The Duke Times (Duke, Okla.), Vol. 9, No. 39, Ed. 1 Friday, March 29, 1918 Page: 4 of 6
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The Real Adventure
By Henry KitcbeU Webster
THE FIRST PERFORMANCE OF "THE Gift UPSTAIRS" IS
GIVEN WITH HUOE SUCCESS FOR ROSE-JIMMY
WALLACE. DRAMATIC CRITIC. HUES A DISCOVERY
IfWpHl. Him Ulaatoa, of
••withy llmlM? Aldrirb. Ml abort a..j.»aintaoc-. Ud fur More ihea •
T—r li*«a la idlM*** at»J m iVatfa. Th# Iff* palls mi tm. aba
I'M** «•» do sM»«ihlag uarfui. » «i that Motherhood will • big
.ra«Mgb Jab. Mb# baa taiiw. h»«rtrr. sod lb*? ar» | ul la the rare of
■ pntfMWaoal ourw. Ilm« again hwiwi lnt#oarljr dla*atUt»#d with
Idlrbr.*. rn 0«M tb* pfulr»| of h-T dollOg beahand til* dlaapfMara lata
it>« baolaeM aorld lu atak* rwmI on b*r ami laitlatlta. got* a jab la
lb* rttoru* of a tuu%lral ri.it)r.J> In r*b«eraal and lives la ■ cheap
ruomlog haaa«. llrr i»n» u4 Inirltlgraca nwa gM bar a plara ao
to tha producer, llrr fashionable friends tbiob abe boa gooo
to California.
CHAPTER XIX.
—ta-
ft Recognltloo.
Tbera la • kaMduarople character
about th* events of the t«*n days or
■o preceding the opt-nlng |*-rf.>rman«-e
of moM must rat com<*ll«-a which would
make a aober chronicle of them aeera
fantastically Incredible. Thia law of
nature mad# no exception In the case
of "The Girl Hp-Stulra." There were
rehearsals which ran ao smoothly and
awlftly that they'd have dona for per-
forms ncea ; tbera were othera so ab-
ominably bad that the bare Idea of
preeentlng the mess resulting from
Ms weeks' toil, before the ;«or> who
had paid mooejr to see It, wos a night
, Of all the persona directly, or even
remotely, affected by tbla nerve-ehat
taring confusion. Rose waa perhapa
. tbe lea at perturbed. The only thing
that really mattered to her waa the
aucceasfbl execution of thoae twelve
costnme*. The pbantaamagorte at
North End ball waa a regrettable,
bnt necesaary, Interruption of ber
more Important activities.
She wakened automatically at half-
past seven and waa down-town by
half-past eight, to do whatever shop-
ping the work of the previous day re-
pealed tbe need of.
At nine-thirty—an unheard-of hour
In the thMiter—the watchman at tbe
Globe let her in at the atage door, and
Rooo bad half an hour, before the ar-
rival of tbe wardrobe mistress and
her assistant, for looking over the
work done since she had left for re-
hearsal the day before.
She liked this quiet, cavernous old
barn of a place down under the Globe
atage; liked it when she had It to ber-
aelf before the two sewing women
came and later, when, with a couple
of sheets spread out on the floor, she
cut and basted according to her cam
brlc patterns, keeping ahead of the
flying needles of the other two. After
her own little room, the mere spa-
ciousness of it seemed almost noble.
In.keeplng with the good luck which
bad attended everything that hap-
pened hi connection with this first
venture of hers, she was able to tell
Galbraith that both sets of cos-
tumes were finished and ready to try
on on the very day he announced that
the next rehearsal would be held at
ten" tomorrow at the Globe.
She persuaded the girls to wait un«
til all six were dressed in the after-
noon frocks and until she herself had
had a chance to give each of them a
final inspection and to make a few
last touches and readjustments. Then
they all trooped1 out -on the stage and
stood in a row, turned about, walked
here and there, in obedience to Gal-
bralth's instructions shouted from the
back of the theater.
| It was dark out there and discon-
certingly silent. The glow of two
Cigars indicated the presence j>t Gold
smith and Block in the middle of a lit-
tle knot of other spectators.
