Cleveland County Enterprise (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 25, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 10, 1917 Page: 3 of 8
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THE NORMAN ENTERPRISE
THE
DESTROYING
ANGEL
By
LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE
CHAPTER XX—Continued.
Aside from him, the only other occu-
pant of the stage was Sura Law. She
|at on a stone bench with her profile
lo the audience, her back to the right
jf the proscenium arch; so that she
tould not, without turning, have no-
ticed the entrance of Ember and her
nusliaud. A shy, light, deathlessly
youthful figure In pale and flowing
garments that molded themselves flu-
ently to her sweet and girlish body,
n a posture of pensive meditation:
«he was nothing less than adorable.
Whitaker could not take his eyes from
her, for sheer wonder and delight.
Ho was only vaguely conscious that
Max, at length satisfied, barked a word
to that effect to an unseen electrician
off to the left, and waving his hand
with a gesture indelibly associated
with his personality, dragged a light
fane-seated chair to the left of the
proscenium and sat himself down.
"All ready?" he demanded in a sharp
and irritable voice.
The woman on the marble step nod
fled imperceptibly.
"Go ahead," snapped the manager.
An actor advanced from the wings,
paused and addressed the seated
woman. His lines were brief. She
lifted her head with a startled air,
listening. He ceased to speak, and
Iter voice of golden velvet filled the
house with the flowing beauty of its
Unforgettably sweet modulations. Be-
yond the footlights a handful of so-
phisticated and skeptical habitues of
the theater forgot for the moment
their ingrained incredulity nnd thrilled
In sympathy with the wonderful rap-
ture of that voice of eternal Youth.
Whitaker himself for the time forgot
(hat he was the husband of this worn-
tin and her lover; she moved before
his vision in the guise of some divine
Creature, divinely unattainable, a
dream woman divorced utterly from
liny semblance of reality.
That opening scene was one perhaps
unique in the history of the stage.
Composed by Max in some mad, poet-
ical moment of inspired plagiarism, it
not only owned a poignant and en-
thralling beauty of Imagery, but It
moved with an almost Grecian certi-
tude, with a significance extraordina-
rily direct and devoid of circumlocu-
tion, seeming to lay bare the living
tissue of Immortal drama.
But with tbe appearance of other
characters there came a change: the
rare atmosphere of the opening began
to dissipate perceptibly. The action
clouded and grew vague. The auditors
began to feel the flutterings of uncer-
tainty in the air. Something was fail-
ing to cross the footlights. The sweep-
ing nnd assured gesture of the accom-
plished playwright faltered: a clumsy
bit of construction was damningly ex-
posed; faults of characterization mul-
tiplied depresslngly. Sara Law her-
self lost an indefinable proportion of
her rare and provoking charm; the
strangeness of failing to hold her au-
dience in an ineluctable grasp seemed
at once to nettle and distress her.
j\Iax himself seemed suddenly to wake
to the amazing fact that there was
something enormously and irremedi-
ably wrong ; he begun with exasperating
frequency to halt the action, to inter-
rupt scenes with advice and demands
for repetition. He found it impossible
to be still, to keep his seat or control
Ills rasping, irritable voice. Subordi-
nate characters on the stage lost their
heads and either forgot to act or
overacted. And then—intolerable cli-
max!—of a sudden somebody in the
orchestra chairs laughed in outright
derision in Uh> middle of a passage
tneant to be Uutleriy emotional.
The voice of Sara Law broke and
fell. She stood trembling and un-
strung. Max, without a word, turned
on his heel and swung out of sight into
the wings. Four other actors on the
stage, aside from Sara Law, hesitated
nnd drew together in doubt and be-
wilderment. And then, abruptly, with
no warning whatever, the illusion of
ploom in the auditorium and moonlight
In the postscenium was rent away by
the glare of the full complement of
electric lights installed in the house.
A thought later, while still all were
blinking and gasping with surprise,
Max strode into view just behind the
footlights. Halting, he swept the ar-
my of auditors with an ominous and
truculent stare.
