Evening star., 1922-06-04

their pictures printed in the Sunday
supplements or their doings noted in
the society columns. One distin-
guished appearing old boy who wore
his eyeglasses on a broad black rib
bon l was sure ought TO be somebody
special, and l nudged Barry to see
if he couldn't place him Barry
wasn't certain, but thought he might
be Goelet. or possibly one of the
Goulds. And little later. as We
wandered through the almost empty
frst-foor corridors, we found him be-
hind the counter OF a jewelry shop.
and he tried to sell me a string of
synthetic pearls.
Maybe all the regular folks arc
out golfng or motoring and don't eat
in the middle of the day" 1 suggests.
Let's get car and go scouting
around for EN-"
DUT down at the golf club only a
- few players were starting off.
and although we drove around the
country for a couple Of hours, we met
no high-powered touring cars filled
with naughty plutes. However. it
was good fun rolling over the red clay
roads through the pines and oaks,
seeing the spring flowers in the fields.
and filling our lungs with the bracing
air.
Anyway" says Barry. "if they're
not here they're missing out on some
thing worth while. They don't make
much better weather than this any
where. do they?'
That night at dinner the big din
ing room was even more lonesome
than at noon. and although we all
came down dolled in our best. we
found very little competition. Fully
half of the handful of guests were in
street clothes. and by the pile of hand
lobby we guessed that they were
ready to fit on the evening train.
II thought this was a swell place"
complains Inez. Whats the matter
with everybody"
That's one of the little mysteries
1 mean to get to the bottom of as
soon as I've finished my soup" says
l. Here, you and 1 signaled for
the imposing head waiter to come
over.
Having a smallpox scare here, or
"Oh. no, miss! Nothing like that"
ne gasps.
Then what has happened to all
your guests?" I goes on. You're not
going to run big establishment like
this for just US, are you?'
He shrugs his shoulders. Pardon.
miss" says he, 'buc it is almost the
end of the season. you see. 1t is al
ways like this during the last week"
II see" says 1. Were taileneders,
as it were? Well, we hadn't figured
on that exactly. I've never helped
| to close up resort hotel, but I can
imagine it isn't a very exciting
pastime. BY tomorrow or next day
in the kitchen. eh?"
NO, miss" says he. by tomorrow
there will be plenty Of company for
you. The bankers are coming"
"Bankers?" says I, gawping.
State convention, Miss" says he.
I'VE have three or four hundred
| booked. Some of them will be show
ing up tonight
LIE was right. During the evening
- a dozen or more touring cars
drove up and unloaded, but in a big
hotel like that half a hundred new
arrivals make no showing at all.
They seemed to be Quiet smaH-town
people, these North Carolina bankers
and their wives. and we watched
them filter In with mild curiosity.
Most Of them acted bit shy and
awed by the size of the place. and
Hthe few who got together in groups
hardly spoke above a whisper.
But say, by the next noon all was
been swarming in all the morning by
rail and motor utnil the lobby, corri-
! dors and verandas were full of them
They pinned on badges and began to
get acquainted. Committee chairmen
| buzzed around genial and folksy.
Old friends met and slapped each
other on the back and introduced
their wives. An announcer with a
megaphone roared out the program
for the day. And at luncheon they
! crowded the big dining room so full
that we were showed into a corner
and almost forgotten by the head
| waiter Cut.up members began to
make themselves heard. No doubt the
lies they pulled were comic enough,
but we weren't in on them at all.