The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1918-04-04

49, ~ N'RNt
for the theater was II good life, broad.
cnlng, stimulating, seasoning. 1t rest
cd, to begin with, on u foundation of
adequate material comfort which the
unwonted physical privatlons OF the six
months that preceded IL made seem
like positive luxury.
For scveral months after she came to
New York to work for Galbraith she
found him q martinez. She never once
caught that twinkling CLEAN Of under.
standing In his eye which had meant
so much to her during the rehearsals
of 1.-THE Girl Upstairs" His manner
toward her carried out the tone of the
letter she'd got from him In Chi
cago. II was stif, formal, severe. He
seldom praised her work, and never
u~ngrudglngly. His censure was rare,
too, to be sure, but this obviously was
because Rose almost never gave him
nm excuse for II. Working for him I'm
this mood gave her the uneasy sensa-
ton one experiences when walking
abroad under Il sultry, overcast sky,
with mutterlngs and flashes In II. And
then n night the storm broke.
They had fingered In the theater
after the dismissal Of II rehearsal. to
tnlk over n change In one OF the mum
bers Rose had been working on. II re-
fused to come out satisfactorily. Rose
thought she saw II way OF doing II that
would work better, and she had been
telling him about It. Eagerly, at first,
and with n limpld dlrectness which,
however, became cloudcd and troubled
when she felt he wasn't paying attcn-
ton. 1t was n difficulty with him she
had encountered before.
But tonight, after an angry turn
down the aisle and back, he suddenly
cried out: ~ don't know. / don't
know what you've been talking about.
I don't know, and l don't care" And
then, confronting her. their faces not u
foot apart. for by now she had got TO
her feet, his hands gripped together
and shaking, his teeth clenched. his
eyes glow 'ng there In the half.light Of
the auditorium almost like an ami
mails, he demanded: Gan you see
what's the matter with met Haven't
you seen It YETI"
or course she saw II now, plainly
enough. She sat down again. man.
aging an air Of elaboration about It.
and gripped the back of the orchestra
chair In front Of her. He remained
standing ove her there in the aisle.
When the frightening tension Of the
silence that followed this outburst had
grown absolutely uncomfortable, she
spoke. But the only thing she could
find to say was almost ludicrously In
adequate.
mo. l didn't see It until now. I'm
sorry"
"You didn'. see It," he echoed. II
know O didn't. You've never seen
me at all, from the beginning. as any
thing but a machine. But why haven't
your You're q woman. II I ever saw
a woman In my life. you're n all the
way through. Why couldn't you see
that I was a mani II isn't because I've
got gray hair. nor because I'm fifty
years old. l don't believe you're like
that. But even back there In Chicago,
the night we walked down the avenue
from that store-or the night we
had supper together after the show
. ."
~ suppose I ought to have seen," she
said DULY. fought to have known that
that was all there was to 1t. But
didn't"
"well, you see It now" he said saw
agely fairly. and strobe away up the
nisle ind then back to her. He sa'
down In the seat In front Of her anc
turned around. 81 want to see your
face" he said. "There's something
I've got 4 know. Something you've
got to tell me. You said once. bacl
there In Chicago, that there was onl!
n person who really mattered to you
want to know who that person Is
What he Is. Whether he: sill the ont
person who really matters. II he isn't
Ill take my chance"
, Remembering the scene afterward
Rose was q little surprised that she't
been able TO answer him as she did
|, without q hesitation or n stammer, ant
with q straight gaze that held his un
, I'll she had finished.
"The only person In the world" sh'
, said. "who ever has mattered TO me, o
a aver will matter, Is my husband.
|, fell In love with him the day l met him
. was In love with him when ! lief
him. I'm In love with him now. Every
? thing ! do that's any good Is just some
thing he might be proud OF X he knew
A II. And every failure Is Just something