So quickly was this startling change
consummated that Whitaker had no
tuore than time to realize the reap-
pearance of the manager before he
caught bis wrathful and venomous
glance fixed to his own bewildered
face. And something in the light that
flickered wildly behind Max's eyes re-
minded him so strongly of a similar
expression he had remarked in the
eyes of Drummond, the night the lat-
ter had been captured by Ember and
Sum Fat, that In alarm he half rose
from his seat.
Simultaneously he saw Max spring
tQwprd the box, with a distorted and
snarling countenance. He was tug-
ging at something in his pocket. It
appeared In the shape of a heavy
pistol.
Instantly Whitaker was caught and
tripped bjr Ember and seat sprawling
on the floor of the box. As this hap-
pened, he heard the voice of the fire-
arm, sharp and vicious—a single re-
port.
Unhurt, he picked himself up in time
to catch a glimpse of Max, on the
stage, momentarily helpless in the em-
brace of a desperate nnd frantic wom-
an who had caught his arms from be-
hind and, presumably, had so deflect-
ed his arm. In the same breath Em-
I ber, who had leaped to the ratling
round the box, threw himself across
the footlights with the lithe certainty
j of a beast of prey and, seemingly in
as many deft motions, knocked the
j pistol from the manager's hand, wrest-
ed him from the arms of the actress,
laid him flat and knelt upon him.
With a single bound Whitaker fol-
lowed him to the stage; in another he
had his wife in his arms and was
soothing her first transports of semi-
hysterical terror. . . .
It was possibly a quarter of an hour
later when Ember paused before a
door In the ground-floor dressing-room
gangway of the Theater Max a door
distinguished by the initials "S. L."
In the center of a golden star. With
some hesitation, with even a little
diffidence, he Ufted a hand and
knocked.
At once the door was opened by the
innid, Elise. Recognizing Ember, she
smiled and stood aside, making way
for him to enter the small, curtained
lobby.
"Mndnm—and monsieur," she said
with smiling significance, "told me to
show you in at once, Monsieur Em-
ber."
From behind the curtains, Whtta-
ker's voice lifted up impntiently:
"That you, old man? Come right In!"
Nodding to the maid, Ember thrust
aside the portieres and stepped into
the brightly lighted dressing room,
then paused, bowing and smiling his
self-contained, tolerant smile: in ap-
pearance as imperturbable and well-
groomed as though he had Just
escaped from the attentions of a valet,
rather than from a furious hand-to-
hand tussle with a vicious monoma-
niac.
Mary Whitaker, as yet a little pale
and distrait, and still in costume, was
reclining on a chaise-longue. Whita-
ker was standing close beside his wife;
his face the tiieater of conflicting
emotions; Ember, at least, thought
Want to See the End of It All."
with a shrewd glance to recognize a
pulsating light of joy beneath a mask
of interest and distress and a flash of
embarrassment.
"I am intruding?" he suggested
gravely, with a slight turn as If offer-
ing to withdraw.
"No."
The word faltering on the Hps of
Mary Whitaker was lost In an em-
phatic iteration by Whitaker.
"Sit down 1" he insisted. "As if we'd
let you escape now, after you'd kept
us here in suspense!"
He offered a chair, but Ember first
advanced to take the hand held out
to him by the woman on the chaise-
longue.
"You ore feeling—more composed?"
he Inquired.
Her gaze met his bravely. "I am—
troubled, perhaps—but happy," she
said.
"Then I am very glnd," he said, smil-
ing at the delicate color that enhanced
her exquisite beauty a3 she made the
confession. "I had hoped ns much."
lie looked from the one to the other.
"You have . . . made up your
minds?"
The wife answered for both: *lt is
settled, dear friend: I can struggle no
longer. I thought myself a strong
woman; I have tried to believe myself
a genius bound upon the wheel of an
ill-starred destiny; but I find I am"—
the glorious voice trembled slightly—
"only a woman in love and no stronger
than her love."
"I am very glad," Ember repeated,
'for both your sakes. It's a happy
consummation of my dearest wishes."
"We owe you everything," Whitaker
said with feeling, dropping an awk-
ward hand on the other's shoulder.
