Two of the numerous members of the party decided to entertain their guests—the party was “dragging” as it were. The form of entertainment provided so I am told, was the kind few of us number among our accomplishments. Somehow or other, we have never gotten over that old-fashioned idea that certain ceremonies listed in the regular catalog or otherwise, are not for an audience. Rather, they are for occasions dedicated solely to the gods and ourselves.
And then there was another. That when certain restrictive measures were indulged in, the Arbuckle counsel had it whispered about that should things get too strong, the defense might allow the names of certain men and women, socially prominent in San Francisco, to be introduced as possible witnesses to testify as to the actual happenings.
Needless to say, the well known Mr. and Mrs. Consternation immediately entered upon the scene.
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And there was Captain Al Waddell, who commanded a battery in our late fracas. Al is the boy who made a hero out of Cliff Durant out here—really put over the son of the “Master Mind” of the automotive world, W. C. Durant. Al, who knows everybody and everything in California, might have made a fortune in writing a Hearst feature about the Durant divorce—but he’s too busy selling the Perfecto two-speed axles for Fords—whatever they may be.
It seems that for six years young Cliff had been telling his wife what to do. When he returned from an important conference in New York with his dad, who was still president of the General Motors, she calmly announced:
“For six years I’ve been listening to you tell me what to do. Now for six seconds just listen to me tell you what to do.” The inside of the bomb contained these sweet tidings: “Just give me one-half of what you own.”
Since Cliff was worth eight or ten millions, you’ll advise it was disastrous news from the front, inasmuch as she “made it stick.”
And now, so the story goes, Cliff won’t have to worry and fret about any mysterious looking gentleman coming to stop at his hotel at Le Bec when he blows in.
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