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Show Fhe: Memoirs oLboie Fuller! 2 1r ' QHAPTEB IV. " H f; Fuller Alexandre Dumas anc" 8 f Camille Flammarion. . evenine at the Folics-BerRcrcs THJ3 ?fe9ftiS5 cards wore handed to mo. ? bore rto name of the minisier ox r Tlivti On the other was en- BSd An ot M- K,ltiC" ' llffl Scntlemen and what : IIHS they want? The minister prob-f prob-f I Jns coming to ask mo fo dnuee at 1 house asked my maid to show i i?n As soon as they entered I j .' Js S bg the star of tho company 3! Sficb he was the youn leading man. i S a tempestuous voyage wc arrived ' Kinrston. Mr. Morris, my mother ..'3 fmSf stayed at the Clarendon, anui it looked at first as if wc were the ari I persons stayinR in Uic hotel. Ve , ? four meals in a .lar-e ha 1 on the ?. : Jt floor, into which all the rooms fPwero mistaken, however, in sup-Sac sup-Sac that wo had the lio.lel all to our-' our-' Je? for tho second day a ccntlcman alllJ Beared on tho scene. Wo did not pay aS & attention to hi in. but little by lit-. lit-. JlH fo remarked that he seemed lonely, i8lS rncaat and sad. Anally one day I asked my mother tin J i Mr. Morris to invite the newcomer n2?our table. Unfortunately, all con-PfiI7laation con-PfiI7laation between us was impossible, C j bo spoke only French and wo knew . HbUomu but English. Nevertheless t. rltho aid of pantomime. and good will both sides, wo made him understand. I o becamn friends, despite the laek ot to ! conversational medium, and he-came "ntTfc th us several times to tho theater. I -iSin't even find out his name, and "tr returning to kew York, .two ; 604 i jnths later, I iboufrbt no more- ot ntMi iaeston, until the. same gentleman an-ts an-ts ared in my dressing room at the ol- n tbraeantimc ho had learned Eng-h0 Eng-h0 h and wns ablo to tell me that when andi i had mot in Jamaica a revolution had to. 9fc broken out in Hayti. His father m boon murdered and it was with Ctm eat difficulty that ho himself had ,cs-TOM ,cs-TOM bed in a small boat. Ho was picked .toll ly a steamship and taken to King-mM, King-mM, m. All tho time ho remained there he . e without nows of his family, not 11 owing whether his mother, brothers fflflM Q sisters were alive or dead. After neati' revolution was over ho returned aud ind them all well. , When ho finished tho tale, which cx- Hned tho look of sadness on his faco the timo of our first meeting, ho , id to mot . , ui i'How can I bo of servioo to you.7 aM it 4 seem to have everything that smite smi-te can give. But thero is ono thing n do, and which T feel suto will be TTT pleasure for you. I can present you : -my old friend, Alexandre Dumas," owiH Jinpr, with a smile, "I cap any 'my MuJi 1 friend, ' for my father was an old iztlij nd of his father." . Inta LfBcallyl" I returned, filled with ldri h f "You will present mo to tho au-or au-or of ' La Damo uus Camclias?" ! "Yes," ho replied, j That would mako up for a dozen trip3 ': Jamaica, aud T tnanked him effu- Eoly. A few days later he camo to :o mo to Marly to seo tho author. 'jtourinR tho journey M. Poullo taught hWila cntenco in French which I was Hit ''B3y when Dumas gavo mo his hand: t Usui To suis tres contente de sorrer votro o pu aia" ("I am vorj- happy to 6hako Efj? rhand"). But, as always happens, mixed it all up when tho moment ; eabaJ nved. Instead of talunj; his hand, j grasped both of them, and cmphati-t cmphati-t Uy making evory word resound, dc-' dc-' ired: "Jo snis trcs contfinto de notre - linserree" ("I am very pleased with . iur fistl"). jmlai! J. not understand his reply, but rrholb! Jenvard my friend told mo Dumas had jet bJ) id: iw Bn s uot clenched, but; I n3 l0w -1That vou meaji' My f riond Poulle imaica and I open my arms and my rt to you." I understood his gesture, though his CUt "fl5 rero roelt to me. gin that momout thero began an inti-tefnendship inti-tefnendship between us. Among tho W.men whom I have met, few have trciEed over mo such a charm as that iDumas. At first rather cold, haughty BOBt, ho quickly unbent, aud his con- T nation was exquisite, his manner that. ' tno grand seigneur. When I had gomo moro familiar with French I was able to realize the irresistible charm of his conversation, mado up of j well-chosen words, logical sequenros ot ; fine ideas, sparkling- with wit. Dumas j almost had two voices, two ways of j talking. One he used for -ordinary things overday questions the other was only heard" when ho talked on some subject "which interested him