Actorviews (1923)

234 Actorviews “I’ll take off my overcoat,” I said, to say something. “That would be the nice, natural thing to do; I’d be awfully disappointed if you didn’t,” she answered ironically. I had not come to discover her beauty. No — ten thousand shames upon me ! — I had come to see whether she had a sense of humor. And I hadn’t long to wait. “Do you know Mr. Roth very well?” she was asking. “Fairly well.” “How wen?” “Oh — I gave him a cigar.” Now this was acid test Number One, and it is infallible. Any musical comedy person who has not a sense of humor will answer that burnished remark with: “What was the matter with it?” Miss Johnstone said instead : “That sounds rather intimate” ; and w’ent on : “I wanted to ask you whether you thought Mr. Roth the right sort of manager for a girl like me?” “He was Lillian Russell’s manager; he was Della Fox’s manager; I dare say he was Helen of Troy’s manager,” I said, combining truth with amiability. “But why do you ask me?” “Oh, he’s such a bear at times. He’s worse than a conscience. He’s worse than the New York Office. If he sees me at supper with a man of less than eighty years he says he’s afraid the Shuberts wouldn’t approve ! “Do you know,” she suddenly shot at me, “what I wanted to say to him when he spoke to me as he did just now?” I thought I could feel the blow falling on my neck.