Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, March 20, 1910, Page 23

\)- ( ¢ Ben Teal, Who Knows Her, Rises in /‘ Her Defense, YCUNG WOMEN WHO WORK HARD exs and Tomfoolery” Not All, De- | spite Henry Arthur Jones—Many Who Have Gome Ahead 1 1 Pald Work., NEW YORK, March 19 whispered “A real countess,’ the press agent, “and in the Think of that!" We whis- this time the name, a cross hlanti and Coryphee and adds a ar data de theater on the public scandal, tha political intrigue, that has answered the purpose of a jealous queen tor pered again between few fan account the non rambles on, his ever| inspired by & certain | which he mistakes for/ and as he talks you wonder what has become of some of the chorus girls of yesterday and how, when and whers others whom you hear of every day achieved their opportunity and still others who have re mained where they commenced after years of public adulation There is one man In town who knows a | lot on this subject, who has in some twenty-five vears trained the chorus girls in the ways they should go. Ben Teal, who has besn during this quar- ter of a century conneeted as stage man- ager and producer with Klaw & Brianger and Charles Frohman and is now with Henry Harrls, admits that if rightly ap- proached he might tell not all but some of ! facts that have mot escaped his eagle It is Ben Teal who Is responsible for the saying that if a chorus girl keeps her eyes wide open and her feet in good condition there i3 no reason why she should not climb right to that uttermost niche in the temple of fame. Whan you comment on the really small percentage who have risen abowe the humbje beginnings—and every season there are in New York City alone some 2,000 to 3,000 girls drawing pay in the chorus—-Mr. Teal gesture to which pantomimic act he adds that there 1s no reason why this should be 50 and that It Is today as it alway: kirl herself. Asked to dAiffereritiate between nition of the press agent who says laconi- | ally $2 a week, one line and three ha-has, and then goes away to leave Mr. Teal to | tell his own story, one interesting item of | which is the fact that it was due to his personal efforts that the old-time rule of | making a gir] pay for her stockings, tights, wigs, shoes and other parts of her apparel was done away with and that nowadays no reputable manager would expect one of his chorus girls to practice the econo- | mies necessary for this expenditure. The ehofus girl at the present time gots | ters knowingly a profession where she finds | with heavy eves and lagging step. ORUS CIRL OF TODAY| tact for| makes an affirmative | has | been a matter which rests entirely with the | the | chorus and show girl, he accepts the defl- | EXtrA On the road, transportation being nished and nothing e tour, the expenses of which she t stand for her- selt, any bigger sala the line," for to draw on parts not & m There is ne . for hope of those the arger and f | eountry plicar supply ym all every seanor becomes me of the but of the whole world, come ap- some: driven need, some by vanity, some by a genuine ambition Mr. Teal gives the from the O Woerld all the praise that i their due, but says positively that they de not compase in beauty, grace Intelli- gence with the Ameriean variety. ‘“They | have technique by inheritance and that much abused quality, temperament, which someone has recently described as an in nate disinclination to work, but robbed of those characteristics they have nothing.' In the “mixed race,” which is so rapidly ng an take into cog nizance here, especially In matters relating he not venturs a hidebound saying: “In the contest for su premacy no one at this moment can proph esy who Wiil be at the goal when the bell rings—the second and third generation of the Old World contingent are certainly furnishing us matters for speculation even in the chorus." Taking the oval, s by or heee element to to art | spinion. nothing less than a queen, | & faithful mamma, who i® always at the| stage door to protect daughter from the | posibility of accident when dlamond tiaras and garter buckles are hurled at her blona | head The press agent active imagination fixed expression intarast the externals of perfect chorus face, with it round its expression of serenity, small features and Iarge eyes, with attendant at tractions of fine teeth and hair for granted, Mr, Teal says that the quality that makes superior one out of many when competi a good tigure, | tion is keen 18 the possession of that inde- | finable accomplishment termed “‘manner," { which is positively essential to make & success today in the line must give the impression of & weli-bred woman who knows how to wear