The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1945-10-04

understand q matter II had no ex-
PLANTATION, they said, WHO would
have thought Elizabeth was so
heartless?" Aunt Grace agreed
sadly, and told them Elizabeth had
not only sold the desk where Arthur
had worked, but had even given his
clothes to the Salvation Army. Oh
well, said Uncle Clarence. Elizabeth
was young, and the young were not
ed for their springing adaptability.
But Aunt Grace shook her head.
"She has no SOUL" said Aunt
Grace. "And after all we've tried
to do for her" Contemplation of
Elizabeth's lack of soul sometimes
moved Aunt Grace to tears.
Since it was useless to explain to
Aunt Grace, Elizabeth kept quiet
and went on doing what she had to
do. If she was going to leave, the
break had to be entire. There was
no other way. She parted with ev-
erything except few keepsakes too
precious to be given into alien hands,
but even these she packed in a cov-
cred box which she put underneath
the clothes in her trunk when she
took the train for Los Angeles.
AS she crossed the continent she
looked out with amazement at the
immensely of her native land. No
book of geography had given her any
conception of such a space. This,
she told herself as she looked out at
the cities, the ranches, the desert,
this was what Arthur had died for.
Every acre of it was a safe place
where Americans could live in Sc
curity. Watching the states go by,
Elizabeth felt as if she was drawing
strength from the strength of her
country.
In Los Angeles she learned TO
typewrite, and took the first job that
offered itself through the employ
ment office of the business school.
It happened to be minor clerkship
in law office, where large part
of the business was concerned with
the contracts of Hollywood actors.
This was before the days of the great
agencies, and actors were supposed
to handle their own contracts with
the advice of privately retained law
yers. Elizabeth's work was mostly
routine, answering the telephone and
copying legal documents, but the
moving picture business was young
and even her own small contact
with its bounding growth was inter-
esting enough to demand all her at
tention.
When she woke up in the morning
she no longer faced the blankness
of an empty day, and at night she
was tired enough to 60 to sleep. She
had an apartment consisting of one
room with bath and kitchenette,
but she was not uncomfortable.
With the other girls in the office she
talked about the immediate affairs
of the day. She never talked about
Arthur. They had not known him
and could not be interested in him,
and this was the reason why she had
come to California.
AS for the men in the office, they
might have been sexless for all the
thought she gave them. The first
time one of them asked her to have
dinner with him she felt startled,
with a curious under-feeling of re-
sentiment; but it was the most ordi-
nary sort of invitation from friend
ly young fellow who disliked eating
alone, and she accepted, though still
with sense of strangeness. But
they had pleasant evening, talking
about nothing more personal than the
bad temper of their boss and the
unreasonableness of all actors, and
when she came back to her apart
ment she looked at herself in the
glass thinking, 81 do believe I'm get
ting normal again."
She was getting normal again; she
could feel it, like the return of equi-
librium after dizziness. Her fellow
workers liked her and she was be-
ginning to enjoy their companion
ship. When she got promotion and
raise she felt a justification of her.
self that was real delight. AS her
job in the office brought her into
contact with a great many erp-
ployees of the moving picture in
dustry, her acquaintance increased
and with it her invitations. She lost
her sense of strangeness at going
about with men who were not Ar
thur. There were plenty of them
to 60 out with, and there was moth
ing unpleasant in discovering again
that she was an attractive woman.
She did not try to pretend to herself
that she was happy, but she was
not unhappy either. There were still
hours when she ached for Arthur,
but she was grateful for what she
had.
She had been in California two
years when she met Spratt Herlong.
Spratt worked in studio publicity
department. It was sometimes nee
essary for him to visit the office
where Elizabeth was employed, to
get information about screen play
ers under contract to his company.
The girls in the office liked him, be-
cause while he was always friendly
he never stared meaningfully at
their legs while he talked to them,
or sat on their desks killing time
that they would have to make up by
staying an extra hour to finish the
days assignment. Though she had
not been long in Hollywood, Eliza
beth had already had sufficient ex-
perience of both these habits to ap-