Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1935-11-21
WATCH THE CURVES

they would finally be alone; and it
must stay secret, immune from per-
sonal fury that could give Crack form
less warning Of danger. For If Crack
vanished, slipped indolently away with
the sly, browsing triumph returned to
his eye, Hal was obsessed for the rest
of his life by the thought Of that I'M
beaten evil, alive somewhere, gloating,
hating him.
Would he see Barry after that7
Would he look at her and remember
things? Perhaps, but it couldn't get
into his mind now.
They stopped at lonely station to
be sure of gas, oil, and water. Later,
an unassuming fngerpost pointed the
way to Death valley, off to the right.
Hal heard the flat echo of the name
in him and wished drearily for relief
from these long, long stretches of the
baking road. There must be an end to
1t; there must be an end, too, of this
dull inability Of his to see Barry ex-
cept as she had sat on the bed the last
night, staring, everything between them
sullenly dismissed.
California welcomed them officially
at its agricultural quarantine station,
where the luggage had to come down
off the roof and be opened for an in
spector. Dropping the bags to Kerri-
gan and Crack, Hal didn't resist the
temptation which the last two offered.
"That-" he said to Crack in voice
casual enough, but plainly audible:
"thats Kerrigan's, and that"-when
Crack reached for t-'that's your
wife's." He knew Barry wouldn't turn;
but Sister Anastasia and Kerrigan
both looked up at him as If he had
cursed, and he had to drop his eyes
to hide deep self-disgust.
A cool mist drifted up the Cajon
Pass to meet them; and lower down
the smooth concrete turnings they
had vista of the square-laid streets
of San Bernardino, the low California
bungalows, and the ranks of feathery
eucalyptus. Hal didn't care why it
seemed exciting to be so near the end
the end Of journey which once he
had thought would be all tedium and
then resolved should be careless holt
day. After it was over he might begin
to know what had happened to him,
but there was nothing exciting about
that.
In the middle Of Mrs. Pulsipher's
statistics on the thyroid Hollywood
ladies took to keep their figures, John
broke into frustrated sounds. He
snapped his fingers in moment and
said, "It-tit-tit-tit said that way-that
way. It-tit-tit-"
Hal half turned toward John with
feeling near absolute tenderness for
hira and said: "These darn signs
seem to point in any direction for
Los Angeles. What place is this, d'you
knoww
Pasadena" said Crack warily. "You
can run out to Hollywood this way If
you want" And he added, the insinua-
ton of his voice insure of its own
slyness, "Whyn't you drop-us off
there on the way?"
"Do that" said Hal briskly. 1t
awed him little to think again what
might happen if Crack used that Jus"
when they were alone.
Guiding Rasputin to Cracks direc-
lions, Hal made a final attempt to
fancy how it would be-to put Barry's
bag down on the sidewalk and leave
her there with her husband. Some
thing might move and give him re-
membrance other than the fixed image
OF last night 1t might be the last
time he saw her. Some little thing
should happen, must happen, to show
him where he was.
But it was nothing. Hal, on the
roof, heard the good-bys said below
him and saw Barry go little apart
with Sister Anastasia, write something
on slip of paper and give it to- the
nun before she kissed her. Her blue
eyes came slowly to his, the hostile,
unremembering screens fixed against
him. Perhaps she watched an instant
longer than suited her negligence, but
that was all. He knew she wouldn't
speak; and he looked away first, bend
ing over to take Docs muzzle in his
hand and shake 1t gently. "'Bye,
poodle" he said. And then he was
watching the ingenious, unsurprising
grace of her boys stride take her
away, beside the terriers bright trot-
| ting.
And this might be the last he ever
saw of her! Good Cd, why did that
still mean nothing?
| y
The room was nondescript and com.
Portable and Kerrigan, in shirt-sleeves
by the window, swept his paper down
when Hal came in, smiled family
disturbed welcome, and said, "Well,
here we are. When d'you shove off
| for Santa Barbara?"
SIN WHILE" said Hal. "She's seeing
a priest who knows her brother
what's on his mind, how he is and ALL
You knew her brother was dying? He
| is. That's why she's in a rush, bless
her good heart. She's going to call
up when she's ready. When do you
have to be on the job, Colonel?" he
asked.
"The End of the Trail?" he said, his