THE REGISTER-GUARD, EUGENE, OREGON.
LUCKY PENNY
SERIAL STORY
By GLORIA KAY
COMMUNITY BINQ
CHAPTER XI
JJACK In th offlc of th Courier
next day. Penny checked hur
riedly on proofs of the literature
the had prepared for her rriday
night meeting. Circular, poiteri
for (tors wlndowa, the newspaper
d all were In readiness.
No on would auspect, from the
Innocent wording, the real Intent
ot the mass meeting. "Community
Sing" and "Concert" were the big
headlines. The men in th mill
had been given double notice by
fenny xnenos mere.
Th weatherman proved co
operative when Friday evening ar
rived. The auditorium was filled.
The Kirktown Cle Club took
lta plac on th stage. Rafters
choed to th lusty lilt of their
voices. Men predominated in the
audience, and their voices lifted
In song aa the concert proceeded,
Quietly, before th last refrain
died down, Lou MacDonald, Jim
Vickers, and Penny seated them'
elves in their appointed positions
en th stage. With cheers for the
gle club still ringing, MacDonald
tepped forward.
"Friends," MacDonald started,
"my story It not pleasant, but It
must be told. It affecta every one
ot you." He told the audience,
simply and truthfully, of the tragic
cases that cam regularly to the
attention of the Humane Society.
He laid the blame squarely on
Castro's machinations. There was
no mirth In th sober faces up
lifted to him.
When Jim stepped to the speak
ers' platform, a spontaneous cheer
attested to his popularity. The
men admired his courage and re
spected his Judgment.
Tellows," Jim said simply. "Not
long ago there was a tragic bridge
accident here. You or some mem
ber of your family was saved
from death only by the will of
Providence. A crooked city ad
ministration was responsible for
th death ot two ot our best
friends. I call It plain, cold
blooded murder." Eloquently Jim
recited th many factual instances
of graft and favoritsm and crook
edness. e e
OW Penny stood before the sea
of faces, displaying no sign of
th nervousness she felt
"I haven't known you very long,
but I feel I know you very well,"
Penny began. "There Isn't a cow
ard In the crowd! You have
power! You're strong! Let's show
Castro he can't run Kirktown!
Tonight together let's chase him
out of town!"
There were shouted affirmatives.
Men Jumped from their teats.
ready for action.
"Wait! Just a moment!" Penny
shouted. "No one wants to start
any violence. We are all inter
ested only in peaceful means with
which to remedy conditions in
Kirktown. The sheriff is her to
night He has named Bud Walsh
and several ot your men as depu
ties. Let's go as an army of citi
zens not as a mob. You won t
need to start a fight When Castro
sees you, he'll know he bat bad
enough.'
Bud Walsh wat already organiz
ing the eager crowd. They were
flooding through the wide-open
door In orderly fashion. Their
march to Castro's bsngout had
begun.
Jim wa whit with anxiety.
"What hav you done. Penny?"
he worried. "Th Castro gang
wont give up its easy pickings
without a fight Someone la sure
to get hurt
"Perhaps this will change your
mind." Penny handed him the
red-lettered warning to leave
Kirktown. "It's up to you to make
up your mind, Jim. Either Castro
goes or I go. Both of ua can't
stay here."
Grimly Jim said, "Com on!"
With long strides he reached the
head of the column of marching
men. Bud Walsh had naturally
fallen into leadership. Fenny was
right. The men were as orderly
as a disciplined army and no less
tough!
"All I want Is five minutes alone
with Castro," Jim told Bud.
"You'll have your five minutes,"
Bud promised. At they ap
proached Central avenue, Bud
halted his column. ,
"Quiet, men," he ordered. "We
want to surprise Castro. No one
has had a chance to tip him off.
We'll all wait while I send a
couple of scouts ahead." The men
liked this game. "Like th eld
covered wagon days, looking for
Indians," someone whispered.
"Let's go," Bud shouted when
his scouts signaled him. They
pushed through two swinging
doors into a back room. There,
in room filled with slot ma
chines, gaming tablet and gam
bling devices, sat Castro and a
prize group of city officials. The
surprised mayor of Kirktown
opened his mouth in a moronic
stare. An unlighted cigar dropped
from the lip of the safety direc
tor. Castro swung around, a
vicious revolver in hit hand.
