The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1886-12-29

Impossiblel | looked, after that, but at
that one figure. The pose and bearing were
those of Blanche. In standing, Blanche's at
titude always gave ore the impression that
she alone owned the ground she then stood
over. In speaking, or when spoken to, she
seemed to turn her whole mind in the direc-
tion of the subject of the moment, and never
seemed in mind to stray or waver from that
subject.
So did this actress But the makeup puz-
zled me. Hair, eyebrows, complexion were
different. The voice was pitched in higher
key than ever had heard from Blanche.
Once let the doubt beset you as to the
identity Of any person long unseen, or seen
suddenly under unexpected circumstances,
and generally that doubt remains until dis
PEELED by certain recognition and indentiflca-
ton. So did mine then as to the identity of
the person before nss.
"That gal means bizness" heard one man
whisper to another Put her in tight
place, and she'd shoot"
noticed that Broener was regarding her
as attentively Gs l. He heard the remark
mentioned above and smiled saying:
''Rough diamonds One as a character
reader in the house, and one-a brilliant on
the STAGE
looked for her name in the cast on the
roughly printed programme. 1t read:
"Miss H. Brown"
The stage was not more than twenty feet
in width. Once she stood so near the box
could have reached forth and touched her.
Height, contour, bearing-all resembled
those of Blanche Seton. But as to the face,
that was so ''nade up" as to leave me in
doubt. Once her eyes ranged across the box
where l sat They were Blanche Sefton's
eyes, but there was no recognition in their
expression. Physically they looked at me
otherwise they seemed no more to see me
than would those of wax figure.
The play was over. The curtain fell. The
audience struggled in congested state for
exit from the one narrow front entrance.
Broener turned in the opposite direction to-
ward a door leading to the stage, saying: II
have an old friend in the company and am
going behind the scenes. Good night"
He had gone. would go to the stage
door in the rear, and in some way solve my
doubts. But was irapeded by the crowd
A wretched fracas, between two armed
inebriates, had developed directly in front of
the "opera house." and the lingering mass,
nothing 10th to see blood shed, cluttered up
the passageway and sidewalk.
Freeing myself from them at last sought
the stage door. A high board fence ran
from the middle of the rear of the theatre,
which In reality was but the wing Of another
house. got on the wrong side of the fence,
ran back and was obliged to pass out again
in front of the theatre At last I stood by
the door l sought Two ladies and their
escort passed out She certainly was not
of them. The third and last, closely veiled,
finally came and accompanying her was
Broenerl
OF course, my friend, you would have stayed
In camp that night and found out ''some-
how whether the girl was Blanche Seton or
not. didn't Had l not seen the lady with
Broener 1 might have so done. But his pres
ence put such a complexion on the matter,
that of the two situations l preferred to be
in doubt es to Blanche's identity to finding
her thus with Broener, whom Of course
pictured as the dangerous rival, as certainly
he was In almost any case.
Besides there were imperative interests at
Scrub mountain to be looked after imme-
diately. Broener expected me to get the
quartz out Of the caches down to the cabin
as soon as possible. He had given me df-
rections how to find them, and despite his
of everything from me of graft
tude, l felt under too much obligation to
him to neglect anything bearing on his
interests.
But the stars on the now long. sixteen-mile |
ride homeward had lost their sublimity for
me. NY brain was in a ferment of conjec- |
ture. Was it Blanche Seftong and if so,why |
was Broener with herr He had gone behind |
the scenes to see an 'old friend" Blanche |
was mysterious girl She had passed much
of her time away from home and in New |
York, having frequent access thereunto by |
her fathers sloop. She had way of coming |
and going and locating herself about where
she pleased with that matter-of-course, au-
thoritative air which half stifed gossip and
enabled her to do what other girls dared not
and could not. People said, "Oh, it's Blanche's
way" Certainly it was, and whom might
she have met and known, unknown to all
Eastport, in these "ways"a
Half-past three o'clock and the morning
had dawned as / drew rein on the hill and
looked down on Bull Bar, half a mile below
me. The river, shrunk by the summer
drought, ran a mere thread with faint muir
mur over rock and rifle. Log cabin and tent
Iay there silent in the cool shadow Of early
lawn. One mountain top, full thirty miles
away, had caught the suns heralding ray for
The day. But down there, rocker and long
tom, pick and pan, crowbar and shovel were
flung where last the weary workers left them
and the FIVE hundred stalwart men, soon to
renew their battle with hill, bank and stream,
we're still in the Inconsistencies of slumber
alive, breathing it is true, but dead to the
world their bodies were in-dead to all
hope or fear or any of the varied emotions
which would so soon be in full play when the
moke commenced circiing from those rude
,bimneys