deeply. very tall, a dreamy look in his eyes, gazing at something tar nway, ho looKcd long and earnestly at the person to whom he was talking, his eyes lighted up by tho sparkle of a profound intelligence. intelli-gence. Speaking with Dumas T learned many things which 1 shall never forget. for-get. One day wc woro chatting about , "La Dame aiix Camelias," of tho demimonde, demi-monde, and of tho character of the women wo-men described in his book, when he said to me: "When wc sec one of God's creatures , and can find therein nothing good7pcr-haps good7pcr-haps the fault is our own." The last time I saw him he gave me 1 a largo photograph of himselt. taken from a portrait printed when he was a child. On it he wrote: "From your friend Alexandre." Jt is one of my treasured souvenirs. I have still another souvenir of Dumas, Du-mas, for it was through mo that ho met Camille FJammarion, the wondrous writer on tho marvels of interstellar space. I had mado the astronomer's acquaintance through tho Comtcsso Walska, an inlimato friend and fellow country woman of Mine. Mod.jeska. X shall never lose tho impression that tho first sight of Flammarion mado on iny mind. It was at his home, in the Hue Cassini, in Paris. The astronomer wore a whito flrtnncl waistcoat, bordered with a red stripe. Oji his head was a verirablo forest of hair, so thick that I was unablo to repress an exclamation of astonishment.. Mine. Flammarion explained ex-plained that she was obliged frequently to cut hor husband's locks, for his hair grew so fast that it was- almost impossible impos-sible to keep pa co with it. Then she pointed to a cushion on the loungo: "Thero is where I put his,hair," she said, "after cutting it." Camille Flammarion 's hair is tho samo as Padorowski's multiplied by twelve! When T was showing my Salome danco nt the Theater do I 'Athcnee, M. and Mme, Flammarion came to seo me ono ovoning in my dressing room. M. Dumas was there. I did not notice at I first there wero manj' others present j that they did not speak to each other. "Is it. possible," I asked, in sur-; prise, "that tho two most famous men in Paris arc not acquainted?" "It is not so extraordinary as you imagine," ropliod Dumas, "for, you seo, Flammarion lives in spaco and I am simply a dweller on tho earth." "Yes," returned Flammarion, "but a little star from the west has brought us together." Few persons know that Flammurion is not contented with being simply an erainont astronomer. lie has mado wonderful discoveries in other branches of science, one of which had keen interest in-terest for me. Ho desired to find out if color had any influence on tho organism of plants and animals; and it. is easy to understand under-stand how such a study would captivate mo, a fanatic on tho subject ot color. His first experiments woro mado on plants. Taking half a dozen geraniums, geran-iums, all of tho samo size, ho placed them in littlo hothouses made of different dif-ferent colored glass, ono of them being be-ing white. One geranium was planted in the open air. The result was aslouishing. One of the plants had grown straight, up, long and narrow; another was thick, but short; still another had no leaves, au-othcr au-othcr consisted of nothing but a stem and leaves without branches. Every, plant was different, from any other, according ac-cording to the color of tho glass in which it was enclosed. Even the one which was covered with whito glass was not a normal plant. Not a single one was -eon, which proves that not only the color but tho elass itself had a certain influence on tho development of the flowers. The only one which do- HISS LOIE j velopcd in a normal way was that planted in tho opcu air. Then, continuing his experiments on tho human body, ho had panos of different dif-ferent color -placed in tho windows of his observatory. Anybody who was interested enough in the sub.icct to submit sub-mit to the inconvenience of remaining seated in ono or other of tho lights for an hour or two could feel tho different sensations produced on tho luunau organism or-ganism by tho various colors. Yellow was found lo cause nervousness and mauve produced sleepiness. Tho combination com-bination of tho colors caused tho eyos and brain intense fatigue. 1 asked him if the colors with which wo aro habitually surrounded havo any effect, on our characters. "Is it, not absolutely certain," ho replied, ''that, each of us prefers a certain cer-tain color? Everybody will say to you. 