7
The World Outside
By Harold MacCrath
Tim SUNT) AT BEE: OMAHA", AUGUST 27, 1922.
hiied. Hut Oil I' nk in the am
ba.sdot't uii. ,, ,'
"Where?"
The Shadow once niort recount
ed the comedy. Hillmau roared
with laughter.
"(k) ahead," said The Shadow,
sarcastically, "get I lie ha-ha oti
ytntr chest, hut watch jour step
if he comet to interview you.
He pasted nic in the lobby little
while before you came. He had
nil a drest suit and looked at if he
had been born to it. Now, when
I get into those glad rags, 1 )Hik
like a waiter or a chorummn. Hut
what't the big game? Why the
Oral Adventure company?"
"Hanged it 1 know?" answered
Bellman . . . "or cart."
At the time Bancroft entered
tbe theater, Nancy Bowman at in
her dressing room, wailing 'or hrr
call. She heard the volley of
laughter in reply to tome witty
or tupposcdly witty lines ut
tered by the popular light opera
comedian. I. mg Foo dozed in
her lap, and Nancy wat absently
drawing hrr fingrrt through the
double ruff that reached , below
hi thouldert.
"What'a the matter with me,
Ling l oot Why should I hate it.
when it meant bread and butter,
clothri and rent all winter? I
ought to he grateful for my luck.
1 wonder how I do it go out there
and dance, and aing, laugh and
nuke a fool of myself, when all
the time my toul it in rebellion?"
How many time had she been
tempted to match off the co
median's wig and hurl it into the
audience I Hut the reaction to
thii thought tupprcssed merri
ment; for it ii easy to create an
image of the icene that would
naturally follow inch an act. She
wan in luck. The mad adventure
of the preceding night had not im
paired her voice in the leant. Iiut
how she hated it out there I
Ling Foo hated it. too; these
wailing founds that tortured his
ears and his stuffy box he had to
remain in for three 'hours every
night. He hated leashes and
loved park gran, and knew that he
had too much of one and not
enough of the other; and besides,
he was never allowed to bark at
home or romp through the halls.
It was a hard world for a puppy
. to live in.
There came a knock on the door.
"All ready, Miss Bowman I"
She leashed the dog to the drvss
rr, gave her hair a pat, and went
forth to drudgery. The moment she
was on the stage, it seemed to her
that her soul returned to the dress
ing room and left a rollicking auto
maton down center. Perhaps this
very lack of self-consciousness
made her the success she w.as.
No doubt it may appear incred
ible that a young woman who had
lifted a mediocre part into a New
York triumph should not be aware
of her success; but nevertheless
Nancy was not aware of it in the
sense she should have been. The
moment she appeared there was
hut one notion in her head to do
the work she was paid to do, as
swiftly and correctly as possible,
t 1 1 1
mi nurry nomc. ncr presence
was electrical, put a snap into the
lines and actions and all because
she was in a hurry to be gone I It
is doubtful if she comprehended
the nightly ripple of applause as
she made her first appearance. All
her energies were riveted upon the
immediate object of thought to
get through and go home.
All her real ambition was direct
ed toward another goal, and the
present, one of those inescapable
make-shifts which attack all life
lines. Her satisfaction began and
ended with the knowledge that the
manager liked her work. That sTie
had become part of the town's talk
she missed entirely. But it is true
that we miss many sounds by attun
ing the ear to one particular sound.
Another girl with the cynical wis
dom of the theater in her veins
would have seized upon this oppor
tunity and become the rage of the
town, demanded five hundred a
week, maids, motors, and got them;
written interviews, had a thousand
photos taken, got into advertising
pages of the illustrated magazine,
the electric signs, and whatnots.
Nancy saw only a financial bridge
across the winter to spring.
In the wings stood two men, dis
cussing her. They were in evening
dress. One was elderly, with an
animated Semitic cast of counte
nance. Hit companion was in the
thirties, with a handsome highbred
face, slightly touched with certain
marks of dissipation. There was
in hit blue eyet an expression
which, defined, might have said:
I have seen everything and found
nothing.
"Nineteen thousand last week.
For an angel, you're going to do
pretty well, Crlg
"It hs given me a deal of amuse
nsent, Mnnv, to watch the thing
grow. Oh, It's a hit) but that pM
out there has turned the trick.
