The Carter Express. (Carter, Okla.), Vol. 9, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, April 19, 1918 Page: 3 of 12
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THE CARTES EXPRESS
PHJDENC
w-'Etiad Hueston-o
foAUTmK<f/>maiccorrHrrtosoMQt- mmn&num
THE STARR FAMILY IS SETTING MUCH STORE BY JERRY
JUNIOR, TO BE, BUT MOTHER NATURE DOESN’T
TELL ALL HER SECRETS
Synoptic—The story concerns the household of Rev. Ur. Starr, a
Methodist minister at Mount Mark, la., and the affairs of his five
lovable daughters—Prudence, the eldest; Fairy, the next; Carol and
Lark, twins; and Connie, the "baby." Prudence marries and goes
away. Her place as “mother" In the home Is taken by Aunt Grace.
Fairy Is engaged to wed. The twins and the "baby," Just coming Into
womanhood, have the usual boy-and-glrl love affairs, and the usual
amazing adventures of adolescence. Carol discovers love.
CHAPTER IX—Continued.
-10-
"Yea, he wanted to. But Prudence
has set her heart on coming home. She
flays she'll never feel that Jerry Junior
got the proper start If It happens any
place else. They'll have a trained
oarse."
"Jerry—whatr gasped the twins,
after a short silence due to amazement
"Jerry Junior—that’s what they call
It”
"But how on earth do they knowf
“They don’t know. But they have to
call It something, haven’t they? And
they want a Jerry Junior. So of
course they'll get It For Prudence
Is good enough to'get whatever she
wants.”
“Hum, that’s no sign,” sniffed Carol.
“I don’t get everything I want, do ir
The girls laughed, from habit, not
from genuine Interest, at Carol’s subtle
Insinuation.
“Well, shall we have her cornel"
“Yes,” said Carol, “but you tell Prue
she needn’t expect me to hold It until
It gets too big to wiggle. I call them
nasty, treacherous little things. Mrs.
Miller made me hold hers, and It
squirmed right off my knee. I wanted
to spank lb”
“And tell Prudence to uphold the
parsonage and have a white one,"
added Lark. "These little Indian ef-
fects don’t make a hit with me."
“Are you going to tell Connie?"
“I don’t think so—yet. Connie’s only
f- urteen."
“You tell her." Carol’s voice was
emphatic. “There’s nothing mysteri-
ous about It Everybody does It. And
Connie may have a few suggestions of
her <rwn to offer. You tell Prue Pm
thinking out a lot of good advice for
her, and—”
"Yen must write her yourselves. She
wanted us to tell you long before."
Fairy picked up the little embroidered
dress and kissed It, but her fond eyes
were anxious.
So, 8 few weeks later, weeks crowd-
ed full of tumult and anxiety, yes, and
laugh'er, too, Prudence and Jerry came
to Mount Mark and settled down to
quiet life In the parsonage. The girls
kissed Prudence very often, leaped
qnlefrly to do her errands, and touched
her tflth nervous fingers. But mostly
they vat across the room and regarded
her curiously, shyly, quite maternally.
"Carol and Lark Starr,” Prudence
cried crossly one day, when she Inter-
cepted one of these surreptitious
glances, "you march right upstairs and
shut yourselves up for thirty minutes.
And If you ever sit around and stare
at me like a stranger again, I’ll spank
ybu both. Pm no outsider. I belong
here Just ns much as ever I did. And
Pm still the head of things around
here, too!"
The twins obediently marched, and
after that Prudence was more like Pru-
dence, and the twins were much more
twlnnlsh, so that life was very nearly
normal In the old parsonage. Prudence
said she couldn’t feel quite satisfied
because the twins were too old to be
punished, but slio often scolded them
in her gentle, teasing way, and the
twins enjoyed It more than anything
else that happened during those days
of quiet
Then enrae a night when the four
aisters huddled breathlessly In the
kitchen, and Aunt Grace and the
trained nurse stayed behind with Pru-
dence behind the closed door of the
front room Upstairs. And the doctor
went In, too, after he had Inflicted a
ftw light-hearted remarks upon the
two men In the little library.
After that—silence, an Immense
hushing silence—settled down over the
parsonage. Jerry and Mr. Starr, alone
In the library, where a faint odor of
drugs, anesthetics, something that
smelled like hospitals lingered, stared
away from each other with persistent
determination.
