Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1901-09-12
An Effect In Rosemary.
BY ELIZABETH CHERRY WALTZ

pi CllhADh II w AMIN
Author THE Spread of Fire"
Copyright, 1901. by Daily Story Pub Coz
The maid tied the last knot of rib
bon and adjusted the last fold OF gauze.
Contrary to custom they were quar-
ter Of an hour too early.
Milly Ellis, on the programs Miss
Millicent Devereaux laughed a little
sarcastically.
mo flowers? We are, indeed, in
anybody-there is yet time. There
should be florist near"
And the flowers, madame, what
shall they be-"
A seconds thought, then a rush of
memory. For the sake of the past,
Milly Ellis said, hastily:
| "Lilacs-white or purple. There will
be plenty this time of the year. See,
they will suit my gown"
| The maid snatched a cloak from the
wall
/ Il will go myself, | will not trust
youth. 1t Is a matter of taste"
Then Miss DevereauX went up the
steps that led to the green room and
to the stage in front. She wished to
see the audience before the play be-
gan. She walked slowly and haughtily
through the laughing, impatient throng
of chorus girls and villagers and took
refuge in the wings until she saw an
/ opening in me curtains through which
she could look. There was n sea OF
faces. great audience, but nowhere
one familiar face, although Milly Ellis
had been born and grew up in this
great city and now returned to 1t, the
star of an opera troupe.
The bran new chandelier of electric
lights threw It's beams over the clean
paint and gay draperies of the sum
mer theater. There were rows upon
rows of heads and faces. but nothing
familiar to respond to the fond long
ing in her heart.
A voice sounded beside her.
"A great audience-a real triumph
and you are quite at your best to-
night, Miss DeyereauX."
Beside her. bowling low enough, was
the new tenor
Surely a success-but perhaps Miss
Devereaux will accept the flowers she
can so we'll carry in the ballroom
scene"
He held a splendid armful of hot
house roses. red and glowing. Miss
Devereaux flushed somewhat angrily.
It would not be polite to refuse.
Il will carry them in the one scene"
she said colby" but they are too
sumptuous for the village maid. must
wear or carry simpler flower with
this gown"
In the wings Felice waited with an
odorous bunch, white lilacs with The
most delicate perfume, with the subtle
wood scent, with the message Of eter-
nal hope Of springtime.
Thank God, there is something
left" whispered the womans heart,
something sweet and unchanged"
She stood apart with the flowers on
her breast until her call, stood alb
sorbed In the dreams Of an old house
in the grove, OF flashing waters, of old
and gnarly lRac bushes, Of silent
stretches OF field and meadow. of peace
for Milly Ellis, with her clear bird
voice, had been only simple country
maiden ere she went away to learn to
sing
Gone were the days of her training,
her struggle in grim New York; van
ished the Paris life where her voice
had been perfected; like a dream were
the tours in small Italian towns to test
her powers and to become confident in
her work. Gone, gone, nothing left,
nothing worth while save the spring
mornings in front of an old wooden
house In a grove, the odor of lilacs, the
calls of birds answering her own clear
notes, mild and sweet beyond belief.
No one knew-for she was ever re-
served as TO her personality. No one
knew that tonight she sang before her
home audience. 1t was twelve years,
and a girl is forgotten in twelve years,
when her friends have passed away
into the silence Of the hereafter
She went onto the stage with a pen
sive loneliness in her face and when
she sang there were those tears in her
voice that she dared not shed, the
tears of the heart for the days that
We're gone.
\ girl again in her simple gauze
gown and hanging hair, she carried