The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1900-01-31
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| that the man and woman We're brornv4
and sister the scene was transferred to
| the interior of one of the slum tene-
merts in the ..:st 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
vileness, the broken furniture, the hor-
rible animal existence forced upon
creatures made in God S image. were so
| skillfully shown in this scene that more
than one elegant woman in the theater.
seated. like Rose Sterling, in a 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 horrible fascination for Felicia
as she sat there alone. buried back in
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 sigh of relief went
up all over the house at the sight of the
accustomed luxury of the upper classes
The contrast was startling 1t was
brought about by clever piece of stag
ing that allowed only a few minutes to
elapse between the slum and the palace
scenes. The dialogue continued. the
actors came and went in their various
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 1t
had been growing upon her until it had
made her what Rose called queer and
the other people in her circle of wealthy
acquaintances called Every unusual
1t 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 intc either
woman of rare love and self sacrifice
for the world or miserable enigma to
herself and all who knew her
Come, Felicia Aren't you going
home7 said Rose The play was over.
the curtain down. and people were go
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 condition that
left her alone in the midst of crowd.
We'll. what did you think of it?'
asked Rose when the sisters had reached
home and were in the drawing room.
Rose really had considerable respect for
Felicia judgment of play
II thought it was pretty picture OF
real life.
"a mean the acting. said Rose, an
noyed
.The bridge scene was we'll acted.
especially the woman's part l thought
the man overdid the sentimenta little
Ibid your enjoyed that Ard
wasn't the scene between the two cous-
| ms funny when they first learned that
they were related3 But the slum scene
| was horrible think they ought not to
show such things in a play They are
too painful
They must be painful in real life
too. replied Felicia.
Eyes. but we don't have to look at
the real thing It's bad enough at the
theater, where we pay for it
Rose went into the drawing room
and began to eat from plate of fruit
and cakes on the sideboard-
Are you gcing Up to see mother?'
asked Felicia after awhile. She had re
mained in front OF the drawing room
fire.
.'No, replied Rose from the other
room 81 Won t trouble her tonight II
you go in, tell her | am toe tired to be
agreeable.
SO Felicia turned into her mothers
room AS she Welt up the great stair
case and down the upper hall the light
was burning there. and the servant who
always waited on Mrs. Sterling was
beckonins Felicia to come In.
Tell Clara to go out. exclaimed
Mrs. Sterling as Felicia came up to the
bed and knecled by it.
Felicia was >7rprised. bat she did as
/; bo,. mother had. hor and then iuCIlirel