Norwich bulletin., 1913-11-07

Frank Churchill had had the brief est glimpse of her. but her face haunt ed him for months afterwards. As agent for an Eastern land company he had stopped for a night at her father s ranch in Montana. The girl had ap- peared shyly in the living room of the house and her father had caught her sun crowned little hand and drawn her affectionately to him.
 Come Bess, I want you to meet the man from New York who wants to build skyscrapers on the side of Money Mountain
 Bess Delorme had laughed merrily and placed her hand for an instant in Churchfll's, with a few words of en- couragement, concerning his venture. Bess had slipped away and he had never seen her again.
 But her face haunted him always with it's charm of sweet expression and The thick dark lashes that shades her soft black eyes, and the curling tendrils of her jetty hair. were set in his mem ory like a painted picture.
 The next year he returned to find her father dead and the motherless home broken up. Bess Delorme had gone further West, some one said to relatives in California. No one knew definitely.
 So Churchill nursed his secret love and looked always for the face of the girl he had seen but once. He be- came a travelling salesman and his business took him over much Western territory. In every town or city he visited his first inquiry was for some one by the name of Delorme, but so far he had never found trace of her
 It was a cool. sweet night, such as California knows often and Churchill fingered on the steps of his Los Angeles hotel wondering how to spend the evening hours before bedtime.
 He lighted a cigar and wandered down the street until he came to an open-air moving picture theatre. He paused before the gay posters outside the entrance, studying the pictures of the Western play, Miss Wildfire. Sud- denly he bought a. ticket and went in side.
 He sat patiently through several reels until finally there was flashed on the white screen the title of the next play, Miss Wildfire. a story of love and hate on the plains.
 Churchill settled back in his seat It would be something to look on the fa- miliar country where Bess Delorme lived.
 At the very first scene his interest was aroused. Surely there was the De- lorme Ranch house, and the girl dressed in corduroy skirt and flannel shirt, with broad -brimmed hat on her
 
 The play proceeded. cowboys rode madly hither and thither: rival lovers appeared for the hand of the rancher' S daughter; the rancher was man who was strange to Churchill and Bess was the only familiar face among the char acters. The characters came and went, made love, disagreed, hated each other, fought and died-and Frank Churchill saw only one face through it all
 When the play was over he went dizziIy around to the office of the man ager and asked questions.
 Miss Wildfire-Why that part is talk en byNLillian Delorme one of the most popular players; let me see, that's a Goodenuf film. Miss Delorme is one of the Goodehuf players, you know. Sorry that's all I know about it. Write to the film company in San Francisco, they'll give you her address.
 Churchill thanked him and went away, only to return and view the Miss Wildfre film again.
 When the doors were closed for the night he went to his hotel and studied the telephone directory.
 The Goodenuf film company could not be expected to be doing business at mid night, therefore his long-distance call to San Francisco was unanswered. He went to bed stirred by thousand hopes and fears.
 Tt must be that I'm going to meet her again somewhere or l wouldn' t have chanced on that film tonight when my thoughts are full of her." he told himself time and again during the sleepless night.
 At o'clock the next morning he got the Goodenuf Film Company by tele- phone and to his chagrin learned that Miss Delorme had left the company the week before and gone East. Her desti- nation? 'Oh. New York I suppose; they all go there" sighed his inform ant, as the interview was closed.
 East was indeinite-New York was a c1ew that Churchill chung to as he finished his business in Los Angeles and prepared to leave for Chicago on his homeWard trip.
 And everywhere he went he kept his eyes wide open for some glimpse of his love and whenever he was in the vicin- ity of a moving picture show he