Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1911-04-08
A LOST
MANUSCRIPT
BY JOHN Y. LARNED
Copyright by American Press Assoc
citation, 1911.

all SysfemaCc ana was consequently
always In trouble. | finally received a
lesson that made me change my habits.
One day / left the theater and had
entered cab just about to start away
when a girls face appeared at the
window.
beg pardon for stopping you.' she
said. "Are you Mr.. Closer. the man
ager7"
II am
Would you be so kind as to read
play for meT
I had more plays than I could put
on the boards for two years. but the
girl had such a winning smile that
consented. / took a roll Of manuscript
from her; told her to call at my office
in a week and l would give her an
answer.
In week she called.
Have you read my playT she asked,
with that same winning smile had
seen before.
mo; / have been very busy. I'm
sorry. Could you give me another
week.
Certainly. I'm in no great hurry"
"Well, come on this day week"
/ went to my rooms and ransacked
every corner for that manuscript. 1t
was nowhere to be found. / must
have left 1t in the cab. But l had
picked the cab up on the street and
couldn't possibly know it from other
ca BIS. / should have admitted the loss
and taken the consequences. But l
was young and prided myself on my
ability to get out Of such scrapes.
would first win the girls good win.
then confess and compromise the mat
ter as best | could
When she called again / put her or
by offering her two excellent seats for
the evenings performance. She said
they would be of no use to her since
she had no escort. She smiled at me
so sweetly when she said this that I
told her l would escort her myself
I not only did so, but said several nice
things TO her about the opening of
her play, few passages of which I
protested to have read. / regretted
doing so, however. because she asked
me lot of questions about it which I
couldn't answer. / got all mixed up
over it and was obliged to tell her
that thought had got hold Of the
wrong manuscript When I left her
told her that three days should not
elapse before had read the play, and
I ha hut har NAV
and not some other authors play.
l put the poor girl OF for three
months. She was very nice to me
about it all this time, but the further
I proceeded with my deception the
further sank in the mire The worst
part of the matter was that when a
week passed without my seeing her
found myself like topper without his
glass of grog.
One day the girl came into my office
and told me that she had given the
scenario of her play dts skeleton) to
rival manager, and he had assured her
that If the dialogue was filed in effec-
lively he would put 1t on the boards at
once. When / tried to put her of
some more beautiful bright tear
stood in her eye.
When a man is fitting between In
difference and love for a woman he
may be easily unbalanced on the side
of love by one of those little giobules.
At any rate, lost my balance. con-
fessed to have lost her manuscript.
but told her not to mind little thing
Ike that since I loved her and had
quite enough for both of US. II she
would marry me IL would be all right
I kissed away the tear. and her smile
was like the sun peeping from the
other side Of an April cloud.
From that moment heard no more
of the missing manuscript After
few months engagement we were mar
ried and after brief wedding trip
settled down to the humdrum of life
One evening when / went home my
wife told mo that she had received
FIRST night" tickets to new play
that was to be put on the boards and
asked me to go with her to see the
performance. tried 10 beg OF, saying
that l was needed at my own theater.
but she insisted. and yielded.
Our seats were proscenium box on
level with the stage. My wife pulled
a curtain before her so that she could
not be seen except from the stage.
The play opened so well that / ex-
claimed, by Jove. why didn't / get
hold of this?" AS the performance pro-
ceeded it was evident that hit was
being made. ground my teeth in
vexation at having missed getting on
what promised to be a money maker
At the climax In the third act the
audience came down in a thunder OF
applause. Calls were made for the
author. but the author did not appear.
The manager came before the curtain
and announced that he would appear
at the end of the play. This satisfied
them, and the performance went on.
When the curtain went down on the
last act not one of the audience rose
to 60. The manager came to our box
and. Offering his hand to my wife. as
sisted her on to the stage and placed
her before the footlights, where She