Newspaper Page Text
£
Synthetic
Gentleman
By
CHANNING
POLLOCK
Copyright, Charming Pollock
WNU Service.
7DOOOOOOOOOOO
CHAPTER I
The house stood ulone on n sand-
dune overlooking the sea—dark. <!<*-
sorted, and silent, except for the swish
of the rain blowing against its shingles.
Wet to Ids skin, and shivering, tin 1
Duke struggled to pry open a window.
From Ids dank coat pocket, the Duke
drew a cheap jackknife and a tiny
searchlight. With these in his hands,
he turned to look toward the highway.
It wns Invisible, two hundred yards
from the porch on which he stood,
winding over and around and about
these dunes.
The Duke’s thumb pressed the but
ton, and, momentarily, the ray revealed
waving wet beach-grass, and a single
scrub pine bent in the wind. Then,
carefully, lie began culling away the
dry putty that held a pane of glass. It
was slow work. “Why don't I break
the damned thing?" the Duke asked
himself, and, a minute later, felt the
unshuttered glass drop into Ids hand.
It was easy to open the window,
then, and easy for a slim and agile
man to climb through. Once inside the
house, he paused. Would the electric
lights be working, and would II he
safe to turn them on? Why not? Half
the summer residences in Southampton
had been opened for tin* season. Kven
nil observant passer-by—if there were
to he one would think a brightly light
ed room less remarkable Ilian a furtive
ray. The Duke touched a switch Ids
searchlight had disclosed beside a
door.
It was exactly the sort of room In*
had expected a luxurious breakfast
room in a luxurious summer residence.
Most of the furniture was covered, tint
u gay breakfast talde stood in the cen
ter, and, beyond It, was an open door
to a pantry. The Duke walked through,
ami Into the kitchen, turning on lights
as he went. "Guess they're going to
open the house pretty soon. After all,
why should they mind an extra week
end guest?"
lie grinned, and anyone who laid
seen (hut grin might have found it
hard to mind. !( was an Ingratiating
grin, in a pleasant, likeable face. A
lean face, weather-beaten and a lillle
boney, but with large, kind, steel gray
eyes, surmounted by a thatch of un
ruly brick-rod hair. The Duke’s trim
figure stretched a tidy six feet above
tin' worn soles of ids untidy hoots, hut
bis gray suit, though worn, too, and
vet, was well cut and well made, re
veullng square shoulders and linn
muscles.
"Wonder If there’s any grub,” said
the Duke.
All the kitchen shelves bore bright-
colored tin boxes, with bright letter
ing, but they were empty. The bread-
box was empty, of course; no use open
ing that. Hut above the shelves was
a cupboard, and In IIml cupboard were
rows of canned tilings each can neat
ly wrapped in paper- sardines, an
chovies, caviar, chicken, ham, ( tongue
—all sorts of things. “Hospitable peo
ple," said the Duke. "1 wonder where
they keep the coffee."
Thirty minutes later, Ills Grace had
dined suslalningly, if not well. Half
the contents of the pot of coffee still
bubbling on the stove had warmed him
comfortably, and lie washed the dishes.
Then lie put everything buck in place,
turned out the lights, and, whistling
merrily, went upstairs.
At tin* top of the steps was a kind
of library—book-lined, with doors on
either side, and, at Its end, windows
facing the sen. Kven through the black
ness, tin* Intruder could discern the al
most luminous white of breaking
waves.
Again, he touched a switch, and, tills
time, lights sprang into being in shaded
table-lamps, doubly shaded now by win
ter wrappings. A lire had been laid in
the grate. He lit the tire, and a cigar,
and then opened a door on his right.
This was a man’s room, gracious and
Inviting. The Duke felt the mattress
drawn back over the footboard of the
bed, and, sniffing a pungent odor of
cedar and camphor, turned liis atten
tion to a closet across the room. A
very large closet, with an electric light
In it. and built-in drawers, and a cedar
chest. Atop the chest were two pairs
of slippers, and above it hung the only
garment visible, a blue-striped dressing
gown of soft, light flannel. His own
apparel still clinging damply, the Duke
took the dressing gown and slippers
back to the blazing fire, and, standing
luxuriously before it, changed his
clothes.
