The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-01-01

bling calves deadened by long mac
ton. -Four hours is enough of any
show for me, if it amt for every
body" With regret, because eleven
dollars and eighty-five cents is the
least any se~lf-respecting ticket spec
ulatOr will accept for a Su Sum Sa
seat behind a post in the nineteenth
rOw.
The list Of characters of the Su
Sum Sa extravaganza is long and
sumptuous, from the chief caliph Of
great gold and purple girth and three
princesses in rhinestOned crowns
down to the dancing desert girls
whose whirling brown-stained bodies
in n Ger make a hit that depends
little on costumes.
These desert girls in another
scene are singing s~ultanas. In others,
Persian water carriers, temple maid
ems and Aryan slaves. Their %
names are printed in less conspicu-
Gus type than the more important
characters of the extravagant pro-
gram.
But to Alice Derry, who had new
er been nearer a drOy curtain than an
orchestra seat, n name Of the %
needed no conspicuity of print for her
sharply focused gaze. 1t was black
typed in her mind, not to be ~forgOten;
never, while life lasted, to slip en-
tirely from her bitter mind, Barbara
Earl. Unless they had been divorced!
Hope, like any tiny green live root,
pushed often at the bottom of her
heart. 1t hurt, this insistent push.
It demanded that a constant effort be
made to ignore it, in order that she
might have any peace of mind at all.
AND then had come old Mrs. COrning's
death in Luxembourg and that absurd will
made six years before and never changed
by a foolish, sentimental old woman.
Negligence or a senfe lack Of memory
ana three people Tor at least tWO!) must
be perked into a distasteful and unneces-
sary thought Of one another.
They had seats on the center aisle, Alice
and MurgtywOOd. Row II. Scalpers' prices
She had asked him to get seats as neal
woods pOckeCbOOk did not matter to her
Pills had-Once. Her throat frightened
now, remembering the balcony seats shl
used to urge to Phil; the cheaper plays
She hoped, however, that MurgtywOOl
= would not suspect why she wished seat
near the stage. She did not suppose
though, that he had heard anything abOu
the will. It had nothing to do with tn
routine OF the BarrOWs bond brOkerag
offices. And her choice Of seats had nOthin.
to do with the business Of the will-eXcep
that, having heard she was in town, Alic
mOrbidly desired to see Barbara AGAR
Eyes burned to see her again-the gin
that Phil had preferred to herself.
MurgtywOod likely mad heard gossip, 70
all his three brief years in the Chicag
office. She did not greatly care, Of coursl
In her heart something had numbed, grow
SO like dead, six years back, that she dt
I not care a great deal what any one in thi
J world thought or heard or deduced.
You could not guess this from the con
posed prettiness Of her. small oval rae
She was Of that ash blonde type Whol
delicacy Of c~OlOring can be a most indOmi
able mask for emotion or for thoughts.
is like chin, ~pale-painted glass. 1t ma
= mt seem so, but 1t is opaque.
Tonight her ash blonde hair was wave
s high and smooth, That was her best styl
She had amethysts in her ears; an inexpel
sive pair, but the soft cOlOred stones ga
a Dinkish luster to lObes. Her rather ligl
cOlOred eyebrows were deity darkene
giving needed animation to her delicat
cameOlike profile. Sometimes, crying in
her pillow, Alice had blamed her eyebrow
- for Phii's detection. She had splurged +
- her French blue gown. She did not eXpe
to meet Phil. But the thought Of him.,
his Barhara-well, she had chosen
rouge skillfully. She was six years old
than she had been. Although, Of cOurs
al she did not look aged. With bitterness al
ache one can watch the years crawl, t
ieering years from nineteen to t~wenty-fiN
and yet not be marked so facially by t
scythe that enemies can point.
There was her desk, Of course. IT stO
in a big office with other desks. Regul
work IS an antidObe TO physical signs
heartbreak. So are other desks in dai
y view. When ones ash blonde head must
q cOmpOsedly lifted TO view eight hours
day, ache Of desires q tears OF night ca