The Washington times., 1931-11-17
CHAPTER 80

Willy goes every evening to
/. .waldman's-that's a resort not
far from the town, where there's
! dancing in the afternoons and
evenings. I am going tonight,
too, for Karl Broger has told
, me that Adele is there some
times. 1 should like to see her
again.
All the windows of the gar
den ballroom at Waldman'S are
lit up. The shadows Of the
dancers move lightly across the
drawn curtains. I take UP a
position at the bar and look
around for Willy. Every table
is occupied. There is not a
chair free. There has been a
perfect frenzy for amusement
these last few months since the
war.
My eye suddenly lights on a
dazzling white waist coat and
the majestical claw hammer of
a swallow-tailed coat. Willy in
his new cutaway! I stand there
and blink. The coat is black,
the vest white, and the hair
red-a living flagpole.
willy receives my aStoniSh.
ment affably as admiration
"You might we'll stare!" says he,
turning himself around like a
peacock. my Kaiser-William'
Memorial Cutaway! How do you
. like it? You would never have
thought that could come out of
an army graycoat, now, would
you?"
Prizes for Dancing
He pats me on the shoulder.
''But it's grand that you've
come. There's a dance tourna-
ment tonight: we're all in for
it, fine prizes! 1t starts in
: 0au an nOuT.
Until then one may still try
out ones PAGES. Willy has a
sort of female pugilist for part
ner, a great hefty creature. At
the moment he is practicing a
one-Step with her, in which
speed is the most noticeable
feature. Karl, on the other hand,
is dancing with a girl from the
Food Office, all tricked out with
rings and chains like a sleigh
horse. In this way he combines
business and pleasure most
agreeably. But Albert-Albert is
not at our table. A trifle shy
" he salutes us from a corner,
where he is sitting with a fair
haired girl.
"We've seen the last of him"
says Willy prophetically.
IT take stroll around in the
hope of picking up a good
dancer. That is no simple mat
ter. Many who at table appear
1ight-footed as a doe turn out
afterward to dance no better
than an elephant. And good
dancers are much coveted, Of
course. However, I do at last
succeed in bespeaking a little
SeamStreSs
The orchestra sounds a flour
fish. A chap with a chrysanthe-
mum in his buttonhole comes
to the front and explains that
o couple will now give a lemon
stration of the latest thing
from Berlin-a foX-trot! That
is unknown here as yet: we
have only heard tell of it.
We gather around curiouSly.
The orchestra strikes up syn
copated measure and the pair
begin to skip around each other
like a couple of spring lambs.
Sometimes they will retreat
from each other: then they
will link arms again and twirl
limping in a circle. Willy is
craning his neck, his eyes as
big as Saucers. Here at last is
q dance after his own heart.
The table with the prizes IS
brought in. We barge across.
There are three prizes each for
the one-step, the Boston and
the fox-trot. The fox-trot rules
us out, we cannot do that; but
like old Blucher we mean to
carry off the other two.
The First Prize
The first prize in each case
is 10 gulls' eggs or a bottle Of
schnapps. Willy inquiries sus-
piciously whether gulls' eggs
are edible. Reassured, he comes
back. The second prize IS six
gullS' eggs, or an all-Wool Bala-
clava. cap; the third, four eggs.
or two packets of "Germany's
Heroic Fame" cigarettes. We're
not having them, anyhow" says
Karl, who knows about such
things.
The competition begins. We