The Monmouth inquirer., 1897-08-05

mother" gave him confidence, and bJ
the time we reached his dying scene he
was not one bit frightened.
All. then acted as have never done
before or since. realized with pas
sionate intensity the. mothers situa-
tion. When / saw the sweet golden
head sink back upon the pillow with q
gentle dying sigh, cry of anguish
broke from my lips, so thrilling, SO ag-
onizing in its realism, that, as the cur
tain fell upon the situation, grand
burst of applause resounded through
the house, to be renewed again and
again, until my little one and /, hand IL
hand, appeared once more before the
delighted and generous audience.
1t was proud moment for me when
the manager shook me warmly by the
hand and said:
Bravo, little woman! We shall
make an actress Of you yet; | didn'i
think you had it in you.
Kisses were showered on my boy
who clung to my. skirt, bewildered by
the strangeness of the scene and the
endearments that were heaped upon
him. / called the dresser. and placed
him in her charge.
Don't leave him, please, Martha"
urged, until my scene is over, and
can come to him myself"
The dressing room was in the flies
and reached by an iron spiral staircase
terrible journey to make three OF
four times a night. | watched his bon
ny face till it was out of sight, and We
ofh 1acf KiCC
then went ON the stage to finish the
play But, strangely enough, all ardoI
had left me, and | felt painfully con-
scious that my acting was singularly
tame and unimp passioned. The audi
ence began to grow inattentive and
restless; | could hear them even talk
ing aloud, and, as it seemed to me
without making any effort to lower
their tones. / grew hot with apprehen-
sion; was it possible that my perform
ance was so uncomfortable that they
were actually leaving the theatre!
Louder and louder grew the hum OF
voices. What did it mean? Was that 9
hiss? Then, clear above the babel OF
sound, rose one awful, word, sounding
in my ears like yell Of despair. taken
up and re-echoed by thousand fran
tic tongues Fire!"
Above my head was glare of heat
and light. l raised my eyes to see the
cause. The borders were in flames!
gazed helplessly upwards like one in a
dream; my senses seemed paralyzed;
could not move. A moment later | felt
myself dragged across the stage by
strong arms, and heard voices shouting
at my side.
Make for the stage door! Not mo.
ment is to be lost!"
Still as in a dream, | passively allow
ed myself to be hurried forward; all
power of thought or action seemed to
have forsaken me, when the voice of q
screaming woman madly trying to force
her way to the door suddenly set my
stunned brain free. 1t was Martha, the
dresseri AT sight of her my numbed
senses awoke; with wild cry for help
/ tore myself from the kind protecting
arms that would have withheld me, and
flew blindly, madly up that iron stair
case.
My child! my baby! Oh, give me
my babyi"
Every step took me further into that
rush of smoke and flame. | remember
f1inging up my arms with a choking
despairing shrek; then came darkness
oblivion.
When consciousness was at length
restored to me, the soft night air was
tanning my face; | heard the deep pity
ing voices of men, mingled with the
low suppressed sobs of the women
around me, while dark against the grey
sky looE.ed the blackened, smoking
ruins of the theatre. Then the awful
truth broke upon me. | think for the
time l was a mad woman. | wept,
rayed I called upon Providence to aid
me, to give me back my darling, or IN
mercy to let me die also. One gentle
woman's voice murmured in my ear:
my poor child, my dearie, come. :" Nc
hopet No hopei Heaven help mel
NY rawlings ceased. A dull apathy came
over me: | rose without a murmur, anc
clung like a child to the motherly wo'
man who guided me whittier she would
Gently she led me towards my desolatt
home. the plying murmurs of the
crowd following US. We had nearec
the house, when the woman suddenly
stopped, with cry that was between
a gasp and a sob. Was really mad OF
dreaming. Oh, what was
that standing on the threshold? My
child, my baby! Alive, unharmed-no'
one golden hair singedi With a scream
that was scarcely human in its ecstacJ
of JOY, | darted forward. l heard
childs plaintive cry of Nanny, deal
mammyl" ringing in my ears; then
with arms flung around my treasure
with half uttered prayer of thankful.
ness / fell senselass to the ground.
I learned afterwards that the dresser
after taking little Joey up to the dress
ing room, had left him while she wen
to enjoy a gossip with companion
The little one, weary of being alone
had crept down the spiral staircase
and, guided by kind Providence thai
watches over little children. had wan
dered home to seat himself upon the
doorstep and await my return.
] kept my word: that was my little
ones first and only appearance upor
any stage as a child actor.
Dickens as Critic.