good clothes and to enter and leave a room, the “drawing room" manner in & word, almost impossible to teach, but the possession of which will make amends for many lacks in other directions. Two girls selected as types of the re- quirements In this direction at the present time are Janette Hawton and May Malony ‘One of these girl “is blond, the other brunette. In alertness, their abllity to speak a line tell- | ingly, their way of walking, standing and | wearing clothes, they are striking examples of the very best we have to offer in the way of chorus girl material. “Every once In a while you hear of & manager who had accepted money for making a place in the chorus of some ‘at- traction’ for an unknown girl who is being angelized by & Manhattan mlllionaire and | who has no real need or accomplishment for the place. I know of no reputable manager who is open to any such pro- posals. has not been known in chorus girl annal but 1 say that it is an exception which really proves a rule. In the same way 1 would not deny the existence of the chorus &irl too well known to the exclusion of the veritable class, who comes to rehearsals in her own car, gives her salary to & French | maid and sometimes figuree in a sen: murder or divorce trial, but the ty #irl is just as exceptional as ls the man- ager. Heaven help the chorus girl today who thinks that she is golng te get any- where in her profession by a notorious loss of self-respect! A success of that kind ls | as short lived as a smile. When a girl en- This manner applicants | says the speaker, | their | 1 do not say that such an eplsode | ear, she {s perhaps apt to loss her sense of values and to begin to travel at & pace| which has only one ending, for hard as the work of the chorus Is today, it Is not {that which depletes the ranks; it ls the burning the candle at both ends—in places whese reason for being Is not entireiy the | furtherance of art. Beginning at 15, when her volcs is de- veloped enough for the use to which it will be put, the chorus girl if she never gets .‘be! ond the line, has at least ten years of demand. After that she s passe except in rare cases. There Is always that shadow over her lite, for while in other professions age and experience are often assets, in her', they count against her and unfortunately | she knows it. Perhaps it {s that knowledge that finally swamps her. Certainly it is that which prompts her to get out and |Into some other work. It even drives her to matrimony., | “A very generous percentage of the chorus girls I have taught have married and married well, at least from a worldly point of view. In fact the chorus is to many & young woman but a flighty eplsode and she finds her true avocation in a home with a husband, who probably believes he has dragged her away from stellar glories to be the star of his housshold and treats | her all the better for his unwaranted oreed, while she diplomatically hides the fact that she was tired of the struggle and looked on him as a life saver. There are many Ann Veronicas of the chorus. What they really want is marriage and they ar driven by that unrest through the eplsode of the chorus life, which to Mr. Well's heroine simply took another form, until | they accomplish their fundamental purpose. “The chorus girl In & big Brosdway productfon has an immense amount of work to do, not the least of which is the necessity—where competition sets a killing | pace of labor—to keep herself in the best | possible condition. Nothing sise will be accepted. She cannot come to & rehearsal 8he $15 a week In New York and a few dollars l her whole mission s to please the eye and | must not stay away. Bhe has simply got to (Copyright, 1910, by Bobbs Merrill.) CHAPTER VIII THE SECOND SECTION. Eave you ever beon picked up out of your three-meals-a-day life, whirled around in a tornado of events, and landed in a situation 50 grotesque and yet so horrible that you laugh even while you are groan- ing, and straining at its hopelessness? Mo- Knight says that is hysterta, and that no man worthy of the name ever admits to it Also, as McKnight says, it sounds like & tank drama. Just as the revolving saw 1s about to cut the hero into stove lengths, the jtecond villain blows up the sawmlll 'nm! bero goes up through the roof and alights on the bank of a stream at the feet of his lady love, Who is making dalsy chains. Nevertheless, when I was safely home again, with Mrs. Klopton brewing strange arinks that came in paper packets from the pharmacy, and that smelled to heaven, 1 remember staggering to the door and closing it, and then going back to bed andt howling out the absurdity and the madness of the whole thing. And