New Britain herald., 1922-06-03
Continued From Our Last Issuc)
oD11 ~ louis Joss.A vanrs


Bells eyes and mouth frightened.
TITS not an unnatural supposition,
that you may have concluded you've
had enough"
Enough. Bel?" AZ.
"Of both ."
THAT can't be anything but cal
culated impertinence!"
Bel made q wry face as he stopped
to pick up his motor-moat. This
conversation Is degenerating into a
wrangle In which ] have the tradi-
tional chance a SNOWFALL has In the
place where motion picture were
spawned. Mind lending me a hand.
Linda? Can't quite manage this
with one arm"
At once angrily and gently Lu-
cinda draped the motor-coat over his
shoulders.
Bel continued: I'm to understand,
then, my wishes mean nothing to
your"
Lucinda gave little, silent laugh
and In silence for moment gazed on
BeTlamy, her eyes unreadable.
Your forget, what ! don't, Bel"
Lucinda said slowly, that 1t was
you who made the mode Of life with
which l was content impossible for
me. II this life I've taken up here Is
in some sense a makeshift, It's all
I've got to take the place of all
had. And now you'd rob me even Of
It. And one thing more you forget:
II l should give in to your wishes
and leave Hollywood today. would
only be doing what you say you
want to prevent, confessing by fight
that my only real interest in my pic
ture work was my greater interest
In Lynn Summerlad For that rea-
son alone-and not, as you believe,
to spite you've got to and I'm
going to 90 on to the end of this
present production, at least. After
that l don't know ="
Discountenanced, Il hadn't thought
of that" Bel owned squarely. You
may be right That's your last
word, Linda?"
my last word to you, Bell
hope"
XXXIV
The finding of Nellys body crushed
beneath the wreckage of a motor car
on the beach some fifty miles north
of Los Angeles gave the story of the
Summerald shooting an extended
lease of twenty-four hours only on
front-page space in the newspapers.
Then, since the death of the un-
happy woman had defeated all hope
of lurid court proceeding and rem
dered piquant exploitation of wild
life inside the movie colony" the
case went into quick eclipse.
Lucinda spent the best part of
that day In the projection-room with
linn and Wallace Day, her new di-
rector, sitting in judgment on thirty
six reels of film. the accumulated
sum Of Nolan's fumbling with about
two-thirds of a picture.
81 To the WEAKNESS of those days the
visit of Hanford Willis came as a
welcome interlude.
1t did Lucinda good to hear him
growl and scold about anything as
relatively inconsiderable as the
lunacy of throwing money away
Like water!"-and then refusing to
set the machinery of the law in mo-
ton to apprehend and punish Lon
tame.
And Lucinda took leave of him
with dewy eyes her one true
friend -
Now she had nobody left but
Fanny; and she was coming daily to
rerose less faith in Fanny's loyalty.
She was feeling very sorry for her
self, and very lonely, and when most
in need of friendly companionship-l
Fanny was seldom at her call. Fanny
had give up the bungalow and moved
to a residential hotel on the out
skirts OF the Wiltshire district, whose
she claimed were
cheaper than the Hollywood's.
:. Deep in Lucinda's subconscious-
ness an incidental recollection
turned in its sleep. Somewhere
she had heard that Barry
Nolan had bungalow down Will
shire way. Or hadn't he?
A week from the night of their
recontre in Summerlad's bungalow
Bellamy called to tell Lucinda he
was leaving for New York the next
morning. linn would take charge of
his producing interests during his
absence. He couldn't say just how
long that might be. If her could be
of any service to Lucinda in the
east, he would be glad
"Goodby, BEL" she said. with not
unkind decision but decision unmis |
taxable for all that. And good
luck But :" please never come |
back" -
That night she sobbed herself |
awake from dreams of dear days
dead, and lay for hours hating the
cherries comfort of hotel rooms, |
missing poignantly the intimacy of
her home and the sense of security
she had known nowhere else.
And in the morning and morning |