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Show . , T r Katie - Tempest, Soubrctt . , '. BT EilllA V. 8UEEIDAH. Coprrihted. All rlfflit referred. ; ; CHAPTER I. ! ' AFTER THE PLAT. I ' ' I and Diggers iere quarreling among themselves I shouted cautiously: "1 think it's going to boil." I wasn't heard. The position was an awful one. They hadn't told me what to do beside to tell them, and it certainly was going to boil. "Mr. Nedl pb, please!" I cried. "It's going to boill" "That's what we put it up there for," Touchy answered. He always heard when one spoke to any one else. "But it is boiling," I wailed in anguish, as the water sizzled over and streamed down into the strawberry jam. Every one rushed for nie, but not before a rash cudeavor of mine to remove the pan had imperiled its equilibrium and scalded my hand. I was dragged from the chair, the table hauled from under the hot waterfall, water-fall, and a bucket substituted, while Mr. Ned put out the gas over which the pan stood. Then in an awful voice Touchy said: "I ask the gentlemen present if they ever heard of a woman deliberately allowing a pan of water to boil over into a dish of strawberry jam?" , No one could recall a circumstance so reprehensible. "You only told me to say when it boiled, and I did," I whimpered; "besides, "be-sides, I hate strawberry jam, onyhow." Then it transpired to the indignation of the men, that Touchy had lxught the jam because he liked it, and that his information in-formation as to my taste in that direction direc-tion had been less certain than he had pretended. This diverted wrath from me. When it got around again I said forlornly: "I scalded my hand anyhow." Whereat Touchy became enraged and uncomplimentary. While he gently tied up my hand in an unnecessary wet towel, he bade Diggers witness that I had been sent for at Ned's suggestion, and that it would have been much better had I never come. At this I began to cry, but had only dropped one tear when Mr. Ned said, in quick command: "Cheese is ready!" We all flew around, hustled the toast which I had burnt a little under Touchy's instructions, on the plates and held oui breath. Ned, with the handle of a saucepan sauce-pan wrapped in a towel and held in one hand, while he stirred the creamy melted cheese with the shoehorn we kept for a 6poon, sidled to the table and poured the concoction over the toast. A delicious aroma filled the air. The cheese was just at that point of molten excellence that makes a rarebit deserve its name. Diggers produced from the window sill a bottle of beer. .Touchy would have none and scolded me so for taking half a glass that I took a whole one. "You will come to a drunkard's grave," he prophesied gloomily, making tea for himself with tho water I had let boil over, and adopting a manner which I found so unbearable that to conciliate him I asked for some of it. It was very bad. Touchy thought he made lovely tea. "Good?" be asked, beaming. "I never before tasted anything like it," said I, with hasty enthusiasm. Diggers was I ho sort of fellow who never notices a thing at the time. Long after, when gaiety was at its height, he leaned over ami said in a loud stage whisper: "That was an awful good thing you said about Touchy's tea," Diggers was always getting me into trouble that way. j We made lots of noise, and ate enough cheese to kill a tegioient. Then Diggers began telling stcries in his dry fashion, and we laughed till we could eat no more. One stc ry Mr. Ned stopped in the middle of, ;lancing at me: "Quite right!" said T( uchy, testily; "put her into the closet " So into the closet I went till the stc ry closed with shouts of laughter. Ah! it was II so pleasant! When I remembered ho i awful the loneiy evening even-ing might have been, I blessed Diggers and Mr. Ned at J Touchy for the three nicest men in tl c world. Eating over, i- piled the dishes in the hallway, as th waiter girl who had "sneaked" thin; ;s for us had directed, and I cleared t le table of crumbs for poker. Touchy never let me play. It angered him if lost and it angered him if I won, but li didn't mind my holding the bank, so 1 1 at by Mr. Ned with the box of chips in my lap. Touchy, on the other side of r ie, kept winning. I was very happy. I was all so cheerful; and since I was 'other useful lighting matches for c pars", picking up stray chips and bo i n, and since I kept very