The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-01-21


valet plus three four quarts of gin. On the.other
hand neither the valet the actor had change Of
linen job. The actor automatically cancelled his
contract when he left the show without notice, and
the valet of course had idea of returning for an
interview with his employers wife-or OF ever seeing
her again, If he could help it.
Is There they were. The actor .endeavored to send
lot of wireless messages to his friends but the oper
ator demanded cash In advance. was not until they
reached Havre and saw the American consul that any
one learned of their predicament
- was instrumental in raising. the money to bring
the actor home and in helping him get his Job back
his return Later on loaned him my racing car paid
hundreds dollars for repairs made necessary by his
rough driving and tried to cement our friendship in
many other ways. He seized the first opportunity to
reciprocate my kindness with cheap joke.
1t was the last straw, and all of my illusions
about the friendships had bought with money ]
exploded with bang. But still In love I
with Jessie Reed, and the jeers and practical
jokes of her friends did not change my affec-
tons in the least bit / made up my mind that
| was going to see her again. II l had to walk to
Chicago.
1t was my mother who hnaIIy made this ambition
possible, although she did not realize it at the time
But she concerned about my health, which had
been broken in my four months with the show. and
so she asked If would not spend few months
an Oklahoma ranch, hoping that an outdoor life
might restore me to my former physical condition
q Chicago and the "FollieS' the way to Okla
aSSente0 ". moreover,
$1,000 for the trip Needless to say, my mother had
lot dreamed of the possibility Of any stopof. Need
less to say also, my trip to Oklahoma ended in Chi
eago-at the stage door of the "Follies."
Here received another jolt. The stage manager
who had been my most hilarious guest at several par
dies ordered thrown out of the theatre and his
orders executed to the letter each time my opt
mism carried me back there. But it took more than
kicks to my nfatuaton for Jessie Reed, and for
months followed the show: enduring endless re,
no circ
+ ! My $4,000 soon went, but kept on going. MY
persistence was made possible by the generosity of
one of the young men had befriended in my spend
ing days, that felt little conjunction about &C.
cepting his aid, until learned that he got all his
money from two strange sources. One black
mailing the wealthy men who became interested in
checks
Like myself, this young man was the son of
millionaire. AS far as could learn, his criminal
career began with his infatuation for a show girl
Unable to wheedle enough money from his father
to crafty the little gold dgger's caprices he began
drawing checks against his fathers bank account
HIS father was an easygoing old gentleman, who al
ways made the checks good and encouraged his
son to continue in this form of theft
90. Since then the boy has become expert black
mailer and IS extremely successful in staying out of
jail and making half dozen show girls happy at the
same time He is often caught, but his father still
shells out enough money to get him out of trouble on
each occasion The father is bitter and blames the
show girls, but if he had enough courage to let his
son go to JAIL as he will eventually he might be able
late.
This was the young who financed my further
adventures behind the until learned the true
source of his income, and until was finally cured of
my nfatuation for Jessie Reed That cure was ef-
1ected when the show again reached my home town
OF Cleveland, into which had entered like a con-
querng hero few short months before. in the first
flush of my romance.
Jessie at the time | mention now was living In
one OF the citys theatrical hotels while occupied
aroom in another hotel just the street. From
my window | could look into her window and see
he Seepng Princess at any hour before she arose at
80 r. NJ | spent great deal of time at my win
DOW hoping that this show of loyalty under the most
9xtreme difficulties might soften my wifes heart
Dut as she arose, dressed and looked at me without
any sign of recognition day after day and refused
20 , speak to me when met on the street gradu-
ally gave up hope.
conhded some of this to one of the actors in the
company when he arrived in town with his show
Few Few. Gays after the "Foes" had opened in Cleve-
land he undertook to stage a reconciliation
The trouble with you" he said is that you've