The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1940-12-27
Justice Jest
BY THAYER WALDO
Mcclure Syndicate-wNU ServiceJ
THE lady speared a picked onion
and nibbled it appraisingly.

Delightful" she pronounced. Il
compliment your taste, Burton, dear
They do 60 well with sherry"
The large man at her left nodded
somewhat CURLY.
Yes, yes, Prunella; quite so. But
hats a trifle irrelevant just now.
Mortimer and / have weighty mat
tcrs to discuss. Haven't we, old
boy?"
Across the table from him the
party third member seemed almost
to start
"Eh?" he jerked; then: "Oh, alb
solutely! l should say-a great
many"
Huffily the hostess inquired:
well, am to take that as hint
to retire."
mot at all. my dove" said Bur
ton; ION the contrary. was merely
about to suggest that you listen with
attentive silence TO our talk.
LAS the producer of this play OF
yours, wished to 60 over some OF
the details with you"
"You-ah-you mean there are
some things in the script you want
to changer"
Most emphatically not" The
bulky gentleman ficked one thick
hand in gesture of reproof.
Il see. Yes; of course. We're
there-did you have any particular
scenes in mind?"
Glad you asked that" Burton
doomed heartily Just the point |
was coming TO. Yes, there's one
bit particularly feel we would do
we'll to examine. refer to the Sc
quence in which Sir Cholmondeley
Twerp-Gerald is given the poisoned
wine by Horatio Steele"
In that" the other went on inn
perturbably, Il will insist that you
achieve a masterpiece. 1t has sus-
pense, dramatic force, and. above
all, justice triumphant.
He looked at each of them with
eyes enthusiastically agloW, then re-
Suned:
Think of it-at last we are 10
nave in the theater an enactment
VI civilized yet perfect revenge. 1t
iias remained for Mortimer Trent
rup, the outstanding playwright of
this age. to deal with the problem
in a wholly satisfactory manner. l
am more than proud TO be instru-
mental in offering this magnificent
example of right conduct to hus-
bands everywhere.
He paused, glanced at the wine
glasses of the other two, and said
Soicitously:
Gomez didn't realize we were
running dry. Prunella, ring for
Quint and have him bring more
sherry"
Mortimer'S mouth opened twice
before words came.
"Not-not for me-" he managed
finally.
NONSENSE" Burton scoffed. Eve
mustn't neglect conviviality. Ring,
my dear"
After a quick glance to her right,
Prunella obeyed The butler ap
peared almost at once, carrying .
tray which held two SpaniSh-labeled
bottles.
Fill the glasses" Burton direct
ed; "the same as before"
1t was performed and the man
went out.
"A toast!" said Burton, ito the
success of q fine and noble work,
in which we all believe most sin
cerely!"
All joined, in varying degrees of
exuberance. After that the host
placed elbows upon the table and
renewed his monologue.
Somehow, | just can't put aside
that incident 1t has become, be-
yond all comparable passages in
literature, a living. vital thing to
me. Suppose for instance-just to
illustrate my point, of course that
we three we're involved in the situa-
ton your play presents, Mortimer.
Imagine my satisfaction as the out
ragged one in hitting upon that
scheme of vengeance Really,
want you to enter into the spirit of
the thing, to conceive for the mo-
ulcill vi yourselves as lne Cnarac-
ters Mortimer. picture if you can,
my supreme delight if we're sitting
here possessed of the knowledge that
the wine you just took contained
deadly poiSonl''
One hoarse and barely articulate
cry came from the man opposite;
then he Swayed and toppled to the
floor. inert. Instantly Burton sprang
up.
THERE" he beloved. facing the
aghast Prunella. 81 knew it could
be done!"
Greedily he drained the glass. An
expression coupling surprise with
pain overswept his countenance.
very gracefully he collapsed.
stretching well across beside Prunel,
las chair and said:
Pardon me. ma'sm. but there is
no cause for alarm Some months
ago violent passion for you was
born In nay breast. Since then I
have observed your favor divided
equally between these two genie
men. SO thought some way to dis