Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-23
CHAPTER Mi.
Two Men.

After the theater they went to
night club to dance. 1t was Sc
ductive place, with soft lights and
roge colorings.
Nan loved 1t. She had never been
10 a night club before. and she was
40 excited that 1t didn't matter bit
IN her that Miss Moore kept trying
to impress her. $500,
Valerie went rafting on. as usual
about nothing. In d slightly superior
fashion. she talked Of clubs. She had
drained her lovely cloak over the PACK
OF her chair. and the difference pc
tween her own frock and Mans was
obvious. ,Y,
Flippantly she mentioned to Helen
new dressmaker that she nad dls'
covered-"a little French woman, my
dear who can copy anything at ex-
actly half" . l..
But after a time she stopped, be,
cause Helen was obviously bored and
so was Martin Lee. Charles was
bored always, and particularly SO at
night clubs.
turned instinctively to Tom. she
had never yet danced with hlm-1ust
imagine that!
But Charles, with more energy. and
pep than she had ever seen him SHOW
was claiming her. =.
"You can't get away with tnat' II
vou are a bride. This is mine"
And not even Charles could take
from her the marvellous smoothness
of the floor and the rhythm OF the
| music. She danced in9tinctfvely,
swaying back and forth like a lear In
the breeze. Charles was enchanted.
| Then. suddenly, she saw Tom. He
was dancing with Helen, and dancing
as if he had never danced before. she
had never thought much about ms
dancing. She had taken it for granted
that he did. But Helen seemed to be
having a bad time. AS she watched
thew left the floor. Toms face was
anologetic: Helen's merely wore toll
Grant smile.
| Valerie Moore, dancing like bios
som in the breeze with Martin Lee,
drifted across Mans vision. How
beautifully he danced, and how well
he looked in his perfectly cut clothes.
Her eyes went lightly to this couple
and that couple, and then back again
to Valerie and Martin. He was easily
the most distinguished-look man
on the floor.
| The dance ended and Charles escort
ed her back to her seat at the table.
Helen, who didn't care whether she
danced or not, had poured highballs
from Charles silver flask. She and
Tom were both slipping them. Their
food had arrived and Nan attacked
her scrambled eggs and bacon with
a relish. Even a roast chicken and
an alligator pear could not expect to
satisfy healthy young appetite like
| Mans over a DeriOd of hours.
She paid far more attention to her
food than she did to her drink. and
when the music started again Martin
Lee leaned forward.
MAY I have this?"
She rose Immediately. Childishly.
she didn't want to miss a note of the
music. And from the table Tom
watched her. He was miserably con-
scious of the fact that his dancing
cavorted around at studio parties, but
this was different.
Mans little head reached just to
Martins shoulder. They were waltz
| ing very slowly, the old-fashioned
waltz. Martin wasn't trying any new
steps as most of the other couples
were. He was content with the old.
And how lovely Nan looked with her
head turned against his shoulder.
Toms eyes encountered valerie s
| across the table.
Don't you dancer" she asked
| evenly.
mot very WELL"
| "Oh, come on; you can get away
with it," and, slipping the last of her
| highball, Valerie rose.
Surprisingly enough, Tom found it
very different dancing with Valerie
from what he had with Helen. He
| didn't feel so awkward. He felt that
he had done very well when the dance
finished. Valerie, who had guided him
| through virtually all the steps, was
exhausted.
She held out her glass to Helen.