The only response Rose got—the
only Index to the effect her labors
had produced was the tone of Gal-
braith's voice. "All right." he shouted.
"Go and put on the others."
There was another silence after
they had filed out on the stage again,
clad this t'me'ln the evening gowns—
• hollow, K»art-constricting silence,
almost literally sickening. But It last-
«d only a moment Then:
"Will you come down here. Miss
'Dane?" called Galbraith. - r»
Th«-re waa a slight, momentary, but
perfectly palpable shock accompany-
ing these words—a shock felt by ev-
erybody within the * und of hi* voice.
Because the director had not said,
-none. come down her*;" bo bad Mid
"Will you come down hero. Mlsi
H»ner Aad the thing amoanted. ae
rigid la the etiquette at most cm] com-
edy. to aa accolade. Tbe people oa
the atage and In tW wtagu didn't
it ahe bad doaa. nor la what
I wouldn't ask for anything handsom-
er."
The rest of It didn't matter to Rom
—the more guarded but nrvertbeleaa
cordial approval of the two owners,
who had yet to make sure on tbe flic-
urea; and tbe details of settlement
which left ber more than a hundred
dollars' profit, even after she had de-
ducted the hundred abe owed Rod-
ney. The point—the point—settled
by Oalbralth'a pralao—waa that ahe
had succeeded.
It waa, on the whole, a good bar-
gain on both sides. Bnt Goldsmith
and Block came back next day and
drovo another bargain, principally to
their own advantage.
Ton're certainly got a good eya for
costumes. Miss Dane," Goldsmith said,
"and here's a proposition we'd like to
make. A lot of these dther things
we've got for the regular cborua don't
look aa good aa they might. Tou'U bo
able to see changes to make In them
that'll Improve them maybe fifty per
cent Well, you tako ft on, and we'll
begin paying you your Regular salary
now; you understand, twenty-flve dol-
lars a week, beginning today."
Rose accepted the propoaltlon with
a warm flush of gratitude. But from
the moment her little salary began,
she found herself retained, body and
soul, exactly as Galbraith himself
waa. They'd bought all her Ideas, all
her energy, all her time, except
few scant hours for sleep and a few
snatched mlnutM for meals.
She gave her employers, up to the
time when the piece opened at the
Globe, at a conservative calculation,
about five times their money's worth.
Even if she hadn't been in the com-
pany. she'd have found something like
two days' work in every twenty-four
hours, Just in the wardrobe room.
There wasn't a single costume outside
Rose's own, twelve that didn't have to
be remodeled more or less.
On top of all that, the really ter-
rible grind of rehearsals began:
property rehearsals, curiously discon-
certing at first; scenery rehearsals
that caused the stage to seem small
and cluttered up, and, last and ghast-
liest, a dress rehearsal, which began
at seven o'clock one night and lasted
till four the next morning.
If you had seen them that morning,
utterly fagged out, unsUstained by
a single gleam of hope, you'd have
said it was impossible that they
should give any sort of perform-
ance that night—let alone a good one.
But by eight o'clock, when the over-
ture was called, you wouldn't hare
known them for the same people.
There was the feeling, on the edge of
this first performance, that they were
now on their own.
The appearance, back on the stage,
of John Galbraith in evening dress,
Just as the call of the first act brought
them trooping from, their^ dressing
rooms, intensified this sensation. He
was going to be, tonight simply one of
the audience.
Rose herself was completely domi-
nated by the new spirit Her nerves
—slack, frayed, numb an hour ago-
had sprung miraculously into tune.
She not only didn't feel tired. It
seemed she never could feel tired
again.
It wasn't unfil along In the third
act that the audience became, for her,
uiytblng but a colloid mass—some-
thing that you squeezed and thumped
juid worked as yoff did clsyrto gef it
into a properly plastic condition of
receptivity, ao that the Jokes, the
songs. the dances, even the spindling
little shafts of romance that you shot
out into It. could be felt to dig In and
tal»« bold.
