Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1938-12-14
CHAPTER 46
A THOUGHTFUL man can face

A THOUGHTFUL man can race
danger.
He can, and frequently does,
defy death itself and think little of
it. He can face death threatening
HIMSELF and he can even face it
threatening members Of his fam
ily, and rationalize it as something
inevitable and not necessarily ter
rifying.
But no man, especially no
thoughtful and honest man, can
ever anticipate the SCATTERING
damage to his soul that comes
when a woman he loves refuses
his offer of marriage. Something
in this is utterly devastating. 1t
is worse than deaths sorrow be-
cause nothing-not even Time-at
the moment holds any promise of
surcease. Mans emotions can sink
no lower than to hear a beloved
sweetheart say mo-.
Sara Sue Davis did not love T. j.
Sanders and had the extremely
difficult task Of telling him so.
His proposal had been vaguely
expected sometime" in the future,
for she was astute enough to know
that he was sincerely attracted to
her. And just as vaguely had she
planned to do something about it
before he actually came to the
point, as she had adroitly side
tracked Worthington Gurley and
made him infinitely happy. But she
had simply procrastinated in try
ing to be rid of T. j.
and so, T. j., don't you see
it now?" She was speaking ever
so gently. 1T is sweet Of you to
want me; I shall never forget the
honor you have paid me. think
you are fine, really fine. You are
still young, and you will go far in
business and somewhere else
with some girl whom you may not
even know yet-you will find a
happiness greater than you could
find with me, and"
"Never!" he avOWed.
oh, but you will! know it.
You have just enjoyed friendship
with me, and somehow imagine
you love me. Perhaps you really
do love me, at the moment, T. J.
] almost wish that I loved you
back! But-we cannot control
those things. Can we? Can we,
T. J.? They're done for us, not by
us. I do not love you that way. I
respect you. I hope to keep your
friendship always. But T. j."
She paused to look into his eyes,
shaking her head slowly, with
tragic finality. The young sport
ing goods salesman, who liked to
imagine that he was a stern man,
had to swallow hard to avoid an
emotional breakdown.
He had been holding one of her
hands. and he slowly released it
now. He looked away from her,
picture of abject misery. His Shout
ders sagged, and he seemed tired,
infinitely sad. Finally he spoke,
almost in whisper.
There's someone else. Isn't
there, Sara Sue?"
She nodded. Tears had be-
9emmed her own eyes now.
"It's all right all right"
ne declared, bravely. Luck to
49,. you BOTH"
Without another word he arose
and left her alone. He went onto
the dance floor looking hastily here
Snd there.
"Seen Bob Towne 2" he asked
people.
Everybody had, but not in the
Sast few minutes. He might be
there or there, or over there. He
goes everywhere, you know. He
was teasing three freshman girls
8 minute ago. He was doing the
Owl Hop. He was talking to
Peaches Pomeroy. He was bedevil-
ing one of the Mexican boys. He
was talking to the orchestra lead
er. He was dancing with Frances
Bowen. He was dancing with Mar
cha Gurley. He was
But T. ]. couldn't see him at the
moment. He moved on and on,
looking.
When T. ]. left her, Sara Sue
had welcomed the chance for a few
minutes alone. She even went back
behind some of the decorations,
near an open dark window, where
she could regain her composure
before going back to the dance.
She was crying softly, but she did
not cry long. She wanted to think
for a bit, calmly. She could still