Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1931-04-30

sand her husband had given ner VIII
one of his crazy grand gestures on her
departure from New York to Reno six
weeks before.
Item-A very definite idea Of what
she wanted. She wanted a lot OF
things. Security, luxury, and the con-
tentment which would, she was sure
ensue from their possession. They
were to be supplied by a second hus-
band who would be immensely wealthy
preferably elderly, and always kind
And she believed she knew who he
would be. She was waiting for him
now.
Item-A very firm control over every
one of her emotions.
Here the words of her husbands
valedictory rose in her memory tc
smite her.
"Astarte, you were made for love
And women made for love generally
manage to love and to be loved. You
can't help it,
She saw in the mirror the slow angry
flush stain the ivory of her face and
neck. She could help it! She was done
with Romance had betrayed
her once. l must not be allowed to
do so again.
Romance, she thought, and her Lip
curled. Life had taught her hat ii
could be experienced only at second
hand. You gained it through stories
about somebody else or through the
perspective of memory, which softened
all the painful things and enhanced
the happy things. Romance, after all
was nothing but a well told story, OF
a bad memory.
Carefully replacing a tendril which
the mirror discovered escaping from
the heavy, close helmet Of her hair
she reflected bitterly on its betraya.
of her. And SO she came to think Of
her husband. Jim Markley, the play
wright. America knew him for his
brilliant plays, Knees of the God
deSS,' Sacrifice" and mo Ont
Knows" Broadway knew him for ONT
Of its most prof1igate spenders, a mai
who would sacrifice future royaltie:
for the whim Of a moment. She knew
him
Her mirrored eyes widened at her a.
she asked herself what she really knew
of this husband of three years whom
she was now SO thankfully divorcing
She knew, she answered herself in
stantly, many things, none Of then
any good for her.
She knew, for instance, the truth o
what she had decided about romance
Facing the facts of her marriage ant
its results squarely, she realized tina
Jim Markley, by his treatment, haS
made her the cold, grasping woman
whose obsessions were security ant
luxury. He had instilled a fear 0
love which would prevent her ever low
ing again. Yet, looking back at hin
now, after only seven weeks away from
him, she was willing to concede tina
he had been a charming, wildly dis
quoting experience in her life, ever
while her clear thinking brain recog
nized that his responsibility had driv.
en- her to Reno in search Of the haveI
Of a second husband who would b,
immensely wealthy, preferably elderly
and always kind. God knows, jim
Markley was none of these things!
Flashes Of him and their life to
gether flickered over the treacherou
screen of her memory, and she, know
ing it was treacherous, allowed then
to flicker. She remembered thei
meeting. At the time she was a steno
grapher in the Offices Of AL Wurtzell
the theatrical producer. She was TWEEN
ty-three.
Wurtzel was just picking up hi
telephone when she entered his ofic
with the copy of a play script She hat
finished.
"Yeh." He rasped in the gangste
voice he used to ward off unwelcom'
calls. His tone changed suddenly Il
eagerness. "Yeh," jim! Sure 1 cal
give you a girl-fast as they come
she's standing in front of me RICH
now-ten minutes? Come on, boyl
AS she put the instrument down, hi
hand was trembling. Miss Landreth,
he told her solemnly, Il know YOU'RE
fast at dictation. That was Jim Mark
ley. Know who he is? No? Well, he
a playwright. And when better play
are built on Broadway in the next tel
years he'll build EN-. He's got a pla,
in his head. He'll talk it to you. Ant
if you miss a word, or slow him up, b,
God, I'll blacklist you all over New
York. Take him into Burman's Office
Kick Abe out. Beat It,"
PlaywrightS didn't mean anything Il
her then. Every one she met up tt
that time was trying to borrow ten dol
lars or a masterpiece he was writing
Even when Markham volleyed int
Burman's Office she saw only a pal,
young man with burning brown eyes,
sardonic mouth, and a mop Of unrul,
black. curly hair, and clad in a loung,
suit which, she believed, had neve
been pressed.
Ready" He plunged, slamming tn,
door. Lets CO."
She might have been a dictaphons
impersonally absorbing a pulsing frag.
ment of life as it emerged from hi.
brain. The scene, the crisis of hi!
play Danger" (Which later was 6
mediocre success) was laid in a beach.
comber's hut on Waikiki beach. II
concerned two brothers and a woman
One brother was the drunken beach
comber. The other brother had stoler
the woman aWay from him by lies ann