Smyrna times., 1931-10-07
WEEKLY SOCIETY STORY FOR
EVENING ROUND THE LAMP
READING TO WHILE AWAY
TIME AFTER DAYS CHORES
powerful Car Was Exhausted" !"
an Interesting Short Story Writ
ten by Jack WOOdfOrd

countryside in her big roadster. 1t
was such a powerful car. and she
was such a smallish girl. Not too
small, perhaps; not too small to
support the largest of big haZen
eyes. and a mop of reddish gold
hair, and pretty face whose strik-
ing beauty seldom failed to cause
men to look impressed.
1t was nice to drive the big car,
because it had the power of a great
many large and puissant and hap
PLY cOntented horses. 1t was nice
because it signified and was a SYM
Dol of her vaunted independence of
men.
Her father had died when she
was very young, and her mother
had reared her; there were no
other children in the family. Marion
had lived in a woman's world. AT
high school she had picked up and
in college she had confirmed, a
feminist viewpoint. She told her
self that she was an individual,
content and happy and able to be
self-sustaining, completely indie
pendent. Of course, there were
many hours she could not explain,
now that she was twenty-five, when
she felt a lack in her self-satisfied
world.
But today she felt exuberant and
as though she were sitting on top
of the world; which, in point of
fact, she was almost doing, since
she was nearing the top of Mt.
Alton, which was one Of the high
est hills in Virginia. At the top
there would be sunset, and then on
the other side night.
Another reason she felt eXhil-
arated was inherent in the fact
that she had all of the long way
up the mountain, ever since she
had stopped at the bottom of it
for gas and a cup of coffee and
a sandwich. kept ahead of a hand
some young man behind her who
had sought, at every opportunity,
to pass her. 1t gave her a thrill
to best him because he was male.
even though he was a rather ex-
traordinarily good looking male.
as she remembered from seeing
him at the base Of the hill. He
was tall and broad shouldered and
narrow Of hip; and his dark brown
eyes had tWinkled in their depths.
His hair was sleek and dark, and
his face was clean-cut and hand
some.
At tile top Marion paused only
lana nn0Iuh RI watch =,
while he caught up to her; then
she went into gear and started the
long descent, with his car not far
behind her. 1t was when she reached
a level stretch Of road which
curved around the side of the hill
that to her CONSERVATION her car
suddenly went dead.
Unspeakably dismayed, because it
was dark now, and the time of year
for rattlesnakes. moccasin snakes
and copperhead snakes on Mt. Alton,
she got out with her fashlight TO
see what was the trouble. At this
moment he drove up behind her
and jumped out Of his car with a
CHEEKY:
4 thought you'd exhaust that
boat sooner or later. Boy! How
you can drive. May ! be of assist
ance?"
No, thank you" she said cOldly.
He tipped his hat and said:
"Oh, very WELL" and climbed
back into his car. AS he was
about to drive off she forced herself
to say weakly:
well, you might be gentleman
enough to stay here until | get
started, anyway"
Sure" he grinned, and jumped
out of his car again. ''All | need
is kind word. Smiles at me and
I'll positively purr for you"
Don't be silly" she rebuked.
Impossible not to be-" he in
sisted. "A mountain side; and
darkness and a strange au-
tumnal haze in the air. | feel pos
itively goofy. Would you like to
ride down the hill in my car, or
would you prefer I'd go and get a
service truck up here for you? .
There's a garage at the base of
the hill"
You might look over the car
and see if you can find out what's
the matter" she suggested haugh-
tily.
Il know what's the matter" he
told her; your cars exhausted from
the way you drive it" But they
both looked, nevertheless, for some
time, without success. At last he
said:
"Fll drive you down in my car,
and We'll send a service man up
to get yours, since you don't want
TO stay here alone; I'm surprised
that such a capable looking young
lady should be afraid to remain a
couple of hours alone on the side
of a hill tonight"
The drive down was very slow:
but he turned out to be a fast
worker. And when they had ar
rived at the bottom of the hill he
81 put a small puncture in your
gas tank when you were eating a
sandwich on the other side of Mt.
Alton"
Back on the hill when they went
up with some gas and a plug to fix
he tank leak, he said:
Besides confessing that | love
you and want you for my wife, I've
rot to unburden myself still fur-