The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1858-06-25
THE BALL Il & 1 X L.
BY ELIZABETH DAVIS.


"Thank goodness this is the last week
of the pantomimc ~
You don't say so? Well that is a
comfort, at any rate We shall get rid
Of those odious stranger girls, who are al
ways hanging about the wings, and thrust
ing their noses where they are not want
ed"
"That is something to rejoice at, in
deed. ! don't object to our own ballet
ladies but to have these extras into the
green-room, spying about and listening to
every word that is said, | declare it is
quite lnsuflerable, positively quite !"
The scene where this colloquy was GO
.a5 ...-.; si.~-
leading metropolitan theatres. The inter
locutors were principals, as the term goes,
and, by virtue of drawing from the treas
ury-the one, fifteen pounds per week for
enacting walking ladies'; and the other
six, for delivering messages-they con-
ceived themselves entitled to be as inso-
lent as they pleased to the unhappy girls,
many Of whom possessed far superior tai
cnt, but were obliged to be content to
gain weekly as many shillings as those
clever ladies took pounds
1t is true that both had somewhat sud-
denly risen from the state they so much
dcspiscd, per favor of friend, to the
proud position they at present occupied !;
and, though dramatic critics might demur
to their claims, they certainly obtained
the "reward of merit" Time had some
what defaced their charms, and the re-
memberance of early struggles, yet it had
left them the knowledge Of the vulnerable
points at which their young associates
might be most easily wounded and never
had the axiom of that knowledge is pow
err been more aptly illustrated, than in
the dealing out of their envepomed darts
One of these pariahs of the dramatic
tribe-a ballet girl-was at the same mo-
ment leaning her head upon her clasped
hands, which rested on the mantlepiece.
She had sought the apartment to be alone
with her thoughts, as she stood there
alone she forgot the scene around her, and
saw, in her mental vision, the sad and
dcsolatc home, where she knew that the
announcement Of the Withdrawal of the
piece would bring tears and CONSERVATION.
She knew that upon her rested a vast
amount of responsibility, for she had at
home parents sick and almost destitute
She was a fragile girl, and she hated the
profession to which poverty, but not her
will, consented. There was lcok of deep
anxiety in her eyes-and her face, but
for the rouge she wore, would have been
pale as marble; even though that there
was an expression of deep anxiety that
suited i'll with her girlish years. She
started, as the voices of the ladies aroused
her from her reyery; and as she became
aware of the nature of the conversation
that was going on so near her, bright
flush suffused her neck, and mounted even
to her brow.
DO yon hear yourself called, 10 60 on
the stage, Miss Odell 2" rudely inquired
the prompter, shuffiing past, his spcctacles
IN one hand, and his book in the other.
81 am here, sir"
Here yes, see you arc here and !
shall fine you for talking at the wing
Here, indeed How dare you answer me
I've taken care you shan't be here any
longer We shall get rid of the whole
pack OF you. sFriday night will be your
last night; and you'll find your treasury
pretty small on Saturday. | have you all
down for fine--your whole week sal
airy every one a set Of -. What
elegant appellation lie was about to apply
was suspended by the approach of an ex-
qulslte Of rank, who fancied himself des-