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96 WV MERL L. EDRRE C OAATCUECE NOC gev iscc l ‘The Sheridan Dramatic club, of which Tom . Bilbeck, the narrator, Maryelia, the girl he cares for, and Jim Cooper, his rival, are memâ€" bers, are to give Pygmalion and Galatea at the Old Soldiers‘ Home. Mr. Hemmingway,, husband of one of the actresses, thinks Billâ€" beck is in love with his wife. The escape of grisoners frem . the Joca} penitentiary keeps ilbeck busy at bis newspaper work, so that he gets_away from the. dramatie group. But Maryella summons him, and starts telling the story of "Dollyanna" who believes that everyâ€" thing that happens turns out to 3. for the Te players arrive at the id 80 Home, being greeted royally â€" and m Pilk Henwether and others. â€" Now GO oN wWITH THE STORY A which he hastly gulped the coffee. 1 was torn between a desire to appear polite and an impulse for selfâ€"preserâ€" vation which was urging me to get under the table, when Colonel Stewart rapped sharply on the table and a a neighboring hand drew Ahiswede back into his chair. * "That‘s one thing I pride myself on," shouted~ Comrade Henweather, leaning closer so that I could hear him. "I am eonsiderate, I am, and never hurt anybody‘s feelings if I can help it. No matter how funny a thing looks to me I shut up about it." Then changing the subject Hastily, he obsérved in a confidential shout: "That‘s a r;xighty pretty woman you got with youâ€"the blond one, I mean. She ain‘t your wife, is she?" I shook my head frantically. "No% Well, I guess you are kind of sweet on her just the same. I‘m old but I can tell from the way you looked at her and the way she looked back at youâ€"Well, I miss my guess if there ain‘t a wedding pretty soon!" Mrs. Hemmingway was blushing to‘ her ears. â€" | Pilk Henwether saw it. "Notice how she‘s blushing ?" he obâ€" served. "I wonder if she could have heard what I was saying to you. If you want her, my boy, go in and win. T sh‘n‘t stop you. If I was a little wHAT HAPPENED BEFORE : caliber lookâ€"which de shot in his direc= pierced anything but e: but Pink Henâ€" the Old Soldiers‘ ally â€" and meeting younger 1 ani u;icoseu JA J M CARRMARCCE try it!" y > ~% *A Colonel Stewart rapped on the table again, but Pilk failed to hear it. Finally he sent one of the men who waited on the table with some kind of a message to my friend, . The mide tapped Camrade ~Henwether: on the shoulder and motioned toward the swinging door at the rear of the room. % a {has § Pilk rose reluctantly. = _â€""Iâ€" knowâ€"what‘s the matter," he growled. "I got to eat my supper in the kitchen. ‘most always do." : ‘Then he laughed, a laugh of triâ€" umph.*‘ . : j + "But I fooled him this time! I got all . through â€" before he gaught me!" Expostulating loudly with his guide, Comrade Pilk Henwether was led away â€"past the swinging doors to the kitchen, where a loud rumble from time to time reassured us that he still retained the powers of speech. ~ _ > CHAPTER V. "All for the Best" > * At eight o‘clock the Soldiers‘ Home Band played an overture in the theâ€" atre, which was improvised from the stable at the rear of the institution. 1 will do that band justice. We had rot heard them at their best out in the open. To get the full benefit of their talent you have to get them in a small building where there is no esrape either for you or the sound. l Never have I heard so much music in so short a space of time. _ _ The curtain rose on Galatea and her apprentice at work. I did not have to make up until the first act was pretty well along; so I stood in the wings to watch. Maryella was reâ€" splendent in a flowing Greek robe and Mrs. Hemmingway‘s pearls, which added just the final touch to the soft, glowing flesh of her neck. _ When I had finished my approving inspection of Maryella I allowed my glance to stray to Mrs. Hemmingway herself. She was dressed as before, except that beneath the skirt of her tunic she Before Our Ho-rrified: Gaze His Chest Sank Down & Conspicuously at His Waist blessed if L wouldn‘t wearing voluminously PR E8 8 time. Something must have ‘become| fnfastened or broken, because he stood for a minute panicâ€"stricken and then before our horrified gaze his chest sank down slowly and lodged conspicuonsly at his waist. It‘s lucky he wore a waistband or I hate to think of the consequences. Te plot of the piece was a trifle unfamili«r to most of on audience anid the beauty of the lines was probâ€" allly 1st upon them. ' <"It sain‘t as funny as ‘Uncie Tom‘s Cabin‘" . vouchsafed Comrade â€" Pilk Henwether_ to the slideâ€"trombonist, "but we won‘t let them know we think so. That‘s a durn pretty womanâ€"the "one that‘s in love with the fat trellow." T was getting ready to go out and break the big drum