Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1908-06-13

thud, thud as she walked over the tiled
floor. Her extreme nervousness In
creased as ne neared the mysterious
door which shuts off the manager from
all lesser mortals, and when she was
ushered into his presence she was trem-
bling.
The manager swept her with one
glance from head to foot. The cold
and Measured gaze acted as a tonic,
and collecting herself with one supreme
effort. she looked into the managers
eyes and waited for him to speak.
The manager was conscious of dis
tinct shock. Those eyes, Where had
he seen anything like them before?
Yellow as amber, and with that pc
culiar expression!
In a flash it came to him where he
had seen eyes like these-in the head
of Mile. Marie's big st. Bernard. He
also remembered having told Mile.
Marie that If he ever met a woman with
such eyes he Would-well, at any rate,
here was the woman, but certainly not
As he had pictured her. This woman
was middle-aged and wrinkled The
fires of youth had been so jammed back
into her being that their smouldering
lights were left no outlet save through
her eyes. Hard work and i'll usage had
worked ravages with her physique
But these things did not count. One
took them in at a glance and then came
back to her eyes.
The manager had intended to make
short work of his visitor, but he found
himself actually offering the woman a
chair, and saying in his kindest tone:
Madam, what you ask in your note is
very strange, and I do not think it pos
siblY can be done"
"Oh, please do not say that" came
with such breathless eagerness and
such note of wild pleading that he
felt himself moved.
rs 1t because the sum of money is
too small?" continued the woman. 1T
Is all have; every cent in the world"
mo, madam, thousand dollars is a
good sum and would probably cover all
the expense. But so many things en-
| ter into the success of q play besides
| money. A play written by one not
versed IN stage craft would prove a
dismal failure, and when you try to
act that kind with the leading char
actCr a novice then there's no telling
| where you would land"
The woman's face became deathly
pale, but her eyes glowed with a won
! derful light.
1T is my hearts DESIRE" she said in
a low, passionate voice. "All my
weary life l have nursed this drama.
To stand for one night before the eyes
| of a countless throng, to sway them
with my thoughts and words, and have
| their hearts beat in unison with mine
to feel their life throbbing through my
veins and to know that mine was lap
| ping over and around them like a
burning seal"
The manager turned squarely around
And do you think you could do it %
| he scornfully asked. You, with nc
knowledge and training, no technique
of any kind. ] tell you the writer's OF
plays are one class of people and the
| players OF them another, and neither
reach the goal you seek at one bound
but only through years of patient and
painstaking toll"
The woman leaned forward, her SOU
pouring through her amber eyes and
doing battlo with the man before her
Sir" she cried, you have no right t.
refuse me until you have read my
play"
She handed him a well-worn manu-
| script, written in cramped, old-fash-
| toned letters.
The manager ran his eyes over it
| Suddenly he flushed a deep red and
turned lowering brow upon the wom-
an, who was watching him in breath
| less suspense.
Madame" he coldly said, this play
Is not original. / bought 1t two months
| ago from a man and it has already
been put upon the boards. Moreover, II
| was not a success, even with Mile
| Marie In the leading role"
The woman's face was study. Alb
solute surprise was her first expression
a surprise so intense that the manager
| could not but think 1t genuine.
Then anger, deep and overpowering
mastered her. She trembled and heI
! voice thrilled the manager with a feel.
| ing of fear.
Jean must have stolen It," she said
"Oh, my play, my play-that I should
have worked over you and loved you sc
many years just for this!"
II was like the wall of mother who
has reared her first born to manhood
| only to see him cut down before heI
| eyes.
! The manager took pile Of typewrit.