Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-12-23
THE BITTERNESS OF SWEETS
RUPERT HUGHES
BY RUPERT HUGHES

week for it, with feathers and railroad
| fares thrown inl
Az her first matinee Silver forgot most
OF her words. and the rest stuck i'm ber
| parched throat She could not keen step
| with the dancers. and when she was
nolsted INTO the air she lost her balance
| and hung head down kicking and nravvi-
| ing TIL she was lowered
This conyulsed the small audience so
completely that the house manager beg.
geo Bruni TO keep Il In. The old lnan was
lhsulted at the suggestion. His birds were
artists, not clowns. He expended so much
temper on the manager that he had no
wrath left for Silver. But he explained
TO her that the sacrilege must not occur
again and ordered Krug to give her a spe-
ciai rehearsal. on this account she could
hardly refuse Krue's invitation to sup
per after the show. She was as hungry
at ll;SO as she had been before dinner,
ana as krug watched her his admiration
was tempered with anxiety.
On the way home he carclesslv slipped
ms arm about her waist and withdrew II
promptly minus four or five small pieces
excavated by her ready nails. He was so
startled that he apologized. The next eve
ming he was permitted to feed her only
on condition that he quit what she called
his 'damnonsense.
This was the basest ingrntitudc i'm his
eyes and the supper series ended. Lack
ing his support, she paid for her own sup
pers. In the mornings she bought herself
beakers Of ice cream soda. nut sundaes
with maple syrup spread over, and boxes
of "chorklut pep'munts."
At the end Of tho week she found that
her wealth was not SO elastic as her appo-
tite. She had no money to pay the small
bill for her laundry when the stage door
man brought II, She had nothing to
pawn and she was forced to borrow from
another swallow against pay day.
She did not dare buy herself a sup
per that night She smiled invitngly at
krug. but he was nursing n grudge and
did not take the hint. She lay awake
while the mouse gnawed as of old.
The fourth week found the swallows
nested I'm Red Bank. The lonely Krug,
watching the infuriatingly elusive silver.
was startled to realize how pretty she
was. He had understood the secret of
the curves In her neither members: they
had been stitched In with results that
might have bewildered an anatomist But
those pipestem bare arms of hers had
grown actually round and full. Those
dangerous elbow spikes were blunter.
His experienced arms tested her weight
when the signal came to hoist Yes, she
was heavier. And so was his heart lie
approached her again with Il supper in
vitation. She accepted Eraciously with
Her appetite was undiminished
on the way home he said:
Say, grille, you're not so skinny as
you was. are your
80 the other goils was tellin' me-"
she said. Yesterday | hadda let out
me skot at the waist. and tonight ]
left off me plumpers."
You're sure one armful now" he said,
and made bold to prove 1t. She gave
him her elbow in the solar pleXus, and
when he began breathing again he real
lied that she had not improved so much
as he thought.
Silver grew protticr MS she grew plump
er and Krug began to feel an awe of her,
as il a little tight clenched bud were
blooming into a young rose before him.
He began to plead humbly for her af-
fection; he talked of the joys of mar
riaEe. Two of the swallows were mar
ried and one had left n child at her moth
er's. But Silver laughed him to scorn.
She was as fleet and airy-minded as n
swallow when the mating season is farth-
est away.
Krug grew more lorn as she grew more
luscious in his sight. But he grew tire
some to her. His compliments bored her.
She was getting them from all sides. She
was overhearing people i'm the audience
refer to her as "that pretty one on the
left" She knew that she was growing
beautiful because the other swallows We're
more and more unpleasant to her. Life
was one long festival; her appetite grew
almost lyrical She kept candy in her
makeup box and in her bedroom.
And so she romped across the weeks
without thought of trouble i'm her world.
Then one evening she heard two men in
a stage box discussing the swallows she