"It wns you who threw us together,
down there on the Great West bay, so
that we learned to know one another
"I plead guilty to that little plot-
yes," Ember laughed. "But, best of
nil, this comes at Just the right time—
the Tightest time, when there can no
longer be any doubts or questions or
misunderstandings, no ground for fur-
ther fenrs and apprehensions, when
the destroying anpel' of your Ill-
starred destiny,' my dear"—he turned
to the woman—"is exorcised—ban-
ished—proscribed—"
"Max—1" Whitaker struck In explo-
sively.
••—is on his way to the police sta-
tion, well guarded." Ember affirmed
with a nod and a grim smile. '"I have
his confession, roughly jotted down,
but signed, and attested by several
witnesses. . . . I'm glad you were
out of the wny; It was rather a pain-
ful scene, and disorderly; it wouldn't
have been pleasant for Mrs. Whitaker.
. We had the deuce of a time
clearing the theater: human curiosity
Is a tremendously persistent and re-
sistant force. And then I hnd some
trouble dealing with the misplaced
loyalty of the staff of the house. . . .
However, eventually I got Mux to my-
self—alone, that Is, with several men
I could depend on. And then I heart-
lessly put him through the third de-
cree—forestnlling my friends, the po-
lice. By dint of asserting as truths
nnd personal discoveries what I mere-
ly suspected, I broke down his de-
nials. He owned up, doggedly enough,
and yet with that singular pride which
I have learned to associate with some
phases of homicidal mania. ... I
won't distress you with detnils: the
truth Is that Max was quite mad on
the subject of his luck; he considered
it, as I suspected, lndissolubly associ-
ated with Sara Law. When poor Cus-
ter committed suicide, he saved Max
from ruin and innocently showed him
the wny to save himself thereafter,
when he felt in peril, by assassinating
Hamilton and, later, Thurston. Drum-
mond only chented a like fate, and
you"—turning to Whitaker—"escaped
by the narrowest shave. Max hadn't
meant to run the risk of putting you
out of the way unless he thought it
absolutely necessary, but the failure
of his silly play In rehearsal tonight,
coupled with the discovery that you
were In the theater, drove him tem-
porarily insane with hate, chagrin and
jealousy."
Concluding, Ember rose. "I must
follow him now to the police station.
. . I shall see you both soon
again—?"
The woman gnve him both her
hands. "There's no way to thank you,"
she said—"our dear, dear friend!"
"No way," Whitaker echoed regret-
fully.
"No way?" Ember laughed quietly,
holding her hands tightly clasped.
"But I see you together—happy—
Oh, believe me, I am fully thanked!"
Bowing, he touched his lips gently
to both hands, released them with a
little sigh that ended in a contented
chuckle, exchanged a short, firm grasp
I with Whitaker, and left them. . . .
Whitaker, following almost Immedi-
ntely to the gangway, found Embei
had already left the theater.
For some minutes he wandered to
and fro in the gangway, pausing now
and again on the borders of the desert-
ed stage. There were but few of the
house staff visible, and those few were
methodically busy with preparations
to close up. Beyond the dismal guttei
of the footlights the auditorium
yawned cavernous and shadowy,
peopled only by rows of chnirs ghost-
ly in their dust-cloths. The street en-
trances were already closed, locked
and dark. On the stage a single clus-
ter stand of electric bulbs made vis-
ible the vast, gloomy dome of the files
and the whitewashed walls against
which sections Of scenery were stacked
like cards. An electrician in his street
clothes lounged beside the doorkeep-
er's cubicle, at the stage entrance,
smoking a cigarette and conferring
with the doorman while subjecting
Whitaker to a curious and antagonis-
tic stare. The muffled rumble of theit
voices was the only sound audible
aside from an occasionul racket o!
bootheels in the gangways as one actoi
after another left his dressing room
and hastened to the street, keen-set
for the clash of gossiping tongues in
theatrical clubs and restaurants.
Gradually the building grew more
and more empty and silent, until al
length Whitaker was left alone with
the shadows and the two employees.
These last betrayed signs of impa-
tience. He himself felt a little sym-
pathy for their temper. Women cer-
tainly did take an unconscionable time
to dress! . . .
At length he heard them hurrying
along the lower gangway, nnd turned
to join his wife at the stage entrance.
Elise passed on, burdened with two
heavy handbags, and disappeared into
the rnln-washed alleyway. The elec-
trician detached his shoulders from
the wall, ground his cigarette under
heel and lounged over to the switch-
board.
