Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1884-10-17
H.Al.l lie.


t".'.J. am'i not by ANY mean, remarkable.
for IL -ll,lltOr and luxury. luu
reached the ticket Office and the clerk
from the malrl. vino took the money.
by 4 amy Edt. The. orchestra stalls
w'rr badly stuffed. lh,. four private
h"Nr~ Mere. furnished with straw bot
TONED chairs. The ''bani' consisted of
ole solitary pianist. and the local mid
wife often did duty a> pronlpter Often
riI"u-;h. III the very middle of tn. per
i"rmancr, she would be fetched away to
attend 10 more legitimate business. and
ilr' actor, had To 90 through the play rs
best they could, trusting to their
meinnrI.
But. dr, pte all this. the lnhabilant,
of llauirN ILL: were proud Of their theatre
First class companies often played i'll it
for night NJ Baron, Of the Paris Va
rlrtr> had once performed in it. And
i'll winter II was occupied by Il rural
TROUPE. which had the rare advantage of
b'iiIS able I" act tragedy. comedy.
drama. farce or opera with equal facll-
ity. Gnr day he bills would announce
"Tartuifr and Les Pirates de la Sa-
produce 'l.r, Pres aux Cler-s" or La
Tmhalr Il Argent" One actor slIifi,rd
for the parts Of Orgon. Andres, DE
Mercy and Judge Raab. The same
actress played Elmire. Miguel, Isabella
and M"lia. As rule salaries We're not
high i'll the theatre. but to make up for
this The work the company had to do
was hard
This particular season things We're
looking wonderfully bright, and every
one was in high spirits The manager
WAS making heaps of money. The act
orS had never been so merry These
effects had two distinct causes. In the
first place the manager had had the
luck I" engage star" In the next
the company had managed to find butt
for their pl. a>antry Florne was the
Name of the star The butt was
called Baluchc
Flornc was charming girl of about
20. with bright blue eyes sparkling
with Pari>ian piluancy and a dramatic
instinct which promised To make her
somebody on the stage sooner or later
The manager had discovered her in cafe.
concert at Tarascon Her way of singing
LA Poule il Poulol had fascinated him
directly he heard her. and he had offered
her All engagement for ''all the leading
roles i'll his repertory" there and then.
In comedy and opera, operetta and
drama Florines success had been in
Stant and unprecedented. The whole
department had come up to Hautevile
TO hear her, and the local tax collector.
who passed for an authority on such
matters. had remarked one night at the
Cafe du Chicn-qui-fame that that crca-
ture would some day find her way ON to
the Par>an stage"
Baluche WAS as ugly as Florine was
pretty. He WIS absurdly short and
had Il head at least three sizes too big
for him. Besides this. he squnted, and
was inclined to he handy legged. An
irresistible vocation had led the poor
fellow 10 turn actor. His dream was to
play the parts of Melingue Meanwhile,
to avoid starvation, he had accepted an
engagement as utility man" at 80
francs month.
Little by little. seeing him constantly
playing the part of IA servant on the
stage, the other actors had come TO look
on Baluche as real servant They
made him post the bills up and gave him
errantls to run. In fact, as he was very
good natured, he had come to be little
better than his colleagues lackey.
Hardly II day passed by without some
trick being played Oh Baluche Yet hc
never murmured, never took otfense and
never for moment thought OF leaving
the theatre.
Haluche was madly in love with
Elurine.
One night as Florine was in her dress
ing room getting ready to 60 on she
heard knock at her door
Come in"
The door opened and Baluche made
his appearance He was very pale and
his eyes rolled fearfully All the while
he Was speaking his hands were tuggng
peisiStently at his red hair.
MAN 'selle Florine." he stammered in
Il half stitiled voice, "Mam selle Florine."
"Oh. it's you. is il, Baluche!" replied
the actress. What's tho natter"
The matter-the matter, said Balu-
che I'm in love with YOU. I adore
YOU"
Florine turned round sharply and
stared at him. In one hand she held a
mirror, in the other powder puff. 4
very light dressing gown carelessly fas-
tened, betrayed her >now-white shoul-
ders, and the pretty dimples about her
elbows. She looked distracting.
Having stared for moment she burst
out laughing. At the sound of her rip
pling voice the leading comedian, who
was dressing in the next compartment,
tapped on the wall and exclaimed
well, Florine, what possesses you,
Are you ill.,
no. oh. no. I'm not ill at all" re-
piled the actress, interrupting her mirth.
Its only Baluche. He's fallen in love
with me-
The news spread rapidly. All the
doors opened. and the actors, catching
the hilarlty Of the star, joined in the
laughter.
Baluche stood motionlcss, locking at
them all with amalcincnt He did not
@eLn 10 unutfStaEU lndt IL was at MN
they were laughing. He could not see
any joke in his being in love. He was
suffering, and surely people did not
make fun of misfortune. Yet at last.
AS lie watched Florine, the truth lawncd
on him. He tried TO escape, but they
joined hands and danced round him.
singing:
"I'alurhe's in love,
l'aiuche's in love-"
till The stage manager, hearing the
noise, came up 10 >'r what was the
matter
"Baluchn's the matter" WAS the M
sw"r he got "Baluclie'S the matter
"Oh, that's it, Is it: Well fine hin.
J fran.s. Mark You that, Baluche.
And pray take him away. too said
florinc. Hes too, too ugly"
No: long after, rs they We're givin,
the second ac; OF La Mascotte" zone III
Florine's best parts. there arose cry OF
Fire. Fire
1t was true. The scenery at the back
of the stage had caught light, and in
few seconds the whole house was in a
blaze. The audience rushed to the