Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1935-11-16

StAuu ne4n& AH48ne0 ~. WON'T u4Fa
you laughed at through me. You'd ens
BY hating me"
Don't you want 10 marry met" de.
manded Raymond
~Of course I do. More than anything
anything in the world"
Then we're q pan Of idots 70 listen
70 anybody"
We're a pair Of idiots If we don't
listen"
Despite the tears IN Mans voice tne
question suddenly hit Raymond--wny
was sne fighting him contrary TO her
own wtshess It remained unspoSen but
persistent as they pulled up at Hubert's
Beverly Hills home. It ranked, tanta-
h2ed In the way half forgotten dream
mingles with reality.
We're he and Nan actually caught
IN an impasse. blind alley IN which
they could turn and turn without find
ing an exit except the one way Of
their entrance9 He'd soon settle that.
He left Nan and the party. He went
tearing out to Graystone. the molten
picture magnate's Santa Monica estate
consisting Of sleeping and living quar-
tiers the size OF country club, land
Scaped gardens. stables, garage and
swimming pool at the top Of a slope
looking down on the Pacific
For two hours he tramped the floor
Of the library, banged chairs and tables.
and ragged at the smooth sangIinity Of
Emil Graystone's undisturbed asslr-
ance that it couldn't be done. Mr.. Gray
tone in lowered red satin dressing
gown over an ample white silk night
shirt, was certain OF his ground He
had not in the least altered his decision.
All the way back to Hubert's Ray
mond talked furiously to himself in his
native tongue. It was as II he argued
with an unseen enemy.
The party was in fun swing. In the
bar Hubert stood on q table recitiug
Swinburne to whose amorous misery
nobody listened. In the patio the pro-
lOnged ecstacy OF a gypsy band drew
an ache that was sweet and provocative
Couples languidly circled about 8 raised
platform. The trees whispered jeal-
GUS accompaniment to gliding feet and
haunting rhythm.
Raymond made his way through the
telescope vista OF rooms. Nan was not
in any Of them. He went out to the
patio. There he found her dancing with
Clinton Thomas. OF all people, the man
who this afternoon had Infatuated him
1t did not occur to Raymond that he
had made no mention to Nan Of the
quarrel with his director He saw them
move as one to the wall of a tango,
Clinton's smooth blond head bent to
the crown of Mans gold curls. Now they
were visible In a stream of LIGHT from
the house now lost with kaleidoscope ,
magic among shadowy foliage
Something throttling as savage hands
caught Raymond,s throat. He turned on
his heel. made for the bar, tossed off
five champagne cocktails as quickly as
they could be passed across. He had
eaten practically no dinner and the
dubbed like hot blood in
his veins.
'Parlez-moi d'amourI" sobbed Hubert
from the table top as the musicians
played the popular tune. A short man
With SQUAT shoulders square bald head
md buIged eyes behind thick spectacles,
he looked like a musical comedy COM
sdisn standing there with hand over
his heart
Presently Nan glided past an open
window
She sailed in, stiIl held close to Gin
on. AS Hubert hoped down the Eng
ishmsn's hands slipped from her
mooth white back to her waist and
gracefully raised her aloft like a bird
N the wing
Nan did not see Raymond. He had
etired to a window alcove in the adj
dining room. From this vantage point
le surveyed the bar much as one In
heater pit looks at a lighted stage.
He saw that Clinton In tail coat and
White tie was immaculate. as unrllffIed
S he had been when Raymond lost his
emper at the studio.
"Sure Of himself" registered Ray
nond. "As sure Of himself as he was
his afternoon"
He saw Nan sway, saw her eyes half
lose. cast down In liquid glance not
{ Hubert, who had slumped into q
hair but at the Englishman who stood
azing up at her. There had been a 9
me when Nan graced the Follies Choir {
s. She had not forgotten that love
ong requires an objective. She knew Q
ow TO sing with q low and endearing
That was all the liquid e
lance meant to her. At this particular I
loment it meant a lot more to Ray
lond. Often she had chanted the song '
, him as she was chanting 1t now to :
linton: \
"Speak to me OF love" =
The room. the svelte black and white y
cure perched on the table the man 4
It'll face raised and eyes somnolent =
nd embracing went suddenly red be- y
re Raymond's fixed stare. He =
his somewhat wilted coll
r, buttoned his white linen dinner II
,at. He sauntered over to the bar just =
the last line trailed like a slow ca
SIS from Mans lips. Al
In the midst Of clamor for another =
ng Clinton Thomas reached up and "
S long hands clasped Mans waist. n
ithout unclasping them he brought 4
n down and holding her. glided once u
ore toward the open window.
Raymond none too steadily stepped -
the path Of the dancers. U
20, hello" said Nan. when did you =.
me IMP"
"stop dancing with him" II
raymond" -
"Stop it, / sayl"
Raymond was not drinking man. III
: had the inbred French preference ~
T mellow old wine whose bouquet he ~
joyed as much with nostrilS as with IL
late. In the shock Of his command =