The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-01-26
INTERVIEW WITH GUILBERT.
She Knows Our Language Well
Enough to Pun in 1t.
Chicago Evening Pos

ut is very difficult to catch you." ex-
planned the artist after three or four futile
attempts TO commit to paper the ever
changing features of the iridescent French
woman.
Catch your" echoed Mile. Guilbert, with
a delicious interrogativee inflexion taat
seemed to infuse a strange piquancy into
catch you." "Ah. yes! understand. My
face is caOutchouc."
A ripple of merriment at her discovery
or pun between the French for rubber and
the English words catch you caused the
unfortunate artist to throw away still an
other sketch as his feline model curled up
kitten-fashion in the big hotel armchair to
laugh at her own joke. An instant later she
was porting over the morning papers as
hungrily as child with a new picture book.
But they are what you call funny. anus
ant is 1t not so? reiapsing into a dignified
pose again as she remembered that she
was sitting for her picture. How can 1
amuse them this evening as they amuse
me! L know. L Will read to them what the
Is that not the word. Mr.. Marks? Bully!'
with view to facilitating the artists
work manager Marks explained to Mile.
Guilbert that she was expected to say some
thing FOR the newspaper man present to
write about in his interview for publication
say something? What shall say? That
l like America that will come again; that
l would like to linger-r-r longer-r-r, Loo;
that want to see Tchicahgo; that all the
peoples / have met are very pleasant, and
have quite spoilt me; that the newspapers
do not like to tell me that / am ugly, yes,
ugly, ugly; that l cannot sing what you
call 1t, a leetel bit, but what sing 1T is the
life? Shall 1 say all this? But l must be
still or monsieur the artist will not catch
You my caoutchouc face"
A dark-eyed little French maid interrupt
ed the sitting to hand her mistress a card
which the bellboy had brought upstairs.
''At o'clock, Camille. / am presently
engaged" With which message the petite
French maid dismissed the too early Wis
itor.
For three whole minutes the mercurial
creature remained perfectly still, her atten-
ton taken up with first-page cartoon in
one of the newspapers lying on her lap.
us that good?' turning to the artist for
some recognition of her feat of protracted
stiffness. And as the latter gravely nodded
his satisfaction the pert-up flow of merri-
ment of the versatile Frenchwoman again
dubbed forth.
am vulgare, vulgare! Mon Dieu, vulgare?'
Quick as a flash from sparkling comedy
to intense tragedy, the features of the truly
French artist grew hard and ugly: Her thin
lips tightly compressed, her irregular, slight
ly retrousse nose dilated, her eyes no longer
mischievious, peered viciously through their
creature Of a moment ago became dangerous
as an angry tigress. But 1t was only for an
instant that La Guilbert revealed herself as
a rival to La Bernhardt.
"You go see an advocat" addressing her
manager while the tragic spell lasted, land
he make those people pay dollaires who in
suit one coming INTO the eSlTdISer Country.
You tell him, too" reapsing into mirth,
''that he keep those dollaires to give to- the
poor. Twenty-Five thousand dollaires.. All
for the poor Do not forget, Mr.. Marks
But this time the artist had put the fin
ishing touches to the sketch which had
caused him so much labor.
You have my catch you face, Ell? Mon
Dieu, but you have not made it ugly" seiz-
ing the pen-and-ink sketch. Camille, bring
me a mirror And for a few minutes
Yvette Gulbert studied her face in the glass
to compare with the profile sketch. The
scrutiny evidently proved satisfactory; at
least, the difficulty of catching glimpse of
her own profile in the mirror appeared to
disarm further criticism, beyond the oft-re-
peated one that the sketch was not ugly
enough.