Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-29

announcer, eSCapnSned herSen quietly in San
Francisco cafe of drst-rate standing as cashier.
1t was a let-down, but it was a letting down
that somehow warmed and eased the tired,
bruised spirit that Estelles. The struggle
against the overwhelming crack in her voice
was Finished the uneven race against the flesh
of years, as it settled her hips and shoulders,
was over. EStelle could sit back quietly now,
no Icing but unnoticed, and let the years
roll In
And more than all of these, Estelle could now
keep fastened more firmly her watchful eye on
Rosalinda.
This girl, whom her mother yearned to pro-
tect from the disappointments that had been
hers, was now also employed In the same cafe
where Estelle held the throne of cashier.
Rosalinda's duties were light. At noon she
arrived, attired herself in a peasant costume
that enhanced her loneliness and moved with a
tray Of hot rolls in among the patrons of the
cafe, Offering her dainties, as she slid by the
tables. AT q O'Clock Rosalinda came on duty
again. and was free to leave the restaurant
with her mother somewhere shortly after 10
o'clock
1t meant that through all the workaday
hours her mothers eyes were on her. It meant
they arrived together and they departed to-
gether. 1t meant that whatever secret ambi-
tons lay smoldering in the heart of EStelle
for the daughter RoSalinda, for the present at
least, her plans for the future were held in
allegiance. RoSalinda was literally under her
mothers thumb, well as her eye. And the
girl, sweet and submissive enough at 90 and at
the same time regarding her occupation as only
stepping stone toward the thing her heart
craved, submitted because of the peace she
realized she was able to afford EStelle
THEY were rather pathetic pair The hus-
bandless Estelle the fatherless Rosalinda
There had never been husband So far as
Rosalinda could remember there had never been
father, just the two of them, playing their
humble roles with certain submission, and
yet the younger Of them with quality of re-
bellion flaming in her blue eyes, that had long
since died down in the eyes of the older woman
1t was hard to realize, after beholding the
loneliness that was Rosalindas, that this child
had kept her innocence to a degree that was
perfection. At 20 she lived like a little girl
At 20 she had never been out in the company
OF man without the chaperonage of her
mother.
And it had not all been clear sailing The
eyes Of men veered quickly to the loneliness that
was Rosahndas. Her presence in a room made
them conscious. Seated in her corner behind
her cashiers desk, the eyes of Estelle were re-
lentless in their watchfulness
If ever girl was protected by the bulwark of
fierce loving, Jealous panther-like watchfulness
that girl was Rosalinda.
There was not recess of the being of this
girl that Estelle did not feel herself capable of
understanding. AS RoSalinda sometimes adj
mitted to her mother, it was as if the older
woman sensed, almost before the girl herself
the nature of her ambitions, secret desires
yearnings.
And the secret desires of RoSalinda's were
not just those of the average girl becoming
aware of her loneliness.
Rosalinda wanted to sing. She wanted to
cultivate voice that was already showing a
fluty, resonant quality. That was why Estelle
passionately desired to save her from the
wear and tear of performing in the cabarets
That was why, without the slightest sense of
remuneration, Estelle was ready to fold away the
days of her most gariSh kind of successes for
the more stable remuneration of her work
behind cashiers counter.
Estelle and her daughter were boarding for
the day when Rosalinda might go abroad to
prepare her voice for opera
ONE night in the restaurant a man well
beyond so, big, irresistible as personality.
known the country over as a millionaire sports