The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-31

swimming in a sea of delight and scarce heard what they said. And that night as she left the theatre and. according to her custom, made her way home alone through the deserted cross streets, the only words of all the congratulations that recurred to her were those of Stevens, when he had muttered during the pthun- dering of the applause, You are all to the mustard"
 For a week afterward Annie lived in fairyland. She was now one of the prin- cipals. She was in the limelight both literally and metaphorically. Her stage name-Dorothy Darrell-had appeared In all the papers with highly commendable notices. A representative of one of the l Illustrated weeklies had interviewed her and she had presented to him one of her | photographs with the "Faithfully yours. | Dorothy Darrell' on it. Her world was . cloudiness, full of song, and success and
 gladness All her most extravagant ] dreams had come true.
 1 And then at the beginning of another
 week a specl1 appeared on the horizon,
 and this speck became smudge, and then the whole sky was overcast. For one night, after she had scored her cus- tomary second encore in the dance, ana had returned breathess to the wings. she overheard a member of the compa " make a chance allusion to Miss Fiossie Dupree
 Miss Dupree. In all the tumultuous joy
 of success she had never had time to think of her for a moment. To be~sure- Flossie Dupreel What of her?
 1 \She began to be vaguely troubled. All ] this must have an end, then Miss Dd- 1 pree the real soubrette, the rightfui 1 owner of the role whose place she was 1 usurping, must ultimately recover ana .Dorothy Darrelf' must step out of the | falx her 1 the back line, and the curtain would tall l on all her dreams, on all her success. on 1 all her glory forever; Her heart sanf l within her at the thought. The glamour
 of the lights, the rolliclxing inspiration or l the music, seemed somehow to fade away 1 and in their place there came an anxiety, and something else besides, which shs
 could not define, but which weighed down l her spirits like lead. A pathetic picture 1 of her little room at home kept recurring i fo her mind She thought of all tht prep 1 arations she had made for her faIne-a ! fame that had been acquired only to De l rudely snatched away.
 ! For three nights she suffered torture ] of dread and anxiety, and then, deter i mined at least to end the period or sus- ] pense, she sought out the stage man
 ager and asked him abruptly when Mss 1 Dupree would be well enough to reap pear. "Don't you worry about that, my dear, ] replied MT. Meyer heartily as he regarded ], her with a smile of appreciation. m going to give you the job. You've maoe i good, and you'll get her sa'ary' oesiii- ming next month"
 A bright ught of exultatiou fiickered In Annie's eyes for a moment, and then as
 suddenly died away. Here was the very 1 assurance that she had longed TOT, a l virtual guarantee of future success. ana 1 yet in some strange. inomprehsnsiple way l if failed to give her comfort. For 2 i moment she was silent and then with an ! effort at unconcern she asked;
 "whatll you do with Miss Duprsef
 "Oh.' he returned-heartlsssly thit
 time. as 1t seemed to Annie-"she's got nc
 contract I'll let her go. Or" he added 1 with a diabolical grin, "she can have | your place in the chorus
 l And now, in spite of all sbe could do to i prevent 1t, heavy, deadening pail set
 tied down over her spirits She fouSn' l against 1t, tried to reason 1t away, pu'
 all in vain. The bright light of her hap
 niness had grown quite dim. The over- 1 flowing cup of Joy had lost much of its
 sweetness She had, indeed, as the man i aeer had assured her, made good. snt would be ''featured" among the head
 liners:" her salary was to be moro thar
 doubled Yet, in spite of all this l And then one morning late Tn the Weeh l in one of her impulsive moods, incitet i possibly by the prompting of a con
 science that had not been hardened b, repeated rebuffs and denals, she made
 her way straight-to the home of Mis' Flosse Dupree.
 She found her in a comfortable, prett,
 front room on the second floor of Wes Side theatrical boarding house. She Wal locking pale from her Illness, which hae
 been quite severe, but there was swee
 carnestness and genuine frankness in hei
 manner, not altogether to be expected un- der the circumstances, as she held out hel
 hand to Annie and asked her to take 2
 seat
 i've read about your success Tn the l papers, she said in manner quite ire'
 from affectation or insncerity, ana Wal So glad to hear it. It was one chance i1 | thousand I am sure 1t will lead to youi getting something good before long
 The gloomy pail settled itself down stil
 more hopeessly over Anne's soul. fusf
 came to her cheeks, and her eyes fell VI embarrassment. She felt like culprft
 like one who must say something in ex
 tenuation for the commission of griev