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As it happened, the room was nearly deserted, and before the mutual recognition he had stationed himself within a foot of the older man and ordered his drink, so it was inevitable that they should converse. "Hello, Mr. Patch," said Bloeckman amiably enough. Anthony took the proffered hand and exchanged a few aphorisms on the fluctuations of the mercury.
It was nearly ten but the streets were dark and sparsely peopled until the theatres should eject their spawn an hour later. Anthony knew the Boul' Mich', for he had been there with Gloria during the year before, and he remembered the existence of a rule that patrons must be in evening dress. Well, he would not go up-stairs he would send a boy up for Bloeckman and wait for him in the lower hall.
Yet Anthony neither laughed nor seemed absurd to himself. To his frantic imagination it was already six seven eight, and she was never coming! Bloeckman finding her bored and unhappy had persuaded her to go to California with him.... There was a great to-do out in front, a joyous "Yoho, Anthony!" and he rose trembling, weakly happy to see her fluttering up the path.
It's trashy. MURIEL: But I went to "Within the Law" last night and I thought it was fine. Have you seen "The Little Cafe"?... This continued until they ran out of plays. Dick, meanwhile, turned to Mr. Bloeckman, determined to extract what gold he could from this unpromising load. "I hear all the new novels are sold to the moving pictures as soon as they come out." "That's true.
Then followed an incident that though slight in itself Anthony had cause to reflect on many years afterward. Joseph Bloeckman, leaning well back in his chair, fixed him with a peculiar glance, in which several emotions were curiously and inextricably mingled.
Anthony remembered that they were white and always looked unnaturally hungry. But then they were usually photographed with dukes and princesses, so he was properly flattered. "Dick's a fox terrier, a trick fox terrier," she continued. "And Maury's a cat." Simultaneously it occurred to him how like Bloeckman was to a robust and offensive hog. But he preserved a discreet silence.
Even Gloria's beauty needed wild emotions, needed poignancy, needed death.... "... Any day next week," Bloeckman was saying to Gloria. "Here take this card. What they do is to give you a test of about three hundred feet of film, and they can tell pretty accurately from that." "How about Wednesday?" "Wednesday's fine. Just phone me and I'll go around with you "
Muriel and Rachael went into soft and purring ecstasies of enthusiasm. Mrs. Gilbert blinked and beamed. With an air of casualness Dick broke in with a question: "Who is this fellow Bloeckman, Gloria?" Scenting a faint hostility, Gloria turned to him. "Joseph Bloeckman? He's the moving picture man. Vice-president of 'Films Par Excellence. He and father do a lot of business." "Oh!"
Joseph Black?" demanded the telephone girl at "Films Par Excellence." "Bloeckman, Joseph Bloeckman. B-l-o " "Mr. Joseph Bloeckman has changed his name to Black. Do you want him?" "Why yes." She remembered nervously that she had once called him "Blockhead" to his face. His office was reached by courtesy of two additional female voices; the last was a secretary who took her name.
"Do you come in here much?" inquired Bloeckman. "No, very seldom." He omitted to add that the Plaza bar had, until lately, been his favorite. "Nice bar. One of the best bars in town." Anthony nodded. Bloeckman emptied his glass and picked up his cane. He was in evening dress. "Well, I'll be hurrying on. I'm going to dinner with Miss Gilbert." Death looked suddenly out at him from two blue eyes.
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