Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1906-12-12
y Gbe y
Sanaritans
BY c. b. LEWIS


within bounds and her prices were moi
too steep her native town of 5000 In
habtants supplied a fair number of
pupils, and the local press now and
then referred TO her in a way that was
pleasing.
One unfortunate day Miss Minis de.
cided that elocution such as hers should
have no limits. The village boy who
fell into the frog pond decided that IL il
was good for him ii ought to be good
for the whole United States. Miss
Minis reasoned after the same fashion
She collected her bills, packed her
trunk and set out for the metropolis
and never was young woman more
sanguine
In week she was surprised In
month she was tired. In two months
she had decided to drop elocution and
look for place as typist and stenog-
rapher. Her mind was fully made up
on this point, and yet she could not let
go Of elocution with bang. she must
part from it by degrees and make the
parting less painful.
Miss Minis sat at the open window
Of her boarding house and dallied with
elocution. In her well modulated voice
she went over three or four of her
choicest gems and then brought ont
The Wandcrer."
She had always made a hit in this.
1t was about a lovely girl who left her
village home for Il great city. and after
using up al her money and pawning
everything that her uncle would adj
vance on she committed suicide, AMI
the landlady found her dead when she
went in to collect her weeks rent in
advance
III clocuting this pathetic appeal Miss
Minis had To simulate discOuragement.
sorrow. grief. appeal, resignation and
several other things calculated TO
arouse human interest. and she had an
audience without knowing It,
On the floor above was Il young man
who had been in the boarding house
almost as long as she had. but they
had not been introduced and had taken
very little interest i'm each other. He
was the audience on this night. Miss
Minis voice foated up TO him, and he
listened and became interested. Grad
ually he found his sympathies aroused.
From what he could make out she was
clean discouraged and ready for the
deadly fumes Of charcoal. She was
even hungry for food at that moment.
and there WAS no one In the great city
TO whom she could turn.
The young man was deeply affected.
Here was n case right under his nose
where sympathy aud cash were re-
CURED. and only that evening he had
lodged the landlady when he came I'm.
He was perturbed and upset for few
minutes, but finally reasoned ii out
that If the poor girl stuck TO her pro
gramme and died it would save her
being disappointed in love in the fu-
ture.
When a long silence had followed
her fearful appeal to heaven he
brought out a manuscript and began
10 read aloud. He was no elocutionist
He might have been one had he not
become a dramatist at an early age.
The manuscript in his hands was a
play written by himself 1t is need
less to give It a name. but It may he
said to have been pathetic. 1t had
hero. and the hero went through trou-
bic enough 10 swamp a canal boat
within five miles of Troy He kent
hoping and hoping but it was no US.
AS soon as he came in sight of COOL
thing it vanished. He hung on ana
hung on until the beef trust made its
last raise. and then he starved to
death with the same dignity that ne
had lived
What the dramatist was reading was
the Soiloquy of the hero when he had
abandoned all hope and decided that
mince pie was no longer for him. The
reverie Of the elocutionist below was
broken by his reading and raving. She
listened. and tears Of pity came to her
eyes. She had thought the world was
harsh to her. but here was worse case
than hers. She hadn't gone hungry yet,
but here was young man literally
starving to death. She had heard him
say that even the mice had abandoned
his room and that unable TO find an
ether morsel Of food. the cricket no
longer sang for him.
Miss Minis did what practical
young woman should do under the cir
cumstanccs. The hour was not late,
and she put on her hat and went down
stairs and hunted up Il deicatcssen
store and bought some smoked tongue
and crackers. These would keep the
spark of life in the young man over
night. and next day things might turn
for the better with him.
When the dramatist had concluded
reading his hero's soliloquy-it was the
millionth reading-his thoughts turned
once more to the young woman below,
He still had a couple of dollars left and
he could not see her die for want OF
sustenance. In handing I'm the sus-
tenance he would also hand In his sym
pathies and encouragement If he
found her obstinatelt determined to
die he might even promise her a lead
Ing part i'm his comedy drama when it
was finally put on the road.
10 a f1,A L..