'Shoot if you dare." Jim in
vited through set teeth. Castro
hesitated. He studied the silent
crowd. Bud Walsh had a gun.
So did at least a dozen others.
Castro glanced quickly at the
badges they displayed. He dropped
his weapon.
rTHE crowd cleared a space for
the returning men who bad
rounded up other members of Cai
tro's gang. "Take a good look at
this prize collection of apes," Bud
Walsh invited. "This is the last
time you'll see such specimens in
Kirktown. They're going to be so
rare that there will be a reward
for their capture, even in slightly
damaged condition, within the city
limits."
Bud turned to the mobsters.
"You guys have Just two hour
to get packed and beat it," ha
warned. "We mean business and
we're plenty tough. If you can't
understand our nice treatment,
we'll have to teach you a lesson."
A good movie director would hav
found a note of comedy in th
way guns, marked cards, extra
aces, and a special collection of
crooked dice were piled on th
cement floor, awaiting destruction.
"Start moving," taid Bud, twirl
ing hit gun menacingly. There
was relief in the faces of the gang
stert as they left They had ex
pected much worse treatment
"I've waited tor this for a long
time," Jim said softly.
The fight which followed. Bud
Walsh always said, was the tough
est noisiest, bloodiest battle that
had ever raged in Kirktown. Jim
had asked for five minutes ac
tually. Bud stood guard outside
the doors for an hour.
Castro tried In 'every way he
could imagine to kill Jim. He bit,
he kicked, he kneed, he gouged,
he punched, he butted. He swung
heavy chairs at Jim's head. H
narrowly missed Jim with the
jagged edge of a table leg. Jim
met each furious attack, each
vicious thrust calmly, alertly. In
his own heart there was murder.
Desperate, Castro drew a mur-der-bladed
knife from a hidden
recess in hit trousert. He lunged
viciously. Jim felt no pain, but
he knew from the red on Castro's
weapon that the dagger had found '
its mark on hit shoulder. Cau
tiously, he circled out of Castro's
reach.
The room's unshaded light sin
gled out the gangster's knife.
Swiftly, painfully, Jim lifted a
broken chair and shattered th .
bulb. Automatically, he lunged
forward at darkness shrouded th
room. He twisted the knife out
of Castro's hand. Then he lifted
Castro to hit feet
For weeks, Jim would show the
scars of hit battle. For months
after the scare were gone, ha
would look back happily to th
day when the Castro gang left
Kirktown forever.
(To Be Concluded)
'nm'THAlV MERCY.'anD TWW " iill Br :1 W 1 1 1 B k
VJA& A S THE, KE6PER HAD VirTIfo) liKSrTVf Al P Wi 1 H
CLOSE DIMOSAURl JUST TOLD AJ rX wOiTS) Vd I H U H 1
CALL. V SOT'IM ME THE DIMOl C1 9 1 JH I
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ALLEY OOP
SIDE GLANCES
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tr tut rr ,n wwri iw m em pjfi Mr
"What will our friends think of you as doctor throw
infl your CArdi inlo the air because your parincr over
hldhahandr
Labor Shortage Threat
To Lumber Industry
PORTLAND. (U.EI Disaster Is
facing the lumber industry and
ita role in the war effort within
a few months, for lack of logger
In the forests, predict! F. H. Brun
dage, western log and lumber ad
ministrator. "Production Is being held up In
the lumber Industry, because log
gers are seeking better paying
Jobs in shipyards and aircraft
plant. Which is most important
I wouldn't say but if someone
doesn't stay on th Job the ship
yards and all the war industries
are going to suffer," Brundage em
phasized. The greatest shortage Is !n the
men who fall the tree and pre
pare them for yarding and hauling
to the mills, the lumber admin
istrator explained.
"If there was only a way of con
vincing those men who plan to
quit that their Job it vital to th
nation's war effort, and if they
quit, the country'a war Industries
would suffer, the situation might
be solved," Brundage said.
Brundage added that every man
who is able to swing an axe
should work in the forests, because
if something isn't done "You can
kiss the lumber industry goodbye."
During the first half of 1942 th
Agricultural Marketing Adminis
tration bought more than Bii mil-
I lloo pound et pork,
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