Didn't you notice last night that
hrr understudy wasn't received
with any particular warmth?"
"Vet. Funny, you never ran tell
where the lightning it going, to
strike. Nobody dreamed the art
would stand nut like this."
"Nobody .but this girl would
have nude it stand out. How
much are you giving her?"
"Sevriily-five."
" J hat won't do, lit tler make il
two-fifty."
"Craig. I would if I dared."
'What do yoy mean by that,
Mannheim?"
"She wouldn't understand that it
wat due to merit. She'd instantly
jump to the conclusion that I had
ulterior designs. I've been in tint
business all my life, but I can't
make out this one. Never any
questions about how her under
study pulled through last niuht.
Another girl would have been
worried stilf. Jenny Malloy brings
her to 111 out of nowhere; and she
slept rise lit out of the chorus into
this. Jenny says there never wat
any affair; to it isn't from being
scotrhed that she is shy. No; I'm
afraid to offer it. She might boll."
Craig made an affirmative ges
ture. "You've hit it. She doesn't
understand me, either; and if I
pressed forward, like as not she'd
do as you say, bolt."
"Wouldn't that jar you? She1
can't be made to see that she is
the hit of the show, Ever hear of
anything like that before in this
old town? Hut she's a good girl,
Craig," the manager added soberly.
"Don't I know it? Hut she no
more belongs in this environment
than I do. The stage isn't in her,
and I always watch her with the
greatest bewilderment. What 1
mean is. the is without ambition
in this line. She sings -as if she
resented the music, as an educated
musician would resent it. And yet,
observe her I She js as joyous as .
thistledown in the wind. Better
give her a hundred. Just slip it
into her envelope and say nothing."
"I can do that. Has she got
you, old-timer?" .
"''n, fol. I suppose; but she
has. set I've never been able to
get her out to tea or dinner or sup
per. She won't even take my car
home, myself out of it."
."Well, it't a safe bet that she
ridet in nobody else's."
"I wish I knew on which side to
take her.'
"She may have whiffed vour
breath, and is afraid of you Why
don't you cut it out?"
'Why should 1? It's the only
amusement I have left."
"That's bunk. You with all the
money in the world and name at
old as the island I Maybe I can
help you."
"Don't you meddle, or you'll lose
her."
'How bad have you got it?"
"Bad enough to marry her after
the performance if she'd have
me. But there you are! I can't tell
her that without letting her get ac
quainted with me; and she's as far
off as the Pole."
The manager whistled softly.
The woman-hater, eh? Arthur
Craig, who went evervwhere and
with everybody, and all the while
just as aloof as this girl was I
Funny old burg; it had written
down this man as one of its wild
est blades; and Craig hadn't kissed
a woman since the death of his
wife. Excitements; the night life,
because it deadened thought; lights
and music and forbidden drink be
cause, for a few hours, these served
as a barrier to introspective
thought. And that girl yonder had
put life into his heart again.
"Why don't you enlist Jenny?
She's square and a good sport.
They live in the same house, and
are the best of friends."
"Jenny is on my side, but she
hasn't been able to make any
headway. That's the devil of it.
The girl has built a Chinese wall
around herself."
"Supposing I drop a hint that
you're the silent partner?"
"No. She would begin to dis
trust you, then. Jenny't going to
give a party soon, some night after
the show. Coffee and lemonade;
and then I'll have a chance to con
vince Miss Bowman that I'm not
as bad as I'm painted. She won't
be afraid of me in a room full. If
I only knew what her ambition is,
I micht strike from that direction."
"While there's life there't hope.
You gave her that Teke, didn't
you?"
"Yet"
"Well, she't keeping it, isn't
she?"
"Yes; but I wonder why."
The orchestra crashed the open
ing bars of the finale; and the two
men retired to the stage office.
It wat 11:45 when Nancy wiped
the last vestige of grease-paint
front her face. An unusual num
ber of encores had carried the op
eretta beyond tl o'clock. She set
tbe dressing table in order and
hung up her motley. At leait tM
wat thankful to have thit loom
alone to herself: and there wire In
terval! when the tould romp with
Ling Foo, At the wore the same
costume throughout the perform
ance, a maid fioni the chorus
dressing room gave 10 minutes of
her time each night during the
overture; and that was all the as
sistance Nancy required.
