Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Fiction; Motion picture industry -- Fiction
“I see; it wouldn’t be the way it was with Baxter when you found it
out.”
“No; you--you’re different. I don’t want you to get killed,” he added,
rather blankly. He was still amazed at this discovery.
“All right, Kid. I won’t,” she replied soothingly.
“I’ll like you just as much,” he again assured her, “no matter how many
doubles you have.”
“Well, you’ll be having doubles yourself, sooner or later--and I’ll like
you, too.” She reached over to his hand, but this time she held it.
He returned her strong clasp. He had not liked to think of her being
mangled perhaps by a fall into a quarry when the cable gave way--and the
camera men would probably keep on turning!
“I always been funny about men,” she presently spoke again, still
gripping his hand. “Lord knows I’ve seen enough of all kinds, bad and
good, but I always been kind of afraid even of the good ones. Any one
might not think it, but I guess I’m just natural-born shy. Man-shy,
anyway.”
He glowed with a confession of his own. “You know, I’m that way, too.
Girl-shy. I felt awful awkward when I had to kiss you in the other
piece. I never did, really--” He floundered a moment, but was presently
blurting out the meagre details of that early amour with Edwina May
Pulver. He stopped this recital in a sudden panic fear that the girl
would make fun of him. He was immensely relieved when she merely renewed
the strength of the handclasp.
“I know. That’s the way with me. Of course I can put over the acting
stuff, even vamping, but I’m afraid of men off-stage. Say, would you
believe it, I ain’t ever had but one beau. That was Bert Stacy. Poor old
Bert! He was lots older than me; about thirty, I guess. He was white all
through. You always kind of remind me of him. Sort of a feckless dub he
was, too; kind of honest and awkward--you know. He was the one got me
doing stunts. He wasn’t afraid of anything. Didn’t know it was even
in the dictionary. That old scout would go out night or day and break
everything but his contract. I was twelve when I first knew him and he
had me doing twisters in no time. I caught on to the other stuff pretty
good. I wasn’t afraid, either, I’ll say that for myself. First I was
afraid to show him I was afraid, but pretty soon I wasn’t afraid at all.
“We pulled off a lot of stuff for different people. And of course I got
to be a big girl and three years ago when I was eighteen Bert wanted
us to be married and I thought I might as well. He was the only one I
hadn’t been afraid of. So we got engaged. I was still kind of afraid to
marry any one, but being engaged was all right. I know we’d got along
together, too, but then he got his with a motorcycle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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