C " ■■ ■
s, I, THE KING
By WA YLAND WELLS WILLIAMS.
(Copyright. 3924.)
-—
(Continued from Yesterday.)
VIII.
The hot summer wore on; the har
bor stank; the boathouse life became
a drab routine devoid of humor and
purpose. Then in September things
brightened: he was sent to Pelham to
take a course. A few weeks later
he became a reserve ensign, a gentle
man—nay, a very person again, after
live months’ obliteration as person
nel. Even a certain amount of atten
tion was paid to him; he was chosen
among others to take a thi-e
months’ course for a regular Navy
commission fit Annapolis.
In February he wore his unclrclod
star. Teeming with knowledge nnd
dignity he went to New York for a
fortnight’s leave before receiving or
ders that would finally take him into
the war. At last, the real thing!
Small craft or capital ship, that was
the only question. He would wel
come anything, but he dreamed of a
destroyer and the wet cold air of the
Irish Sea.
lie frequented the Yale Club, and
saw several of his friends who
dropped in. uniformed, on leave or on
their way between places. Dick Hof
lington, who was a captain of infan
try at Upton, and Jen Cobb, on his
way overseas with an artillery regi
ment, were among them. liut the
face he longed most to see was not
there; Jack had in December gone to
England to complete his training. Kit
treasured his infrequent though fair
ly regular letters; they were like a
rising barometer of vision nnd experi
ence. First came the bewilderment
at Cornell, then reflections from the
bright air of Texas.
^ "New Kittle,” he had written In
■ October, "there's something in tills
r flying. It gets you. You go up In
the early morning a great deal, and
you see effects of light and shadow
and color nnd space to make the
angels weep. Perhaps this is be
cause it’s a new thing to mankind;
one feels a cosmic surprise. Then
you return to barracks, and see noth
ing but selfishness, sliiftlessness. pet
ty lust and petty ambition such as
you'd never believe existed. Is it like
ihat in the Navy? I'm beginning to
realize what an astonishingly clean
place Yale was.”
Then in January, from England:
"Pnrtmeadow, my hoy. Is near Oxford,
and every time i go up—or out, even
— f see the storied spires. They odd
a historical touch to the expanding
scene. Do you realize that in the last
few months I've traveled, lived among
foreigners, joined the military and
earned my living, all for the first
time? To say nothing of flying, which
means being in daily contact with
death and with what I believe I dare
call Absolute Beauty. You mustn’t
expect to find me quite the same
when you see me again. On the
other hand, don't expect to find me
different. Particularly don't expect to
find me noble. I can greet the dawn
at 15,000 and play the army game all
--
New York
--Day by Day
v_V
By O. O. M’INTVKE.
New York, Oct. 23.—Thoughts
wlille strolling around New York:
Prussian pompadours are coming
back. The Eve Costume .Shop.
Pass the fig leaves. Lloyd Hamil
ton. He's comic looking off the
screen. One of the noted spenders
™ of Orangeade Gulch—a chiropodist.
Why do most chiropodists wear
Van Dykes? The only New Yorkers
who Irritate me are the Barrymores.
Whatever became of the women's
skirt that laced up the hack like a
football. A flood of new stucco
movie houses. There's Theodore
Dreiser.
The self-conscious alootness oi
Belasco. His head seems to be
knocking the stars. A half dozen
flappers In half stockings. No
wonder boys are leaving the plows.
Echo of the past—a Prince Albert
coat and a white lawn tie. Must be
a congressman or a lecturer.
Soap box contents yapping for
devilish doctrines. A 50 cents a meal
restaurant offers hors d'oeuvres. The
site of a famous brothel is now n
religious book shop. The world grows
better. A hunchbacked man gazing
at a gargoyle.
A man's shampoo parlor conducted
by women. Wonder if there are still
female barbers. Corlnne Griffith.
Broadway ringing with rehearsals for
winter. Julian Mitchell, the old
Roman of the stage directors. And
he's stone rleaf.
