Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1921-01-20
NADINE
BY DOROTHY o. GRAVES.

Nadine Louise Brown rested her
nuny mead luxuriously against the
WMte towel stretched over the. chair
DacA ana watched the flying landscape.
Faris' Ill, was very far away. and Ma
ulne neart pumped joyously. She
SHOULD arrive in Boston that very
morning, and .then-life would COM
mence for her.
Boston to Nadine was everything
that Paris, ILL.,, was not. There would
oe young men, theaters, jobs, every
Where. Nadine planned to get a Job
right away.
Inc train rumbled into the South
station. Nadine alighted. She knew
just what to do, and she did it sue
cessfuily. Not an hour later she
skipped down the steps of the Y. w.
Z. A. and started to seek life.
The Office boy in Eyeryman's insur-
ance office grinned at Nadine and Ma
dine grinned back.
Said the boy: "Mr. Black?"
Ihls was straw. Nadine grasped
it. Eyes"
He's out" said the boy, "but you
en- talk to his assistant. It's Mr.. Jack.
MS son. Mr.. John Black, Jr., you
know"
Mr.. Black, Jr., appeared. He was
very young and very handsome more
so than any Paris, ILL.,, young man.
His eyes were as startled as Madness
own, but she did not see that Ma
dine tried to think. Mr. Black, Jr.,
thought for her.
You want a position?'
Nadine nodded her head. Mr.. Black
smiled.
What is your name?"
Where do you come from?" Mr..
Black, Jr., forgot this was a business
affair, and not country club dance.
But Nadine was not thinking of that.
! AT last it was a question she could an
swer, If her breath lasted long enough.
Paris" said She
Mr.. Black grinned. Now he under
stood. Nine months before in Paris he
had tried to buy soap of a Partisan
apothecary, but he had been disap-
pointed in the comprehension of the
Frenchman, and he had never got the
soap.
Can you typewriter"
Nadine started to say: eve had
that in high school," but she decided
it did not sound businesslike, but it
was too late, the "we' had escaped.
Mr.. Black, Jr, understood the 1--WE"
for the French "oui," or Eyes"
Il see," he said, "and you want
job.
l. What is your name?" asked Mr..
Black, holding paper and pen ready.
But being very kind he motioned her
Ito wait before answering. From his
aslpcket he produced we'll thumbed, lit
tile red book. French Self-Taught."
He turned the pages to the TVS" At
last he asked triumphantly: "Quel est
votre nomY
Nadine smiled; she wanted to laugh.
But she did not dare, and anyway she
knew her smile was enchanting. In
Paris, ILL.,, she had studied French for
Engineers" for year in high school,
and had read a little French story by
Monsieur LeBrun, which name her
teacher had translated as Mr. Brown,
so she answered readily, but in half
| hesitating English: II am Nadine Lee
Brun"
During the next few weeks Mr..
Black, Jr., applied himself to his du-
ties SO thoroughly and perseveringly
that Mr.. Black, ST., told his wife that
Junior would get somewhere yet.
Junior did. Whether or not it was
the particular somewhere his father
meant. 1t was June he'd asked the en-
chanting French girl to go "some-
where" with him that evening. Nadine
smiled and-nodded.
That night Nadine also got "some-
where It was the June night, plus
the luminous moon. plus the gentle
tapping of the water on the shore, at
Winthrop Beach and plus Junior. The
answer to the problem was Eyes," Pos
sibly Nadine had something to do
with 1t, too, but she gave all the credit
to Junior.
And then they both got 'some-
where" It was this way:
"We'll 60 out West, dearie," Jack,
Jr., breathed into her delicate and
very French little ear. give an old
! granny out there who'd love to see us,
and she promised me long ago when
I married should have her home for
| wedding present, and dads always
said he'd set me up in business out
] there
"Oh, Jack!"
"Yep, out Illinois way"
"Illinois!'' Nadine gasped. But il.
mistook the long-drawn word for her
imperfect knowledge of English.
"Yep-Paris, Illinois," he laughed In