New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-02-25

her comrades commented on 1t; she told them she
couldn't help doing well with SO good an dc'o'
as Mr. Seymour. Her scene with MN III
the first act was played with tenderness she
had never been able to express before her
jealousy in the second was almost real IN us
vivdness. and her plthos when he returned
too late to save her from dying Of a broken
heart used 10 make the women in the audience
! weep for sympathy.
1t was not long before her friendship with
| Seymour set the company talking. Mrs Barton
the first old woman. repeated to her the remarks
/ made about them; she thought, she said, II was
! her duty TO tell. The rest of the day Evelyn
| wept i'm her room. That night. after the per-
formance as they walked to the hotel she tod
Seymour they must not be seen together any
more. lie insisted vehemenuy upon knowing
why When she refused to explain, it was only
natural that he should say that he loved her.
and swear as only an actor Of long experience
in lovers parts can swear. that he never would
/ let ANYTHING separate them. That was how
they had become engaged. 1t was in Seattle,
one cold February night. they stood on the
steps of the Albcmafle Hotel; she used to shud-
der at the thought of ever going back there.
! After their engagement was announced to the
company through Mrs. Barton-thc estmable old
woman had had the felicity Of telling 1t to each
| member separately-no one could object to their
/ walks.
| For Evelyn the rest Of the season passed too
| quickly. In March Seymour. whose ability had
attracted the attention Of Dodson. one OF the
shrewdest managers in the country. was en-
gagged for the following year as leading juvenile
Of Dodson's Broadway Stock Company He
urged Evelyn to marry him at the close of the
season and to give up acting; but she insisted
I'm wifi
Fate" for she feared that if she married him
Just when he was beginning his career in New
York she might interfere with his success; mar
riage never helped n young actors popularity.
She shuddercd at the thought Of playing Mabel
Annerly with another Philip, but she had the
consolation dear to women. Of feeling that she
was making n martyr Of herself for the man
she loved.
In September she began her season with
heavy heart. But every day Seymour wrote 10
her from New-York. where he had fitted up
little fat in an apartment-house on Lexington
ave- in which she was to live some time Inc
new Philip was a man Of forty years of age
much given to brandy: she was obliged to inhale
it every night when he held hey in his arms
In December. while she was in the West. Sey-
nour's letters began to be irregular: at first she
attributed this to the mails; then. when they
came she saw that the dates of the New-York
Postoffice were sometimes three and four days
apart. She wrote to him, begging him not to
miss a dav in writing Then she noticed some
thing strange about the letters. she couldn't tell
inst what il was: they seemed little mechani-
cal Once for four days he didn't write; she
became nearly frantic with anxiety. and she ior-
got her lines. Then at last she heard from
him; he said he had been so busy learning TWO
new parts that he had had no time 10 write
This excuse hurt her. He might have taken
time. bar she made no complaint. Il was in
February while they were playing in Ninona'
that she received the final blow. one night at
the theatre. she found a newspaper for her; IL
had been directed en- route. she opened II
quickly. and read marked paragraph annouhc-
ing n scandal in theatrical circles, in which
Harold Seymour leading man OF Dodsons Broad
way Stock Company. was implicated. she was
unable to grasp all the odous details; she only
pnev that he had disgraced himself; that ne had
treated her shameful.y.
She wondered how she got through her part
that night The audience apparently noticed
nothing strange in her manner; but she caught
several members Of the company looking at her
curiously; the coward who had sent the paper
had, of course, sent copies to the others 100
When she reached her hotel she found letter
from SEYMOUR which had come By the late mail
She did not open il: she simply placed II with
the package Of his letters which she had taken
from her trunk, and sent them all back with
her engagement ring and with note saying
thatif he wrote to her again she WouId return
his letters unopened
After that night she lost ntercs; in her work
For the first few weeks 1t cost her agony to go
through her part at every point she thought
Of hipl; how finely he had spoken this line; how
strong he had been in that act where ne begged
her To forgive him. and with what pathos he
had played that last scene OH it was horrible.
At first she felt she could not bear il. that she
should nave to give up and 60 home. But the
thought OF facing Aunt Jane again. with her
sneers and taunts. nerved her to endure the
trial. She never spoke OF Seymour to any one
except on the day after she heard the news;
then she told Mrs. Barton that her engagement |
was broken, and she repeated the announce
ment in a letter to her aunt. lie did not write
10 her again; she supposed he was glad 10 get !
rid Of her easily.
She began to hate the stage. though for !
short time each night 1t saved her from brooding.
The paint and powder. the dinglness Of the !
drcssingrooms. the sight Of the dull faces OF the
audence-the sordidncss and the vanity Of it all |
sckeneI her. She wondered why she had never |
felt these things before. She longed to go away
to some quiet pace where she should not hear |
the theatre mentioned, where she could rest. |
As her interest waned. her acting deterlorated;
the critics noticed her Indifference and COM
planned of it; the manager demonstrated. For
little while she made an effort to improve. but |
she had not energy enough to continue #. She
not surprised when she heard that another
actress had been engaged in her place for the
following season.
CHAPTER II.
SO tonight she should be Mabel Annerly FOR
the last time. AS she placed in the belt OF her
dress the property which she wore during
the first act. she sighed at the thought that she
was giving up character associated with the
only happiness Of her life.
.Thank Heaven said Madge Guernsey de-