Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-07-23
A SINGERS HEART.
It was Q o'clock in Paris.

The bright Place de lOpera was
| filed with carriages: the cracking
of the drivers whips sounded star
tlingly clear OH the crisp, wint.y
air of the splendid white night, ard
the electric lights shone 6tfully ON
the silken hats of the men and the
bright toilets of the women as tn y
stepped quickly from their brougn-
ans into the glorious blaze and
splendor Of the opera house.
II was a fashionable night. A new
singer was to try her voice for the
first time In grand opera. She was
an American Madeline Bancroft.
There had been much talk about her
voice. fo, she had been studying in
Paris eight years. She had come
with her aunt to the gay capital, a
tall, large eyed girl of twenty-one,
and now at twenty nine she was to
sing for the first time before the pub
lie in the great, bright opera house.
She had been prepared to sing two
years before, but had deferred her
debut for personal reasons, but the
public knew and was waiting for her.
1t was interested in her, had been for
some years and now at last she was
to show her power.
1t was toward the last of the first
act when she came on. She was a
graceful woman. tall and slim and
fair to look upon. Her face was not
exactly beautiful, but it had about it
something that held the attention,
with it's large, sad eyes and sweet
mouth full of strange wistfulness.
It was delicately shaped face; the
brown hair growing softly on the low
forehead had threads of gray through
it; withal it was face that spoke of
a past, one felt as if there had been
SO much that had gone before-a
pure, sad, troubled past which one
felt desire to know about, not from
mere idle curiosity, but that one
might feel for the slight. sweet
woman who bore SO much in her
lovely face.
There was no appearance of stage
fright or nervousness about the singer
as she bowed with sweet graciousness
to the sea of faces before her. After
the first burst of applause had died
away the exquisite hush was like
death, and on this passionate still
ness her clear notes rang out pure
and sweet and beautiful.
There was a wondrous quality in
her voice, something that went
straight to the listeners heart, some
thing so appealing, so tender that
tears sprang unbidden to eyes not
wont to weep.
The public was captivated Made
line was success
In one of the boxes nearest the
stage sat man. At first there had
been q listlessness about him; an air
of being there from a sense of duty
rather than from any artistic inter
est; an air that was always blase.
He was a good looking man, in fault
less evening dress. He had brown eyes
and the conventional pointed beard
Of the typical higher class Partisan.
The man was, however, an Ameri-
can, Robert Parkman, but he had
lived 30 long in the French capital
that he had lost nearly all of the
alert mannerisn peculiar to Ameri-
cans that cling 80 long to our coun-
trymen abroad
He had lived in Paris ten years, his
business was here, and he now in
tended to live here for the remainder
Of his life, although he had originally
to remain but a few months,
but like many another the spell of
the beautiful city had crept upon
him, and he had grown to think that
there was no other place on the wide
earth fit to live In besides this bright,
fascinating city under it's caressing
sky.
He liked the life of Paris. In the
ten years of his residence here he
had lived well, gayly and at times
wildly; but, TO his credit let it be
ouioi Ho htSu SoLic out ~ tlo Sllu
with cleaner record than most
young men with plenty Of money at
their disposal, who 60 from the
crudity Of American cities into the
alluring splendors Of Paris.
He was thirty-four years old. HIS
was not married; years before, in hts
college days, there had been a girl,
but he had forgotten her and he had |
never really loved in all his life.
Women were too fond of him, per-
haps. He was one of those men over
whom all women rave; they liked |
him extravagantly. Madeline Ban
croft was one of them. She loved
him, had, indeed, with all her chaste
hon rt mud sN,,l fD,. ..,..l,A x...