Temperamental Freddy

By James F ederick Topping

A COMPLETE NOVELETTE

t was a spring day—on® of those

a when long-haired geeks c

s to the cow-path—the kind of a [ d*? a peison should bt at leisure h £ alt and listen to the birds sing, and U i mind wander to a higher plane t than that of persuading an aged rag t to do dutr another year and (111 hide its discrepancies under the

bed and behind the door.

M least thK is what Mrs. McJlmsey

thought as. with hammer i

her mouth bristling with cerpet tscks, she drove home the last tack. Striding erect, she viewed the much worn floor covering, with Us faded confetti pattern, with a dubious shake of the Md. It certainly looked fierce. But t had to do. She turned and de posited tacks and hammer on the __ U. And then it was that the wonderful spring sun siretmed in at the open sash and wared her faded while a breeze full of promise Sned her hot face and filled het

s smile and said that 1 s

Mrs. McJimsoy heaved a huge sigh, t Despite her iwo-score years and beef trust proportions, there still lay dormant In her generous bulk a spark of romance which the spring fragrance fanned into life and caused her spirit to soar to heights as sentimental as sn Ingenue in a ten-twent'-thln"

melodrama.

Her favorite literature was partly to blame for this. For years she hau f gathered up ibe discarded Uteratui of all the chorus girls who frequented S . ber theatrical boarding house, yellowV backed and ardent, and these she f* pored throtgh and enjoyod ss much ' as In the days when she n eighed but a hundred and ten. and was third

from the end of the front

But the sigh which racked her i* ^bosom now wn* not altogether a liter

^ -cty prcducilor.

Mm. McJlmsey had a past. A past which made the yellowest dime effusion in her arseroblage of highly colored fiction read like the sequel the Boos of Job—a past that [ Damn Nature's green scenery and or ches'.ra. with lu million tiny pipes *t& fiddles, were now dragging forth and scant: ovdr again in Mrs. McJlm

sey*s mental theatre.

But the performance was rudely Interrupted. The door opening squeal-• [ ily, deposited Mrs. McJimrer solidly

terra firms. Turning on ih-;

intruder, she beheld the unromantic

flgU’f! of the paperhanger.

*" Utile pice of cloth.” S£-aid the necessary- spring evil;

fit. and I’d been stranded so army times that my career looked like the frayed end of a rope. "I was Just a fool girl then.' ■Uty for about the nineteenth time when La Rear—which was the name the dago took when he got hold of a bar sal i lot of paper—come along with his family' proposition. I surprised to find that there was still Mother thutrical vehicle that I hadn' been dump, d out of yet. so I immediately slgnel a greasy contract and stuck my f.-et under the family table. That add. d ham and eggs to th* cdorlferou bill of fare of geflUteflrh and spaghetti. 'We sta led in rehearsin', and b/ the end of the week I was aa full of blark-and-bl .e marks aa the dagu'j wife was full garlic; but I'd learned the trick of tumblin' from thrie shoulders high v. ithout l&nd.'n on my collarbone, bo th acrobatic family took the

road.

'It was

- ^air act, nnd them acts

go. and we managed to exist tha-. winter on p< p-vaudeville. Then when spring «u»l.£ around and the wick burned ^ut of ‘he kerosene circuit, we signed up with Tuf T-ixon’s dog and pony show. The second week out with the circus we hit the town of Hawkinsvilie. Mister, I gnees they named that town "Hawkins' Just for the same reason that they call a coop hen. Everyman and woman in the

place was programmed Hawkins.

'And the first member of the noble family that I met was this Freddy

Sell!”

Here Mrs. McJImsey registered an-

other gob of audible lament.

The oaperhnnger shifted Ms port tion a trifle to find a soft s.xit In the flooring, and nodded sleepily.

case of love at first

sight, mister," gushed Mrs. Jimsev. -There was me a walkin’ through the woods in my high-heele-* slippers and little gobs of grease-paint slickin' to my eyelashes, and there was Freddy Bell slttin'.on a rock beside a little stream, with his auburn hair corned back In one of these here soulful pom pad ores and a soft-colored shirt showin' a .toft blue tie. He wasn't wattin' poetry. He was shukin' dice in the palm of his hand and flippln' 'em out on the gravel but to me be looked like one of these bere seraphim

read about in the hymn-book!

told you I wr.s a simp, didn't 1 mister?

