Evening star., 1924-10-12
THE CINDERELLA GAME
Chronicle of Attempt Repeat an Ancient Tale

| up at a certain lighted window on
the fifth floor OF tho hotel. it seemed
a night made for romance.
\ r
STARTLING as the revelation may
~ sound-since you have seen him
| as a guest at an expensive hotel at
| French Springs-Otto Brown was a
barber. Otto Brown, in real life, had
| the second chair in the Hotel Seville
barber shop, and because tho Seville
Is Chicago's most ultra-ultra hotel,
he had succeeded, during his twelve
years of barbering, in amassing, from
tips, wages and what not, a round
sum Of money.
In the shop he was known only as
Otto: doubtful IL is IL three persons,
aside from the employees, knew that
he possessed another name: yet his
clientele was large and fashionable.
Through all the years Che had but
recently turned 800 Otto Brown had
but one ambition-to be gentleman
meaning q man who dresses for din
ner each evening and can afford to
keep a town car
At one time in his tonsorial career
It had been his wont to follow the
seasons. That is, from January to
April he would attach himself to the
Beach; from April to September he
would ply his trade at Atlantic City:
| to the mountains for the Autumn-or
Pinehurst or California-and Chicago
for two or three months around the
holidays. In this way he managed to
famiiiariZe himself with practically
every fashionable resort in America.
and to know how the people who fire.
quented them lived, dressed, talked
and idled.
1t was something of a liberal edu-
cation. He had learned. for instance, to
dffferentiate the born gentleman and
the sef-made type. And it was upon
the real gentleman that he, both con-
sciously and unconsciously. patterned
his own manners and tone of voice.
In the Spring he made his great de-
cision- For months Otto had been
planning in his mind vacation. Not
Summer vacation-such as the ay-
erage barber would take. at a cheap
resort on an inland lake-but a vaca-
ton de luxe. Thus it was that, late
in March, he decided to spend three
weeks at French Springs-as a gen.
tleman.
On the details of the adventure the
young man spent many hours of care
ful thought. Grateful he was that,
years before, he had taken up the
ancient and royal game of golf-tor
golf at place like French Springs is
utterly essential-and years of prac-
tice upon the municipal links of Chi
cago had made of him a fair player
Otto had always dressed we'll and had
for barber rather extensive ward
robe. Having the season before per-
mitted himself the extravaganza of "A
| tweed golf suit, the only clothes he
needed to purchase were a Tuxedo,
some white fiannels and appropriate
shoes. Never in his life had he
owned dinner coat, but because he
knew that it should be a first class
one he beerudged not the 5000 that
the tailor on the avenue charged him.
This left only the matter OF riding
things. 1t was the thought of riding
that caused him more worry than any
thing else. French Springs, like
many another Spring and Autumn
resort, was more famous for its bride
paths than for its mineral waters.
and appearance there in riding clothes
was quite as important to the daily
program as dressing for dinner. But
the barber of the Seville had a pan
icky aversion to horses. Yet he must
have riding clothes, so he made a
pilgrimage one evening to the North
Side Riding Academy, and by dint of
persuasion and money cajoled the
proprietor into renting him Il COM
plete outfit, from crop to boots.
TO BE gentleman for three weeks.
To rise from his white-tiled
world Of razors and shampoos and
clippers. To live like a millionaire
playing golf with the sort of people
he had always shaved, What an ad-
venture,
He wired the Corona Hotel to re-
serve 4 room, and in late April de-
parted, with a high heart and a
quantity of luggage. for French
Springs.
On the very day that Otto Brown,
gentleman. embarked upon his adyen-
ture. a sleek young man named Ed
Bickles, known to the police as Eddie
the Dude, completed in Chicago a
clever job OF forgery. The amount
involved was something over $4,000,
and before any one could so much as
raise an outcry Eddie the Dude had
disappeared.
AS is customary in such cases, no
trace Of the fugitive was found, but
it was the belief Of those worthless
who wear derby hats and thick-soled
shoes and smoke cigars around po-
lice headquarters that he had headed
down into Indiana.
Existence at French Springs was
for Otto Brown gay-patterned tap
estry Of pleasure. Each evening as
he dressed for dinner and sauntered
down the glittering lobby of the CO.
roma Hotel he felt himself potentially
a prince Of the realm. Midwestern
millionaires and their wives and
daughters, who knew him merely as
Mr.. Brown, a pleasant-and sup
supposedly wealthy-younS man from