The Actress Page #8

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in le havre, france,

and her name was lynch.

It was lynch!

Quincy 991-n.

Oh, i wasn't talking

about your friend, clinton.

i mean, i don't

think it's nice to shout!

You see, i can't help

being interested.

Did all the sailors

fling their money

around like that?

I don't know.

After all, i was only

the second mate, you know,

not the father confessor.

Oh, hello, katherine.

Is ruth there?

Oh?

Well, do you know

where she went to?

Oh?

Well, she's probably

up to anna's.

Good-bye.

Well, clinton,

i must say

i didn't know

you had that side

to your nature.

There are a lot of things

about me you don't know.

Ever know i wore

gold hoop earrings?

Wore a sash around my middle

instead of a belt?

Didn't like the name

of clinton for a sailor,

so i called myself frank?

Are you just crazy,

or are you irritable

because ruth

isn't home?

When i think

of singapore

and all them ports

i'll never...

get anna on the phone.

I want to find out

where she is.

If i thought she went down to

see that craig feller, i'd...

ruth?

Uh-huh.

Where have you been

all this time?

Why do you got

your best duds on?

Did you go to see

that craig feller?

I told her

not to go.

Yes, but

you hear her.

She has a right

to have her say.

Why did you do what papa

told you not to, ruth?

I had to.

You had to go

against my will?

Now, wait a minute,

clinton.

Why did you disobey

your father, ruth?

I thought

if i didn't,

i'd kill myself.

You didn't

sign nothing?

Papa wants to know

what mr. Craig said.

Well, he just wanted

to see me and meet me.

That was all.

I thought

miss dawn said

mr. Craig could

use you right away.

If i was right,

she said.

Could he tell you weren't

from just only one look?

No, but it wasn't

like that.

Well, what was it like?

I just went into

his office and...

and sat there.

Mr. Craig...

go on, dear.

Well, he didn't

seem like

he was interested,

very,

and i was

sort of scared.

I didn't think

i was going to be,

but i was,

and he didn't even

ask me to sit down,

but i thought

i'd better

so i wouldn't look

so short.

And then he just

looked at me

like he was

quite busy,

and then he said,

"what experience

have you had?"

And i got all

mixed up and said,

"no amateur

experience,

only professional. "

And then i had to

go back and say,

"i mean,

no professional,

only amateur. "

And then he said

that he didn't think

that i fit

into the company

because i was hardly

suited to any part.

Well, he ain't

the only fish in the sea.

What did you go

to see him for, anyway?

Miss dawn

recommended him.

He's supposed to be

the best director.

Would you like

a glass of

root beer, ruth?

Hello.

Hello, dan?

Is that you, dan?

Well, i thought it was.

It sounds like you.

Uh, this is clinton jones.

Can you hear me, dan,

or would you like me

to talk a little louder?

Oh.

Well, i'm telephoning, dan,

about a matter that's given me

a whole lot of concern,

and what i'd like

to do is, uh,

is to ask about it

without in no ways

butting in.

It's about

what's happening

down at the factory...

about you leaving.

Uh, now, dan, would you

just mind repeating that

so i'm sure

i got it correct?

You done it because

you wanted to do it.

Mr. Cottington

didn't ask you to do it.

In other words, dan,

the whole idea

come from your end.

Uh-huh.

Well, uh... uh...

thanks, dan. I'm glad

to hear you say it.

Fixed as i am,

it's a relief.

You can appreciate, dan,

that i'm not

just asking this

out of idle curiosity.

Thanks, dan.

Well, you can start

hanging up now, dan.

I'm going

to hang up my end.

Good-bye.

Good-bye, dan.

Oh, isn't that

just a blessing?

Dan's a very

lovely man.

Papa had

a worry, too,

but his got

straightened out.

Now, here, here.

You got a kick

in the pants,

but that ain't fatal.

A kick in the pants

ain't never

very agreeable,

but it don't have to

dislocate your whole life.

I told you

to get education.

Now, you go ahead

and get it.

Then you'll be ready.

Maybe you ought to

write to that place

you was telling me

about in new york,

that place that's

like the ywca.

Oh, the three

arts club.

They say it's

a very lovely place,

far superior to the ywca.

Three arts club,

huh?

That don't sound like

such a bad anchorage.

How much do you think

it would take for you

to get started with

all your seams caulked?

How long do you think

it would take you

before you signed on

to a job?

I could get

a job right off.

I know i could.

It mightn't be good

or anything,

but i know i could.

Let's all go in

and have our supper.

Do you have any idea

of what it would take?

You can't start

an enterprise

without a little money

in your jeans.

$18, maybe.

Now, i tell you

what i'll do.

You graduate

from high school,

and i'll set you up

for two weeks

at this

three arts club.

Plus which i'll see

if i can dig up $50

to let you have.

You know, acting

or navigating,

the rule

is just the same...

start with some

money in your jeans.

Oh, clinton,

you're a splendid man.

I don't care a thing

about that old valentine.

Ruth, you've got

a splendid father.

Papa, i wouldn't

take $50.

That would just

be wasteful.

I know more about

the world than you do.

I run away from the people

who were in charge

of bringing me up.

They was awful people.

The only one

i ever met

was your old

cousin hartwell.

They was awful people!

They worked me

long and hard.

Then when i went

against their will,

they locked me in the woodshed,

or they beat me.

Then they went to church

three times on sunday.

Christmas

i was 8 years old,

they wrapped up my good suit

that i'd been wearing all winter

and hung it on the sunday

school christmas tree.

Clinton.

I been to the fiji islands.

I got along with them people

all right.

I been up in the baltic!

I seen men catch fish

with their bare hands

and eat them raw.

They was pleasant-spoken,

agreeable sort of people.

I eat many a bowl of rice

with the heathen chinese.

But from one end of the world

to the other,

i never seen nothing to equal

those long-eared hypocrites,

those great-aunts of mine...

erathusa and retire bassett

of dorset, mass.

Well, so that christmas

when i was 8,

i ran up to new bedford,

and i signed on as a cabin boy

on a vessel

with a cargo of whale oil

bound for barcelona.

I didn't care much

where she was bound for.

Anything seemed better

than going back with

retire and erathusa bassett,

who was in charge

of bringing me up.

If only your mother

had been alive,

everything would

have been different.

Well, she wasn't alive.

My mother wasn't alive

because she killed herself

in a boston boardinghouse.

I was 2 years old.

My father run away.

Clinton.

I guess there wasn't much else

my mother could do.

Wasn't trained for no kind

of labor or nothing.

Small child to look after.

And she knew how mean

them people were.

I guess rather than

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