| Show MAIDEN AI r r T By SAMUEL HOPKINS ADAMS ADAMSO IT AUTHOR OF HA ONE NIGHT O 0 SAMUEL E ELL naPKINS HOPKINS ADAMS SERVICE BURVICE I SYNOPSIS Kelsey na liar Hare young un architect con conn from a breakdown meeta Martin Mar tin Va Holmes Holme struggling author In tn a storm stormon on a take Luke near Moldavia N. N Y Y Caught In a downpour the they seek icek shelter at Holmes Holmes' tate which II by ita air of deca decay gives In evidence of iii owner owners financial K Kel l- l Ie ley Ky suggests renting a room and setae down doWD there Finding Holmes studying a newspaper picture picture a of a Park avenue deb deb- Ke ey learn leml that a altar story b by Holmes h. h has ha been rejected In a contest run b by Purity Pictures A A. A Leon president for a novel suitable suit able for In which the winner win win- winner ner Der of a Mystery Beauty contest will star tar Kele Kelsey buys buy I the manuscript from Holmes an and rents rent his hi house One of at the conditions of the deal Is L that Ket Kelsey adopt Holmes Holmes' pen name Templeton Syl Sayles After Arter Holmes departs depart on a 8 trip a telegram arrives for Sayles which Kelsey Kelsey Kel Kel- sey ey leaves leave unopened Clunk Glunk odd man manservant manservant servant places the debutantes debutante's picture on the mantel The Park Avenue Van Straitens Straiten at breakfast with their niece Marlon Marion are ere horrified to find her picture In the paper as alone one of ten remaining contestants contestant for the Purity Pictures Picture award and end learn that Morse Morae admirer ad has hll entered Marlon's Marlon picture on a abet bet She Is 1 threatened with being taken abroad until untO the scandal dies down and decides adventurously to go through with the contest In the offices office of A. A Leon heir to the Persuasive Pills fortune Marlon Marion finds nine other beauties She makes friends friend with Gloria Glamour Clamour flip prates professional lanaI beauty contestant At lunch together they meet Moby press prell agent and factotum Is II overwhelmed with Marlon's Marions beauty and nd class to which he la is extremely susceptible sus and calls can her CHAPTER Continued III 5 Lets wait walt till she comes out suggested someone ominously If U she comes out out You dont don't gang up on any friend of mine stated Miss Glamour de If u the rest of you stick I stick An obstinate Immobility settled upon the group It was broken by bythe bythe bythe the entry of a third worried om cial He made announcement Leave names and addresses at Room You will be notified when wanted Miss Glamour will please remain Gloria was the unmoved recipient of a series aeries of dirty looks look as II the disappointed eight flied filed out Despite Despite Despite De De- spite a nature inured to philosophical cal acceptances she was boiling with curiosity when her new crony emerged alone She jumped lumped and grabbed her Well Crazy Youre Your telling met mel metHe I He wants to make me Queen of I the Screen Believe it or not those were his very words Why not nott What else Too Teo much and too fast for me meto meto meto to get straight But there were too many of those lings darr in It it Kiddo said Gloria solemnly youre set That marry you if tf you play your cards right Naturally Naturally Naturally Nat Nat- hell he'll try everything else first Maybe he did Did he If It If he did did it missed me Icicles for breakfast was Miss Glamour's admiring footnote to this Now where do I come In on this Why is little Gloria Invited to park while the rest get the skids Oh I 1 fixed that teel teel But how in heck did you work it I told Mr I wouldn't go without you Just like that Go where Moldavia N. N Y Never heard Leard of It it Neither did I. I What are we going there for Somewhere in the midst of his leaping around the room I got the name of Templeton Sayles as the reason Never heard of him either Neither did I. I Moby Dickstein entered Gloria made appeal to him Wheres this Moldavia N. N Y Moby Out behind Farmer Jones' Jones barn i reckon That's one of the things I jotta lotta find out Why Are you going too Sure Im I'm going Who Vho do you suppose really runs this show Later Later Lat er A. A be along just to make a fourth at bridge What about Templeton Sayles This from Marne Mame Templeton Sayles I Padlock your virtue ladies ladles Hes He's the worlds world's triple tri pIe threat to susceptible womanhood if tf you let him tell it And does he love to tell it I In a modest little brochure about his fascinating self Ill I'll show you a copy of it one of these days Lemme Lemma attim said Gloria dreamily Loathsome toad toads said Marne I gotta line Une out to find out more Moby Dickstein consulted his watch The big fella wants a word with you before you go They found A. A Leon doing the caged lion llon act across his priceless rug while he absently flicked at imaginary flies files with his polo mallet the gleam of inspiration inspiration inspiration tion in his eyes This is going to be the greatest the very greatest achievement of my career he announced solemn 1 ly Colossal doesn't begin to express