Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-10-02

That's what you did to mel
Get all you can d. -. any way you
can!" She turned to Anne. Don't
you see that's his game, you little
dope?" She was laughing loudly and
Anne tried to speak over the noise.
Il certainly was a dope!" Anne
admitted. But I'm not any more!"
She flung back her head and her
eyes were ebony points of fire.
I'll be grateful till the day I die
that I found you out when I did.
And Ruth, apologize for the way
l acted when you tried to warn mel"
Ruth cackled in triumph and
threw her arm around Anne's shoul-
der She had been drinking heavily
and she swayed little as she talked.
That's telling him, kid. I wish
every word you said would choke
his dirty neck! And you'll" she
pointed a shaking finger at Van
You missed the boat this time and
Us the last boat for you. You've
been down for long time, and now
you're finally out, you filthy bum
and I'm the one that's going to
kick you while you're down . and
spit in your eye -. and laugh my
fool head off! :"
Van, curSing tensely, grabbed her
throat ). and at that moment
Ruth passed completely out and
went limp on the floor. Anne slid
down into a chair, screaming as Van
came toward her. The two police
men came bounding up the stairs.
They saw the rumpled figure of
Ruth stretched on the floor and
the glazed terror in Anne's eyes.
Vans words came out tripping over
one another and staccato with
fright.
She's drunk . never touched
her been drinking all night,
honest, officer, III make it right
.. didn't choke her =. shes all
right"
Anne Is Freed.
One of them bent over and shook
Ruth roughly. The guys right" he
said. Shes sitter than a mack
erel."
yeah said the other one, "but
what's that about choking her? We
better take EN- both along to the
station :. book EN- for disorderly
conduct"
They believed Anne's story and
let her go, though they did take
her name. She ran out of the office
and out Of the building never
wanting to see any one she knew
again. The sun was shining when
she got outside. 1t was another dry,
clear autumn day, but as fas as she
was concerned the sun didn't
have any right to shine again. She
was broken at last.
All the SNUG. self-important ideas
she had kept before her were tram
pied under Van Franklin'S feet. She
hated the very thought of his name
:. but still he was right. She was
no actress. That simple fact every
one had told her, and yet she had
never let herself believe it. She
had said confidently that every act
resS encountered difficulties and set
backs and that she could take them
all. But now that deep-rooted con-
viction was being torn out of her
and the hole it left was too painful
to bear.
Why. even in her own life. in a
scene important to her future, she
could only stand and make a few
inane ichool-girl speeches. There
was no character to anything she
did, no personality, she was just a
complete washout. As high as they
had been at one extreme, Anne S
hopes floundered now to the very
bottom. She hadn't even been able
to tell Van what she thought of
him. Some one else had done it for
her!
Feels She Is Friendless.
And now she was friendless, but
that was all right because she didn' I
ever want to have another friend.
She was broken and disgraced
and the pieces Of her life were too
widely scattered to ever be put to-
gether again.
She walked aimlessly, for hours
it seemed, along unfamiliar streets
and then-suddenly she saw bridge
ahead and her mind began
shaping an idea.
That was it, The brave way out.
To end everything in one flaming
courageous stroke. instead of hang
ing on for the rest of her life, a
dismal failure pitied by everybody.
She prepared herself almost in a
frenzy of expectant JOY, frantically
rejoicing in the horror she was 60
ing to meet. She glanced at people
passing by, and wondered if they
could see the sublime light that
must surely be shining from her
eyes.
And then she came to the bridge
Thirty feet below her the East
River lay sluggish and dull. The
sun had gone under an autumn
cloud and there was no golden CLINT
on the water. 1t looked cold.
She was astonished that she could
even think of such a thing. And
then she saw greasy dark swirl on
the water where some one had