Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-07-24

In tho dressing room and in the sue
| coeding act, could eco that tho stranger
was laboring under strong mental ex
citemcnt, which he himself could not ac.
DunL for.
Let scoffers turn up their noses nnd ory
bosl,, but ms true us hold this pipe in my
hand, the poor young fellow told me: ii
feel friend, as If there were something
hanging over me tonight lima gination
some may call it, superstition, otLers-I
know not what it is; but, my God feel
Il strange fatality over mo, as If my very
litc wero leaving me-"
It was in vain l tried to reassurs tho
young tragcdian. lie seemed like one
ovor whom some great evil was impond-
ing. And as tho curtain rang up on tho
teurtA act thessemed 70 thoroughly sb
eorbed andsgrieEstrtcken, deemed It best
to leave him to himself.
In the fourth act where tho Stranger
relates the story OF his life, the deep shame
which has driven him from contact with
the warld, his shrinking self-seclusion, his
s::tes lsnlineas, his agonia,ng despair and
breaking hea,t-a heart requiring conso.
la ton, as Kotzebue eloquently destribes it:
"My heart is like q close shut sopulchre,
Let what is within it mouller aud decay.
| Why open the wrctched chArncl house
TO spread pestilcnco around?"
never in myself felt 50 thoroughly
carried away as in the laskseene of the
act, whore the Stranger and Mrs. lIallcr
met for tho first time. The situation was
50 startling as to electrify both actors and
audience. A single glance Of recognition
"a sorrow. stricken husband and an err
ing wife had come together under circum.
stances stranger than any novelist could
invent, but, nevertheless, gentlemcn,' p
said DAslall, @what.l tell you is strictly
true"
"You may perhaps imagine that l an,
going. to finish this story with startling
dcnoucment," !" continued Dashall. "Noth.
ing Of the sort-that is, at loast, 30 far as
the public ever knew. Between the fourth
and last acts-and then, mind you, it was
known that the Stranger and Adeline were
actually husband and wife, Us was saw.
ing, between the acts Adeline lay in con.
vulsions ii her dressing room, while the
Stranger, in anadj joining apartment, sat
motto less ~ death, with bis fAce buried
in his hands, his fingers twisted in tho
masses Of his luxuriant hair, silent, save as
to the heavy, suppressed breathing, which
told too plainly the inward struggle that
was tugging at hi. very hear::strings.
When all was ready for the fifth act i
approached him gently, and laying my
hand upon his shoulder, l informed him OF
the fact. As 10 looked up think I never
saw face 50 changed-pale as a marble
statue, the large, dark eyes sunken in the
sockets, and with look Of controlled
agony painful in the extreme even for u
moment to look upon. His bearing was
that Of . thorough gentleman, who had
made up bis mind to keep his feelings in
check even if the effort should kill him.
Walking calmly on the stage, he proceed
ed with the play with wonderful self.
commsnd till the final interview with his
erring and repentant wife,. Poor Adeline
came ON the scene sustain on my arm,
and as she faltered out, 'Leave me- it
seemed to me % if she would sink, tainting
to the stage. 10 describe the scene that
followed is entirely beyond my power.
Suffice it to say that, since that scene was
written by the ill-fated Kotzcbue, it has
Dever been acted Us it was that night.
Acted, did say? No, there was no act.
ing about it, but stern and painful
reality, where fact and fiction were so
strangely blended as to leave upon mo an
impression shall mover forget.
As you know, gentlemen, there is not a
line in the whole SCENE which did not
directly apply to the actual situation, you
may judge of the effect when rendered by
two highly sensitive natures, wrought up
to the greatest pitch Of feeling by the
agonizing realities Of tho scene. Tho sact-
ors and audience seemed spell. bound as
tho scene reached its:climax, and the re-
pentant wife fell fainting at the feet of tho
abandoned husband. Pointing so!cmnly
to heaven, and speaking the concluding
line, There, Adeline, you may be miro
again." he stopped gently down, raised
her read tenderly: from the ground, gavea
parting kiss upon her pale forehead, laid
her gcntly down, gave long, tender, and
heart.broken look, and, turning slowly up
tho stage ~ tho curtain descended, the Ill
starred couple parted, no more to meet
again upon earth.
A headstone Ut the Mission, in San
Francisco. bears the names of Adelaide ,
and the Stranger who found rest baneath
the waves of the Pacific, beips on board
the ili-fatcd Australian steamer when she
was lost, many years ago, on her passag &c
from San Francisco. Lot us hope they
both have found the psaco Which seemed
denied them here, in another and 1. better
world, where sorrow is unknown and sin
can never enter.