Evening star., 1923-09-09
Some of the Folks in the Show were
Mystifed ard Surprised by lara
MAYS Romance.

- the only twin six in town
4 n And we settled 1t right
then and there" The pink and white
checks dimpled. "And then he went
out and bought me a big
Miss Mariette Mallard halted as q
girl slid into the chair next to hers
and stretched out a hand to dust~a
film of powder from the face OF her
mirror. Mirrors were propped against
both sides of the rack that ran down
the long makeup table.
Above them was suspended a row
of electric lights in a tin reflector
Into them gazed as many types as
there are flowers of the field, with
Just two traits in common-all were
slender. all young.
At the moment there were some
sixteen in various stages Of prepar-
ing for the costume which the pret-
tiest chorus on Broadway wore in
Scene I of Good Night Cap"
Miss Mariette Mallard scanned the
girl who had just come in. Then she
winked at her black-eyed chum.
Well" she observed, how is
mama's sparkler tonight"
The girl turned with grin that
was not in her eyes and flashed under
Miss Mariette's little nose the hand
that had busted the mirror On it's
third finger blinked a diamond, the
size and brilliance of which was
breath taking.
Miss Mallard turned to the black
eyed one Oracle, deah. suppose you
had e block of ice like that-wouldn't t
YOU try to make your clothes live up
TO it?"
The black-eyed one giggled: And
I wouldn't be so upstage about 1t
until did"
The object of their amusement,
Saiiie MacMshon. billed as Zara May,
turned back to the mirror Il pay
cash for my clothes. That's more
than some people can say"
They look It," the biack-eyed one
mumured sweetly.
You don't know how to manage
him, my deah," Miss Mallard COM
mented, baby blue eyes fastened on
the radiant stone.
The girls lips opened, then shut
tight. Ripping open her one-piece
serge dress, she tossed 1t on the hook
in the wall where hung q plain brown
ulster and imitation seal turban--
alley cat caught in the rain, Miss
Mallard had christened it. Then she
pulled the chair into place and
slashed on makeup.
y x X
CALLIE was one Of those who mer-
y tied the splashing announcements
of the posters. Perhaps il was her
long mermaid hair with its glisten
of sunset on the sea; perhaps the
fact that the lashes shading her deep
blue eyes were the same gold: per-
haps the transparent quality of her
skin with the swift play of young
blood under the surface; but what
ever it was, Sallie's beauty held a
luminuos quality Sallie herself did
not possess. Sallie was just a girl
with a faculty for doing what she
was told. The daughter of Scotch
father with somber eyes and an Irish
mother with laughing ones, both Of
Rhcm had sailed the misty river into
Unknown lands after stormy So
lourn together in this one, she had
been left at fifteen to take care Of
herself. with a love of the beautiful
on one hand warning against a sense
OF economy on the other!
Speeding across the stone floor un-
der the stage, she tried to bring a
smile to her lips. They merely
tPembled.
There came the march of military
air and the girls filed up the wobbly
wooden steps and through trap
door. Sallie fuffed up her abbre-
Waited skirt, brought the smile to her
lips, fxed it as IL 1t had been glued
there. Her young, elastic body rip
pied through the number under the
changing lights. She loved the jazz,
loved the stir of rhythm. She was
nineteen. Music was in her blood.
She danced through the varying
scenes with swift changes OF costume
and hurried dabs OF powder A num-
Der toward the end of Act III was her
favorite. 1t was one in which the
girls trooped down the runway and
trilled to some male occupant Of an
aisle seat:
"Oh- OH oh oh n n -h-h-
Won't you--sniie at me?"
Tonight, as she syncopated down
the aisle, C. light like blue fire darted
from her deep eyes. Kindled by the
smouldering defiance of earlier eve
ming, 1t was utterly unconscious of
seeking an object. But the gentleman
in the particular seat that was her
territory could scarcely have been
expected to know that. To him 1t
constituted challenge.
"Oh. .oh oh oh n h -h-h-
Won't you--smile at me?"
urged Sallie.
The mans lips parted. you just
hot willm came in a fash Of white
teeth, and Sallie suddenly realized
that she had been singing to the
Same pleasant grin every night that
week.
She was still wondering about him
as she made her way Up the stairs to
the stage entrance.
Some one called Good evening"
but she passed on without noting.
II say" pleaded the voice, won't
you smile at me AGAIN.
Sallie turned then. Descending
from a big yellow car was the man
of the aisle seat.
He came nearer.
Wait, please" he begged and his
teeth CLEANED as they had in the
theater. She hesitated.
He reached her. lifted his hat.
Come for q ride, won't you?" he
asked,
"oh. couldn't" she answered
promptly.
"why not?'
Tt just couldn't, that's all"
He gave her a curious, somewhat
puzzled look. Round the park
once?
,r .horL yo, eouldn't /"