Show iso RIM abdolm B illustrations BY CLARK by doubleday Db dir pc A ok co soralee so TV rylee CHAPTER XIV continued Is the me talks for women on the subject of ft were held every two weeks in the crystal room of the blackstone and were a great success paula was right much of 0 old an aug Hem shrewdness and business foresight had descended to her the women came widows with money to invest business women who bad thriftily saved a portion ot of their salaries moneyed women who wanted to manage their own property or who resented a husbands interference some came out of 0 curiosity others for lack of anything better to do others to gaze on the well known banker or lawyer or er business man who was scheduled to address the meeting dirk spoke three or four times during the winter and was wa markedly a favorite the women in smart crepe gowns and tailored suits and small chic hats twittered and murmured about him even while they sensibly digested his well thought out remarks ile he looked very handsome clean cut and distinguished there on the platform in his admirably tailored clothes a small white flower in his buttonhole ile he talked easily clearly fluently answered the questions put to him afterward with just the right mixture of thoughtful hesitation and confidence it was decided that for the national advertising there must be an illustration that would catch tile eye of women and interest them the person to do it dirk thought was this dallas omara whose queer hen track signature you saw scrawled on half the advertising ver InZ illustrations that caught your eye paula had not been enthusiastic about this idea IM il m m ashes very good paula had said aid guardedly but arent there others who are better ishel she 1 dirk had exclaimed Is it a woman I 1 know that name might be anything oh yes ashes a woman acoman ashes said to be very very attractive dirk sent for dallas omara she replied suggesting an appointment two weeks from that date dirk decided not to wait consulted other commercial artists looked at their work heard their plans outlined and was satisfied with none of them the time waa wa short ten days had passed he had his big secretary call dallas omara on the telephone could she come down to see him that day at eleven no she worked until four dally daily at her studio could slie she come to his office at four il thirty then yes but it be better it if he could come to tier her studio where he could see something of the various types of drawings oils or blacka black a and nd white or crayons she was work working ing mostly in crayons now all tills this relayed by his secretary at the telephone to dirk at his desk he jammed his cigarette end viciously into a tray blew a final infuriated wraith of smoke and picked up the telephone connection on his own desk one of those d d temperamental near artists trying to be grand he muttered his hand over the mouthpiece here miss IMs rawlings ril ill talk to her switch her over hello miss uh Ob omara lara this Is mr dejong talking I 1 much prefer that you come to my office and talk to me no more of this nonsense her voice certainly if you prefer it I 1 thought the other would save us ua both some time ill be there at four thirty her der voice was leisurely low rounded an admirable voice restful very well four thirty said dirk crisply jerked the receiver onto the book that was the way to handle ein cm these females of forty with straggling huir and a bundle of drawings under bleir arm the female feciale of forty with straggling ibur and a bundle of drawings under litt fier arm was announced at four thirty to the dot dirk let her wait five lol tol in tile the outer office being still a little annoyed at asfour tour thirty five there entered ills his private office a tall slim film girl eirl in a smart little broad broadtail tall jacket fur trimmed skirt and a black hat at ance so daring and so simple that even it man inan must reco recognize nize its french nativity she carried no portfolio of drawings under her arms through the mans mind flashed a series of thoughts such KE as gosh eyes that way I 1 like to see girl dress tired looking no guess its tier lier eyes sort of fatigued pretty no she yes yea she ehe aloud he be said this Is very kind of you miss omara then he be thought that sounded pompous and said ald curtly sit down miss mil omara sat bat down miss omara looked at him with her tired deep blue eyes miss omara said nothing she regarded him pleasantly quietly composedly Us H halted lor for her to say that usually she did not come to business busl nes offices that slie she had bad only twenty minutes to give him that the day was warm or cold his office handsome the view over the river magnificent miss omara said nothing noth lne pleasantly so dirk began to talk rather hurriedly now this was a new experience for dirk dejong usually women spoke to him first and fluently quiet women waxed voluble under his silence voluble women chattered paula always spoke a hundred words to hla his one but here was a woman more silent than he not sullenly silent nor heavily silent but quietly pom composedly restfully silent ill tell you the sort of thing we want miss omara he told her when he had finished she probably would burst out with three or four plans the others had done that when he had finished she