Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-02-28
The Fourth
Lady In Waiting.
BY EDITH J. HUBERT.
1905, by P. G. Eastment.


+he czar Of Russia!"
There was a flare of trumpets, an
oager swaying of the lines of court
,ers soft ripple of laughter and then
silence.
Before me stretched an interminable
nath Of red velvet, flanked on either
side by rows of smirking bowling crea-
+ures clad in rainbow hued satins, vel
vets and glittering with jewels. At the
farther end, on throne of ivory and
gold sat regal, white robed woman,
crowned and girdled with diamonds.
Rehind her stood two dusky giants
maiestically waving fans of peacock
feathers. At her feet knelt two tiny
pages attired in blue and silver.
She was the queen Of Bodalva and
one of the most beautiful women in the
world. 1 was a nobody. 1t was my
province to deliver into her royal hand
the scroll intrusted to my keeping by
nv gracious master. For weeks had
been looking forward to this audience
with feverish eagerness. But now, at
the crucial moment, when grace of
bearing and fuency of speech would
nerhaps serve to win me smile from
those perfect lips, / stood gaping like
q clown in the midst of her lackeys.
NY feet refused to move, my knees
trembed, the scroll In my hand shook,
nv tongue Glove to the roof of my
mouth. There was muf1ed giggle on
nv right Then clear, exquisitely
moduated voice smote the air like the
notes of a golden harp.
"Methinks" said the queen, flashing
laughter from her violet eyes, chat the
messenger of our fair cousin, the czar,
Is unduly overawed by our presence.
Be not afraid to approach, Sir Herald.
We are quite harmless"
Again came that subdued giggle, all
the more maddening that it had about
it battling familiarity, but at frown
from the queen it was quickly sup
pressed.
Summoning all my will power, 1
plunged desperately forward and in
moment was kneeling at the foot of the
throne between the two pages.
''The humble as well as the great,
your majesty l faltered, "are over
come by the spell of beauty"
She smiled and. indicating by a ges-
ture that was to RISE took the scroll
and, unrolling it, hastily scanned its
contents.
A change, swift and terrible, came
over her countenance. Her eyes fash
ed. Her cheeks paled. Her lips
Strengthened to a scarlet line. Tearing
the parchment thrice across, she cast
1t at my feet and hissed in low tone
of concentrated fury: "That, varlet, is
my answer to your master! See that
you deliver it to him with all possible
haste! Out Of my sight! Begone!'
Then again her wonderful voice rang
out in all its clearness.
"Men of Bodalva," she said, "never
while Sylvia lives shall you bend your
neck beneath the yoke of the Russian
tyrantv'
"Long live Queen Sylviav' shouted
the courtiers. And from somewhere in
the distance came the sounds of tu-
multuous applause-clapping, stamping
and cries of "Brava! Brayaw
Mechanically l backed down the red
velvet path, Inheeding the Kisses and
black looks which beset me on either
side, and presently found myself in a
small anteroom, the walls of which
were hung with doublets, hose, cloaks,
plumed hats and various articles of
armor. Almost Immediately l was con-
fronted by tall, thin, flashily dressed
man, who eyed me with an expression
of extreme disfavor.
See here" he said. "We don't want
supers in this company to forget their
cues and occupy the center of the-stage
for ten minutes. and we don't want
any lines thrown in either. The man
who wrote that play can attend to
that"
But" l stammered, 1.-The queen
Miss Elsworth-said something to me
that wasn't in'-
Whats that to your" he interrupted
sarcastically. You're not a star Just
yet, are you? Who are you, anyway?
One of them young chaps from the col
lege, amt you?"
l nodded.
First time on?"
Again l nodded. He shrugged his
shoulders.
well, won't report you If you look
snarp for the rest of the performance.
Luckily for you the boss is away to-
night. What are you doing it for, any
way! Stage struck or Ellsworth struck ~
dld not deign to answer, and, with
derisive guffaw. he went out, slam
ming the door behind him.
had been alone scarcely a minute
when that irritating giggle again fell
upon my ears. .
Who's thereT' l cried, finging open
the door and peering into the dimly
lighted corridor.
Sh! Go back" whispered a feminine
voice. And as obeyed it's command
the doorway framed a petite golden
haired damsel, resplendent in pink sat
in and court train.
l seized her hands and drew her to
the center of the room under the cleo
tric light.
"Elfridav' l gasped. "What are you
doing here?''
She dropped me q stately courtesy