“Where are the girls?” Jerry asked,
picking up a roll of cotton which had
been left on the library table, and
•flinging It from him as though It
scorched his fingers.
"I—think Pll go and see," said Mr.
Starr, turning heavily.
Jerry hesitated a minute. “I—think
ril go along," he said.
For an Instant their eyes met, sym-
pathetically, and did not smile though
their Ups curved.
Down tn the kitchen, meanwhile.
Fairy sat somberly beside the table
with a pile of darning which she
Jabbed at viciously with the needle.
Lark was perched on the Ice chest, but
Cam), true to her childish Instincts,
hunched on the floor with her feet
curled beneath her. Connie leaned
against the table within reach of
Fairy's hand.
‘They’re awfully slow," she com-
plained once.
Nobody answered. The deadly si-
lence clutched them.
“Oh, talk,” Carol blurted out des-
perately. "You make me sick! It Isn’t
anything to be so awfully scared about.
Everybody does It"
A little mumble greeted this, and
then, silence again. Whenever It
g-rew too painful, Carol said reproach-
fully, "Everybody does It.” And no
one ever answered.
They looked up expectantly when
the men entered. It seemed cozier
somehow when they were all together
In the little kltchehn.
“Is she all right?”
"Sure, she’s all right,” came the
bright response from their father,
And then silence.
“Oh, you make me sick,” cried Carol.
"Everybody does It.”
“Carol Starr, If you say ‘everybody
does it’ again I’ll send you to bed,”
snapped Fairy. "Don’t we know every-
body does it? But Prudence Isn’t ev-
erybody."
“Maybe we’d better have a lunch,”
suggested their father hopefully, know-
ing the thought of food often aroused
his family when all other means had
failed. But his suggestion met with
dark reproach.
"Father, If you’re hungry, take a
piece of bread out Into the woodshed,"
begged Connie. “If anybody eats any-
thing before me I shall Jump up and
down and scream."
After that the silence was unbroken
save once when Carol began encour-
agingly:
"Every—"
“Sure they do,” Interrupted Fairy
uncompromisingly.
And then—the hush.
Long, long after that, when the girls’
eyes were heavy, not with want of
sleep, but Just with unspeakable weari-
ness of spirit—they heard a step on
the stair.
"Come on np, Harmer," the doctor
called. And then, “Snre, she’s all
right. She’s fine and dandy—both of
them are."
Jerry was gone In an Instant, and
Mr. Starr looked after him with Inscru-
table eyes. "Fathers are—only fa-
thers," he said enigmatically.
"Yes," agreed Carol.
“Yes. In a crisis, the other man
goes first."
His daughters turned to him then,
tenderly, sympathetically.
“Yon had your turn, father." Connie
consoled him, And felt repaid for the
effort when he smiled at her.
“Jerry Junior,” Lark mused. "He’a
here.—’Aunt Lark, may I have a
cooky?"’
A few minutes later the door was
carefully shoved open by means of a
cautions foot, and Jerry stood before
them, holding In his arms a big bundle
of delicately tinted flannel.
“Ladles and gentlemen," he began,
beaming at them, his face flushed, his
eyes bright, embarrassed, but thor-
oughly snllsfled. Of course Prudence
was the dearest girl In the world, and
he adored her. and—bnt this was dif-
ferent, this was fatherhood!
"Ladles and gentlemen," he said
again In the tender, half-laughing voice
that Prudence loved, “let me Introduce
to you my little daughter, Fairy Har-
mer."
“Not—not Fairy I” cried Fairy, Sen-
ior, tearfully. "Oh, Jerry, I don’t be-
lieve It. Not Fairy I You are Joking."
“Of courae it Is Fairy," he said.
"Look out, Connie, do you want to
break part of my daughter off the first
thing? Oh, I see. It wna Just the flan-
nel, was It? Well, you must be care-
ful of the flnnnel, for when ladles are
the size of this one, you can’t toll which
Is flnnnel and which Is foot. Fairy
Harmer I Here, grandpa, what do you
think of this? And Prudence said to
send you right upstairs, and hurry,
And the girls must go to bed linmedl
ntely or Ihey’U be sick tomorrow. Pru-
| dence says so."
"Oh, thnt’R enough, That's Prudence
all overt You needn’t tell us any more
Here, Fairy Harmer, let us look at you.
