Evening star., 1925-12-06

Mr.. Hobbs Dulaney pushed Su-
sans trmbled easel off of the
Observation-Disclosures. which occu-
pied more of the rooms limited space
than any other piece of furniture,
and laid her gently down. Now. lit.
well get that shoe off" And he sat
down and went to work on the shoe.
The ankle hasn't begun to swell
yet" he announced.
Susan released her breath. lie was
going to continue to know her them
after seeing the scuffed shoe. 1t was
wonderful. She sat up and smiled
radiantly. ''Oh. perhaps it's not going
to SWELL" she said. Maybe it was
only u little strain and not a sprain at
all"
She put her foot on the floor and
bore down upon it with increasing con-
fidence. Yes. that's just what it was.
a temporary strain. But il certainly
felt like sprain. didn't it?"
Yes" agreed Mr.. Hobbs Dulaney.
wondering possibly to whom she
thought it felt like sprain.
I'm going to fix US some coffee and
cheese dreams. Mr.. Dulaney. It's for
being so kind. | can make good cheese
tireams-reall-.
Thank YOU" he said. I'm sure You
can make excellent cheese dreams
Miss Meadows"
Perhaps they glanced at each other
with Il kind of understanding, n sort
of on-your-mark get-Set and For
there WAS the beginning of Susar's
delight and her jeopardy. She had
challenged the wiles and wealth of
this houlevardier with the lure and
danger of the hard. hard town" epit-
omized in his person. She knew gen.
tleman of Wall Street now.
At times Susan was painly afraid of
Mr.. Hobbs Dulaney, his extravaganza,
his apparent knowledge of the city,
his easy mention of the MorGans do
ing this or the Hartman crowd being
behind that. They went to dinner at
the Colony. and he prepared a little
drink which she took casually. though
her head spun with 1t. Everybody
else seemed to take drinks casually.
Their taNicab ride through Central
Tark was Il terror, too. She Shra nix
away from him when he reached
across her to lower the window, and
then she began to ak rapidly about
painting: a stormy Calvary by George
Bellows, about Chester Beach'S fignres
in ivory, about Manship and Arthur
Lee--anythinS to talk against Hobbs
Dulaney's confident smile. She had
done a snowscape of the park in Jan
uary. she told him. and he murmured
something about the Swiss Alps. But
pretty soon she forgot about being
afraid, and Just before midnight they
had coffee in her apartment gayly.
Later. when across the dark court
she saw his light come on, she blew
1t kiss.
COFFEE and cigarettes in her apart
~ ment as midnight passed became
a ceremony with them after that. a
delicious climax to each of their early
adventures. their trip into the east
side depths of Grand Street and Ave
nue. A. where a shaggy Hungarian
violinist in an odorous retreat called
up gypsy spirits for fifty cents, their
theater parties: their tea parties; then
once at the opera. One Sunday after
noon they drove out on the island
along the north shore to Huntington
Coming back through Jamaica, they
encountered long. unbroken traffic
lines. and when they arrived home 1t
was two o'clock in the morning. But
they must have coffee-or they
wouldn't be able to sleep.
He left her that night with a gay
wave from the doorway. Under his
arm was the little blue self portrait
which Susan had done as an advertise
ment. Mr.. Hobbs Dulaney had in
sisted upon paying for It. a small
amount at least. perhaps $50. II
know you're too professional to give
away pictures. my dear" he said.
Good night
In her tiny bedroom Susan un-
dressed slowly, sitting there in the
dark with her bright thoughts.
Finally, when she could stand it no
longer, she slipped her precious peig-
noir over her nightdress and raped