The Coolidge examiner. [volume] (Coolidge, Ariz.) 1930-current, 1933-03-03
Battered Barber
By DOROTHY DOUGLAS
e oy Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.
WNfl Service


~ Ia the nearest hospital.
No more fOothall-for me?" ne
eSSayed "a smile you've been
"vergeneruus with your bandages
haven't your he queried
Not more than you needed. my
lad said one kindly surgeon
Aside from seriously smashed
knee, you also have twisted
wrist. dislocnred collar bone and
a slightly cracked nose bridge"
''iiut apart from that I'm quite all
right" BARRIERS twisted smile hur'
the tender hearts of those nurses
who had helped the surgeons patch
UP the battered player. suppose
III have 10 take TO addressing en-
velopes for a career"
"Or writing poetry" suggested
the surgeon. "It's certain you1l
never play football again and-the
counIry's going TO miss you, my
boy"
The nurses turned away. Barber's
fine mouth, despite the effort he
made was quivering. a football
hero he WAS and now he lay physi-
caIiy shattered and rudely smndered
from all thar made life interesting.
There was one. however, who
hooked upon Barber's plight with
eyes THAI had CLINT of triumph
in Them. She. the girl whom Bar
her had Va3ted Ia oarry. nad per
sisienily refused 10 marry a lIrofes
sional football player. Perhaps
now that football as a profession
had been snaiched from him. he
would listen TO reason and take up
some business which would mean
n regular salary and some kind of
definite return assured.
Marcella never quite knew wheth-
or il was touch Of snObbishness
ON her part or whether she dreaded
merely being the wife of the IA
nous Robert Barber.
'At any rate" she had often said
w tfsAlNNAs BACiCi
To love a man who made his living
by means of his brain power in
stead of by his athletic accomplish
ments"
You don't love me. Marcella, or
you wouldn't mind my profession
being what II is-it is perfectly
honorable"
So in the hospital Barber lay
there thinking over all that Mar
celia had said and realizing that she
certainly had a right to her views
Certainly athletes could not be
called interesting as whole.
And rs week upon week went by
and Barber still lay in the hospital
The time began to hang heavily
upon him. Tired of reading. bored
with crossword puzzles. quite fed
up with his own inner resources
Barber fell a prey to depression.
II was his little red-haired nurse
whom he nicknamed Crimson Ram
bier because of her hair and her
natural tendency 10 ramble happily
all over the place In search of
amusement for her patients. who
brought him sumo modelling wax.
Its what children love to play
with on rainy day. Now you inst
start right in and try to model me
or that bed post-whlchever inter.
eSts sou most"
Barber laughed and pressed the
soft clay with his fingers now sen
sitive 10 suffering and strangely I'M.
like his own strong hands. AS a
matter of fact, Barber had always
had a secret longing TO model things
but had crushed down the feeling
lest he be considered a first-class
nut.
And so. in another weeks time.
there was n most amusing array Of
tiny figures standing upright on his
bedside stand. Nurses short and
nurses tall - nurses smiling and
nurses glum-and a generous sprin-
Killing of whittier obed surgeons and
kiddie or two all joined in that Gu
rious group of small images.
But above all Barber's eyes had
taken on a new interest in things
abont him. The depression was
gradually giving way to something
akin TO hidden fires bursting out.
wardly into flame.
AM lat career of art, started In
so Gu lous a way. was TO carry Bar
her To the very heights. for the lit
lie figures standing so hravely there
in the hospital held that in their
workmanship which only the mas
ter hand can contribute.
Aiarcella felt her heart beat tri-
umphantiy. for surely now she
would say yes 10 the question
which BARBER had so many times
asked.
IL was through the Crimson Ram
bier that the dragging forth of q
srulptor-io-be took place. for in her
rambling about she came across one
who was wei in a position TO ex
press a verdict on those little
nurses. surgeons and children.
And when they were carried care
fully away TO the great ones studio