Bright
Star
By
Mary Schumann
Copyright by Macrae Smith Co.
WNU Berviee
SYNOPSIS
Kezia Marsh, pretty, selfish and twenty, ar-
rives home in Corinth from school and is met
by her older brother, Hugh. He drives her to
the Marsh home where her widowed mother,
Fluvanna, a warm-hearted, self sacrificing and
understanding soul, welcomes her. Kezia's sis.
ter, Margery, plump and matronly with the
care of three children, is at lunch with them,
Hugh's wife, Dorrie, has pleaded a previous
engagement. On the way back to his job at
the steel plant founded by ome of his fore.
bears, Hugh passes Doc Hiller, a boyhood
friend whom he no longer sees frequently be-
cause of Dorrie’s antipathy. Fluvanna Marsh
wakens the next morning from a dream about
her late husband, Jim, whose unstable char.
acter she fears Kezia has inherited Ellen
Pendleton comes over. She is an artistically
inclined girl who is a distant niece of Flu.
vanna's. She happily tells Fluvanna she has
become engaged to Jerry Purdue. Ellen fears
that her father and mother, Gavin and Lizzie,
will not approve the match. Hugh and Dor
rie go out to the Freeland Farms to dance
with their friends, Cun and Joan Whitney,
Whitney, who has been out of work, has a
new position. Cun and Dorrie dance together
and then disappear for a while. Dancing with
Joan, Hugh is amazed to find her in tears
Apparently she has some secret worry over
ber husband, Cun. When Ellen and Jerry
speak about their engagement to Ellen's par
ents, Lizzie is disagreeable until Jerry sym.
pathizes with her imagined ailments. The mat.
ter is left pending Unexpectedly Hugh has
to visit a neighboring city on business. Return.
ing home to ask Dorrie to accompany him he
finds ber telephoning. In confusion she quick.
ly hangs up without saying good-by She
finally agrees to accompany him. They spend
a delightful day and Hugh is happy At »
family party, Kezia encounters Jerry Ellen
is disturbed when Jerry is absorbed by Keria,
Kezia goes out of her way to charm Jerry
Fluvanna is concerned about Kesia, who is
evasive about dates she has been having at
might. She muses er lance of
Kezia to her late husband, recalling bow tem.
yeramental, moody and improvident he had
been She recalls the tragic ture of his
death—how after drinking and gambling to
excess he is faced with financial ruin, how he
tries to force her to m reson
to pay his debts and with a
gun, its possession he
is fatally wo ed
over business, Hugh stays at ce Sat.
urday afternoon. Doc Hiller ade
Hugh and Dorrie are dinner guests of
Whitneys
the resem!
rigage her jrces
threatens her
how in a struggle for
snded Overworked and worr
the off
ises a let-up
CHAPTER VI-—Continued
wy
“A perfect dinner,” commented
Hugh. “Jonny, you make cooking
an art!”
“It should be,” she said blithely.
“We practice it enough.”
‘Notice that vinegar for the sal-
ad?” asked Cun. “She makes it in
June from the rose
milder than any other.”
“And the strawberries?"
exclaimed.
“Fall bearing ones
“1 never see them.
you get them?”
“From the Mennonite farmer
who brings me eggs each Satur-
day. There's a settlement of them
& few miles south. They're very
unworldly — so carefully honest
about every penny.”
“Religion means everything to
many people,” said Joan.
Cun settled in his chair more
comfortably. His eyes sparkled,
his florid skin was pinker than usu-
al. “I grant you that, Jonny. But
I can't see it. Too many hymn-
singing hypocrites in church when I
was young . . . blasted my youth-
ful illusions!"
Joan looked at him steadily.
“You don’t pelieve in anything, do
you?”
“I've never felt ithe need of it.
Life has been pretty good to me
and when it's over, I “van: it to be
over!”
Dorrie’s eyes were applauding.
“My sentiments, Cun. Religion is
the refuge of a defeated soul.”
“Exactly,” nodded Cun.
“A person has been overthrown
by life, and prays for a heaven
which will be a wish-fulfilment of
the things missed on earth.”
“Then there is no reality in re-
ligion? Merely wish-fulfilment?”
questioned Joan. “So glad to have
it explained—I never understood.”
Dorrie took no notice of her
irony. She went on: “It's good for
some individuals. We have a case
in our family—Hugh's mother. Oh,
don’t look shocked! Your mother
isn’t sacrosanct, is she? I'm only
saying it before Joan and Cur . . ,
Hugh's mother has had a tremen-
dous help from religion.”
“Then I would say there is reali
ty in it,” Hugh defended. “How
can one tell there is not? It's sup-
posed to be experiencei—a spiritu-
al pdventure which convinces peo-
ple ”
Joan jumped up from the table.
“Gracious! Weren't we stupid to
get in an argument over religion
when it always ends in a yammer?
Cun, tell Hugh about your new
work while 1 clear away.”
“We went over that the last
time,” answered Cun. “What do
you say we do the dishes for Joan?
Wash and dry 'em?”
“That's a valuable idea,” ap-
proved Hugh.