express ex press it Im I'm going to put a new type of picture on the screen It Its It's going to be the Quintessence of Class Take that down Mr D. D You Youcan Youcan Youcan can use it for press prell stuff Quintessence Quintes sence lance of Class That's why Ive I've been waiting wafting to find somebody Ilk like Uke you ling darn he addressed Marne Mame though I didn't realize reaUze It till I saw your photo Thank you said laid she as a he looked expectant Then says I to myself This Is I. the Real McCoy This Is I. Class She's She a Park Avenue day bun If U Uever ever I saw one Aint you darn dan ling A what Day bun You know what they call a girl when she's just lust come out In swell society the French pronunciation Bwana Dwana The Presidential Assistant had jumped lumped into the breach The English is debutante Theres a lotta Class to French too said A. A Leon You are a day bun aint you darr ling darr-ling ling Go to all the toned high parties he rushed on Name In the society column every day Aint that right I darr ling I How on earth should I know i whether my name Is there or not non i demanded the girl Impatiently I dont don't read em every day There you are arel There you are arel exulted A. A Leon what it i Is II Isto to belong She dont don't even know or care whether her name is In with the other swells or not Used to It Theres a long piece In one of the society magazines he went on after glancing at Moby Dickstein's Dickstein fancy sketch about old Mrs Van Straiten the social leader I suppose suppose sup sup- pose she's maybe your grandmother er or something Do you Marne was beginning to be definitely annoyed Oh I know all about you Van darr he assured her with enthusiasm Well It its it's more than I do returned returned returned re re- turned Marne Mame cheerfully Anyway what does It matter mattert What does It matter mattert What does it matter shrieked A. A Leon knocking a set diamond inkwell to the floor door with a frenzied swing of his hi mallet She asks me what does doe it matter I Haven't I told you Im I'm going to paralyze em with an All All- Class production Youre You're my star And he added cunningly what would you say to having for leading lead ing man man man-he he paused for better effect ef ef- Templeton Templeton Sayles Esquire Is he a day bun day bun tay too queried queried queried que que- ried Marne Mame wickedly Hes everything He He's Class with a big C. C A. A Leon grabbed and waved aloft the typescript wherein I Martin Holmes had given rein to his fevered imagination to compound the shimmering personality of Templeton Tem Tem- Templeton Sayles from equal parts of romance and rainbow and What the Well-dressed Well Man will Wear You three are going up there to Moldavia with Moby here In charge Ill I'll be along later get some preliminary press stuff ready But Dut soft-pedal soft everything till Im I'm on the ground We want to spring this right It'll be front front- page stuff all over the country Weve We've had a lotta Star All-Star pictures That's old stuff This'll be the first Class All-Class picture And will they eat it Keep an eye out for settings Moby I wouldn't wonder but what we could shoot a lot of the scenes right on Templeton Sayles' Sayles ancestral ancestral ancestral ances ances- acres Might use his racing stable too If there aint any racing racing rac rac- ing in the story well we'll have some written in But Dut what is the story Mr Say dacker ventured Gloria Story Story What's the story matter I I can get a hundred stories on a days day's notice Come to think of it I gotta little surprise for you I Ion on that story No time to tell you I about that now See me before you go go all of you Out in the street the two new aIlles allies allies al aI- al- al lies lles drew a long breath and looked at one another Gloria spoke first How about it kid Game Gloria Ive I've always wanted to bust out out Heres Here your chance But what about the family Got one Got plenty They'll disown me I expect D you caret care N Not ot a hoot hootA A rush of feet behind them was followed by Moby Dickstein's panting pant pant- ing tog hail hall Well Are you ink You got your cue haven't you Cue I dont don't know know that I have answered Marne Mame About the swell Van What about them You listen to wisdom from my venerable whiskers Well We'll begin begin begin be be- gin with Eric Van They call caU him lies lie's a cross country country country coun coun- try puzzle rider or Know him Ive met him she answered evasively Sure youve you've met him said Moby delighted with her ready adJustment adjustment adjustment ad ad- to his idea Hes lies your cousin As this chanced to be the fact Marne Mame murmured Oh Ohl Is he het Im tellin you And old Mrs Van Straiten the high society lead er en She's She your grandmother Marne fame stared and grinned That ought to be a pleasant surprise to her Maybe wed we'd better make mab her ber your Aunt Any of the others other of that bunch they're all aU names first to you See Take It from Moby kid kid advised advised ad ad- Gloria You play this thI right and youve you've got the world by the So