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

The Music Stops
AS Elizabeth had predicted, the
a men were nearly all conven-
tionally garbed-some in white,
some in black and a few in olive
drab. Mrs. Flowers liquid dark
eyes languished above a harem
veil; her lard-white, shapeless
legs were imperfectly concealed
by sheer harem trousers. She was
dancing with her husband, small,
slight officer with an intelligent,
crucified face and a mouth dis
ciplined to patience.
Mrs. Orpington was a tolerable
Pierrette until you saw her sharp
featured, malicious face. She had
good legs and marvellous figure.
but she was not young.
She seemed disturbed that she
was not dancing. / saw her mea-
sure the remaining possibilities
and descend on the Wheelers,
mother and son, who sat stolidly
side by side, CLASSY eyed and pain
fully smiling.
Young Wheeler was tall and
lean, with good features; but he
burned with self-hatred. You
could see it in his muddy gray
eyes that yelled turbulent depths.
And on her face-the face of that
indomitable old woman who kept
him chained like a falcon to her
s~s~t~4 xLn I1stf1~xnace mos S.aAanfaH
He was hers; she would never give
him up.
Mrs. Orpington fiuttered down
beside them and began to chatter.
could see her sharp eyes rowing,
could imagine her barbed COM
ments. But mother and son seemed
scarcely to notice her. They were
wrapped in ugly solitude. like
characters in an O'Neill play.
Something impinged on the cor
ner of my vision-someone slip
ping past the wing of the building.
For a moment ! was sure it was
Charlie--a turn of the head, the
neat, fluid motion of the hips that
distinguish a dancer and fighter;
Charlie was little of each.
! rose impulsively, only to sink
back in my chair. ! did not want
70 see him, told myself angrily.
] would leave tomorrow; and /
would send back his ring by the
colonel's orderly.
A minute later Adam vaulted
the veranda railing and sat there
grinning at me. He had been gone
quite a while. Had he run into
Charlie?
adam, you're a gentleman" !
said. "But refuse to let you carry
off all the honors. We're going in
now, and you're going to fiatter
Ma Wheeler into letting her little
boy dance with me-" ! rose.
''What a PERFECTLY revolving
idea" he said with simple sim
cerity. "You can't believe I'd pre-
fer Ma Wheeleri"
While ! hesitated he reached out
and caught my hand in friendly.
impersonal clasp.
Listen" he said softly.
The first liquid notes of Taps
were flowing like slow cool water
through the darkness. Tears stood
In my eyes. | waited, my hand in
Adams. listening. under the spell
OF an enchantinent ] cannot de-
scribe.
The last silver note withdrew
and ceased to reach for il. Adams
hand was tangible in mine.
"You wouldn't believe how soft
we really are" he said gently. "A
lot of this hard-riding. hard
drinking front is a pose. There's
that word 'militaristic. We're sup
posed TO be tough and hard and
brutal--dont we make war a |
career7 Why don't we give up this |
archaic bugle- blowing? We could |
use sort of fire whistle. Why must |
everybody on the post stand and
face the flag at retreat? It's an
awful nuisance-everybody says
So"
Outsiders
you love t." l said.
"Of course we do. When we |
say we're in the service we mean |
1t literally. And we don't know |
quite how TO act when a bunch |
Of hard-boiled civilians hurl that |
insulting word 'militaristic' al us. |
Some day wen invent a word to |
hurl back at them. Now we merely |
call them Outsiders"
Am an Outsider?"
in the sense that you are not |
one Of us. yes. You were thinking |
awhile ago that we lead a cat-and- |
dog existence-don't deny IL, I /
heard you. You were thinking aw-
fully loud. And in a way we do. |
Take lot Of assorted humans and |
pen them up together too closely |
II don't care who they are-and |
you'n see sparks Giy. But don't for
set that we have one bond in COM |
mon: we're all in the service |
because we love il. In any trouble |
we show a united front. And then |
it's the Outsider who takes IL on |