The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1902-06-20
BEHIND THE SCENES

By HAIR OLD EAN

Fannie had dreamed of going on the
stage as long as she could remember
since the first time she was taken to
the theater and sat prim and proper
between her parents. The lights, the
music, the wonderful panorama back
OF the footlights, the applause, the
contagious enthusiastically appealed
to her fervent Imagination and left an
indelible mark. She had sought every
opportunity to go and had reveled in
dreams of one day emerging from
these mysterious wings and bowling
before an applauding multitude.
AT first she kept her ambition secret,
but as she grew into young woman
hood it slipped out little by little. Her
mother frowned, her father laughed,
and her brother leased her. But it
made no difference, excepting to
strengthen her desire.
And now she actually was going to
invade that wondrous realm yclept the
green room. Oh, bliss! Oh, joy! OF
course papa and mamma and brother
Ned would be furiously angry If they
knew it, but they need not know until
she had made her start and then they
would be so proud of her that it would
be all right. And then there was Tom.
She trembled little as she thought
of the effect on Tom. He had given
her such emphatic advice to 'cut it
out" at the mere mention of a stage
career, and had pointed cut the dan
gers and hardships of the life SO
strongly that she scarcely dared to
think of what he might say or do if
he knew. And Tom loved her SO dear
ly-and she really was very fond of
Tom. But one cannot sacrifice a ca
reer to girliSh sentiment II he really
loved her he would be proud to see
her great actress and she could mar
ry him anyway and he could travel
with hep-might even be her manager.
Yes, on the whole, that would be the
very thing.
She was very nervous about 1t all,
though. She rather shuddered at the
memory of that nightmare of standing
in line in the dirty alley together with
a score or more of bedraggled young
women who had appeared in answer to
an advertisement in the newspaper for
"extras." The atmosphere of stale
beer and cigarettes still chung to her
and had cost her great extravagances
in the matter of perfumes and much
persistence in the matter of baths.
But she had been taken. greatly to the
disgust of the showing, sneering crowd
There's a fresh one, better try her.
the stage manager had said to his as
sistant. She'll be fine in that ball
room scene. Have We got any good
clothes?"
To be sure she had, and so the bar
gain was closed 1t was for a weeks
run and she had been stumped at first
as to ways and means to get away
from home for seven consecutive
nights until SO late an hour. But am
bition conquers all things, and she had
arranged it with her dearest friend,
who lived in a distant suburb, to spend
the entire week with her. She had to
tell Ethel all about it, but Ethel was
to be trusted. 1t was a trif1e risky,
she admitted, but what wouldn't she
risk to get on the stage. Then she had
taken an apartment in an obscure ho-
tel under an assumed name and was
prepared for her debut. On course it
was not what would be deemed proper
by the censors of good society, but
there was nothing really wrong about
it. Still she trembled little at the
thought of what Tom might say or
do if he heard of it. But the theater
was not one of the more prominent,
but rather a cheap stock affair, and
there was little chance of Toms going
there. And when she got regular
engagement she would fight it out
with him. Then she would tell him he
must take her with her art or leave
her to pursue it alone.
She was a triie disappointed at the
first impression of behind the scenes. 4"
1t was all so confused and dirty and
unfinished. 1t seemed more like an
old lumber room than fairyland. The
dressing room to which she was as
signed, together with two other Eek
tras,'' was SO little that only one could
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