Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1930-12-25
For ten DAYS"

what one wants" AS he said it he
remembered with sudden vividness the
extraordinarily pretty girl who had gal
loped up to the field when he was
starting back and had held out her
hand to him with shyness so ire
sistibly charming that on the impulse
of the moment he had bent over and
kissed it.
He had forgotten her until now, be-
cause just after his return he had met
MAZDA, and the vivid charm of her
personality had obliterated all women
he had known before. But tonight the
demon of unrest possessed his soul.
The magic seemed gone from their re-
lationShip.
Are you training for an invalid
part?" MAZDA asked ~sarcastically.
Heaven knows this dinner was chosen
especially for you. 1 thought Of your
waistline in connection with every
dish-but if there's anything you'd like
instead, just say sol"
THANK you, no. He was gentler
now, in spite of her yelled insult about
his inclination to be overweight.
AS they were both under long and
highly remunerative contracts to the
separate companies in which they were
starred, it was usually easy to find pro-
fessional problems of mutual interest.
But tonight MAZDA refused to transfer
their conversation to unintimate
ground. She talked about Johnson's
article until he could have shaken her.
For the first time he wondered If she
were jealous of his success. To be
sure, she was just as famous as he, but
there was something in her attitude
about this new publicity article which
puzzled him.
After heart of artichoke salad with
dressing in which no oil had been al
lowed, luscious chilled peaches were
served to them. MAZDA refused both
sugar and cream, although her supple
figure was of such slenderness that to
diet was absurd.
Hartley realized that her denial was
to make his own easier, but instead OF
gratitude he felt resentment.
You treat me as if l were a child
he said, his hand going instinctively
toward the forbidden bowl. Are you
going to be a mother to me, Njada?"
IF I weren't only 25 on the city
records to your 33-not to mention
the public's belief that we're each -four
years younger might resent that
But is it is, you can cover your peaches
with sugar, for all of me-"
Of course after that lie had to ca.
them unsweetened, and in his annoy
ance he dropped part of the fruit Oh
his immaculate evening shirt.
Go into my room and Theresa will
clean it for you! Wen have coffee in
the library"
why not outdoors? It's warm
enough he said as he rose, although
he knew that she had chosen the big
tapestry hung room rather than the
garden only because of his tendency
to bronchitis.
MAZDA raised her eyebrows, but re-
peated her orders unchanged to the
servant.
Plainly they were going to quarrel
before the evening was over but as
Hartley walked across the tiled floor
of the hall and up the staircase he
was not displeased by the prospect
Although there was a legend that
MAZDA could unloosen rage as devas-
tating as a tornado, Hartley had never
witnessed it.
Tonight, however, he felt the desire
for violence as n who hears a storm
approaching longs for the moment
when the thunder will crash and the
lightning strike.
He was smarting under her scorr
for that article johnson had written
describing him as a mans a He
squared his shoulders and his anger
increased. He'd show her!
In the many mirrors of her sump-
tuously appointed dressing room the
spot on his white shirt seemed magni-
fled.
Of course that French maid of hers
wasn't there. He picked up a mono
grammed towel Of finest linen, damp
ened it with cold water from a golc
spigot, and attempted to remove the
peach stain. In the process he made
the spot larger. The water seepee
through his silk undershirt on to hi.
skin.
He threw the towel on to the mauvt
carpet.
When he entered the library, thu
sight of MAZDA silhouetted against thu
great blaze from the pine logs in thu
marble fireplace, looking unbelievably
slender in her closely fitting blacl
gown, seemed a personal atfront.
You're getting positively scrawny!'
he said.
She looked away from his defiant
gaze into the fire.
He went on, determined to provoke
her into open battle. "As Jake wa!
saying, the difference between slender.
ness and thinness is SO subtle that only
a woman who has genius can recog'
nize it,"
Before he saw what the quick move,
ment of her wrist portended, she hat
thrown full into his face the hot con
tents of the tiny coffee cup in he
hand.
Now get out!" she said. "You'v
been acting like a fool all evening
You, a mans man! Why, you aren'
even a woman's man! You have tn
manners of a gu~ttersnipel"
Blinded by the liquid in his eyes, h