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Show I '-Taink cf the theatre," ansirered, a-diiB t-arnessjr: Oue miut do her cutT, m-isin'l she, doctor?" lie kukd at me seriou&ir and fcicdlv. Tbf-n fas said 1 most dou I thought riglit. He toiled some Ha3 ia glass, fro-jj tj ca. gave ilr. "eJ a lot of ia-Krurti-ios, s-ji he wsa3d see me in Phil-aitij't!la. Phil-aitij't!la. whfre was fcis borne, and tie-r-srwd with a panic ; dmocitkm to me 10 take such care of myself as I could. Hour cn ht: bs here if be lire ia Phila-iclphia?" I at-d crosr, f.-r being skit ued to spoil dit temjer. He Tiiiu here J.j lecture jit a me'Iica! co!n ?," Mr. Ned explained ahsentlr. I lav bact, jeajet-aberin how firm and kind hit bands had been. Then ti.ir:ji burrc-d aivi! nsreyes fhnt up. I came from bit half tweon to find Mr. Ned ksex-Iirg b.-ii-ie me with bia anas acros DM. Eatie, Kaiier be wag saying brokenly, broken-ly, "coa't be ill for mv rake." I thought hist Terr kind, and bid my Laadover tis.3vcs gratefully: "Hoar good tou are! I'm only lary don't miod. WTiatenw t'x.ulJ you cry fot T lie bid, his face intliefoldsof the shawl about tuy tbnast, and aaid. ott aodortr aain: Ood bc-1? me, I Jove yoo HoveyouT I ftroggied with tbe beavv stupidity which ferer hi i upon trie, saying it waa all a drtaua, acd not true not true. f Then, when I felt hU iips hot and eager on my tnroa! and hands and eyes, I : p'eacpa that be mat cot, and that I waa I very LI, whereat be dragged himrlf ; away. For a long time everything was a rnis-i rnis-i en! oocfuaon. Weary. uring daya nifhin cars, mUe and li-ht always. A ques!ionir.g each momiEg if I tliougbt I . couid pbyat night, and a dgl answer : alvrays. "Yes." Awful time at tbe Uwa- tre:dra;ing into dresse l ha! each niht had to be tightec-d over tbe tbouIJer to ; keep tbenj from a!i fif ing off; waitinf; ia ; tbe wings, cure that I could neither bear ; my cue nor move when I iid: then a t tii rry ruh on, my voice soundins ttranpe and my laugh Lke acoiber peron"e, and ; tbe line of foriibu a avering up and down to ft that I trun-l to be dancicg before a wall of fire. Then the nightly ! twoon af".tr it was all over, and beicg ' lifted into the carriage which the tnaa-! tnaa-! aemenl providcJ as a matter of business, s And through it ail Mr. Ned doing every-!. every-!. tiling. i Mr. Ned'. Jlr. Ned. to whom I clung ' ia ilituib irratitude for his kindness, in 1 f'i: of te nightmare of what he had tol l me, and kept on teiiing mc. I waa ' to afraifl, fj, that fieople would ee. Tbe horror of being biaiued for making 1 a pxA man forget liu home and his honor was always before me. For 1 w a ; rure he was good, and over and over I ' lifted a weak hand to siiut out the hungry light in his eyes, and &iid that if be would ; only try, in a little while it would all pas and his heart would go back where I it belonged. Kach time he vrould an- swer: j "As long as I live I shall love you." j I got all confused. lie said such wonderful won-derful things. My bead went round till j I could Dot tell right from wrong. Sorue- times when he toid me that only if I was good to him roui l be remember bis conscience con-science and his honor, it seemed as if I should do better by tba wife, woo in 1 i neer forgot, if I was patient and let ! bim love me. lie argued, too, that he ' asked nothing except to be allowed to k,ve me, and to serve me, and to know I ; did not bate him. And. of course, 1 did : nt hate lutn. He laughed at all my lit-' lit-' tie creed of right and wrong, till it j st-eined stupid and narrow beside his ' vJder knowledge; yet, even when 1 could uo longer talk against him, I believed in ' my soul that my right was tlte best right, i and that if I couid only belp him be ! bould come to iL ' But at last I grew afraid. Once after J the play I swooned, and came to myself j to find Mr. Ned a arms holding me op, j and his lips taking my very Lie from j uie. I cried weakly that be was cruL ; and he