Mary Whitaker turaed her face,
shadowy and mystical, touched with
her faint and inscrutable smile, up to
her husband's.
"Wait," she begged in n whisper.
"I want to see"—her breath checked—
"the end of it all."
They heard hissings and clickings
at the switchboard. The gangway
lights vanished in a breath. The single
cluster stand on the stage disappeared
—and the house was blotted out utter*
ly with Its extinguishment. There re-
mained alight only the single dull bulb
In the doormnn's cubicle.
Whitaker slipped an arm round his
wife. She trembled within his em-
brace.
"Black out," she said In a gentle
and regretful voice; "the last exit:
Curtain—End of the Play I"
"No," he snid In a voice of sublime
confidence—"no; It's only the pro-
logue curtain. Now for the play, dear
heart ... the real play . . ,
life . . . love . . ."
THE END.
<1
d
0
If you sigh for the slim silhouette, j
ind long, straight lines In a summer
frock, consider the virtues of the sim-
ple model pictured above. Artists al-
ways approve these things and Just
now art anil fashion are of one mind;
for fashion applauds slendertiess above
all things. Let the plump girl con-
vince herself that she can achieve it
by picking out one of the new striped
cottons or silks and rnnklng a faithful
copy of this dress. She will realize
what sturtling illusions cun be wrought
with stripes in the hunds of un expert
designer.
The blouse is to be made of plain,
thin, wash silk or of georgette crepe
with the silk preferred If the dress Is
to be of cotton goods. It has a sailor
collar and jabot tlounces at the front,
full sleeves gathered into deep cuffs
nnd is very plnln—nil proclaiming it
the last word In summer blouses. The
cuffs are of the same fabric us the
difficulty of avoiding the commonplace
because a large proportion of the t>uy
ers of black hats nre women of com
servntlve tnste. But there is no dlreo
tion in which successful effort In de-
signing meets with so much profitabU
appreciation.
Not all little black hats are con«
servatlve In shape and trimming.
Shapes that nre during, or even a bit
rakish, nre permitted In black, nnd
admired. So that there Is a little
black hat for everyone, nnd everyone
wants one nnd should have one, if for
no other reason than appearing occn.
slonaily In all-black. There is nothing
somber about blnck In millinery this
season, because of the brilliance of
braids and trimmings, nearly nil little
black hats nre of lisere—a braid with
a highly polished surfnee—lacquered
ribbons, jet beads and other shiny or-
I numents add lustpr to the sh*pe.
I The group of three hnts in the ae-
BROKEN DOWN
JN HEALTH
Woman Tell# How $5 Worth
of Pinkham's Compound
Made Her WeU.
Lima, Ohio. — " I was all broken down
InhealUi from a displacement One of my
lady friends came to
see me and she ad-
vited me to com-
mence taking Lydia
E. Pinkham's Veg-
etable Compound
and to use Lydia E.
Pinkham's Sanative
Wash. I began tak-
ing your remedies
and took$5.00worth
and in two months
was a well woman
after three doctors said I never would
stand up straight again. I was a mid-
wife for seven years and I recommended
the Vegetable Compound to every wo-
man to take before birth and after-
wards, and they all got along so nicely
that it surely is a godsend to suffering
women. If women wish to write to
i me 1 will be delighted to answer them.
— Mrs. Jennie Moyer, S42 E.North bt,
Lima, Ohio.
1 Women who suffer from displace-
ments, weakness, irregularities, ner-
, vousness, backache, or bearing-down
pains, need the tonic properties of the
roots and herbs contained in Ivydia E.
Pinkham's Vegetable Compound.
Kill All Flies! "-aST
Flaced anywhere.DaUy fly Killer attraeta and killa all
flies. Neat, clean, ornamental, eonTunient, and cheep.
O v o «r; will not soil or
ACHIEVING THE THIN SILHOUETTE
dress. The waistline is n little length-
ened by a wide belt which does not
set close to the figure. Through a
slash at each side wide suspenders
come through the belt and nre lost
under similnr slashes at the back.
These slashes are buttonholed about
the edges to keep them from fraying.
