New Britain herald., 1926-01-11
l,1Il,gM Wr2lYI0| ! iEYG1 S%ssl| >OWai'.1'YD y
 .Nb..s1 i,- lfft..H

Somebody began to sing in the Apartment below. "You didn't Walt me when you had me; so why do you want me now?" Tho floors be- heath BGrbara's feet vihraied win tho ragged rhythm of music, beaten out on q mechanical piano,
 Far down the street there was ihe faint cnil. Fred hot ,amalcs rel hot"
 Barbara sat at the window, the paper lying on her knees, The room was quite dark. There was no move bent in fl, except when the w'ndo" curtains waved gently now and tEr'' | Lights in dining rooms went on' across the street, and living room windows blazrd against the back ness Barbara leaned against tho sill, her chin propped in her hands' The breeze whipped the curtains about her head. but she did no' brush them away.
 Her body grew cold, but she "ld not close the window, At last she rose and turned on th" | lights. There was the paraGraph still. bold and black In its column: "Reynolds--Brucc and Violet 1 ta, n son, born Monday at \. B. General Hospital" Barbara sank down again in tn" armchair and buried her face in her 1 hands. She sat very still.
 Outside, a wind rose, whipping leaves against the windows and sweeping noisily down the street A gust blew into the room whcr" Ear bara sat. and caught the newspaper on her lap, whirling it across tn" floor 10 q corner. where it lay flap pins against the wall.
 Barbara closed the window and began to walk about tho room. her hands clenched. She opened the Idoor and listened. The hall outside was as quiet as her own apartment
 She walked into Fancy's bedroom and thence 10 her own. aimlesslF'
 her hands still tightly clcnchcd. She
 went into the kitchen. A faucet WAS dripping in the sink, She seized it
 nervously and turned it off. \ mop lin the corner of the kitchen caught
 her eye.
 She took it up and began 10 mop
 the floor. Then she took all the cans
 and dishes from the shelves hnd
 spread fresh paper coverings. Sh" scrubbed the sink. cleaned the sii- vcr, washed out the ice box. , Then sho went into the bedroom
 The place was sroilcss, from the ;cfforts Of the maid who had cleaned it that day. But Barbara brought a ' dust cloth and began 10 dust. , The living room came in for fs share of attention. Hours passed
 while she went over every inch Of !kpach in the apartment, wiping away ,, imaginary spots and sweeping |, imaginary dust from the rugs. She picked up the copy of the Telegraph , from the corner and put it on the r table.
 When the living room was fin :, ishcd, she went 10 the table and spread out the newspaper. Her hands were almost too cold to grip tho
 pages. There 1t was. stark: "Reynolds--BruCe and Violet , ia, a son, born Monday nt \. , B. General Hospital" It was four o'clock when she un- dressed and got into bed. The Telc-
 graph was folded under her pillow,
 When she awoke. the room was bright with sunlight, She leaped , out of bed and ran to the clock on |, the dressing table. It was nearly
 ten o'clock.
 She began to dress hurriedly, slip ping into the first garments that came to hand. She sat down before , the dressing table mirror and un- |, braided her hair. The reflection f:
 the glass was wan and hollow-eyed.
 She brushed her hair and added
 rouge. Instead of improving her
 looks. 1t only accentuated the circles beneath her eyes. She rubbed 1t of again.
 . As she passed the kitchen. she re- membered that she had had noth-
 ing to east since noon of the day be , fore. She glanced at her watch. l,
 was already half past ten. She put , on her hat and left the apartment.
 Wells was occupied with pile 0: . copy when she entered the editorial |, room. Barbara looked at him ner- : ivously, but he did not look up. She = turned toward McDermott's door F which stood open. He had not yeI
 come down.
 As she reached her desk, Jimmy
 hurried up to her. "voici. madame II , he said in high school French. With
 a flourish he handed her a gray en, velope She looked at 1t incuriously i, and laid down her hat and gloves . before she picked 1t up again. | It bore New York postmark anG . there was a return address heavil,
 embossed In blue on tho flap. , Barbara tore it open. The letter, . head was "Footlight Magazine 2 Forty-eighth street, New YorI . City"
 "My dear Miss Hawley." 1t ran Q "Woud you care to accept a plac,
 on our staff?
 v Your work would be the writ. ing of interviews with theatrica :, people and an occasional first nigh :. in a Broadway theater. :, Your salary would begin at s7,
 a week.
 . Twill you let us hear from you 2
 The letter was signed by a nam,
 already glamorously familiar tt :. Barbara It was the name of . ia. nous theatrical writer. (To Be Continued)