Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-03-05
DAILY STOR Y,
A CHECkERED CAREER.
tOriginal ]

W ltbI ldlutI, " ~ |
had inherited Il fortune. had become |
involved in an ineytricable lawsuit and |
had lost il and with ii every cent he |
possessed. He died from the effects of !
his misfortune. His wife was Il deli |
cate woman. and none of his children
except Lorine was grown. Unfortu-
nately there We're no relatives on
whom the stricken family could call
for assistance, and they were thrown
into abject poverty.
I.Orine when the blow came was
about to make her entrance into Soci-
ETY., and she was capable of making
an excellent match. But, the blow fall
ing when it did, her opportunities We're
cut off on the eve of fulfillment. Lang
don MorehouSe. a Schoolmate a year
older than herself, was a youthful
lover of hers. but at the time of her
misfortune he was in college, working
his way through almost entirely by his
own exertiOns. None of the poor girls
associates could have kept up their ac-
Quaintance with her except by visiting
her at a broken down cottage on the
outskirts of the city.
Lorine possessed a voice and this
decided her to try for an engagement
| in one of the many light operas in
which the bulk of theater going people
delight But she had only begun to
cultivate her gift when the family mis-
| fortune came and she was obliged to
| accept position in the chorus. She
saw nothing of her theatrical aSsoci-
| ateS except at rehearsal and during
performances, the rest of her time be
ing taken up at home with the care of
her mother and her brothers and sis.
! tiers.
| Butler Goodwin, the man who by
means of deXterous and INSCRIPTIONS
legal devices bad ruined the head Of
the Whiting family. saw her on the
stage and was greatly struck with her.
| He sent word to her asking for permits
sion to visit her and was refused. He
| went to her home-if it could be called
Il homeland offered assistance. This
was declined. He had just enough
| conscience and amour propre to feel
| the rebuff and resolved that he would
| bring everything to his satisfaction by
winning her for his wife. He was 4
contemporary with her father, thirty
years older than Lorine. who hated him.
But she was placed in Il position of
great temptation. Her mother needed
medical attendance and medicines; her
brothers and sisters We're i'll rags and
hungry. BY becoming the wife of the
man who had produced all this misery
she would be mistress of fortune and
could alleviate their distress. She CON
scented to sacrifice herself.
On the day of her marriage ten min
utes after the performance of the cere-
mony note was handed her begging
her TO sing the same evening an impor
tant part of a singer who had been
suddenly taken ill., Notwithstanding
the positive refusal of the consent of
her husband she determined to accept
the part and left him for the theater.
The result was decided hit. When
the curtain fell on the last act the
manager saw her in the greenrOOm
and offered her good pay to take sim
liar part in an opera he was about to
put on the stage.
\ tumult of thought coursed through
the girls mind. Presently she said:
Il will accept on one condition"
1T is granted. Name it,
My salary must commence from this
moment
1T shall commence from week ago
today
Then and there she signed the con
tract and left the theater with a check
| for n Dplr1n tn pnlinN-n the
present wants of herself and her fam
lily. But instead of going to her hus
band she went home to her mother
He never saw her again.
! | LOrine from that time rose rapidly
Her income was sufficient to enabl,
! her to secure instruction, besides pro
viding for her mother and brother:
, and sisters. On her second contrac
her salary was doubled.
Ten years passed. Lorine was earn
ing a fine income in regular opera
One evening Langdon Morehouse wen
to the opera. He had completely los
u sight of his school love. and when sh
went upon the stage she concealed th
| fact SO far as possible from her fOrme
associates. Her youthful FRESHNESS
was gone, but she was now a hand
=, some woman. MOrehOuse did not rec
ognize her But she saw him in tn
audience and noticed him. The resul
was that he asked for an introduction
:. Lorine concealed her identity. He be
5 came attentive to her, but told her o
~ his youthful love which had been bro
ken when he was at an age not to b
able TO help the object of it or eve
keep track of her. Year after year h
! had hoped TO be in position to wal
rant his seeking her He had been dis
} appointed in his endeavors and was be
ginning to think that his fancy ha
J.. better be remembered as a dream tina
II renewed as a reality.
r. One evening when MOrehouse wa
t, with Lorine after an opera she hant
e ed him a letter to read
u 1t announced that Butler Goodwi
ii had died and left her all his property.
l. He handed the letter back with
N sigh. She was richer than before an
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