Bogalusa enterprise and American. (Bogalusa, La.) 1918-19??, 1919-11-20
5Se
Composite Girl
BY LOUISE OLIVER

BY LOUISE Oliver

per syndicate.l
Katherine frowned with displeasure
as she turned to the first story in the
magazine the postman had just
brought. The story with her~ own
aame at the top in large letters under
the title had been illustrated as she
had feared by Julian Fletcher, and
Julian Fletcher had managed to spoil
the last half dozen or so of her contri-
buttons to the National.
Other people raved about his work,
and did not stop to insist upon the
fact, as did the author, that an illus
tration should stick to the context.
When a girl Is said to come down q
stairway in a queenly gown of velvet
pnd spangles it Is maddening to see in
the illustration a debonair lass tripping
lightly down the steps in frothy crea-,
lion of juvenile ruf1es and sash. Also:
when one describes a heroine as hav-
ing raven locks and dark, soulful eyes,
It is the veriest heresy to have her
reproduced in q picture with rather.
fluffy hair Of an indiscriminate yellow
and eyes Of gray with an unmistakable'
sense Of humor that compelled one who
gazed to smile back in answering SYM
patty.
Just now the lady represented in the
picture was supposed to be naughty
person who prided herself on her
knowledge Of clothes. Also she was
supposed to be alighting from her
limousine and drawing back in startled
horror as she saw approaching the one
person in the world she was trying to
avoid.
But instead of Mortified haughtinesss
the artist had sketched In an express
sion Of rather gloriied naughtiness.
There again was an expression that
rather refused to take life seriously.
"If," said Katherine, shat man
wants to be a buffoon, how does 1t come
he's engaged to spoil perfectly serious
stories? I'm going to write to the
editor and tell him that IL he wants
any more stun Of mine he's got to hunt
another illustrator"
She looked again into the eyes Of the
girl who was intended to be soulful
In spite Of herself she smiled back.
Then happening to look up into her
own mirror, she was startled. Her own
eyes looking back at her from the
glass were the exact counterpart Of
those on the page. And her hair, wavy
and caught back loosely from her face,
with its part on one side, was exactly
like that Of the girl in the picture.
Then she caught up another picture,
and another, and studied them, long
and cakefully. Then she took another
invent ry Of herself.
SloPly the bright color mounted to
her C4eeks, and her breath came hard.
The actures in the magazine were OF
her, here wasn't a doubt Of it. And
now came back to her gradually that
she ad heard people say they had mo-
tice& resemblance. And the dress in
the Astairway picture was certainly
herS and the rather youthful knock
about suit Of the limousine lady who
was supposed to know how to dress,
was a replica Of her own blue jersey.
And the haiti
Katherine grew thoughtful. What
vengeance could she wreak upon Jul
fan Fletcher, who, evidently knowing
her by sight, had had his own little
Joke at her expense. But alas-even
while planning vengeance, the gray
blue eyes, like those of the Limousine
lady, rather lacked the hardness es-
sential to real vendetta.
She tossed back her head finally,
having reached at least partial del
cisIon, that Is, In order to settle her
account with one artist she must make
up the difference she had had with an.
other. Jerry Page, her erstwhile en-
envy, would now be essential to the
fulHlIment Of her scheme and she
must make up with him right away.
Poor Jerryi After all it was too bad
the way she had treated him. She
never dreamed she'd miss him so much
until he had ceased to come. In the
old days he had way Of giving three
quick knocks and sticking In his head
and saying: Works the password.
Who goes there?'
II she was busy, she'd call out,
'tKate." And he would softly close the
door and vanish.
But If she called out huskily, "a
great big bear" he would let the rest
OF himself in, his pockets cracking
suspiciously with parcels from the
delicatessen across the street.
Then Katherine would lay a cloth
and they would have lunch together.
Sometimes when he had sold a picture
and she had sold a story they would
90 to dinner at big hotel and to a
theater to celebrate.
Lately, however, Katherine had sold
SO many stories that she needed no
longer to live on the same street as
the delicatessen. And having sold
more stories she worked more, and her
answer to Jerry's knock had more and
more seldom been "A great big bear"
But then she didn't have to depend on
packages for her meals any more. She
had her own maid in neat black and
white to announce quietly that dinner