far I seem to have played it mostly wrong Its Just lust like Moby tells teUs you Be Bea a yes yes girl girL Every day In every way you get and Theres got to be a limit to the yes stuff somewhere though hasn't there When it comes time to say No Ill I'll tip you off orr promised the wise Miss Glamour v IV It was Moby Dickstein's business to know practically everything What he did not know he was wai expected ex ex- expected to have me means a III of finding out outTo outTo To elucidate Templeton Sayles Esq of Moldavia N. N Y was his present task For this purpose he telephoned Jefferson Mackintosh the tha literary agent No Mackintosh Mackintosh Mackin Mackin- tosh has never heard the name But he be had bad a prospective client from Moldavia coming In within a couple of days He would ask this Martin MarUn Holmes to call up Purity Pictures on arrival Glad to do It As Marne Mame and Gloria spent most of the few days day following their ft first ost call being shunted about the Purity Pictures offices from hurried official om alIt alIt- cial elal to worried official all aU of whom were preoccupied mysterious and totally uninformative It was not surprising that they should be in Moby Dickstein's quarters when the call came from the Mackintosh Agency Mr Holmes of Moldavia on the phone Let me talk to him said Gloria Thereupon the Inventive Mr Holmes Holme at the other end was Interested interested In in- In tn hearing dainty accents for Gloria was being a perfect lady at the moment put the query Mr Holmes Listening You live Uve In Moldavia dont don't you Near It It Do you by any chance happen to be acquainted with a Mr Sayles Sayle of that place Who said the amazed Holmes Mr Templeton Sayles Do I happen to be acquainted with Templeton Sayles echoed the creator of that romantic fig fig- ment Ill IU say lay I I- I He broke off abruptly realizing that this might be thin Ice Say who Is II this he be inquired cautiously You wouldn't know me Id like to The voice laughed How do you know you would Vibrations said uld Holmes Holme promptly Dont you feel em Not yet yet chuckled the voice Possibly I might if U I knew you better But you will be nice and tell me about Mr Sayles wont won't you Well of course Ill I'll be glad to do anything I can What Is it you want to know You do know him then Er Er yes yes Slightly Just where is II his estate oh Este Oh yes of course his bis es as- tats tate Were you thinking of go going In there Why yes es I want very much to gee ee Mr Sayles What kind of man manIs manis Is I. he het Oh Oh a perfect hellion heWon said saM his hi creator enthusiastically What I mean to say Is It depends on what you want to see him about Perhaps you'd be good enough to tell teU me ma how one reaches the estate by car cat Why certainly certainty lIe He gave elaborate elaborate etab- etab orate and end specific directions No use asking in the village he added cunningly Mr Sayles Is a queer person A bit of a snob Refuses to have anything to do with the vil VU lagers Snoots Snoot em in fact So naturally they dont don't like him Yes Ye he be would be that way said the voice thoughtfully Eh said Holmes in tn surprise See here he went on impulsive impulsive- ly How lIow would you like me to go along Sweet cheese n a n crackers said the voice definitely less Jess ladylike Have I tapped a Travel Bureau Bu reau Well If U you dont don't want my help that's that all aU right too But if tf It Isn't a secret what you want of Sayles Sayles- A secret I should say ay not I want to sell him a sewing machine that's all Good Good-by JIll Hi Walt Waits Miss No good He lie set down the now lifeless lifeless life Ute less mechanism and sought aid from Jefferson Mackintosh Who that girl I was talking to I haven't the slightest Idea Well Wen what what's the place Just a clients client's replied the agent with the bland smile mile behind which he secreted his business af at fairs fair Three evenings later the blended personality of Kelsey Hare Temple ton Sayles Sayle sat at the work table of the departed Martin MarUn Holmes engaged engaged en en- aed upon the rewrite of hi his friends friend's story The clock had just lust struck truck nine Kelsey was struggling with one of those difficult passages In tn which the heros hero's essential nobility of character charac charae ter was beginning to stick out like a sore thumb when a sound at the window opposite brought his hi head up He distinctly saw a face It was obscure but it was unmistakably unmistakably ably a face a feminine face and a faintly reminiscent face He lIe rubbed his hi tired eyes and looked again The face still feminine still alluring seemed unaccountably to have changed The face or faces vanished Glunk Clunk presented himself at the door with a deprecatory but anxious visage The young man placing his fingers fingers fin fin- gers on his lips in an injunction of silence motioned urgently in the direction of the outer darkness Glunk Clunk nodded and tiptoed out He reappeared quickly exhibiting three fangs in an amiable smile Man said he Not unless Im I'm completely cockeyed cock cock- eyed TO DE CONTINUED |