But along in tbe third act as she
came down to the footlights with the
rent of the sextette la their "All
Alooe" number, ooe face detached It-
eel f mddeoly from the pasty gray
sarfare of th*m that spfrad over the
auditorium; became homaa—individu-
al—and lnten*»|y familiar; became
tbe face, aaauatakabty. of Jimmy WaJ-
* eal
It la prahaMe that «f Mi tke oa-
*- «aly two an aaw that aay-
r bad k i w i ■ 11 aa Mrf waa the
lb a bat, bad bagfiaid Ha#
N aa* oil right, Kb* waa m a*
If aMhiatf h*4 happMM*
Tba'MbM Moa aoa Jlaay Wodooa
bioMMf II# MaaMat ka a bill* Mb
rHief ah~a bo aaa bM a« la bM
<*rtd# a gala after that mom »m»rf
falter Hat bo hardly loobed at tbo
Mago after that; stared sbsiiiily at
bl« program lastaad. aad preagony
availed himself at tbo draaMtto crit-
ics Ureaae sad left the thealM.
Aa for Rose iNTM-lf. la ber maart.M*
thoughts abe dlda't rerugalao I be hope
already beating tttma!iu«<*«ty la ber
vela* thai bo would toll Kodney- thai
perhapa even before abe got bark to
her dismal little rumn. Kidney, paring
bis. aoald kftow.
It waa so Irrational a baps
etpe^ted and ao well dloguieed- that
»be mistook it for fear. Rut fear never
mail* one's heart glow like that.
That's where all her thought a were
when John Galbraith halted her on
the «ay from the dreaalng room after
the performance waa over.
~l know you're tired," bo said
brusquely. "But I fancied you'd be
tlreder In tbe morning, and J have to
leare for Now Tork on the f*at train,
bo. you aee. It was now or never.'
Strangely enough, that got ber. She
stared at him almost In consternation.
"Do you mean you are going awayf
she asked. "Tomorrow?"
"Of course," he aald. rather sharply.
"I've nothing more to stay around here
for." He added, aa ahe atlll seemed
not to bar? got It through her head:
"My contract with Goldamlth and
Block tnded tonight with tbd'openlag
performance."
"Of course," she aald In deprecation
of her stupidity. "And yet It's alwaya
seemed that the show waa you; Juat
something that you made go. It
doesn't aeem possible that It could
keep on going with you not t|»ere."
The sincerity of that mad* It * really
fine compliment—Just the sort of com-
pliment he'd appreciate. But—the old
perversity again—the very freedom
with which she said It spoiled It for
him.
I may be missed." he said—It was
more of a growl, realty—"but I sba'n't
be regretted. There's always a sort
of ^Hallelujah chorus' set up by the
company when they realize I'm gone."
"I shall regret It very much," said
Rose. Tbe words would have set his
blood on flre If she'd. Just faltered over
them. But she didn't She was hope-
I at MM gaasa to gsmag tba mm
u*a» gi W ^ Um aiiH Mg
.rid**la* bM*"beast* ^
aa tdsa tbo* I Ml aa* ya« la M
' a si—i ao a aa* of pMowtf a»
M* TW* be a «*-4 daal of
Mas* ahMtt Ma tb* «a*f of Mb Ibsf fa
In l i .a aaA IMS a,, a Mmm n*l Al - "
ww wl
tf a* mM Had n**«a
JN4I
d» thai MiM tb*a I. UtoCa lb* »M»
iraih fader tM aaw matron ad
Mia* thai I *fpart la aiga la a day ar
»*■«. rtl aiMply bar* la hose aaa
I at NMM 1Mb II
Thai's a grwat paa aad I
Uwab >«a"«* a mImm m It
Tb*r» pom oral Tbe Jab Ml
paid maa lb* brat a «r«et daal Miar
•boa a bat jNafto gm b*t«. Aad ti*
raataouag *»d *f It. tf yoa aar»>*dL
aaald raa to leal MMMf. WbU. bow
Wai Itr
-»«HI- Mid Raa* a Hill* bceaiblaag
'r—"bat dual I ba«* la May bore a I lb
The Girl 1'patalra'T I roaktol |aM
Mv*. ruald ir
"Ob. I sba'n't b* ready for yea Jo*
y«t anyway." b* aald. "Ill writ* wh*a
I am. aad by thai llm* yoatl be pee-
fertly fre* to give them year iwa
weeka* notice. They'll b* annoyed, ef
conrad; but. after all. yua'f* glvast
them more than their mooey'ii north
already. Well—will you come If {I
wrii*r
"II aeoms too wonderful to b* tru*"
abe said. "Ves. I'll cum*, of cow**."
