Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1893-10-28
THE UEDERSTUDY.

One dag. many months before Dor
othy Left the stage in the abrupt
manner which used 10 rae the
manager 20 afterwards. she had
come walking into the o1ce leading
y smaller ard mach more untidy
little girl than herself b. one grimy
hand
Here's ny understady. Mr.
Phillips. announced rhs little
actresz. 4znd her names Katherine- r
Ard tzozgh the manager had
ssOrued 3 good deal and declared he
would not stand il. Dor0thy's word
had stood, and Katherine became her
yerifzhle shadow. Where the small
actress had found her. no one ever
discovered; but judging from the
ragged froek which scarcely covered
her plump body. and the dust-dlled
curls. Is must have been in some
alley. far removed from the fashion
able quarter 81 the city But be-
tween Dorothy herself and her foster
mother and dresser. they soon turned
the smaller child into a clean, sweet,
big-eyed girl Inside Of a week she
kne# everyone in the COMPANY. in
Gliding the pets Of the women; inside
Of q month she could go through her
lines in ''EaBntleroy" with the best
Of them,and with an astonishing grace
and ease. Undoubtedly the little
Fagamufin either possessed the tai
ent herself or else had inherited II
from her relatives; and. having shown
that talent she dropped into the
company as naturally As II she had
been acting since she wore long
dresses.
When Barry Markham, that eie-
giant. blase young man who eoude-
seconded TO grace the stage with his
distinguished presencc-these were
the comedians sarcastic words con
corning him Joined the Fauntleroy
company. every woman IN that az
gregation said in her inner heart she
would bring him to her feet; for
added 70 most enchanting manner
and bearing, there was an air Of de-
liclous mystery about him which was
really quite irresistible. No one
knew anything definite of him,
though the old woman whispered
once or twice 70 the leading lady
that she knew he must be a real
swell running away from something:
and the advance man, who dropped
hack once a week 70 have a game Of
poker with the first heavy. was half
way sure he had seen him through
the window az an 'upper-ten'' recep-
tiOn. Bot this was mere guessing:
the facts were only these: He never
smiled; he never gossiped with the
others; he dressed we'll. but taste
fully something the others did not;
he played the earl as if his life de-
pended upon his success, and he took
life very. very. seriously. The one
thing which made him seem real and
tangible to the other men was that
he drank good -night-drink-
ing, tOo-shough he never got too
much, but although he asked them to
join him. whenever they happened
in the same place. 10 was with the
air Of a baron paying for the wine for
his tenants All in all. he was a
charmiDgly handsome and thor
oughly delightful mystery.
Until he saw Katherine for the first
time Then he became a veritable
puzzle, He met her one afternoon
as he was stumbling along the abom-
inably dark and noisome alley lead
ing 10 the stage door. and, for a mo
ment. the tall. serious actor stood
staring down at the little girl as If
he had seen a ghost TO be sure, she
was anything but ghostly, being quite
as plump and rosy as when Dorothy
had brought her into the company:
and the yellow hair which needed no
addition when she went on tum-
bled about her face in very attrac-
tive and material manner; but the
actor continued to stare, until il
occurred TO him that he was blocking
the way and possibly the little lady,
who was waiting so patiently with
the sweetly childish smile upon her
sunny face which made every one
her friend, might want to 60 on.
With hoar3e 81 beg your pardon. .
he took off his hat grayely and step
ped aside. She looked up at him
quite as gravely and said: THANK
you, sir, as she passed. After which
he wandered down-street toward his
hotel, and went by three saloons
without stopping in one. Which un-
doubtedly proved the disturbed con-
dition Of Mr.. Barry Markham's mind.
From that day forth he was diff
ferent man. He drank less, he talked
more; he took to haunting back al
leys and streets-after he had learned
Katherine's very limited history
and he conversed With all the inhab-
itants of these unsavory portions OF
the city who had reached the middle
mile-post of life. Every day saw him
.doing the slums," as the others
said; but, from his drawn, sad face
when he returned from his trips, il
was evidently not for the pleasure
he found there. If what he learned
there made him sad, however, he
made up for it when he came back,