answered, "Nojior that he must j wake up my heart that he loved me. i although I did not know what love meant At that, and at the hunger of ; his lips, I became dreadfully frightened, ! and struggled free, holding him at arm's ! kngthtand staring, scared and horrified, to see if I should know bim. He seemed to remember himself, acd said sullenly t!;at men were only brut-: that he must not forget how much a child 1 wes, nor ' spoil all by frightening me; and saying ; so he left me. I lay weak and dazed. As Uie things ; began to blur I said, clasping my hands and crying a little: "Phase, dear God! ; I am not a very good girl, but I don't ' want to make any one wicked. Please j belp met" I We reached Philadelphia. Miss Loo- ! wclla bad returned, aad I could rest ilr. Ned took me to a h.Mel, telephoned , f-r the doctor and came to my room. ! He w as white and haggard, and his eyes were dull He stood beside the chair iu which 1 was crumpled, ar.d said hoarsely that he could sooner shoot himself than leave me; that tbe time of pretense bad passed; that body and soul Ad a; he ioved me, and if I did not understand lie would teach rue. I tore myseif out of his arms, and my IS; from his. Ia the instant I kuew bim for what ha was. I stood straight a tuyff-et and cried that there was notb-ing notb-ing iu Uie whole world so h::tful to rov siaht as be. That iiL alone and at U-t only a half size woman, I was not afraid of him, and that if he kept in mv sight another ics-tant I would chofct l.irii. Somehow he crept out. 1 n-m n:ber ; crying iui.rahly, my arms fluns upward, up-ward, thatot uil tiiiiig-i in the worij love was the most cruel aud wort. And then I fclL To be ,'nt:nui t"ioorrow.; Katls Temusst, Soabretis. ! 1 j BT EJCE4 V. SillKinAX. f (CorjTisted, Ail refWTvfl. CHAPTEE IT, J a COJCPUCATIOS OF FEtXK. i ; Behearsai A bitter March day. TLev I I aire full of draaghti Oae gas j-et. Iay- Lht dribbling tirough ventilators in the i roof. Sweepers shouting to each other from where tbey were coTerin th chairs with white cloths. Everybody cross, and wii'a reasco. Callad at 24, wa bad waited a good half hour for Mr. Butcher and bis leading lady. The iay bef.xe I had come two annate? late to . nd the entire company assembled. Mr. . Batcher, watch ia hand, pacing tba stage, aad Miss Loowella sbiveriEg o- ; teciarjons?y ia ber fais. Mr. Butcher bad inform me that such a thing as beicg two minutes late was unheard of, and that probab'y I had caused Miss . Loowella to teke cold. Said I cow to Mr. Ned, who sat beside me on the roil of carpet, "When they : Come I shall tell him they bare probably Caused me to take coid." Jiist then be ssrode in with Miss Loow- j "!a at bis heels. He was in an ill humor. "Come, came, come, comef said be ia -orescendo. "Ix-t's get to work. No '. Kanding aroun.i. A chair for Miss Lxw- ' dla. Nad, where are tout masers? A i ehairr j Ned, wno off the stage would bars j knocked a man down for such a tone. ( sbejed suenly. Butcher got crofser and crosser, and it all fell on dm. It is bard to do a ooroedr scene all bundled Hp in a 'cloak, and scared to dath be-tuJe. be-tuJe. "Damn it," be roared, "take it o2." I wondered I hal not thoniht of that before, and bustled out of the garment; but I was still stupid, and presently began be-gan tocrr. "- . "What are you sniveling for?" Butcher tfomanded. hoarsely. ' Oce would think me a brdte. Voa shotiM be in Siberia, vita a man wi;h a whip after you." I laughed that it was as cold as Siberia, Si-beria, and that I shouldn't mind t'oa whip if only with it ha could make me understand what he wanted. "Are you a fool? he inquired. "No," I retorted." not quite; and what intelligence I bare is concentrated on trying to make out your meaning. If you would direct your giact mind to expressing yourself clearly, w should pet along. Therer and I stamped my foot and waited for Butcher to plane over and murder me, wondering if Mr. Jed or Touchy would dare save