quiet, they wer i all more than usually gentle to me. P ;esenUy Touchy declared he lost whenev :r I arose, so I had to sit quite stilL Tl en the interest of the game grew and hoy forgot all about me. Smoke thicken ?d. There was no sound but the click of chips and the muttered words of the ; uoe. I got more and more tired, but dared not move because of Touchy's lu t. Presently I grew so stupid I couldn tell a white chip from a blue one. Tou hy shouted at me, but Mr. Ned said sli ntly: "Shut up, Gerald; she's tired." I raked thanks and stood dizzily. It wai very late. "If you don' mind," said I, "I'll say good night." I shook han with Mr. Ned, but didn't bother 1 ggers, since he had not looked up. Tot hy hauled me down by my wrist, and 1 dsed the top of my head, at the same tin ; blaming me for having dropped some hips. At the door I turned and sak : "Thank you 1 x such a pleasant evening." even-ing." They were at she game again, and no one noticed but ,'Tr. Ned, who looked up and nodded. is I started down the darli hallway, r. 'itchy tore after me. "How's your tmd?" he said gruffly. "It wasn't sc Ued much," I returned guiltily. "You made such a fuss I" and Touchy jerked my head back by a sudden sud-den lift of my c An nnd beaming as only Touchy could, i dd irrelevantly: "Katie, you'ro a nice gi !!" The sudden j 'rk made me bite the inside in-side of my che( k. I stood rubbing my face and said mournfully: "Nobody would suspect J "i thought" so, Touchy!" "Well," retu ued ho, airily, "it won't do to spoil yot . But I'll surprise you some day." ITo be cu t imied tomorrow. took to staring at me fixedly. Then he began doing things for me rushed for ray mail, fought for my bag, buttoned my overshoes, took roe to the theatre and back till I protested that I did not want to bother him. He began to cry he was j very young and said nothing done for me was a bother. I thought him homo-Bick, homo-Bick, and I patted his shoulder and said it would be all right. Then and there he grabbed my hand, shouting, 'Oh! would its 'Oh! would what? said I. At that j he talked a hundred words a minute. My hair stood straight no one had ever been in love with me before, and I thought it ' awful. I tried to talk as fast as he I kept saying that, dear me, I didn't love, atod couldn't, avid never would, and that he must get off the floor. Then he got up, slapped his hat on the back of his head, and started for the door, saying he would drown himself. I clung to his coat tails, weeping and saying, 'No, no.' When he broke away I flew to Mrs. Barker, Bar-ker, our old lady, She laughed till she cried. I thought her unfeeling. Sure enough, however, Bennie turned up safe at supper. He told me in an awful wliis-per, wliis-per, while I was eating my cakes, that he could not find the river." Mr. Ned laughed so that I went on: "I had an awful time with him. He wasn't naturally truthful and honest, and since he was ready to die for me if he could iind the river I felt I ought to reform him. I exerted all my influence, influ-ence, and went through a great deal. He used to sit glaring at me till my blood ran backwards. He let bis hair grow long, that he ' might pull it in his eyes and look worse." "Did he reform?" asked Ned, cyni-callv. cyni-callv. ' "Not much," I confessed; "but he tried. When I caught him in stories be would threaten to cut his throat. Naturally Nat-urally it kept mo nervous. Besides, I was always afraid we would get into a town with a river He left the company com-pany before tho season closed. Ho went down on his knees and called me his good angel, adding that he was going to be an honorable man, and that the day would come when, with a spotless career to point to, he would return and claim me for his bride. I explained that I wouldn't have it, but at the last moment he waved a lock of my hair out of the car window, and said, 'The day will come.' Won't it be awful if it ever does?" "Didn't you encourage him, Katie?" asked Mr. Ned, in his usual mentor fashion. "What for?" I inquired; "was it any fun for me? I tried to be kind to him, and pull him through. For myself it only kept me in a state of jumpitiveness and scare." We were at the hotel After waiting at the ladies' entrance for the sleepy porter to unlock the door, I gave up and went with Mr. Ned through the oflice, to be stared at, of course, like a wild animal." "Good night," said Mr. Ned