The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1911-09-28
CHAPTER VII.
At the Stage Entrance.

fourth time saw the curtain go up
on "Mandalay' and heard the temple
bells ring. One of the stage boxes
was not occupied until after the first
act and then the son of his friend
came in alone and sat far back out OF
sight of any eyes but the keenest,
and those eyes were Ruggles'. Lefty
Lane, delicious, fantastic, languishing,
sang to Dan; that was evident to Rug
giles. He was large man and filed
his stall comfortably. He sat through
the performance peacefully, his hands
in his pockets, his big face thought
full, his shirt front ruff1ed. To look at
him, one must have wondered why he
had come to "Mandalay." He scarce
ly lost any of the threads of his own
reflections, though when Miss Lane in
response to a call from the house,
sang her cradle song three times, he
seemed moved. The tones of her pure
voice, the grading in her arms of an
imaginary child, her apparent dove
like purity, her grace and sweetness,
and her cooling, gentle tone, to Judge
by the softening of the Westerner's
face, touched very much the big fell
low who listened like a child. At the
end he drew his handkerchief slowly
across his eyes, but the tears, or
rather moisture, that rose there was
not all due to Miss Lanes song, for
Ruggles was extremely warm.
He could see that in his box the
boy sat transfxed and absorbed Dan
went out in the second entr'acte and
was absent when the curtain went
down. Ruggles, as we'll, left before
the performance was over, to make
his way outside the theater to the
stage exit, where there was already
gathered little group, looked after
by couple of policemen. Close to
the curb cleaning motor waited, the
footman at it's door Ruggles but
toned his coat up to his chin and took
his place close to the door, over which
the electric light showed the words
stage Entrance" A poor woman ell
bowed him, her shabby hat adorned
by scraggly plume, a gray shawl
wrapped round her shoulders. A girl
or two, who might have been flower
sellers in Piccadil1y in the daytime,
couple of toughs, a handful of other
Migrants smelling of gin, a decent
man in working clothes, a child in his
arms, formed the human hedge Lefty
Lane was to pass between-a singular
group of people to spend an hour
hanging about the streets at the exit
of a theater well toward midnight So
the naive Ruggles thought, and better
understood the appearance of the
young fellows in evening clothes who
lowered on the extreme edge of the
little crowd. Dan, however, was not
of these
Look sharp, Cissy," the working.
man spoke to his child, holding her
well up. When she comes hout she'll
pass close to yer, and you sing bout,
God bless YER"
Eyes, Dad, WILL" shrilled the child.
The woman in the gray shawl drew
it close about her. Jaw she's true
Idly, all right, amt she? l expect
you've had some kindness off her as
, well?"
The man nodded over the child's
shoulder. used to be a scene shifter,
and Miss Lane found out about my lit
tie girl last year-not this lass, not
Cissy, Cissy's sister-and she sent 'er
to place where it costs the eyes out
of yer head. She's gettin' well fast,
and we, none of us, has seen her or
spoken to Miss Lane. She doesn't
know our Names"
And the woman answered: ''She
does a lot like that. She's got heart
bigger'n her little body"
p, And big boy in the front row said
mint of money"
! And the woman who had spoken be-
fore said: "She gives it nearly all
to the poor"
Ruggles was evidently on the poor
side of the waiting crowd; the hand
full of riffraff around him with it's
stencil of dirt and gin. A better look
ing set collected opposite and there
was the CLEAN of white shirt fronts.
! Now, there she comes" the father
saw her first. "Sing out, Cissy.'
/ The door opened and figure quick
ly fioated from it, like a white rose
blown out into the foggy darkness. 1t
fioated down the few steps to the
street between the double row of spec
tators. A white cloak entirely COW
cred the actress. Her head was hid
den by white scarf, and she almost
ran the short gantlet to her motor, be-
i tween the cries of God bless you'll
Three cheers for Lefty Lane''-"God
bless you, LADY," She didn't speak or
heed, however, or turn her head, but
held her scarf against her face, and
the man who slowly lounged behind
her to the car, and put her in and got
in after her, was not the man Joshua
Ruggles had waited there to see. He
hung about until the footman had
sprung up and the car moved softly
away, the stage entrance door shut,
then he followed along with the
crowd, with the few faithful who had
waited an hour in the cold mist to
II Il -