Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-24

| was prescribed by the fashion in
| Jonesvflle. Lena was satisfied with
life. Her wages and tips brought her
| enough for her clothes and board and
! allowed her to save two or three dol
lars week. II. George was making
| what was called good money; he
| used just enough brilliantine on his
hair to give him the required Valen-
| tino poll, and his trousers were belled
| at the bottom just enough.
/ The dash of fresh air had stirred II.
| George from his lethargy, and he had
almost forgotten he was a serious, dis
| appointed man when a flood of voices
| swept over him from the curb, at
which a mammoth touring car, as
rakish as torpedo boat, had stopped
| Don't go in there, It's a cheap
| place-bum,'
| Let's drive on out to the Pine Tree
Inn and get something good This
| place is awful
| IT was the voice OF the JonesvilIe
| Country Club uttering it's verdict
on the Sugar Bowl. to which some of
the passengers in the big car evidently
were willing to go. And the speaker,
| sitting behind the wheel, who had said
that the Sugar Bowl was a cheap
! place and bum. was-H Georges
knees felt suddenly week.-Mrs. Filing
| ton 2. Oracle
| The great green car shot away into
the traffic and George and Lena turn
| ed into the Sugar Bowl She had not
heard the fiutter of words from the
| car. and she made for her favorit e
seat in one OF the high backed hooks
| with her studied air of polite aloofness
| from the mattresses who We're 6yine
about with trays OF sodas. 4 waitress
from Te Ode English Coffee Shoppe
OF the Hotel New Trianon had nothing
| IN common with Sugar Bowl girl
Filled with dread, II. George lurched
| mlserabiE into his seat opposite her
| Could Mrs. Oracle have seen that he
! ana Lena We're practically entering
| the Sugar Bowl. the place for which
she mad nothing but contempt? Had
| ne. by merely passing along in his ac-
! customed channel. destroyed for her
! the Illusion she had begun TO cherish.
Tor her solace against the burdensolne
| existence she was condemned TO with
! Gracie? H George knew what her
life must be with him. the big. MERGE
| nary brute. thinking of nothing but
| money, day and night
Like all successful artists II George
| had developed an easy secondary tech
nique which served between his per
| iods OF eXaltation. He brooded next
| day, wondering how he could avoid
| ms engagement 10 take Lena to the
! New Crystal Grotto Dance Palace
But II he brooded. he did not slight
the girls and women who waited for
MN In the barbershop. He gave them
what they came for, the shinele in
the precise mood which had brought
| him his fame in Jonesville. He gave
,nem or his genius without effort.
masking his worry. and even throw
ing in occasionally "a smile or a com
pllmentary murmur as he roved his
scissors through some particularly
lovely hair.
lie would convince Mrs Oracle; he
had made that decision. If he could
! eVade Lena satisfactorily and without
| arouslng her suspicion. he would
spend the evening in his room work
ing on his play He had fixed upon a
title. II would be The Iron Hook;
and when the bloody hook should come
stealing through the window at the
back of the stage in the play of his
imaginings, the screams of frightened
women in the audience would be
more terrible than any ever heard at
matinees OF THE Bat" He had once
seen a crippled man with an iron
hook for hand. 1t would be simple
to improve on The Bat He felt a
first act at once.
PERHAPS he'd have started had it
not been Lena's day for a haircut
She slipped into the shop at 4, having
an hour off from the Coffee Shoppe,
and before H. George could organize
his excuses for the evening she had
waved art into the background
"Didja know Harry Kelly's orches-
tra's goin' to be at the New Crystal
tonight" she asked as II. George ran
the comb down the back OF her little
head.
That settled it. The dancing was
taken for granted. lie was in g rut:
every evening of his leisure was mark
ed for him. Tonight it was fox-trot-
ting at the New Crystal; tomorrow he
and Lena would go out to the new
public natatorium and swim, the next
night the bill at the New Paradise
would be changed and they would go
there, and from there to the Sugar
Bowl. That was why men didn't get
things done. No wonder he had never
become playwright.
II got two hundred n twenty-six
in the bank now remarked Lena.
How much you got? You ought to
be satin 1t away, with all this extra
trade from the bobs.
Zee, PUTIN II lOBelief, We CdIi
start up pretty soon. There's a fella
tellin' me today a new company-the
New Jonesville Colonial Terraces De.
velopment Co.-bas some swell lots.
or they will buildta a house an you
can pay for it just like rent"
She turned and twinkled up at him.
Wen have a swell time dancin'
with Kelly's music tonight, won't
WEI" she asked.
q
didn't have the courage to tell her he
was going to stay at home and work
on "The Iron Hook" He looked
around desperately; dozen women
were waiting for him.
"An' maybe we'll go out Sunday
and look at some Of them lots she
finished, whisking away toward the
cashiers desk.
THREE weeks passed, and the only
l. tangible work done on THE Iron
Hook" was it's title inscribed on the
first sheet of a large tablet of writing
paper H. George had bought In the
drug store Of the New Trianon when
| he went home to dress for the dance
at the New Crystal. He was glad he
| had done that much, for the next day
Mrs, Oracle had come to the barber
shop. and after waiting for him more
than an hour had said softly, as he
pinned the apron around her:
How Is our play coming?"
She had said our play; and H.
| George, flushing and slightly trem-
! bling, had been able to answer
| huskily:
I'm working on it,"
With a sweep Of his artists hand
| he had opened his drawer and had
| handed her to read, while she was
| in the chair. that copy Of the first
| number of THE American Jupiter"
which she admired so much