Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1922-05-26
Continued From Our Last ISSUE


She rehearsed the scene; but Bel
failed not only TO call AT the hour ap.
pointed or 10 send word of explana.
ton.
Lucinda had sacrificed The eve.
ming TO sense Of duty; n true sacri'
flee, for Lynn was leaving early next
morning to spend a fortnight with
his company IN an Oregon logging
camp.
Losing patience, Lucinda called
the Alexandria on the telephone, and
was Informed that Mr.. Druce had
'checkcd out" early in the morning,
saying nothing OF an intention TO
return.
No note came from Bellamy the
next morning. and nothing trans.
pired IN the course of the next sew
eral weeks 10 afford any clue to the
riddle; with the upshot that Lucinda
thought about her husband a great
deal more than she wanted to or
had at any time since leaving Chica-
go. II was strange, 1t wasn't like
Bel to treat any woman 80 rudely,
XXIV
JACQUES kept the Summerlad
company away so long that its
return found the first Linda Lee
production in full swing, with Barry
Nolan in command Lucinda playing
the supple puppet Of his within.
Fanny demurely walking through
the feminine part of second i'm
portance, and Lontaine functionng
at the peak Of his capacity as execu-
tive genius.
Why II should be 80 hard on him
nobody Seemed to know and Lon.
tame was too busy to explain.
To all his symptoms of hustle and
bounce, his wife played silent tut
attentive audience: though often.
times her pretty eyes would light up
with an unspoken comment too pun.
gent to be wasted and, discreatly
questing a sympathetic confidant,
would find it without fail in Barry
Nolan.
Irish both by descent and profes.
sion, Nolan had at least that sense
conspicuously developed What
others he possessed was a question
which came to occupy many of Lu.
cindas spare moments. She couldn't
account for Nolan's high place in
cinema, unless a sprghtly DISPOSE.
ton, fetching grin, infectious
verve, impudence without end, and
a distinctly indicated vein OF genius
at crapshooting, summed up the
essential qualifications of a director
who pretended to earn a wage of
$4,000 per production,
But Lucinda first mistrusted his
ability because of his appalling ig,
norance, concerning rudimentary
principles of social usage.
Since sthe story they We're con.
cerned With had to do with people Of
fashionable New York, Lucinda
thought 1t important that their man.
ners should conform to approved
convention; but Nolan was so little
learned IN such matters and his i'm.
patience with them was whole.
hearted: "Ah, what's it matter?
Ninety per cent of your audiences
are solid bone from the neck up. and
the rest wouldn't thiEk they'd got
their moneys worth unless they
found something to beef about in n
picture. Why worry about little
things like that? Lies too short,
and we're wasting time"
But that distrust of Barry Nolans
competency which troubled LuCin.
da's mind almost from the very out
set of their association had yet to
crystalizc on the Saturday when
Summerlad was expected home.
TO get rid Of Lucinda's presence,
which instinct was already begin.
ming to warn him was silently skcpti-
cal OF his claims Nolan artfully
suggested that she might like to
review the rushes of yesterday $
camera work.
Assuming that she would find the
projcCtion.room empty, LuCiHda
made her way to it without bother
ing to remove her makeup. but on
opening the door saw fan-!!ke beam
of turbid light waveriug athwart it's
darkness, and would have with