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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (March 4, 1917)
- i When June was ushered into his presence, Ctark decided after one scrutinizing glance that if Har graves was infatuated it was not "blindly" so, as he had insinuated: By. Juanita Ham el A . RMED with a letter of Introduc " tion from Hargraves, June made T her way to the offices of Clark & Ellinger, eminent New York producers. t She had, dressed -with special care for the occasion. She realized the value of -care of personal appearance, of the en hancing effect it lent to ordinary good looks, but she did not know that the ex- -pert eye of the producer was capable of detecting beauty even ' though clad in sackcloth and ashes. ' Having had no experience in waiting for hours at a time in the anteroom be fore seeing the overworked manager, or being repeatedly told by the supercilious -attendant boy that the producer was too busy to see anybody, or given any of the - numerous excuses which' thousands of -ambitious girls have listened to, she did : JtoaX fully ; appreciate the significance tf her ready admittance ; t Hers was the nonchalance that Is fre-" quently horn of confidence and a lack of knowledge of certain conditions. Had she known of the telephone message which proceeded her entrance she would no doubt have been considerably crestfallen. Hargraves, after June's departure from ;, his office with her priceless letter, con cluded that ' Alfred Clark,' to whom he was sending June, might for some cause postpone engaging her. Whether for rea sons of His" own or because of the effect he thought it would have on June if she were out-of-employment he tele phoned Clark to make her some kind of an offer even though he could not place her at once. '"Put her on a salary and 111 stand' good for it. old man, you understand," Hargraves had said.. - -"Tea, I understand; but It isn't cus- tomary to do those things. However, I think 1 can manage it." " - T ; "This is perfectly on the square, Clark. I am convinced the girt has taU ent, and I want to see her get a chance," Hargraves assured the producer. . "Well. I need some ponies and a few mediums for our new comedy, 'High lights which ; starts rehearsing next week. If she's a good-looker I can place her without any trouble Oh, natural- ly- you think she's the most beautiful thing in the world. You thought that about the last one, too, didn't you, Phil?" answered Clark. - .But when June was ushered into his lresence he decided after one scrutiniz ing glance that if Hargraves was infatu ated It was notr,"blindly,M as he had in sinuated. Apparently he read the letter of. Introduction which she gave him as thoroughly as though he had neverheard of her. After a few . inquiries he Instructed- her to be at the Clark Theater the following Monday. The director would then try3jer voice, and if she proved sat- would start rehearsing isfacfonrshe at once. . , . June was in highly elated sipirts as she descended 'in the swift "elevators of the giant skyscraper and tripped lightly down Forty-second street. She passed many of the prominent actor folk .whom she recognized from having seen their pictures. Proud with the thought that she was soon to be one of them, that her aspira tion's were soon to be fulfilled, she hur ried along with a feeling of buoyancy and exhilaration possessing her. She suddenly decided to call Hilda on the phone and tell her of the good for , tune that had been hers. She must teft somebody! Hoping to find a telephone station on one of the aide streets she rounded the first corner and collided with a man who was hurrying la the opposite direction. The force of the" impact was so' great that she lost her balance and would have fallen had not two muscular arms closed about her. She recovered her equilibrium and with a scowl of impatience looked up Into the f ape above her. f The scowl quickly faded to an expression of pleased surprise. ' : . "Mr. D'Aubrey," she f ouad the breath to ejaculate. It was none other than her hero of the train, the cavalier of her journey from Eldorado to- New York, whom she had promised to see at some future date and. then forgotten. "Well, of all the pleasant surprises!" exclaimed D'Aubrey as he grasped June's hand, ( ! ' They stood for a moment exchanging greetings while the arduous. crowds hur- " ried ast. D'Aubrey, spying a tea room across the street took June' by the arm and escorted her thither. Soon they were . seated at a small table whose white cover, turned to a warm pink by the re flected rays of a red shaded 'light, a tray with 'ladies " size cigarets near by and sheltering screen of Oriental design ob structing curious eyes created an at mosphere most conducive to an exchange t 01 connueuces. i It was some hours later that she car ried out her intention to telephone to Hilda, ner voice was vibrant with the exultation that youth finds in anticipa tion of pleasure as she said: "I met a friend of mine today, Hilda. He has In vited me to dinner at Rector's and to a show; afterward. I probably won't be home' until lata, so 111 see you tomorrow and tell you all about It." j . ' After giving Hilda a few details re garding her new position, si hurriedly rejoined D'Aubrey. t i (To be continued i . Copyright. WIT, by J. Xeelej -