Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1931-10-09
Romance Among the
"Down-and-O Outs
By DOROTHY DOUGLAS

***kk*k****kN* NJ Y *** *7s7t7 N*
ia by Mcclure Newspaper syndicate-l
(WNU Service.) fEt
IVA slipped Off her dainty after
II noon frock of love-in-mist blue,
hung It In her wardrobe and took
down a cotton frock of dusty brown.
The latter was a work frock- solely
and simply work frock--for Eva
would soon be on her way toward Bat
terry park and the coffee stall where
nightly she dispensed hot coffee and
sandwiches to the "down and outs" Of
that neighborhood.
Eva had rented the coffee stall and
its equipment for a month and
thoroughly enjoyed fragment Of life
she had not hitherto known. Not that
she had always known a degree Of
affluence. Eva had worked long and
hard for the possession of the dainty
fat and its comfortable furnishings
which she now enjoyed.
Eva wasn't dispensing coffee because
she loved being among the "down and
outs" but simply because she must
cuiuLBc hel SSOpC hOA Stoiy Wtilhh6'
She wrote the type Of stories that
were gradually creeping into movie
fields, and in return brought back in
creaslngly large checks.
There was one other down in Bat
terry park, also enlarging his mental
outlook but his look was straying more
toward the development of his roman
tic capacity. He was, in fact, casting
many a glance of deep interest at the
wide-eyed girl who seemed so thorough
ly out of her element handing out
coffee to the none too clean derellcts
who lined up at her stall.
He fell to wondering, as he con-
sumed endless cups Of her coffee, just
what kink Of fate had put her where
she was instead Of In an exquisitely
furnished drawing room-a far more
fitting background than the row Of
hot dogs, Clipped cups, and steaming
coffee urns.
And the back Of Eva's mind was not
lacking in speculation regarding the
young man in the shabby Knockers and
outrageous hCNhtlCS.
She scoffed at the idea that he
might be down there for the same pur-
pose as herself-to study humanity in
this stratum.
"Those things only happen In the
movies and the lesser type of dime
novel," she told herself, but she con-
tinued none the less her guarded study
Of him, telling herself firmly that she
had chosen him as type. She would
catalogue him merely as an unusually
attractive type Of "down and OUTER
who must, at one time of his career,
have been possessed of great oppor-
tunlties. Eva knew, by the keen look
in his eyes, that the hang-dog glance
of the gutter inhabitant would never
besmirch his countenance.
His language, on the other hand,
was simply atrocious. Eva thought
he must have taken lessons in the
expert butchering Of the kings Eng
lish.
Eva came very near hitting the
mark In her surmise, for young w.
Owen James had spent many troubled
hours In an endeavor to master a die
ton that would put him on a speak
ing level, as 1t were, with that ele-
ment Of human kind of which he was
making a close study. His first play,
produced on Broadway, had brought
forth scathing criticism for his lack
Of characterization-the play itself be-
ing otherwise of great promise. Owen
Lad closed his jaws with a click and
gone about showing the critics that
they would not say the same thing
twice about his shortcomings.
His second play was nearing COM
pletiOn and before many days had
passed James would cast off the physi-
cal and mental mire OF the derelict
and revert to his natural element
that Of scholar and gentleman.
Eva. for some unknown reason, al
ways flung on a cloak of armOr when
James approached the stall with his
cOnfreres. Perhaps 1t was to guard
herself since she was at a loss to
know just where to catalogue him in
her gallery of derelicts. She succeed
ed in battling him as well as herself.
When rehearsals began for the new
play, young James was forced away
from the Battery by need Of his
presence on Broadway.
Eva. too. had lodged the cOffee-s stall
again with its rightful holder and
repaired to her dainty apartment
with Rna nlof 20. tho x,,oxtoa II.
typewriter clicked necessarily. Her
heart, too, when It had time, thumped
dull tattoo, when the eyes of a GER
tain "dOwn-and- outer" intruded into
her fast-mOvlng plot. She couldn't for
get him. and wondered II she had be-
gun to lose her mind-plnlng for a
bit of masculine drlftwOod from Bat
terry park.
Eva went naturally, to the first night
Of the new play by w. Owen james.
The play received rouslng vel
come. The author was called and
stepped shyly out to thank his audience
In words that prompted Eva to sur
mise that he had bathed his vocabu-
larry in the lImpld pools of the kings
English so exquisite was his speech.
Turning his eyes toward the front
rows, where all the critics seemed to
have gathered. W. Owen James speech
suddenly halted. picked itself up and
continued. .
lie had looked squarely into the
wide eyes Of Eva, an Eva In her right
full environment Of intellect and chlf-
fOns.
His next play was n collaboration
with much that was romantic woven
into Its successful lines.