Show 0 I i t I I I u T Wi tP Il it IV E W L W JJ fj rO A E EO O Q e eI eI I I Why Paris Suspects the Charging and Talented 4 i I 4 Actress Was Driven From the Stage by the Discovery of Her Warr Wart War War- WarI r t V r M Ml l a Y 1 I I Tine Time y W v dente dence With pr i j a ay apr y I x I I f 1 German f lr j J I I II J I I stY JI J JJ JI 1 t s 1 I a e z oS c i l y j fry g y Ap j jt t sari v 1 c 7 V 6 I Ij I It Im t m t Fe s tr t t u e q y t ary I J o adt 3 i u ut t a t taVi aVi o J x fr f t s r R r r 4 s st t 4 4 E i 1 t 1 y r rEve Eve Lavalliere the idol ido of rr bg the French who 1 I rc t tk k i stage f t v v vanished y 1 it so mysteriously t f d t k lr t Kr from the scene cene of herk her tt artistic triumphs when she l rA was j t at the height of Yo Yol YorA rev t her fame famed r o k r t st ti t tp p t t ps Ii d at y J Jt JA t k yal 1 o kr r r y f l wd rt r A t 4 Ss L LAr Y Ar It Ite e a St gb ry A Aa Y Interesting views ic f M of Mlle Lavalliere in two of hert her 6 t t a M a great greatest t stage t J ft 4 g 1 A i t r-p r i f ft t PARIS t U t HE gossips insist that Eve Laval Laval- 1 THC liel e the actress who so strangely vanished from the publics public's view just hen she was at the height of her fame is to be bo seen every now and then stealing in m and out of the very ery theaters where her charm and talent once made mades her one of the most admired of French s stage artists But even een her most ardent admirers even een those who knew her intimately would have hard work to recognize her herold herold herold old self in m the woman the she has become lIer formerly beautiful features are withered and fades fade 1 and her hair Is white I Her lIer clothing is plain unfashionable and almost shabby and ane she persistently hIdes hides te r ike pathetic remnants of her loveliness J trader a heavy ly veil ij From some seine obscure seat high up under the theaters theater's roof she watches other spars sars win wm the applause and bouquets that were always ays hers in the days when she was the idol of Pails Palls Before the performance is fairly over she sho steals away ay to the humble and obscure place the she has chosen for her nobody exile exile kno 1 knows 5 exactly where And with Eve Lavalliere's occa occasional ional reappearance at the scenes of her for for- former former for former mer triumphs a strange new story is being whispered about the reason for her sudden and mysterious retirement from the stage and Parisian life According to what i is being told along the He boulevards she sha was compelled to abandon her pro profession not by any whim or sternly penitent purpose of her own but because sho she was forced to do co so by her fellow actors and actresses esse Retirement from the stage was the punishment they imposed upon her ber alter after their alleged discovery early in the war that the she was carrying on a regular eor- eor correspondence cor with a n prominent German banker There w was s not the slightest evidence that the actress was wu divulging military secrete te or In any other way aiding the cause of oti of Germany through her clandes clandes- clandestine clandestine clandestine tine correspondence Apparently it wa was the result of a friendship or love affair 1 which she did not feel the she could permit l f J a to lapse simply r dw l t C al b because ause her country coun- coun country t try and Germany were at war But even ven this a I the tho fellow mem mem- members members members bers of her com com- company company company pany could not forgive They decided that she must be punished for what the they considered a grave disloyalty even e though it did France no actual harm And the punishment they are said sald to have ca Decided upon after long and ear ear- earnest earnest ear earnest nest deliberation was gas her banishment forever from tho the stage At one stroke her brilliant theatrical career either in Par Paris 9 or anywhere else in France was cut short Scores of well k iown actors and ac- ac actresses actresses ac actresses tresses pledged themselves never as liS long longas longas II as they lived to appear again on the same stage with her Managers Manager prom prom- promised promised promised never to employ her theater own own- owner owners owners er ers to keep their playhouses closed to her and never to permit her herto herto herto to ha have e a role mono in one onn of their plays While she wa was still alive while in the full bloom of her ber beauty and artistic power poyer her fame must suddenly become only a memory Such was the punish punish- punishment punishment ment meted out to Eve LavAlliere after the discovery that sho was exchanging letters lotter with an alien enemy Thereas There was as nothing else for Eve Laval Lava Lavalliere Lavaliere Laval liere to do except obey the decree of her bel judges The force of public opinion In her bel profession was too and strong ge- ge e for her to tc think of resisting or evading It it Probably she should hould feel grateful to th the members of her profession for tak- tak taking taking tak taking ing her punishment into their own hands and refusing to turn her over to the tho mIlitary authorities If they had done dono the latter at a time when hatred and fear of Germany were raging their th lr fiercest it would have gone hard hord WIth her Even though there was not the tho slightest slight slight- slightest slightest est evidence to prove proe that she wa was ae- ae actually ac actually serving a as II a a spy or in any way gIVIng aid to Germany she would doubt doubt- doubtless doubtless doubtless less have been imprisoned for the re- re remainder remainder re remainder of the war and perhaps put to death But Eve fellow actors And actresses e chose to t t try her in their own way ay When they found her guilty of what they thought a grave disloyalty they administered to her the punishment which they thought the she de deserved pt i t gig y Y t ti l 1 As she opened the i ly f y u jing fetter and be r gun to read t 7 st the stepped 1 from his hiding 4 place v The whole affair wasL was W- W L 1 4 man managed age d with the yV V Jl greatest secrecy Until I i Y Yx r x lately none of its amazing 1 mg ing details has leaked Y t from the little bUle group of ol men and women in m the theatrical profession who are lire familiar wIth them Suspicion i first came to be pointed at Eve