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Show pase 28 made fast strides away, across our s l i v e r of highway, to Leroy Hinkle's hardware store. Leroy was as bald then as he is now and a Methodist deacon to boot. He s a t , as is his custom in hot weather, on a high stool in his rear doorway, fanning himself x<7ith a Bruton snuff fan. "What you x^ant, John Greene?" Leroy r e c a l l s asking. John Greene's face x^as flushed x»7ith heat, and possibly success. He stopped in front of the .gun and shell counter and held up the dime. "Two number six 12-gauge shotgun shells, please," he said. Heat-ridden as Leroy was,and as reluctant as he is to disturb himself for less than a major purchase, he recalls he asked, "What you want two shells for, John Greene?" John Greene shifted from one foot to the other. "I promised mama a rabbit for a rabbit stew," he said. Leroy plucked two shells from an open box, handed them to him, rang up the dime on his r e g i s t e r , and said righteously, "Ain't rabbit season, John Greene." John Greene explained: "Mama says an out-of-season rabbit stex<7 might help her get on her feet. Besides," he added, looking down at the two s h e l l s , "we don't have nothing else to e a t . " Then, clutching t i g h t l y the s h e l l s , he dashed out into blinding sunlight, an unabashed, undernourished boy on a high mission -- the most necessary mission for anyone, the procurement of food. He hopped and skipped and jumped the scorchy country road to the Chisum homestead. He passed his f a t h e r ' s now empty hogpens and entej^Sl CUP? squatty'^babin (the selfsame cabin is the |