“Dorrie, you're always getting
out of work—oh, yes, you are!—you
an begin washing the glasses.
Jonny will give you an apron to
"
Where did
ing!”
“Oh, Cun, Dorrie will spoil her
manicure!’ said Joan.
But Dorrie entered into it gayly,
took the dishpan, filled it with hot
water, sprinkled some soap chips
in it. “Bring on the glasses.”
“Wash 'em clean, my girl, or
you'll get fired!”
“Wash them clean?” Dorrie
laughed as she rinsed a goblet and
handed it to him to dry. “Don't
you trust me, Cun?”
“No, not now.”
Joan and Hugh were clearing the
table, going back and forth between
the kitchen and the dining-room.
When Hugh came through with
some plates, Cun ard Dorrie were
talking in low voices. She said
at once in louder tones, ‘Get a
dry towel, nitwit. That's just sop-
ping"’—the quick abandonment of
a secret conversation for a casual
one. But they were always chafling
one another, Hugh remembered.
Dorrie emptied the dishpan,
glanced at the clock. “Twenty min-
utes—no more! Who said I didn’t
know how to work?"
“Don’t misquote,” said Cun, his
eyes merry. ‘' ‘Always getting out
of it,’ 1 sald.”
“That for you!" She snapped her
fingers at Cun. “Hugh will tell you
I'm a thoroughly efficient person.
Come on, Joan, let's go upstairs
and repair the damage. Hurry,
before I get any more mean cracks
from this husband of yours! Does
he bully you this way?"
“Most of my waking hours,
Joan?" said Cun.
to give me away."
“Don’t count on me too much,”
said Joan over her shoulder as she
followed Dorrie out of the room.
Hugh rather enjoyed the bridge
game. He and Joan had unusual
luck, won rubber after rubber. Dor-
rie seemed absent minded and sev-
eral times made rather obvious
misplays. Late in the evening she
eh
**She’s too loyal
—
“Jonny, You Make Cooking an
Art.”
denied Cun's heart bid with one of
went back to spades when
Cun raised his heart bid, and was
promptly doubled The spades
were bunched in Joan's hand and
with the double she drew, she went
down disastrously.
“If you'd led clubs last,
have saved two tricks,”
“Fegrget they were high?"
“So they were. Sorry,
played it like a—"'
“Nitwit?" he suggested. “It's all
right. Your game is usually so
cracking good you're entitled to an
occasional lapse."
you'd
Cun, 1
en-thirty,"”” he reminded them.
“Come on, Hugh,” said Joan,
“we'll go out and fix up a nightcap,
get some cheese and crackers—the
duty of the winners.”
Hugh followed her to the kitchen,
lounged against the wall while Joan
opened segments of cheese
wrapped in silver paper. He ad-
mired her deft movements as she
went from cupboard to tabls, quick
but not brisk, light but sure. He
thought her eyes were like those
wild asters on the dining table,
smoky blue. And her
thick fringe of black.
Joan had.
He ventured a compliment.
“You're looking yourself tonight.”
She paused, smiling. ‘Meaning
w—
“Yes—very,” he said emphatical-
Nice eyes,
ly.
“Thanks.”
The kitchen was a shining place
of cream-colored walls anu wood-
work, red tile linoleum, and red
voile curtains. He opened the door
to the porch. “Do you eat out here
often?”
“Yes, all our breakfasts. If we
pull down the shades on the left side
we're hidden from our neighbors.
We can see our garden, watch the
birds visit the cement pool.”
“I wonder if I could build some-
thing like this on our place. I've
elways wanted to eat outside.”
“Come over and have breakfast
with me some morning.”
“I will some mornirg when Dor-
rie isn't up and the maid is having
a vacation.”
“Let it be soon then. Nc: many
more weeks of summer.” Her
White legth gleamed i her dark
ace as sm challenge.
Her eyes, so burningly aliva, lin-
gered on him with something
thoughtful and caressing
ay.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
CENTRE REPORTER
Keeping
Uhrigtmas
ARIAN turned slowly from
where she had been sur-
veying herself for a critical
moment, and looked across the
{room at her twin sister.
{| "I'm so tired of all this Christ-
is all old-fashioned, so
dated."
80
[ings?' Nadine's voice was even
more languid; “but how in
world are we going to make our
the matter? You know
preparations.’ She threw out her
slender hands in a gesture of infi-
nite boredom as she finished.
| “We can let them know that we
won't be a part of the silly business
--We can serve notice on them that
we are going to work against all
the noise and fuss that is made
about Christmas.”
Forgetting their pose of boredom
iand sophistication for a moment,
the seventeen - year - old twins
jumped excitedly around the room.
“Just think of how they will be
shocked!” Marian cried; “I can
see mother and dad. It is all go-
ing to be so exciting—fighting the
world, so to speak.”
But they were taken back quite a
little when they announced their
big news . . mother's voice was
| very serious. “If you really feel
that way, I guess the rest of us
will have to celebrate without you.
