The Press., 1907-08-21
The Fourth
Lady In Waiting.
By EDITH J. HUBERT.
Copyright. lOOs. by P. G. Eastment.

6ueuCe.
Before me stretched an intermlnablt
path of red velvet, danked ON ethel
side by rows of smirking, bowling crea
lures clad in rainbow hued satins, vel
vets and glittering with jewels. At tbs
farther end, on q throne Of ivory and
gold, sat q regal, white robed woman
crowned and girdled with diamonds
Behind her stood two dusky giant
majestically waving fans Of peacock
feathers. At her feet knelt two ting
pages attired in blue and silver.
She was the queen Of Bodalva and
one Of the most beautiful women In tAe
world. l was a nobody. 1t was my
province to deliver into her royal hand
the scroll intrusted to my keeping by
my gracious master. For weeks had
been looking forward to this audience
with feverish eagerness. But now, al
the crucial moment when grace OF
bearing and fuency OF speech would
perhaps serve to win me smile from
those perfect lips, stood gaping like
q clown in the midst Of her lackeys.
My feet refused to move, my knees
trembled, the scroll In my hand shook
my tongue Glove to the roof Of my
mouth. There was a muf1ed giggle or
my right. Then a clear, exquisitely
modulated voice smote the air like the
notes Of a golden harp.
"Methinks," said the queen, flashing
laughter from her violet eyes, shat the
messenger Of our fair cousin, the car.
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 1t had about
it battling familiarity, but at frown
from the queen 1t was quickly sup
pressed.
Summoning all my will power,
plunged desperately forward and In a
moment was kneeling at the foot Of the
throne between the two pages.
1.-THE humble as well as the great,
your majesty" faltered, "are over
come by the spell Of beauty"
She smiled and, indicating by a ges-
ture that 1 was to rise, took the scroll
and, unrolling 1t, 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 Kissed in low tone
of concentrated fury: THAT, varlet. is
my answer to your masterl See that
you deliver 1t to him with all possible
haste! Out of my sight! Begonev
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
tyrantr'
Long live Queen Sylvan shouted
the courtiers. And from somewhere in
the distance came the sounds Of tu-
multuous applause-clapping, stamping
and cries of "Brava! Bravo"
Mechanically 1 backed down the Hed
velvet path, unheeding 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 d0ublets, hose, cloaks,
plumed hats and various articles Of
armor. Almost Immediately was con-
fronted by a tall, thin, fashily dressed
man, who eyed me with an expression
of extreme dIsfavor.
"See here" he said. 1--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, "the queen
Miss Elsworth%said something to me
that wasn't I'M
whats that to your he interrupted
sarcasticalfy. You're not a star just
yet, are you? Who are you, anyway
One Of them young chaps from the col
lege, ain't your
nodded.
First time onT
Again I nodded. He shrugged his
shoulders.
''Well, I won't report you If you look
sharp for the rest Of the performance.
Luckily for you the boss Is away to-
night. What are you doing 1t for, any
way7 Stage struck or Ellsworth struck p
l did not deign to answer, and, with
a 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 dimIy
lighted corridor.
Ssh! Go backr' whispered a feminine
voice. And as I obeyed its command
the doorway framed a petite golden
haired damsel. resplendent In pink sat
In and . court train.
! seized her hands and drew her to
the center Of the room under the cleo
tric light.
"Elfridar' 1 gasped. what arc you
doing h0ra7'
She dropped me stately courtesy.
1.-THE Countess Olga, fourth lady An
waiting to her majesty Queen Sylvia.
at your service" she said. with dignity.
Then she giggled and blushed.
at was you, then, who kept laughing
all the time / was on the stage" said
reproachfuliy.
Eltrida looked penltent.
TT was mean Of me-" she admitted.
"But you did look SO funnyw She gIg
gied again at the recollection.
1 made no reply in words, but lei
her see that forgave her.
Where did you come from? How
did you get here? Why haven't you
written to me in all these weeks?" ]
asked as soon as felt sure she thor.
onghly understood my mental attitude
regarding her.
Mime. Brenner's, New Haven. Skip
ped with the show Saturday night.
Couldn't write. Watched every min
ute." she answered with unwomanly
lucidity and brev1ty.
Elfrida always was different from
other girls. This was why / made
such fool Of myself over her last
summer after my junior year that the