The innkeeper'l daughter when
all her soul cried for the blonde
wig of Marguerite! Mediocre mu
sic and lyrics so fillrd with conso
nants thai half (he time the had
to hist! Well, it wt seventy-five
a week, and that meant the could
continue her lemons in music and
French and Italian and devote
Imurt each day to ttudy. And
they wondered why the refused to
tpend half the night in smoke la
den restaurants; unearthly hours
and unhealthy food! She had a
goal, and nothing should stand in
her way; the would htve hrr good
timet when that goal wat reached.,
She wat but twenty.
At the dressed, her thoughts re
verted to the happenings of yes
terday. Daddy Bowman wat gone;
the wtt alt alone. Already the
wat beginning to drrtd Thankt
givinsr and Christmas, thoitKh she
would be busy enough with two
performances; but in the morn
ing and when she returned at
night I
She was sorry now that she had
not been a little more amiable to
that kindly young countryman. No
courtier out of book could have
Ik en more courteous. Well, that
wat ife to come and go and for
get. Within a - fortnight Daddy
Bowman would become a memory
and the young man absolutely for
gotten. Always Daddy Bowman had
plucked at one tiring, "Steer clear
of men who touch strong drink.
They are never td be trusted. Steer
clear of men on general principles,
but particularly those that drink.
Alwayt remember the goal you
have set out to reach, and let noth
ing Interfere." She had obeyed
those instruction!.; but in so doing
she had been mostly lonely,
"Come, Ling Foo; it't past our
bedtime."
She wrapped the puppy to enug
ly in his little plaid blanket that
only hit bright eyet and yet little -nose
were visible, and started for
the door; upon which came
knock, brisk and authoritative.
Nancy recognized it. and-frowned.
"Come in, Jenny, the called.
The door was flung open, and a
handsome, shapely young woman
in the middle twrntiet paused on
the threshold. If an artist, In
search of a model to pose at Mis
chief, had come upon Jenny Mal
ley at this moment, he would have
gone no further. There was mis
chief in the poise of her blonde
head; mischief lit her blue eyet and
put a quirk to her lips; but it was
the mischief of the gamin, without
evil.
Jenny Malloy was a product of
the great city, of the most prodigal
and wasteful and careless city on
earth; an overgrown child of a
city morally and intellectually
weak, yet wonderful to behold. In
her youth Jenny's playground had
been the gutters; now her play-,
ground was the night life, the end
less circle of restaurants and
cabarets. Nancy was of that un
happy breed who are forever quest
ing Holy Grails, and bruising and
losing themselves in metaphysical
swamps. - Jenny's horizon was
bounded by crabmeat and lobsters.
She was shrewd, cynical,' slangy
and honest. She was irj constant
demand because she was good fun;
but she was a rough fencer, if a
man took up the wrong foil with
her. She was as wary and as
chaste as Diana, and her pathway
was strewn with a certain caliber
of Actaeons. She mothered the
green chorus girl into self-reliance;
and loved Nancy Bowman with all
her heart, and understood her not
at all.
"Kid, how about some grand
eats?" she said. "Wild duck an'
apple sauce, an' all that? Good
scouts, no rah-rah boys;- friends o'
mine. With a little fox-trottin' on
th' side. How about it?"
"I'm sorry, Jenny, hut I'm in no
mood for it tonight."
"That's why I ask you. You'll
go home an' mope; an it won't do
you a bit o' good."
"Besides, 1 don't know your
friends."
"For th' love o' Mike I I know
'em, don't 1? Ain't that enough?
If you was a prude I wouldn't
bother you; but you're reg'lar when
you warm up. What you need,
inorc'n anythin' else, is a night out.
I been watchin' you. You're goin'
t' mope yourself out of a fine Job,
believe me, Aloysiutt He alive for
once I forget th' future lor a coupla
hourt, I never nick 'em dead; but
' I never pick cm fresh, either.
Come on. We'll lake turns holdiii'
th' pup. Fh, Ling, old tpoit? An
you II got borne at dry at thit
Sahara dump they cl Ntw York,
Com on; we're dead long time,
to they tell w.
"1'lease, Jenny, dear! I'd only
be a kill joy. Fte a lesscm, too, at
V in I he morning."
"Listen, kid, we've roosted neat
door f each other for two teart
now. Have you ever found that I
pulled anythin' that wa.n't straight,
or introduced you I' any one who
wasn't reg'lar?'
