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Show 11 TU ii 3 1 FICvTIOW IMPROMPTU Wd I . 8 IVB J By FLORENCE BAUGH I'"!!' ' Cot nee L: T JOINED the crowd gathered on I ! the bridge watching the crew 'j dragging the lake above the dam. . 1 1 "Who are they searching for this 1 time?" I asked as I pushed closer i' to the rail. ; "Young Doc Warren," several an- ' swered at once. I had never seen young William j Warren, but I knew about him the I whole town knew about him. He I I had joined the army with our Na-1 Na-1 tional Guard. The boys were still j. singing his praises. He had been ! through a lot at the front and had won the complete devotion of his men by his untiring efforts and ;' unceasing good humor. He had re turned to his father's clinic almost j immediately upon his return to the ;l States. I had heard little about him ! in recent months. !: "What about the woman they 'j were dr&gging for yesterday?" I , asked. ! "They found her earlier this ; I j morning. Plain case of suicide. But when the boats were coming in to !; ' the dock over there by those willows Another said, seriously, "That's right. My boy knew him. He wasn't a coward. If he's in that lake he was murdered." A siren wailed and the crowd fell back to make room for another patrol pa-trol car which drew up alongside the green sedan. "There's Old Doc Warren," someone in the crowd said as an elderly man stepped out of the car. I worked my way toward the cars. I could hear Old Doc Warren talking. talk-ing. "Yes, this i3 his car. He has been working hard too hard, but what doctor hasn't these days? So far as I know he has no enemies, but I don't believe my son would commit suicide!" There was another stir of excitement. excite-ment. I threaded my way back to the rail to see if this time they had really found him. The boys in the boats were having hav-ing difficulty hauling in the lines, but when the catch broke water we could see it was just a log. As they dropped it back the shrill whistle of the interurban reminded me that I was already late for work. I reluctantly pulled myself away and headed toward town. Down the road I stopped at Phil's Phil-Er-Up. I liked Phil and I could save the city gasoline tax. "Where's the boss?" I asked the young attendant who dashed out to wait on me, "up at the lake watching watch-ing them drag for the body?" "Gosh, no!" exclaimed the boy as he fumbled with the hose. "Has he been having a time! His wife had a baby this morning, a week before she was expecting it!" Just then Phil came out of the living quarters in the back with another an-other young man. Phil was beaming like the traditional proud father as he pulled his hat down firmly. The other man didn't seem excited. I heard Phil say, "Hey, Doc, you forgot your hat." He turned to go back. But the other man laughed. "You were too excited to notice that I didn't have one when I walked in here for gas. The wind blew it off as I stepped out of my car on the bridge." V glfT W "SI C sse eT soodby. She "vAtU. nESuV 'lai' thusht no more about it S m'il the police called. ( ; j ! they found a man's hat. It had his name inside William Warren." ' ; "And about the same time," another an-other put in, "the police find this . car on the bridge, out of gas and , ! nobody around." He pointed to a 'lii ! green sedan that several officers I;' were shaking down. "They find a I' driver's license on the steering post : 1 in the name of young Doe Warren. j'1 1 They figure something has hap- i,1 : pened to the Doc, so while they ! i radio headquarters for a check the 1 ! boats lower the grab hooks and ,i : start working again." I edged my way over near a : couple patrolmen who had arrived ; from headquarters. Calls to Doc j: Warren's home, his office, the two : '; hospitals, all brought the same response: re-sponse: he wasn't there. ! His wife had told the officers that ! he had left home early, before she j! and the children were up. He had come home late after an emergency 1 operation, seemed unable to relax, j and had spent a restless night. She had awakened while he was dressing dress-ing and asked if he had a call. He explained that he was just going : out to clear the cobwebs from his ; : mind. He had kissed her goodby. 1 ; She had thought no more about it ! until the police called, i J , ; I moved back to the rail to watch ,:. 1 , 1 the boats as they trolled slowly ' , : toward us, the grappling hooks ' ! , : searching the lake bottom in the i lane between them. The water was t ' .plenty choppy, a cold raw wind had j I been blowing out of the north since : i yesterday. Nothing about the scene . seemed urgent. The boats moved 1 j' slowly. The crowd just stood and ! ;l watched, coat collars turned up 1 j against the wind. 1 j A young boy had crawled under 1 !, my arms to press himself against I , the rail, excited by his first-hand 1 ;. experience with tragedy. "They got , 1 somethin'," he shouted, and the I 1 . crowd came to life. All turned ; t toward the men in the boats, watch-' watch-' ' ing with a strange fascination, wait-; wait-; . ' ing to see what was being dragged j ' ; out. ' Someone said, "That's him!" when . j the men pulled the thing loose from , the hooks. "They put him in a gunny sack!" ' . ; . ' We saw the men in one of the i boats peering into the sack. Then ' ; . one of them, looking up at us, ' 1 1 pulled out and held up a decoy some 'j hunter had lost. There was a mur- ' ' mur of relief, of restrained amuse-' amuse-' i ' j , ment, and the crowd settled back . ; 1 1! again into their coat collars. 1 ; : ! 1 Someone commented, "This jump- ; J '; ing off bridges is getting to be an I I , , : ! epidemic." I j , ' Another one questioned, "How do j .' ; : you know he jumped ? Maybe he ! i .; I was pushed." |