The Washington times., 1921-08-28
TIE DOOR OF THE UNREAL-t'esF''dB Bliss

OWt u ID Io8lAy uOt SItO8etneI out
side the radius of this statement.
80 1t YES at his own comins-of-age
dance that Tony first met poor old
Wu6les, as Miss Yvette st. Clair.
the leading lady In the Castle"
revue. was always called among
her pals and the people who wanted
to pretend to be smart.
1t was q sort Of what people call
an infatuation on both sides-more
on his than on hers perhaps; and
there was no end of talk about II
In town during the Winter. and lots
OF people thought he was going to
marry her. and some impertinent
rags began to get quite rottenly
personal about IL before the end.
Tony L. q good-looking chap--not
too big. but very smart and full of
life. So was Wuffles, who was as
pretty as they make 'em. of as well
rs on, which you can't say for every
girl on the stage, and . Jolly good
sort into the bargain. as straight as
a die and no nonsense of that sort
about her. That's what makes .
lot of these theatrical marriages
nowadays, and set inQuisitive peo-
pie guessing in this particular case; =
but that's none of my business.
Poor Wuffles has gone-and 1t
makes me sick to think of it-and
poor old Tony almost went, too;
and now that he is At and about
again and there are other things in
the air. l would not have referred
to the matter II 1t hadn't been what
the lawyers call relevant.
Anyhow, II was the talk Of the
town, and things we're stocking up
that Sunday, April 1 (this is no
April fool yarn, / give you my
WORLDLY, when we went on that fatal
run to Brighton and ended up with
a top-hole Jolly dinner at the Royal
York before returning to town by
moonlight.
Tony was driving Wuffles In his
90-horsepower Napier. the one he
used to race at Brooklands, and I
always used to think she must have
been jolly uncomfortable in 1t on
the road, as 1t was hardly the most
suitable machine for girl; but 1t
was his favorite, and she always
pretended to like it.
The rest Of the party-that is.
Harry and myself with Cissie Saxon
and Clemence Rayne, also of the
"Castle"-were In Harry's new
Daimler, a topper. the latest model
Just delivered: and If we had to
take his dust on the road we were
at any rate Jolly sight more COM
Portable.
People may think, by the way.
that l am a bit indiscreet in men,
tioning names. and so on; but,
though it may seem a trifie OF and
a bit embarrassing. there are no
two ways to 1t. and that little party.
all said and dope, has been well
enough advertised in every quarter
Of the uncivilixed world hundred
thousand times by now.
As I have said, we had top-hole
jolly dinner with plenty of boy"
though not enough to make any
difference to the driving. Tony
was always jolly particular when
he was driving the big Napier, as
she was q bit of handful on the
road. But we were all very merry
. and bright. and Clipped Tony and
Wuffles quite lot about the para
graphs in Town Tit Bits; and there
is no saying what 1t mightn't have
led to II it hadn't been for the
ghostly sequel.
Closing time came all too soon,
but with one thing and another It
was II O'Clock before we were all
tucked in and ready to start.
heard the clock strike as we waved
and shouted goodnight to a few
kindred souls who had come out
to see us off.
1t was a ripping night, cold and
frosty and almost as clear as day
light in the full moon. Harry, Of
course, was driving his own bus
with Clemence up in front beside
him; and Cissie and l were in the
back, well wrapped up, and all as
jolly as sandboys.
There was q bit of delay while
Tony got his engine going-a beast
to start when 1t was cold; and we
~o< Of ohood ~ tip, th;ultp0 hour