Evening star., 1933-08-28

Nine Dumas.
Mrs Binney," she saw that her mas
ter looked pale and that there were
tired circles under his eyes. next Sat
urday night 1 want you TO prepare
dinner party for six. 1t must pa per-
feet. Spare no expense. See Il you
can make it a memorable occasion
Curt made an attempt to act per-
fectly natural The ScOtchWoman had
been with him ever since he went to
housekeeping in Hollywood and she
knew his every mood. She looked at
him worriediy:
Twill be a bonny party-1u see to
that And if I may say So Nj. Little,
you should be takin' better care Of
yourself Takin no ofense. I'm old
enough to be your mother. You're
workin too hard. MI Little"
He smiled at her tolorantly. Curt
Little was kindly and indulgent toward
his servants.
You take care Of the dinner party;
I promise to take care of myself. I just
need a little sleep
Mrs. BInney went out with a Wor-
ried little shake OF her head, her stifly
starched skirts sWiShing efficiently.
Curt sat for a little time staring into
space Now that he had made up his
mind to marry Mary Sawyer, he was
frantic for fear she would refuse him.
Although F'reckle assured him daily
when he telephoned her that Mary had
not been seeing the boy from home,
Tommy was, nevertheless, Z thorn in his
side
Sometimes Mary had a faraWay lock
in her eyeS-and once or twice had
seemed near to tears For instance.
the evening before, when he had driven
her home. What was on her mind
then? HomeSlCkneSS. perhaps. But
more than likely the breakin6 up Of
her romance with the youngs.er from
home.
He must ask her to marry him right
away, before the chap had another
chance to put IN an appearance and
throw monkey wrench INTO his care
fully built machinery. is mind i'll a
turmoil OF uncertainty. Curt picked up
the phone and called Nine. Dumas:
"Cissie,' he said. Il hope you're not
doing anything important Saturday
night"
"And-so why?" she laughed lightly.
you are loneSome?"
Curt forced a laugh.
I'm giving dinner party, and it
wouldn't be quite complete without
you
OH am fattered." Dumas Won
dered 1t it had anything to do with the
mystery of Mary. Il have a small en-
gagement-but will break it"
AS a matter Of fact Dumas had an
engagement with one Of her most i'm
portant clients. But wild horses
couldn't have kept her away from
Curtis party. She felt certain she
would learn something about his rela-
tions with the little girl from Virginia
in whom he took such a mysterious
interest.
Dumas was not surprised when Curt
asked to speak to Mary. She stood close
by and learned that Mary, too, was re-
ceiving an invitation to the dinner.
Cissie smiled to herself. 1t would be
interesting. She had never been to
Curt Little'S home.
Curtis next call was to his LAWYER
Burton Sinclair had handled all Cur S
legal affairs since his sOlOurn from the
Oklahcn'a oil fields to the cinema city.
Curt thought il very wise 10 let Sin
clair in on his affair with Mary from
the ground floor. Some time he might
reed him. badly. 1t was hard telling
What the aftermath of his marriage to
Mary might be.
True, he was legally divorced from
his wife. His money had secured a di-
vc-ce Gloria knew nothing about. But
there might be serious trouble. DR..
Sawyer might do almost anything
Curtis head ached and his mind went
around in circles while he waited for
Sinclair to come to the phone"
He was relieved when Sinclair as
sured him he would be there at the
appointed time Sinclair, too, had an
other important engagement. But Curt
Little was his most important client
And he knew which side of his bread
was buttered. Besides, he, too wondered
what all the dinner partylng was about.
Perhaps a big business deal to be han
died over the flowing bowl.
Freckle was a little more than aston
ished when Curt telephoned her an in
vitation to join his party
I've a blind date for YOU he
laughed Now I know you won't turn
me down.
Freckle giggled.
"Oh. Mr.. Little. you say the cutest
things! Is he old as my great-grand-
father-and has he got lots and lots
of money
He is young and handsome and goes
for redheads in big way
That did interest Freckle. But she
said dubiously:
You wouldn't fool the little woman?"
"You come and see" Curt laughed
again. Then asked in a low voice
Seen anything of our young friend?"
Hes scarcer than baby clothes in
a bachelors laundry bag"
Good" Curt chuckled. You're a
great little fixer. I wont forget my
promise"
Freckle was thrilled. She knew Curt
Little would keep his promise to give
her the part in "Hi-De-Di.' And The
promised bonus Of $1,000 on the day he
married Mary would be mama from
heaven. People worked and slaTed all
their lives to save less than that to in
sure their future. She could do a lot
for the family back in Brooklyn with a
nest egg like that Maybe even send
her kid sister Judy to college.
Judy was smart-and Keen looking
She had ambition. too. and was nearly
through high school at IS. Worked her
way through. taking care of babies after
school hours. She'd certainly had
enough experience with kidd.es at home
t. know something about them. All Of
a sudden Frccklc was 50 hOmosick for
a sight OF the old tenement and her
mother and II brothers and sisters that
the tears rained down her cheeks.
But she wiped them away passion
ately and forced her mind to think Of
Curt Littles party. II vas the first
time he had invited her on q party with
him and Mary 1t Just seemed never to
occur to them thai she was sitting there
alone night after night.
Maybe if she were the shifting. long
faced sort people might take pity on
her. But if she didn't clown she thought
OF ma and the kids too much-and Wor-
ried about what was to become of them
all Nothing like little horse play to
keep people from seeing how you felt
And if there was one place il the world
you couldn't put on a long face it was
Hollywood You had to kcse up the
brownstone front day and nlgnt-come
what may.
Late in the day Dumas called Mary
into one of the fitting rooms. On her
arm she held a white evening gown that
she had smilinCIV SnuGgCd with a bit