The San Francisco call., 1904-06-19

wanter, only don't bother me-" Notify
pastors Of this And so on"
1 took a moment to laugh with and
at the eternally changeful feminine.
and then said: You had Miss Lotus
with you then as Perpetua?"
Yes, until she became ill.," the
actor answered.
Then Miss Laurel2"
Then Miss Laurel-and what do you
think of her?"
is she as young as she looks?" I
asked first.
'Janey is just eighteen" her man
ager and friend replied. "She has
heen with me since she was thirteen,
doing page parts and such like Miss
Lotus noticed her and took the child
TO live with her. Then one day she
asked me why 1 did not give her
part SO 1 gave her a small part in
this piece-the woman exile who
speaks in the church. She did those
three or four lines so well that Miss
Lotus suggested that she should un-
derstudy her. l said go ahead, and
they did. Miss Lotus taught her
something, Mr.. Powell, our stage man
ager, showed her the business of the
part, but it is mostly her own idea of
the part. A month afterward they ask
ed me TO see her rehearse. l did. with
the result that when Miss LOTUS fell
i'll I had no hesitation in letting Janey
try the part
rs she as beautiful off the stage as
on?'-I began.
You shall see her" Mr.. Sothern
settled it. He got up then, opened the
door and melodiously doomed out
"Janey!"
And "Janey" came. You who have
seen THE Proud Prince" know that
pure and fiower-like figure, lyrical in
its grace. poetic in it's every sugges-
ton. Like a lily she stood there, still
in the pearly gray and white of her
last scene; the delicate flame of her
hair still about her shoulders and
caressing the starry pallor of one of
the most beautiful faces / have ever
seen. 1 looked at her-and shuddered.
I was afraid to hear her speak, so more
than perfectly was the stage Illusion
of her fulfilled,-a white and delicate
nymph, whose lines are of Greece,
whose lips should part only to spout
Sapphicsl
The voice of the youngest leading
lady in America did rather bring one
down to Powell street again, for Miss
Laurel had very matter of fact.
twentieth century huskiness that
night. 1t was good thing for me. 1
was just debating whether the classic
ADollinaris or cold cream were the
nttest Iibation to pour at the feet of
the young goddess-as was sure there
wasn't any Falernian knocking around.
Her child-like, direct, How dye do2"
with its little hoarseness saved me,
and I ventured to shake the muses.
outstretched hand.
Mr. Sothern looked satisfied as he
left us then. to rehearse a scene that
had not quite pleased his artistic eye,
and Miss Laurel and 1 settled. to a
chat Before the actor went, however,
he warned me that "Janey thinks,
Truth to tell I didn't care whether
"Janey" thought or not. What matter,
with a pair of eyes-like the ''moun-
tain lakes of her lovers in the play
deep, crystal-clear, soft as a deers,
and arched over by a pair Of piquant
eyebrows by Helleu? What matter.
with line of chin and neck like a
young Diana, with nose carved as
straightly as justly as hers, with her
mouth as Of a muse? What matter.
with that wonderful. luminous pallor?
What matter, TO me? She was a DO, 4
to look at. if she said nothing.
But neither that evening. nor the
next day, when ] saw her again. did
the tall child strike a note out of key
with her physical suggestion. She is
immensely young. and curiously wise.
She has the direct, frank gaze of
child whose eyes have met nothing but
Kindness in those that have looked into
them. Without shyness, she has the