Radio mirror (May-Oct 1939)

RADIO MIRROR give me Bruce Eaton's unlisted number. I told her it was a matter of life and death, something that was very, very important to Mr. Eaton, and my emotional storm was wasted against a wall of official reserve. I couldn't even get the smile out of her voice. And then I remembered reading an article in a motion picture magazine about Bruce Eaton, only a few days ago. That article had mentioned the name of the agency which represented him. I couldn't recall the name offhand, but there was a magazine stand in the drugstore. I LEFT the telephone booth, bought a copy of the magazine, and found the name I wanted. That name was listed in the telephone directory. I called the number. I hardly expected there'd be anyone at the office, but I thought perhaps Information would give me the number of . . . Someone answered the telephone, a soothingly competent masculine voice which seemed to say, "All right, you've got me now. There's nothing to worry about. Tell me what it is." I didn't want Mr. Padgham to know I'd been telephoning. Time was short. I didn't have any opportunity to ask questions, and I certainly didn't want anyone to ask me questions. "Listen," I said, "your agency represents Bruce Eaton. I happen to have some information of the greatest importance to Mr. Eaton." "Yes," the voice said. "We represent him. Can you tell me who this is talking?" "No," I said, "but I have a message which must get to Mr. Eaton right away." This time the voice seemed to have lost some of its cordiality. "What's the message?" it asked. "Please tell Mr. Eaton that the young woman who removed his gag recognized him, that her telephone number is . . ." That was making it sound too much like a mash proposition, so I added hastily, "Please tell him that if he wants to get in touch with the young woman who removed his gag, he can call Miss Bell at the law office of William C. Foley, and Miss Bell will see that any messages he desires to give are duly transmitted." "Can't you tell me something more about what you're referring to?" the voice asked. "Can't you be a little more specific? After all, you know there are lots of people who admire Mr. Eaton both as an individual and as an actor. Many of them try to get in touch with him. We have literally hundreds of messages which we simply can't transmit, because it wouldn't do any good. Mr. Eaton couldn't even begin to . . . "Listen," I interrupted. "This is a matter of life and death. You're interested in Mr. Eaton — in any event, you're interested in his earning capacity. If you don't do just as I say, his earning capacity may take a nose dive, and I haven't time to argue about it." I slammed up the telephone receiver and walked from the telephone booth conscious of the fact that the clerk had mistaken my smile for an invitation, and was smirking all over his fat face. After I'd left the drugstore, I walked just as fast as I could make my legs move. Halfway to the house I received a sudden shock. There was no auto mobile at the curb! I kept on walking, hoping against hope that my eyes had deceived me. I wondered what Mr. Padgham would think, wondered if, perhaps, he'd decided I knew more about the affair of the Spanish house than I'd disclosed to him. An automobile swung around the corner behind me, coming at high speed. As the car swayed on its springs and skidded slightly, the brilliant illumination of the headlights swung far over to the left, held me in their pitiless brilliance, then went over to the right and back again to the left. I heard the sound of tires protesting against the too sudden application of brakes. After what I'd been through, my nerves were ragged. I started to run. Then I heard Mr. Foley's voice calling. "What is it, Miss Bell?" I turned back toward the car. I don't think I was ever so glad to hear a voice in my life. "Has something happened?" he asked. "Yes," I told him. "What?" "Lots of things," I said. HE glanced at the brief case under my arm. "Do you still have the agreement?" "I held on to it through thick and thin," I said, laughing nervously. "Want to get in?" he asked. Did I? I ran around the car and climbed in beside him. "Tell me about it," he urged. "So I started in and told him the whole thing from the beginning, from the time the car had tried to run over me until Mr. Padgham had sent me out to wait in his car. The only thing 2 Applying —takes a minute 3 Resting— for twenty minutes ■^aJ&j-tifef WITH THE NEW UNIT FACIAL MASK! • Look how easy it is for you to make the Linit Facial Mask at home: Simply mix three tablespoons of Linit (the same Linit so popular for the Bath) and one teaspoon of Cold Cream with enough milk to make a nice, firm consistency. Apply it to the cleansed face and neck and relax during the twenty minutes the mask takes to set. Then rinse off with clear, tepid water and pat the face and neck dry. WHY NOT TRY THE LINIT FACIAL MASK? 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