Lyda ripped a scarf from her dress,
wrapped it around Ed’s throat, and
snuffed-out the burning celluloid
before it could set the farmer on fire.
“Golly, Lyda,’’ said Ed, rubbing his
hot red neck and grinning foolishly,
“how can I ever thank you? You might
have saved my life.’’
“Oh,’’ said Lyda, “it was nothing
rea l ly.’’
“But it was, darling.’’
Lyda blinked seductively. “What did
you just call me?’’
“It just slipped out,’’ said Ed. “I
called you ‘darling.’”
“Oh,’’ Lyda told him, “I’m so glad
you did. Do you know something?”
She paused.
“Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I
think it would be a good idea if me and
you got hitched.’’
Ed gulped, reached out with his
rough hands and grabbed her. He was
all for consummating the union right
then and there. They went inside and
Ed beckoned to Bob who was on the
dance-floor.
“Bob,’’ he said, “me and Lyda’s goin’
to get hitched.’’
Bob just stood there, shifting his
weight from one foot to the other,
looking first at his brother, then at
Lyda. Then he burst into tears.
“What’s wrong with you, Bob?’’
demanded Ed. “All I said was me and
Lyda was goin’ to get hitched.’’
“That,’’ said Bob, trying to regain
his composure, “is just the trouble. I
wanted to marry Lyda.’’
“You what? This is the first I’ve
heard of it.’’
“It don’t make no difference. I had it
in mind for a long time.’’
Ed exchanged glances with Lyda.
It was an awkward moment for all of
them. Then Bob stuck out his hand,
grabbed his brother’s hand and shook
it vigorously. “No hard feelings,’’ he
blurted.
The marriage of Ed Dooley and
Lyda Trueblood took place in the
local church. Lyda had a half smile of
promise on her lips. The groom, having
given up celluloid collars, was wearing
a stiff linen number and a shiny blue
serge suit. Bob was the best man.
It wasn’t until after the ceremony
that the newlyweds sprang a surprise
on everybody. Somebody asked Lyda
where she was going on honeymoon.
“There ain’t going to be no
honeymoon,’’ she replied. “Me and
Ed – and Bob here – are goin’ to run a
ranch in Idaho. We’ve bought a little
cattle ranch near Twin Falls. We’re
going there right away to start our lives
all over again.’’
Ed held his bride’s hand and gave a
silly grin. Bob looked off into space.
“You say Bob is goin’ along with the
both of you?’’ somebody asked Lyda.
“Yup.’’
So, an hour after the wedding, the
three of them set off for Twin Falls in
Ed Dooley’s Tin Lizzie.
Arriving in Idaho, they headed
straight for a rundown ranch on the
outskirts of Twin Falls where they
settled down to make the most of
what they had. Ed Dooley, working
hard by day and by night, was getting
everything he wanted. Bob Dooley, just
to be near the girl he’d loved and lost,
made himself useful around the house
and farm. And Lyda, seeing to the
brothers’ meals, was also cooking up a
plan of her own.O
ne night just before bedtime, she,
her husband and brother-in-law
were sitting around in the parlour when
Lyda told Ed, “I was just thinking that
things would be terrible around here if
anything happened to you.’’
Ed asked what she meant.
“Insurance,’’ said Lyda. “You ought
to protect me, Ed,
just in case God
should take you
before me.’’
The next day Ed
took out $2,000-
worth of insurance,
naming his wife as
beneficiary.
“What a
wonderful husband
you are, Ed!’’
exclaimed Lyda,
rewarding him
in the way she
knew best. “And,’’
replied Ed, that
silly grin on his
face, “you’re one wonderful little wife.
I hope we live together forever.’’
But then one morning some six
months later, Ed Dooley woke up with
terrible pains in his stomach. “It’s
something you ate,’’ said Lyda. “I’ll fix
you something to put you right.’’
Bob said he thought he’d better drive
into Twin Falls for a doctor.
“Don’t bother,’’ said Lyda. “I’ll fix
him up in no time.’’
She kept Ed in bed, making him
broths and cups of tea. But everything
tasted bitter to Ed. “Drink it down,
honey,’’ Lyda would say when hegagged on a sip of tea. “It’ll be good for
what ails you.’’
But the pains grew worse. Then Ed
began to complain that the soles of
his feet felt very sensitive. “Now don’t
you worry, sugar pie,’’ Lyda would say.
“Everything’s goin’ to be all right. Your
Lyda will see to that.’’
Ed had been in bed, tossing and
turning and throwing up for about a
week, when Bob said he thought it was
high time for a doctor. Lyda looked at
him, kissed him, and started his bloodboiling by unbuttoning
his fly and slipping her hand inside
his trousers. Not unnaturally, Bob
completely forgot about doctors.
Then one night about a week later Ed
Dooley began to yell in terrible pain.
Bob, who had heard the noise, went
into the sick-room, saying he was going
for a doctor.
“It’s too late,’’ said Lyda. “He’s
gone.’’
It was 3 o’clock in the morning.
“I better drive into town and get an
undertaker,’’ said Bob.
“There’s nobody awake at thisAbove, Twin Falls, Idaho, around
the time Lyda moved there.
Below, the ranch outside Twin
Falls, which she shared with her
new husband Ed Dooley and his
brother Bob