while I laughed my very soul was sick, for the girl was gone by that time, and T knew by all the loyalty that answers betwess men for hopor that I would have to put her out of my mind. And yet, all the night that followed, filled ®s it was With the shrieking demons of pain, I saw her as I had seen her last, in the queer hat with green ribbons. the doctor this, guardedly, the next morn- ing, and he sald it was the morphis, and that I was lucky not to have seen & row | of devils with green talls. T don't know anything about the wreck of Beptember 9 last. You who swallowed the detalls With your coffee and digested the horrors with your chop, probably know @ great deal more than I do. I remember very distinctly that the jumping and throb- bing In my arm brought me back to a world that at first was nothing but sky, & heap of clouds that I thought hazily were the meringue on a blue dhariotte russe. As | the sense of hearing was slowly added to vision, 1 heard a women near me sobbing that she had lost her hat pin, and shs couldn’t keep her hat on. 1 think I dropped back into unconsclou ness again, for the next thing I remember was of my blus pateh of sky clouded wita smcke, of & strange roaring and crack lng, of & rain of flery sparks on my face and of somebody beating at me with feeble hands. thera again: the girl in blue was bending over ma. With that imperviousness to blg things and keenness to small that is the first effect of shock, I tried to be facetious, when a4 spark Stung my cheek ru{-\nl have to rouse yourself the sirl Whs repeating desperately. “You" been on fire twice already.” A plece of siriped ticking floated slowly over my hesd. As the wind caught It its charring edges leaped into flame. “Looks like & kite, dossn't It? I re marked cheerfully. And thén, as my arm guve an exéruclating throb—"Jove how my arm burts.” 3 mm‘ I opened my eyes and closed | The girl bent over and spoke slowly, dis- tinctly, as one might speak to a deaf'per- son or a child. “Listen, Mr. Blakeley,” she satd earnestly. “You must rouse yourself. There has been a terrible accident. The second section ran into us. The wreck 18 burcing now, and If we don’t move, we will cateh fire. Do you hear? Her volee and my arm were bringing me to my senses. “I hear,” I sald. “I—I'll sit 1p in & second. Are you hurt?" “No, only bruised. Do you think you can walk? I drew up one foot after another, gin. gerly. “They seem to move all right”” I re- mwarked dublously. “Would you mind tell- Ing me where the back of my head has gone? I can't help thinking it isn't there." She made a quick examination. “It's pretty badly bumped,” she said. “You must have fallen on it 1 had got up on my uninjured elbow by that time, but the pain threw me back. “Don’'t look at the wreck,” I entreated her. “It's no sight for a woman If—if there is any way to tle up this arm, I might be able to do something. There may be people under those cars.' ‘Then it is too late to help,” she replled solemnly. A little shower of feathers, each carrying its tiery lamp, blew over us from ®ome burning pillow. A part of the wreck collapsed with a crash. In a resolute en- deavor to play & man's part in the tragedy going on all around, I got to my knees. | Then I realized what I had not noticed be- |toré: the hand and wrist of the broken left arm were jammed through the handle of the sealskin grip. 1 gasped and sat down suddenly. You must not do that, the girl In- ed. I noticed now that she kept her back to the wreck, her eyes averted. “The welght of the traveling bag must be agony. Let me support the vallse untl we get back & few yards. Then you must lle |down until we can get it cut oft’ “WIIl it have to be cut off”" I asked as calmly as possible. There wers red-hot stabs of agony clear to my neck, but we were moving slowly away from the track. “Yes," she replied, with dumfounding coolness. “If I had a knife I could do it myself. You might sit here and lean egainst this fence.” By that time my returning faculties had | realized that she was golng to cut off the | satehel, not the arm. The dizziness w: leaving and I was gradually becoming my- | selt. | If you pull, it might come,"1 suggested | “And with that weight gone, 1 think I will cease to be five feet eleven inches of baby."