The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1944-02-17

they were invited out, she re-
piled happily, answering Sarah's
question. Hen, the junkman, had
promised to provide complete
dinner for the family he had be-
friended and who occupied the
second floor of his house still.
''They get along" chimed in
old Mr.. Peppercorn, ''but they
don't have many luxuries, that's
to be expected. Hen has no fam
lily of his own and he got the idea
that he'd like to get up turkey
dinner with all the fixings. Mo-
Their and me are going down to
his house to cook it. He's got a
right nice kitchen down there,
gas stove and all. You'd be sur
prised to see how handy he is at
housekeeping, though of course
a real Thanksgiving dinner is a
little too much for him to tackle
all alone" e
Either, when she came at one
o'clock Thanksgiving Day, re-
ported that the wind was raw
and felt like snow. She still dis
liked to answer bells or to speak
to strangers, but now that she had
accustomed herself to the Thames,
she sometimes talked a good deal
while she worked. One had to
listen attentively to hear her, for
she spoke family and unless she
faced her listener many of her
words, as Andy complained,
seemed to fall back into her
throat. If she had something to
say, she was likely to say it
whether she had auditors or not,
but this, Candace insisted, should
not be regarded as talking to her
self.
eff no ones there and she
starts a conversation, who's she
talking to if she isn't talking to
herself?" Andy not unreasonably
demanded.
She couldn't explain it proper
ly. Candace informed him, but
it was not the same as talking to
oneself. cts different. You
needn't hoot-what I mean is that
if Either talks she's talking tc
me, whether I'm there or not
It's the way she talks at home,
think-whenever she has some
thing to say she says it and takes
a chance that someone will hear
her say it. You get the impress
sion that she isn't terribly i'm
portant in her auntie's household
even if. she does help finance it. ,
To Candace there was some
thing pathetic in the colored girl:
admiration of the pretty, conven
lent kitchen and the simple furn
ishings of the other rooms. 18th
er was as eager, too, today fol
the dinner to be a success as the
young host and hostess whose
anxiety she shared. couldn't dc
all this for someone else, not I'm
less I had something Of my owr
to go home to, Candace thought
watching Zither's absorbed face
as she counted out the dessert
plates.
Leila Orion and Kurt Hermann
arrived first because Kurt, Leils
said, was still on daylight saving
time. 'He liked it last summer
and he sees no reason for ever
changing anything he once Xix
ed"
Thinner and more beautiful
than ever, Leila in her almond.
green sweater and matching
skirt looked, Andy told her ap
preciatively, like an endorsement
for a cold cream advertisement
She wore her thick hair parted ir
the center and knotted low or
her neck. Kurt, she remarked
hated a fussy hair-do.
The arrival of Minnie Davis
and Halsey Kenneth set Andy tt
mixing highballs and a few min
utes later, Muriel Wright rang
the doorbell. She was alone anc
looked pinched and cold. 'Isn''
Hugh here?" She gazed nervous
ly around the room after the in
Productions. "He was to, NEE
mel gave him the address.
Her husband, she murmured, hae
gone uptown to see an old friend
"Give him time, give him time,
Andy's placid voice advised her
Here's your warmer-upper, Mu
riel. It's all right to call you Mu
riel, Dace said, if you don't mind.
Muriel Wright was rather
large, pleasant-faced and looked
older than the other women, per
haps because she wore glasses
Everything she had on, dress
shoes, even her too tight perman
ent, appeared to be new-Can
dace surmised that she hat