“You're getting prettier every day,” he commented. “You ought to be a real hit. Josie McNair told me-"
“Who?"
“Josephine McNair. She’s in musical comedy. Thought I told you about her. I met her at lunch with one of the boys. A very nice girl in her way. She lives with her mother. She does—she does a little business with us. So I’ve seen her now and then. She says she hasn't enough voice for concert, but she’s sure she’d make a hit if she had because if you look good all the critics fall for you. Look at Farrar. Personally, I don’t know why they make so much fuss about her or any of those opera singers, but opera’s something I don’t care much about. I get pretty tired some days, working all day, and I like tunes. I don’t mind a good concert now and then, though.”
He pointed out a billboard.
“That’s where Josie sings. Haven’t seen it? I'll take you sometime. Just let me know when you want to go and I’ll fix it so we get the best seats in the house.”
“Has she a big part?”
“Well—not very big—yet. I hear she’s going into the lead later on. She understudies now.”
“She’s in the chorus?”
“Well, she sings with the chorus to learn the routine, but she’s not a chorus girl, although some chorus girls are very nice. I know one who supports a brother in college-"
“You know quite a few, don’t you?”
Arnold’s familiarity with such people wasn’t so nice.
“I know some theatrical people—yes. One meets all kinds of people in Wall Street, you know.”
“They must pay pretty well in the chorus.”
Arnold looked up sharply.
[129]