"No, Jenny, But we've gone
over this to often I It't the way
l irt made. I don't enjoy these
false good timet, and I'm never
hungry enough to accept airange
man's attrnuont in exchange for
lobster. ,1 canV enjoy myself
with atrangrrt."
"Gee if that ain't the limit I How
do you come t' know folkt if you
don't meet 'em for th' first time?"
lenny closed the door resolutely.
"Nancy, I'm gum' t slip you some,
thin' for your own good. You've
gone big; you're on th' way t' th'
light!, if oii'y I can wise you up.
Here I am, six yrart at il, an' still
with th' merry villagers; an' here
you are, th' hit o' th' show. You
sing like a bird, an dance like
Pavlova. An' yet, th' way you're
goin', Nancy George W. Bowman
i. "i ..' ,i.
, NllUfl. Til, III Wy J WW -
k.'3lr. r.,.rr W li.min
will never get ml th signs. VMiyl
Because you ain't never in anythin1
you do; you're a thousand unlet
in th' air all th.' time. You ain't in
your partt. But you're to darned
clever you ve nunriamnied every
body but me.'
"Jenny I" alarmed lest tome one
might overhear,
"Let me get if off my chest.
You've got that flooey grand 0era
bug in your bonnet. Fat chancel
Have you got a cattiron body, a
heart as tender as tripe, an' a
firima-donna for a friend? You
lave not, You've got as much
chance of tingiu' in Is Metropoli
tan at I have o' pullin' F.thrl Bar
rymnre'a job away from her."
"Why. Jenny I"
"You keep still! I'm goin' through
with this, you ve made this show,
You don't realize that here it your
game. How you do if, Lord knows,
with your mind elsewhere. So if
you really got in you'd be haulin',
down seven or eight hundred a
week next season, your name on
th' tigns, an' all that. You don't
give th' press agent a hairpin t' go
by; you leave him flat. You take
seventy-five, when you ought t'
be pullin' down three timet at
much. An' tomorrow mornin'
you'll he spoilin' my beauty sleep
with th' jewel tong from 'Faust.'
Gee, if I could on'y wake you up
t' th' fact that this is your game!
An' it't apple pic for you. .If
you can do at you do without
wantin' to, think of what you could
do if you'd wake up. . . . Don't
interrupt me I I'm never goin' to'
say anythin' again; I'm goin' T
finish th' tolo now,"
Nancy's expression was one of
bewildered indignation.
Jenny went on. "You never go
out anywhere; you never have any
fun. I've asked you t' go wth me
1,000 timet. Work, work, work
. all for somethin you ain't sure ofl
I knew you'd turn me down t' night
as usual; but I had t' get this oft
my chest. How about that pup?
You keep it, but you won't pay for
it. Much as th' girls like vou,
they're talkin' about that Pckc,
You ain't playin' the game, buddy.
All Mr. Craig wants is th' privileKe
o' visitin' with you once in awhile
nothin' worse 'n tea. He wants
t' be your friend. Why do you
hate him?"
"I don't hate him, Jenny," said
Nancy, wearily.
"Are you afraid o' him?"
"I don't know."
"It it' because he gets a mild
souse once in a while? Then for
get it. He's alwayt a gentleman.
He's no rounder, though those
who don't know him think so. You
know th' story. His wife ran away
with another man, an' they was
both killed that same night in an
auto smash. An' now he goes
around tryin' t' forget. He wants
your friendship because you're dif
ferent. He doesn't want my
friendship; an' if he was a rounder.
I'd he his style."
Naney's arm tightened around
Ling lJoo. A trap; she had fallen
into a trap. If she had sent back
the dog the first day, she would
not now be in this cul de tac. The
clemess of the man. and the
patience of him! He had not said
a word or written. He had sent
the dog to her when, by some in
fernal instinct, he had known that
her spirit would be at its nadir.
Jenny was right. She hadn't
played the game. Either she must
return Ling Foo or meet the man's
advanert half way,
"What I'm trym' t' get int" your
dome it, that you're titin on top
o' th' world: but you've got t dig
in t' hang there. You're no fool;
you can take care of yourself. You
don't have t' wabble t' get your
name in th" lights. Wake up out o'
the grand opera trance; here's your
meal ticket. Mamihcim't a white
man, an' he'll give you fair play.1
"I'm terry you're angry, Jenny."