Still neat, lie carried the gray suit
and the wet undergarments back to the
bedroom, folded the trousers carefully,
and laid them on the box-spring. With
one hand, he tlung the mattress Into
place over them.
He returned to the lire, stretching
himself lazily In a huge, over-stuffed
chair. Outside, the storm was growing
steadily worse. Wind-flung against the
windows, the rain kept up its incessant
swish. A llttl? puddle formed on one
of the sills. The Duke mopped it up
with an old cloth that had been spread
■ .»ver the big chair, and looked through
the glass into a cluster of bushes, il
luminated from the windows, that
tossed their tops frantically, as though
moved by wild despair. “It’s a filthy
night," the man in the dressing gown
thought, as he sauntered hack to the
crackling logs, drawing contentedly at
his cigar, and pausing to take a hook
from t lie loaded shelves. "A filthy
night."
In the thick of it he had been an
hour before. Penniless, overcoatless,
trudging along the cement-paved road
from Hridgehampton, five miles to the
east. Was it live miles, he thought, or
fifteen, or fifty? On foot, lie had left
New York that morning Just after day
break. Jobless and flat broke.
For a month—fill through April, In
fact—the Duke had tramped the streets
looking for “a regular job." “What
tiie li—1 makes me want to keep
straight?" he iiad asked himself, again
and again. "That’s all right for guys
with an income. If somebody’d started
me In a rubber-tired pram, and wheeled
me Into college, and out again Into
papa's office—sure, I’d run straight.
Why not? Who couldn’t tie a knight in
armor? But being a knight without
armor—that’s different. When you get
dumped into a fight, naked, with nothing
hut your bare fists, and the whole
world coming at you with brick hats
and brass knuckles, what a d—d fool
you are to stick to the Marquis of
Queerisbury Hides!”
Still, tie had stuck—reasonably, at
least in the face of vvlint seemed al
most a conspiracy of discouragement.
Fired out of Hollywood for a theft of
which he was innocent as an unborn
babe. “All right," lie had said; “I've
got a few hundreds saved, and I’ll go
Hast, and start all over again." Con
fidently, he had left the railway sta
tion in Chicago, only to have ids pocket
picked before lie had got us far as
tiie hotel, lie had nearly frozen iri
Chicago, lie had nearly starved. And
tlion he had hitch hiked to New York,
riding freights when lie could. A pal
had christened him “the Duke,” tie-
cause of his clothes, and his English,
and the grand manner lie had acquired
In Filmdom.
New York - with those Hollywood
shot's wearing thin, and that Holly
wood gray suit, that had cost $125, get
ting frayed and baggy. Part of a job
less army in a city without jobs, lie
had cuti'ii his overcoat—or the pro
ceeds from it, at any rate—and paid
the last dime for a hunk in a llop-
liouse.
A love of hooks, a sense of humor,
and (lie wanderlust—these he had
inherited from an Irish father, whose
name was Francis X. Gilbert, and
whose proudest boast was that lie
came from the University of Dublin.
Hi' had died in China, nearly six years
ago, leaving the seventeen-year-old
boy, Harry, to fight his way from Hong
Kong to Hollywood, and from Chicago
to New York. And so Barry had
crossed the Quecnsboro Bridge to Long
Island, .•iml picked up a truck, and
charmed the driver Into buying him a
pretty good lunch at Huntington. Bay
Short' In a passing car, and Sayville on
foot, and another truck to Brldgchatnp-
ton, where lie had lost his hearings and
tramped hack miles before lie found
himself again on the edge of South
ampton.
It was black night, and beginning to
rain. A cold wind hud sprung up from
the northeast. An endless, winding
road, and wind aml-niln swept dunes,
with solitary houses. Grand houses
they were, all of them. A few had
lights Inside — and dogs wandering
about, as he had discovered in the
course of two desperate excursions.
Most of these dwellings were dark and
vacant. “Houses without people,” the
Duke had muttered, still nol-too-resent-
fully, "and people without houses. It
doesn’t seem fuir."
His teeth were chattering by now, i
and liis feet squished in his wet shoes.
