Star-dust in Hollywood (1930)

Star-dust in Hollywood " An I dell you latis you prink os facetoface vit de Granduchessanastasie an I dell you true vedder de Granduchessanastasie iss de Granduchessanastasie or vedder she no." A moment later a look of astonishment and dismay struck the flattered appreciation of the applause from her face. Her papers flew from her hand in an agitated cascade, the Herr Gotts, Herr Jes, and Donnerwetters exploded undisguised on the startled air. She swept the tulle from her princely bosom and gesticulated ; the diamond cross of the Grand Order of Something-or-other had disappeared. Stories of the ventures of American crooks flashed through Jo's mind. The scene threatened to assume the proportions of that so brilliantly described in The Jackdaw of Rheims : There's a cry and a shout, And a deuce of a rout, And nobody seems to know what they're about, But the monks have their pockets all turned inside out ; The friars are kneeling, And hunting, and feeling The carpet, the floor, and the walls, and the ceiling. . . . And the Abbot declared that " when nobody twigged it, Some rascal or other had popped in and prigged it ! " Luckily, just before matters had reached such a pitch, the star was discovered. In some mysterious and unexplained way, possibly dislodged by her agitation into the mixed papers, it had slipped off and was caught by its pin on the underside of the chair on which she was sitting. " Now," whispered Jo's friend, as soon as the excitement had calmed, " let's go and shake hands with the princess." " Why ? " asked Jo. " I think she seems very dull." " But," cried her friend, shocked, " don't you want to know the princess? " Once Jo found herself in a rather absurd situation. Invited as the guest of honour and principal speaker to a dinner given by the California Art Society, she found that, by error, another guest of honour and principal speaker was present. He was a large and very professional art critic who had [46]