St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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14 THE IGNATIAN than Luxor himselfg no one knew less what he was g0i11g to say, or who the bad man was whose deeds he had singled out for the edification of his hearers. His eyes Walldefed in helpless dismay over the fear depicted in many a coun- tenance, and, perhaps he noted that more than one hand began to slide shoeward. But, lest by some mischance the voice should fail of recognition, the candid radio took upon itself thc dispelling of all doubt, for the words came clearly: HaW! Haw ! Haw! Der ye know who Ah am? Luxor, Luxor, Late ob Alabamf' The author now was beyond dispute. Who-if The radio supplied the answer. A sigh of relief circled the throng. Ah'm gwine ter make a clean breast ob ma life, it shrilled. t'Ah'm der bad man, Luxor Dawes, an Ah 'm proud ob it. Husbands could again look into their wives' eyes confid- inglyg lovers into their sweetheartsl They hastened to do so. Then all eyes were centered on Luxor as a focus. Ears were tingling for 'fthe clean breast. Not so, Luxor. The bad man on the radio and the bad man in reality were anything but sympathetic. Stop dat machine, he yelled to Epsom. '4Stop dat machine or Aih'll cut yo gizzud out. Reproachful glances met him on all sides. Euclid tried to quiet him. He rudely repulsed her. The story of the bad boy leading up to the bad man had already begun. The audience was irritated at the inter- ruption. t'Ef Mistah Dawesf' said a white-headed auditor rising, will jess close dat mouf of his'n, we kin heah him bettar. NVhatever we may think of the consistency of the expression, the meaning was plain to the audience: A wire- less Luxor was not to be interrupted by a Luxor in the flesh. Mistah Dawes hisself pussonallyf' said another politely ris- ing, ttMistah Dawes hisself pussonally insisted on ma pres- ence heah dis ebening. Ah hopes Mistah Dawes will recon- sider his conduckf'

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l 10 -lx 1K 111l 111-. N1 ' ht in ll . tal my. it Qin hit tht .llgl ml' lvti 'Plll etll mil 11195 hr- WHS itll' 'sed 011 ti- SOLVED BY RADIO 13 gation has never arrived at perfeet eertainty. Perhaps ltluelid herself didn 't really know, and if she didn 't, how ean we '? But what everybody did know was that she used, to the best. advantage, the attentions showered on her by Luxor. as she allowed her eyes guilelessly to wander from faee to faee to eateh here and there gleams of jealousy where Stllllklllllllff more positive and lasting eould not be eoneealed. Strangely enough, Epsom, who ought to be most eoneerned, who was indeed known to be n1ost eoneerned, seemed to see nothing. and grinned in childish pleasure. His audienee seeretly sympathized with his simplieity, and, as a sort of compensa- tion. applauded louder. The radio was a hit hoarse. to say the least, but so were the voices of those who hummed an aeeompaniment to the popular airs. NYhen it stopped and sputtered in the middle of a pieee, it interfered rather rudely with the rhythm of their C-lapping or the pulsing of their feet. But when it started again they good-naturedly fell in and kept time with the measure. Living like sardines they en- joyed themselves like sardines, and, having paid nothing for their pleasure. the end of the entertainment alone eould in- duce them to depart. They had beeome, however. a little listless during a classical rendition in whieh the wireless had seemed to sense its inappropriateness to the oeeasion. and had frequently broken down in eonsequeneeg but now it seemed to pull itself together as it sang out sonorously t'The Life of a Bad Manf' Had all the eompany been in a eirele with hands joined, and had a. strong eleetrie eurrent darted tln'ou,qh the eir- euit, the effeet eould not have been more startling. For a moment the windows and the door let. in a breath of fresh air as troubled eonseienees sought the background, and those who were inside. and who, on aeeount of the jam. eould not even move, after a brief gasp, gazed in anguish from the in- strument to Luxor and from Luxor to the instrument. XVas he speaking, or was it the radio, or he speaking through the radio? The voiee was his. Yet no one was n1ore surprised

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SOLVED BY RADIO 15 The feelings of those present towards Luxor were now anything but favorable. They had caught only individual words, chickens, rabbits, 'tdawgf' but they could easily supply the rest. f'Cotched, Ah! that was really bad, 'iCotched aging amazement at his wickedness sp1'ead over their faces: Heotched a third time' Alas! from early years he was surely headed for perdition. An new Ah lcabs de innercenec ob ma childhood-'Kspoke the radio Luxor brazenly. But it seemed as if other forces were entering to prevent the cleaning of Luxorls breast. Hal Ha! Ha! Ilve got the goods on you this time, Luxor, H shouted the Wireless, that bill youiw The scandalized machine stopped, but all had recognized the voice. It was the sheriff 's. Euclid fainted, women shrieked. pandemonium reigned. The crowd shrank from Luxor and he disappeared into the night. Epsom in a moment was at the side of Euclid. Her eyes, on opening, would gaze up into his. She would read his yearning there and murmur yes She would ever think of the radio as her savior, and would never know that Luxor had never dreamed of clearing his breast through it, but that a clever impersonator bribed by Epsom, had-well-we allow the veil of charity to draw its sheltering folds around Ep- som's conscience. xl E5