Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1920-11-05
YOU'D BE
SURPRISED!
By H. LOUIS RAYB0LD

q RfOan. THU phrase WOuAV Oo sAe
death Of him yet. Forever 1t buzzed In
his ears and twice he'd nearly written
It down in the manuscript Of his play.
How the dickens was man, already
wildly running his fingers through his
hair in the throes Of extracting from
his vocabulary the exact word for the
big moment In the great love scene at
the end of the third act, to coin the
vital expression when his ears were
being assaulted BY murdered English
and meaningless slang? Just listen to
her at this moment!
Charley blew me to coupla seats
at the show last night"
YOU'D be surprised"
"Sure, and he's going to take me to
the dance Tuesday"
you'd be surprised"
With feelings similar to those OF the
historic camel at the placing Of the
last straw, Ainsworth strobe to the
door and flung it open.
Miss Carter" he enunciated, will
you kindly 90 downstairs and 1t there
is any girl down there whose tongue
is not hung in the middle send her up,
II. you please. Thank you"
Plat evening Betty, Buffers sister,
listened amusedly to Buffers TRADE on
the gender female. "Oh, Butler" she
said, you shouldn't generalize. You
know I always maintain that every
girl, even the pri,nmest, properest one,
has little bit Of deviltry In her. Well,
quite likely all the slangy, shallow
ones have their speck of sobriety and
earnestness-she Just didn't show you
that side" oddly enough It was not
.the last part Of Betty's sentence which
stuck in Buffers mind. but the first.
And it was that he recalled the next
morning as he watched the girl who
had been sent up to replace Susie.
Was it possible that a girl of this
type, with such deep gray eyes under
level brows. such a serene mouth, such
q steady poise. possessed any slightest
spark Of deviltry? Butler found 1t
positive pleasure to watch her supple.
well cared-for. accurate fingers and
ponder what hidden surprises a man
who knew her well might discover.
Every morning she worked for him.
until at last the finished play was
ready to place before the manager.
Butler had planned. on its completion.
a long rest on sunny southern shores
Suddenly II occurred to him that that
would mean foregoing the sight Of
Miss Lane.
X, say. Miss Lane" he begged boy
iahly. "Just to help me celebrate,
won't you 70 out to lunch with me1'
The girl. who had heen slipping on
her gloves, paused. raised her inscruta-
BILE eyes to his. seemed to he consider
ing his proposal then replied in even
tones. mo. thank YOU"
A mad desire seized Butler to break
down this barrier Of reserve. Her eyes
ne told himself, were the windows Of
q soul well worth the knowing. or he
was not as adept a judge Of women as
the author of three successful plays
should be. 80.
Just this once" he pleaded. ANY
where you say, and / won't do it again.
l am SO glad TO get that thing OF my
mind that I want to 60 out and throw
up my hat and do a snake dance, but
you can't do that sort Of thing all by
yourself"
Perhaps the shadow Of very genuine
disappointment clOuding his face, as
she still hesitated. finally Influenced
the girl. "All right L WILL" she told
him. "Just this once"
That night Butler. sitting cozily op-
posite his sister on the other side of
the table in the tiny dining room Of
the apartment Betty kept for her
brother, told of taking his sten"g-
rapher out TO lunch. ''She's quite
girl-has depths" he added.
"What's her Nance" asked Betty
absent mindeily. thinking that next
time she would either put more Sela-
tin or less water In the dessert of jel-
lied fruit.
"She's Miss Lane" replied Butler.
Betty looked up quickly. '.Not
Peggy Lane?" she asked.
Cant say" said the man, wonder
ing why on earth he didn't know her
first name. This girl is rather tall
very quiet and reserved"
Couldn't be Peg" declared his sis
ter with emphasis. Peg is in some
downtown office. but she's the opposite
Of that description-or was when I
used to see her-a regular live WIRE"
: "That isn't at all like my Miss-er
Il mean, this Miss Lane" said But
Ter in some confusion. "She's quite
the opposite"
The sunny southern shores waited
in vain for Butler Ainsworth. That In.
dustrious young man was at work on a
new play which required long hours of
dictatiOn to his stenographer.
And presently he broke his word
and asked her to go to lunch again,
and she broke hers and accepted. And
he asked her to the theater and she
went. And he asked Betty to come
down and be introduced. And the
words Of the introduction were never
uttered.
Peggy Laner