The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1892-01-30
ELSIE.


South Yorkshire coal district
1t 10 q rough class OF people with
whom q general practitioner has Il
deal 10 such district though there
are some very big swells In the neigh
borhood. to be sure. STILL as Is al
ways the case in life. among the
toughest and most uncouth one some.
times finds q gentle flower.
Such sweet exception was little
Elsie Underhill. to whose bedside
was called professionally on the even
ing OF November %. 1878. 1t is long
while ago and doubt much II any Of
the persons connected with the little
story ! am about to tell Should any oil
them still be surviving) will remem-
Der DIR. Newman. And at any rate,
not one OF those who knew me will be
hurt and the one person against
whom I shall have much to say. is so
mean and contemplate In my opinion
that care little for his
1t was poor little homo was call
cd TO in Church street. where Elsie's
parents lived but very different from
the dirty. carelessly kept cottages and
small houses In the vicinity. But
am not going TO weary you with de-
scription. was met by the dear,
old. kindly faced mother at the door.
where. before taking me upstairs to
the tiny room where lay her suffering
daughter. she told me something Of
her history.
Elsie was only Just turned 10. but
she had already made for herself q
reputation which was honorable and
ennobling. Three years before, when
just turned 1G being a pretty and we'll
developed girl with more than the
average amount OF intelligence she
bad obtained an engagement at the
little local theatre. whore she had ap-
pearsd In the character OF Jeanne
Deans In Andrew Halliday's adapta-
sion OF Sir Walter SCOTS novel, The
Heart Of Midlothian. She had at
tracted great deal OF attention. The
local correspondent OF the London
theatrical paper the Hornet then the
property Of Stephen Fiske. had spoken
highly OF hor, and moro than one Lon
don manager had visited Rotterdam
70 see her act There were stock
companies In those days
Among the many young fellows who
had become infatuated by her beauty
was one Horace Wellington. the son OF
physician In Sheffield. very rich
man This young mans attentions
we're very marked. He obtained an
Introduction to the young girls pa
Fonts, and through them to Elsie.
and then he began serious court
ihip
In every way his manner and ap-
parent object were decidedly honor
able Only one thing he omitted-he
did not take her to his own home.
In order to be near the man who
had completely won her heart she re-
fused more than one lucrative offer to
20 to London, where she would have
ut once been on the high road to fame,
and accepted an engagement a. the
Sheffield Theatre Royal which being
close 10 her own home. she could also
reach very easily. Here her oppor-
tunities were wider than in Rother-
ham. II Is true and here she succeeded
In increasing her already high repu-
tation. She remained in Sheffield two
seasons playing during the summer a
series Of travelling engagements
throughout tho northern counties.
Then came q proposal from great
London manager which was so good
that she could not afford to neglect IL
Her agcd mother went with her to the
oity Of smoke and fog. and In Septem-
Der, 1873. she made her debut before
Q London audience at the Princess
Theatre Less than . month later her
health entirely gave way. and she
found IL necessary to throw up her en-
gagement and return with her mother
TO the little homo In Rotterdam In
which she had breathed her earliest
breath.
So much her mother told me- then
took me up TO see her daughter.
Did say just now that she was suf-
ferinRp That was hardly the case.
6he was dying Of rapid consumption.
She was too weak to suffer much ply
sically. but the broken heart was CIV
ing her exquisite torture.
Such a lovely girl have rarely
seen. Brown curling hair swept back
from the sweet face. and long dark
lashes shaded the blue gray eyes that
were all intelligence and had been
wont to fill her audience with blind
enthusiasm. Mass
The little room In which she lay
was filled with delicate feminine
knickknacks "reminiscences of her
favorite roles. souvenirs OF her pro-
fessional friends, all arranged about
the room with gentle thoughtful love
7 BY her stricken mother. But most In
.terestng Of all was rather curious
thing hanging above her pillow on the
bedpost by narrow blue ribbon It
was som thing that would attract the
attention Of the least observant
A largo gold split ring. elegantly
chased and evidently OF antique man
ufactura to which was suspended q
common copper English penny piece
The combination was so homogeneous
20 ludicrous. that ] could not refrain
from taking 1t in my hand 70 exam
Inc. ~ 1904
oh. please don't touch that" ex-
CLAIMED the dying girl ''it's all