'I love that color, 1 don't liko this. Thoy say such a color suits them and that another does not. That seems to provo that color has an effect on their character.'-' Flammarion, with his wife, who, by tho way. is also a keen thinker and her husband's constant assistant, lives in a chateau at, Juvisy. built right on tho spot chosen by Louis XIII to erect a royal residence. Besides being :m admirable housewife, Mine. Flammarion is ono of tho charter members of tho Disarmament league. lieforo Louis XIII cast his eves on tho place thero was a chateau there. Napoleon stayed in it on his way to Fontainebleau. Tho mansion was acquired later by an amateur am-ateur astronomer who had an observatory observa-tory constructed in tho grounds. When he "died ho bequeathed the entire property prop-erty to a man whom he had never sceu. This man was Camillo Flammarion. I remombor going onco with M. Flammarion Flam-marion to varnishing day at the Paris Salon. I wanted to dress in a special manner in honor of the occasion, and I purchased a gown which I thought vcr' pretty. To go with it T chose a hat from which long ribbons hung at the back. M. Flammarion woro a brown velvet coat .and a soft hat. Every one in that crowd of artists knew him. Tho whisper went; around that Loio Fuller was with him and soon was had around us a larger gathering .than could be scon beforo any one of tho pictures. I imagined that we looked very chic, but later on somebody told me that wo had attracted attention because, be-cause, in tho first place, peoplo wanted to see us; and, second, because nobody ever saw a woman moro strangely garbed than I was that da-, while 1. Flammarion 's attire was anj-thing 'but ordinal'. Wo had such success, in fact, that ono of the artists cut tho ribbons from my hat, probably as a souvenir of a mo-niorablo mo-niorablo event! On another occasion I figured in a spectaclo not less memorable, though the number of spectators was not so groat. I had arranged to give a dinner lo about forty people, Tho chef said ho would attend to tho repast, but that I should not forget to hiro tables and chairs, thero not being enough in my apartment. Kot having time to do so, I asked him to relieve mo also of that duty, and ho promised that ho would. When the tables, chairs, silver, dishes and so ou camo at tho hour set, I was not thero to settlo the bill. Tho chef thought the price demanded, 300f., ex-cessivo ex-cessivo and declined to pay. Finally, as I was still absent, ho decided ho would pay tho amount, but a,s ho had not that much money with him, the tables and chairs aud "all the rest wero taken back. The chef was in despair. IIo did not know what to do, when suddenly a brilliant bril-liant thought struck him, JIo wont to all the neighbors and told them what had happened. They willingly gave up tables, chnirs, silver, plates aud glasses of every shape and every stylo. 1 camo in ,iust as thoy were, being brought in, to tho great astonishment of 1113' guests, who wero already gathered there. Everyone Every-one took a hand in arranging tho table. Some of the tables wore low, some high; no two chairs were alike and there was an awful lack of knives and glasses. J do not believe, however, I over sat down to a more enjoyablo repast. That dinner, tho guests at which included in-cluded Rodin, the sculptor, and. Fritz Thaulow, was given in honor of M. and Mine. Camilla Flammarion! CHAPTER V, How I Mot Sarah Bernhardt. T was sixteen years old. I was playing play-ing juvenile parts in western theaters when ono day on the theatrical horizon hori-zon appeared the announcement that tho greatest tragic actress of modern limes, Bernhardt, was coming lo America. Amer-ica. What, an event! Wo awaited hor appearance with the most iutenso curi-osit3', curi-osit3', for the divine Sarah was for us moro than an ordinary human being she was a gifted spirit. What made U13' heart beat and tears fill my oyea was' the certainty that T should never bu ablo to ace her, thuL wonderful genius of the stago! J knew beforehand that there would bo no place for such an insignificant creature as I. Tho newspapers filled columns with her praises and I read ever- line. TI103- told how tho theater was sold out for weeks and weeks ahead, and that rot one in every hundred who wanted to see tho great actress would be able to realize their dream. Speculators Specu-lators besieged the box office. That,, alas! meant there was uo hope for 1110. J don't know whether Sarah Bernhardt had over beforo come to America, for I had always traveled in tho West with littlo roaming companies. For mo it was thus her firsl visit,- tho very first. Finally Lho great day arrived. An ocean liner filled with deputations and bands of music went down the bay to meet, her. . What au impression that mado on me! I saw in it, however, just homage to her genius. Sho had come. She was there. Jf I could but. sco her, if onlj- from a distance! 