* | She tried gently to loosen the handle but it would not move, and at last, with | great drops of cold perspiration over me. 1 hed to give up. | “I'm afrald I ean't stand it” I sald. “But ther¢'s & knifo somewhers around these clothes, and if I can find it, perhaps You ean cut the leather.” As 1 gave her the knife she turned it OVEr, SXAMIBINE It WIth & peculldr express ‘LADIES, REPEAT THE THIRD AC’ be alert, clear eyed, quick every instruction, to apprehend The chorus is no longer a place where & girl standing and looking | pretty has achieved the purpose of her | being there. A great part of the new chorus girl work which I may say without egotism was Invented by me requires tre- mendous assets of endurance and intelll gence, “There ard two classes of girls who live and dle in the chorus, and when I say die’ 1 do not mean that in the obvious eense. There is the girl whose vanity out- | strips her talent. Ehe has come there be lieving it the casiest way to some spec- tacular future, uncharted even in her own imaginings. She remalns, having acquired technioue and bound by the ropes of routine and cloth. When the crucial moment of departure comes she may become & ward- robe woman, she may ‘g0 back home,’ she may drift into the Bargossa sea of derelicts. Then there 18 the other class, the girl who is honest in her determination, but is biinded to the knowledge that she has Do real talent such as is necessary to get out of the line; rivalry is so bitter, talent such a drug—that s talent of her kind—the working pace is so strenuous that ghe has only endurance enough to stay on until somebody takes pity on her or she takes pity on herself and creeps into & life | position better fitted to Ler. There are & |few, a very few, who remaln there by cholce; they have acquired a distinctive place which they would lose elsewhere; they have an honest following of friends | and admirers and they manage to keep the twenty-elght to thirty years limit at bay by an absolute ellmination of the factors which are by common report supposed to be a necessity of her existence. There are many women, stars of the legitimate at present, who have forgotten they ever were in the chorus, certainly their stay there was 50 brief that thelr forgetfulness is ex- cusable; there are many more who, it would surprise the average theatergoer to learn, started In this way. “I never advise a girl against taking up the profession she has selected. The most . (1 venture upon is a sy | think the matter over turn if she is determined experience that neral thing if a #irl makes good she makes good at once One glance i oftentimes sufficient, one re hearsal often tags the girl f all time. If my first impression I8 favorable 1 study her and give her an opportunity and It the impression becomes a conviction, with- out Kknowing why she gets a line or a longer part to speak or act. Yet the first impression cannot be absolutely relied upon and she may never live up to this initial promise.” Mr. Teal is gestion that she carefully—and re- It has been my as a ge mentions some of the best been connected as stage manager. productions required hundreds of chorus girls, all of whom he remembers by name and can give of each a physical, mental and biographical description. It is & say- ing among his contemporaries that he never forgets a face or name and in proof of this the other day a chorus girl opened the door of his office and after & mo- ment’'s hesitation Mr. Teal asked her what name she wanted to appear under now in case he engaged her, telling her that elght yvears before she had asked to have her name changed on the eve of the publication of a program You put his memory to the test: “Paultne Hall of ‘Ermine fame. She is no longer on the stage she has Invested her money wisely is a rich woman. Adele Ritchis was one of the four girls I put Into “The Algerian,' the last musical comedy Mario Tempest appeared in over here. ‘Sylvia Gerrish is dead and rgotten except by those who recall her as she appeared in Marquis,’ Casino 1887, and Lillan Grubb, who w in that, not dead, only lost sight of for ment. Nina Farringto production of ‘Adonis,’ for which I tralned her, and In that same show were Fanny Ward and Mabel Montgomery, who made great hits. They had their theatrical debut in another chorus. Paula Edwards was in the original production of ‘The Belle of fs almost 1s the mo- was In the original known spectacles with which his name has | These | chorus workers i1 and Nettls horus, had to P lost in quols fire because sho panio- t entering & lift, nd, the stalrway, WAs over- ted. The original ‘Floro- aisy Green, Agnes Way- Relyen, Marls Wilson (Mra Vaughan Texsmith and wore all trained by me."