The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-05-24

| and Mrs. Louis Phllbf00k, not un-
kindly known to st. Johnsbury folks
for their big success here last yeal
in "The Runaways." 1t started at
eight-thirty and stopped at ten
thirty and afterwards there was a
dance in the Armory where the boys
hugged the girls until one in the
morning and then talked silly moth
ings into shell-like ears all the long
way home in the soft romantic Spring
night. All of which set forth the
facts in the case, devoid of personal
coloring and without bias of preju-
dice. (Now for the dirty workD
Having an eye for the palpitating
hearts, the hours of suspense, the
agonies of seasickness and stage
fright, the terrible evening hours
when quiet streets in quieter neigh
borhoods were racked and torn by
melody in the name of rehearsing and
the hard work all along the line Won
dering just how it was finally going
over,-let us see what actually took
place.
First, the story.
A young chap by the name of Bud
West who seems to have some kind
of authority around a Los Angeles
restaurant set out in hayfelds and
Japanese lanterns, loves the cashier
by the Seaside-Library appellation of
Madelaine Travers. And Madelaine
the Saints forgive her pretty face
and unresponsive rt!-is in love
with one returned soldier Walter
Barnes.
Walters dad is regular old hard
boiled egg with mortgage on the
place where the hero aspires to be-
comNlproprietor. And like the tang
led skein of life everywhere, he's low
ed in turn by a pretty little waitress
who somewhere dug up the name of
Jacquiline Brenner. JAG comes from
Switzerland-probably five years ago
it would have been Germany. And her
grand daddy croaks and leaves her
seventy-fve thousand in bonds and
railroad stocks, delightful individual
by the name of Baron Won Spreck
les making the stormy voyage across
the big pond to present her the spon-
dulicks. Got it? It's involved but
it's clever.
Now Bud, the hero, wants to pro-
pose to Madelaine, the cashier, but he
lacks the spine, so acting on graIui-
tous advice from the Baron he writes
a letter instead announcing that he's
ready to walk over the precipice If
Mad will walk with him. If she will,
let her pin on white rose and if she
won't, let her pin on red one and
go to the devil. And just when the
note has been given the little wait
ress to hand to the cashier and every
body thinks JAG is going to rub out
the word "white" and mix the colors
of the roses up and fizzle Buds love
affair, she does nothing of the kind.
She just simply breaks right down
and bawls her pretty head off and in
the middle of the wetness the curtain
hops on Act One.
Along toward morning comes act
two. The Rose incident is forgotten
and drops out of the play entirely.
The curtain goes up on a New Years
Eve party and Bud is swelling all
over the place kidding himself he's
going to lead the grand march with
who in the meantime has
got stage-struck and chucked up her
job for the footlights. And Madelaine
snubs him crooley and goes off with |
the returned soldier and Bud returns
to the little waitress who in the
has received the bonds and
spondulicks from the Baron. Little
Jac kisses her legacy goodbye for the
love she bears the boy and turns it
in to help him get his chop-house out
of financial difficulties put there by
the soulless hard-boiled egg. And
about there all the audience tries to
beat everybody else to the door so as
not to be caught in the crush. Ming
led in amid the fine points of the plot
are dances and songs. And the seats
are from so cents to one-ffty
and the same thing will be given to-
night again, come-one, come-all, and
the dancing ends tonight at twelve
o'clock instead of one because after
.welve tomorrow night it's Sunday