Lavalliere through the gossiping of her maid This girl noticed that a shout out every ery ten days or two weeks her hH mis mis- mistress tress received from a mysterious mes mes- messenger mes- mes messenger messenger an equally mysterious m package that seemed to contain letters or papers of some kind Eve Lavalliere watched very eager eagerly for the arrival of this messenger and seemed greatly worried whenever he did not appear again agam after litter about the usual lapse of time As soon as the package arrived she abe would lock herself in her room and nd remain there for an hour or more After Alter these periods of seclusion the maid noticed that there therit would would ote often often be charred pieces of paper in ore one one of or the ash asb receivers and in the rii 1 1 t J f l lJ J f J 11 5 4 X rM et J basket a quantity of finely torn bits of letters The Tho girl innocently mentioned these things to some of her friends about the theater and they more SUSpICIOUS than she urged her to try to find out what was as in the package which Eve Evo Lavalliere La received so regularly and why she was so eager to destroy certain letters The next time the messenger arrIved the tho maid managed to surprise her mis miS- miStress mistress mistress tress ju just t as liS she was gas opening the mys mys- mysterious mysterious package and taking from it a thick bundle of closely written sheets That night the maid gath gathered red up the torn bits of letters she he found in m the wastepaper basket and took them to her friends They are said to have suc sue succeeded succeeded in piecing together enough nough of them to establish the fact that that c Eve e La- La Lavalliere Lavalliere valliere La-valliere valliere was in regular correspondence with a banker living in Berlin a native l i i ff 1 A b 4 M ro i V Y r rya 4 b bb U t 1 t tL L N German very wealthy and one who had been a prominent figure in international finance before the war The girls amazed at nt the results of their detective e work carried the story of what they had discovered to the manager man man- manager manager ager of the theater and aid to various mem memo members bers bers of Mlle Mile Lavalliere's company These wiser heads decided to set a trap hap for the actress and later to confront her WIth whatever accusing evidence It might yield The man selected to do the spying was an actor who was serving in m the trenches and happened to be in m PariS Pans on a fur fur- furlough fur furlough ur- ur lough The Tha next time the tho messenger arrived with his mysterious package for Eve Lavalliere this officer man man- managed managed aged to conceal himself in her dressing room just lust before she locked herself In there He saw her nervous fingers strip the wrapping from the package and unfold the numerous closely written sheets of letter paper which it contained Just as she was vas starting to read these the officer officer stepped from his hiding place Eve Evo Lavalliere is said to have started to destroy the sheets she held in her hand but the tho officer succeeded in gain gam- gamIng gaining ing possession of a sufficiently large larze por por- portion por- por portion portion tion of one ono of the papers to confirm the suspicion that she was in regular corre corre- correspondence correspondence with Ith the German banker Her lIer per performance that night was as her last on a n I French stage perhaps forever At its close her ber shocked and sorroWIng fellow actors confronted her with what they strongly suspected was proof of her disloyalty and explained the punishment they had hod decided to inflict upon her In Incase incase incase case she wa was unable to prove her innocence To TI their surprise Eve Lavalliere had hadnot not a word to say in fa her defence She neither denied her guilt nor protested her innocence She refused to explain her relations with the Berlin banker or give any reason for her long continued correspondence with him Her attitude was not one of defiance nor of cringing fear nor of tearful se- se morse le-morse morsel morse It was that of a proud forceful clear thinking woman who realizes that she face faces the Inevitable and andis IS content contenti I 0 r w y fv A i f to bow to it without a murmur of regret Whether she regarded what she had done as right or wrong quite eVidently Eve Lavalliere felt that she deserved the penalty tier her ncr associates were imposing on her or that it was useless to make any effort to escape it She went to her luxurious home packed a few of her belongings into a small trunk and before most of Paris Pats Pat s gas as awake the next morning she had vanished without leaving the slightest clew to her destination For a few weeks the city hummed hammed with all sorts of speculation about the dl dis- dis disappearance dis disappearance appearance of the p popular pular actress artress and the probable reasons for it but her fate was soon forgotten in III the greater excite excIte- excItement excitement 1 ment meat of ol the war Il Interest in m the matter 1 was a reVIved months later Inter when hen a traveller return return ng to Paris from an obscure village in the reported that Eve Lavalliere was as 11 living mg there under an assumed name and avd devoting herself to and charitable duties under the direction of the nuns of a convent Several months after the close cose of the war came the fist fi st news S of her return to the Pari Paris that once enthroned her m in mIts Its artistic heart On several occa ons she was seen een outside the tha Church of ot the Sacred Heart on Montmartre ing ing alms to the throngs throng of 01 ripples cripples and beggars who ho always gather there Again she dropped from view aced ard now with Ith the reports of her hr being oc- oc occasionally oc occasionally if seen in the gallery of a t the gossips are broadcasting 1 what hat is said to be the fir first t true explanation hon tion of her my mysterious wile nile What is now puzzling ever everybody body IS whether th there re is any possibility of E Eve Lavalliere being forgiven by the judges who strongly condemned her Will they think that she has paid a penalty and permit nor ner to try to regain the place she lost oa on the tho stage I Many 1 this thil is what Eve Evo Lavalliere hopes hoes hope and expects and that this is the explanation of her recent reappearance in Paris Pans 1 w 4 |