The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-31
ANNIE KEENAN'S "HIT"-By Gilbert F.

jacket was of black velvet, with yellow silk slashes and big black beads. In her belt were thrust 8 murderous knife and brace of old-fashioned dueling pistols. The skirt, of yellow, black ana reo reached below the knees, and in order 10 render the effect sufficiently incongruous she wore, instead of boots, pair of dainty, low-cut dancing slippers. rms ferocious lady bandit was scheduled 10 appear at every performance on an ele- vated ledge of rocks at the rear, some- what in the Fra Diavolo'' fashion. series of rustic steps led from this ledge steeply down to the level of the stage
 Never for a moment had Annie expected to be troubled with stage fright. She had' to be sure, heard of that dread disease, and had occasionally seen small syrnp- toms of it. The life that she had led on tlie East Side was not of the kind that I, tends to establish or develop an incnna- tion toward diffidence. But now, as the minutes wore on and the time for her cuo approached she experienced queer, un- accustomed sinking in the pit or the stomach--her fingers grew cold at the ends, her tongue and lips became dry and parched, and in her eyes there was all unusual sparkle of excitement. MT. Meyer, who had stationed himself in the wings, eyed her narrowly as she climbed ths steps behind the scenes leading to the ledge on which she was to make her initial appearance. With the Keen op- servation that had come from long expert ence he noted the nervousness in her man Ter, and there was despair in his attitude and remorse in his soul And when at uength the fateful moment came he swore softly to himself. Annie. standing high up on the top step behind the scenes, got her cue and, walking out unsteadily over
 the rickety ledge, appeared in full view Rof the audience.
 | It would not have been so bad, possibly, If the wings had not been so crowded with the company, gazing at her curiously, un- sympathetically ruthlessly. She could not get the swarm of their staring. prainted faces from before her eyes. They seemed
 to haunt her and to mock her, even as she arrived at the middle of the parapet The 1 audience, which had been warned Of the l change in the programme, gave a few ! friendly handclaps of encouragement. and 1 Stevens, the comedian, stood alone down ou the stage waiting anxious for her to | take up her cue. But she saw and heard | nothing. The feeling of vacuity inside her l changed to giddiness and seemed to switch 1 to her head. She arrived at the top of the | steps where she was to speak her first lines; but they would not come to her. | And then she suddenly realized what | was about to happen. For the first time | in her life she was going to faint! Yes, strive as she would to break through the awful cloud that was settling over her l senses, she could utter no sound. Her
 tongue was literally locked to the top of
 her mouth The cruel glare of the lima i light for a moment dazed her and then
 seemed to go abruptly out and to leave l her in total darkness. Her legs began to 1 tremble mlserably at the knees Reaching l out blindly with both hands for support
 she lost her footing, and then, with d
 chatter and crash, fell precipitately, un-
 compromisingly, hideousy down the full length of the practical steps, and struck | the stage with thump.
 | From his station in the wings Meyer
 raved and swore like madman. the curi- ] ous crowd of the chorus started with eyes l wider open than ever. Stevens, after re- 1 covering from his first astonishment. was l about to rush forward and with gentle manly courtesy inquire of the lady bandit
 if she had been seriously injured.
 | At this point however, strange thing | happened. With her first misstep Annie | had instinctively thrown out her arms,
 and thus securing a balance, had fallen | perpendicularly to the stage, and em- 1 phaszng each step of her descent with ] a very audible bump, had landed square l ly on her feet The audience with cus- 1 tomary perversity, readily assuming that | this was novel acrobatic feat on the
 part of the substitute soubrette. rendered | a tribute of hearty laughter and applause
 Nor did 1t desist when Annie, whose tum-
 ple served partly to bring back her wan
 dering senses. looked about with wide
 open mouth, her pert nose and ridiculous
 makeup giving her the apeparance or
 anything but dreadful bandit chief.
 Stevens long acquaintance with the pub
 lie pulse, especially with that of the play
 going public and he grasped the situa-
 tion in an instant. Stepping quickly 10
 Annies side he muttered under his breath,
 Brace, up. You've made hit'
 The unintentional passed unnot,ced. For the situation was gradually beginning to | dawn on Annie herself.
 These people were applauding her! She
 had made them laughl She-Annie kse- nan of the rear line of the chorus-was
 getting hands" by the hundredsl She
 had made hit accidental it IS true
 and it began to hurt little-but 1t was l a bigger hit than even Flossie Dupree nao
 made. The applause and the iaushter anu
 the boisterous shouts from the gallery | were like a stimulant, and set the plooa
 once more stirring in her veins. She felt