The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-12-07

was Sill heSitating over my
decision to rejoin the party when
Tubby Shaw bounced out of the
club with his air of a man cs
affairs which sat oddly on hic
round, nondescript countenarce. l
suspected him of spending some
time and thought before a mirror
striving for world-weary look,
only to have it curdle into petu-
lance when he was not watching.
Everybody inside" he COM
manded with deprecatory -four
ish of the bouquet of balloons
which sprouted from his clenched
fist.
He disentangled one fussily from
the others and presented it to me.
ITO be tied to the lady's ankle"
he instructed pedantically.
Adam said, do you feel up to
free-for-all, Kay?"
/ had always wanted someone
to call me Kay, bat from my sis
ter's Kathy to Charles Red, no
one ever had.
"It's awfully pleasant out here"
| murmured, marking with graft
tude the fiawless phrasing of the
brief question, the nice assumption
of familiarity, of reluctance to
break up the tete-a-tete.
Sorry" said Tubby Shaw.
Everyone in for the balloon
dance. Committees orders. There
II be a prize"
And he stood there, implacable,
until we rose and preceded him.
The musicians were ready to
begin. Tubby darted around the
edge of the dance floor and mount
ed the stage where the orchestra
was seated facing the door. He
made a little speech, too glib not
to have been rehearsed. The music
was beginning.
Adam pinched my balloon neat
ly, grinned at the sharp report and
guided me to an open door half
way around to the right.
Scream OF Horror
THE reading ROOM" he said.
1 We stood in the doorway
watching. The lights had been
turned low and a rainbow spotlight
circled its seasick colors across the
faces of the scampering dancers,
leaving their feet and the floor in
shadow, so that balloons bounded
like surf balls on a changeable
colored sea.
They had livened up under the
powerful tonic of rivalry. Men
straightarmed their way through
massed interference or whirled
their partners like Apache dane
ers around the edge of the dance
floor. From time to time there was
the sharp report of a bursting
balloon and a woman's squeal of
chagrin.
Barney and Anne had returned.
They passed near us, moving rap
idly along the edge of the floor.
Beside them fioated bright red
balloon. like the scarlet heart of
their costumes. Barney was hold
ing her close, her cheek against
his breast, his lips brushing her
hair. They passed so close I could
have touched her, and for a mo-
ment her iris eyes met mine: but
there was no recognition in them.
They were blank and CLASSY, and
/ realized with a shock that she
was more than a little tight.
| had seen enough. Lets re-
treat" ! suggested and turned back
into the reading room.
] Twas wondering, suddenly. what
Adam liked to read, when a Diff
ference in the quality of the COM
motion on the dance floor drew
my attention.
Adam was listening too. For a
moment the voices had stopped.
and the whisper and stamp of feet.
The music faltered on for a few
bars and the trap drummer finish
ed an insane clamor of cymbals
before he noticed that he was
alone.
In the sudden silence a mans
voice spoke urgently. A slight
babble answered him. Then, like
a siren cutting through traffic
sounds. a woman screamed.
Adam was away like a startled
deer. For a confused moment |
wavered in the doorway, staring
across the vacant floor at the hud-
died people outside the door of
the women'S dressing room. omit
Impelled by the instinct TO herd
against danger. fed to join them.
Inside the powder room a limp
little figure lay on ehaise Tongue.
Over her was bent Doc Moore, the
young medico who had been Eliza
beth's dinner partner.
Someone help me-" he said
softly.
Adam was at his side in an in
slant and together, with gentle
hands, they turned the slight body
on its side.
She looked like a rag doll, lying
there in her scarlet and white, her
dynamic body so still. ! noticed
trivial details: scrap Of leaf mold
on the sole of her dancing pump:
the undimmed luster of the dia-
mond in the new gold miniature
on her limp left hand: the scarlet
balloon still tied to her ankle.
Then ! had to look at the thing
that had forced a groan from the
throats OF those around meat the
black hole in the red heart that
ornamented the back of Anne's
jersey.