Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1937-08-21

~ sedness At the Waldorf
New York, any time yOE
get around to IL. Yeah; stu the Sigma
Deit house. Stiu Fletcher MeHenry
speaking"
The letter in his hand shimmied like
unset gelatin. A fine letter, swell Dish
ing out dynamite like strawberry
mousse. Deb would do 1t that way. She
adored strawberry mousse
; Then magically from New York Il
Bethlehem. Deb's fluty little voice wa.
careSsing his ear. 'Mac2 You lamb
It's so good to hear"
Hold it" the lamb bleated. Il just
got your letter, the second one"
Silence. Deborah Curtis might have
been thinking fast, but she said nc
word. She did not have to
Fletcher Colt McHenry talked fast
and let thinking take care of itself
He might have been a father, telling
her where to head in, instead Of a
boy who had carried her books home
and not so long ago.
IT'S one thing to study dancing up
there; and the job hunt might have
passed as a job If you'd got good job.
/ But this If you think I swallowed
/ that part about Nick Ware, the old
grasshopper, picking you out of three
hundred girls, you're"
But he did. Mac. Honestly. There
VIC WCAC-ADNbby anu Il d1AQ al EllEllSI
girl named Malva Stonely-shoved
somehow into line of the most beau
tiful girls you ever"
Il can read" Mac cut in. THE part
that handed me laugh-"aS though
the thought Of laugh didn't strange
hints the three Of you living at the
Waldorf In my time chorus girls
lived in boarding houses"
Across the wire came a most unlady-
like noise. A snort. your time =.
why, you're hardly out of bibs. Besides,
1t happens I'm not chorus girl. I
have a spot"
aYou Bet" Mac roared. "Old Ware
can spot EN- a mile Off He's been
doing it since before you were born.
Not that I care"
Deb'S voice might have surprised the
operator, had she been listening. But
Mac was used to Deb's mercurial moods.
That was what bothered him; they had
been his barometer for three years,
since Deb was 10 =.
"But honestly, Mac. Mr.. Ware picks
girls for his revues like you pick
well, overcoatS and things" she fin
ished lamely.
yeah Mac agreed. and overcoats
have to be warm, with the right lines.
That wasn't so good. II didn't mean
that, funnyface It's only that-this
darn towns been lousy lately. What /
good is a diploma, anyway"
Still Deb did not answer. Though she /
had her own ideas on the subject OF
college degrees.
thing out; dozens of times? They were
definitely not engaged. The future was
Deb knew all about the early mar
riage of Macs parents, of his mothers
death at his birth. OF his fathers lonely
struggle, which had ended tragically, |
leaving barely enough TO pay for Macs
education. She understood, beyond her
years, Macs avoidance OF entangle-
Don't get the idea I'm throwing
sand in the machinery" he was saying.
your life's your own; same as mine.
But what did you go Looping into mus.
Ical show for? They're so-sort OF wild.
you wouldn't be suggesting 6y
chance that give up my career, would
Mac roared. who? MeP I should say
not. I wouldn't ask woman to give
- '.,T ms What 1 thought" Translu-
,ent words, scarcely more than whls-
Der. II just wanted to make sure. That
makes US even" 80,
How do you mean-'even?"
'sWelI,Y that little catch in her voice,
4 wouldn't ask you to give up college
So here we are. Or. rather, here
/ am. And there you are.
yeah" Mac retorted brilliantly.
Every man for himself. So your snow
opens next week?"
She caught his mood. "Uh-huh, IN
baltimore. Why don't you run DOWN.
TN be lots Of fun, Mac Mr.. Ware Is
irving party the opening mgnt'
md"
The rest was lost on Mac. He
wouldn't go to Baltimore or out TO the
ront lawn, for that matter-to see
nj the silly shows Nick Ware could
hink up in century; ,., I
Hence Monday night, with Baltimore !
ess than two hundred niies sW s,st
nd the Sig house metamorph INTO
torture chamber His erstwhile broth
RS agog over ''Deb's debut" were bar
,arians beside whom Ethiopian hills ,
men paled.
After dinner. with q grotesque grin c
,asted on his lips, Mac kept away from (
he Telephone: sat through a rubber /
4 bridge. Then gave up. He'd have 70 !
all Baltimore Or get out OF the
louse.
Several stops in deserted cafes; that
yas what he needed. To feel warm. 10 [
e confident. To be able to laugh at q
aunting picture which his mind would .
lot relinquish.
out so completely that he. did not {
ee South Mountain, scarcely knew
Vhen he wandered into the stadium e
ye was obliyioIs Of the vast, empty
randstand where many an afternoon, {
e and Deb had rooted for Lehigh until a
heir voices had folded and died.
he saw only darkness. A refuge. /
yawning blackness in which q man
ould lose himself, and not give merry t
ann whether school kept or not. {
CHARLES Nj. RUSSELL PRINTS
-.@~S~S~~s@N~rsN~p N~s~~~s~~rer>rS-~ y
FIVE FAVORITE