The Coolidge examiner., 1931-11-13


though they were being pulled
apart by invisible fingers. She put
her palms over them, tC shut them,
TO cool them. Nine. Ten. Eleven.
Twelve. She undressed. unpinned
the braids Of her thick hair,
brushed it, plated it for the night.
All the time she was listening. Lis
tening. One.
Suddenly she began to dress
again with icy fumbling fingers.
She did up her hair, put on her hat
and a jacket. She closed the door
behind her. locked it, slipped the
key into the mail box. The Wig
wan office. Yancey was not there.
The Office was dark. She shook the
door, ratified the knob, peered in,
unlocked it with the key in her
| handbag. Her heart was pounding,
but she was not afraid Of the dark
ness. A cats eyes cleaned at her
! from the printing shop. She struck
a light. No one. No one. The limo
type machine grinned at her with
! its white teeth. It's iron arm and
! hand shook tauntingly at her in the
wavering light. With sudden pre-
monitiOn she ran to Yancey's desk.
! opened the drawer in which he
kept his holster and siX-ShOOters,
now that Usage had become so
! effete as to make them an unes-
| Sential article of dress. They were
not there She knew then that Yam
cey had gone.
. Doc Valiant. She closed and
locked the door after her, stepped
out into the quiet bldckness Of
Pawhuska avenue Doc Valiant.
He would go with her He would
drive her out there But his Office
and the room at the rear, which
was his dwelling, gave forth no re-
spOnse. Gone out somewhere
case Down the rickety wooden
steps Of the two-story brick build
ing. She stood a moment in the
street, looking this way and that
She struck her palms together in
kind of agony of futility. She
would go alone if she had q horse
and buggy. She could rent one at
the livery stable. But what would
they think-those men at the
stable? They were the gossips of
the town. Itwould be all over Usage
all over the county. Sabra Cravat
driving out into the prairie alone
in the middle of the night. Some
thing up. Well, she couldn't help
that She had to go. She had to
get him.
Toward the livery stable, past
the Bixby house. A quiet little fig
ure rose from the blackness of the
porch where all through the day
the travelling men and loafers sat
with their chairs tilted back against
the wall The red coal Of his cigar
was an eve in the darkness.
"Sabral What is this What are
you doing running around at this
hour of the night?"
Sol Levy, sitting there in the
Oklahoma night. a lonely little fig
ure. seepless, brOOding. He had
never before called her Sabra.
"Soll Sol! Gins out at the
reservation. Something's happened
know. l feel il"
He did not scoff at this, as most
men would. He seemed to under
stand her fear, her premonition,
and to accept il with oriental ia
talism.
"What do you want to do?'
"Take me out there. Hitch up
and drive me out there. Gins got
the buggy. He went out with her"
He did not ask where Yancey
was. He asked nothing. "Go home"
he said. wait on your porch. I'll
get my rig and come for you. They
shouldn't see you. Do you want
me to go home with you first?"
mo. no. I'm not afraid. I'm not
afraid of anything"
Sol Levy had two very fine
horses; really good animals. They
won the races regularly at the To-
cal fairs. The little light rig with
its smart rubber tires whirled be-
hind them over the red dusty Ok
lahoma prairie roads. His slim
hands were not expert with horses
He was a nervous, jerky driver.
They left the town behind them,
were swallowed up by the prairie.
The reservation was a full two
hours distant. Sabra took off her
hat. The night air rushed against
her face, cooling it. half hour.
Let me drive, will you, Sol?"
Without word he entrusted the
reins to her strong, accustomed
hands; the hands of one who had
come of generations of horse
lovers The animals sensed the
change They leaped ahead in the
darkness. The light buggy rocked
and bounced over the rutted roads.
Sol asked her nothing. They drove
in silence. Presently she began TO
talk, disjOintedly. Yet, surprisingly
enough, he seemed intuitively to
Understandable fill in the gaps with
his own instinct and imagination.
What she said sounded absurd; he
knew it for tragedy.
.. pineapple and marsh
mallow salad hates that
kind of thing Ruby Big
Elk Gin his face
peyote Theresa
Jump :"
Il see," said Sol Levy, soothing
ly. Sure. Well, sure. The boy
will be all right. The boy will be
all right. Well, Yancey-you know
how he is-Yancey. Do you think
he has gone away again? | mean