Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1936-02-29

about the Dawn Dance I'm gfVin' 70
: night at Epic Peters place"
I, I can't afford any dance. In
busted"
J" Briefly Stew Meats heart sang. Coo
q obviously had not yet discovered tn
money in the mattress.
i thought you were broke, Coot
. ana so figured maybe II gave yOl
: a pass 70 yo'seH an a date-why
maybe then you'd understand that In
= tryin' 70 be 20 friend"
/, Coot was impresSed-but skepticaI
a Free pass?" he inquired.
7 You said it. See" and Stew die
4 some swift scribbling on q bit of yell
low pasteboard: "Heah's the ticket 70
: you an a date, all filled out with 20
names That gals got car. too--sc
lt won't cost you anything TO get there
/ Furthermo', I'm writing on heah that
) you can eat all the barbecue and s0f
drinks you want free gratis" He thrust
! the ticket into Coot's eager fingers
Now are you satisfied that / amt
any wool in sleeps cIothing?"
Coot was convinced He was even
grateful. He apologized for the long
!. gone initiation and vowed friendship
from that moment on. Stew Meat spoke
4 With oily, diplomatic words continuing
to hate the large Lad but knowing that
ne had a task to perform. But Il was
not until 10 minutes later that Stew
Meat approached the real object Of
his visit
~Tha's a swell new mattress you got
on that bed, Coot"
Mr.. Warning flushed darby. Nov
listen, you: amt cravin' to be kidded.
; you know good an, well that my Nav
ooughten this mattress off yo' Nav
this mawnin-an' you amt got any
1 right maxim fun Of me Just cause I'm
uStn' yO' secondhand stuff"
Jaw, Coot-I wasn't even dreamin'
about that Honest"
Then les don't talk about this mat
tress any mo- An If you ever mention
1t to anybody else, why M"
1 know. know. But listen: I was
Wonderin' II you woul'nt like to sell It'll
back to me-"
"Why?"
20 I dunno. Maybe it's because I al
ways have craved two mattresses. Il
bet 1t would be luxurious to sleep that
high off the springs. An III pay you
"-m-m-mI You're boun' to have
some other reason TO- wantin' this
mattress back Stew Meat"
Sholy have: got sentimental de-
20 yeah? Well, that don't sound rea-
son'ble to me"
Two dollars, cOot; I give you 81
''H-m-m-m-l" MFR. Waring scrutin-
lied his debonair visitor closely. at
amt amin to sell you that mattress
10 no amount OF money, but do crave
git It,"
Stew Meat experienced a moment of
panic. He feared that he had over
played his hand and that Coot's sus-
picionS had been aroused. Above every
thing, Mr.. Rogers realized that he {
must undo the work already done; and {
so he shrugged and turned awav. (
You want to know why2 Alright I
III 'splain then. It was cause NV Nav
didn't have no right seIlin' It TO yo'
Nav. It's the no-go0dest mattress you
ever slep on, an If us Is fixin' TO be {
friends, didn't want you to start off
bein' sore on account of my mattress
oein' uncomfortable
Il see this OF mattress is conf
lsfied." {
Mr.. Rogers waved languidly. Have {
e yo' own way"
Coot was inclined to be friendly. 8
' 70. minute thought you had some Y
Jus tryin' TO be nice, tha's all" Mr..
5ogers paused You'll be at the dance, b
Won't you?" Il
Positively" Il
Col a tux?" a
Paws got one, an I am fixin' to, p
Use his'n. Him an Nav are goin' to a n
meeting OF the Over the River Buryin' g
Darkness was falling over the city II
4 birmingham as Stew Meat sIouchedI
isconsolately into the offices of the h
)e Void Taxicab Co. Jasper De Void, ~
longated proprietor of the firm. greet N
d the lad cordially Il
'Howdye, Oscar" pl
Listen, Mistuh De void-can I rent p.
ne Of yo' push-it-yo' -seIfs an pay TO- al
tomorrow? Use promotin' this dance hi
0night, an my money hasn't come in Of
et; so II you'll gimme credik until cl
Jasper smiled in a friendly manner. m
Hep yo'self. Oscar. Givin' credik to th
oys ike you Is the most thing Use ia
)OliSh enough to do" m
Stew Meat Rogers drove slowly gu
cry straightforward the scene Of the
7entng's festivities 20
Too late now TO stop the dance-and sh
zen If he did he'd be swapping a wi
aJor massacre for a minor one. He pa
I'D accepted money from scores Of pa
lends and acquaintance. He had
,ligated himself to pay cash for the jo'
ntal Of the roadhouse. He had con- col
acted TO deliver money to Mr.. Fan
OF johnson and his loot Sweeters sel
soon as they had completed their w
lore Of footing sweetIy. Stew Meat
yhed and summed it up In a melan- Blu
oily sentence.
II got to go th'oo with IT," he told yoI
mSelf. Il might as wen git ct To- a WI
eep as lamb seS
He had one wild, impossible scheme. Ms
was plan which required courage, an
which Mr.. Rogers did not possess tel
overplus. he shuddered at the I I
ought that he might be brave enough
attempt this thing. flu
coot Waring was going to be at the mo
Iwn Dance. Coot's parents were TOW
leduled TO attend a meeting Of their hes
)rtuary social club The WarinR cot git
sc would consequently be very empty
he dared to visit that cottage-tol He
FAX and enter-and to retrieve his paa
n property from the Inflated mat By
IS. ven
Shortly before 9 o'clock the high hAa
lool set commenced TO arrive. Fam Ing