II* gased St her In a sort of fas-
cination. Her eyes were starry, her
llpa a little parted, and ahe orae
so' Mill ah* aeemed not even to be
breathing. But the eyea weren't look-
ing at him. Another vlaJon Ailed them.
The vlalon—oh, he was sure of It now S
—of that "only one." whoever be was,
"that mattered."
"I won't keep you any longer," be
aald. "I'll have them get a taxi and
aend you home." . .
She said ahe didn't want a taxi. He
didn't demur to her wlah to be put on
bar. and at tbe croaalng where they
waited for It after an alrnoat silent
walk, he did manage to shake handa
and tell her ahe'd hear from him soon.
But he kicked hla way to the curb
after the car bad carried her off, and
marched* to his hotel In a sort of
baffled fury. He didn't know exactly
Just what It was he'd wanted. But
he did know, with a perfectly abysmal
conviction, that be was a foot I
k aaa alM •*«. aad bade*** ha
ti Mag* eras*
I Mt> M
r (tail
* *siw^^ sappwea et*
d hedal ihepaaer.K t i and,
lb* rarv*at ad M ibaagbia
TVt * Mil aa dwjdXag *a the M
hjriar «f MM £a*b aad yaaa*
rM*. ahtrb really, M gaaMar the
H*
mm ibaagbi abaat it
Ma lb* edjMlalag vaoat Tbe large
CHAPTER XX.
Anticlimax.
One Face Detached Itself Suddenly.
lessly serene about it "You're the
person who's made tbe six weeks bear-
able, and, in a wa^, wonderful. I nev-
er could thank you enough for the
things you've done for me. though I
hope I may try to. some time."
"I don't want any thanks," he said.
And this was completely true. It wax
something very different from grati-
tude that he wanted. But Ae realized
how abominably ungracious hla words
sounded, and hastened to amend them.
"What I mean la that you dout owe
me any. You've done a lot to make
this show go as well as It did. In—
more ways than yon know about. It
it for me. peraeaally. that yoa
did It But all the a*me. I'm jrratefOI.
You'll stay with thia piece. I xuppoae.
aa long ss the run la**. Bar in the
What's tb* Idea? Do yoa waat
to b« an actraaar*
The notioa of J»«t m'n* no—ant
eh*qglng ooythiag or Improving aay
thing **or aad
It was out of the limbo of the un-
foreseeable that the blind Instrument
of Fate appeared to tell Rodney about
Rose. He was a country lawyer from
down-state, who bad been In Chicago
three or four days, spending an hour
or two of every day in Rodney'a office
In consultation with him, and, for the
rest of the time, dangling about, more
or less at a loose end. A belated
sense of this struck Rodney at the end
of their last consultation.
"I'm sorry I haven't been able to do
more," Rodney said—"do anything,
really, in the way of showing you a
good time. As a matter of fact I've
spent every evening this week here In
the office."
"Oh, I haven't lacked for entertain-
ment," the man said. "We hayseeds
find the city a pretty lively place. I
went to see a show Just last night
called 'The Girl Up-Stalrs.' I sup-
pose you've seen it.*'
"No," said Rodney, "I haven't"
"Well, It was downright funny. I
haven't laughed so hard In a year., If
you want a real good time, you go to
see it"
The last part of this conversation
took place in the outer office. Rodney
saw the man off with a final hand-
shake, closed the door after him, and
strolled irresolutely back toward Miss
Beach's desk.
It was true, he'd been taking It on
rather recklessly during the past two
months. But' they'd been pretty
sterile, those long, soljtary evening
hours.' He'd worked fitfully, grinding
away by brute strength for a while,
and then, in a frenzy of Impatience,
thrusting the legal rubbish out of the
M'ay and letting the enigma of his
great failure usurp his mind and his
memories.
