Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-11-07
A BROKEN VIOLIN.

\ happy go-luckY little sprits who
slept all the morning, idled away the
afternoon and danced all night for the
delight of a crowded theatre; always
the posseSslr OF a smiling face and a
pair Of laughing eyes in the presence
ur her friends, As cuIeiesS OF her own
frequently hard lot as she was sympa-
thetic 10 the SORROWS Of others; as tire
less in the pursuit of pleasures as she
WAS indifferent to the worlds opinion
of her pastimrs-In short. a gay, Joyous.
incOrr gible bohemian. Such was little
Flora Tremb,e, second dancer Of the
Cosmopolitan Opera Iouse-Or such,
rather, was the estimate passed upon
her by her friends and associates; and.
rs friends and associates can invariably
diagnose our characters better than We
can ourselves, u Is possible their view
of Flora was the correct one
She bad been whirling and swaying
and pirouettInE there for nearly four
months row. The play was gigantic
burlesQue OF the spectacular order and
had held the boards through the long
summer months without break.
Flora had come upon them suddenly.
like a flash, from no one knew whittier.
She preserved Tgid silence concern
ing herself and no one knew for certain
whether she WAS pauper's child or
the offspring OF aristOcratlc parents
she had secured an engagement IN the
chorus, but her graceful dancing and
bewitchiug presence had advanced her
aEa.n and again until now she had at
tanned the proud distinction or second
dancer. with only three appearances
during the performance and salary of
fifty-hve dollars q week. Ordinarily,
she would have been euvied and hated,
but no one but a savage could be guilty
of hating such "a sunny, generous little
woman, who was as ready TO part with
her last dollar TO aid = bankrupted
chorus-gIrl rs she was quick To fy
from the lavl5hly-eNpreSSed gratitude
OF the recipient
Lovers? Well, II she had one she
had three scores of them, If you could
dignity them by the name. They were
Of all ages and all grades oi good and
bad looks. They came 10 the Theatre
regularly every night, drank IN her in
dividud performance with their eyes
and departed, leaving the proofs oi
their devotion in the form OF carloads
of boquets left at the stage door-anG
which IL is to be feared, descended
with great regularity into the posses
sion of some impecEniOus chorus-girl
VINO lsll NAlt NbAANi > AeAf AN%---'7N@-'N'A-
sell them back To the florist for what
they would bring. As for letters-why
they came N such basketfuls that Flora
never attempted to read them She
pitched them regularly into the hands
Of the blue eyed little woman who
oficIated as her maid, and who care
fully sorted out the ones she supposed
her mistress cared 10 see The Others
found oblivion through various chan
nels, chiefly that OF trial by tire.
The stauucuest friend that Flora had
in the world was old Otto, who played
first violin I'm the orchestra. No one
knew his surname and no one knew
why they called him odd" - he was
surely not more than forty, and the
gray hairs in his glossy brown curl>
We're few and far between Perhaps
Il was because he was so studlous anu
loved his viOliu-a genuine ANITA, 10y
the way-so passionately rs To never
allow it out OF his sight. But OH
Otto i. was, and he didn't seem [,
mind it. lie smiled in his grave, quiel
way when they bautered him on III:
s,eldflst devotion 10 his instrument
and his pipe, devotion 50 firm and
true as to forbid apparently, al thought
Of participation IN the pleasures ths
others seemed O. lind SO desirable
Flora aud he had "taEeu shine" L
each other, as their friends elegantly
expressed I,. when she first joined the
company. She made 4 confident o.
u.m: told him of all her troubles Il
her childish petulaut way; asked 10
his advice and laughed with glee wEei
he refused 90 give e., because, as h'
said, she only sought II IN order tha
she might tease him by disregardlni
~. None of the tuIee-scOTe lovers VIII
wvrsh huped Lgr from before the loot
lights huew anything about Otto, o
they would have been passlOuatel
Jealous Flora told every one that sh
thought more % Otto than any one o
earth, but that size cid not love hlm
Why2 Well, because in the lrst plac
he Was too good a man To care Tor sue
an empty headed little brat (thoS
were her own wordSl IS she; and
the next place she never meant I
marry any one. but Just TO dance an
dance and dance until her breathin
and her le-s gave out, and then-wel
who cared what happened thenF
One bright atte noon IN Septemo oe
Flora flew two steps at a time up u
three long flights OF stairs that led
OttO's modest apartments She wake
IL without ceremony. Otto, as usua
was bringing stIsIns from the Anna
that made the very sparrows on tn
window sill outside cock their lit
heads on one side in rapt attention
He smiled delightedly upon her an
and went on with his playing.
stop your miserable fddling Otto,
cried hIs visitor, imperatively, ''a1
usen TO me. Otto am going to
married.
There was a rapid succession of pyr
technics upon the tiny instrument al
then Otto ceased playing and can
towards her. 1t must have been q