The Princeton union., 1899-10-19

E 49,
withdrawal into herself. When the
company was seated in the box and the
curtain was mp, Felicia was back Of
the others and remained for the even
ing by herself. Mrs. Delano as chaperon
for half dozen young ladies under.
stood Felicia well enough to know that
she was 'squeer, as Rose so often said,
ana she made no attempt to draw her
out of the corner, and 50 Felicia really
experienced that night by herself one
OF the feelings that added to the mo-
mentum that was increasing the coming
on of her great crisis. ,gE
The play was an English melodrama
full Of startling situations, realistic
scenery and unexpected climaxes. There
was one scene in the third act that i'm
pressed even Rose Sterling, '..
It was midnight on Blackfriars
bridge. The Thames flowed dark and
forbidding below. St, Pauls rose
through the dim light, imposing. it's
dome seeming to float above the build
ings surrounding it. The figure of a
child came upon the bridge and stood
there for moment, peering about as
If looking for some one. Several persons
were crossing the bridge, but in one of
the recesses about midway of the river
woman stood, leaning out over the
parapet with strained agony of face
and figure that told plainly of her in
tentlons Just as she was stealthily
mounting the parapet to throw herself
into the river the child caught sight of
her, ran forward, with shril cry more
animal than human, and. seizing the
Woman's dress, dragged back upon it
with all her little strength. Then there
came suddenly upon the scene two other
characters who had already figured in
the play, tall, handsome, athletic gen.
tleman dressed in the fashion, attended
by slim figured lad, who was as re-
fined in dress and appearance as the lit
tie girl clinging to her mother was
mournfully hideous in her rags and re-
pulsive poverty. These two the gentle
man and the lad, prevented the at
tempted suicide, and after tableau on
the bridge where the audience learned
that the man and woman were brother
and sister the scene was transferred to
the interior of one of the slum tene-
ments in the east side of London. Here
the scene painter and carpenter had
done their utmost to produce an exact
copy OF famous court and alley well
known to the poor creatures who make
up a part Of the outcast London hu-
manity The rags, the crowding, the
10 n~o f1,1
rible animal existence forced upon
creatures made in Gods image, were SO
skillfully shown in this scene that more
than one elegant woman in the theater,
seated, like Rose Sterling, in sump-
tuous box, surrounded with silk hang
ings and velvet covered railing, caught
herself shrinking back little, as if
contamination were possible from the
nearness of this piece Of painted canvas
It was almost too realistic, and yet it
had a horrible fascination for Felicia
as she sat there alone, buried back in a
cushioned seat absorbed in thoughts that
went far beyond the dialogue on the
stage.
From the tenement scene the play
shifted to the interior of a nobleman's
palace, and almost a sigh Of relief went
up all over the house at the sight of the
accustomed luxury of the upper classes.
The contrast was startling It was
brought about by a clever piece of stag
ing that allowed only few minutes to
elapse between the slum and the palace
scenes The dialogue continued, the
oofN - ~:
roles, but upon Felicia the play made
but one distinct impression. In reality
the scenes on the bridge and in the
slum were only incidents in the story
of the play, but Felicia found herself
living those scenes over and over She
had never philosophical about the
causes Of human misery. She was not
old enough. She had not the tempera-
ment that philosophers. But she felt
intensely, and this was not the first
time she had felt the contrast thrust
into her feeling between the upper and
the lower conditions Of human life. It
had been growing upon her until it had
made her what Rose called "queer" and
the other people in her circle of wealthy
OOAAOAAo OOAACu
It was simply the human problem in
its extremes Of riches and poverty, its
refinement and its vileness, which was,
in spite of her unconscious attempts to
struggle against the facts, burning into
her life the impression that would in
the end transform her into either a
woman Of rare love and self sacrifice
for the world or a miserable enigma to
herself and all who knew her.
"Come, Felicial Aren't you going
homer said Rose. The play was over,
the curtain down, and people were 60
ing noisily out, laughing and gossiping,
as if ''The Shadows of London" was
simply good diversion, as it was put on
the stage so effectively.
Felicia rose and went out with the
rest quietly and with the absorbed feel
ing that had actually left her in her
seat oblivious Of the plays ending. She
was never absentminded, but often
thought herself into q condition that
left her alone in the midst Of a crowd.
swell, what did you think of til?
asked Rose when the sisters had reached