"Telephone over Jo the University
club," he said suddenly to Miss Beach,
"and see If you can get me a seat for
"The Girl Up-Stalrs.'"
The office boy was out on an errand
and In his absence tbe switchboard
was In Miss Beach's care. She arose
obediently and moved oyer to the
switchboard, then began fumbling
with the directory.
"Why. Miss Beach!" said Rodt*y.
"You know the number of tbe Unlver-
■Ity club!"
He was liking at ber now with un-
disguised curiosity. She was acting,
for a perfectly infallible machine Uke
Miss Beach, almoat queer. Without
looking around at him. she aald: "Mr.
Aldrlrh. yoa won't like that show. If—
yoa go. youH be sorry "
While he waa atlll staring at her.
yoang Craig <nme bursting blithely
oat of hla "Oh. Miss BeaMtr
be Mid. and rhea Mopped ahort. aw*,
lag that aanethlng bad
R*doey tried an
TValr" he mhL ~Ml*a Reach bMl
waat m* ta as* The Girl
Me saya I waat Hh* tt. Da
i ef tad .
Mapt*d by a gvaap af m*a b* ba*w. •
aad b* rata* ap arlih lb* MeaUoa of
dn**ag lata the aaa varaal rhalr.
Hat Ml b*M* ib* MNJM HbM
a gliMpe* *4 blm M «*r p£b*d'ap tb*'
pbrae* -The Girl 1'pMalta" ; Aad
ih*a a lawyer la the groat* idubad ap
aad r*ragale*d Mm. "Hello. Aid-
rich," b* Mid. aad tbe laab of
atlmr* that ftdlawed bad a prtvealc
quality Tb* otbvre b*gea argtag blM
to all down, but be aald be wae Mb-
IIIC far aumabody, aad walked away
down tb* mom aad oat the farther
door.
II* kn*w now that ha wu afraid.
t*rth* thing he waa afraid of refused
to come out Into, ibaaopen where he
could ae* It and bnow what It woo.
II* still b*llev*d i hat b* dldat know
what it waa when b* walked past the
framed photographa in the lobby of
the theater without looking at then '
And stopped at Ihe box office to es-
chang* hla seat well down in front
for one near tha bach of the theater.
Rut when the sextette mada their
Arat entrance upon the atage. be hoew
that he had known for a good many
houra.
He never stirred from hla aeat dar-
ing either of the Intermissions. But
along In the third act be got ap aad
went out.
The knout that flogged his soul had
a score of lsshes, bach with the sting
of Its own peculiar venom. Everybody
who knew him. his closer friends and
his casual acquaintances aa well, must
have known, for weeka, of thia dis-
grace. Hla frlenda had been sorry for
him, with Just a grain of contempt;
his acquaintances had grinned over
It with Just a pleasurable salt of
pity. "Do yon know Aldrlcht Well,
his wife's in the chorus at the Globe
theater. And he doeen't bnow It, poor
devil."
The northwest wind which had been
blowing Idly since sundown, had In-
creased In violence to a gale. But he
strode out of the lobby and Into the
street unaware of It
He found the atage door and pulled
It open. An Intermittent roar of hand-
clapping, Increasing and diminishing
with the rapid rise and fall of the
cnrtaln, told blm that the perform-
ance was Just over.
A doorman stopped him and asked
him what he wanted.
'I want to see Mrs. Aldrlch." he
said. "Mrs. Rodney Aldrlch."
"No such person here," said the
man, and Rodney, In his rage, simply
assumed that he was lying. It didn't
occur to him that Rose would have
taken another name.
He stood there a moment, debating
whether to attempt to force an en-
trance against the doorman's unmis-
takable Intention to stop bim, and de-
cided to wait Instead.
The decision wasn't dne to common
sense, but to a wish not to dissipate
his rage on people that didn't mat-
ter. He wanted it Intact for Rose.
He went back to the alley, braced
himself In the angle.of a brick pier,
and waited. He neither stamped his
feet nor flailed his arms about to drive
off the cold. He Just stood still with
the patience of his Immemorial ances-
tor, waiting, unconscious of the lapse
of time, unconscious of the figures
that presently began straggling out of
the narrow door that were not she.