'L kept on reading tho papers, going into ccstacy over tho articles which talked of her. It was magic, something unreal, a fairytale. fairy-tale. When she played for tho first time the audience anil tho critics seemed to loso their reason. Tho theatrical world sout her a petition begging hor to givo a special matinee for actors, so that they could applaud -her and study- her art. ' Wonder of wonders, sho accepted! My mind was soon made up. Having just come to Now York, my mother and I wero strangers in a groat city'. But, happily, I had, without being be-ing aware of it, lots of courage. When . read that Sarah Bernhardt was going to plav for artistes I said to my mother: "Nbw I'm going to sec her!" "But there are so many- celebrated artistes in New York," objected my mother; "how can .you hopo lo get a seal?" I hadn't thought of that, but I got up, saying; ' ' Then 1 must hurry! " ... "JIow are you going about it.' asked my mother. T stopped a moment; lo reflect. "I don't know," I replied finally, "but somehow or another I must seo her. I shall go and sco the manager of hor theater." "But will he sco you?" T had not thought of that cither, as when airy one came to seo tho manager of theaters where T had played he was always admitted. The objection did not seem insurmountable, so wo started for the theater. The manager had not .vet arrived. Seating ourselves to wait, we noticed an enormous crowd all agitated, agi-tated, nervous, anxious come and go, asking for tho manager. Some sat down to wait. Wero they going to get all the seats? Tho gathering grew and grew, and ns it did my hopes of getting seats faded and faded' away. Would the manager man-ager never come? Ah, at last! I heard lho noise of many footsteps coming. Men rushed in like a sudden gust of wind, and, looking neither to tho right nor to tho left, dashed through a door bearing the notice: no-tice: "No admittance." Nobody knew what to do. We gazed blankly at ono another. Most of tho persons in the room wero men. My nerves were too osciled to permit mo lo wait longer, and I whispered to my mother: "I'm going to knock on that door." She turned palo, but I saw no other way out it; it was tho onl- thing I could think of. My head was swimming. swim-ming. I could scarcely see. Approaching Approach-ing tho door, I knocked timidly. Tho sound struck brutally on my oars and I felt as if I had committed a crime. 1 heard a brusque "Come in! " aud opened tho door. I entered mechanically and found myself my-self in tho midst of a group of men. Not knowing which of them to speak to. I stood embarrassed in the middle of tho room. Everybody- was looking at me. Feeling m- courage oozing out, I said in ono breath: "Gentlemen, i would like to sco the manager of this theater, please." When I finished my tooth began lo chatter, hurting my tonguo. One of tho group, who appeared to be more in authority au-thority than tho rest- came forward and said: "What do j'ou want with him, little girl?" Good heavens! I had to speak again beforo nil thono people! To my stupefaction stupe-faction I heard my voice saying: "I am an nctrcss, sir, and I would liko to attend tho matinco Snrah Bernhardt Bern-hardt is giving for us." "Who arc you? Where do 3-ou play?" The voice ropcaled: "You do not, I suppose, know my name. It. is not known here. It is Loie- Fuller. I am from the west to look for :m engagement. I am not playing play-ing anywhere just now, but T thought that was not ncecssarj- and that perhaps per-haps you would let mo all the same sec her if I asked you?" "Where is your mother?" "Out; there," and I pointed toward the door. "That lady with the pale, gentle fnco?"' "Yes, sir she is pale because she's afraid." "And you are you afraid, too?" Tho voice, firm now, replied: "No. sir." "Well, what is it you want?" "I read in the newspapers today; that Sarah Bernhardt is going- to give a matinee' for theatrical people." "Ah. and you think you're an actress?" ac-tress?" Tho romark hurt my pride, but I did not flinch. "I have not thought of that," I replied. re-plied. "But I want to become an