And this house had seemed so utterly !
deserted, so entirely safe and secure.
“Ten o’clock,” said the Duke. “What’s
the chance of anyone finding me in
there tonight? And, If they do. It’s bet
ter than freezing to death. I’ll be on
my way again at daybreak.”
Now, fed and warm, he was growing
drowsy before the fire. "It must be
swell to live like this all the time,” tie
brooded, dreamily. "1 wouldn't break
into anybody’s house if I had one like
this. Gosh, I guess I’ll sleep here. It’s
warmer than the bed, and I’ve got a
long liike ahead of me in the morning.” J
His head fell forward, and his eyes !
were closing, when he heard an auto-
mobile door slam, and, an Instant later, !
voices and the shuffling of feet on the
porch directly beneath him.
The Duke sprang to the electric
switcli.
Fast he moved, his wits worked fast- ;
er still.
“No,” tie thought; “that won’t do. !
If the lights go out, they’ll know |
there’s something wrong!"
The breakfast room window—that !
was it! But not in dressing gown j
and slippers. “Damned fool, to take j
iny clot lies off!” thought the Duke.
Who were these people, anyway, driv
ing up to a closed house at this hour?
Thieves? Stragglers, like himself?
Hardly—in a hig limousine like that
he glimpsed hastily from the window.
Well, what next? Jail, probably.
How long could they give a man for
unlawful entry? “Damn!” said the I
Duke. And then he heard the lower
door open, and a woman’s voice in,
the hall. “Maybe I can talk my way
out," he thought, and started down
the stairs. “Who’s there?" lie called,
bravely, as his feet touched the first
landing.
A man answered.
“Willetts,” he said. “Willetts, the
butler. Is that you, Mr. Bidder?"
And the lights went on.
Standing there, on the landing nuk
ed except for the dressing gown, the
Duke found himself facing a party
of four. Willetts, with his lint In his
hand, squat and powerfully built anil
ludicrously bald. Another man In a
chauffeur’s uniform, and two women—•
one quite young, and the other middle-
aged and stout. They seemed propi
tiatory, and the fact gave him instant
courage.
“Ts that you, Mr. Bidder?"
The question had been asked first
in the dark, but now it was repeated
in a glare that made every face plain
ly visible. The butler didn’t know
Mr. Bidder, then. That was “a lucky
break.” It would give him time to
dress, and get away.
“Yes,” he answered, quietly. “You’re
a little late, aren’t you?"
“Sorry, sir,” said the butler. “I
didn't have any idea you’d be here,
sir. Your mother said you wasn't com
ing until tomorrow. Evans had to
take ’em down to the ship—her and
your father, sir—and then lie had to
go back to the hotel, and pick up me,
and cook, and the maid. The storm
didn’t help, neither, and we stopped
at Pntchogue for dinner. I hope you
ain’t going to he put out, sir.”
(TO BE CONTINUED)
2
an ADVENTURE
starts right on
this page!
"SYNTHETIC
GENTLEMAN"
IS
SERIAL THRILL
Climb rigid along into society
with "The Duke" for some of
the most engaging crook-drama
you’ve read In years. For this
charming second-story worker
broke right into a Long Island
home, and couldn't get out—for
ho was mistaken for the prodi
gal scion of the family and
found himself in love.
Here are some of the real
thrills and laughs for which
the pen of Channing Pollock
has become famous. Don't miss
a single chapter.
SYNTHETIC GENTLEMAN
By Channing Pollock
BEGIN it here and read the suc
ceeding chapters in future issues!
sf
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★ ★★By VIRGINIA VALE ★★★
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STAR
DUST
^Lovie • I^adio
A T LAST we have a picture.
made in color that we can
cheer about. It is “The Trail of
the Lonesome Pine,” and it is so
beautiful that from now on we
may expect many more pictures
which give us natural coloring in-
instead of black and white. It is the
first all-color picture made outdoors.
Sylvia Sydney, Fred MacMurray and
Henry Fonda all give excellent per
formances, and “The Trail of the
Lonesome Pine” is one of the pictures
that you really must see.
