Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1940-05-30
ty were coming nearer every sec

The beloved old dirty doorway
with children struggling about it in
the dark, the welcoming rush OF
thick air from the house, air scented
with cooking and living and the om-
nous note of carbolic, met her like
familiar voices. Sheila was up the
four flights like a flying swallow;
she flung open the kitchen door and
her cry of, "Ma! I'm back!" rang
through the place.
Then everything took on the feel
ing and appearance of nightmare.
Her mother was sitting at the
kitchen table with Angela at one
side of her.
"Joe's dead!" Sheila thought, and
her heart failed her.
"Well, you came back" Mrs.
Carscadden presently observed out
of the most terrible silence that in
all the days of Sheila's life had ever
existed between herself and her
mother.
Sheila stood still, growing pale.
She swallowed with dry throat.
"What-what's the matter?" she
whispered
Neither mother nor sister spoke;
they regarded her steadily with sor-
rowful, quiet eyes. Sheila, after
another stammered question, which
was choked with sobs, sat down at
the table and burst into wild crying,
her hands over her face.
ooh, don't, Sis" Angela now said,
whimpering.
"But-but what's the matter!"
Sheila demanded again, looking up
through tear-soaked eyelashes.
whats happened?"
"Where's your husband?" Mrs.
Carscadden demanded, steadily.
where? Where's my what?"
"Where's Mr.. Nc Cam, Sheila?"
Angela asked, weeping.
"Peter!"
"The-the fellow you ran away
with, Sheila."
Angela began to hiccup, but an
ger dried Sheila's tears and made
her voice hard.
LOU Lll1llh oil away Will
Peter Nc Cann?"
"We had your wire, Sheila," An
gela said.
Mamma, you don't think ran off
with Peter Nc Cann!"
can his mother as hear rt-broke
as mel" Mrs. Carscadden observed
irrelevantly.
"I'm no more married to him
listen to me, Mother! I say I'm no
more married to him than you are!"
A light suddenly narrowed the
mothers eyes.
"Indade, I'll grant you that!" she
said, bitterly. "Indade you're not
married to him-you an your dis
thrict attorney or justice of the pace
or WHATEVER! An let but Peter Nc
Cam put his head in my door, an
I'll district attorney him! Taking
fine ger'rl that never done a name
thing in her life, although she might
scald the hear'rt out of me wit her
nonsense"
'Ma, don't talk like-well, like an
idiot! tell you that Peter Nc Cam
and I were kidnaped-kidnaped by
bootleggers, and taken way up into
the country"
"You didn't send the tiligram, I
suppose?'!'
Certainly l sent you telegram!
didn't want you to die of fright,
did r."
"And he-the mamie STINT his
folks one, too?"
"Peter? Well, of course he did!
Saturday night. After we got caught
in the library. That is, they sent
them for u.s.
''The bootleggers sint thin for
We, was that it?"
"Well, they did, Mother. We
couldn't"
"You cudden't?"
"No, ma'am, because" - Sheila
hesitated. @We were being kid
naped," she explained.
81 see," said her mother.
"And this morning they drove us
to some place called Capitol juno
ton, and we came down on the
| train
II see."
There was silence.
Sheila did not move. She sat look
ing at her mother and sister fixedly,
the red deepening in her cheeks,
her lip bitten.
"Sheila, they're such lovely peo-
pie the Nc Canns," Angela burst
out. "Mrs. Nc Cam came to see
Ma on Saturday, and she was so
sweet, and she said such lovely
things of you, and she told us all
about her ward 's-that's Gertrude
getting married to Peter-they were
so happy about it! They were going
to have nuptial mass and every
thing!"
"Well, what of it?" Sheila chal-
lenged her defantly.
ooh, well, Sheila, how can they,
now!"
"Why can't they?"
"You know full WE'LL" said her
mother.
"Well, must say I think this is
wonderful" Sheila said desperate
ly. II never heard anything like
it! I wish now that I hadn't come
I