The Dickenson County herald. [volume] (Clintwood, Va.) 1927-1930, 1928-05-17
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Trying to Plant a
Jonah's Gourd
BY MARTHA ri. WILLIAMS

0\ Az WnaC aye KNOW OF that
girl?" exclaimed Thornton Gill
berry to his aughter-"dressed in
faded calico, yet acting as though she
felt herself quite as good as we are.
won't have it / tell you. That's the
word with the bark on it,"
Rough enough, patience knows, .
Rachel, daughter and heiress of Thorn
ton Gilberry, Esq, flung back at her
outraged father: 81 like putting on
airs as little as you can" she went on.
But let me tell you she has got what
we'll need badly to swing this deal"
Don't believe it," Gilberry broke
into which Rachel answered: you
hate truth-always. Now listen to it
The Lanes have got standing here
so much so that their word can make
or break us. Leslie spoke real neigh
borly, until you started in to patronize
her-patronize everything. She lis
tened politely while you spun your
yarn-but spoke her No like a thon-
sand Of brick. No mortgage on Long
Lane-her father wouldn't have it, no
more would she hersef-rather sell
outright"
"She hasn't the say so about that,
you'll fnd," Giberry snorted. Rachel
returned him sniff, with: You'll
find that she has-land's trusted, and
she the remainderman-I had sense
enough to find that out at the court
house yesterday, while you were gas
sing with the old judge"
"Sharp of you, l must say--but you
ought to have told me before she
came. l don't want to see her again
till l have my day in court. That
won't be for some little time yet. Big
things mustn't grow too fast
Some of them can't" Rachel adj
mitted. But you're trying to plant
Jonah's gourd. To do that-foks
must believe in you-as they would il
the Lanes backed you. Yesterday L
ran across an old woman in a store
she pounced on he, seeing | was new
and strange, and crossNeXamined me
till | was nearly dead She doesn't
cotton to the Lanes overmuch because
they're so pizen honest that all the
rest took their word for gospel. She
said that Major Lane might a-got out
of payin' the security debt that come
nigh ruinin' him by lettin his lawyer
lie-as if that wasn't what lawyers
were paid for"
Because sulphur springs broke cut
here and there along the depths of
Rush creek, there was a widespread
but nebulous belief that deeper down
there was oil. This belief was tie soil
wherein Gilberry hoped to nurture his
Jenah's Gourd.
Skillfully as become such foWlers,
father and daughter spread their
snare. They had rented tine house
ready furnished, added to it many
servants. several cars, private secre-
tary, a privater wire-only Gilberry
himself or the secretary ever spoke
over it. Things went with Il rush
rigs were brought in-engineers came
to snoop and smell, measure with
queer instruments and mutter in pre-
tended asides.
Gilberry had come to hate the Lane
girl and almost as murder0uSly to
desire her. She knew intuitively his
spiritual estate. If she had not known
the event might have been tragedy
indeed. She had put steadfastly away
a mans love and strength that her
dear burden might not hinder him
from reaching the heights he was
meant to scale But she had promised
faithfully to recall him if ever she felt
herself in deadly need of him.
The need loomed black. Passions
were fluid as laya-Gilberry was say
ing darkly in pretended confidence,
the Lanes held the key to fortunes for
ALL Their lands lay in exactly the
key pesition--unless they We're in the
pool Jonah's Gourd was bound to with
err Too bad for whole community to
be baked by one woman's obstinacy-
The poor old major was puppat in
her hands-She must have great
spite, real crouch against the Old
folks that had been always kind to
her. Get her out of the way for even
two days, the major would sgn-cap
ital would flow like watcr-and oil
well, just like oil.
Ten days since she had written Roy
Lindsay: Come to me at once YET
so far he haG made no sign. Gilberry'S
scheme she knew WIS to kidnap her
declare the major Incompetent, take
over the land, then sell the bonds
half a million in Wait-and disappear.
What her own fate might be she did
not let herself think, not even when
she sat heavy-eyed but yigilant in the
hall outside her fathers door,
Muffled footsteps made her start
two masked men were creeping in
from the back But five feet from
her a bullet stopped one of them
the other wheeled and would have run
away but found himself blocked II
Roy Lindsay came late TO the rescue
it was with force and the strong hand.
Sturdy state troopers and secret SerV-
| ice men, who had been looking into
the prospectus of JOnahs Gourd came
with him.
The bullet had found its right billet
in Giberry-Rachel got away between