The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-10-06

VI al1alulnauIu uH0smMu MuHuHa Rammu1i beautiful and distinguished -,ook,nr woman to hold an audience for three hours. But it Is 8 greater thing stiII TOT woman, who is neither beautiful nor distinguished in appearance to ac- complish the same task.
 And so we'll did MademoiselIe Jack son accomplish 1t that, before the end or the second act, everyone in the house had come to the conclusion that she was one of the most beautiful women they had ever seen. Her face, indeed, was for the time radiant with the light of the soul within.
 Amid the scene of enthusiasm which greeted the piece from first to last, William Tankerlane could have scarce- ly remained in the obscruity of the box without attracting an unpleasant amount of attention. For the sake of common decency he was bound to keep his eye on the stage. He made, however, tomeswa cvbi urs men.l mothete kcow some excuse about the discomfort of screwing his head round the corner of the box, and moved his chair behind his wife's. He had decided to leave Paris the next morning.
 When the performance was over they went on to supper at the Ritz. Tanker lane tried to get out of 1t by pleading a sudden attack of neuralgia But his wife, who would have been glad of a tete-a-tete - conversation with Lord Portlington, accepted his excuses too readily, and he decided to accompany them. He was man of a jealous dis petition. and the knowledge that his wife did not love him. was not calcu- lated to allay any suspicious he might form as to her motive for wishing to be alone with his friend.
 Very trife incidents will alter the course of whole life. even as pebble on the height of the Rocky Mountains may turn the course of a stream either to the Atlantic or Pacific oceans: and the snug little supper at the Ritz that night was destined to have so stupend- ous an influence on the lives of William Takerlane and his wife that 1t assumed the importance of a catastrophe. = The Tourn WAS rufI or chatteriAg crowd of fashionable men and women. and resounded with laughter of the light-hearted Parisians. And the little table occupied by the three English people contributed it's share to the gen. eral merriment Lord >Portiington was in his best form. and Laura, whose mind had been diverted from her own troubles by the play she had just wit messed, laughed and tested like young girl who has tested none of the sorrows of life. Even Tankerlane, with that in his thought which might well have made man grave, had sufficient strength of mind to appear almost as gay as his companions.
 To say the truth. however, he had but little fear for the future. It was his last night in Paris. Tomorrow both he and his wife would be back in London. The danger. which threatened him, would be thing of the past The near approach of safety is apt to make men restless. or else Tankerlane would not have been supping in the Ritz that night
 But, when they were halfway through their meal, a sudden hush came over the chattering throng, and Tankerlane caught the words ''La Petite Jackson" from the lips of a fair haired woman at the next table He looked up. slowlX and deliberately, so as not to attract attention, and there, twenty feet away from him, with her large sparkling eyes looking straight into his face, stood the woman that of all women Tn the world he least desired to meet.
 The two looked at each other for per- haps three seconds. and in that time no sign of recognition appeared on their faces. The woman, skilled actress that she was. had perfect command over her features She was the more surprised of the two for Tankerlane had already seen her in the theatre. But she show ed no surprise, and scarcely betrayed more than a passing interest in the man before her. She just paused at the door, and then, turning to her companions, man and two women, she made some remaked to them in French. and fol- lowed the obsequious waiter to the on- ly other table In the room--a table, as 1t so happened, next to the one at which Tankferlane was sitting.
 The whole scene had been so momen- tary that 1t had escaped the notice of Lord Portlington and Laura Tanker lane, both of whom recognized the act ress, and were busily occupied in not ing how she looked off the stage. Tank erlane himself had apparently merely glanced at her. and had resumed his meal.
 Mademoiselle Jackson sat down just behind Tankerlane, but facing his wife, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table. In that hour he was thank full for even the smallest of mercies, and the fact that his back was turned to the woman he did not wish to see afforded him a momentary respite from the agonies of a most trying situation.
 Mrs. Tankerlane and Lord PortIing- ton resumed their lively conversation, but after a little while the former be- gan to be aware that the actress was