The guardian. [volume] (Boston, Mass.) 1901-1960, 1940-01-20
Justice Jest
By THAYER WALDO
Mcclure Syndicate WNU Service.l
HE lady speared a picked onion
l. and nibbled If aDnraiSinolv

= and nibbled it appraisingly.
delightful" she pronounced. Il
compliment your taste, Burton, dear.
They do go well with sherry"
The large man at her left nodded
somewhat CURLY.
Eyes, yes, Prunella; quite so. But
that's trile irrelevant just now.
Mortimer and l have weighty mat
tiers to discuss. Haven't we, old
boy?"
Across the table from him the
party's third member seemed almost
to start.
"Eh?" he jerked; then: "Oh, alb
solutely! I should say-a great
many"
Hufily the hostess inquired:
''Well, am to take that as a hint
to retire."
''Not at all, my dove" said Bur-
ton; ION the contrary. l was merely
about to suggest that you listen with
attentive silence to our talk.
Gas the producer of this play of
yours, wished to go 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 a gesture of reproof.
81 see. Yes; of course. We're
there-did you have any particular
scenes in mind?"
"Glad you asked that!" Burton
doomed heartily. Gust the point
was coming to. Yes, there's one
bit l particularly feel we would do
well to examine. l 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 i'm
perturbably, 81 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-
sumed:
''Think of it-at last we are to
have in the theater an enactment
of civilized yet perfect revenge. 1t
has remained for Mortimer Frent-
rup, the outstanding playwright of
this age, to deal with the problem
in 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
solicitously:
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. 1--WE
mustn't neglect conviviality. Ring,
my dear"
After a quick glance to her right,
Prunella obeyed. The butler ap-
peared almost at once, carrying a
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 a 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, l 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 were 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-
ment of yourselves as the charac-
tiers. Mortimer, picture if you can,
my supreme delight if were sitting
here possessed of the knowledge that
the wine you just took contained
deadly poison!"
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. II 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 am, but there is
no cause for alarm. Some months
ago a violent passion for you was
born in my breast. Since then
have observed your favor divided
equally between these two gentle