The Alaska citizen., 1910-12-19
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side of the Orpheum, and from that to the still more narrow alley tO its rear, that the zest of adventure be gan to make amends to Agnes for certain disagreeable moments of the ride At the stage door a particu- larly bewildcred looking man with a rolling eye and a weak jaw, rend- cred limp and helpless by the aliens who had Hooked upon him, strickenly let them in. to grope their way, amid what seemed an in eXtriCable confusion. but was in reality the perfection of orderliness, upon the dim stage. beyond which stretched, in vast emptiness, the big. black auditorium. Upon the stage, Chattering in shrill voices, were the forty members of the com pany, still in their queer clothing, while down in front, with the shad- ed lights streaming upon the music, but seeming dull and discouraged arid all the surrounding darkness. were the members of the orchestra, chatting just as volubly. The gen eral note was quite different in pitch from the one Bobby had heard that morning. for since he had seen tHtHl lnt lltlIbtlS tl tlIc p4 ShAi zation had been fed and life looked cheerful.
 Wandering al a loss among these people. and trying in the dim twt- light 70 find some face that he knew. the ears of Bobby and his party were suddenly assailed by an extremely harsh and penetrating voice which shouted:
 Clear"
 This was accompanied by a sharp clap from a pair of very broad hands. The chattering sud denly took on a rapid cresCendo, ascending a full third in the scale and then dying abruptly in lit tie high falsetto shriek; and Bob by, with a lady on either arm, found his little trio alone in the center of the stage, a row of dim foOtlights cutting off effeCtually any view into the vas; emptiness of the auditor ium.
 Hey, you; clear" came the harsh voice again. accompanied by another sharp clap of the hands and a bundle of intense fighting energy bounced out from the right tormentOr wing, in the shape of a gaunt fiercely-mustached and en- tirely bald man of about forty-five who appeared perpetually to be in the last stages of distraction
 Who do you want to see?" demanded the gaunt man. with a very evident attempt to be quite polite indeed, and forgiving of peo- pie who did not know enough to spring for the wings at the sound of the magic word.
 Any explanations that Bobby might have tried to make were happily prevented by a voice from the yawning blackness-a quiet voice, voice of authority, the voice of Mir. Spratt.
 Come right down in front here. Burnt. Jimmy. show the gentle man how to get down"
 This way" snapped the gaunt man, with evident relief but no abatement whatever of his brisk over to the right wings. where oted the trio with equal relief singers to the door behind the boxes. As they emerged into the auditorium the raucOus voice of the gaunt man was heard to shout: "All ready now. Carmen straight through" An apparent repetition of which statement he immediately repeated with equal raucOusness in two or three languages. There was a call to Caravaggio, in English. to Ricardo and the Signors FiviZzano and Rivaroli in Italian, to Messrs. Philippi and Schaerbeeken in Span ish and Dutch, to Madam Vile nauve in French. to Madam kada- noff in Russian, and to Madem- oiselle Torok in Hungarian, to know If they were ready; then, in rough but effective German, he in formed the Herr Professor down in the orchestra that all was prepared, clapped his hands, cried "Overture," and immediately plunged to the right upper entrance, marked by two chairs, where with shrill objurga- tions, he began instructing and drilling the Soldiers Chorus out of certain remembered awkwardnesses as Herr Fruhlingsvogels baton fell for the overture.
 Shorn of all the glamor that scenic environment, light effects and costume could give them, it was a distinct shock to Agnes to gaze in wondering horror from each one of those amazing faces to the other, and when the cigarette girls trooped out, amazement gave way to downright consternation. Never theless, she cheered up consider ably, and the apex of her cheer fitness was reached when the ele- phantine Signorina Caravaggio sang, very unsteady, however, the role of the petite and piquant Carmen. It was then that, sitting by Bobby in the darkness, Agnes observed with sigh of content:
 Your trustee quite approves, Bob- by I don't mind being absolutely truthful for once in my life. was a little jealous. But how could I be? Really, their voices are fine"
 MT. Spratt, too, was of that opin- ion, and he came back to Bobby to say so most emphatically.
 They'll do," said he. After the first night they'll have this town crazy If the seat sale don't go right for Monday we'll pack the house with paper, and the rest of the week will go big. Just hear that Ricardo! The little bit of sawed-off toad sings like canary. If you don't look at 'em, they're