"Angry? W hy you poor kid! It't
hecausa I hive you better than any
body in th' world; an' il biiiis me
all up t' see you try fr what ) i
can't get an' let slide th' thmg "i
cant 1 lul't my grouch."
"It Mr. Craig in your paity to
night?" .
"No,"
"It he In the llualei?"
"He was."
'Do you know where he lists"
"Vet."
Nancy thrust out Ling Foo,
in?"
"You mean it?" cried the avion
ithed Jenny,
"Yes. It will tear me all to
iiircrs for a few days; but my
fiiriidship isn't something anybody
can purchase." Nancy wat while,
but icsolule.
"Yen poor kid!" Jenny caught
her friend in her arms, puppy and
all, "You won't have t give, him
up. lie stopped me t'night an' said
th' pup wat yours without any con
ditions; that if he couldn't have
your friendship in th' char, he
wouldn't offer t' buy it. That's th'
kind ol a guy he il. He wont
bother you no more."
I ..I.I J .1
'He hasn t bothered me, actual
ly; only the thought of him;"
Nancy began to weep without
- M,,on ,he ,,ou,drr b' her
r'nf
Well, well; th' Lord didnt make
no two of ut alike, ture cnouuh.
You're a queer piece o' furniture,
but I'm for you. But you're tit
tin on top o' th' world, if you'll
on'y get wise. Your voice it like
honey, kid, but there ain't no
drama in il. You're fire when you
dance; but your voice never gives
any one th' thivers, like it ought
to, if you're goin' to warble
'Kigolctlo' an' all that. Tliat't the
solemn truth, Nancy. 1 don't
know, but t hiit's what th' conduc
tor tayt, an' he knows. I'm hurt
in' you, but I got t' do it. When
a tooth achct. vou don't tar
'Naughty, naughty I' you go an
have it out biff 1"
"I'm a mob, too," said Nancy,
finding her voice.
."Forget it. Your poor old
Daddy Bowman meant well, but he
put a lot o' bunk int' your head
about mankind being rotten, when
it ain't so worse. There't alwav
a coupla wormy chestnuts t' th'
pint. Come on out int' th' world.
Who knows? Y' might run int'
somebody who'd be interested
enough t' help you. You can't
fight that kind of a game alone,
like you're doin'. Get int' thit
game, get int' th' lightl, show 'cm
you're alive. Next year you go t'
th' Metropolitan conductor. Who
are you? he tayt coldly. I'm
Nancy Bowman, sayt you haught
ily. An' he puts a crick in hit
back kowtowin', But, oh,
lady, this is th' world for you it
you'll only tee it. So long. See
you in th mornin'."
(Continued Nest HuoiUr.)
New Orleans will install the au
tomatic phone system replacing
the present manual system,
Kenmore, the home of George
Washington's sister, is to be pre
served as a national shrine.
The recent attempt to scale Mt.
Everest, required 50 coolies and
350 yaks to carry climbing mate
rials. More than 17,000 school children
in Harlem, a borough of New
York, populated chiefly by aliens,
are addicted to the use of drugs,
according to police statistics.
The greatest food exhibit ever
held in the west began recently
at the Field museum in Chicago.
Members of the vegetable kingdom
present numbered more than 250,
000 items.
Sea lions, marauders of salmon,
are to be fought by the Canadian
government. A patrol steamer left
recently from Vancouver, equipped
with machine guns to be used
against the lions.
Radio accessory factories of Can
ada are running under pressure,
with three shifts for each 24 hours.
Conditions prevail similar to that
in the days of the war when fa
torics were on munition work.
A dance hall is being erected in
Charing Cross road, London, to
accommodate 1,600 dancers and
1.000 spectators. Three bands will
furnish mmic and 80 women and
25 men will be engaged to teach
(lancing,
The Hudson! bay company re
cently declared a dividend of S
per cent. In itt 25.M year tha
company pays dividend amount
ing to nearly half its capital stock.
Ibis company it one of the oldest
'trading corporations in the world,
Argentina beef can lie placed Oit
the American market lor 12 cenit
a pound with a good hauler. They
are killing cattle there for the ul
of the hide and the hrt brtf
is Silling for 7 Cfnls a pound,
Ctiw bring $J in Amriican r"- c
ev and ln p "11 for $1 a dot. ,