There Is very little fullness in the
wide yoke made with stripes running
round the figure, but plenty of It in
the lower purt of the skirt which is
plaited into the yoke. The plaits nre
pressed fiat nnd the plults ulniost con-
ceal the plnln space between the
groups of stripes. The skirt Is cut
shoe-top length and might be n very
little longer and nd<l to the apparent
length of the figure. There is nothing
unusual or particularly original in this
I compnnying picture Includes represen-
tntlve shapes and trimmings. The cen-
ter hut is the always sprightly and be-
coming trieorn, in which the popular
j comblnntlon of silk und straw appears
1 to great udvantnge. Simplicity und
| exquisite workmnnshlp distinguish It.
j Its only ornament Is n motif of em-
I broidery In silk nnd bends. At the
S left n hut with drooping brim takes
j advantage of its opportunity to be-
come beloved by uddlng a double frill
i of lace hair braid to its brim-edge,
S sure to be becoming. The hair bruld
> I appears again at the top of the crown,
held in plnce nppnrently by n collar of
| sutln ribbon finished with a prim bow
j nt the front. Sprays of burnt ostrich
j curl about the side crown.
j At the right a round turban adds
OaiayFly Killer
by dealer*, or 6 imI
_ prepaid. 11.00.
MAROCO IOMUI, 110 DeKeifc Ave., Breeklye. M. V
To cure co tlvene«s the medicine must ba
more than a purgative; It must contain tonic,
alterative and cathartic properties.
Tutt's Pills
pothese qualities,
to the bowels their natural peristaltic motion,
so essential to regularity m
IT'S AN EARLY MORNING JOB
Raid on Destructive Garden Pests at
Right Time Much More Effective
Than Poison.
The boy who gets out early In the
morning In his young garden and be-
gins to pick squash hugs, cucumber
beetles, potuto bugs, and such slug#
nnd cut nnd wire worms us are in
sight, with his thumb and forefinger
nnd drop them In a deep can, will do
I more good thun poison could do in
| three days, says a writer In the Amer-
ican Boy.
Pour boiling hot water into the tin
holding these Insects to make sure
they are killed. Go the rounds every
morning. Do not wait until nfter
school, or lute In the duy, becnuse they
have feasted nnd cruwled uwuy to
sleep and rest—most of them. Do not
try to pick them tit noon because they
hide underground or behind leaves to
get out of the hot sun. But bright
and early in the morning they come
out with the sparkling dew to get
busy nnd eat the good things you
hnve plunted. Get up an hour earlier
three mornings u week tust to do
this, and the result will repay you ten
times over when your garden begins
to supply you with peas und beans and
cucumbers und lettuce and radishes
and many other delicacies.
LITTLE BLACK HATS
Her Part.
Jean wns to take part in her firsl
wedding, which wns to be one with the
double ring service. When she carae
home she was questioned by her moth-
er ns to what she did. Jean unswered:
"I carried the he ring."
Love's first sigh Is wisdom's last.
Florida's highest point is 800 feet
above sea level
model bat it Is in n nice sense of
proportion thnt it Is excellent. 1 he
adroitness with which the designer
hus used familiar modes to accom-
plish his results, proclaims the nrtist.
This Is n simple dress, approprlute
to midsummer wear nt any time of
duy, and so well suited to the plump
figure thnt we must believe It was
made with thnt end In view.
Just the most chic and reliable of
all huts Is the little black hat that
makes Its appearance each senson, to
be welcomed by a waiting world of
women. For styles may come und
styles mny go, hut the vogue of the lit-
tle black hut goes on forever. Those
who crente it nre confronted by the
] to its height by an edge of lace hair
j bruld which helps out the ambitions
, of the brim in this direction. A brush
aigrette and lustrous black ribbon con-
| tribute much style to this stunning
little model.
Wool Balls Trim Jersey Suita.
White and purple wool balls help
to adorn a sports suit of wool Jersey.
A white wool Jersey coat has deep pur-
ple collar, cuffs and belt. The skirt la
( also made of purple.
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Fox, J. O. Cleveland County Enterprise (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 25, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 10, 1917, newspaper, May 10, 1917; Norman, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc108623/m1/3/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.