The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1896-01-10
NO THIRD PERSON.

The audience fairly roared. She was
such clever actress. 1t was a COM
monplace bit of action-a lovers quar-
rel and the discomfiting of the man.
The often repeated situation. 1t was
the actress laugh which was inimita-
BILE. cit sounded like a bushel of seed
pearls split on the floor" A critic had
written up her special laugh in that
way, and it was deemed a capital bit of
description, when it was really moth
ing more than a vocal gymnastic, which
trick can be acquired at cost of not
much more than a few days practice.
The actor was, perhaps, a trifle clum-
sy and blustering; followed his own
nature, and to carry out the role all
the better for that.
The occupants of a side box seemed
to appreciate the scenic conditions, and
joined merrily in the laughter. There
was one handsome young woman you
might think was enjoying the play i'm
mensely. Certainly fan, put up as a
screen, permits of restrained laugh
ter, for you cannot, if you are a woman
in full toilet, laugh at your ease where
seated bolt upright. lis a painful and
constrained position. A Greek woman
could have laughed so much more COM
fortably in her flowing draperies.
If you had tried to listen for laughter
behind that screen or sought for a
change of pose, you would have neither
heard nor seen one or the other. Quite
to the contrary, the mouth was drawn
down hard and would have been rigid.
Maybe a lip would have borne the in
dentation of tooth had it not been for
the quivering of her face. An inclina-
ton to cry? That was absurd, but as
in all emotional conflicts there is the
climax of nervous energy, which must
be dispersed in some way or other, so it
was that the fan had suffered, and when
the owner of it heard one of the ivory
Stats crack the crisis had passed, and
then she came to herself again. Her
chaperon, who was in the front of the
box, turned and raid to her:
"Julia, your fan, please. An old lady
must be ugly when she laughs. 1t is
unbecoming of mature age, and then
the exertion of side splitting has msde
me warm"
"You look bored, DEAR" said the
chaperon. 81 know am. The rest of
the play must be commonplace. The
inevitable, hackneyed conclusion.
They make it up, and there is kissing
and hugging all around. Let us go
home. We will chat then for half an
hour"
Oh! if only the chaperon, the aunt
who lived with her, had not offered to
do thatl She had longed so much to be
alone. The old lady and the young one
left the theater. AS they passed into
the corridor Julia happened to cast her
eyes just where there was a human OBJ
struction. A gentleman bowed to the
two women. Disengaging himself
from the crowd he neared Julia and
said: 81 hear you are going abroad,
Miss Royal. I shall be sure to look
you up somewhere in Paris or London"
"Why," said the chaperon, "this is
news to me-"
otis nonsense" said Julia, incisively.
"J'y suis. J'y reste." Then she looked
at the man for an instant with steady
gaze. There was something of inten-
sity in her eyes. What did he know?
She would die before she would ask
him. He prattled about the play. THE
actress!' so delightful! There was SO
much fun in the thing, and he had
noticed how much Miss Royal had en-
joyed it. She ought to have waited for
the wind-up."
When Miss Royal was alone she in
duIged in very hearty and, may it be
said, wholesome cry. And between a
final sob you might have made out
something like this: eff that Robert
Bryant had pleased, he might have told
me where he was" and Il despise my
self for giving up in this way. Suppose
he has gone to South America. Suppose
there is yellow fever or revolution there!
And | am the most wretched girl that
was ever born, and fool with bad
temper-which is worse" Then, the
maid came in. AS this is truthful
story, | am bound to state that after a
few losses and turns Miss Julia wenr
sound asleep, and when she woke up in
the morning she was quite incensed
with herself for not having counted a
single one of the chimes of her clock
during the hours of the night, for she
had made up her mind that she would.