said ill think about it for a couple of days while im working on something else I 1 always do im doing a soap picture now I 1 can begin work on yours wednesday I 1 but id like to see it that Is id like to have an idea of what youre P planning lanning to do with it did she think he was going to lot let her go ahead without consulting his big judgment I 1 oh it will be all right but drop into the studio if you like it will take me about a week I 1 suppose im over on ontario in that old studio building know it by the way most of the bricks have fallen out of the building and are scattered over the sidewalk she smiled a slow wide smile her teeth were good but her in mouth auth was too big he thought nice big warm kind of smile though he found himself smiling too sociably then he be became business businesslike Uke again very businesslike now how much do you what Is your what would you expect aspect to get for a drawing such as that fifteen hundred dollars said miss omara nonsense he looked at her then perhaps that had bad been humor but she was not smiling you mean fifteen hundred for a s single drawing for that sort of thing yes im afraid we cant pay that miss omara miss omara stood up that Is my price she was not at all embarrassed he realized that he hannever had never seen such effortless composure it was lie who was fumbling with the objects on his flat topped desk a pen a sheet of paper a blotter goodby good by mr dejong she held out a friendly hand he took it her hair was gold dull gold not bright and colled in a single great knot at the back of her head low ile he took her hand the tired eyes looked up at him well it if your price miss omara I 1 prepared to pay any such but of course I 1 suppose you top not cifers do get crazy prices for your work not any crazier than the prices you top botchers get still fifteen hundred dollars Is quite alot a lot of money 1 I think so too but then ill always think anything over nine dollars Is quite a lot of money you see I 1 used to get twenty fise cents apiece for sketching hats tor for gages she was undeniably attractive and now youve arrived youre success ful arrived I 1 heavens nol no I 1 ive started who gets more money than you an for a drawing draing suppose well then well then in another minute ill be telling you the story of my life she smiled again her slow wide smile mlle turned to leave dirk decided that hat while most mouth were merely features this girls was it decoration she was gone silas bliss Et belinda quinn et al in the outer office appraised the costume of 0 miss dallas omara from her made to order footgear to her made ln in france millinery and achieved a lightning mental reconstruction construction of their own costumes dirk dejong in the inner office realized that he had ordered a fifteen hun dred dollar drawing sight eight unseen and that paula was going to aba quest questions luni about it make a note migi bliss rawlings to call miss gomaras OM aras studio on thursday in the next few days he learned that a surprising lot of people knew a surprisingly singly good deal about this dallas omara she hailed from texas hence the name she see was twenty eight twenty five thirty two thirty six sir she was beautiful she was ugly she was waa an orphan she had worked her way through art school she had no sense of the value of 0 money two years ago the she ahad had achieved sudden success with hr bar drawings her ambition was wa to work to in oil she tolled like a galley slave played like a child had bad twenty beaux and no lover her friends men and women were legion and wandered in and out of 0 her studio na as though it were a public thoroughfare she supported an assortment of unlucky brothers and spineless sisters in texas and points west dirk had made the appointment with her for Thur thursday slay at three paula said shed go with him and went she dressed for dallas omara and the result was undeniably enchanting dallas sometimes did a crayon portrait or even attempted one in oils it was considered something of an achievement to be asked to pose tor for her paulas hat had been chosen in deference to hat hair and profile and her pearls with an eye to all tour four the whole defied competition on the part of miss bliss dallas OB omara lara miss dallas omara in her studio was perched on a high stool before an easel with a large tray of assorted crayons at her side she looked a sight and care at all she greeted dirk and paula with a cheerful friendliness and went right on working A model very smartly gowned was sitting for her Hel hello lol I 1 said dallas omara tills this Is in it do you think youre going to like it oh said dirk Is that ihrl it was merely the beginning of a drawing of the smartly gowned model oh it Is ar fifteen hundred dol arat ars I 1 1 I hope you think it was going to be a picture of a woman buying bonds she went on working she had on a faded all enveloping smock over which french ink rubber cement pencil marks crayon dust and wash were so BO impartially distributed that the whole blended and mixed in nelch a rich mellow haze like the chicago nt atmosphere mo sphere itself the collar of a white silk blouse not especially clean showed above this on her feet were soft kid bedroom slippers scuffed with pompon s on them her dull gold hair was carelessly rolled into