Hold her down, Jerry. Mercy! Mercy 1"
"Isn’t sho a beauty?" boasted the
young father proudly.
“A beauty? A beauty! That!”
Carol rubbed her sffcnder fingers over
her own velvety cheek. "They talk
nbout the matchless skin of a new-born
Infant. Thanka. I’d Just as lief have
my own."
"Oh. she Isn't acclimated yet, that’s
all. Do you think she looks like me?"
"No, Jerry, I don't," said Lark can-
didly. “I never considered you
dream of loveliness, by any means, bnt
In due honesty I most admit that yon
don’t look like that.”
“Why, It hasn’t any hair!” Connie
protested.
"Well, give It time," urged the baby's
father. "Be reasonable, Connie, What
can you expect In fifteen minutes."
"But they always have a little hair,"
she Insisted.
“No, Indeed, they don’t, Miss Con-
nie," he said flatly. "For If they al-
ways did, ours would have.
"Now don’t try to let on there’s any-
thing the matter with her, for there
Isn’t—Look at her nose, if you don’t
like her hair.—What do you think of _
nose like that now? Just look at It"
“Yes, we’re looking at It" was the
grim reply.
"And—and chin—look at her chin.
See here, do you mean to say you are
making fun of Fairy Harmer? Come
on, tootsie, we’ll go back upstairs.
They’re crazy about us np there."
"Oh. see the cunning little footles,1
crowed Connie.
“Here, cover ’em up,’ said Jerry anx-
iously. "You mustn’t let their feet
stick out. Prudence says so. It’s con-
sidered very—er, bad form, I believe."
"Fairy! Honestly, Jerry, Is It Fairy?
When did you decide?"
"Oh, a long time ago," he said,
“years ago, I guess, You see, we al-
ways wanted a girl. Prue didn’t think
she had enough experience with the
stronger sex yet, and of course I’m
strong for the ladles. But It seems
that what you want Is what you don’t
get So we decided to call her Fairy
when she came, and then we wanted
a boy, and talked boy, and got the girl I
Let go, Connie, It is my daughter’s bed-
time. There now, there now, baby,
was she her daddy's little girl?"
Flushed and laughing, Jerry broke
away from the admiring, giggling,
nearly tearful girls, and hurried up-
stairs with Jerry Junior.
But Fairy stood motionless by the
door. “Prudence’s baby," she whis-
pered. “Little Fairy Harmer! —
Mmmmmmm I"
CHAPTER X.
The End of Fairy.
Now that the twins had attained to
the dignity of eighteen years, and
were respectable students at the thor-
oughly respectable Presbyterian col-
lege, they had dates very frequently.
And it was along about this time that
Mr. Starr developed a sudden Interest
In the evening callers at his home. He
bobbed up unannounced In most unex-
pected places and at most unexpected
hours. He walked about the house
with a sharp, sly look in his eyes, in a
way that could only be described as
Carol said, by "downright noisiness."
The girls discussed this ndw phase of
his character when they were alone,
but decided not to mention It to him,
for fear of hurting his feelings. "May-
be he’s got a new kind of a sermon up
his brain," said Carol. “Maybe he’s
beginning to realize that his clothes
are wearing out again," suggested
Lark. “He’s too young for second
childhood,” Connie thought. So they
watched him curiously.
Aunt Grace, too, observed this queer
devotion on the part of the minister,
and finally her curiosity overcame her
habit of keeping silent
“William," sho said gently, “what’a
the matter with you lately? Is there
anything on your mind?"
Mr. Starr started nervously. "My
mind? Of course not Why?"
"You seem to be looking for some-
thing. You watch the girls so closely,
you’re always hanging around, and—”
He smiled broadly. ‘Thanks for
that ‘Hanging around,’ In my own
parsonage. That la the gratitude of a
loving family!”
Aunt Grace smiled. "Well, I see
there’s nothing much the matter with
you. I was seriously worried. I
thought there was something wrong,
and—’’
"Sort of mentally unbalanced, Is that
It? Oh, no, I’m Just watching my
family."
She looked up quickly. "Watching
the family! You mean--’’
"Carol," he said briefly.
“Carol I You’re watching—"
"Oh, only In the most honorable way,
of course. You see,” he gave bis ex-
planation with an air of relief, "Pru-
dence always says I must keep an eye
on Carol. She's so pretty, and the boys
get stuck on her, and—that's what
Prudence soys. I forgot all about It
for a while. But lately I hove begun
to notice that the boys are older, and—
we don't want Carol falling In love
with the wrong man. I got unuusy.
