Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-31

the stage manager hurried off to put him
on his guard
Never for moment had Annie expected
20 be troubled with stage fright She had
to be sure. heard of that dread disease
and had occasionally seen small symp
toms Of 1t. The life that she had led on
the East Side was not of the kind that
tends TO establish or develon an inclina
ton toward diffidence. But now. as the
minutes wore on end the time for her cue
approached. she experienced a queer. un-
accustomed sinking in the pit Of the
stomach-her fingers grew cold az the
ends. her tongue and lips became dry
and parchcd and In her eyes there was an
| unusual sparkle of excitement.
Mr.. Never, who had stationed himself
in the wings. eyed her narrowly as she
climbed the steps behind the scenes lead
Ing to the ledge on which she was to make
her initial appearance. With the keen
observation that had come from long eX-
perience he noted the nervousness In her
manner. and there was despair in his at
titude and remorse in his soul And when
at length the fatcful moment came he
swnre 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 of the audience
II would not have been so had posi-
bly,. II the wings had not been so crowded
win the company. gazing at her curious
~. unsympathetfcally ruthless She
could rot get the swarm OF their staring
painted faces from before her eveu. They
seemed to haunt her and to MOCK her
even as she arrived at the middle Of the
parapet. The audience, which had been
warned of the change in the program
CAV" FEW friendly handclaps of en-
enlargement. and Stevens, the co,t.edian
stood alone down on the stage rai'ine
anxiously for her to take ,In her Gre But
she saw and heard nothing The "eelinp
or varuifv inside her changed to < t:d!ness
and seemed to switch to her head She
arrived at the top of the stems where abe
was to speak her first lines but they
would not come 10 her
AND then she suddenly realized wha,
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
senses, she could utter no sound Her
| tongue was literally locked to the top OF
ner mouth. The cruel glare of the lime
| iight Tor moment dazed her and then
| seemed 10 go abruptly out and to leave
| her IN total darkness. Her legs began to
tremble miserably at the knees Reach
| ing out blindly with both hands for sup
port she lost her footing and then. with =
clatter and q crash. fell precipif ate!y un.
comprom'singly. hideously down the full
length OF the "pra steps. and struck
| the stage with thump.
| From his station In the wings Never
raved and swore like a mailman, the Curl
/ Gus crowd of the chorus stared with ewes
! wider open than ever Stevens, after re-
! covering from his first aston, shment was
about to rush forward and with gentle
manly courtesy inquire of the lady bandi,
| II she had been seriously injured
/ At this point. however. a strange thing
| happened With her first misstep Annie
! had instinctively thrown out her arms
and thus securing balance had fallen
perpendicularly to the stage and empha.
sizing each step of her descent with a
very audible bump. had landed suua rely
/ on her feet. The audience with custom
airy perVerslty. readily assuming that this
| was novel acrobatic feat on the oart Of
the substitute souhrette. rendered a trib.
| ute OF hearty laughter and applause. Nor
did II desist when Annie. whose rum ale
served partly TO bring back her wander
| Ing senses. looked about with wide omen
| mouth. her pert nose and ridiculous make
| up giving her the appearance of anything
! but dreadful bandit chief. Stevens
! long experience had made him intimately
acquainted with the public pulse, espe-
| cially with that of the .playgoing public
! and he gasped the situation in an Instant
! tered under his breath:
Brace up. You've made hit"'
! The unintentional passed unnoticcd Fol-
/ the situation was gradually beginning to
dawn on Annie herself
These people were applauding he=. She
| had made them laugh. She-Anni, Kee-
nan. Of the rear line Of the chorUs-was