The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-07


patronage of his excellency. the Herr
Baron Won Rottweiler and the members
of the State Council. Punctually at the
appointed time | was at the theatre. and
purchased a seat in the parquet, or stalls
! from which L could see almost every cor
ner of the house with ease. The place
| filed quickly. for Kitty's astute adver-
| tisements had aroused curiosity-and the
| Marbachers have always been a theatre
| going folk. To the right of the stage was
| the royal box, surmounted by the
| crowned and rampant catamount, which
| is the historic cognizance OF the Princes
! of Lutzingen. But the heavy purple eur
! tains were close drawn. in gloomy re-
| minder of the fact that Johann XIII
dwelt no longer among his people. Oppo-
| site was the ministerial box, blazing with
| lights in honor of Won Rottweilers COM
| ing.
touch of that homely Wertherish pathos
| SO popular in German middle class thea
! tres. and the manager came forward TO
| announce Miss Kitty Gosser. The band
| played a lively measure. Then Kitty
| tripped into view. and / saw, to my
/ amusement, that the little mink had
dressed herself in catskins. real or else
| Ingenious limitations. For headgear she
| wore a gigantic cats mask. with bristling
whiskers and great. leering eyes. From
| beneath this strange covering her pretty,
| tricksome face smiled out upon the audi
ence. which hailed her with a mild en-
| thusiasm. In his box / could see Rott-
| weller laughing and clapping his white
| SlONeu ndfluS- Clearly ne udu lloliOAi
| of what was coming.
The song began-its title. when the
| Cats Away" being first announced IN
loud tones by the leader of the. orchestra.
in accordance with Marbach custom.
| Kitty was a little nervous. l fancy. but
she managed to disguise her emotion fair
| ly well. Hardly had she sung the first
| words:
| princeIy pussycat. sleek and finc
The twenty-third of ancient line,
| ttap haord ,,ybisro-ino oil around me
| and saw my neighborS looking at one
another in a half-startled manner But
| when she described the contents of the
| larder over which the cat was set to
| watch
| Marbach cheeses and Lutzingen hams.
And Katzenberg carp. and Weissberg jams
and detailed his scandalous neglect of
| duty, and his leaving of all these good
| things to the vermin, there was sort
| of general chuckIe followed by cries of
| approval and intelligence. In the minis
/ terial box, however. Won Rottweiler and
] his friends had ceased to applaud. and
were glaring savagely at the singer.
| Kitty saw the Prime Minister Juggling at
/ his whiskers, and coolly initiated the ges-
| ture, thus giving additional point to the
! chorus about "Old Father Rat" The Mar
| bachers understood the full gist of the
satire now. Roars OF laughter came from
the pit; in the parquet seats fat burgh-
| ers were holding their sides and rolling
| about with merriment; and when Kitty
UP by a tremendous volume of voice. All
| eyes were turned upon the ministerial
| box. while parquet, pit, and gallery thun-
/ dered in unison:
Old Father Rat. with his whiskers gray.
| said, Let us be gay, there is nouzht TO pay;
| When the cats away the mice will play,
| So nibble, and come again, or
| And, not satisfied with singing 1t once
| they repeated the words again and yet
| again. each time louder than before. I he
I and GfF
| signal The conductor. pale and trem-
| bling. shrank behind his desk. but the
| chorus swung on unaccompanied. Won
Rottweiler had risen from his chair, and
was reckoning somebody at the back of
| the box. This somebody was his princi
| pal tool and tOady. the director Of police;
and no sooner did the audience catch right
| of the latter's hangdog face, and see Won
| Rottweilcr whispering an order in his ear.
| than they whooped out the refrain with
greater vigor than ever.
| ..SHence, friends" cried a shrill. boyish
| voice from the pit; Father Rat is going
| TO stop the song. He must not stop it.
/ Let us have another verse"
| Another verse; Another verse; echoed
i, the audience. A young fellow, none ether
| than CLAIM, the composer, leaped over
| the orchestra barrier, and. Selling the
| frightened conductors baton, commenced
| to beat time. A single violinist only had
| the courage to respond, but this suffced
| for Kitty Gosser. and she struck up the
| second verse, just as the police director
4 >
| commands. Kitty sang rapidly, out
| stripping the accompaniment altogether.
| She told how the rats and mice had pill
| LACED and plundered until nothing was
| left in the larder but cheese rinds, sau-
sage SKINS and empty meal sacks. From
| laughter the audience nased to rage. Flu
rious bowls arose from the Dit, and
| clinched fists seemed to leap out above
| the heads of the crowd. Hardly waiting
for the verse to end, they broke into the
| chorus again.
The Prime Minister'S face was as grey
| as his whiskerS. Two OF three of the
| officers around him drew their swords.
while a band of active youths, swinging
| themselves over the gallery rail. began
terial box a great stamping behind the
| scenes was succeeded by the downfall of
| two of the wings and the entry of
squad of police with sidearms drawn.
| Kitty Gosser found herself a prioner.
| Two trapping gendarmes seized her by
| the shoulders, tearing away the grfnning
| cats mask from her head, and dragging
| her with no gentle hands from the stage.
| Just at this critical moment something
| occurred which stopped the uproar as if
| by magic. There was the boom of a big
| gun from the artillery barracks across
| the Katzeuberg Platz. Once-twice-
| thrice the cannon roared- The figures
scrambling down from the gallery stopped
| in midcourse the public ceased to wrestle
with Kitty Gosser: Won Rottweller and
| his adherents stared at one another in
| surprise: women chung to their escorts,
| trembling with fear What had happen
| ed? Had the long-threatened revolt broke
| out in Marbach? Were the enemies of the
! Prime Minister attacking the garrison?
| Steadily the barrack guns doomed their
| message: but it was not until the twenty
| first fire that the truth dawned on the
people at the Volks Theatre. This was
| royal salute. Some great sovereign had
| visited Marbach.
Somewhere in the now silent house a
| bugle sounded; the curtains before the
| gloomy box set apart for LutZingen were
| swept back; the great chandeliers in the
| box flashed forth their score of lights. and
| tall figure, dressed in uniform blazing
/ with orders, strobe forward to the mar
| bic balustrade-
Who is he? Who can he be?'' ran the
| eager whispers: and then, as the person.
| age in the box slightly turned his profile
to see what was happening on the stage,
! that same shrill voice from the pit
which had called for the second verse of
! our song, cried, in tones of recognition:
| gray, but it is surely Johann XXIII-'
| But L had already recognized the new
conner. THAT is not the prince" l ex-
| claimed to my next neighbor; 1T is NJ.
| de Lamothe. an Alsatian painter. know
| him well" For the man in uniform was
! indeed my acquaintance of Weissbers-
| he who had helped to write when
! the Cats Away" But if he was La
mothe, the artist. he was also Johann
XXIII-old Rottweilers horriiied face
Release that LADY, he cried. pointing
to where Kitty CLOSER. ragged and dis
heveled. stood staring. like the rest of us,
at the sudden apparition. is this the
way we treat foreign artists in Lutzin-
gen? Release her instantly
The command was obeyed. The rude
hands of the police fell away from
Kitty's shoulders. Something of her old
impudence returned. She courtesied
| gracefully to the royal box; and 1
Thought that l saw the shadow of
smile upon the princes face.
and now" he continued. speaking in
clear, rapid tones: now, my friends. 1