The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1936-03-06

lights. Young men, ranging in hue
from deepest ebony to lightest ochre,
strutted consciously in their tuxedos;
the girls were gay in brilliant evening
ter s~ymptomatic of the commencement
OF a large evening. Later the merri-
ment would be less restrained and the
fun more genuine. Now the paying
guests were too greatly impressed with
their own elegance.
Stew Meat was the center of atten-
ton. He stood apart from the crowd,
brow furrowed, head slightly bent, at
titude not noticeably different from
the famed pose of a certain Mr.. Bon
aparte as he watched his Old Guard
move into the hopeless struggle at Wa
terloo.
At 10 o'clock he observed the broad
the floor. Coot's midnight countenance
was radiant, and he waved gayly at
Stew Meat.
"Jes' got heah," he called.
see you did"
Teeth ciinched, feet propelled by
into the parking space and drove off
in the asthmatic vehicle he had rented
from JASPER De Void. Just another liza
bllity atop a mountain of bankruptcy.
He drove toward Birmingham, even
yet unconvinced that he would find
courage forcibly to enter the Warning
cottage.
He parked two blocks away from
Coot's modest mansion. The neighbor-
hood was oppressively quiet. Coot's
home was Shrouded in blackneSS. So,
too, were the neighboring homes. So,
too, was Stew Meats heart. He moist
ened parched lips, approached the
house from the side and tested the
Window nf (NOf's ho1rNNro
To his horror it opened. He had
prayed secretly that he would be I'M
able to get into the house. Now there
seemed nothing to do but proceed.
He proceeded-with infinite caution.
The darkness inside the room was as
heavy and tangible as black velvet. He
stumbled over chairs and barked his
to take, and wondered why his heart
did not cease to function entirely. But
eventually he found the bed. Cold,
trembling fingers CROPPED along the
edge OF the mattress 80.
A door slammed! The sound of that
slam reyerberated through the tiny
cottage like a peal Of thunder. A mans
voice was raised: who's there? Who
back yonder?"
Stew Meat did not stand upon the
order of his going. He exodused at in
credibly high speed. Or at least he
tried to. Brother Rogers" he said to
himself, you are o headed TO- else
where.
Unfortunately, it was still very dark.
Stew Meat crashed into a dresser and
entangled one trouser leg in a handle.
There was an awful ripping sound. He
fell across a chair with results defin-
itely disastrous to. the stiff front of
his dinner shirt. He heard Mr.. Waring
approaching, uttering loud and danger
011C UNrHC onl yyN,Jnn Mr. DNrorc
Owed through the window into the
moonlight.
He sprawled on a pile of ashes, COL
lected himself swiftly and departed
for parts unknown, pursued by the
angry shouts of Coot Warnings amaz-
ingly vociferous progenitor.
He reached the corner in nothing
flat and clipped two seconds from that
time in the next 100 yards. He flung
himself into his a and sped off into
the night-SanS money but at least
temporarily not the victim Of mayhem.
It was only when his heartbeats became
a trifle o regular and his pulses
were pounding less terribly that he
The major crisis through which the
boy had just passed had converted him
into a grim person. A certain new ma
turity perched upon his shoulders -.
and although his soul was sick at the
prospect, he decided that there was
nothing to do but go home, change his
-. there to explain matters to Fan
foot johnson and plead for mercy.
Stew Meat stumbled into his own
house via the back door. He heard his
parents stirring about in the front
room and he was glad enough to avoid
them. being in no mood to think of a
plausible excuse for his battered ap-
moo 70 n0n To CHAD 1@0k %,,N,,~0,.c 1ls-A
and tie. He laved his bruised face and
hands. He donned his school pants and
opened his dresser drawer to get a
clean shirt.
And then a wild shrek rent the at
mosphere. Stew Meats mother, fearful
that her son had suddenly fulfilled his
fathers prophecy and gone completely
questions.
Stew Meat was leaping hither and
yon. His face was beaming, eyes were
shining, and he was emitting loud
whoops of glee. The anxious female
parent noted that he was clutching a
package in his hand.
"MaW!" Stew Meat was frantic with
come fum?"
"That lii bundle? Why, that was
sewed up in the mattress I SOL to Maidie
Waring this mawnin'."
yeah . I know, Nav, I know.
But how come you to find it?"
She eyed him r%eprovingly: Don't
where you had ripped the mattress an
sewed it up again, SC befor' I gave
Maidie the mattress, why I took it out
an put in in yo' bureau. I was gwine
tell you, too-on'y you was gone when
I got home"
In an excess of affection Stew Meat
flung his arms about an astonished
mother-and fled. AS he split the night
toward his parked car, Nav Rogers
heard him say-very loudly-"Hot dig
CITY dawg!"
Stew Meat drove fast and recklessly.
He was eager to return to the Dawn
Dance, to give vent to his happiness
by exhibiting old dance steps and in
venting new ones. He approached the
blaze Of lights and swung into the park
ing place.
Inctinct infornnad him that all maa