* Glaser, Flsie Bonnfe Ma- associated at at least with this theatrical sways Mr. Teal remembers and s With accuracy, certatnly anvier; both ow York claver and Marie later dnte After . and Stolen, ond sea . -t 3 wh ng with the ¢ made Kre o 4 ballet, was Carniva w Julta 1s ken at the fdea back to use Sanderson, who was first Fanta © ne and Ma me by th The Ch p b under Fred seized the suddenly in Ato pot e . was no Gores & Shut A Mar Gebhard) Walker others, Frigansa, traln op n Lulu eaped ther Mar A gine aw, name pwe played a g . in uvenile las Ellison playe musica and its 1 . e istence. Mabe e | point of Mouse' fame t { Weber . " Fleld's produ theater n a ne places, without 1 And fr sitation the serfousness of his talk you tin sympathy with the Arthur Jones, who At the present time 1s given over to In fact Mr. Teal, memory test success- ast word which may be to the more euphonious state- Mr. Jouts is mis. Judge that 1 o has | of Henry & In Londor tomf: and passed 1 chorus Broadwa Lotta Faust wa discovered by me and the Beansta Marie Jans Boston membered. 1 v apr and app; having fully tra ment put 4 . and says o lated that he belleves in n taken Legs and tomtoolery—there is litte of the chorus of the present serfously pre- her origina eithe vaudevile | tirst appeared w \ 10 well. Georgia Cafne | tim is serfous work, i me. 1 %0 did Emma | sent | | | “MANY A TIME AND OFT ON THE RIALTO." |sion, bewilderment rather than surprise. |But she sald nothing. She set to work deftly, and In a few minutes the bag drcpped free. “That's better,” I declared, sitting up. “Now, 1f you can pin my sleeve to my coat, It will support the arm so we can get away from here.” the jerk would be terrible.” She looked around, puzzied; then she got up, coming back In & minute with a draggled, partly scorched sheet. This she tore into a large square, and after she had folded it, she slipped it under the'broken arm and tled it wecurely at the beck of my neck. The rellef was immedlate, and, picking Up the sealskin bag, I walked slowly be- side her, away from the track. The first act was over: the curtaln |tallen. The scene was “struck.” CHAPTER IX. THE HALCYON BREAKFAST. | We were still dazed, I think, for we wan- |dered Mke two troubled children, our one idea at first to get as far away as we |erit. Now and then we met little groups of country folk hurrying to the track: they |stared at us curlcusly, and some wished to question us. But we hurried past them; |we bad put the wreck behind us. That | way lay madness. Only once the girl turned and looked be- hind her. The wreck was hidden, but the smoke cloud hung heavy and dense. Fo the first time I remembered that my c parion had not been alone on the train. “It is quiet here,” I suggested. “If you will sit down on the bank I will go back and make some inguiries I've been crim- inally thoughtless. Your—traveling com- panion—" She Interrupted me, and something of her splendid polse was gone. ‘‘Pleass don't go back,” she sald “I-am afrald it would be of no use. And—I don't want to be left alone.” Heaven knows I 4id not want her to bo alons. I was more than content to walk along beside her aimlessly, for any length of time. Gradually, as she lost the exalta- tion of the moment, I was gaining my nor- mal condition of mind. I was beginning to realize that I had lacked the morning grace of & shave, that I looked like some lost hope of yesterday, and that my left |shoe pinched outrageously. A man does not rise triumphant above such handicaps The girl, for all her dlsordered hair and the crumpled linen of her waist, in spite of her missing hat and the small gold bag that hung forlornly from a broken chain, looked exceedingly lovely. “Then I won't leave you alone” I said manfully, and we stumbled on together. Thus far we had seen nobody from the wreck, but well up the lane we ceme across the tall dark woman who had occupled lower eleven. She was half erouching be- side the road, her black halr about her shoulders, &nd an ugly brulse over her eye. She did not seem to know us and refused to sccompany us. We left ber there at last, babbling incoherently and rolling In her handds a dozen pebbles she had gathered in the road. The girl shuddered as we went on. Once she turned and glanced at my bandage. Does it hurt very much?' she asked It's growing rather numb. be worse” I answered mendaclously. It enything in this world could be worse, I had never experienced it. And so we trudged on bareheaded under |the summer sun, growing parched and dusty and weary, doggedly leaving behind But it might | pin and patted some stray looks to place. “I have not told you my name” she said abruptly. “I forgot that because I know Wwho you are, you know nothing about me. I am Allson Weet, and my home is in Richmond.” Bo that was it. This was the girl of the photograph on John Gllmore's bedside table. The girl McKnight expected to see in Richmond the next day, Sunday. Bhe was on her way back to meet him. Well, what difference did It make, anyhow? We tad been thrown together by the merest us the pillar