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Show jTnan operaox. jyUttAN C.PASCKAL. I I, - v( 193, br L'lnn c- 1'aachal.) ' I.! r2t hotel facing the park wau H'-' 'Si of HBht Hecks. Motor cars , went noisily under the wide H; the large hostelry and across a aey a white girlish face M,l ih pillows looked out wlst- . i 3 the one naiTow window of a eWiatj flor back at these evidences of rtmefci e&7ety' llrtenIns 10 the or" Ufesf TJ slr the music burst Into a wild Krirfrom "Carmen," a very revel 1eh 9. : bird joutli and lusty, red-blooded 7 ffiavalid burled her tired eyes fata ' !ft pillows and her thin shoul-Icag0. shoul-Icag0. . shaken by the tempest of ' i crutch that had been leaning r Litht bedside rattled to the floor. IVaw1 f I can bear their old rag-time Vfirt rts-Ithout a shiver- ehe cried, "but ri'i alrD-they break my heart! j tos-1 sbaJl never sing them again j biff I shan't!" 1 uUcolierent cry went straight 't hh tie open window, like a winged X tcros the alleyway in the grand 4 5'jrd lodged deep In the sick heart lyercr there Its note of suffering ft ldJcg longing needed no Interpret- m U a universal language, under-hnuA under-hnuA 4Kk in palace and tenement. "WQftMC, wixton had been staring mood- fit of the darkened shadows of his room into the still darker i tm of a future that looked gloomy j id to bis usually careless, sunny '. i He had been hard hit, there was i fc;tt of that; and the girl's refusal tn tid cut deep. He had been so teftcr too sure, perhaps, but he ijht he could not be mistaken btsarm light in her eyes that had - j teuton fire all these weeks. ' iiHjhtthat lies in woman's eyes A f si ll-and lies and lies!" he 1 -f. hi miserably, sitting there in the r -,i t ''Curse the whole sex, anyway, -i itltlr deceitful wiles!" And his tied hands thumped the wlndow-! wlndow-! &rlr- He had mooned over her itcsunderlng idiot, lie told himself hied now she was engaged, so her iff tad told him the last time he to Billy Lunders and his millions fccipilly the latter, he thought, T ; rf! There was that beastly chan-'i chan-'i Kte from "Carmen" again could '' are: escape the thing? the song Oiy ! bathed so horribly of her In every dlvl Ttcote. She had worn a red rose itrhir, too, that night ho first met rtithe VanLorns. He could i.mell tress- now. ej2 itit "Carmen" was on the bill xbU; t-l-i recalled dully that he had the . don) is toi for this performance, Intend-r. Intend-r. -Al tttikeher and show her he remem- liat first night so long ago she Kidmen always forgot the dates a Jj' m remembered. He had ineant to - , it: of his loving little t-urprlsa that lfffi &r. Was it only a week ago? How ever bear to hear an opera - tl Curse it' He would get out of ikkenlng old New York and go MM l!0 Chicago any where. . Use opera airs they break my , ft broke In the sobbing cry from m- j fkioxv across the alley. John nn head to listen. "Same here, ht muttered heavily, "it's that-im that-im s 5lri-poor little beggar! She does f yll of a time of it, lying there plinth hot-water bags and thingo her-lt's a shame!" ?KTlct t0 be back there on the stage (nt on the voice, "singing with of the chorua 1 was a village : In -'Carmen you know, Mrs. , To the conscious pride In this L )' SrT6,,'known iact- there came an Ilia "rmur of consolation from Mr k 'nltrlor of the little room. A -t rnajbe some day I might have i bembrlch or a Melba my own J l, , v ma8ter said so. and now my i Ir ur1 Vtt never Sln asalp- S VVl!If 1 couJd only go just once it utLlt.a aKa,ri 1 lhlnlc maybe I J Si!" beUer- but t0 h(i Penned . ,the tlme llke a rat the I Til. trap cau5ht over his back i',7n, The re&t as lost In the fafr Pillow. . i " ln the darened window S! .u'ay fiUaQenIy stood up, 1 Si? ,,he llBht and Equared his i -'rB "k6 a soldier ready for niarchSng. "ril do It!" he said grimly, 'n ? , run awa' IIke a coward I'll thrm.,,!!. lhIn,? OUt- rVe SOt to gO vlu Sh .U Mme tllne' tind I might as im CC n0,W' rn & r,6ht to that mnr t.0X an,d flght 11 out- And what's ShJ'ti ilW1?,10 take