Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1946-08-09

she murmured: Little things get
them"
Like what ?"
She scrubbed AT her face with
n piece of cleansing tissue.
Like what =" lie repeated.
oh. like that nasty gorilla
knocking down women and chill.
Grcn TO get the first taxi"
He drew her wards him
Good Lord. women"
She pulled back. She SAID. with
a catch III her throat: Now.
know what you meant when you
said yesterday II all st.nks and
Chanel Number Five can't"
He put MS hand on her mouth.
Very clearly. every syllable scpa-
rate. distinct. he said: Il don;
believe that any moe"
Her eyes were large and round
in the smudScd heart o. her face.
And why not -"
Because I'm in it I'm part
of it."
He could see she didn't under
stand what he meant and he tired
TO explain. Nina. htc's very SIM
pie. You're III II. You DO what
you have TO the best that you
can"
That's just words" She shook
her head Stubboruly. Il mean
something else. II VAS so good
for I while. People were kind to
each other. ConsIIcratc. helpful.
Trouble brought them together.
They forgot. you forgot. they
could be mean and selfish
Then Larry Stcngci came in.
talked about SUNG and lawyers
midland | gagged"
The taxi swung into Fourteenth,
began Its crosStown srairs crawl.
He studied the buildings a mo-
mcnt or two. No thought came
of itself, by spontaneous combus-
ton. You had to work 1t all out,
word by word. He started again:
Dear. people don't Change" He
held her hand tightly. There are
no miracles. People aren't reborn
with one hit on the head. They
are what they are; they remain
what they were. Even a small bit
OF bombing
She cried: oh please" and
looked more deeply hurt than his
words seemed to warrant.
I'm sorry" The cab turned
into Fifth. rolled Slowly north.
There's the FIatiron." lie cried.
Hot dog! There's Madison
Square! Gosh. 1 can almost see
Empire State" Then he sighed.
He wasn't yet free to enjoy his
reunion with home. Something
still had TO be cleared tor this
girl. He said: Honey. some pco-
pie have stuff-stuff to grow on.
When things happen to them they
grow up. II has to HAPPEN. OF
course. You can't grow on Sec
ond-hand experience. You might
like to. You can't You'd like TO
understand war. what II does to
people. by reading newspapers and
seeing the movies. Less painful,
that way. The sunerIngs of war
IN 10 easy lessons. Well. II doesn't
take" He shook his head and he
smiled. Yet even that. even the
most narrowing experiences can
leave people unchanged. For what
we call better. mean. On. they
may get frightened. rcscnti,II.
even bitter perhaps. but that's all
Now you take an extrovcrt
like your friend Stengel He did
what was expected OF MIN. He
nd the right things. But re
stayed what ne was. This was q
picnIc 10 him. Got a great kick
out OF carrying strctchcr. Made |
INN fee! like n nero. He'll be 4
social success tor months with his
story of what he saw and did
Now you take a tough son of a
gun like RauChmcycr. TO him IL |
vas nothing but personal IuCOn-
vcnlence q. You see. It's what's
inside you that goes to work when
there's trouble. The thing they
used 10 call Character Now. take
you-"
She moved closer. put her hand
on his arm. Don. let me for
once 90 something important. Let
me take care of soldier" She
MS If the next words took
more resolve than she had at that
moment. Let me take care OF a |
soldier ! love"
He moved back. What did you
say?"
Il said LOVE" The trace OF a |
smile came to her face. Il wanted
20 say 1t this morning Ever
near It bciore?"
1t was oewildcring and startling
md dazzling. a thing lay back
N your mind. In the caves OF your
being, your most secret hope. long
ng, wish. but until 1t was spoken
you could always deny It. push 1t
back. push IT down. to spare your
self disappointment or pain. Now
that 1t was put into words Nina