The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-06-21

ambitious, we ranted, III we tore 4
passion to rags. But we had one or
two good points-we We're young and
lively. Juliet had the most charming
of faces and the most delicious of
figures-mind you, in the year 1923,
girls had q chance of showing their
figures without putting on a pages cos
tune. Then She had a soft, sweet
voice, and pretty little coquettish ways.
which came natural to her, and broke
through the clumsy stage artiticialities.
She drew full houses; wherever we per-
formed, all the men, especially all the
young officers, used to come after her.
1hey wrote her notes. they lay in wait
for her. they sent her flowers; out
what with old KerranS and myself. to
say nothing of the other members OF
the company, they might as well have
tlled to get at a Peri in Paradise. |
drew pretty well, too. | was-a man
OF 10 aD1. more may say so without
being h"cuSed OF vanity vas a good
lc.oKing young fellow; you would hard
ly believe what quantities of letters
ana billetS-dOuX came to me. had
dozens, but Juliet found and tore them
all up. There they We're! the note on
rose-colored note-paper with violet ink,
beginning with "Handsomest and
noblest Of men," and ending with
Your fair unknown. Armanita."
There was the letter from the middle
aged widow, with a taste for the
drama and an income; and there was
the yilely spelled note from the foolish
little milliner who had fallen in love
with the Romeo OF a barn. Perhaps
ladies are more sensible now. At all
events, their letters were thrown away
upon Inc, because | vas in love al
ready, head over ears. with Juliet.
Juliet handed over her notes to her
father, who found out their writer's,
and made them take boxes and be-
speak plays. SO that all Juliet'S low
ers got was the privilege of paying
more than other people, for the girl
was as good as she was pretty-a rarer
combination of qualities on the stage
80 years ago than now. She was tall,
and, III those days, slender. Later on
she took after her mother; but who
would have thought that SO graceful a
girl would ever arrive at fourteen
stone? Her eyes and hair were black
| eyes that never lost their lustre; and
hair which. though it turned gray in
later years, was then like a silken net.
when it was let down, to catch the
hearts of lovers. or course, she knew
that she was pretty; what pretty
woman does not? and of course, too,
she did not know and would not under
stand the power of her w beauty;
what pretty woman does? And be-
cause it was the very worst thing she
could do for herself, she fell in love
with me.
Her father knew it, and meant to
stop it from the beginning; but he was
not 4 man to do things in a hurry, and
so we went on in a FOOLS paradise, en-
joying the stolen kisses, and talking Of
the sweet time to- come when we should
be married. One night was Romeo
4 was sc carried away with passion
that / acted for once naturally and
unconventionally. There was a full
house; the performance was so much
out of the common that the people were
astonished and forgot to applaud. Ju,
liet caught the infection of my passion,
and for once we acted well. because
we acted from the heart. Never but
once, | believe, has Romeo and Juliet
been performed by a pair who felt
every word they said. 1t was only in
a long. low room, a sort corn eX-
change OF town hall, in a little country
town, but the memory of that night
is sacred to me.
You know the words
See how 'he leans her cheek upon her
Q; that I We're a glove upon that hand
That | might touch that cheek
And these
so. for n falconer's voice.
TO lure this taSSel gentle back again.
Bondage is hOarSe and may not speak aloud
Else | would tear the cave where Echo lies,
And make her airy tongue more hOarse than
mine
With repetition Of my Romco!''
Splendidly VIC gave them.
Why, even now, old as I am, the
recollection of these lines and the
thought of that night warm my heart
still and fire my feeble pulses. l have
taught them to my %grandchild. She
takes after my poor Juliet, and would
succeed on the stage, if only her father
would let her. But he is strait-laced.
All! he should have seen the tempta-
lions which beset a girl OIL the stage in
my time. We are Puritans now al
most
And Il good thing, too. 1t is time for
me to w it.
Well, old Kelrans was in the front.
looking after the money. as usual, and
always With one eye on the stage, to
see how his daughter was getting on.
He was puzzled, l think. to make out
the meaning of the unaccuStomed fire.
but he came to the conclusion that if
Juliet was going to remain Miss Juliet,
instead of becoming Mrs. Mortimer
Navasseur Cmy stage name), he had
| better Interfere at nee.