Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1935-07-18

Oh" said Larsen, as If Los Angeles
were just this side of New Rochelle.
If you keep him in your lap, all
right" He turned to the man whose
crossed legs Hal could see beyond her.
Does he bite?"
II don't know" said lazy, careless
voice.
Larsen was startled. "You two're to-
gether," he said.
mo-" said the man.
Larsen looked at her: she made a
slight negative motion with her head
and dropped her eyes to the dog. Lar
sen fumbled through the slips of paper,
stopping to frown at one. you're 60
ing to L. A." he said to the girl. eyes"
she said, barely looking up to him for
an instant. "And SO are you," Larsen
said to the man. "Yes, but I'm not with
her." "Then who Isl" said Larsen. Hal
let half smile come through his mood
mess as he shook his head. And Lar
sen was saved from further astonish-
ment by his telephone, into which he
said again he was very busy, loading
three seven-passenger cars for Chi and
the West.
Halls eyes kept coming back to the
girl. She seemed not to hear what was
going on in the room-stayed quietly,
solemnly sure that some one would
speak to her. Periodically that annoyed
Hal and he looked away. Then he
would find himself looking at her again
seeing how the smooth, slight dip Of
her cheeks under high cheek bones
seemed to be pursuing her lips little,
adding solemnity to her wide, possessed
mouth.
Hello, hello" said Larsen impa-
tiently into the telephone: I'm very
busy. Pm loading seven three-passenge
cars for Chi and the West" Larsen
was sweating. He called suddenly
over his shoulder, as if taking a des-
perate remedy, 'De Soto!" A small,
cheerful, soft-eyed man, without hat
and looking as If he had just crawled
from under car, came in expectantly.
Take her bags" said Larsen, pointing
his pencil at woman, land take her
to Dallas" The lady's shocked disap-
prevail of little De Soto lost some of its
imperiousness when he grinned at her
eagerly and said: Like a fast ride,
lady?' She glared down, her pince-nez
quivering. slope y'do, cause anybody
rides with me gets fast one"
"Now," said Larsen more happily, as
If their disappearance made it fam
lily party again But the telephone rang,
and Larsen began his weary piece
about Chi and the West almost before
he had lifted the receiver. "Now, that
dog" he started again, and Hal saw
a sort of quick pride take the girls
face as she raised her head. mo, that's
right" Larsen added. 1--WE settled that.
We settled about the dog. Now Los
Angeles-everybody going to Los An
geles goes with Jake Miller. Miller!"
he shouted at the garage door.
where's Miller?"
After an hour Hal went across the
baking street for glass of ginger ale.
When he came back the slight, tidy
man smoking beside the doorway gave
him lazy smile and in a voice that
was oddly insure of pitch said, "Goin'
to L. APP
Guess So" said Hal, trying to be
neither discourteous nor encouraging.
The trip was going to be bad enough
without entering into relations with
anybody.
"So'm l." said the man. MY names
Crack-Mart'n Crack" His eyes
seemed dreamily looking for the effect
of this on Hal.
Hal leaned against the wall, facing
the street, and lighted cigarette. I'm
id if I'll offer him my name, Hal said
to himself if he's interested, he heard
it in there.
you any relation to Frederick Ire
land-the big shot DOWNTOWN"
Hal looked at him with cool amuse-
ment in his gray eyes. "Sure," he said.
Couldn't be Closer" Crack gave a
slight, polite laugh. From his side
pocket he drew bright, new golf ball,
dropped it to the pavement where it
clicked smartly and leaped up to his
waiting hand again.
no BE CONTINUED)