Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1907-04-18


eager swaying of the lines Of court
iers, a soft ripple of laughter and then
silence.
Before me stretched an interminable
side by rows of smlrking, bowling crea-
lures clad in rainbow hued satins, vel
vets and glittering with jewels. At the
farther end, on a throne of ivory and
gold, sat regal, white robed woman,
crowned and girdled with diamonds.
Behind her stood two dusky giants
majeStically waving fans of peacock
feathers At her feet llnelt two tiny
pages attired in blue and silver.
She was the queen of Bodalva and
one of the most beautiful women in the
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, at
the crucial moment, when grace of
bearing and fluency Of speech would
ScINt W W III IliC u olhliC LIOAH
those perfect lips, l 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,
nv tongue love to the roof of my
mouth. Ther> 'as a muffied giggle on
my right. TIL. 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, that 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 maddenlng that it had about
it battling familiarity, but at frowr
from the queen 1t was quickly sup
pressed,
Summoning all my will power, l
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" ! 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
e.. Her cheeks paled. Her lips
Strengthened TO a scarlet line. Tearing
the parchment thrice across, she cast
It at my feet and hissed in a low tone
of concentrated fury: THAT, varlet, Is
my answer to your master! See that
you deliver IL to him with all possible
hastet Out of my sight! BegoneP'
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
tyrant!'
Long live Queen Sylvia" shouted
the courtiers And from somewhere in
the distance came the sounds of tu-
multuous applause-clapping stamping
and cries of "Brava! Brava"
Mechanically ! backed down the red
velvet path, unheeding the Kisses and
black looks which beset me on either
side, and presently found myself in
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, 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 in
Whats that to you? he interrupted
sarcastically. You're not a star just
yet, are you2 Who are you, anyway
One Of them young chaps from the col
lege, amt your
/ nodded.
II lISl ll1lS OA
Again 1 nodded. He shrugged his
shoulders.
well, l 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
way? Stage struck or Ellsworth struckT
/ 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 there?" | cried, finging open
the door and peering into the dimly
lighted corridor
"Shl Go backr' whispered a feminine
voice. And as | obeyed its command
the doorway framed a petite golden
haired damsel, resplendent In pink sat
in and court train.
| seized her hands aud drew her to
the center Of the room under the cleo
tric light
"Elfrida!' / gasped. What are you
doing heref"
She dropped me stately courtesy.
'The Countess Olga, fourth lady in
waiting to her majesty Queen Sylvia,
at your service" she said, with dignity
Then she giggled and blushed.
1T was you, then, who kept laughing
all the time I was on the stage" I said
reproachfully
Elfrida looked penitent
1T was mean of me- she admitted,
But you did look so funny" She gig
gled again at the recollection.
l made no reply in words, but l let
her see that fOrgaye her
Where did you come from? How
did you get here? Why haven't you
written to me In all these weeksT" 1
asked as soon as | felt sure she thor
oughly understood my mental attitude
regarding her
"Mme Brpnner's New Haven Skin