"Funny how you'll fall for somebody

the first time you set your eyes on

that way. ain't It? "Hiere was me,

•there's a bole In the plaster In a cirrus glri with muscles In my arms i t'other room." I as big and hard as cabbages, that jfUfc-huh—I know," replied Mrs had seen every kind ^>f a man that the

world where his talents *nd his looks would be appreciated! That's the line of talk he gave me for seven miles—while the new buggy crawled through the spring mud and the wind blew in my far.-, smeltin' like It does, mister! When we finally got back to town the ticket wagon wav Ht up and the cook tent down, and Freddy Bell and me was engaged be married! "Well, I went through thwt performance. from the aou^reite dance I had to do with the one clown to the great pyramid act of the La Beat family, with my head in the clouds. I didn't need no red on my cheekthey were flamin’ with Joy- And there wvs visions before my eyes tbs' shut out the sight of the muddy rubes spltt-n’ tobacco Juice down between the blue—visions of a little cottage with a roee hush over the djor, wnd all the othe: things fool girls dream

about.

'I was sick to death of the Yid-anJ

“l knocked that in there

s taktn' the bed down. Bn'

a swell day, though?"

Sts decorator scratched his head. >. 1 don't know.” he objected, s too warm for this time of the Fine day to ketch a nice cold IZh. and then suffer with It dorin' i naat> weather that's bound to

t this pe<almisni v

s 1..S1 on Mrs.

» was Just such a day. Funny ^ spriuu weather 'll always make ^ think of your first husband.” - 1 durno,” paid the taciturn paste“I never nad cne!" put Mr.-. McJlmsey's gaze ~as died out of the window, and her recolls were tuned to receive por<- Musical wave lengths than Ihoe-; fi voice of a mere mo.riak ;“Fi-eddy bis name vas,” she cond. “Freddy Bell Hawkins. 1 know what the bell was for, but as his mother could see from the bt he wa* goia' to need one. p was one of those handsome, temtectal little fellers—one <4 the tha' fond mammas raise up and » on the world, and then Innoiy forge' to pray the Lord to send 8 a dotiup simp of a woman lo on their offspring th* 5 balance of •' paperhanger \ras working by Say, so bv sat down fiat on the f^Bls back pillowed comforiablv 1st the doorjamb. He had come

i pioc

cloth, but he v,alting nnii.

L fool |

girl then,” re-

InJlsnsey. linking dowt: i>p mattress. "Didn't > hu-dred pounds. You ; to look at me that 1 > top-mounter - with a I ;pir ia would you? But 11 bow toot* family—a family I

W op La Reur combination, anyway. And I was tired of being bumped around the country, too; so when the show was over » gave Freddy the glad smile, as though he was my deliverer f rom «-vei> earthly woe. You see, we went to a J. P. right after the performant .> and got married. But -the eedy eld fee-grabber hadn't hard! • interned the dollar Freddy* gave Mm his Jeans before all my racy dreams met a chilly finish. “Freddy informed me. very gentle and very firm, that I had better stick to the circus a while longer. You see. his father, as he explained, was a brutal and violent old party who would b-.- likely to do 'roost anything short of murder to the person who was guilty of lurin' sway his only son! He figured that the old men wouldn't fin.-* out for a day or two where we were, anu that that be wou'd't be a*! to look for hie precious, misunderstood offspring ‘a the low brow neighlorhood of a 90-foot top, and that we woulj be comparatively »afe. Also, .t would give him. Fraddy, time to adjust hii financial affairs and got In shape to play angel to a continuous matrimon ini show. ‘AH these arguments ult me like a cold shower bath on the da}- after Christmas, but I was in love with Freddy; end when be rolled them tempe-mental eyec at me, I gave wit ho it a word, and we went bark to the lo* where I Introduced my husband into thr bosom of the La Reur family, snd we all rode out over the dark muddy roads to the next town, which waa 19 miles go and bad goln 'Well, from then on. mister my life was one long day of promise! Freddy Invented the promises, and I swallowed ’em! Every town we hit, he always bristlin' with ambition, goin' to get on the inside of a good thing that would make him financially. He had more schemes than there were fleas in the dago's trunk, End most of 'em called for a snail outlay of capital. 1 gave him of my pay, and dug down in thr grouch bag that ever> wine actor save* against the evil day -rhea the show goes busted; but still he hung around be show and turned up regular at meal time, until old Pat Dixon begun to growi and sling Insultin' remark* about excess baggage around where

I was.

