The Horn Blows at Midnight Page #6

He tried to swipe

me bugle.

Quiet, Junior.

Now, what about this bugle?

Well, it's this way,

ma'am. You see-

Boys, boys, please.

Now, boys!

Hey! He beat it

with the bugle!

Oh, boys! Boys! Come back here!

There he is!

Officer, arrest that man!

He stole a little boy's bugle!

Stop!

Boys!

Come out of there!

You're very kind. Your

appreciation touches me deeply.

You were very good.

Thank you.

Today you and i

know it, dear lady.

Soon the whole world

will know it

and pay tribute to the

artistry of archibald Dexter.

Tomorrow night,

I make my debut

with Beethoven's

ninth symphony.

Beethoven.

He's sweet.

I know him

very well.

Oh, I'm sure you do.

That you're a musician

one can tell at a glance.

There's that, um,

sensitivity. Do you sing?

Why, no, no, I don't, but I do play-

Don't tell me.

Let me guess.

It's, um-

It's the harp.

How do you know?

My dear young lady,

it's obvious

that those slim

white fingers

were fashioned

to weave harp strings

into graceful glissandos

and stately arpeggios...

and that's not all

they were fashioned for.

Why, mr. Dexter.

Uh, that music you were conducting-

Oh, just recordings.

I use it to get

in the mood for my concert.

Isn't this delightful?

Fellow musicians living within

a few doors of each other.

Oh, I don't live here.

I'm just visiting

a friend.

He's a musician, too-

A trumpet player.

A trumpet player?

Oh, i must meet him.

Oh, he's not in now.

Not in? Well, perhaps we can

get together a little later on.

I could use a good trumpet

player for my symphony.

Tell me- do you play

the trumpet at all?

I regret to say no.

Well...

that's all right.

You'll learn.

He's here.

And he has his trumpet

with him?

Yes. He's on his way

to his room now.

Good, good. Now we can get

some action, eh, Dexter?

Mr. Doremus,

if in your impatience

you would prefer to have this

matter handled by somebody else-

No, no, no,

mr. Dexter.

Only a great artist

like yourself

could possibly

do justice-

Ah, there,

Humphrey.

Put it

right down there.

Have any trouble

stealing it?

No, boss, but if it's

all the sa me to you,

next time could you

make it a flute?

What's the idea?

What's this?

That, mr. Osidro,

is a harp.

Well, gentlemen, I

think you left your hats

in the living room,

didn't you?

We must have it before

midnight. Remember.

You said that,

mr. Doremus.

Yes, and he can

say it again

because if we don't get

that trumpet by 12:00-

How much time

does that give me?

It's now just about

half past 9:
00.

Half past 9:
00?!

Pardon us! We have

an appointment!

How very odd.

How do I look, Archie?

My dear, if mr. Athanael

doesn't go for that,

he's positively

not human.

Humphrey.

Humphrey!

Huh?

Humphrey, rouse yourself.

We're going into action.

Oh you pour dear.

It has been

a difficult day.

Oh, Elizabeth, you have

the most soothing touch,

and those fingers

of yours-

I know.

"These slim white fingers

"were fashioned

to weave harp strings

"into graceful glissandos

and stately arpeggios...

and that's not all

they were fashioned for. "

What's that?

What do you want?

Oh, nothing.

Think of it, dear.

In a few hours,

we'll be back up there

Away from all trouble

and temptation.

Nothing tempted me

down here.

With you

an angel senior grade...

playing trumpet solos.

I can see it now.

Why is it,

Elizabeth,

when you and I

are together,

it's always so quiet

and peaceful?

Who's that?

The house detective.

Get her out.

Come on,

get her out of there.

Wonder what he's

talking about.

Why don't you open

the door and find out?

Well, that's

the easy way.

What do you wish?

I wish that you'd bounce that

babe out of here, and quick.

I don't understand.

What do I have to do,

slug you, johnny?

Don't you think

you might explain?

Get out! Out!

Just a moment.

What's all this about?

Oh, same old thing

- This mug registers as a single,

but he ain't

alone now!

This is outrageous! How dare

you question these fine people.

They're friends

of mine.

Oh, I'm sorry. If only i had have knew.

Imbecile,

out of my sight.

Your presence

revolts me.

Get out. A most unfortunate occurrence.

Allow me to offer you

my suite as a refuge.

Well, thank you.

Thank you very much,

but we're only staying

until midnight, and then-

as a fellow musician, it

would make me most happy.

Well...

Mr. Dexter, you know, is the

famous symphony conductor.

We met on the balcony

this afternoon.

Really?

How nice.

Hmm, and while

I was away.

My apartment is only

a few steps down the corridor.

Well, thank you,

mr. Dexter,

but we couldn't

possibly-

That's right, Athanael.

We couldn't possibly

refuse your invitation.

Ah.

Coming?

Ah, tomorrow night

at Carnegie Hall,

I can just see

the audience,

spellbound, breathless,

and next week, Philadelphia

will be at my feet,

and Chicago

in September.

As Methuselah remarked to me one day,

"You should live

so long. "

What?

Oh, yes.

Oh, very droll.

Uh, come in.

Ah, welcome,

my child.

Hello, uncle Archie.

Elizabeth, I'd

like you to meet

my little niece miss

Blackstone. This is, uh-

Well, what

a lovely surprise!

Oh, you two have met before?

Oh, yes, kind of.

It was on the roof.

This is the young lady

I was telling you about.

How do you do?

So this is the girl you

said looked quite ordinary.

Well, you see, it was dark

when we met. It was while...

I know-

While I was away.

If i had a boyfriend like him,

I'd never be away.

Funny little Fran,

with her peculiar sense of humor.

Do you know, only yesterday I found her

masquerading as

a cigarette girl

right here

in this hotel.

Ha ha! Anything for a lark.

Who knows? Tomorrow

i might find her stoking coal.

You might at that.

Ha ha! But i

don't want to bother you

with all this family tittle-Tattle.

Won't you come into my music room?

I have a piano there that

used to belong to Paderewski...

and also a rather

interesting harp.

A harp?

Yes. It, uh-it was

my aunt Genevieve's.

I kept it

in memory of her.

We'd love to see it.

Aunt Genevieve

would be proud.

Coming, Athanael?

Good-Bye.

Wait!

Wait? What for?

Why, I want

to thank you

for what you did

for me last night.

Oh, think nothing

of it.

But, Athanael!

Don't run away.

Remember, darling,

you saved my life.

Well, don't worry. I promise

you I'll never do it again.

You can't brush me

aside like this.

Well, I-

You can't save a girl's

life and then ignore her!

Oh, yes, I can

, but of course,

you'll take quite a bit of ignoring.

Until you came

into my life,

everything was

so peaceful.

Well, it's going to be peaceful again

because I'm going right out of it.

Oh, why didn't you

let me jump? Why? Why?

Because! Because! That's why,

if you want to know something.

All I did was meet you

up on the roof,

and I was minding

my own business, too.

The only trouble is, I wasn't

minding my own business long enough.

How can you talk about

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