Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

BOY'S CINEMA Every Tuesday Comedy turns to drama after Steve L.ewis has suggested, in his small-town newspaper, that an unpleasant old farmer has been murdered, and the daughter of the dead man signs a confession to the effect that it was she ^vho killed him. An absorbing mystery, adapted from the ne^v Universal picture RECEIVED ON ACCOUNT THE entrance to Obadiah Wickens' general store was at least three feet above thp pavement it fronted in Main Street, Fanesville, and four long wooden steps led up to a sort of platform that stretched th* wholtf width of the premises. On warm and sunny days- these steps pro- vided a lounging place for members of the community who had nothing to do, and two aged men were squatting on them when Mary Lou Carroll came briskly along the street, one afternoon, and the skirts of her rather shabby costume brushed against the knoos of one of them as she ascended to the doorvvay. He turned to watch her progress till the door- way had engulfed her, and then he said to his companion with a nudge : "See that. Matt?" "See what, Mark?" inquired the other drowsily. "Mary Lou." "What about her?" "No toes in her shoes." "Purty though." Mary Lou Canoll was distinctly pretty. A wealth of auburn hair crowned her hatless head, her features were irregular but piquant, and her grey-gfeen eyes were bright, obser- vant, and suggested brains. Her age was twenty-five, her figure was good, and her movements were graceful. The store was almost overstocked with goods, but it appeared to be deserted. She sailed across to the counter and Hropf)ed a coir upon it, knowing that the chink of money was like music in the ears of Obadiah Wickens. "Yes?" called a husky voice. It came from the other side of two great slacks of tinned peaches, and Mary Lou walked round the poaches. "Oh. hallo I" she hailed. Obadiah, a fat-faced and bald-headed man of remarkable bulk, was sitting on a tea- chest, playing draughts with Dr. Eboiieezer Tyler, a lean-faced, spectacled, and generally unpleasant-looking man of fifty-five who was only half-bald and had a nasty little mous- tache. The draughtboard between them was Janii.Trv 20th. 1040. set upon the top of a flour barrel, and the doctor was sitting on a box. Neither of them paid the slightest attention to Mary Lou, and she stepped nearer. "Good-afternoon, Mr. Wickens," she said. "Huh?" Obadiah was concentrating on the game and did not look up. "Good-afternoon, Dr. Tyler." "Howdy," grunted the doctor. "Your move." Obadiah made a move that gave his opponent something to think about and at last he turned his attention to a possible customer. "What'll it be to-day, Mary Lou?" he in- quired in his naturally husky voice. "Ui-oceries, dry goods, or hardware?" "This." From a handbag as shabby as her costume Mary Lou produced a sheet of paper upon which there was a printed heading and a type- written statement: FANESVILLE BEE-CLARION. Stephen Lewis, Editor and Owner. Mary Lou Carroll, Associate Editor. To Obadiah Wickens, Wickens' General Store. Advertising to date 39.10 Subscription from l-10-'35 to date 9.60 48.70 Obadiah blinked at this statement, screwed up his mouth, frowned, and exploded : "Forty-eight dollars seventy cents? Say, rhis is too nnich !" "Three years' subscription and six months' advertising," Mary Lou reminded him sw50tly. " I^—er—I'll check it agin my records. Sup- pose you come back in about " "I'll wait!" Mary Lou repossessed herself of the .<tateiiient and stood with an air of determination. "Advertisin' with the 'Bee-Clarion'," Dr. Tyler informed the draught-board, " is just throwin' your money away. Paper ain't worth a hoot since old Weatherbridge died." "Why, it's ten times better, and you know it I" Mary Lou declared indignantly. "Huh I" scoffed the doctor, looking up at her over his spectacles. "Fine kind of an editor Steve Lewis is ! Puts all the im- portant news on the inside pages." "You're not referring to our story of your son's appointment, are you?" "Preciselv! My son Tucker is the onlv Fanesville Doy that ever got to be Deputv County Prosecutor—and how much credit does he get for it in his own hometown news- paper? I'll show you 1" Out came a wallet, and from the wallet a very small newspaper cutting. "That much 1 Just that much! And on an inside page I" ''It's your move, doc," said Obadiah. "About this bill, Mr. Wickens " beg.in Mary Lou. "When Steve's gran'pa was alive he mv..r pressed his best customers," fumed the storu- keeper. "If you could just pay a little on account." "I'll pay it when I'm ready, and not before ! Now run along, Mary Lou. We're busy." But Mary Lou lingered. "You're not too busy (o sell me some groceries, are you?" she purred. "Certainly not." Obadiah rose from the tea-chest. "Business is business. I always say. Excuse me, doc." He moved heavily round to the selling side of the counter while she wont back to the purchasing side. "Now what'll it be?" "I'd like n nice steak, not too expensive, and a loaf of bread " "Well, let's get the steak first." The various things she bought filled two very large paper bags, and after the paper- baf»' were on the counter flli;idiah proceeded to tot up the items he hail entered upon an invoice. Tie made the total sum four dollars and forty-three cents. But instead of paying