Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1948-10-08
Ne
FICTION
= Corner

pALMER scared through the sky
with a light heart. He was leav-
ing a hard life behind, years of
hand-to-mouth existence, years of
depending on occasional charter
trips and the students able to pay
the high rates on his big machine.
The future opened before him: He
would get new ship, one of those
long-range, all metal jobs, 60 in
for long-distance competitive races.
And he would have a swell-looking
girl with pile of dough to pay the
bills.
He glanced at the instrument
board, saw that everything was all
right. The cabin ship roared stead
lily over Connecticut at four thou
sand feet. There were scattered
clouds beneath him, but not enough
to hide the ground. His luck was
breaking right for the first time,
Just right. Reaching up, he patted
the mascot swinging from the roof
on a length of ribbon.
1t was a small doll, black of face,
with two pearl buttons set in the
satin for eyes, piece of red silk
stitched across the lower half of
the face for mouth. 1t was CARRIED
in loud plaid dress green and
red.
That rag-stuffed little figure had
been hanging in this ship for over
two years. Palmer had come to be-
ieve 1t was lucky. The girl who had
loaned him the down payment on
the machine had put it there. He
had met her one summer when he
had been transforming with a
small, old ship, and they had
knocked around together for three
months. She had been pretty sure
of herself, Palmer recalled, loaned
him money, talked about how 1--WE"
were going to make a fortune with
the larger ship.
He recalled the night when they
had won the doll at a small car
nival, in one of the ring-toss games.
He had made up his mind already
to pull out sometime soon. And it
had annoyed him somewhat to see
her having such gay time. But
he could not tell her, there was no
need to say goodbye tearfully and
have her bawl and carry on in
front of him.
On their way home she had in
sisted that they 60 to the field
where his ship was staked down
in the open, and sit in the cabin
for a few minutes. She had been
big, and light blonde and sentiment
tai. Just before they had left the
cabin, she had pinned the thing
to the upholstery on the ceiling.
''That's our luck, Eric" she had
said. GAS long as she's there, we'll
always be safe"
Palmer had smiled, kissed her
and taken her home. At dawn of
the same morning, he had taken
off and come East. He had never
returned. Once in a while, a letter
from her had caught up with him,
but he had not answered. What
was the use? He had intended to
send her back the loan when he
could. He was grateful for the help,
and everything. But how could he
explain without hurting her, that
they were just not suited to each
other?
When the letters had stopped
coming, he had thought that she
had understood. Then some fellow,
who had known them both, had
handed him a clipping, without
word. She had been killed in a
crossing accident. 1t seemed that
her car had stalled on the tracks,
and that she had made no effort
to get out. The fellow evidently
thought she had done it on pur-
pose. Palmer knew better. That
girl had had character, she would
not have done away with herself
over few hundred bucks and a
broken engagement.
He had been tempted to take
that doll down. Then he had rea-
soned that it would be, in a way,