Evening star., 1935-04-07
April 2. 1885

you won I nave any fdCe lett 70 DC cute with.
Do you know what I'm going to do to youe
I'm going
Here he broke off, not because he had
finished, for he evidently had plenty of
material left. but because the ground we
were standing on suddenly sort of exploded
Concealed here and there about these
Beverly Hills lawns. you see, are little
metal thingummies with holes in them, by
means of which they are watered. One
twiddle of tap. and the whole thing becomes
fountain. And this was what had happened
now. Unseen by Us, some hidden japanese
hand had turned on the juice, and there we
were, right in the thick Of it.
Well, it wasn't 50 bad for me. Owing to
my policy Of steadily backing, had reached
spot which for the nonce was comparatively
dry. But the exuescence Murphy CHANGED
to be standing right over thingummy, with
the result that he copped it in the eyeball.
He leaped like the high hills. and became
brisk and strategic. While he was still in mid
air. | was off and away. Logging it down the
road. had just remembered that it was by
this method that the child Flower had been
enabled to save himself on other occasions.
Until this moment, had had little oppor-
tunity of trying out this new body of mine
and seeing what it was good for. A mirror
had told me that it was ornamental; during
the recent interview it had become apparent
to me that it was not any too muscular. With
a gush of thankful emotion, now perceived
that it could run like billy-o.
headed down the street at capital pace.
Uncouth noises in my rear told me that the
hunt was up, but had little fear that I
would be unable to shake off my pursuer's
challenge. These solid chunky kids are never
fieIs.
My judgment of form had not misled me-
Class told. entered Linden Drive leader
by several lengths. and by the time reached
Hazel June's house had drawn away from the
field to such an extent that had rung the
bell and was being ushered in by the butler
while Murphy was only rounding the corner.
The butler, I must mention. had been a
bit doubtful about the ushering for moment,
as Hazel. it seemed, was expecting visitor
and had told him to tell callers that she was
not at home. Fortunately. however. he ap-
peared to come to the decision that a half
portion like myself could hardly be reckoned
as caller, and presently l was seated in a
chair in the living room, endeavoring to catch
up with my breath.
The recent distasteful scene had shaken me
a good deal. had had no idea, until be-
came one, that the life of a child star in
Hollywood was one of quite such hectic ex-
element. l was not surprised that little
Teddy Flower had dreamed 50 wistfully of
getting away from it all and going back to
Chillicothe, Ohio. Miss Rrinkmeyer alone was
enough to take the gilt off the gingerbread
Add Tommy Murphy. and you had a state OF
affairs which might fairly be called bit above
the odds. I was beginning to see that in
assuming the outer envelope of this gifted
child had stepped straight into sort of
bally jungle, full of sinister creatures that
might pounce at any moment.
had been musing thus for some little
while, when rummy sensation began to steal
over me, and it was suddenly borne in upon
me that I was dying of thirst. What with the
warmth of the day and the fact that had
been sprinting like mustang, the epiglottis
seemed to have become composed of dry
sandpaper. Already I was gasping painfully
like a stranded goldfish, and it seemed to
me that if didn't climb outside a whisky
and splash in about half jiffy. should
expire in dreadful agonies.
And. by Jove, this thought had scarcely
fitted into my mind, when perceived that
all the makings were Hospitality laid out on
a table in the corner the whole bag of
tricks. They seemed to be beckoning to me-
had just enough strength to totter across
and start mixing. A healing draught put new
life into me. mixed another and, having