Evening star., 1919-05-11

sprung that line. or Willie
Collier; but whoever it was he said
whole bookfull at once Wise stun.
That's it. And simple, too. Yet It's
one OF the first things we forget.
But to get the point over I expect
I'll have to begin with this bondroom
bunch OF ours here at the Corfu
gated They're the kind of young
sports who always think they can
tell. More'n thai, 2they always will. pro-
vidin' they can get anybody to listen
about any subject you can name, from
whether the government should own
the railroads to describin' the correct
hold in dancin' the shimmay.
This particular day. though. ii hap
pens to be babidolls. Maybe it wasn't
just accident, either. l expect the
sudden arrival of spring had some
thing to do with the choice OF topic.
For out in Madison Square Park the
robins were hoppin' busy around in
the flower beds, couples were twosing
confidential on the benches, lady typ
lists were Iunchin' off ice cream cones
and the Greek tray peddlers were
sellin' May flowers.
Anyway, it seemed like this was
day when romance was in the air, if
you get me. think Izzy Gunkheimer
must have started it with that thrill
in tale of his about how he got rung
in on a midnight studio supper down
/in Greenwich Village and the little
movie star who mistook him for
Charley Zukor. lzzy would spin that
II he got half an openin'. 1t was his
hffr nj I haltovo ha cIa he or
hugged or something. And he always
ends by rollin' his eyes. suckin' in
his breath and declarin' passionate:
"Some queen, yes-s-s"
But the one who had the floor when
strolls into the bondroom just re-
fore the end Of the noon hour is Skip
Martin. who helped win the war by
servin' the last two months checkin'
supplies for the front at st. Nazaire.
He was relatin' an A. w. o. L. adven-
ture in which a little French girl by
the name of Mimi figured prominent
when Bulge Haley. who was cor
poral in the 9th and got all the way
to Coblenz, crashed in heartless.
Cheap stuff, them base port f1uffs,"
says Bulge. Always beggin' you for
chocolate or nickin' you for francs
some way And as for looks. I
couldn't see it. But say. you should
have seen what l tumbled into one
night up in Belgium. We'd plugged
twenty six kilometers through the
mud and rain that day and was bill
leted swell in the town hall The
mess call had just sounded and was
gettin' in line when the loot yanks
me out to tote his bag off to some
lodgin's he'd been assigned five or
six blocks away.
Maybe I wasn't good and sore. too.
with everything gettin' cold and me
as refugee. | must have got mixed
up in my directions. for couldn't find
any house with green iron balcony
over the front door noway Finally
/ takes chance on workin some of
my French and knocks at a blue door,
Took me some time 20 raise anybody,
and when a girl does answer all I
gets out of her Is squeal and the
door Is slammed shut again / was
backin' off disgusted when here comes
this dame with the big eyes and the
grand duchess airs
go 'Ah lie bon Dieu,' says she gaspy.
lie soldat d'Amerique, Entrez,
m'sieur.' And say. even if couldn't
have savvied a word that smile would
have been enough. Did l get the glad
hand? Listen; she hadn't seen any
thing but Huns for nearly four years.
Most Of that time shed spent hidin'
in the cellar or somewhere. and for
her l was the dove of peace She
tried to tell me all about it, and 1
expect she did. only l couldn't COM
prenez more'n quarter of her rapid
fire French. But the idea seemed to
be that l was a he-angel of the first
class who deserved the best there was
in the house. Maybe 7 didn't get it, {
too. Tho Huns hadn't been gone but 7
a few hours and the peace dinner
she'd planned was only sketchy af-
fair. as she wasn't dead sure they {
come back. When she sees
me. though, she puts a stop order on
all that third rate stuff and tells the I
cook to go the limit. And say, they
must have dug up food reserves from
the subcellar. for when me and the
finally sits down" /
"Ah. don't pull that on u.s." pro-
tests Skip Martin. I'VE admit the {
vintage champagne, and the pate de
fois gras. but that countess stuff has i
hnnp ouorHn~op -,