The Key West Citizen Newspaper, September 22, 1947, Page 3

THE KEY WEST CITIZEN ee te Chapter 5 OWN deep Bruce knew that in the beginning, way back five years ago, T’nette hadn’t given a rap for the finery he had begun to shower upon her. But as Gail had said, he had accustomed T’nette to compara- tive luxury. Almost certainly, he concluded, Gail being a woman and knowing a woman’s mind better than he, was right. A man on the loose, on his own, had the right to backtrack and start over; but it was wrong for a man with a family to bring about a com- lete upheaval in the way of life e himself had established for that family simply because, too late, he realized he had taken the wrong road. He was almost glad that T’nette hadn’t been home when he ar- rived; for now he need never tell her of his dream. “Beethoven,” he said aloud. “Beethoven and Christopher’s Manual of Surgery—and Swing. God Almighty! What a combina- tion,” Even as he uttered the words in self-derision, The Queen ap- ared; and Bruce knew it must precisely nine o’clock. For every morning since The Queen had been allowed out of doors, the same scene was enacted. Al- ways she went through the same little routine; the uncertain pause on the doorstep as dark eyes slow- ly took in the whole of her em- pire. After the careful inspection, the routine varied from day to day. Nobody ever knew what would strike The Queen’s fancy after she had made her royal en- trance. Bruce’s heart warmed as he watched her imperious little head turning on its exquisite neck. ay her eyes found him. The queenly quality melted as she came running. “Daddy!” Julie cried. “What ron gone out of bed so early, uh?” She plounced into his Jap. Bruce ' little vague. caught the squirming little body close to him. “Mother.” Julie informed him, “in Hollywood, Mrs. Lyons say.” | and I tried to tell him that no- | body ¢ The remark was hardly accu- rate; for at that moment T’neite unlocked the patio gate and en- tered. Bruce saw her square her ee ee ee Fashion ez at x GOR MEDICINE shoulders and arrange a smile about her lips as he and Julie went to greet her. A little wildly her eyes darted to Julie and she stooped Jow and threw her arms about the little girl. “Is Nola going to be all right?” “I think so.” And after a mo- ment she continued: “But as Aus- tin said when I was leaving, ‘Thank God it’s over.’” And it was, apparently. For though Bruce and T’nette visited Nola every day at the hospital during the following week, no mention was made of the baby, nor of much of anything. BRUCE would have refused to accompany T’nette to the hos- pital if it hadn’t meant a good deal of explaining. It became in- creasingly difficult for. him to reathe in the whole antiseptic atmosphere of the place without mentioning any of his. secret thoughts to T’nette. But he did beg off the afternoon before the band was scheduled to leave for Then, abruptly, she wilted with the realization that Bruce’ had been talking about returning to school to these orchestra peo i og he hadn’t even mentioned o her. “I see I've talked out of turn," Homer said. “But it proves mé right. It was a one-day dream a Bruce forgot about it before he had a chance to tell you.” “I don’t think so.” T’nette quenched the new ache in her heart; and with the one me fact she had to go on—the fact that Homer had refused to release Bruce from his contract, she waded in, her eyes sparkling with anger. * “Do you mean to tell me, Homer Gregg, that you’d stand in Bruce’s way —thHat a measly contract means more to you than — than Bruce’s: happiness. He belo: in a place like this hospital. He has RO more business in your band than—well, than I have. You don’t know him. Not the really real Bruce.” “Maybe not,” Homer said: curt- ly. Lord, if he had been able to find a woman like T’nette, there was nothing in the world he couldn’t have accomplished. T’nette said: , “You'd think I was a crimina) the way you're looking at me. Is there anything wrong in a woman wanting her husband to be happy?” eee “I’m sorry.” Homer made ‘his voice sharp. “You’ve got to un- derstand, T’nette, that it’s strictly a business proposition. Without aging the band might as well old.” 4 “Supposing,” she said as her chin shot out pugnaciously, “just supposing Bruce walks out on‘ his contract. You can’t hogtie~ him and make him play the piano, ¢an you?’ : “IT can sue him.” “You wouldn’t do that!” T’nette’s eyes widened. Homer did not reply directly. “We're both talking like im- beciles,” he said. “Let's forget it and be friends. Bruce doesn’t want to be an M.D. anyway.” ' They parted. And as T’nette drove out to Encino she defiantly blinked tears from her eyes. Why? Why hadn’t Bruce come to hee and told her? as (To be continued) | (Copyright 1947 by Frank Riordan) its tour; for he felt he had a plausible alibi. “I have to get something new to feed the kids in the East,” he —_ with a lightness he did not feel. After T’nette had gbne, he sat down at the piano. For over an hour he tried to get started but his mind was not on his work. It was roving back over the week, remembering that neither he nor Homer had again mentioned the contract. All week Bruce had been in a torment of indecision with Gail’s remarks ringing in his head. The contract was even then the subject of discussion between Homer and T’nette. T’nette had run into Homer in Nola’s room at thé hospital, and they left the building together. T’nette was in an unusually quiet mood, even for 4 er. “See here, T’nette,” Homer said guiltily, “I guess you think I'm pretty low holding Bruce to his contract.” : “Contract?” T’nette seemed a “Oh, he’ll thank me for it some day,” Homer said magnanimously. “It’s a wild dream, of course. Gail an go back and pick up old strings—like medical school.” T’nette gasped in unbelief. Her heart began to race in sudden joy. BETS DOWN ON HEMLINE HANDICAP. a eS THEY'LL WEAR °EM AND LIKE’EM... So says the manufacturer of the longer- shirted fall fashions pictured above, shown at a recent Ohio fashion show attended by 11,000, most of whom vigorously voi ced their opposition to dropped hemlines. * By DOROTHY ROE Associated Press Fashion Editor yor even the women who make the new | +‘ long-skuied dresses like them—but manv- | facturers go right on turning them out, and | selling them. This fact was brought out by a recent poll | of nearly 1,000 women workers of one of the | nation’s largest mass-production dress firms, in which 97 percent voted against the wearing of longer dresses. The workers polled—designers, cutters, of- fice workers and machine operctors—are turn- ing out many thousands of dozen dresses week- ilton, Ohio, and found audience reaction firm- ly against the new longer skirts. The instigator of the poll and president of the company, Philip Meyers, remained unper- turbed, however, in the face of customer and employe reaction. Said he: “True, it is the designers who start fashion trends, but the women wear ‘em. They are determinedly anti-long skirts now, but regard- less of the hullaballoo, no woman will reists ior long the new style-dictated longer skirt. She will fall in line. Among the resisters the length will drop, however slowly, and in time they ly for scle all over the United States and! wlil have forgotten all <dout it, happy in the abroad, all with lengthened skirts. below-the-knee length. a Results of the poll were considered signific- -The fashion show, attended by 11,000 resi- ant because the factory is located in Cincinnati, a fashion center of the middle west, sup- posedly reflecting the average American opin- ion. Further emphasis was lent to the voice of disapproval! when the firm held c fashion show at Le Soudrsville Lake, rural resort near Fam- Subscrib dents of nearby communities in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, featured 22 new fall and winter styles, including severc! from the designing board of Constance Bennett. The dresses shown retail from $6.98 to $25, and are sold door-to- door by some 40,000 saleswomen throughout the country. | | | i | { | ee ee ee ere e for The me a es 9c RD Citizen--25¢ Weekly