The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1905-02-10
NJ N JULIET

Juliet sat on a clotheshorse, SILVER
ing in her burial robes under q muff
and tippet.
Tonight's rehearsal had been the
worst of all. Nobody seemed to take
any interest or to enter into the spirit
Of it. The thing had dragged so long
the enthusiasm was all dissipated, and
the players went through their parts
like marionettes. and the oath was only
three days off. 1t looked as though
the whole affair would be a failure.
The nurse, who was just beginning
to get a little meaning in her lines,
catches the influenza, the stupid car
penter sends up a balcony so high that
Juliet must needs stoop to keep her
head from being lost in the clouds. and
Jack, the %perfidious. has had the impu-
dence to tell her that her Juliet would
be a good Galatea.
Although she did not know it, this
was the sole reason for her detection.
The balcony and the influenza were
not i~rremediable, but her quarrel with
Jack, in the light Of her overweight
nerves, certainly was. If he had been
decently civil and %apologized after
ward she would not have cared, but he
had laughed-laughed outright in her
face-and before the whole company,
as if he had thought it a good joke.
When at last the troupe had dispers-
ed and the heartless Jack had called
back from the door as if nothing had
happened, Good night, little Niobe;
hope you'll feel better tomorrow she
crept upstairs and into her little bed,
where, alone in the dark, the tragedy,
the tomb and the family bosses of the
real Juliet seemed as nothing compar-
ed with the sorrows she had to bear.
The night of the 24th the company
assembled for the first time promptly
at the appointed hour, nerved by a
grim determination to do or die.
Juliet was perfectly composed, knew
every line forward and backward and
felt %serenely confident she was going
to acquit herself as the president Of
the East End Dramatic club should.
The house filled early, for the asso-
citation had conscientiously sold twice
as many tickets as there were chairs.
As the play progressed and the house
grew more enthusiastic, the players re-
sponded to the encouragement of a
sympathetic audience and did better
than they had ever done at the re-
hearsal.
To be sure, Mercutio's sword, made
Of Chinese coins, fell to pieces with
the challenge, "Come, sir, your passa-
do" but he had slipped it into his
pocket SO deftly that the mishap had
not been generally noticed, and the
moon, which was a lantern supported
on the %stepladder by Tom Harper, wab-
bled whenever Tom started giggling,
but these We're mere trifes.
Under the stress of excitement Amy
lost herself when she was on the stage
In the passion of Juliet. Her eyes
shone verify like two Of the fairest
stars, and when, in her earnestness,
she leaned ear and looked into Ro-
meo's eyes, assuring him, my bounty
Is as boundless as the sea, my love as
deep" he swore to himself that Amy
vas adorable.
Romeo and Paris did their duel scene
valiantly, and after Romeo, having
Quaffed his poison, lay dying comforta-
bly-and he managed to fall on a cush-
ion-Juliet glided across the stage with
her II will kiss thy lips. HAPPY some
poison yet doth hang or them"
AS she bent low ove the PROSTATE
the dead mar made a sudden move
ment and Juliet found herself held in a
very substantial grasp.
She had not counted on the r%evivify-
ing effect her kiss might have on the
stark Montague, and she reached for
his dagger to utter the lines she had
been eager to reach throughout the
evening.
And now Romeo, incorrigible beyond
all belief, who had done his own death
scene splendidly and won applause, de-
tanned her. The watch within began to
get uneasy, the prompter's voice rang
out in impatient tones, and there was a
slight stir in the audience.
The situation was becoming strained,
but the dead Montague insisted:
Promise me now"
Tears of anger and modification we'll
Cd up in Juliet's eyes; her hand was
held in a wise; she could not reach the
dagger; there was an unrestrained rus
tie Of apprehension in the audience and
q murmur.
"she has forgotten her lines! What
a pity! reached her ears. The prompt
ers voice shrilled across the stage,
'Then I'll be bri-ee-f." And Romeo
closed his eyes in agony, prepared to
hold on all night If need be. It was
no longer the dead Romeo, but John
Davis, cool and determined, as she had
never see him, who frightened his
0rann and ,1rood nSov sVoo, opd TIL