I decided to watch out. I'm the lieud
of this furntly, you know."
"Such un Idea!" scoffed Aunt Grace,
who was not at oil of a scofllng na*
true.
"Carol was born for lovers. Prudence
says so. And these men's girls have
How to Prevent It From Growing
Gray.
There Is no occasion for you to look
Unattractive or prematurely old be-
cause of gray, streaked with gray,
white or faded hair. Don’t let this
condition with Its look of age rob you
of your youthful beauty and the won-
derful opportunities which life offers,
to be watched, or the wrong fellow will i No matter how gray, prematurely gray,
get ahead, and—” ! lusterless or faded your hair might be,
“Carol doesn't need watching—not | "k® Creole" Hair Dressing will re-
any more at least."
"I'm not really watching her, yoq
know. I’m Just keeping my eyes open."
vlve the color glands of nature—pro-
mote a healthy condition of the hair
, and scalp—and cause all of your gray
“But Carol’a all right. That's ona or faded hair to become evenly dark,
time Prudence was away off." She
smiled as she recognized a bit of Car-
ol’s slang upon his lips. Don’t worry
about her. You needn’t keep an eye
on her any more. She's coming, all
right"
‘Ton don’t think there’s any danger
of her falling In love with the wrong
man?”
"No."
"There aren’t many worth-havtng
fellows In Mount Mark, you know."
"Carol won’t fall In love with a
Mount Mark fellow."
"Yon seem very positive.”
"Yes. Tm positive."
He looked thoughtful for e while.
"Well, Prudence always told me to
watch Carol, eo I could help her If she
needed It”
"Girls always need their fathers,"
came the quick reply. “But Carol does
not need yon particularly. There’s
only one of them who will require es-
pecial attention."
“That’s what Prudence says."
. "Yes, Just one—not Carol"
"Not Cnroll" He looked at her In
astonishment "Why, Fairy and Lark
are—different They’re all right They
don’t need attention."
"No. It’s the other one."
'The other one I That’s all."
"There's Connie."
"Connie?”
•Yes.”
“Connie?”
"Yes.”
’You don’t mean Connie."
Aunt Grace smiled.
“Why, Grace, you're—you’re off. Ex-
cuse me for saying It, but—you’re
crazy. Connie—why, Connie has never
been any trouble In her life. Connie 1"
‘You’ve never had any friction with
Connie, she’s always been right so far.
One of these days she’s pretty likely
to be wrong, and Connie doesn’t yield
very easily."
“But Connie’s so sober and straight
and-”
"That’s the kind."
“She’s so conscientious."
"Yes, conscientious."
"She's—look here, Grace, there’s
nothing the matter with Connie."
"Of course not, William. That Isn’t
what I mean. But you ought to be
getting very, very close to Connie right
now, for one of these days she’s going
to need a lot of that extra companion-
ship Prudence told you about. Con-
nie wants to know everything. She
wants to see everything. None of the
other girls ever yearned for city life.
Connie does. She says when she Is
through school she’s going to the city."
“What city?"
“Any city."
"What for?"
"For experience.”
Mr, Starr looked about him help-
lessly. "There’s experience right
here,” he protested feebly. "Lots of
It. Entirely too much of It."
“Well, that’t Connie. She wants to
know, to see, to feel. She wants to
live. Get close to her, get chummy.
She may not need It, and then again
she may. She’s very young yet."
“All right, I will. It Is well I have
some one to steer me along the proper
road.” He looked regretfully out of
the window. “I ought to be able to
see these things for myself, but the
girls seem perfectly all right to me.
They always have. I suppose it’s be-
cause they’re mine.”
Aunt Grace looked at him affection-
ately. “It’s because they're the finest
girls on earth,” she declared. "That’s
why. But we want to be ready to help
them If they need It, Just because they
are so fine. They will every one be
splendid, If we give them the right
kind of a chance."
He sat silent a moment ‘Tve al-
ways wanted one of them to marry a
preacher,” he said, laughing apologeti-
cally. “It Is very narrow-minded, of
course, but a man does make a hobby
of his own profession. I always hoped
Prudence would. I thought she was
born for It Then I looked to Fairy,
and she turned me down. I guess I'll
hnve to give up the notion now.”
soft, lustrous and beautiful. This
preparation Is not a dye, but an ele-
gant toilet requisite which Is easily ap-
plied by simply combing or brushing
through the hair.
