Evening star., 1922-02-12

ing house on the phone they said he
was out. Then 1 tried to think what
he might be up to. And at last dug
up a clue. Hadn't he mentioned
Sudie May Lee who was up from At
lanta with her mother? He had.
recalled that he'd spoken of her as
typical southern flapper. She was the
sister of a hall bedroom boarder.
young Marvin Lee, who was scrubbing
along as a sub-clerk in some cotton
brokers' Office.
Can it be-" asked myself. that
Barry has fallen for Dixie flapper?
How foolishe'
You see, l didn't really know the
Atlanta brand. and 1 thought l knew
Barry. That's why ] gave him the
Not guilty" so prompt. Yes. ! de-
cided offhand that something besides
young thing just out of boarding
school must be occupying Barry's
mind and time. Still. l wasn't going
to write him ncle or give myself
away in any other manner. There
could be no harm. though, in dropping
in at Tortoni's for dinner some night
1t was our favorite joint and I had as
much right to go there as he had. Be-
sides, I'd ask Inez to go along.
NO" says Inez Il can't stand that
Italian food. And anyway. l gotta g"
to first movie show. New release
with a new star in it
Far be it from me-" says l. ito
lure you away from anything like
that But I've just got to have some
spaghetti Milanaise once more"
X i: y x
GO at 6:45 that night l had Karl, the
~ fish-eyed head waiter, tow me to
the little table in the corner and
stalled him off when he asked if Mr..
Platt was to join me.
There's no telling. Karl" says L.
ut has happened. eh:"
Il bet you." says Karl.
At that, though, it almost didn't. I
had finished dinner, all but poor
guess on patisserie. and was slipping
Il demi tasse and glancing around at
the various lively parties at other ta-
'bles. Not so exciting. you know.
when you're playing a lone hand: es-
pecially in a place where you've had
such good times with your own bunch
along. You can pretend to be enjoy
ing it. but nobody believes you. They
just wonder where the man is and
why he isn't keeping his date.
And then / heard this high pitched.
ripply giggle and looked up to see
Barry and another young chap COM
ing in with a slim. bobbed-haired girl
Barry and whispering something very
confidential in his right ear. They
settled themselves at a nearby table.
Barry with his back turned and the
girl facing my way.
She was a decorative young person.
as slender and graceful as a silver
birch. and with face like a nodding
flower. Also she hadn't hesitated to
gild the lily. Nothing in the line Of
poudre de rose. the magic of the lip
stick or other facial revision had
been omitted. Her eyebrows were
thin penciled lines. and her fluffy
short hair curled around her neck ana
cheeks in clinging tendrils-so much
per curl at the permanent wave
shops She wore a heart-shaped
beauty patch on her left cheek. and
long jade ear danglers jiggled with
her constant chin tossing. AS she
threw off her fur-trimmed opera cape
one shoulder strap slipped. but she
didn't seem to mind: Before she would
look at the menu she demanded a
cigarette and through the smoke
rings that she blew out she surveyed
the room with rowing eyes. So
knew that she must be Sudie May
Lee.
1 suppose it must have been my
gaze that Barry felt across his shoul-
der. for he turned and saw me.
ratherAhought that he went a bit pink
in the ears, but I couldn't be sure.
Anyway, he gawped for a second, and
then gave me an awkward. half
hearted wave. AS soon as he could
he excused himself and came over,
urging me to join them.
I'D love to. Barry" says 1. THAT
is, IL I'll not be-"
."Tosh. says Barry Come along.
It's only Miss Lee and her brother"
y \ + +
co took the fourth chair. ! must
- say that Sudie May was cordial
enough when we were introduced. At
least she said she was awfully glad
to know me. even il she did give me
the cool double o moment after
wards. But that casual inspection
evidently convinced Sudie May that
I didn't count, for she went on dis
cussing the dinner order with Barry.