The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-03-01
BEGIN HERE TO-DAY

Beautiful ELLEN ROSSITER,
salesgirl, In Barclays Depart
ment store, lives with her mo-
Their, MOLLY ROSSITEH, her
elder sister, MYRA, and her
young brother MIKE. The two
girls support Nthe family. Molly
foolishly spends money saved to
pay the rent. Ellen tries 20 get a
Job as q dance hall hostess at
DreamlaDd. and leanrs that she
must have an evening dress. She
has none. STEVEN BARCLAY,
her employer, sees her crying
and offers 20 give her q dress.
Ellen proudly refuses but agrees
to borrow lively white frock.
Ellen dimes with Barclay and
ne drives her TO Dreamland
where he leaves her. TONY, an
other Of the hostesses, befriends
and advises Ellen. Ellen hates
the cheapncss OF the dance hall,
hates taking i0-cent ticket to
dance with all Corners. She slaps
man who kisses her. JACOB
SALOMON, the manager, Is
about to discharge her when o
handsome young man asks 70 be
introduced to her. He says his
name Ii LARRY SMITH. He
boes to buy tickets and while she
waits for him, Ellen forgets that
she hated Drcamlend, forgets
thing except Larry Smith.
CHAPTER vi
Larry had bought q string of
fioE nfa nank ~ a rkaA sUnAA fnr onn
Dance There were dozens. He
dropped the ribbon Of bright green
over Eilen's bare arm 30 that 1t
curled almost to the floor.
That's for all evening"" he told
her. mo one else IL to dance with
you" tA
II believe you've made a mis-
take" Ellen said, trying to temper
the bubbling joyousness in her
voice. 4 think they sold you q
railroad ticket to California"
TT does look like that"
Tony, gliding past, summed up
the incident with approving, inter-
ested eyes. The 17-year.old plainly
considered the older girl to be her
protege.
II knew you'd be lucky. Ellen"
she called over her shoulder and
Nov what did she mean?" Larry
demanded.
''she meant I was lucky to find
such o good--customer," Ellen ad.
vised him demurely.
mo. It's the customer who's
lucky"
Their laughter rang out. Larry
swept ellen into his arms and they
we're caught into the emotion laden
atmosphere Of the room. Boys and
girls we're dancing closely In the
semi. darkness, cheek to cheek,
heart to heart. Light frocks blurred
against the darker clothes OF the
men; white bare arms clutched at
broad shoulders. There was no
sound except the muted whine OF
the orchestra and the swish OF dane
ing feet, and, from outside, through
the open windows, the subdued up
roar OF q never resting Broadway.
Boys and girls, In the artificial
darkness, were snatching feverishly
at d little moment of tawdry no.
nance, lest II pass them by; snatch
ing at q moment of forgetfulness Of
daily tasks while the saxophones
moaned.
Ellen and Larry bumped into q
couple who had stopped for pas
sionate embrace. Ellen felt again
that she would weep. She did not
know quite why. But she knew
that * Larry Smith attempted TO
embrace her In that furtive dark
ness something shining and young
and beautiful would be gone for
ever. At the same time she knew
that IL he drew her close. close to
him she could not resist.
II don't seem 10 care much for
this" he ventured at length, un-
comfortably. And then abruptly,
with no preliminaries, he asked.
What are you doing here?"
Ellen experienced n lightness and
buoyancy Of spirit as though some-
thing she feared had been passed.
All at once she was able to laugh
at herself. What a mad fool she
had become. All Of her values
seemed changed. So much depend
cd tonight upon ~ little. She saw
that Larry was watching her face
as he waited for her to answer. She
gestured toward a sign on the wall.
They had to dance through the
crowd and to the outskirts 50 that
he could read. His own gray eyes
lighted when he read that hostess
es when dancing were limited In
conversation to yes" and no.