Show sunned gettal MAIDEN if if by SAMUEL HOPKINS ADAMS AUTHOR IT HAPPENED OF ONE NIGHT 0 SAMUEL HOPKINS ADAMS WIM SERVICE CHAPTER VIII continued la IZ but feel different about the trip after were engaged you darrling darr ling asked engaged repeated marne with lifted lif ted brows moby dickstein tell you I 1 intended we should be engaged he may have made some reference to it my instructions said A leon complacently there was a swift pass suggestive of legerdemain and a large pure diamond was sparkling into her eyes ahad ayou think of that its lovely was her involuntary admission its yours darrling darr ling oh no I 1 possibly he brandished brandishes bran dished the jewel before her then held it out at arms length the better to emphasize his impressive statement this is a bonny fied engagement ring but mr im not engaged ga ged to you no but and I 1 dont want to be you dont want to be engaged to be married to me A bonny fied engagement ga im afraid I 1 dont lissen when I 1 say engage engaged dI I 1 mean the real mccoy this is brass tacks not just one of those newspaper engagements tor for publicity its regular see im telling you ill marry you he was putting his cate case with a skill a tact a persuasive magnanimity which roused the liveliest appreciation in his own owin mind just as soon he added in afterthought as I 1 can get my divorce it was a painful shock to him to hear her laugh and there was no bitterness in her mirth it was wholehearted whole hearted he was astute enough to recognize this for a bad sign and yet surely she turning him down not A leon with his position his authority tho rity his millions oh dearl dear she murmured how can I 1 get it over to him I 1 dont want to marry you mr you dont want to marry me no if you dont mind I 1 dont want to marry anybody 1 I dont get your point of view darrling darr ling I 1 dont get it at all do you want me to leave the company no no he cried alarmed nothing like that it au all seemed to him so illogical here he was offering her ohn oh well let it go for the present okay O 0 kay he yielded sadly well leave it lay he extended the solitaire you keep this to kinda hold the thought oh no I 1 possibly ill charge it to the studio and you cari can wear it as a prop he propounded in one of his bursts of inspiration think it over anyway think the whole pro proposition posit ion over gloria and moby dickstein relieved the situation by appearing to keep an appointment ip which their boss had forgotten when this had been postponed and marne had left with them the ring dinits elegantly embossed case still rested on the official desk out of his instinctive knowledge of women A leon evolved a measure of strategy to resolve the deadlock while all were at dinner he had the precious box smuggled into the stars room that night he slept well in the peace giving assurance that au all women even the classy ones were essentially alike and all you needed was a 2 little tact morning brought disillusionment it also brought the engagement ring plus the emeralds back to their purchaser no word came with them in unendurable anguish of soul A leon began to suspect that he was being played for a sucker which to his proud spirit was a fate worse than death he raged he cursed he sent for moby dickstein and fired him again re hired him re fired him and finally told him to get out by the time the great man once more reconsidering had shout shouted cd wait a minute the for once resentful mr dickstein either was out of hearing or pretended to be the two secretaries were summoned to the presence they found their chief striding up and down with haggard eyes ill show her he shouted both took it down and then deciding to scratch it out waited for or more it came flood tide for an hour and a quarter mr dictated notes he then ordered his valet to pack after which ho he locked himself in the west wing for a session of self communion officially designated as a conference and otherwise known as the sulks memoranda were the aerial bombs of A leons professional operations erat ions shortly after the presiding genius had withdrawn into the silences they aegan to burst things hummed everybody ran around in distressful circles asking questions it cit one another ind d trying to tn find moby dickstein that long lone suffer ing factotum was at the park house in moldavia treating his spiritual injuries with cocktails the business of being fired had finally got on his seasoned nerves while chaos was brooding marne and gloria were taking a sail on the lake one of the daily rain squalls chased them in wet and disgusted the first thing they noticed was a typed square on the bulletin board which A leon had set up in the front hall for the daily edification fi of his underlings the legend read NO MORE rehearsals UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE BY SPECIAL ORDER OF A LEON PRESIDENT PURITY PICTURES INC glorias fair straight brows drew down in concern now the idea of that lets ask moby suggested her companion A sound of melancholy song issued from a side room mr dickstein had returned from the park louse house I the girls knocked and were bidden in formal tones to enter the first assistant rose to welcome them with a knightly bow your servant ladies said he youre drunk said gloria im not said moby he said marne but hes been drinking licks that touch lipper shall never touch mine recited moby solemnly aside from that if been fileds often as me so would you are you really fired im fired youre fired he she or it is fired parsed moby were fired youre fired the whole bunch Is is fired do you believe him marne asked gloria neither do II 11 I 1 I 1 moby answered for her not necessarily ill find out ill ask and these were his names tor for the two secretaries ile he steered a true course for the door and marched down the hallway moby dickstein soon reappeared his fa ceat least sober the staff is up ditto for the servants even the camera crew is bryin gas what exclaimed marne why