIE" simpered Updike,
$50 he's been writing to you, eh? He
always was little sweet"
"He was schoolmate with us, with
you too," she said frowning, with quite
q serious attempt at severity, and
I think you ought to be glad to see
him too. HAL He's been wounded and
sick, and suffered ever SO many things
over there in the Philippines. And he
was in China too!"
But Updike didn't care whether his
old schoolmate ever came back, for ne
had some plans of his own with re-
gard to Susie, and he knew that even
a pink shirt and football hair are not
special advantages over blue uni
form and a bolo wound.
But Dan came back, just the same.
and the girls made quite hero of
him-for a few days. He had some
presents too, principally for Susie,
but he proved his generosity with
gifts of a Filipino mat and Chinese
ring to Updike. He brought great
carton of Manila cigars for old DR..
Poppitz, and they lay open on the
little table by his bed the night the
good old apothecary died.
After the funeral was over and the
good old doctor was forgotten Har
old began to cut quite figure in
Beeno circles. The store owed money
to the Hot Springs wholesaler, and Hal
was acting manager for its creditor.
Meanwhile he was paying the most
ardent court to Miss Susie. She
might have bathed in costly perfumes
and feasted interminably on bonbons
and ice cream soda without infringing
an inch upon Updikes grandiose hos
pitality. He sent her presents Of
every kind of note paper, fancy toilet
articles, soaps. novelties, combs,
brushes and the rest of drug store
fancy goods.
Dan Atterbury's star, on the con.
trary, was on the descent. He had
put aside his weather-stained cam
paign suit and was loafing. A soldier
out of his regimentals and cut of
job Is not usually heroic spectacle.
Some Of the good people Of Boeno be-
gan to hint that "soldierin' allus did
make fellers no count" and Atterbury
was commencing to be aware of his
position in the commun.
ity, when at her gate one night Susie,
fixing a poppy in his buttonhcle. said:
Danny, what are you going to do?"
4 don't know yet, Sue," he hesitat-
ed; 1--WE got over two hundred saved
up, told you, and If sell that loot
I brought home I'd have a pretty good
stake-perhaps eight hundred or a
thousand. We could get married on
less than that, Susie"
mo, we couldn't, Dan. Not unless
you had position, or some business or
ahead. It doesn't take long
to spend a thousand dollars, Dan.'
well, what would you do?" he
asked, boylike, I'm willing to do any
thing. Would you go to the city and
study law, or medicine, or-or-"
'Pharmacy?" she laughed, helping
him out, mo Dan, don't study phar-
macy If it's going to make you like
Hal. He's
II don't think you ought to backbite
bin. Sue. You ought to send back
bio presents or at least tell him to