"One day I gently hinted to Fredd-.-that he might try a little shoulderboldin' with the La Reur family, or offer to roll tickets In toe kid show; but he gave me a grieved and wonderin look, and asked me if I didn't that hls inhuman old father would discover Mm immediately if he was thrust Into prom'nence, and that ou. dream of love would be pu*. a sudden and pain u! end to—and where would our collage be then* A sneakin' notion hed already seeped into my head that the cottage didn't tern to be. loomin' any nearer, so far as 1 Crtild see; but I choked it down, end cave Freddy another five-spot io launch a finincial enterprise which was goin* to give him his long delayer

start in the world.

“They was stackin' the seats when Freddy came buck that night. He had made n raise of a new suit. very lou-i and lempermental. so mu :h so that old Pa*. made a remark about firin' tha band and* sellin' the calliope or

have heri raised in that rub*- town I Junk, and he strutted around, flachln' >t was a rwmlrr Incubator for chin this mail-order front and steppin’ gin loach, seersuckers, and copper-lo<d gerly ihiough the sc.wdi-1, until ! ots! 1 wondered a little where he'd could see the red showin' in some oi the style—then! It sc«n<-d the coug’ necks' eyes, and knew Chat s father was the perpetu:.! rd better collect my famik.- and rehe country, and owned the move It from the lot before Mere was r stable In town. Bein' a an outrage committed upon this ten-

d old skate with a poetry In j d< - young person,

e kept hla only soil In Jail J "I d^g^ed Freddy back to the

Lord made- and the devil Inherited, and was arise to 'em nil. gettln palpitant over n HUle. slender-legged feller with Mgaret stains on bis Ungers, and no callousi-.i on bis bands or his conscience. either. Well. Freddy looker; at me as far as he could see me through them woods, and I come out Into s. plowod field, steppin’ high. high, as though suinebojy had left me a million dollars! And neither one of us had spoke a word: Love's a funny

thing, mister.

"E'-en then I might's'get oat <V town and kind of wore off the Infection; but after the afternoon performance. when I'm out prowlin' round the back streets of HawkinsvlUc, huntin' for a place to get some washln' done, who do I meet but this Freddy Bell—drivin"along slow in a brand new red-wheeled buggy! He pulled up to the cinder path where I was and smiled at me. “Waiina ride? says

Aad 1 climbed In.

■Yes. sir—knowln* that It was igainzt all the rules—circuses are awful Mrict. mister—and that 1 would probably draw a fine, and maybe get my face slapped by the dago's wife I climbed In. And Freddy Bell gave the tnsre a slap, and we whirled out into the country with the wheel a flashin' and my heart gota like the bass drum when the elephant act is Now. with aqr other fellow. I'd 'a-been sluin' on the edge of th" seat. y to draw a hatpin the first time he tried to get fresh. I'd learned to take pretty good care of myself. But with this Freddy 1 Just set back an-!

ned to his chatter.

: roemw. he was a temperamental l and _ that nobody understood He certainly was a classy U!

a’ways When you have worked two shows, down on the stove go they was no din

at him. 'Get awajt from my room, c - tumblin' and dancin' besides ridla ner ready, and the nook was swearic' ni tell Dixon!” fourteen mile* in a seat wagon and blue blazes. By the time they got it ‘ But he only bristles back at me maicln a parade, you don’t need nc lightened up it was t«me to make up. tnd flashes a slip of paper. 'Where's .soothin' simp to make you sleep, mis- so we had to work a matinee to IS rour uusband? - he says. 'This checker! I vas hummin' a little lullaby passes and three muddy farmers on an

Is phony' He better make It good Into my pillow, everything forgot ex-;empty stomach.

