Billie himself admitted that Bess was not crazy; she was merely romantic. Her father said that Billie was as crazy as she. Had she been reading "Othello" she might have wanted Billie to black up, but she was reading "Romeo and Juliet," and...See moreBillie himself admitted that Bess was not crazy; she was merely romantic. Her father said that Billie was as crazy as she. Had she been reading "Othello" she might have wanted Billie to black up, but she was reading "Romeo and Juliet," and she wrote Billie that he must either come as Romeo or not at all. Billie just naturally had to see his lady fair, so he hired a costume and went. He told his chauffeur that he would be back in a couple of hours, and the chauffeur knew that that meant three or four, so he started for a roadhouse to cool off. Billie made a rope ladder out of a clothesline and some bean poles, but he had never rehearsed the scene before and he did everything but fly. He flew a moment later when Bess's father discovered him and pumped a load of birdshot into him. He flew as far as the gate, but there was no car there, so he kept on flying down the road, but not rapidly enough to beat out some more shot. He outdistanced pursuit, but it was not his lucky day, for he ran right into another Romeo, who was also the object of pursuit because of his poor performance of the part, and the angry villagers, mistaking Bill for the other Romeo, gave him another good run, until he met the car coming along the road. That got him home without further adventure to decide that Romeo was not for him. Written by
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