—*—
Do you by any chance remember
"Common Clay,” as Constance Ben
nett made it some years ago, or per
haps you recall it as a silent picture
with Clara Kimball Young as leading
lady. Well, it’s always been popular,
so plans were made to do it again, but
the Hays office vetoed the story!
—k—
AJl the girls seem to want the
role of “Queen Elizabeth” in the
film version of “Alary
of Scotland,” in which
Katherine Hepburn will
Play “Mary.” Bette Da
vis would like to play
it. Several others have
made tests. And the
other day some one
who was Introduced
as Lady Lindsey ap
peared at the studios,
all set to siiow what
she could do as the fa
mous queen. But when
she spoke the joke fell
through, for Lady
Lindsey was our old friend Ginger
Ilogers.
—¥—
Just in case you’re thinking of try
ing to break into the movies by getting
work as an extra, here are some facts
that may make you pause and consider
—that is, unless you have money
enough to live on while you’re making
the attempt.
Almost all extras are engaged
through the Central Casting corpora
tion, which is maintained by the pro
ducers. And the average wage per
month earned by extras (50,000 of
them) during 1935 was $5. That Is,
each of them worked an average of
one day a month.
Of course, there were many who
earned more than that. The highest
salary per day was $15. Most of the
extras fell into the class that receives
from $7.50 to $10 a day, when they
work.
Y r et the advice “stay away from
Hollywood unless ynu have enough
money to live on” makes little, if any,
impression on would-be screen stars—
for the daily number of people wanting
to register, in 1935, was 87.
—¥—
Ken Maynard, hero of Westerns, has
bought himself a efreus. He already
had a Wild West show, and he’s going
to put the two together, and may tour
with them. Well, Tom Mix did pretty
well with a circus, though he did noth
ing but ride around the ring and wave
his hat. I think Maynard will give us
more of a performance than that.
—K—
Claudette Colbert has put her foot
down, once and for
not play one of the
leads In the “Old
Maid,” no matter how
long she has to wait
for another role. De
parting for the desert
for two weeks’ location
work on “Under Two
Flags,” she announced
before she left that she
was doing Paramount
a favor in turning t he
part down, because it
was unsulted to her.
And site’s been making
pictures long enough
to know pretty well what she can do.
—*—
At last there’s good news about
Adolphe Menjou, who has been ill for
so long. He’s much better, and it won’t
be many weeks before he’ll be back at
work.
- + —
The talking bird that refused to talk
recently on Major Bowes* amateur
hour disappointed his owner, but de
lighted the audience; he insisted on
talking as soon as he was removed
from the microphone, and could hardly
be stopped.
—*—
Not even Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern
Times” aroused more interest before It
was released than has the Fox picture,
“The Country Doctor,” made with the
famous quints. Even Hollywood’s hard
est boiled movie folk can hardly wait
for it.
—-k—
ODDS AND ENDS . . . Chester Morris
worked for one day as an extra in “Ro
meo and Juliet” , . . Katherine Hepburn
used to live in a house that she said
uas haunted—but Boris Karloff has it
note, and not a ghost has appeared; may
be they're afraid of him! . . . Joan Ben
nett's younger daughter, Melinda, is one
of the cutest children in Hollywood . . .
Virginia Bruce has a new house . . .
Myrna Uoy is an enthusiastic knitter . . .
Carole Lombard’s Pekingese appears
with her in “Love Before Breakfast" . . .
And Carole will appear with a Swedish
dialect in some scenes of “The Princess
Conies Across.”
all; she will
Claudette
Colbert
Katherine
Hepburn
Western Newspaper Union.
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© Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service.
FOOLS USEFUL
Wise men learn more from fool*
than fools from wise men.—Cato.
Beware Coughs
from common colds
That Hang On
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So many people who are ignoraol
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Alaskan Eskimo Is a Fast-
Vanishing Race, Doctor Says
The average life span of Alaskan
Eskimos is only 24 years, due chiefly
to the prevalence of tuberculosis,
says Dr. Victor E. Levine of the
Creighton university school of medi
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Unless more physicians are pro
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come extinct In little more than a
generation, Doctor Levine predicts.
Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Prescription makes
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After every war the taxes go up—
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