Evening star., 1918-06-09
And more than ooe. with increasins

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Until she smothered and fought
him and wrenched away and took
four strips of skin from his nose
with her tingernails and beat him On
the mouth till il bled.
AS she ran she heard him sputter-
ing and calling into the dark. "rN get
you for this! You'll see. I'll get
silver did not stop running till she
reached her boarding house and
locked herself up in her room. There
she broke down in a storm of tears.
She felt no remorse for her broken
pledge; it was good to dupe the devil;
there could be no perjury with the
prince of evil. She vowed that she
would not belong to krug. though his
master himself came down the chimney
breathing fire. Rather than that. she
would leave the flock. Rather than be-
long to man whose touch she hated
she would 60 back to the freedom of
her old life. Whatever its faults. it
left her free at least. Plainly she was
rot meant to be swallow. The others
ate and ate and ate and grew only
the thinner for it. But If she touched
so much as a pudding it went straight
to her cheeks. Heaven evidently meant
her to be fat. and she would yield to
heaven.
In this grim resolve she fell asleep and
dreamed herself a hungry cash girl
again.
When she woke up the cash girl fed.
but the hunger remained. She was the
first one in the dining room. and she
ate as il she were condemned to ex-
ecution and this her final breakfast upon
earth.
She left the house for exercise and
passed a billboard where the flight of
Bruni's birds was autographed with
more imagination than skill But this
critic was no better than the artist, and
Silver felt great sorrow in her heart
at giving up her wings.
Grief depressed her so utterly that
she sought nepenthe in the only stimu-
liant that gave her respite. She entered
bakery and bought lavishly. She came
forth carrying a large paper sack bulg-
ing with kickshavs
She hurried home like a robber with
bag of swag AS she ran up the
steps of the boarding house and darted
through the door she collided with Mr..
Bruni. At the sight of him shs was
overcome with guilt and shame and re-
morse. She flung herself into his arms
and embraced as much of him as she
Amazed by the onslaught and the
outburst, he led her into the empty
parlor. settled her in chair. sat down
by her and asked
"Leetle keed. you are seek? You have
bad news from home? Huh?'
ITS meself I've bad news FROM
Silver whimpered, and with that be-
ginning told him all: poured out the
little history of her saccharine past
showed how the haleful habit of food
had fastened its tentac.es upon her, till
Low she was lost beyond redemption
She confessed that the cause of her
swoon was a useless effort to starve
herself into shape. Bet she said never
word of Krug, his influence or her
compact with him or his threat aga inst
her. She turned in soppy resignation
punctuated with sobs.
Poor. fat. old Bruni. who had
smile for almost everything. did not
smile al this tragedy: he did not make
fun of Silver or minimize her tor
ment. He had gone through the same
conflict and lost. There was no ex-
cuse she could have given that could
have made SO straight for his heart.
He took Sliver's dimpled hand into
the cushions of his and spoke with as
much sincerity as If he were consol-
ing and counseling a repentant Mag
dalene.
"Leetla keed. you have right to cry.
gin: You are goeen each day to
make-a de beeg fight. When I am
young. like you. 1 am slim and grace
fool. Ikea de greyhound dog. / am
de fines dancer in all Eetaly. 1 do
nOa not say !, it; l know it, Averybody
Bruni' So. 1 am reech and proud
and ] begin to eat. drink not much
"a leetla Chianti. maybe: but / eat
and eateen kills more people as
drinkeen. ! dance, but 1 pun. I say,
I am not Wall 1 must eat more
eat / grow soft. 1 grow fat. l say.
To mora / begeen to stop to eat SO
moch. But what man will not do
today. he cannot do to-morra. Bine-
by. you ask anybody. Who is fines
dancer in EetaiyT He says, Carlo
Bruni was Bineby l stop to eat. 1t
is too late. I get fat jost de same
he manage other people to dance
Now l do not eat moch, but 1 do not
dance at all.
And now you, you poor leetla keed.
now your time comes. If you dawn't
stop now, today, and never begeen
again. you become fat like me, old
Bruni. You will not be happy. You
Will not be pretty. You will be ia.
old lady before you are young woman.
III you geeve up to eat, you can
become great arteeste. At feerst you
are not pretty, you have no grace
am sorry take you for a Bruni Syal-
low! But you learn. and bineby l say,
L choose good when 1 choose dat
gerl' And bineby. il you take care
OF yourseif. 1 make great dancer of
you. you make beeg money-not SI2
a week. but $1,000 a week.
To be an arteeste is better as to
eat too moch. eh? And to dance is
greatest art of all--musica, dramma,
scultura. poesia-all in one If you
eat and grown to be fat you shall be
also unhappy. jost de same. II you
are arteeste you shall be unhappy,
you shall suffer. but you shall be
arteeSte You are MT poan r. ,oyo