It must be tough for an actor to
be hard of hearing. The bantering
new In front of the r.alace. Wish
Frank Shutts would send me some
more mangoes. Lupino I,ane. A
buck dancer who wears a monocle.
There's a feat for you.
The Times building is, getting
scrubbed again. The Central office
men who hang about the paper-front
your-home-town newsstands. Subway
K gratings throwing off their blasts of
heat. But tra la-la—wlntar Is here.
It. was a cold reception that met a
first night performance last week.
The star sat dejectedly in his dress
ing room.
"What's the matter with that hunch
out there?" he asked the press agent.
"They seem to be applauding with
their knees," said the p. a.
Here is a striking and ugly con
trast. In a cafe I had just left there
was one of the richest young men in
America. At his table sat bis wife
and two men friends. Three bottles
of chilled wine in a silver bucket were
at their feet. They drank and paw
merry. It was indeed a. rather hilari
ous party. Four blocks away a police
nfhn wan dragging a whlnnlng, un
kempt figure to a patrol l>ox. He
had been caught selling a half pint
of whisky.
It was a rainy afternoon. Two
bachelors lounged In deep leather
chairs trying to think of some way
to shake off a fit of ennui. The club
was deserted and telephone calls
failed to roach their friends. They
couldn’t play golf and there wasn't
enough for a rubber of bridge. Ho
they decided to play a practical Joke
on someone. They began t/i recall
in I help lives among their male
: d the purcut of lives. They
recalled one fellow who went to col
lege with them. He never smoked,
drank nr indulged In any of the col
lege vices. After graduation he re
tired to s peaceful community, where
be led a spotless life. As a joke they
pt nt him the following telegram: "All
Is discovered. Fly at once." That
was six weeks ago and their friend
hss never been seen In Ills community
since the errlvaj of the telegram. At
least that Is the story they tell.
(Coryrtsht, 1524.)
in one day. Just as some fortunate
persons can smoke a cigaret and spil
at the same time . .
Jack had gone far, evidently.
He saw a great deal of Maud Hof
fington during his leave. She was
rather busy playing bridge for he:
country, but not in an objectionable
way. Kit understood: she was n<
Joan of Arc, hut neither would she
ever prowl the streets with white
feathers.
I thought at first of doing some
thing real,” she explained to Kit
once, "driving an ambulance, or nurs
ing. but it's no good. I can't drive
a car properly, and I always faint
at tlie sight of blood. So I Just dr
two hours a day at the Y, and call
it square. But it does give one an
idea of the average woman's useless
ness. If there was only some one
thing that I did really well!—like that
Mary Vane. You remember? She'e
played at our house several times
She's going all over the country get
ting up musical shows at the various
camps, and playing to the soldiers
She's wonderful." *
"God save me from ‘wonderful
women," said Kit. and meant it.
They were In the Hofflngton's
library, with objects of art hemming
them in on all sides. Not that Kit
noticed these, hut they had an effect
on him, for all that. They gave re.
mnteness. glamor and a sense of
safety. Studying the pile of the im
mense Persian rug he said slowly:
“See here, Maudie. When I get
back from wherever I’m going—what
about nur getting married?"
Maudie glanced at him and smiled,
then stopped smiling and glanced
down. "I don't know. I really don't
know, Kit. 1 never thought of it.
But . .
"Will you think of it. while I'm
away? Perhaps my being away will
make it easier."
"Oh, no. I love having you round.'
"Better than any one else?"
"Ves," she said, nodding like a
child.
“And I you." He leaned over and
kissed her. "Think about it," lie re
peated. "There's no one that can hold
a candle to you, as far ns I'm con
cerned. Never has been."
On the last night before going to
get his orders, which he was to re
ceive in New York, he took her to the
theater. It was a French farce that
he had chosen; he was not up on the
current plays and merely remembered
hearing this mentioned in the Yale
club as "good." It was all in the
difference between readings of that
word; in any case he should have
known better. The first act passed
in safety, but the second was too blat
antly foul to be ignored. He sat star
ing at the stage with a hot face, feel
ing wrath at the French. After ail,
what was so screamingly funny about
marriage?