at my door; "go in and cat your cheese," and he made a grimace and went up the hall to his room. I closed the door after me and looked at my place. It was not cheerful. Square, low-ceiled room, worn carpet, oilcloth in front of the bed and bare boards under, and one piece of furniture to do duty as bureau and washstand, yellow shades, one hanging limply, half torn from the rod, and the other twisted and stuffed in above the lower sash, a long legged bed topped with so thin a layer of matress that I felt I was going to sleep on a cold waffle, one gas jet' away in a corner and high, the flame shooting up a long blue finger and whistling dismally. On a small uncertain table some odd ends of bread and hits of scaly cheese and a glass of pale milk. I banged my Tarn o'Shanter to the floor, and said aloud, with a gusty sigh, "Jolly fun being a promising young actress, isn't it?" A thump at the door behind me nearly fractured my shoulder. Touchy was there. He beamed upon me genially and said: "Supper in Ned's room. You may coma if you will toast the bread." "Oh! Touchy, may I?" I cried. "Don't gush come along," said Touchy. I whimpered that if he knew how lonely I was he would not call it gush, and linking my arm in his we cantered down the hallway to the end room. Touchy kicked against the door and in we full. The room was thick with smoke, but it looked beautifully cheerful. A bright, open fire burned at one end, a table stood in the center, chairs were crowded about in sociable fashion, the bed was strewn with knives, forks, brown paper and crackers. "How lovely," said I. Mr. Ned, in a smoking jacket, stood fussing over an alcohol lamp. Harry Diggers, our stage manager, a stumpy little man with cheery blue eyes and a dry manner,, was unwinding packages and spreading string and paper about. Both nodded as we came in, and Harry passed me a slice of cheese. "Sit down, Miss Katie, and cut that up. Eemomber wo want to hear very little of you till after the cooking. Eh, Touchy?" "And Very little then," Touchy added, rubbing my bang in my eyes. "I thought I was to toast bread," I protested, weak mindedly Ukiug the chefse. "Don't find fault," said Touchy; "can't you see Diggers is hunting everywhere for the loaf? Right in tho wash bowl, old man," he went on to Diggers. "Wot!" shouted Mr. Ned. "Don't do that!" Diggers objected, starting violently; "I wouldn't put a loaf of bread in a basin of water, you know. Wearing my hair parted in the middle makes me look more of a fool than I am don't forget that." Touchy said there was no telling, and began to show me how to cut cheese. There was nothing about which he didn't know more than any one else. We were to have a rarebit. Nod cooked rarebits to perfection. Being the only girl I should have dono all the work, but between boing so pleased at a chance to assist at the supper at all and being shown how to do everything by Touchy I kept getting into trouble. At last I wag stood on a chair to see that the pan of water, balanced on a patent affair above the gas, did not boil over. The table was "sot" by this time and drawn under the gas. Threo plates. Touchy and I had to share a plfite. Some salt on a piece of programme and in the center of the tablo tho soap dish filled with jam bought especially for me, they said, and which on pain of death I was to eat. Since I disliked strawberry jam it wasn't a cheerful prospect. In the midst of much excitement over the discovery dis-covery that I had cut the cheese too large, and so retarded tho melting, the water began to sir.z. I didn't like to say anytbjrig, so I waited. When ToucJu . ... - "Don't be funny,1" said hi. t Touchy pounded on my dressing room door and shouted: "Are you ready?" ? "No, I'm not," said I. I knew I had been long getting my make up off, but a rough soubrette part takes so much paint. ' "How long do you think I am going to wait for you?" Touchy shouted again. I answered shortly: "You needn't another an-other minute. No one asked you, anyhow." any-how." i Dead silence fell. I grew anxious. It was late and raining on the icy walks. As soon as I got my dress on I opened the door. Touchy stood digging a hole in a post that supported the stage. I said ' meekly: "You'll have the stage down on us." He was in a furious temper and turned round with a jerk. "Don't be funny!" said he. "I only waited because I have something serious to