kemper was to take some stills of me at four no can do he folded his lens like the arab and silently stole away intoned moby cut the poetry and come down to prose requested gloria heres prose for you A leons S snappiest nap style he passed out a me memorandum mo to each glorias informed her that her salary was suspended until the resumption of work meantime she could remain at maiden effort headquarters rent free why the dirty so and so was in her er embittered ed comment say if I 1 ever get a chance to square with him tor for this short of murder will wil I 1 take itt your love message kid marne it appeared had been put on temporary half pay pending determination of what was to be done after devoting a moment of concentrated thought to the document gloria gave her opinion 1 I got it A leons trying to throw a scare into you how by pretending that hes thinking of shutting down hey moby the factotum maintained the gravity of the owl and the taciturnity of the clam it if the idea why lie he fire me nie inquired marne logically because go simp he want to lose you just scare you he cant scare me by paying me two fifty a week chuckled marne not seriously gloria clinging to a last hope addressed moby what about our contracts contracts the factotum favored her with a sour grin ever hear the word snide they say out in hollywood it comes from A leons got him an old fashioned crook lawyer who can draw a contract so full of holes that the ink leaks through while hes whitin it then the bartys really over looks like it but youre not going moby cried marne the place would be dead without you what im goin to find out and quick the big stiff is still here I 1 dunno why im goin in to have it out with him but first irigoin im Irn goin to have another drink which ine he did in spite of glorias instant protest hell fire me will hel he he declaimed first he knows ill seg seg segregate myself from his organization he took his departure with dignity and steadiness in conference was the gruff re A 46 tit 0 lie he brandished brandishes bran dished the jewel before her then held it out at arms length to tap on his chiefs door you and who else moby airily retorted the door flew open huh demanded the great man sorely shocked by this disrespect what are you doing here I 1 thought 1 I dascha discharged aged you mr dickstein think again suggested moby entering 1 I dont have to think again you were discharged at our last conference for for inefficiency what you think well youre wrong you cant discharge me A leon looking outraged and uneasy tried to puff up why cant I 1 discharge you your contract nuts to me contract t you cant discharge me because I 1 discharge myself I 1 resign A leon resign he echoed in a hollow voice you mean youre quitting it this might be bluff A leon was inclined to the theory that it was but he dared not take a chance now moby be reasonable he began ingratiatingly dont you say reasonable to me reasonable about bein blamed for everything that goes wrong whether I 1 got anything to do with it or not now wait a minute pleaded his boss you got me wrong everybody was always getting A leon wrong to the grief of his sensitive soul you know I 1 got your best interests at heart As per invoice remarked the ex factotum waving the memorandum dum of his dismissal under its authors nose that means youre through on this picture pic tufe explained the employer with swift ingenuity well vell I 1 dont wants wanta be through on this picture I 1 like this picture through on this picture through ci on the whole show alcohol was inspiring the normally amenable dickstein spirit to a fine irresponsibility sure sure you stay right here on the job and look after er my interests As and on what in charge and on your present salary ive cut the others but bothin No thin doin said the bold moby perceiving erce iving that he had his opponent on the run the jaw dropped yo you u let me down in in my time of of trial and tribulation would you moby the appeal left its object cold we were about a raise way last march well talk about it again one of these days well talk about it now said the fourth cocktail assuming its place of command in the dickstein organism what do you want asked the employer apprehensively A twenty five per cent raise and a contract drawn by my lawyer make it ten per cent moby and well talk twenty five im a softy I 1 dont don it say fifty the business wont stand it wailed its proprietor we aint made a dollar yet yeah what about the pill and pellet trade that doin so bad I 1 expect A leon wilted moby sticking to his point with alcoholic tenacity finally won out that being settled A leon proceeded to relieve his feelings of their chief and sorest preoccupation that van straiten girl moby im getting just nowhere with her sure youre gettin just nowhere you ou chased me off the lot and said leave it to you you knew how to handle em the great man gave way to the humility of depression 1 I was wrong moby theres something about that high society lot that gets me down having won its victory the alcoholic h 0 lie stimulus within moby now moved him to confidential sympathy together with a touch of condescension acension on get onto yourself awa na the great man perked up at sound of the title only to be ta taken ken down by the next remark society my pants ashes no more society than you are ashes a phony 1 I dont believe it said his chief hollowly how ayou know how I 1 know I 1 made her up H h h h how could you make her 1 up easy you wanted a swell you the minute you set eyes on her you spotted her for class with a big capital C you A leon groaned and you needed a buildup for it you know it but what you were lookin tor for TIo bys job apply to moby hes the little after fter so I 1 shook you up a debutante society swell three parts imagination to one part social register with a dash of blue book and did you yott lick it up moby made an unpleasant swallowing sound worthy ol of flunks clunks best effort TO BE CONTINUED |