Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-09-26

except for the ne-and-ninepence it
cost to have her leaky shoes mended.
But the big fire of London gave the
COUP de-grace to Tessie Applebys pro-
fessional career, which in any case had
been dying lingering death. The few
firms with which she had still been
doing a little business from time to
time, packed up what was left of them
selves and sought safer areas in remote
country districts. Her most reliable
editor unfortunately was young enough
to be drafted for military service,
which conceded nicely with the mo-
ment when his last remaining maya
zine Topped.
Now Tessie had to fall back en-
tirely on what she could pick up in the
way of food during the night raids.
Again the SIRENS song was welcome
sound to her.
But shortly something happened
which Tessie Appleby, least Of all peo-
Pile, had counted upon. 1t was to be
considerably more than a nine-days'
wonder. and the press gave various
reasons for the phenomenon.
Whatever the reason, night after
night went by with no bombers over
London, and what this meant to Tessie
Appleby one can well imagine.
If she sat in the foyer hoping against
hope for the wall of the siren. she sat
alone, while the deniZenS of Errlngton
Court briskly made their several ways
to the lifts or gathered in small, cheer
full groups preparatory to going IN to
dinner. And when they emerged from
restaurant or buttery again, replete with
food they shouldered their tin helmets
and gas masks and went confidently
out into the all-too-safe night, or COM
fortably up to their homes with undis-
turbed sleep in prospect. 1t was joke,
something to laugh and jibe about to
everybody except Tessie Appleby.
1t wasn't until Sunday morning,
however, when Tessie, so weak for lack
of food that she could hardly crawl,
went to the drawer where she kept
her scanty belongings to find clean
pair of stockings, that her sunken eyes
encountered the parcel containing her
grandfather's christening cup. New
hope again stirred in her heart.
Why on earth hadn't she thought
of this before. 1t might not be solid
silver nor sufficiently antique to make
it of great value, but surely a pawn
broker even in these times, would give
her something for it. Not as much
as Margot might have given her,
though, but she could send the ticket
to Margot along with a hard luck
story
Only, of course, today was Sunday.
There were still "a hours to tide over
before she could even try to pawn it
When had she last eaten? She was
too tired to try to remember. 1t must
be nearly week. She was too tired
to put on her clothes, but maybe to-
morrow she'd feel better. She drank
some water and shivering in her dress
ing gown in spite of the dollhouse at
moSphere OF the place, dropped Imply
onto the divan and sank again into
sleep.
But this time, although she became
unconscious quickly, it was something
a little worse than sleep. She found
herself floating giddily in a deceptive
Mohammedan's dream of ParadiSe-a
rose and gold wonder place filled with
beautiful dancing girls bearing great
SdASelS uedpeu Will TlCH loou anu luS-
cious looking fruit which they gen.
erously offered her. Only. when she
helped herself to anything and put it
in her mouth, it tasted of nothing but
burning sand and gave her gripping
pains in her stomach as she tried to
swallow it.
This terrible state of affairs seemed
likely to 60 on forever, when strangely,
after what seemed to be endless ages,
there was waited to her nostrils the
aroma of ordinary, mundane beef ex-
tract, and she heard mans voice
saying, If we can only rouse her
enough to drink little Of this! If we
can't rouse her. I'm afraid she's done
for. I can hardly feel her pulse now"
Feebly she raised a hand to push