The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-12-26


stones"
The young man hasn't been seen for
his side of the story.
Its romantic, any way, isn't it?
Eugene Blair in "a Lady of Quality
will be at the Grand for three nights,
| beginning the second week of January.
"A Lady of Quality is a story of char
| acter and a play of merit. The novel
| from which it was taken and which
! bears the same name represents the
best and the worst of Mrs. Frances
Hodgson Burnetts work. 1t illustrates
this writer's worth in character exposi-
ton and dramatic construction, and at
the same time her decadence in moral
purpose and literary ideals.
There are many plays-and some of
them are held in high esteem-which IL
lustrate the rakishness of the English
nobility of two centuries ago, when
women We're but lightly regarded by
men of station; but few writers have
taken such pains as has Mrs. Burnett
to justify this degrading estimate.
1t is true that Clorinda Wildairs has
some good qualities, and it is true that
the force of heredity and environment
to some degree eXtenuate the faults of
her character; but brutal and con-
scienceless as Sir John Owen is made
to appear in his pursuit of this particu-
it was Clorinda's own pranks-most I'M
conventional and most unwomanly
pranks-that called her to the Scoun-
| drel's attention. She signaled him from
afar, for his mind was made up ere he
saw her, and his first glimpse of this
voluntary companion and imitator of
men only served to confirm his purpose.
| He found her in mans attire, in the
| midst of drunken revel at which her
| father was the host, she the only wo-
| man and her voice the loudest of all.
| She is touched by the regard of the one
| man whose good opinion she covets,
| leaves the drunken guests to doff her
masculine garb forever, but not until
she has stood with one foot upon a
{ chair and the other on the table, chal-
longing all the company to contemplate
her form for the last time and taking
farewell drink in honor of her trans
| formation.
In the dramatization, which is a very
successful one, much of the brutal
franllness of the book is eliminated; but
| the realism of the story is retained, and
enough of the original language re-
mains to make the play exceedingly
/ candid in both theme and treatment.
| In the hustle and excitement of a mil
| itary encampment, the story of For
| Her Sake" commences and introduces
| the spectator TO redllStlc vie" Oh a
| typical Russian scene. The tents are
| pitched close to the small town of Gro
! chow which can be seen in the distance,
| and the maneuvers incidental to camp
| life are faithfully portrayed. Here VAL
! demar, a prince of the royal blood. who
| has fallen in love with a serf girl and
| wishes to make her his wife, learns that
his mother has been false to her trust
and sold Olga, the girl he loves. to a
| fellow serf, in hopes of thus removing
| her from the reach of her son. Her
| hope is that Valdemar will marry his
cousin, the Countess Katerina, but he,
| in the fervor of his young passion,
scorns the proposition and swears to
wreak vengeance on those who have
| stolen from his the woman of his heart.
The Princess Radetzly, the mother of
Naldemar, prevails on the general in
| command of the Russian forces at that
! encampment. to issue an order that no
| soldier should leave camp for seven
| days except on duty. This order Val
| demar disobeys and is declared a de-
| serter. He leaves camp and hurries
| as fast as horse can carry him to the
home of Ivan, the serf who has bought