or I’ll get him.' be says. I was scared cept tha; the cal! was for four o'clock , "I was reelin' bum. anywar on ac In I.n. I ai, .. r*«i ... ... . .. ' ■

to death, but I dlca i let Cohn sec it. as the next town was quite a ways off, 'He's no: here.’ 1 told him. If you ( when somebody split my dreams in want him. go find him!' And I shut two. hammerin' on Uks door, the door in his face and crawled back | "I aliii .out and opened It without into bed. shaking Uke I had a fit. 1 stopptn' to light the lamp, and there

didn’t have any Idea what the fracas all .ibout, so when Freddy came In lookin’ sort of rumpled and blear-eyed, about three A. M., I asked him abou; But h.- only twisted his mouth around with a nasty grin he'd been displayin' lately, and said it was a shame that a person of his temperaas forced to associate with such low-brow scum as Cohn old Pst Dixc-u; but of course, seeing It was for my sake, he could manage to overtook it, although It pained his cMisltlve nature. He growled about having to get up at four, too. claiming Injuring his health not to get his proper rest, never thlnkln' about havin’ to do five turns every show, not conntln' the parade. 'Mister, I must have been a lot meeker than 1 am now, for I never said a word, but listened to Freddy’s complaints un»ll the clerk bauged on the door, and we had to dress and drag down to the lot in the cold fog and dark. We rode on an extra in a seat wagon, and at the had hHls everybody was supposed to get off and walk to rest the horses. But Freddy wouldn’t walk. He always stuck to bli seat, payin' ne attention to the dfiver': ' limitin' remarks about carryin’ statuary ami set pieces, though I was ashamed, and slid down and footed i'

through the mud.

'Coin' up one bill, I found myself walkin’ sting side Cohn, and the way he cut his eye around at me. I knew still mad. When a men Is mean he's poison, so I decided I'd better try to square things for fear something unpleasant might happen to Freddy Bell. So I looks at him real friendly, and asks him, 'How much Is. that check wrote for. Cohn!' “He gives me a mean look and says It’s for enough to put that little enter of mine vhera no dust wont mar M» appearance if he don't cover it might quick! I asked him how he happens* lovely to him. no matter what I worn. Women has always fell for that bun' mister, end I guess ihey always will; so I swallowed my grievances, and even gave him another dollar w hen he Insisted that he mast go and meet a party who was going to put him nex' to a big financial deal) ‘I went to bod and slept sound

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that fellow Cohn, who worked In the La Reur family with me. He wax standln' squared off, as though he expected ■xunething to hit him, and ht& little greasy face was twisted snd mewn. and his nose fairly quivereJ,

was so mad.

‘Where's that scenery of yours?' he snaps at me, hateful like. "'What do you want?' I snaps back to have It and he give me a pltyla' look, like he thought 1 was an awful fool, and says that Freddy paid It to him on o debt, but that it bad been protested, and it wasn't squared there would be ulneteen klndx of trouble 'Finally he let me see the check and I discovered that it was signed 'R M. Hawkins,' which is Freddy's father! Even then I didn't see any light, mis I only dug down in my poor emaciated grouch bag and fished out twelve do’.lars and sixty cents square it with Cohn, and folded up the check with forty cents I had left “ThM day It rained. “Now. a rainy day never stops work for circus people. It only manes work harder and cuts the money short, anu naturally everybody gets a grouch and snarls at everybody else. Before the top was up and the seats Ljd out. old Pat Dixon was nappln’ around like ifamished crocodile, and all the roughnecks was scuttUq' around like scare.! rats. Wc made a parade in the drlzz'c with two cages closed, and the dago's wife tidin' a white mare with a slicker on and croppin’ gartlcky cuss words every .wentv feet, and then we com•• back to find the cook-tent ropes sagged in the mud and the canvas habging

bein' kept awake all nigbi

and having nn dinner; and every time I would do a back fall over Cohn's shoulder*, be would give me that nasty, one-sided grin of his. until I

so edgy I wanted to screem. Then

suddenly, as I was standing on mv hands on top of the family pyramid, who should I see sauntering into tho reserve but old R. M. Hawkins.

Freddy's father!

‘I gave one gasp and forgot whero I was. end about that time the La Reur family turned three double flips to the ground, leavin' the ham-and-egg member suspended in the air. I com • down with a thud. My leg doubled under me with a crunch, and red-hot pains shot clear to the tap of my head. 1 though: I was all broke up. but when they pulled me up out of the sawdust, they decided that It was only my ankle that was twisted. But 1 couldn't step on It, so they hauled me over to the hotel In a January wagon, and the dago hal to finish his act with no top

mounter.

Nobody come near me all that after(Contlnued on page 6)

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