Arizona republican., 1910-05-09

proved" and the big stage that called for the children at their homes and | brought them back again after school, probably dropped apart long ago.
 In this stage, each with lips close to the others ear SO as to be heard by her above the rumbling of the wheels, yet | remain unheard by the others; in the school-room. where we sat at adjoining desks; at home or on our walks-in fact, wherever We were tcgether-we conspired We thought 1t was the sim plest thing in the world to go on the stage. that all you did was to tell a manager you wanted to go on and on you went. To our childish minds that feared nothing, there was no difficulty in the matter at all. Of the years of training and struggle that an actress goes through to achieve success, and then only too often to fail. we knew nothing. Children are the most de lightfully unconscious creatures in the world. otherwise the thought of what we planned never could have entered our little heads. We wanted to go on the stage. and we simply determined to do it. In planning how, we made up our minds that if we tried to make our debuts in San Francisco, irate parents would in some way get wind of 1t and swoop down upon us behind thesscenes to bear us of to home, spankings and bed, even before the curtain went up. So we decided to run away and surprise our parents by coming back-famous Could anything have been more deli ciously naive?
 We took several weeks to put the plan'in operation. We had heard there
 was a theatre in San Jose. railroad trip of about an hour and half from
 San Francisco, and this we concluded
 would be favorable spot for our first appearance on any stage" Nothing
 would have delayed us from starting at
 once-if we had had the money Not
 having it, we found out the price of two fares from San Francisco 10 San Jose. figured out the probable cost of a night in hotel there, and then began to hoard our nickels and dimes That we should allow for the cost of a re-
 turn trip never occurred to us. We ex- pected, after reaching San Jose and putting up at hotel, to visit the man.
 ager of the theatre. state our object, be
 welcomed by him with open arms to
 hospitablc stage begin making money at
 once. and in due time return to San Francisco, there, heralded by fame, to
 burst in upon our proud and delighted parents It was about the most curious
 combination of ambition and innocence I ever have heard of ambition leading
 us to do something that was utterly rep rehensible. innocence preventing us from
 seeing how reprehensible it was or real
 izing the terrible experience we were
 preparing for our families. A kind
 Providence must have been convinced
 of our innocence to have allowed us as
 1t did. to emerge from our escapade
 wholly unharmed. not at all frightened,
 and utterly amazed at the excitement
 which we discovered our disappearance
 had caused
 Our desks were the headquarters of
 our enterprise. There we daily cast up
 our growing hoard of small change
 Moreover. as the small change became
 convertible into dollars. and 1t was pos
 sible to fix the date for our start, we
 began to smuggle in an extra pair or
 two of stockings and other small articles
 of apparel we thought we might need and that easily could be carried. or worn
 over our other things. l know that on
 the fateful day when we walked out of
 the school l had on three pairs of
 stockings When that daS came we did
 not wait for school to close, for we
 knew that the stage would be there to
 take us home. So we quietly walked
 away at the luncheon hour If we had
 been longheaded schemers instead of two fooliS'i little girls, we could not
 have planned 1t better. At school they
 thought we had gone home. At home
 they supposed us at school. and even
 when the stage did not stop to leave
 us after school. the natural conclusion
 was that we had gone home together.
 It was not until the afternoon wore on
 toward evening that it was found out
 that neither was at the others house.
 and frightened inquirers discovered that
 we had left school carly.
 To reach the railroad station to take
 the train for San Jose we two girls prae-
 ticaIly had to cross the city. but we got
 there without ynishap Before boarding