The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-23

stranded company of players to whic;l she belonge6-he would present him.
 He did, and Wilhelm fell at once under the fascirations of the stage again-and partially under the fascinations of Phil ina. He met the whole troupc-he was In his element-he talked high-flown stuff to the actors, which they bore patiently: he had met kindred souls. All the ac- tors and actresses liked the callow youtn and the shrewd ones among them saw that he might be exceedingly useful to them. Philina, from flirting with Will helm, began really to have a tenderness for him; the more so as, thinking of his live for Mariana, he rather held off from her advances. But on the very first day of his arrival, a little while after he had been presented to Philina, VII helm had an adventure which was the most creditable of his life so far.
 He saw crowd and pushing his way through to find out what had attracted it, saw the manager of the strolling troupe of acrobats and jugglers merciessly beat ing with the handle of his whip the strange child who had run against him in the inn. Wilhelm darted upon the man like lightning and seized him by the col lar. Quit that childr' he cried, 'or one of us shall never leave this spot So saying, he grabbed the fellow by the throat with force which only rage could have lent him. The snowman, al- most choking, let go the child and en- deavored to defend himself against his assailant. But the bystanders, who had wanted to interfere and had not dared until some one had shown them the way, rushed in, and the snowman was helpless. T will have you before the magistrate to explain where you stole this child!' cried Wilhelm. 'I will pursue you to every extremity. You shall not escape me- What have I to do with the use less brat?" replied the snowman. Pay me what her clothes cost and she is yours; we shall settle that tonight
 The child, meanwhile, had crept away among the crowd. Thirty crowns was the sum the black-bearded, hot Italian show man set upon the girl. It was paid, but the snowman would tell nothing of the
 
 did not know; that she was called Mig non and that she had fallen into his hands at the death of her brother, one of his performers who, because of his skill as a juggler. had been known as the Great Devil. The next day Wilhelm and his new found friend Laertes spent in searching for the child. who had dis appeared. It was only when the rope dancers had left the town that she re- appeared. Then she came to Wilhelm in the inn parlor. Where hast thou been hid, child?" he asked thou hast given us a great deal of anxiety.'' She answered not-only looked at him. Thou art ours now" cried Laertes, i've have bought thee; this gentleman has paid a hundred ducats for thee."
 'Is that much?" asked the child "Oh, yes; you must now be good child" "I will try" she said. From that moment Mignon became the faithful, devoted at wait upon him, to see to his comforts. And she, in such time as she could spare. busted herself with practicing writing she was always trying to improve herself in some way, though 1t was evident that her mind was sluggish and that it was only by the power of fixed purpose and set will that she could make any intellec- tual advance. And thus did Wilhelm dawddle on at the little town, going on excursions with the actor people and talk ing the Dramatic Art and the "Phil- osophy of Life"
 The siren charms of Philina, the mys- terious presence of Mgnon, produced more effect upon Wilhelm than he liked to confess. He passed the days in that strange society endeavoring to elude self reproaches by diligent practice of fenc- ing and dancing. accomplishments which, he believed, might not again be put with in his reach. It was with great surprise that one day he saw a former acquaint- ance of his, one Herr Molina, and his wife alight at the inn. At the outset of his bill-collecting journey Wilhelm had visited 8 creditor of his father to find the family in great confusion because the daughter of the house had run off with an actor. The runaway pair were found anu DfOuSili DdCh, dIlu W iinCiii hdu uScI all his persuasion to induce the parents to consent to the union of the elopers. They had done so, but the bride had been given no dowry by her angry par ents, and Herr Melina and his bride had gone forth into the theatrical world in which he set up now for sort of man. ager.
  company was dispersed and the pair were travelling about the country seeking all engagement" A malicious fate seemed to cause sactors and actresses out of a job to gravitate naturally to the vicinity of Wilhelm. Also Wilhelm deeply en- joyed these visitations-he was "seeins life"-he was living. in the artistic at. mosphere." Wilhelm, of course, at once introduced Herr Melina and his wife td the other Thespians who were minister. ing to his soulfulness. The newcomer and the "olG settlers upon Wilhelm < artistic" preserves naturally looked upoi each other with suspicion. Molina by no means pleased the lively Laertes any more than Melina's wife pleased the friv- olous Phelina. In fact, the merry girl hated Melinas wife cordially.
 Frau Melina was young woman not without culture, but woefully deficient in soul and spirit. People generally as- cribed to her a fine understanding, for she was what might be called chame- leon-"taker on.'' She could fatter with a peculiar adroitness by reflecting the ideas of the person to whom she was