me. Butcher didn't plunge, though. II muttered something about insolence, and turned so abruptly that be collided frith Touchy. "Don't run into me, sir!" he roared. Touchy was in a temper over the bullying bully-ing of me and be roared back, "I didn't!" "You did." "Sir-" "You're a liar!" they both retorted simultaneously, springing at each other, fx-ino one caught each of them, and presently Touchy was getting his fur coat and hat on. Then be crossed to tue and said, under his breath: "If you want to leave this fellow, I'll take you aafe to New York." "No, no," I cried, and begged him to r.ay. But he meant bis "good-b," for w ben w e got to the hotel be bad departed depart-ed bag anl baggage. It was two years before I saw 'him again. - Then we met in a railway station. He rushed to me, jerked my bead hack, and cried. "Bless . rcy heart, it's Katie." With that he tacked me under bis arm and pranced with me into the ladies' waiting room. Katie, here's my wife," he said, beam-fag beam-fag all over at a wee, blue eyed tiling. "I'm happy as a king." Touchy went on; "though Eirdy here doesn't let me call my soul my own." I shook hands cordially with Blrdy, feeling glad that Touchy bad not drowned himself prematurt-Iy for me. Now, let us regain those two elapsed years. Maybe tbe rebtarsal gave mc a cold. Maybe it was grief for Touchy. But the next week I developed a cough that went down button by button of nsy bodice till it reached my belt. There it hurt awfully. I grew feverish and could not see very clearly nor move without being tired. I thought myself lazy, and laughed a great deal and was noisy to cover it up. Only Mr. Ned noticed it. ; He quietly emptied my bag into his, that j a xnine might be light He helped me up and down stairs and into cars, and took my part when I was blamed for frivolity. ; To make things worse. Mi -a Lmowelia slipped away to New York to buy dress'- ; for our Philadelphia week, and I was ' left with her part to do through two weeks of one night stands. Towards th '. end of the time I became so wobbly that I could not stand except on the stage. ) One day Mr. Ned carried me upstairs j and found me in a dead faint when be got to my room. When I came to he , said angrily, "I shall permit this no longer. You must have a doctor." j "Can't afford it." I returned cheerily. "Besides, what's the use of seeing a doc- j tor for laziness?" ! "I will pay." ' "You'd be compromised," I objected. ' "And I shall order you a fire." ' "Can't afford it," I said again fretfully. He looked at me iu a queer, earnest ' way and then turned sharply from Uie room. I Presently our business manager, a prosperous looking fellow, with a suave i manner and a big diamond pin, came in. ; "I understand you are not well, Miss Tempest," he said softly, "and that you j refttse to have a fire. I will order one." 5 My face b!ai-d as I answered shortly, : "I wiil have nothing I can't ailord, thank , you." . ' "You d.n't understand," be iasisted weetiy. "Jliss Loowella is uot due for acTtnJ days. If you fail to play the tbtatre closes. I must therefore, as a business matier, iiisict Djxm your taking care of yourself, and I tbail order you a fire acd a doctor." I f trui'srlej to my feet and answered lack: "You inay order me a cxacb acd four if you like. Ik-u't be afraid. I will : play; only, when JIis lmowelia n.-turcs. j I hope then I may be allowed to die, if I ' like, without being insulted Our genial manager said soothingly that I had an awful lemptr, and softly lef the room. I lay on the sofa crying, said feeling very gniaij suj lones-aii. I was ail over tears when Mr. Ned Lrouj;bt tbe doctor in. He was your:',-and strong ' looking. He laid a vigosous hand on my . wrist, pushed icy hair back in a womanly faahkai, ana said quietly: "A very sick girL Sabe must go to bed and stay there." ! "Oh, r,o, sue mustn't," said L " "If she fails to play ths tiieitre closes. So she ' cnt to u bd." i But ytir li.'e. chiidj" i ! |