Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1927-05-13
THE
LITTLE
STARTER
20. 1927, by d. ]. walsh.)


IN pretty little information clerk,
who sat in the glass box office
at the service station. Roy was
dear, with merry blue eyes and
mouth that seldom dropped at the
corners-that is, it had seldom
dropped until along about June, 1924.
Then 1t threatened to develop a per-
petual slant when Ella refused to go
to- the altar on Roy's salary of 500
per.
That mOnstrous fabrication that
two can live as cheaply as one Is
nothing but honey boy" Ella
avowed when Roy tried to persuade
her to chuck her job and start house
keeping for two in three-room fiat.
with $75 month all my own, have
to do my laundry at night and eat in
cafeterias to make 1t do"
you wouldn't If you didn't want so
many dresses, silk stockings and fancy
slippers" stubbornly protested Roy.
But l want 'em-such as they are
II you knew anything you'd under
stand Pm pretty clever to make any
sort Of showing on what's left after
paying for eats and the room rent"
"Oh, I know you're clever. That's
the whole darn rub You manage to
look so durn nifty you attract the
Johnnies even over the telephone
You'd think people in this town who
want to use the bus line couldn't read
by the way they flock around your
window and call up for information.
What's the company run daily ad in
the newspapers for, I'd like to known
But you got to marry me, Ella, you
just got to-"
"All right, I'm willing enough, once
you get little starter. That three
room fiat, In my case, must be an
apartment, and they are still $45
month for rear ones"
81 know they are on the boulevard
or any of the swell avenues. But If
you loved me you'd be content to
make home for me some place where
rent wasn't so high. A hall bedroom
Is the largest size castle I've known
so far, and I'll tell the world any
place that spells home with you In II
will look like a palace to mew
Then Roy began to study ways and
means of putting by more Of his sal
airy to fatten the starter Ella demand
ed. He discovered that the dairy
lunchrooms and hot-dog counters were
cheaper than cafeterias, and the saw
ings went to swell the bank account.
whats the big idea working eve
nlngs?" Ella complained when Roy be-
gan taking the 6 p. IN. hours for men
who wanted those hours off.
"You, my dearl I've only FIVE hun
dred Of that thousand you insist on
having to begin the housekeeping
game on, and I'm trying to get the
other five hundred pronto."
Don't you think I ever want to go
placesF'
"Surel'
"You don't act like It."
And Ella argued, scolded and pout-
I'd about being lonesome, though she
vas secretly pleased at her lovers
determination.
Ella decided to work evenings, too,
and she asked the manager to let her
write up the reports after regular
vorking hours. Roy didn't like that.
The service station, with a parking
garage attached, was no place for
Il girl after dark.
"No one will bother me-" Ella de-
ciured when Roy objected at adds
so to my pay, and with you working
So frequently I'd rather be at the sta
ton than sitting out evenings alone"
Roy couldn't persuade her to aban-
DIN the overtime work, so he had to
content himself by asking Donegan,
the policeman on that beat, to keep
All eye on the station the nights Ella
was on duty. He made up his mind
to punch anybody's face who tried to
start anything with Ella.
A week later the first cyclonlc storm
that had visited the city in ten years
began to gather during the rush hour
for theater goers. It was terrific
while 1t lasted, but, like all cyclonic
storms, was quickly over, leaving wet,
debris-strewn streets. Roy took a
chance on leaving his route for a
block, to run by the service station to
see II Ella was safe. Her smiling
countenance In the glass box Office re-
assured him, and he speeded up as
Donegan appeared and shook his club
at him. A block farther up the street
he was hailed by two men, one carry
leg a black bag.
Passengers for the depot, thought
Ray, and paid no more attention to
them. He had enough to do to watch
k,r the wreckage In the street, and
soon he came to block where a
house had been unrOofed. None of
the family had been at home.
Roys passengers left the bus with
murmured, "It's an Ill wind that
doesn't blow somebody good. This Is
going to be an easy one"
On his next trip uptown, great ex-
element prevailed in that block and
the crowd was fast becoming throng
10 and around the damaged house.
HOys passengers all wanted to learn
What the excitement was, and Roy
himself left the bus and Joined the
crowd.
There had been robbery; $4,000,
hidden in the attic, had been stolen.
Roy heard the owner tell policeman
he would give $1,000 to recover the
bonds.
He rushed bach to his bus curslng
himself for q fool. Why hadn't he