of smoke. I thought I knew |chance. In an hour or two at the most of a trolley lins somewhers In the direction |we would be back in civilization and she we were golng, or perhaps we could find a |would recall me, if she remembered me at | borse and trap to take us Into Baltimore. |all, as an unshaven creaturs In a red The girl smiled when I suggested it cravat and tan shoes, with a sofled Pull- “We will create a sensation, won't we?" |man sheet tled around my neck. I drew |she asked. “Isn't it queer—or perhaps it's |a deep breath my state of mind—but I keep wishing for | “Just & twings, & palr of gloves, when I haven't even a |glanced up quickly. “It's very good of you hat |tc let me know, Miss West. 1 have bewn When wo reached the main road we sat |hearing delightful things about you for down for a moment, and her hair, which |thres months.” had been coming loose for some time, fell| “From Richey over her shoulders In little waves that|frankly curious. | were most alluring. It seemed & pity to| “Yes. From Richey McKnight,” twist it up again, but when I suggested [sented. Was it any wonder McKnight w this, eautioualy, she said it was trouble- | crazy about her? I dug my heels info the some and got In her ewes when It was cust loose. So she gathered it up, while I held| I have been visiting near Cresson, in B row of little shell combs and pins, and the mountains,”” Miss West was saving. 1 said, when she McKnight?' She “The pin might give,” she objected, “and | | could from the horror behind us. We were | both bareheaded, grimy, pallid through the | Wwhen 1t was done It was vastly becoming, too. Funny about hair: a man never knows he has it untll he begins to lose it, but it's different with a girl. Something of the unconventional situation began to dawn on her as she put In the last hair: “The person you mentioned, Mrs. Curtls, was my hostess. We—we were on our way to Washington together.” She spoke | slowly, as if she wished to give the mini- |mum of explanation. Across her face had ieumvl again the baffling expression of pe [the aupticate youngsters naa not come back, Miss West made the move I had dreaded. “If we are to get into Baltimore at all w6 must start)’ she sald, rising. “You | ought to see a doctor as soon as possible. “Hush,” I sald warningly. “Don't men- tion the arm, please; it {s asleep now, You | may rouse it.” { two| “If I only had a hat” she reflected. “It children, each an exact duplicate of the wouldn't need to be much of one, but-" other, had come quickly down the road. She gave a little cry and darted to the She took in the situation at a glance, and |corner. “Look,” she said triumphantly, was explogively hospitable. the very thing. With the green streamers! “You poor things,” she sald |tied up in a bow, like this—do you suppose take the first road to the left the child would mind? I can put or so and turn in at the second pigsty, you will | here—that would buy a dozen of them.” ind breakfast on the table and & coffee| It was & queer affair of straw, that hat, pot on the stove. And there's plenty of with a round crown and a rim that flopped soap and water, too. Don't say one word. dismally. With a single movement she had There 1sn't a soul there to see vou." |turnea it up at one eide ana fitted t to We accepted the invitaticn and she hur- |her head. Grotesque by itself, when she ried on toward the excitement and the wore it it was a thing of joy. raliroad. 1 got up carefully and helped | Evidently the lack of head covering had Miss West to her feet troubled her, for she was elated at her find At the second pigsty to the left,” I re- |She left me, scrawling a mote of thanks peated, “‘we will find the breakfast 1 prom- |and piuning it with a bill to the table- ised you seven eternities ago. Forward to cloth, and ran upstairs to the mirror and the plgsty.” the promised soap and water We said very little for the remainder ot | 1 did not ses her when she came down that walk. I had almost reached the limit I had discovered & bench with a tin basin of endurance: with every step the broken outside the kitchen door, and was washing, ends of the bone grated together. We in a helpless, one-sided fashion. I felt found the farm house without difficulty, |rather than saw (hat she was standing in and I remember wondering if I could hold the doorway, and I made a final plunge out to the end of the old stone waik that | into the basin. 164 between hedges to the door. How 1s it possible for a man with only a “Allah be praised,” 1 sald with all the right hand to wish his left ear?’ I asked voloe I could muster. ““Behold the coffee from roller towel. I was distinetly un- pot.” And then I put down the grip and jcomfortable: men are more rigldly folded up Itke a jack-knife on the porch | tures of convention than women, whether fioor. they admit it or not. “Thers is 8o much When I came around something hot was |soap on me still that if I laugh I will blow trickling down my neck, and a despairing |bubbles. Washing with rain water and volce was saying, “Oh, I don't seem to ba|home-made soap is like motoring on a able to pour It Into your mouth. Pleass slippery road. I only struck the high open your eyes." places. “But I don't want Then plied dreamily. “I any ldea the came over me. the shoes, I She w the left one is a red-hot torture’ I was the door sitting by that time and looking across| breatt into her face. t Never before or since have I falnted, but T would do it Joyfully, a dozen {imes a da it I could waken again touch of soft fingers on ecstasy of coffee spilled down my neck. There | every tone of her voice fore long my loyalty step between me and life would develop those early hours after pain they v the suspicion ar Shorn of our primitive world for the hour was the d house, the slope of wheat fieid to the road. the woodland lot, th We breakfasted homely o sheer reaction ate great oven back of the fluid that smelled like nothing that 1 We found cream Ir tn the chill waters Ard there were eggs & basket of them 8o, like children awakened fr nightmare, we chatiered oy r food hurted mutual frier el gether at my feeble wittletsms the horror behind tol it was the hat witk groer brought back the 1geness thon. 1 along T had had the Alison West Aelibe f her mind something that and It brought with ft the puzsled expression that I h early In the day, before the wreck. I caught it once, when—breakfast over she was tightening the sling that heid the broken arm. 1 had prolonged the morning meal as much as I could, but when the wooden clock with the pink roses on the Qlal pointed at 10:, and the methsr with plexity and trouble I had scen befora “You were on your way home, 1 wup- pose? Richey—spoke about sceing you,” I floundéred, finding it necessary to say | something. Bhe looked at me with level, direct eyes. “No," she returned quietly. “I did not intend o go home. I—well, it doesn't mat- ter; I am golng home no A woman In a calico dress, with “It you'll r there, the crea- it in my hay t was eyes,” I re. having achieved a brilliant polish 1 looked at the girl leaning against the frame of her face perfectly colorless, her coming in slow, difficult respira- ¢ hat was pinned to place, it had slid rakishly to one side. When I realized that she was staring, not at me, but past me to the road along which we come, I turned and followed her gaze. in sight: the lane etehed dust white in the sun—no moving it gn of lite. n't what think with towel ons. The erra but the o those a thril that morning to McKnight the hs blisstul the hot er my by was no one B would on no e loved CHAPTER X. REQUEST. in her held me tion of the break-, was no hint of before, she had nonsensical sallies. She stood there, white-lipped, unsmiling, staring down the dusty romd. One hand was clenched tight over some small object. Her eyes dropped to it from the distant road, with a quick, indrawn breath Her color came had caused the She was anxi Impatient of getting ard 1 plore of a vehicle that It he time, T v which lay new con the there gauds a; tles. 1 full of thing of later MISS WEST'S The surprising change fast the met o table was gone: there with which mar man and w my togethe o ol becan bread f. hovse, and lke coff had ¢ st of table. rf! lotn 1 back slowly. Whatever change, she sald nothing. s to leave at once, almost my dcliberats masculine my things togoether, After- recalled that I had wanted to ex- for a horse and some sort to take us to the trolley, and she had refused to me to look membered later that not. At comp ely bewildered. he responsibility for between Providence and the en- the second sec a1l the events of that strange morning were logically con nected; they from cause, and ded unerringly 3 But the cause was buried in view. Not il we had well be- hind Q14 the girl tenss lines I was watehing her than I had realiged, for when we Nad gone a little way along the road she turned to me wst petulantly don't stare so AL me, she sald, to my sudden confusion. “I knew the hat is dreadful. Green always | makes me look hastly.” (Te Bes Continued) slices of ym the granny drank b and tast ove swallowed way sunk deep | the great ARE the barn vel allow things but did two om & Lave helped me but we put D! frer a ribbons gineer ¢ tion, e situa came one end the ond not yet left the } upress Pt was g then B ad surprised b ce relax its more _close Please