The Press., 1921-05-12
 The Lure of Luna By R. RAY BAKER

SSSS,D co 1891. by Mcclure Newspaper SyndicAte.)
 At the north end of the double row of rickety structures stood one more pretenti0us than the rest. It's pre- tentiousfless. consisted in it's bigness In contrast with the others, an arched formatiOn of ebeughs at it's entrance and a cluster of three electric lights in front.
 The pretentiOus building was not brilliantly lighted in fact, the interior did not appear to be illuminated at all, although those three lamps blaZed beckOningly in front. Yet there was no questioning the fact that every Rocky Riyerite was there, including Colonel WestbrOOk, self-styled mayor, the school teacher, the sheriff, the towns two lawyers and the justice of the peace.
 It would have been a prOpitiOUS time for burglary, with the guardian of the law and all his official relations shut up in the dark structNre-Only all the bad men were there also.
 It was II o'clock when lights flared in the building and it began emptylng crowds into the street. Among them were Fred Adams, miner, and his wife.
 "Wasn't it grand?" she exclaimed, radiating enthusiasm, as they walked toward building less pretentiOus than the rest at the south end of the double row of rickety structures.
 "Yes, it was all right" he responded; not so enthusiastically
 Her hair was so black it blended with the night, while her eyes, which also were dark, danced with a light that would have been vivaciOus had not Rocky River been a mining camp and had there been an excuse to be vivaciouS.
 His hair was red and freckles by the multitude almost made themselves seen through the darkness. He was lank, with a thin face in conformity. He unlocked the door of their dwell ing and they went in. He found an oil lamp and presently had a feeble illumination spreading itself about the plain but neat and cOzy apartment.
 Lighting his pipe, Fred Adams seat ed himself at crude desk in corner of the room and fOndly handled five little nuggets which he had produced from a drawer. They represented all the wealth he possessed, the product of ten weeks steady pan-Washing in the river.
 His wife went to him and kissed him and retired to her bed in the next room, to dream.
 Fred Adams came of a long line of miners. all of them real tOilers, most of them unsuccessful. From his fa- ther he inherited sufficient funds for college course; but one year there satisfied him and he went back to the family vocation and grubstaked him. self out of the money that was left.
 His wife was a waif, brought to Rock River by band of pilgrims who found her at PearsOn's Gulch, hun dred miles away, just after the village people laid her mother to rest in the cemetery.
 There were stories that the mother had been an actress, but they might have been just stories. The girl owed her education to the Rock River schOolteacher, a former instructor in a seminary in the East, who had come among the mountains to repair broken health and with whom the waif lived until Fred Adams came along.
 The movie had invaded Rock River only three months before, and now 1t was a regular seMi-weekly treat. Twice week Fred Adams was dragged by his wife to the pretentiOus structure at the north end of town. Not once did he think of refusing her the little extravagance; he loved her too much for that, and he realized he had not much to offer her in the way of reere- alton. But how Fred Adams did hate the movies!
 He knew there must be & climax be- fore long, because he could see that his wife was fast in the clutches \Of the films, so to speak, but he hardly was prepared for her announcements:
 Fred, I'm going to be a movie star"
 She>had emerged from the bedroom and was standing beside him as he sat dl
 What did you say, Helenr he asked, thinking he could not have heard aright.
 "I said I was going to be a movie star was asleep, and I dreamed that the man in the moon looked through the window and opened his huge mouth and said, You should go in the films. Your mother was an actress and you have her talent. You can be a star had been thinking of just that thing for long time, and the moon made me decide. So, Fred, I'm going to be a movie staff yOu don't object"
 Object? Of course he couldn't do that. He could not object to anything she suggested. However, he did not quite understand how it was to be done.
 "It's simple" she explained. i've been reading these two magazines left by the travellers. and they tell how. All you have to do is to go to CalifOr- mia and get a job in a studio, and if you have the talent you get to be a star"
 AS he turned in his chair and looked up at her his face seemed longer than usual, and the crinkles in it were more pronounced. She had the magazines in her hands and was thumbing the pages. Her eyes were dancing and her face was flushed. Helen was spoiled child, hut then he had spoiled her.
 "T mean 1t. Fred. It isn't that don't care for you. I really do. an awful. lot. But I can't be tied down here any longer. I must go out into the world. I've just got to be picture star. In one year I'll come back to you, whether I succeed or fail. Can l gO?" -...
 Something seemed to burst in Fred's brain and his throat felt parched and his eyes filled. He turned to his desk and frOwned at the five nuggets.
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