The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1905-08-06
PART ICHAPrER xIII-Continued

PART I-CHAPTER AIII-COn1nued.
My dear little Anna. You are so very
youngi There are such essential grades
in an actress-such degrees You, who
have never before seen a play She
made a delicate movement with her
shoulders. II who have seen them by
mo score--'' She broke her sentences
with good effect.
Annals bewudered eyes sought hers
But people cheered and stamped and
cIapped.'
IN the gallery people are forced to
stamp--to rest their feet"
The bewiiaered look deepened in
Annals eyes.
But she was real" she persisted:
she was real. Think OF her when she
stood up in the second act with her
hands stiff and her eyes cold. Oh,
think you are UNJUST
The others eyelids dropped again.
But. my dear child. how she tortured
her words. She gave the lines like
this
Mrs Maxtead was never so sweetly
natural as in a studied scene. She
dropped her arms from the chair with
Il perfectly impulsive jerk, and the
droop of her head, as she seemed to
pause on her resolve, was without a
flaw; later. when she moved across the
room. the swish Of her skirts against
the carpet was the essence of spontane-
Gus haste. BY the narrow bookcase she
paused with touch of question. Each
of the tightly-packed books was bound
in white: her fingers moved hesttattng-
y. consideringly, over the upper tier;
lowered above a volume that stood
slightly forward from the rest: then.
l., 5-VI
il and drew it out.
Her head was bent, her fingers busy
with the pages as she recrossed the
room. Her reading of the passage
was something like this. Anna If I
am wrong, you will correct me- She
looked up with a brilliant smile
Anna turned questioningly, but her
companions gaze had returned to the
book,
She took up her old position. but her
attitude was slightly changed; she
could now watch Annals profile. clear
cut against the glowing fire, She ar
ranged the book: then very deliberately
set herself TO read from the play.
She had flexible voice, and she
dropped it to Il dull monotone that
touched and frayed the nerves. At the
fifth line she saw the girls lips twitch
and her nostriIs distend. She bent her
head with a little nod-a just percep-
tible movement Of satisfaction-and
went steadily on.
For several seconds Anna sat rigid;
then she moved uneasily in her chair
leaned back, bent forward, her suscep-
utilities throbbing like the pendulum
OF a clock.
The monotonous voice went on-on-
Irritating. persistent, seemingly end
less. Anna felt a dampness on her
forehead She lifted her hand and
pushed back her hair. Something with
in her was being slowly wound up and
up. The inner seIf-the self that had
risen as from long darkness on the
night of Johann's rescue; the unnamed
power that had ridden above her. Civ
ing her heart. giving her capacity, Civ
ing her wings TO soar.
y y
She rose uuevenly-a great light or
her face: and without q gesture OF
preparation swept the book from the
others hand.
You are cruel Unjust and cruel
What you read is lie. She spoke It
this way She threw back her head
with sure decision and began slowly
line By line.
For ten minutes the room seemed te
hold its breath The words were the
words OF q fine play; at the matinee
they had been spoken by a fine actress
but now, IN the quiet of the hreught
from the lips of a young, untaught girl
with an audience Of one. they had 6
meaning unpossessed before. The sparl
that God sets In the few glowed In
her voice and shone IN her eyes.
Mrs. Maxteads glance was over.
bright. her face a little pale. wher
anna laid down the book: her sure,
ness. her spontaneity seemed to have
forsaken her, as she crossed the room
You viii be the greatest actress
have ever known" she said. and fol
tho hrst tine in her own knowledge
there wa & q ont nr- in her ,.cice