The Washington times., 1937-12-22


his State university. Maybe that
was why he got shot one time try
ing to stop a bank holdup in Clar'
endon, his 10000 population home
town.
:, His own crowd could have told
you way back in his childhood that
Judd was going places. He'd be
a big man, they said, some cay.
When he finished at the uni
versity and graduated with an
Alb. those who knew him and his
gifts and his flare for being where
the spotlight could shine strongly
upon him were of the unanimous
opinion that he would turn to the
stage and become a great actor.
LAW CAREER
But Judd had been thinking the
matter over through his four years
of college. And he had known
some actors. He knew that the
best actor in the world stands a
pretty good chance of spending at
least so per cent of his career
hunting a job. And Judd didn't
like hunting jobs. He took up law.
He was a natural lawyer. He
coul say How do you do. 1t looks
like rain today" so that you would
think he was declaiming the first
line Of the Illiad.
1t was in the year before he
was graduated from law school
that he became conscious Of Gwen
Andrews as desirable woman. Be
fore that, she had been just an
other girl, a kind of seXlesS COM
panion who had accompanied
Judd through his life from baby
hood.
But that year he went to a
dance at the Clarendon Country
Club. It was the night after he
returned from school and the town
was still wearing that newnesS
that your home town wears when
you return to it after a lengthy
absence.
who is that grl?" he de-
manded of Fred Forsythe.
There are Is women on the
floor" Forsythe told him. which
one do you mean?"
"I mean the beautiful one. She's
dancing with Tubby Graves"
Fred'S eyes sought and found
Tubby and flicked over the girl
Tubby had in his arms. She was
tall and her hair was blue-black.
She had short nose and a long
upper lip and blue eyes, and she
was shapely. She had an aura of
beauty and a grace of movement.
There was beauty in her body but
there was more beauty behind her
eyes.
stop kidding" Fred said. "You
know that's Gwen Andrews. I'm
less you're getting near-sighted.
Why do you do things like that?"
GREAT CHANGE
''It can't be-" he denied solemnly.
Nobody could change like that. "
But he found out that it was
Gwen Andrews and he also found
out that he wanted to be with her
most of his time. And he was.
They spent most of that sum-
mer together. He came back to
town several times during his
senior year. Through the next
summer that friendship of theirs
ripened. They we're in love with
each other. Everybody knew it.
Judd never said anything about
marriage. He loved Gwen and he
expressed his love as far as she
would allow him to express it.
But the dream in her eyes be-
came clearer for all the world to
see. And her beauty unfolded with
the dream. She was in love, open
ly, deeply and trustfully in love
with the dashing promising Judd
Lane.
She waited patiently-and every
body knew she was waiting pa
ttently-for Judd to finish school
and pass his bar examination and
set up his shingle there in town.
But Judd had other ideas. He
told them to Gwen one night in
his car after he had kissed her
p1entifully and held her against
him. She lay in his arms with a
smile running through all her
body and waited for words. They
would be:
Gwen, how about getting mar
ried? l haven't got any money
and we'll have to go slow for g
while. But I have a lot of con
fidence in myself. I don't think
it will be long before I'm making
a living here"
SAYS GOOD,BY
That is the way he would phrase
it. And you can't imagine how
many times Gwen had heard hin
say those words. But when h
spoke, the words, somehow came
out different. He said:
Gwen, I guess this is good-b!
for you and me. I'm going up tt
Chicago next week. I've beer
thinking things out. I though
for a long while of staying her,
in town and setting up prac
tice.
"But I don't think there is mucl
future here for me. have Ger
tain gifts that I believe will b.
more. appreciated in a city. Ant
last week, just after I passed tn
bar exams, was offered a chancr
to go into the firm of Ludlow
Derran & Higgins.
="Bob Higgins is a fraternit,