actress ac-tress some day if I can." "So that is why you want to see the great French tragedienne play?" "Yes I suppose but J only thought of my immense desire to seo her and that is why I came." "Well, I'll give you seats for you and vour mother." "Oh, thank you so much, sir!" I went, out, bliuded by tears of happiness hap-piness which I could not" hold back, aud rejoining my mother loff. the theater. "What is tho matter, my dear Loie? What did they say to make you cry liko that, my child? What is it?" "Mamma, mamma I have scats to sco her!" Tlin groat day camo at last. My mother and I wero seated in the center of tho orchestra stalls. Around us the most famous actors and actresses of America wero grouped. When Bernhardt appeared tho silence was so intense that it was positively painful. She advanced lightly to tho footlights, scarcely seeming to touch the boards, stoppod in tho center of tho stago and looked at tho audioncc. For half an hour sho stood there, unablo un-ablo to go on with tho play, so loud and long continued was the applause. When Bernhardt at length could speak I felt that I could sec her soul, her life, her greatness. Her personality-absorbed personality-absorbed all my faculties. As I followed them mechanically her golden voice resounded in my cars, pro-nounping pro-nounping words iueomprehensiblo to me: "Jo I'aime! Jol'aime!" It was liko crystal tinkling. Who would havo believed that the little girl from the west would one. day-go day-go to Paris, would havo hor hour on the stage, she, too, before an audience trombling with enthusiasm, and that. Sarah Bernhardt would be in that audience audi-ence to applaud! j T was dancing nt the Folies-Bcrgcro. The manager sent me word that Sarah Bernhardt was in a box. Was I dreaming? dream-ing? My idol was there! And to see me! When the applause which alwavs greoted my appearance on the stage died away I danced. Though she could not have known it T danced for her. I forgot everything else. I lived again the famous (jay in New York, and 1 saw her again in that marvelous matinee. mat-inee. And now it wns my matineo and sho had come to sec mo; just to see me. she, my idol! 1 finished. She had risen in her box and benL forward to applaud again and again. Tho curtain was raised several limes in response to the acclamations of tho audience. My brain was burning. ' Several years later, when we had become be-come intimate friends, the manager of the Sarah Bernhardt theater came to seo me. He informed me he had conic at Mme. Bernhardt 's request lo .get some suggestions for tho lighting of her new play. "La Belle au Bois Dormait." 1 was ill in bed, but I got up to receive , him. T promised to go and sec Sarah J tho following day. IJiit the manager I misunderstood and she expected mo the ' samo day. When she found T was not 1 coming until the next she declared I j had fallen ill very suddenly. I was hurt, fon 1 always'loved Sarah, and on tho following day I went to see her and she saw how ill T really was, for I could not utter a word. Sho look me in hor arms and called me her' "tresor." That was enough. Everything Every-thing T had she could have, and T would have done anything, given anything, to serve her. " I One evening after tho theater sho came to seo the illumination which I had installed. , Among those who camo with her was her electrician. 1 was pointing out the different modes of illumination to Mme. Bernhardt, and every time I showed something new the voico of the electrician wns heard say- iug: "But I can do that. It's- very easy to copy. Oh. T can do thai, too." It is only a trifle." The next day tho enterprising manager mana-ger of: the theater whoro I was dancing had it announced in all tho papers without consulting me. by the way that Sarah Bernhardt "had visited 'the thealor to sec tho' illuminations of Loio Fuller for the now piece by MM. Kiche-pin Kiche-pin and Cain, "La Belle au Bois Dormait." Dor-mait." I sont a nicssago asking her whnt lights she wished, and here is what she replied: "My oloctricians would go on strike if they thought I could put anybody else in with them. All I need, they , say. thoy can mako for me. fi is really only a gauzo curtain and a revolving lamp. Kindest regards lo Loie." But was it not I mvsclf who was responsible for my disillusion? I had imagined I don't know what, because Sarah Bernhardt is au artist of genius. But she is also a. woman, and it took me twenty years to learn it. But she remains my idol, all the same. |