Bay." "For heaven's sake!" said I. f '" "What would you have done had I gone and left you?" Touchy asked severely. se-verely. , I heard Nibbs, our "Props," whistling, and I promptly returned: "Asked Nibbs to take me, or or gone alone." Touchy Drought his fist down on my fable. "That's just it. If you think I'm standing around to do things for you because be-cause others are not there, you are mistaken! mis-taken! . What you want done in this company I'll do. The sooner you understand under-stand It the better. That or nothing." , Did ever one hear such impudence? . I stamped my foot and made more noise than his fist had, and said emphatically: "Thert, Mr. Gerald Touch, it's nothing! ' I won't have you or any one taking upon himself to do 'everything' for me. You haven't done very mucTi, goodness knows, and you were not asked to do that; and i it gives you no right to bully me. I can , take care of myself." - "AH right," said Touchy, with a lordly , sweep of his hand, and he put on his hat ' and strode toward the back door. "Gerald Touch," I cried, "are you de- lilieratoly going to leave me when it's bo so slippery?' I "Miss Katie Tempest has refused my assistance and is," mocking me, "at liberty lib-erty to take care of herself." & ."You're a brute," said I, storniily. : Touchy considered a moment and then raid: "I won't be mean. Come along. But after this" He - made a gesture that was s cross between washing his hands of me and expressing utter contempt con-tempt for me. Only a thought of the slippery pave prevented my ordering him .home, when a voice sung out from a back raom: "Don't go with him, Katie; Ka-tie; I'll take care of you." f'Oh! thunk you!" I shouted back. Touchy jammed his hat over his eyes and slammed himself out. I sat down on a barrel of nails and waited for Mr. Straight, or Mr. Ned, as 1, always called him. Mr. Straight was o formal, yet, being older than the boys and married, it didn't seem just right to say Ned. ,. If there is a theatre in the country that is a hole of a place it is this one in Cincinnati. The dressing rooms are down cellar, and sutrf ii cellar! I thought Jffi 1 looked around, what a glittering life an actress' is! Here was I, the envied of many, a scubrette with a good part in & first ch.ds company, sitting oh a keg - if rails, tfbwn cellar, at half -past 11 at nighf, having had my head bullied off by one man nud now relying on the good nature na-ture of another to get me home through puddles and over wet ice to the hotel. Hump?, Ugh! And all the lights going out, tjo. Just, then Mr. Ned's door opened, the streak pf yellow light was thrown across the floor, scattering the cockroaches, i "U'liat's the matter with Touchy?" Mr. Ned asked, still shaking himself into his coat. - ' After I had helped him, and been hauled tip the icy steps, and well started homeward through the puddles, I began a plaintive explanation: "Touchy is so exacting. I can't agree to let just him do everything for me, can I? And he bullies me so. I'd rather take care of my self than be ordered and dumped around. I I won't have it." I began to sputter again. "Many girls would be proud to havoso handsome a fellow as Touchy anxious to take euro of them," Mr. Ned remarked, taughing shortly. ' "They would make a great mistake," I protested. "It is supposed to be a fine thing when a man is anxious to do things for one. Instead, it is only wearing to death. Touchy was much nicer whenhe , let nie more alone." "But he cares more for you now." J "Of course. Oh! love stories are frauds. Now that he cares for mo, I must do us he says or bo buliiod. I'm dragged out for long walks when I'm tired. H takes my money and sends it to the bank, when I don't want to save it at all. He makes me eat bread and cheese alone in my room, after the theatre, because he says I can't afford a restaurant, and that it's improper for people to come so late to my room. I might stand, it if I eared for Touchy, hut I don't. Oh! a man who likes you tet-tejr tet-tejr than yott like him is very wearing. Nobody knows but ono who goes through "So you liave been through it?'' Mr. Ned questioned dryly. I hastened to explain : "Not very much. No one has cared really for me. Tliev have just thought they did enough to bother me. Bennie Shine last ye:ir, for instance. Was funny enough to tell of, and it will show you what I mean. f-?e. Played my lover. Suddenly ie |