The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-08-22

mo Time he muIleleu, loohihs
wildly about him. NO time to hunt
for money. Curse that Miriam' L
could twist her throat e~asily--but-l
dare n%ot-not SO soon after"
He stopped, %shuddering, then, creep
ing to the door, he lifted the latch
noiselessly and passed out into the
darkness of the landing ~beyond-a
close. narrow passage which led to an
unused loft: and here. among the
shadows. he shrunk out of sight, strain
ing his ears to listen to Miriam's light
step as it came bounding up from the
ground floor In an almost rhythmic
measure with the sound of her singing,
She passed him close; her skirt brushed
his foot; he could just see her face,
which was smiling and radiant.
Crouching back further into the semi
obscurity. he waited, holding his breath
he heard her call out in mirthtui
voice, "Grandfather."
Then a wild shrek of pitiful anguish
pierced the air; a shrek that turned
the blood to ice in the wretched as
sassin's veins and set his nerves quiv-
ering. Only hat n shrek dnded
then all was still. And in that awful
silence, Tile Ilu pNNPA'6
tiously along like a stealthy animal,
glided down. the stairs without a sound
and, reaching the open house-door un-
observed, fled away.
Years passed, and the murderer Of
the Jew. Reuben David, was almost
forgotten. Justice had been baff1ed'
and the law had busted itself in vain
the murderer. though tacitly under
stood to be one Josef Perez, a nephew
of the dead man, had never yet been
found. Miriam, on the day of the muir
der. had been discovered lying In a
swoon by the side of her slain relative
and on recovering consciousness ano
being questioned, declared amid mel
passionate sobs and tears that she
knew no possible cause for the bruta
deed. Her grandfather was always
moor. she said, and had beer
forced to beg for his livelihood
being too old and feeble to work. she
was able, however, to identify the Span
ish s~tiletto tina was found In the room
as the property of her cousin, Jose
Perez. son of a wine merchant In MAD
rid. who had failed recently In business
This same wine merchant, brother-ln'
law of the murdered Reuben, wa
sought for bv the police and found, but
on being ~interrogated, swore that he
knew nothing of his sons whereabouts
adding that he was always a ne'er-do-
weel, and had deserted his home some
years since. Finally, after long and
fruitIess search, inquiries were dropped,
and Miriam alone remembered the nor
ror of hal sunlit afternoon, when she
had found her only protector in the
world lying dead, with his white hail
soaked in a pool of blood. She coul
never bio the awful picture from her
sight; 1t was always before her. She
remembered, too, how she had sung
ooh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He
is good. and His mercy endureth for
ever!" And she had asked herself many
} times since:
"Where was God then? Why did He
permit a bastard crime? How did He
show His mercy"
And it was a question she was never
able to answer to her own satisfaction
As a Jewess, she believed in the axiom
IAN eye for an eye. and a tooth for q
tooth" and certainly she would have
added, "A life for n life" Revenge was
just and reasonable, h considered,
and for years she always carried about
with her the dagger that had killed ole
Reuben, hoping against hope that one
day she might meet the murderer and
confront him with the proof of his
crime.
And so time went on, and 1t was thu
full season in Paris. All the world OF
fashion was pouring itself in the Grand
Opera, for it was the night of a new
production. in which one of the most
marvellous singers of the day, "the di-
vine Mariami,' as she was called, had
consented to create" the title-role. Al
the last moment a serious contretemp,
occurred; one Of the male singers, who
had a small secondary part to perform
was suddenly taken ill, n the only
/ person who could be found to replace
him was an obscure individual named
Manuelos, an "understudy," who hat
never appeared before in grand opera
The manager fastened to explain the
affair to the famous Miriami, who, III
thought, might justly consider herself
alfronted to be thus forced to sing eve
a few bars with an untried stranger
but the great prima donna was in {
very good humor, and treated the mat,
ter lightly. After all. the part that haC
to be filled was a small one, it's per
formers chief business consisting II
being stabbed by the heroine in the las
act.
ANY ono can sing the few bars o
music necessary" she said, Indifferent,
~, to the explanatory and apologize
manager. ut is scarcely more thar
recitative. | shall not be at all put on
by this stranger, as long as he keeps il
time and tune"
And with a smile of conscious power
she swept out of her dressing-room
gorgeous and superb in the rich cos
tune and jewels of her part. She was
very beautiful, was the divine Miri'
ami" her great black eyes, her magni'
fcent figure. her ravishing grace. ha6
won her the admiration Of kings and
emperors, and her glorious voice, united
to intense dramatic power, gave hel
undisputed pre-eminence in her profes.
sion. On this night, in particular, from
the very commencement of the e
opera, she scored triumph after tri.
umph, and 1t was not till the close OF
the second act that she came face tC
face with the unknown "understudy,'
Manuelos. AS soon as she fully per.
ceived him a curious change came ove
her-she seemed to grow taller and
r.nna W1n fAeffa thop 49,. che 1-ATw~.