El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-11-12
4 PREMIERE

Continued From Previous Page).
| alter with his typescript in a pocket
! of his well worn overcoat; he re-
membered how long ago he had cooled
! his heels in the racOco vestibule before
| he was admitted to the presence of
/ the manager. He heard tn great Bel
shazzar trying to persuade him to put
off the reading; he remembered tina.
he had said: Hear me out, at least
and if you don't want any more SAL
So"
And he recalled how, al the end of
! that first act, the great man had been
l'eager to hear the rest. And he hear
himself going over the narrow terms
of their bargain, the pitiful sum paid
down to the unknown, Obscure lit
erary backman, the large vague prom
Uses of noble. even lavish, renumera-
ton in case of success. And he went
over in memory of the rehearsal
had attended, ignored, unoonsulte1 l,
unwelcomed, leaning at the side of the
proscenium by the little desk where
when plays were in process of per
Torrance, usually reposed the scored
and greasy prompt book.
Nobody knew him, the handsome.
shabby young journalist who hung
about the wings, while the great Bel
shazzar conducted the rehearsal of the
new piece. But a great many femi-
nine glance were shot at the unknoTH.
His viking like type attracted the
leading lady, his stalWart hugeness of
person won the envy of the leading
man His gray eyes, his smile and
his school boy like shyness were topics
o. conversation in the greenroom. He
was supposed to be the secretary of
Belshazzar Levi or something of the
nf
ing the author, '"r Smith, whom
Gadderbsy supposed to be a lady
When the curtain fell upon the last
act and the crowded house beloved,
for L. Smith, Rayland, with a senSe-
ton as though his veins were running
iced champagne, beloved and shout
ed. too. And he looked up at the ccx
where sat Miss Forts, and she was
standing, leaning well forward, softly
beating. one beautiful bare hard
against the other, her white teeth
cleaning between her eagerly parted
crimson lips, her slate blue eyes shin
ing with delight.
''She applauds me- thought the
young man, and the iced champagne
in his veins turned all at once to Ii
quid fire. A deep breath heaved his
big chest, and his crumpled studless
shirt front CAPPED as though hungry
for more air. In perspective, whole
shop windows, full of choice linen, |
awaited the successful T. Smith: he
might henceforth, supposing the new
comedy to enjoy run of 800 nights. !
be clad by the artists of Savile row,
dwell in a Mayfair flat, and spin IN
the most luxurious of "Gohard" ca 9, |
over the same asphalt his thrice-soled
boots had trayersed. With this glow
ing conviction came chill, as in ague
the cold fit succeeds the hot one. Of
what use would success be to a man
who had nobody to share 1t?
For Rayland was utterly alone. Ex-
cept a remote and unpleasant female
relative, there was not, so far as he
knew, a living person of his name and
race. And, with all his charm for
women, he was too brusque and out
spoken to be popular with men. Only
a rich man can afford to trample on
the corns of his fellows. Rayland's |
big feet in their shabby boots wrought !
awful havoc-more awful than their |
owner was well aware. But fate was
to be kind to Rayland tonight. Now, |
as he came out of the stall and !
mounted the short flight of softly car
peted stairs leading to the outer re-
gions. a surge of the well dressed |
crowd in which he moved left him |
standing in a little isolated spare, |
where a niche, intended by the archi- |
tect for piece of statuary, had been |
left untitled. Opposite him another |
short stair led downwards from the |
boxes on the grand tier. And, de- |
scending this stair, with the married |
sister, who had chaperoned her, and q |
handsome, gray haired military look |
ing man of so or so, came softly rus |
ling wrapped in a great mantle of |
Persian lamb, her beautiful head light |
ly covered with a cobwebby scarf OF |
lace-the owner Of the slate blue eyes |
She was speaking to her sister Her |
words reached another ear.
Yes, 1 should like to- I don't in |
the least mind being accused of gush." |
The gray haired man was a little /