The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1936-02-14

Published by Special Arrangements With The
Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate.
Incorporated
(Copyright: 1886: BY Ben Ames Willi2ms)

gracefully as a reed In the wind,
through the routine of her dance upon
the stage. Behind her the chorus
melted from n harmonious pattern
doscope shift and change; and against
this bright background her slim young
figure moved and Swayed, n perfect
posture merging indistinguishably into
the next: She was young, well trained
in a good school. The tips of her toes
more than touched the boards; she
moved as lightly as thistledown, like
some imagined, vision Of beauty, with
out flesh or substance, enchanting
every eye.
Enchanting, in particular, the eye OF
Bret McCaskell. That young man sat
in an incredulous and wondering adj
miration; a mysterious awe. His dress
tie was awry, his shirt bosom bulged,
the left side of his coat was punched
on the arm Of the seat, his
hair was disordered and his brow was
been conscious Of these things, OF his
own discomfort and of the fact that
the attractive girl in the seat beside
him was watching him in covert amuse-
ment. But now, absorbed in watching
Linda, he forgot his hair, his shirt
front, and all else but her.
Even when her smiling glance
touched him 1t awoke in him no sense
of his own disarray, yet it was not
like Bret to be unconscious OF the
amused glances of strangers. He had
all his life received such glances and
WINGED under them. for he was one Of
those large boned, heavy bodied young
men who are constitutionally clumsy,
forever involving themselves in terrible
embarrassments. His hands and feet
were gifted with an incredible inepti-
tude. His Aunt Sarah-who had been
mother and father to him these 20
clumsy he couldn't milk a COW without
breaking off her horns" She had adopt
ed the jest from a Gibson cartoon
which had touched her n OF humor
before Bret was born; used 1t as freely
now as though it were her own. She
was a sharp tongued old a~ristocrat,
afraid of no one, feared by most people,
as famous for her scalding wit as Bret
was for his helpless awkwardnesses.
But Bret, who knew he was clumsy,
who had demonstrated that fact a th"u-
always oppressed by a hideous dread
of his next piece of laundering and
crushed beneath the sense of his own
inferiority, forgot these things in the
delight of watching Linda Nay. He for
got this hulking body of his with its
brutal trick of b%etraying him into
crushing embarrassment, in the holy,
delight of watching Linda
Nays body here before him on the
And not because her body was re-
vealed and beautiful, though this might
have been reason enough for any man
to watch Linda. but because all the
physical parts of her were so miracu-
lousy graceful and controlled. It was
to him, whose little finger
could perform miracles of clumsiness,
that anyone could, like Linda, maintain
all her members such complete
her as one looks uDon a miracle.
He had dds discovered tS;s Linda Liz s19c, q fortnight night
opened. Her ballet numbers-one in
the first act and M in the second
seemed to him to CLEAN with pure
like a diamond bedded in ashes
and In mire. He came again, and then
and for this last week he had
every night, alone, to occupy the
seat in the front row and yet at
the side, so that he huddled under the
as possible.
him but he was scarce conscious Of this
fact. She looked at everyone, her smile
the whole audience.
Bret did not think Of Linda as a
girl Of flesh and blood who might be
presumed to eat and drink and laugh
and talk like other girls. She was re-
mote and lovely as a dream. When to-
night her dance ended he sat for q
while still under the spell, till realiza-
ton that the girl at his side was watch
ing him with a covert smile brought
hn Nly IN can}fvv a~nfr III N~1t1~l@I
to be amused by the laborious antics
Of the comedian upon the stage. but
the remaining 10 or IS minutes of the
had not the least interest
for him.. He would have been glad to
but to do so meant rising, pass
ing the knees OF half a dozen people
between him and the aisle, ascending
the aisle in the face of the whole audi
not contemplate. TO attempt it might
lead to any catastrophe. He would prob
ably trip over some ones feet and fall
the rail into the orchestra pit,
perhaps even fall through n of the
So he stayed where he was and pres
the curtain fell. Linda, in street
clothes. came with the other principals
lights rose and the audience began
flow slowly up the aisle.
1t was October, but warm. Bret did
not put on his coat. The girl beside
him struggled into hers and he wished
help her but dared not, knowing
in the attempt he was sure to
blunder into error. She turned away
from him toward the aisle and Bret
came behind her.
But before she reached the aisle she
swung about with an exclamation of
dismay, her hand at her throat, and
faced Bret and said in deep distress:
"1've lost my pendant"
"Eh?" Bret stammered.
MY pendant! Diamonds and tur-
quoises!" she cried. 1T was my moth
er's. o help me find it. Dol"
So Bret McCaskell found himself
up seats, climbing down into
the orchestra pit, crawling here and
there on his hands and knees. He was
still thus engaged when someone came
from behind the stage boxes to join
them. Bret's head was under a seat,
50 he had no warning till this someone
said:
Grr1o11o Sa.1s--V w. --a--