over his head when a number ofâ€"his fellow veterans maie him subside by placing their tands over his mouth. ' They kept him quiet, too, until the beginning of the second act, when the curtain went up on me standing on They kept him quiet, too, until the beginning of the second act, when the curtain went up on me standing on the:> pedgtal where the statue had been. Comrade Henwether took one look and exa}:d‘ed "into merriment. I nearly butred up with anger. If it hadn‘t been for the play I would have jumped across the footâ€"light and idvanced to Galatea and told manly tones that he loved her, urned him, and when he tried race her she spurned him again same place, rather roughly this Slowly and Lodged choked the old fool. I tried to assure myself that it was all for the best; that I had to stand ~there because utherwise I would probably. have had. to appear in court . for‘ assault and battery the next morning; but it was difficult to do. * e "You -cvan-’i fool me," said Henâ€" wether in the tone of a subdued fogâ€" horn. "That ain‘t no statute. That‘s "Ha You‘ll be sotry you didn‘t let me stay. Wait untilâ€"you want to play another piece. Where‘ll. your. band be without me to play the bassâ€"drum * Besides, I thought something like this would happen so I hid all the music!" _Chuckling, he was yanked. through the doors. We picked up the threads of the story and tried to go ahead. I stood there with hands upraised and eyes fixed upon the spot where Maryella would enter. It was a hard pose to hold even for:a few minutes, owing to the interruption I had been obliged to stand there in that straix;;d posiâ€" tion for considerable time. y arms began to feel like leaden weights and a spot on my shin started to itch. It seemed as if I couldn‘t possibly keep from bending over and sceartching it. It was maddening! | "This is all for the best; it‘s all for the best," I kept repeating. "If it ldidn’t itch I wouldn‘t know it was alive." . fuk & < 4. But that didn‘t stop it. It seems as if it would take forever for Maryella to make her entrance and kneel at the foot of the pedestal. ~How eagerly I waited for the words: _â€" W ‘It‘s my dearest wish that my beauâ€" tiful statue should come to fife" _ _ ""I tried to think how it would be possible to make it plaugible for the first move of a transformed statue to be that of scratching the shin. At last she crossed the. stage. whe knelt. . She looked up at me. She paused. It seemed as if the words would never come. What was the matter? I counted ten. At last I looked down at her. She was trying to speak but could not." Her leyes were fixed with terror on a spot above my head. â€"IEturned quickly. One of the borders or hanging pieces of scenery was ablaze! Yellow, licking flames were creeping over it like serpents. It had not gained much headway yet, but it was a difficult place to reach. : . EWw & v4 +oo c 40 M.. lllfl\«\, EW PWITITT I leaped from the pedestal,. . My first thought was for those old men crowded into the improvised audiâ€" enceâ€"chambeér. â€" Whatever happened, there must be no panic. . ' I stepped to the footâ€"lights. "Colonel Stewart," I said, "will you please instruct your bugler to call assembly and draw your men up for inspection outside? _ Please hurry." The colonel saw that there was some unusual reason for my request and did as I asked. The familiar blare of the bugle brought the old soldiers instantly to their feet and they filed out in orderly fashion a‘ the word of command, not knowing what it was all about. I told the women of the company to get out as quickly as they ~could just as they were, and asked the men to help me putâ€"out the fire if possible, and save wâ€"h-at'e;'â€"er:;raperty we could. Thursday, May 16, 1929 She The hope of ¢ soon â€" vanished tions in the sta there were no « We tried'tw owing to the‘o impossible. Thursday, May . By the time the building .th dressingâ€"room, nothing but a standing aroun managed to r« got out with t of myself. â€" N. We stood, : watching whi There seemed : oecurrence* of doubtless* beer insulatfon in t we « had not j there seemed n be considered "It‘s all for ella bx:ightly. j in the last ac Jim Cooper with the hanc hand. . The p{ posed to be ol down o m it ‘ardiul\%e in | way. It was fdor one‘s ches "I â€"suppos started that voiceâ€"of ~Con + ‘didu‘t. â€" Th â€"everythingâ€"t} ought to be 1 of the Unite« "I suppose i said, "but T w save my clot have designe forâ€" summer 1 "If you‘re. me!" The light falling all da a heavier pr thick with®* f: black asâ€" th and the blaz burned itsel keenly awar cnel Stewart to the mair to get warnm We made our combin soldiers, to white tight "The stab onel Stewa never ‘kept | 20% DISI BROUGH & DRY 618 N. G Some _ real from Six I Deerfield, (Cont SE REL 80