AV’hcn the lights went up he turned
around. "I'm sorry, Maudie. I didn't
realize it was like this. It's—it's too
broad.”
"Vos, it Is,” said Maud. Pink suf
fused all her shell color, and she
pulled at the edges of the cloak on
which she sat. "I don't like it. AVould
you mind taking me home, now?"
lie got promptly up, not sorry.
Maudie was perfectly right, and had
done it unexcepiionably. There were
things to attend to, a taxi to be got,
a message left for the Hofflngton's
chauffeur. A'et even as ho spoke to
the carriage man it flashed across the
back of his mind that a certain kind
of woman, disliking it equally, might
have laughed. It would have shown
. . . a certain strength.
In the taxi he apologized again.
"That's all right," said Maudie, and
Immediately talked of something else.
Kit suddenly and inconsecutively won
dered why he had not thought of
marrying Maudie now. before going
away. There had been time. There
still was, for that matter.
"AVeil, I'm not going to,” he dls
covered. And then he could not help
wondering if he ever would.
IX.
The next morning h" went down
town to get his orders. They directed
him to report for duty to the Com
manding Officer of the Asiatic Fleet,
Manila, P. I.
PART II.
NIKI.
CHATTER V.
I.
The excess of that rage Kit came
presently to look hack upon, with a
mixture o£ amusement, ns one of the
most creditable "motions of his life.
It was a clean honest thing, directed
against no person or persons but
merely against his bad luck. It was
entirely unselfish in basis; the Atlan
tia service he had wanted would have
been far less pleasant as well as more
dangerous.
it burned hot and strong for a few
weeks, anil then died utterly. On the
ship out he met two or three others
in a light plight, and that made it
easier. Then Honolulu, with Its div
ing hoy* and brass bands and leis
and blue mountains, flashed across
his view in one long day, and after
that he was too Interested to think
There’s at Least One in Every Office . By Briggs
-—-—■»■■■■ 1.1 i» njnii .1 . n i , .. .
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( HovaJ'S • CUTlg Thi9
) MoGt^iKJo, • Got a K1.5S
( ro«- M«5 - DONJ'T Voo
\ Love mr aajy morr “?
ABIE THE AGENT Drawn for The Omaha Bcc by Hershfield
Kvorylhiin in Season.
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of anger. The past fell oft him. The
war and Maud HofBngton were al
most as completely submerged as
Park avenue and Tale In the newness
and largeness of the Pacific.
Manila, lying dry and hot In the
April sun at the head of Its vast shal
low Vtay. hit him hard. What he had
expected he was not quite sure; prob
ably a thin veneer of Americans in
white duck superimposed on a color
ful crowd of savages. What he found
was a mellow, world-weary, cosmopol
ite town about the size of Washing
ton, with Europenn-looking churches
and American-looking office buildings.
fashionable cafes and a turbulent his
tory, run by a small, unsuspected ano
important race Of Spanish or half
Spanish people, the Filipinos. He
Immediately took boat to Cavite,
talked with various bored warrant
and junior officers and was told that
his assignment orders would rome "in
a day or two." Knowing that this
meant at least a week or two he
mopped his dripping brow, went back
to his hotel and began to look around.
He shopped on the Ksoalta, strolled
at eve on the Malecon and sight saw
in IntramuroB, the old walled city.
He presented letters of Introduction
in the new bright planter districts of
Krmita and Mutate to Americjtns in
business or government employed,
dined there; heard for the llrst time
about the Jones Art and learned that
the Islands were, in a quite real man
ner of speaking, self governing He
responded, as to something irresintl
%
bly new ami important. His under
graduate irapervlouareas to the intro
duction of knowledge on new sub
jects fell front hint, and he absorbed
like a grown man.
(T.i lie (ns1lioi.il Tomorrow.)
Bee Want Ads are the best busi
ness boosters.
THE NEBBS SWEET LOLLY-POPS Directed for The Omaha Bee by Sol He**
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JERRY ON THE JOB A COUNTER PROPOSITION Drawn for The Omaha Bee by Hoban
(Copyright 1924)
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