The Coolidge examiner., 1931-10-09

AS Sabra Looked at Him She Knew.
the French Marcys; the pride of
the southern Venables. She told
herself that Yancey was dead. She
told the world that he was dead.
She knew, by some deep and unerr-
ing instinct. that he was alive.
She ran the paper competently :;
wrung from it a decent livelihood
for herself and the two children.
When ii had no longer been pos
sible to keep secret from her par
ents the fact of Yancey's prolonged
, absence, Felice Venable had de-
scended upon her prepared to gath
er to the family bosom her desert
ed child and to bring her, together
with her offspring, back to the
parental home. Lewis Venable had
been too frail and i'll to accompany
his wife, so Felice had brought
with her the more imposing among
the Venables, Goforths, and Vians
who CHANGED to be visiting the
Wichita house at the time of her
| departure. Usage looked upon
these stately figures with much
awe, but Sabra's reception of them
had been as coolly cordial as her
rejection of their plans for her fu-
ture were firm.
Il intend to stay right here in
Usage" she announced, quietly, but
in a tone that even Felice Venahle
recognized as inflexible, land run
the paper, and bring up my chill
dren as their father would have
expected them to be brought up.
mean to stay here in Usage until
Yancey-until-" She never FIN
ished that sentence.
The Usage society notes became
less simple. From bare accounts of
cuttings, sewing bees, and church
sociables they blossomed INTO flow
cry limitations of the metropolitan
dailies' descriptions of social events
Sabra was. without being fully
aware of it, a power that shaped
the social aspect of this crude
southwestern town. The ladies of
the new Happy Hour club. on her
declining to become member.
pleading lack of time and press Of
work (as well she mighty made her
an honorary member. resolved to
have her influential name on their
club roster, somehow. They were
paying unconscious tribute to Ok
lahoma's first feminist. She still
ran the paper single handed, with
the aid of Jesse Hickey, the most
expert printer in the Southwest
(when sober). and as good as the
average when drunk.
There still was very little actual
money in the territory. People
traded this for that Sabra often
translated subscriptions to the
Oklahoma Wigwam-and even ad-
vertising space-into terms of fresh
vegetables. berries, wild turkeys.
quail, prairie chickens, dress
! lengths and shoes and stockings
for the children.
Sol Levy's store, grown to re-
spectacle proportions now, provid.
ed Sabra with countless necessities
in return for the advertisements
which were sent through the coun-
try via the Oklahoma Wigwam. In
a quietly, dreamy way Sol Levy had
managed to buy surprising
amount of Usage real estate by
now. He owned the lot on which his
store stood, the one just south of it.
and. among other pieces, the build
ing and lot which comprised the
site of the Wiswam and the Cra-
vats' house. In The year following
Yancey's departure Sabra's eco
nomic survival was made possible
only through the almost shame
faced generosity of this quiet. sad
/ eyed man.
1--WE got 1t all down in my
books" Sabra would say, proudly.
You know that it will all be paid
back some day."
He began in the Oklahoma Wig
wan a campaign of advertising out
of all proportions to his needs. and
Sabras debt to him began to shrink
to the vanishing point. She got into
the habit of talking to him about
her business problems, and he ad-
vised her shrewdly. When she was
utterly discouraged he would say,
not triumphantly, but as one who
states an irrefutable and not par
ticularly happy fact:
"Some day, Mrs. Cravat, you and
| will look back on this and we will
laugh-but not very loud"
"How do you mean-laugh?"
"Oh-I will be very rich, and you