Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-03-02

t1enu ma lead hts noQo On bis ehoulder.
You oughtnY 20 lee her hare that play.
Wallace; I'm quits clear On that You Know
how much I like hcr. She's all you say, and
more; but art is art, and acting h acting. !,
at any rate. take thees things seriously, and
you do, too We rejoice IN II for her cake;
but, after all, when ono comes 70 think Of II,
this popularity Of hers b enough to make one
despair Sometimes think 70 will throw
back the popular dramatic taste Tor ycars.
AT any rate, am clear that II q man has rot
hold Of i1ne work Of art, a. You have IN
that play, he hes duty 10 10 and to the pub
Lie. You are bound 70 80 10 brought out
under tho best possible conditions, and No ali
know that MIS- Brethertons acting, capped
with Hswesi. would XIII u from the artistic
point OF view."
"Perfectiy true, perfectly true. said wal.
lace. "Wcll, would you have me tell her sogs
"Ycu must get out Of II somehow. Tell her
that the part h ono you feel won't suit hcr.-
won't do her Justice"
"Much good that would dol She thinks tho
part Just made for her, costumes and ALL"
"well, then, say you havent finished your
revision, and you must have time for more
work at Il; that win postpone tho thing, and
she will hear OF something else which will
put II out Of her bead"
"There arc all sorts Of reasons against
that" said Wallace; tits hardly worth while
going through them. In the first place, she
wouldn't believe me; In tho SECOND. sho won't
forget 1t. whatever happens, and II would
only put the difllculty on few weeks at
most. ] feel 30 stupid about tho whole thing.
! like her too much. I'm 20 afraid Of saying
my wits desert ma say, Kendall"
stVVal1r,
Wallace hesitated, and glanced up at his
friend with his most winning expression.
''Do you think you could earn my eternal
gratitude and manage the thing for met You
know we're going TO Oxford next Sunday,
and suppose NO shall 60 TO Nuneham, and
thcre will be opportunities for walks. and 20
on. Could you possibly take 10 In handi Shc
has IN immense respect for you intellectually.
II you tell her that you're sure the part won't
suit her; that she won't do herself justice In IT.
II you could lead tho conversation on to IL and
try to put her out Of love for tho scheme
WITHOUT seeming 10 have a commission from
me In any way, should be indeed everlast-
ingly obliged! You wouldn't make mess
Of 1t, as should be sure to do. You keep
your bead cool"
"Wcllw said Kendall. laughing, balancing
himself on the table, facing Wallace. That's
atempting prospect But II don't help you
out you'll give in, know. You're the soft
est Of men, and I don't want you to give in."
Eyes. Of course shall give in" said Wal.
lace, with smiling decision. III you don't
want mo to, suppose you takc the responsi.
bility. I've known you do difficult things
before; you manage somehow to get your
own way without offending people"
"H'm," said Kendall; II don't know
bot tl,orf fhat, ia - IL
to walk up and down The room again cogitat-
Ing. II donS mind trying" he said at last.
In very gingerly way. II can't Of course.
undertake TO bo brutal It would be impos-
sible for any one to treat her roughly. But
there might be ways OF doing IL There's
time to think over the best way OF doing It
Supposing. however, she took offensei Sup
posing. after Sunday next, she never speaks
TO either Of us againf'
"Ohi" said Wallace, wincing, ~ should
give up the play at once II she really took 10
to heart. She attaches ono TO her. feel
towards her as though she we're a sister--only
moro interesting, because there's the charm
Of novelty"
Kendall smiled "Miss Bretherton hasn't
got to that yet with me. Sisters, TO my
mind. are as interesting as anybody, and
moro So But how on earth, Wallace. have
you escaped falling In love with her all this
timer
"Oh, had enough Of that last year" said
Wallace. abruptly rising and looking for his
overcoat. while his face darkened tits an
experience don't take lightly"
Kendall was puzzled; tbcn his thoughts
quickly put two and two together Ho' re-
membered a young Canadian widow whohad
been good deal at Mrs. Stuart's house the
year before; he recalled certain suspicious Of
his own about her ana his friend-her do
parturo from London and Wallace's long
absence in tho country. But he said nothing,
unless thero was sympathy In tho cordial
grip Of his hand as no accompanied the other
to the door.
On tho threshold Wallace turned irreso-
lutely. sit will be risk next Sunday no
said; 'I'm determined 1t shan't be anything
moro. She Is not the woman, think, TO
make quarrel out Of thing like that"
"Oh. no." said Kendall; "kecp your courage
up. think it may be managed. You give
me leave to handle 'Elvira' as like.n
"Oh, heavens, yesp said Wallace; "get mo
out Of the scrape any way you can, and I'll
bless you forever. What brute am mover
to have asked after your work. Does 1t
get onP
"As much as any work can In London just
now. must take 10 away with ms some-
where into the country next month. IL
doesn't like dinner parties"
Like me, |" said Wallace, with q shrug.
"Nonsenser said Kendall; "you're made
for them. Good night"
"Good night It's awfully good Of you"
"Whati Wait till it's well overt"
Wallace ran down the stairs and was gone.
Kendall walked back slowly into his room
and stood moditating. 1t seemed to him that
Wallace did not quite realize the magniA-
cence OF his self devotion. "For, after all.
it's an awkward business" be said to himself,
shaking his head over his own temerity.
"How am to come around a girl as frank,
as direct, as unconventional as that, don't
quito know. But she ought not to have that
play; 1t is ono OF the good things that have
been dono for tho English stage for long
time past. It's well put together, the plot
good, three or four strongly marked charac-
ters, and some fine Victor Hugoish dialogue,
especially In the last act. But there Is ex-
travagance In 1t, as there Is in all tbs work
Of that time, and In Isabel Bretherton's hands
a great deal of 1t would be grotesque; moth
ing could save It but her reputation and the
get up, and that would be too great a shame.
No, no; 1t will not do to have the real thing
swamped by all sorts Of irrelevant consider
ations In this way. Like Miss Bretherton
heartily, but like good work, and IL can
save the play from her shall save her, too,
from what everybody with eyes In his head
would SEQ to be failure.n
II was rash determination. Most men
would haveprudently left the matter TO those
whom it Immediately concerned, but Kendall
had Quixotic side to him. and at this time
in his life whole hearted devotion TO certain
intellectual interests, which decided his
action on point like this. In spite Of his
life in society, books and ideas we're at this