that chlld alon5. " mobabl' look a fright and people will stare, but hang the people!" He took his hat and overcoat and hur-L hur-L nnni1?11? th? room- At the ott'ee he cab B an rder for an aut0 Twenty minutes later he was bowling toward Broadway with his strange little companion still breathless over the wondrous angel in evening clothes whose determination had carried all on-position on-position before him. Even the fat landlady land-lady had been subdued into deference and helped to dreso her quickly, so as not to keep the young gentleman waiting. wait-ing. Wlxton glanced down at her thin little face sharpened by suffering, at her two crutches and her simple white frock. To hit? surprise she appeared tastefully gowned. She told him quite simply, -with a lit tel pathetic quaver in her voice, about her ambition to be a great singer; how she had fallen through a trap door left carelessly open by the stage hands one night after the opera was over; and had been in the charity ward of a hospital, where they had not seemed able to cure her; how she could walk only a little way without hurting. Whcn they reached the opera-house the first act was nearly over. "Wixton gathered up her slight form and strode up the wide stairway as if his burden were a baby. At the door of the box he halted. It was slightly ajar. "Sold the other seats?" he questioned of the usher. ' "Only one. to a lady," answered that worthy, and volunteered further the whispered information that "she was a queer one came with a party ln the fourth box further down, and came out ill and went away. After a bit sho camo back with a ticket for a eeat in this one." "When Wlxton ushered his charge into the box, he found, to hlo surprise, that the place was unllghted. The curtain had Just closed on the first act, and tho solitary occupant was shrinking into the farthest corner as though seeking to avoid observation. John reached out to press the electric button and turned in tho blaze of light to confront the woman who had refused him the week before. His lips tightened and his face went white. "Eunice! You here?" The woman turned a lovely pale face up to him entreatlngly without speaking. speak-ing. This unlooked-for contretemps had destroyed her polFe. woman of the world though she was. and left her as excited and embarrassed as a school girl. There were traces of tears about the dark eyes, hollow from sleeplessness. Her soft, white throat worked in the stress of emotion, and her bosom rose and fell paritlngly. At last she found her voice. Jt wns I low and tre u'ou nd nt thp tnrinc I . . sweetnees of It the man's heavy heart pounded like a mad thing behind his immaculate shirt front., "Jack," she whispered, "if you don't forgive me and love mo I shall die. I never dreamed till mamma mado me send you away how dreadfully I cared and I never wan engaged to Billy Laun-dem Laun-dem at all. 1 couldn't be not If the wholo family rose up to slay mo." The orchestra began the overture to the next act the wild, gypsy motif of the Immortal opera rose and bathed them ln Its melting torrents of love made Into music The littlo crlpplo was leaning over the edge of the box watting breathlersly for the curtain to rlso on the familiar scene sho loved. "Jack, darling hear It! That music has been killing me till yon you remember that night we " John reached out an audacious thumb and pressed the button on the wall. As the box was enveloped ln darkness, ,hc crushed her close to his arms, unable to eay one word. On their way home ln the carriage, when Eunice had been told the littlo cripple's story, she laughed tendorly ln her new-found Joy, so nearly lost, and, with one Jeweled hand ln John's and the other caressing the young girl's pale cheek, mid with a confidence that the future proved not unfounded. , "I shall take care of her, her voice, her future and her back. I know a great doctor who can straighten out this little one's tangles, even as she has been tho means of unsnarling the dreadful knot ln my web of fate." s j |