Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1917-07-19
SHADOWOF GEORGE BIRD
BY JANE OSBORN.

desk in the little room next to the di-
I rector's Office of the Star Motion Pic
! ture company had signed the name
"Georgie Bird so very much oftener
than she had Ann Evans that she
sometimes was half convinced that she
I was George Bird-a sort of shadow
! or second nature of George Bird-and
that Ann Evans had been lost in the
/ scufIle. And it had been scuffie
for Ann. She had come to the
| city with ASPIRATIONS and here she was,
at twenty-five, still pounding the type
understanding for SIS q week as
| George Birds letter answerer. You
couldn't have called her Georges sec
rotary, for she seldom saw the radiant
| George and almost never talked to
! her. George, you know, was at the
height Of her stardom.
OF course, among those who admired
the brilliant little actress there were
! always many who wrote, and to an
swer these letters with heart-to-heart
enthusiasm was the best sort of adver-
tisement for George. That is why 1t
was worth while to pay Ann $50 a
week.
II know you girls that work In the
movies have a real hard life" wrote
one sutton. "It's hard life for any
woman to lead, and If there aren't any
city fellows willing to step in and help
you out and give you home, why just
! let me tell you there is one out here
| in the wilds that will. I've made quite
| a pile-at mines and cattle and one
thing or another. / guess it's close to
! 100000. And just the sort of girl
| I'm looking for is a nice little home
body like you without any Tugs or
! style or smart manners. l got your
address from the man that runs our
movie place out here. He said TO send
! the letter to the boss of your concern
| and he guessed maybe you'd get it,
Just let me know and III take the next
/ train East. An old pal Of mine that
made good out here is in your burg
and he'll vouch for me. Wen look
him up first thing | get there"
Ann reread the letter carefully, and
spent five minutes staring at the face
Of the photograph that came with it.
perhaps he has got the right idea"
| she suggested to herself. Perhaps
| George would be much better off.
Ann knew that most Of the men who
! knew the real George would have
been quite incapable of opening their
hearts to her, just in Difference to her
| superior bank roll and overtowering
! success. First Ann wrote the letter
| that was to be sent, very much like
| all the other rejection letters; and
| then-and that was where she was
wasting time-she wrote the sort of
letter that George might have written
| Just for fun" as she told herself.
And in that letter Ann who was beaten
| down and stitled, Ann, the country girl,
! sick to death of the city, discouraged
and disappointed wrote from her own
heart. For the first time in working
hours in months she forgot George
| and remembered Ann.
1t was not till week later that Ann
| discovered what she had really done.
The manager strutted in. How many
| proposals In the last two weeks, since
the last reel has been runningT he
| asked. He had come to take the num-
| Der of these declarations as an index
OF the heart appeal that George was
! making. Mechanically Ann put her
hand to the pigeonhole marked PRO
| posals' and counted them. Thirty
nine she answered, and her eyes
caught sight of something that made
/ her blanch.
Ann looked at the calendar that
hung over her desk Yes, 1t was the
10th. The wrong letter-the Goth
| the Central statlon--at 6 AS when the
western express came in. The words
| of the letter she had written and had
| sent by mistake came to her. A dozen
wild schemes went through her mind.
| She might-of course 1t was out of the
| question but the thought presented IT.
| self-she might ask George Bird to
keep the promise she had made for
her. For after all the stranger was
| good to look at, unspoiled by the city.
| Unohseryed by the manager she locked
her desk and hurried to the boarding
| house. With what simple fnery she
had she arrayed herself Then she
hurried from the boarding house.
She stood at the gate where those
who meet friends from the West watch
and peer eNpectautly every night at
6:45 as the Western express draws
near. "Shall or shan't IT, she was
debating. "Of course, he will know at
glance and then III have to explain,
| Perhaps he won't come" And then
| he did come through the gate, and she
! felt herself almost totter as he stepped
quickly toward her and the big boy.
ish man was shaking hands with her
and telling her that he would have
known her anywhere. "Oniy you are
a hundred times sweeter than the or
iginal, he said with the sincerity and
effectiveness of man who does not
I know the practice of flattery.
"But / am really afraid" Ann be-
gan as her conscience pricked her re-
pcatedly. She tried 10 edge in her
explanation Of her deception. But SO
intent was the stranger on his plans
"A