that great loose knot at the back across one cheek was a swipe of black well thought dirk she looks a sight dallas omara waved a friendly hand toward some chairs on which were plied piled hats odd garments bristol board and on the broad arm of one a piece of yellow cake sit down she called to the girl who dellol Hel lol said dallas omara this ia Is it do you think youre going to like it had opened tile the door to themi them glida will you dump some of those things this Is mrs storm mr dejon dejong da harlan her secretary birz dirk later learned the place was disorderly comfortable shabby A battered grand piano stood in one corner A great skylight formed halt half the ceiling and sloped down at the north end of the room A man and a girl gir I 1 sat talking earnestly on the couch in another cortier corner A swarthy foreign looking chap vaguely familiar to dirk was playing softly at the piano the telephone rang miss harian took the message transmitted it ta dallas omara received the answer repeated it perched atop the stool one foot screwed in a rung dallas worked concentrated ly calmly earnestly there was as something splendid something impressive something magnificent ent about her absorption her indifference t to 0 appearance her unawareness of outsiders her concentration on the work before her her nose was anas shiny dirk been a girl with a shiny nose nobe in years how can ou on work with all this crowd around oh said dallas in that deep restful leisurely voice of hers there are always between twenty and thirty she slapped a quick scarlet line on the board rubbed it out at once thousand people in and out of here every hour just about I 1 like it gosh lie he thought ashes I 1 dont know shall we go said paula lie ile had forgotten all about her yes yes im ready it if you are outside do you think youre going to like the picture paula asked they stepped into her car sure attractive the she think so BO so he was as going to be on his guard was wai he be I 1 paula threw la III the clutch vici tasty jerked the lever into second cond speed her neck was wag dirty crayon dust said ald dirk not necessarily replied paula dirk turned sideways to look at her it was wag ax as though he saw her for the th first time she looked brittle hard artificial small somehow not in physique but in personality the picture was finished and delivered within ten days in that time dirk went twice to the studio in ontario street dallas did not seem to mind neither did she appear particularly interested she was working hard both times once she looked as a he had seen her on his first visit the second time she had on a fresh crisp smock of faded yellow that was glorious with her hair and high heeled beige kid slippers very smart she was waa like a little girl who has bag just been freshly scrubbed and dressed in a dean clean pinafore dirk tb thought ought ile he thought a good deal about dallas omara Ol lara he found himself talking about her in what he assumed to be a careless offhand manner he liked to talk about her he told his mother of her he could let himself go with selina and he must have taken advantage of this for she looked at h him m intently and said id like to meet her ive ne never jnet a girl like that ill ask her it if shell let me bring you y on up to the studio some time when youre in town he did not know that dallas played until he came upon her late one afternoon a sitting at the piano in the twilight with bert colson the black face comedian colson sang those derrla i songs song 3 about april showers branig violets and about mah ma ha ba ha ba ha ha ba ha ha my but they seem terrible when he sang them there was about this lean hollow cheated som ber eyed com comedian edlan a poignant pathos a gorgeous sense of rhythm a something that bound you to him made you love him in the theater he came out to the edge of the runway and took the audience in hl arms he talked like a bootblack and sang like an angel dallas at the piano he leaning over it were doing blues the two were rapt ecstatic I 1 got the blues I 1 said the blues I 1 got the this or that the other blue hoo hoos they scarcely noticed dirk dallas had nodded when he came in and had gone on playing colson sang the cheaply sentimental timen ti tat ballad as though it were the of a tragic race his arms were extended his face rapt As dallas played the tears stood in her eyes when they had finished it a terrible song she said im crazy about it 11 berts going to try it out cotil tonight who uh wrote it asked dirk politely dallas began to play again hm oh I 1 did they were oft off once more it was practically impossible to get a minute with her alone that irritated him people were always drifting in and out of the studio queer important startling people little dejected shabby people an impecunious girl art student red hilred and wistful that dallas was taking in until the girl got some money from home a pearl hung grand opera singer who was condescending to the chicago opera for or a fortnight they paid no attention to dirk yet there was nothing rude about their indifference they simply were more interested in buhat they were doing ile he left tellin telling himself that he be go there again hanging around a studio but next day he was back look here miss omara he had bad got her alone tor for a second |