We're going to miss you a lot, of
course, but we must consider your
feelings.” The twins failed to see
the twinkle in her eyes as she
looked across the table at dad.
As if to make matters worse,
Bill and Dick laughed in derision
at their plan. “I bet they'll be on
their knees to get in on our fun be-
¢ llvors 11 il
i : §
“I'm Going to Do Like Everybody
Else,” She Said.
fore Christmas,” Bill predicted.
And as if that were not enough, he
suggested that now there would be
nothing to buy for the twins, may-
be he could have the moving pic-
ture outfit he had wanted so long.
“1 hope you don't change your
!mind, sweet sisters,” he cautioned,
as he proceeded to put a huge piece
of pie in his mouth. "I do want
that picture machine pretty bad.”
The twins threw scornful glances
in his direction; they couldn't trust
themselves to speak. There were
things they had forgotten when they
made their big resolve to do away
{with Christmas preparations. As
{soon as dinner was over, they hur-
ried from the table.
The days that followed were not
{very happy. The twins could find
{no one interested in their plan to
change the way of keeping Christ-
mas. Even the most modern of
their friends laughed them to scorn.
No one was really interested in
advancement, they decided. Here
they were willing and eager to get
{a new crusade started, one that
{would save time and temper and
i money, and no one, not even their
{best friends, would lend a hand.
| They grew fretful, impatient, even
i peeved at each other.
i
One evening Nadine came home
and found Marian in their mother's
i bedroom, peering into some boxes
{that had just been delivered. Na-
{dine smiled to herself, and hur-
ried from the doorway so Marian
would not see her.
But next day in the toy depart
ment of Smith's store, things came
to a showdown. The twins ran into
each other, found themselves side
by side clutching for foolish things
that lay on the counter. Brown
eyes challenged blue as thes stood
in the crowded aisle. Guilt showed
plainly on both faces.
Then Nadine was speaking,
quickly, incoherently: ‘“You might
as well know, Marian, I'm chuck-
ing your silly plan. I'm going to
do like everybody else. I'm going
to make a big fuss about Christ-
mas. I want to push through the
crowds—to buy foolish things—to
hang up holly wreaths—to—to do
just everything! . . . And if I'm
not mistaken, you're just dying to
do the same?”
“You're absolutely right,” Mari-
an answered, utterly careless of
a SI
¢
HILE windows may have
beer decorated for Christmas
before now, the arrangements in-
doors seldom are made until the
day before the holiday. The fresh-
ness of the beauty is wanted with-
out any diminution. If the novelty
has worn off, some of the zest of
Christmas is lost. This is so true
that many homemakers refuse to
a day or so prior to Christmas.
If you happen to be among this
latter group, let me suggest that
paper for each and hang one in
have one in each downstairs win-
street,
Ornamenting the Spray.
berries, or whatever you have in
addition to the green. Or you can
dip popped corn in red stain or
glue and secure them to
berries and sometimes for flow-
erets,
fireplace
ung, } ;
mmtermingled with holly
pine cones, bayterries,
acorns, fine
etc.
with
everything
twigs
f When
1 ONAN,
of wee colored Christmas
These will look ornamental by day
and have a glamor when lighted
during the evening.
Baskets filled with greens and
notes of appropriate Christmas
decoration. Any sinall baskets
will do for this purpose. There gen-
erally are some about a house, but
if not, metal paint or green stain
some of the little market baskets
such as strawberries, brussels
sprouts or tomatoes come in. Make
a rope or lengths of paper braid
for the handles, painted or stained
to match the basket, If a length
of picture wire has been wound
with the strands of paper rope and
braid, these handles will keep
their shape when ends have been
thrust inside the baskets close to |
their opposite sides. The handles
can be wired or gluea to the
baskets,
Bouquets.
Bouquets of Christmas greens
8 can be put in rooms other |
than the living room and dining
room, and give their beauty
hristmas about the house. Be
have broad standards, lest the un-
weight of the greens tips
them over.
even
-~WNU
Service,
F oreign Words
and Phrases
A cheval,
Cela va sans dire. (F.) That goes
without saying; it is obvious. |
De bon augure. (F.) Propitious.
Erinnerung. (G A
(F.) On horseback.
remem-
i
Fortiter in re. With frm
ness in action.
Ignis fatuus. (L.) Will-o’-the- |
wisp. |
Pour encourager les autres. (F.) |
encourage the others; Vol-
the English in executing Admiral |
Byng for cowardice.
Non omnis moriar. (L.) I shall |
TIwEhold ®
® Questions
Ink stains may be removed from
wall paper with a solution of equal
parts of ammonia and hydrogen
peroxide.
When tying children’s shoes, tie
string in bow first, .hen the loops
in a single knot. They will not
then casily become untied.
» » *
Did you ever try dipping your
fresh fish in milk before rolling
them in corn meal or bread crumbs
preparatory to frying.
© Associated Newspapers. —WHKU Bervice,
SORE MUSCLES
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Under Knott Massgement
-
on a muddy
problem. But
football field is also a
during the wet, slippery
their shoes to
bring them through for
roads.
so unusual in
performance that it has
9