VQUULMJ9HI
DOESNT tyURT TO
LIFT GOMS OUT
fUpA bdMg. Umr ym * *•
cam off wiih Mm
Trvtyl NohmaMfl
Try Pretsoaal Yoar _
Mils a tMy bottle to a few ceatt,
■uWdMl to rid yoar (set ot every
hard ceny-aalt cora, or cora be-
twtaa the tosa, aad callaaaa. wife
oat aaa particle of pa Hi. saraaaaa
or Irritation. PrMtonc is tha
■aystsrioat ether ditcovety of a
aoted Cindaaati gamut. Great I
Her Face Beams
with the "Wash dsy mile," instead of the
Waah Dav Grouch, In sheer joy and da-
light at the dazzling, snowy whit* purity
of ber whit* goods.
Rid Grass Bill Blue
will chaM "Wash-day-blues*—
Succeed where others foil, and
bring the amile of triumph to
every houaewife who rtaUy earn
tor pure, white, fresh clothes.
5 CENTS. AT ALL CMCE1S.
Uncle PenpyvyiM Says.
It Is difficult to do anything for a
than who is so ignorant he doesn't
know he's ignorant.—Louisville Cour-
ier-Journal.
AVOID A DOCTOR'S BILL
on the first of tbe month by taking
now a bottle of Mansfield Cough Bal-
sam for that hacking, hollow cough.
Price 25c and 60c.—Adv.
Philadelphia is th$ greatest ship-
building certter.' In her yards 50 ships
are building at one time.
If a man eriiptfes his purse into his
head he will keep It, and be able-soon
to refill his. purse.
IN THE SPRING
will be the great test of a life and death
;Ie on the Western front. In the
What do you suppose happens
when Rodney meets Rose at tho
starfe door? It Is a thrilling
meeting they bsve—and the emo-
tional stress takes them almost
to the breaking point The neat
Instsllment tells 'you all about
what happened. <
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Why He Came Homo.
j everyday walks of life, it is the spring
time that brings ill health. One of the
chief reasons why. the run-down man
finds himself in a bad state of health in
March or April, is because he has spent
nearly all his* hours for the past four or
hve months penned up within the walls
of house, factory 9r office. It is tbe rea-
son for our diminished resistance-^that
is, lack of outeioor life, coupled, with
perhaps over-eating, lack of good! exeT
?■?,, '"sufficient sleep, and constipation.
In other words, we keep feeding the
furnace with food but do not ttkt oft
the ^clinkers," and our fire does not burn
TbrTl ***?-the- ,iver
- is nothing better for health than
—, ... — taking an occasional mild laxative, per
Roscoe Boone, a Muncie electrical ^'g^Tt ^ ^_you
contractor. --Whom. t.t.U,. o^
afternoon' to find Mrs. Boone enter- ^ny. easily taken ), wbick has stood the
tnlnlng a company of women at cants. I?* ?! Jfara of approval—namely.
day for him to remember about tbe "Mm." one Aaald tabe a coarse of
evening meal. treatment every sprinj: such a etaadard
"Oh, Mr. Boone." — ooe of tha 1 ** Pwree'e <5©ldea Medical D-
rueS. as JXSlJZri:^ SgJ5X5? 5
filled with womo^ "did p>a coma P^g sW tb. ^
home to sappMr 1ao vrtal.ty. A vitabsiag toaie sach
-Oh. ao; aM at an.- ha rsplM g^- fewSgs, m fwto raofffS^
-ua, ao; aat at an.-ha rspHod gal-
lantly. evca If ssmi shot naafaaubj. ! SSSTi- I?* r ^o1 or.
"I toot - ta M _1 Mega in etrr»totw>q. a»d tags rsg'iVtiaarfy
"* ptn «ini aiais M aaa what ttea a agtit agai—« tum wm *
It woo."—Indianapolis Mawa. j ***** Trrha^w! 'b—t
————— Is tha aay ta Mala. Otli a
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Thurman, W. R. The Duke Times (Duke, Okla.), Vol. 9, No. 39, Ed. 1 Friday, March 29, 1918, newspaper, March 29, 1918; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc403275/m1/4/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.