The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1900-07-20

mostly full of gin. and you couldn't
took for sympathy in Il gin bottle. could
you. nowY'
AS she talked she gradually rcgaincd
her compoSurc, and there was merry
twinkle in her eyes as she asked the
question.
"Why, no, of course not" said Mr.
Mitchell quite seriously. But then. YOU
know, never take gin. Honor bright"
lie talked to her as n schooboy
Might have talked to n schoolgirl. his
very intonation inviting friendship and
confidence, both Of which she gave him
readily.
"Why, ! never thought of you that
way. | was talking of mumy' she said.
You was in luck to find her sober to-
day, and you'll be luckier still If she's
able to meet you tomorrow. But this
amt telling you my story, Is it?"
mo, it Is not"
"Where'll bcgin?"
"At the beginning"
"Wcll, then, once upon a time l was
born" She began with a light laugh.
which was instantly checked when Mr..
Mitchell interrupted. asking:
"Whcn and where was that?"
"The Lord only knows" she answer
cd, land he won't tell; lcastways he's
never let on to me. I've tried hard
enough to find out, too. but l never
could. | think mum knows n little. but
she's close about it, All could ever
get out Of her was. Your folks didn't
care enough to keep you, so you
needn't bother your head about
thcm.'"
$50 you have never known your ia.
thcr or your mother?'
"No; never hide nor hair Of either
one did see. So We may as well skip
that, reckon, and come down to what
1 do know about. The first l rcmcm-
ber was when was years old"
"NNhat happened then?"
81 went on the stage"
"On the stage at 6 yearsT'
eyes. played Little Eva In Uncle
Toms Cabin There. was fellow
seen me on the street one day by Our
housc-that Is. NUNS house, you
could remember. Well. he took
fancy to me. and he found mum, and
he offered her $40 week to let me
so with company he had. You can
bet mum jumped at the chance. So
the man got me, and we went all over
the country. Everybody was good to
me, the men and the women. But I'm
sorry now l ever started in the stage
business, at least so young"
"Why?"
"Well, l can't exactly complain, but
then. YOU see, it made me old while
was still little. You might almost say
l never was child at all. just baby
for few years and then woman.
Do you understand what I mean"
"Only too well, fear. Go on"
''Well, did the Eva business off and
on for four seasons. One Of the actors
taught me to sing and dance. and when
he left the company he offered mum
more money for me, so I went with
him couple Of seasons. We used to
do n sketch together. He played the
part of a blind Irishman, and was his
little girl, and he used to find his way
home by hearing me sing, and n lot
more like that. Then I got to be II
years old, and branched out for my.
self"
"Branchcd out for yourself7 What
do you mean"
"Wcll, you sec, I found out about
things, and l caught on that mum was
getting SO week for me when the
man / was with got $40, cause, you
see. l was sort of genius. Honor
/ bright l was. Don't you believe it?"
Indeed, do" said Mr.. Mitchell
heartily.
you'd better say SO" she continued,
with grave shake Of her head, which
once more made her appear extremely
| youthful "If you didn't, I might shock
the people in the, car by cutting n
| pigeon wing for you. Well. was what
they call an instantaneous success.
went about 1t In a big way, tell you.
just marched into one Of the up town
| agents, and l got into talk with him
| and told him my scheme. I offered
| him % per cent to look out for me, and
he made the bargain with me. He got
out those beautiful Autographs of me.
You've seen them"
Eyes. Was 1t he who called you
! The Lily of the ValleyP"
mo. That was my own idea. You
see, used to be Little Lillian when !
| played Eva, but now was going to be
q star wanted my full name. Lillian
Vale sounded kind of tame, and first
off thought I'd just put an accent on
the e. and call 1t Vallee. Then II
struck me all Of sudden like, and ]
wrote 1t down. Miss Lillian Yale-The
Lily of the Valley That way, you
see, l got in the Lily and the Vallee,
| only In n Drettier way"
"This was when you were IL, you
sayT
Yes. My! Don't that seem ages
ago? But 1t amt. I'm only past 1G
| pow WnIl no coId 7 p,olo n hi,