U8E
"LA CREOLE" HAIR DRE88INQ
to prevent your hair from growing
gray and to restore a beautiful dark
color to gray or faded hair. Bold and
guaranteed by all good drug stores
everywhere, or sent direct for $1.20
by Van Vleet-Mansfleld Drug Co,
Memphis, Tenn.—(Advt)
Time for Him to Flee.
"William," said Mrs. Peckham
sternly, “did you ever stop to think
that someone might steal me when
you were away?"
"Well," responded the poor husband,
with a far-away look, “I was a little
alarmed when a horse thief was prowl-
ing through these parts last week.”
Mrs. Peckham stiffened up haught-
ily.
“A horse thief, eh?”
"Yes. I heard that he carried off
two or three nags from this district"
And then Peckham made a bee-line
for the door.
$100 Reward, $100
Catarrh Is a local disease greatly influ-
enced by constitutional conditions. It
therefore requires constitutional treat-
ment. HALL’8 CATARRH MEDICINB
Is taken Internally and acts through the
Blood on the Mucous Surfaces of the Sys-
tem. HALL'S CATARRH MEDICINE
destroys the foundation of the disease,
gives the patient strength by Improving
the general health and assists nature In
doing Its work. $100.00 for any case of
Catarrh that HALL’S CATARRH
MEDICINB falls to cure.
Druggists 75c. Testimonials free
F. 1. Cheney A Co, Toledo, Ohio, Jg
It Is a good thing to ask ourselves
once In a while whether or not we
are useful citizens.
NERVES GAVE OUT
Serious Kidney Trouble Had Made
Life Miserable, But Doan’s
Removed All the Trouble.
Hasn’t Suffered Since.
"I had such severe pains in my
back," says Mrs. Albert Akroyd,
304 W. Indiana Avenue, Philadel-
phia, Pa, "that they almost doubled
me up. Many a day I could not do
my housework and at every move
It seemed as If my
back would break In
two. My feet and
ankles swelled until
I had to wear large* |wwg
sized slippers and
sometimes I couldn't
stand up.
"I had dizzy spells
and dreadful head-
aches and fiery
flashes passed be- Mr*. Akroyd
fore my eyes. Had a heavy weight
been resting on my head, the pain
could not have been more distress-
ing. The least noise startled me, I
was so nervous. I couldn't control
the kidney secretions and the pain
In passage was awful.
"It began to look as though my
case was beyond the reach of medi-
cine until I used Doan’s Kidney
Pills. The first box benefited me
and four boxes cured all the trou-
bles. I have had no further cause
for complaint”
Sworn to before me,
Thos. H Walters, Votary Public.
G*t Doan's at Any Star*, 60c • Boa
DOAN’S ■JJKS*
FOSTER-MILBURN CO, BUFFALO, N. Y.
Save the Calves I
Stamp ABORTION Oul of Torn
Herd and Keep II Oaf I
Apply treatment yourself. Small
expense. Write for free booklet
on Abortion, “Questions and
Answers". State number oi
cattle in herd.
Ir. DsiUlokrtt fit Ce.,100 Bo if incut, Wauktik*, Wl»
Carol's awakening to life's
seriousness reveals the career
for which the was destined.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Just 100 years ago a man was per-
mitted to sell his wife in the opeq
market at Dartmoor, England, for $U*
7>. ITCH!
Hunt’s_ Salve, formerly called
ipeeiaUy
Hunt’s Onn Is especially com
tor the treatment
tomj
pounded for the treatment ot
Itch, XcMma, Ring worm, and
Tetter, snd Is sold by the drug-
gist on the strict guarantee that
the purchase prloe, 75c, trill be
promptly refunded to any dlseat-
kfled customer. TryHunt’sSalve
at our risk. Tour local druggist,
or direct by mall from
L B. Richard* IMIdM Co., Shanaaa. To.
l toilet preperUton of oertV
Help, to eraSleaU tUndruff. f
For Rectorial Celar tad >1
■nrtjrte dny arFoded Hair,
StaeaS$M*atDre«rleta
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Cain, George W. The Carter Express. (Carter, Okla.), Vol. 9, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, April 19, 1918, newspaper, April 19, 1918; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc957298/m1/3/: accessed April 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.