The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1946-02-07
Chapter iii
(Continued)

NOVAA~@~~~~~~S
tOh well" Ann comforted him !
lightly, r'you're living up to the
best traditions of GRADER movie
newspaper city editors-rough
and tough and acknowledgements
would you be wanting with man
ners?"
Something tells me-" he said
grimly, that you were spoiled
brat who was never spanked
enough when you were young"
you're quite a girl Tracy
went on. "But I don't get it. Why
a nice girl like you, born out of the
top drawer and all the rest OF it,
should want to hang around a
newspaper office - unless, of
course, in the society department"
Ann counted to ten. And then
she made her voice smoothe and
throaty and said gently, ''Mr. Dris-
coll, let's get one little thing
straight between us. I know you
hate me; and to be perfectly frank,
Icould go for long months. without
so much as hearing your name,
without suffering any pain what
ever! But you're wasting your
time trying to discourage me. I
won't quit, and you can't fire me,
until I flop! Shall we just leave
it at that, for the PRESENT."
Lets! he said frostily.
For many years Sarah had cher
ished the custom of being cat
home" to callers on Sunday after
noon.
It was custom that dated back
to years when people had observ-
ed a decent decorum on Sundays
and an established routine; break
fast an hour later than on week.
days; church; a heavy midday
dinner, usually at one o'clock or
a little later. And the afternoon
devoted either to making, or re-
celving, calls from friends who
were tout strolling and dropped
in for cup of tea'
In recent years, the custom had
almost ceased to exist among
women of Sarah's own generation.
The younger women, and more
important, the husbands of the
younger women, preferred a more
stimulating method of getting
through Sunday. But there
were still enough of Sarah's own
generation to keep the. custom
alive.
Ann, as young schoolgirl, had
tried to rebel; but nothing had
ever come of the rebellion; and by
the present time, she was so much
accustomed to a Sunday after
noon OF pouring tea for Sarah's
callers, that it did not occur to
her to Try TO avoid it. Now Lyn
dropped ii between four and six
on Sunday, passed little cakes and
tiny bread and butter sandwiches,
and chatted charrningly with old
ladies.
On this particular afternoon,
Ann had dressed with unusual
care i ore Of the debutante
''trousseau f1ocns, that Sarah's
little dressmakers,' who made
the two or three good frocks that
Sarah allowed herself each year,
had altered until they were very
smart and up-to-date.
There was no particular reason,
Ann tried to tell herself as she
pinned Lyn's invariable gardenias
to the shoulder of her jade-green
sheer wool frock and prepared to
go downstairs, that she should be
excited about today. There
would be the usual old ladies, a
few old gentlemen very spruce
and archaic in their 'courtly man.
ners." There might be few young
people who dropped in to see Ann
and Lyn through the ordeal; and
there would be Tracy Driscoll.
leu 10 Gep HI7A7 Uu!q 5u!77s 4na
life, there was surely no reason
why now she should be the least
bit excited. And of course she
wasn't, she assured herself sternly
as she went downstairs.
Andrew ushered in the first
guests, old Mr.. HARRISON, erect at
seventy, spare, elegantly groomed,
and his two gentle old maid twin
sisters, as neat and trim as he; and
only the good Lord knew how
they managed it, on the tiny pit
tance1eft them after the destruct-
ion of the HARRISON estate when
the Mid City Bank crashed, at a
time when banks all over the