Henderson daily dispatch., 1941-02-08
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CHAPTER ONE

~ 1 A"EAN "Oulo lOoh IlulCO.
lous crawling around on his al
tours, while wearing striped trous-
ers and a cutaWay coat, and Joe
Randall knew that he was no ex.
ception.
But as he poked his head under
Bills modernistic coffee table he
wasn't thinking very much about
how he looked. He was thinking
about a title for a story. Three
Times a Groomsman But Never a
Groom What was more, If he
were a writer like Bill, he might
even write u story to fit the title
maybe one of those confession
yarns that were flooding the coun-
try. For he had certainly accumu-
lated plenty of material, and from
his w personal experience at
that.
There was Andy's wedding, for
instance, with him and Andy all
done up in tails :ld white ties.
And Jim'S. Jim'S had been an
elopement, but he had stood up
with Jim also. All Of them in sport
clothes and looking rather like
boiled Holsters, since Jim and Irene
had decided to get married right
after a particularly strenuous golf
tournament on a particularly hot
day.
And now his cousin, William
Randall latham.
He and Bill We're d. at the
church in 20 minutes, where there
would be a mile or so of southern
smilaX, yards and yards of satin
ribbon, several hundred feet of
cheesecloth tackled down the aisles,
four lovely girls in greer. and yell
low and blue and pink, and four
ushers '>oking more or less self
conscious in formal attire and
white carnations. Yes, they were
due at the church in 20 minutes,
and vet here he was crawling
around on the floor of the bachelor
apartment he and Bill had been
sharing for the past three years.
And he wasn't alone, either. Aunt
Sallie Randall vas with him. She
was also on her hands and knees,
getting all tangled up in the black
lace fiounceS of her gown or the
strir 5 and strings of beads she in
sisted upon wearing.
Found it YETI" Bill called from
the bedroom.
mol" said Aunt Sallie Grossly.
And l must say this is a fine
time for a treasure hunt"
well, keep on looking!" said
Bill. "r..l be with you in three
shakes of a Sleeps tail"
And speaking of Sheep" said
Joel YEARLY, Bill gets my goat"
Aunt Sallie sat back upon her
heels and looked at him.
I've looked everywhere" she
said.
so rave l." said Joel. Maybe
it bounced out of the window"
Nonsense! Wedding rings don't
bounce"
Mo-" said Joel. perhaps they
don't. But = notice they never stick
very long"
"Cynic." Aunt Sallie pushed a
strand % grazing but permanent
waved hair from her eyes. You
ought to be ashamed of yourself,
Joel Randall, talking about mar
riage in such a fashion"
Joel ignored the rcbuke.
Even the characters in Bills
stories fight and get divorced" he
went on Hes never yet written
about a happy marriage.
What of it ?" said Aunt Sallie.
He has to write what the editors
want"
Anyway" said Joel, Il hope he
doesn't make the mess of his mar
ritge that most of his heroes make
of theirs. Take the hero Of his
book, Marriage for Three; now
there's"
You take him." Aunt Sallie cut
in. The hero Of this particular
drama or comedy or whatever you
want to call it is about all that l
can handle"
Joel grinned. God bless Aunt
Sal}ie! She was certainly one grand
relative, or relative-in-law rather. If
she hadn't been-if she hadn't had a
lot Of backbone and humor. she
never would have lived through