The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1911-01-19
the French lecture, of the drama and
pritipt,oo

$1,000 Ef| So ''A' - ~ AANAA1 avis
that she would be glad to see him. He
came down 10 the box hesitatingly and
locking a trifle guilty. She was too
much pleased. however. To notice this.
though Navin's sharp eye caught the
young mans embarrassment.
Miss Fullerton tells me that you are
also Of the experiment" said Vavin
politely.
1T had the Ingredients Of an expert
ment, sir" replied Holcomb, but it
hardly lasted long enough to be so de
nominated"
You should be Il good actor said
Navin. looking at him and scrutinizing
his face carefully.
Il should rather, sir. be a good au-
thor"
"Ah, YOU write, them"
II had my first play accepted this
afternoon. sir" he said, looking at
Dora, whose face flushed with pleas
ure. for on the road he had told her
Of his ambitions. though he was hard
~ hopeful concerning a play which
he had left in the hands Of a manager
before they left New York.
'The first play unused Vavin. nod
ding approvinely-"that is a great
thing. 1t is like a first marriage or Il
first baby. You can never have a first
play a second time. | envy YOU"
Holcomb laughed
THAT is Il very pleasant thing to
hear from your lips. NJ. Vavin," he
said. 81 have read everything of yours
that has bccn published. | should be
very happy if | could think ut the end
Of my life that my best work could
even be compared with your worst"
you mean La Marriage de Nine.
Daubigny?'" suggested Navin. smiling.
referring to n play that had been pro.
duced several years back and that had
had a VIGOROUSLY unsuccessful recep-
ton.
NO, sir said Uolcomb, looking him
squarely in the eye; 81 mean lie Dame
Rouge"
THAT, my boy said Vavin, laying
his hand on his sh~oulder-"that was
a good play, but it was written by a
sour heart"
Dora insisted that Holcomb should
see the rest Of the play out with them.
an invitation that he accepted CRATE.
fully, %iuaSInucl as the h,"aagcr Of the
thcater, who had passed him in. had
not wen done him the courtesy to
give him a seat and had only admitted
him Ih.s,ttG. Inp At.lG nlNitI,E i,, ,riNa
the house the appearance of being
full. In the course of the following
act the young author seized the Op-
portunity to whisper TO Dora that he
wanted to see her the next day and
tell her Of the gladstone news that he
had received on his arrival
Since the time when Willard IlOl-
comb had first met Dora Fullerton IN
the stage he had taken on n new and
greater purpose. lie was admittedly n
young man Of great ability; but, as
one of his friends had described him,
he was particularly disqualified for
success by n lack of "direction.' He
had educated himself, had studied law
in office and university and also some
medicine, had written an amusing book
on chess-a feat in itsclf-had served
I'm the army and been n war CORE
spondent. had written musical criti
ciSm and now, ut the age Of thirty
three, was an actor with the very
strong conviction that, following the
example of Aeschylus, Shakespeare
and Molicre, he could learn to write
a great play only by an acceptable
familiarity not alone with the pen, but
with the grease paint stick.
He had fallen early In his brief stage
career under the influence Of Ludlow
Holly Ludlow, "the best leading man
in America" and undoubtedly the most
brilliant converSationalist among stage
folk. What Holly said today was the
talk of the town" tomorrow. Thus as
"thc town do actors describe the few
clubs, cafes or other rendezvous that
they hold particularly their own. Soon
or or later these epigrams or witticisms
would drift into print, and after awhile
any bright saying that seemed to lose
caste because Of lack of ~parentage was
credited to the man of easy tongue and
easier Of responsibility.
Unknown to Dora, Ludlow and Hol-
comb had had their first clash over
her. The former. who was really in
formed in certain lines Of psychology.
had p%layfully remarked that despite
Miss Fullerton's simplicity, sincerity
and i~ngcnuouSneSs he also added
"greenness'-she simply moved by the
geological law that sent the best rep
resentative Of her species, the feline,
out into the social night. Holcomb, a
younger man, usually laughed at Hol-
ly's characteriZations. Now he turned
sharply.
The trouble with you, Ludlow" he
said, dropping the affectionate abbre-
Walton Of Holly, "is that you don't
realize that nature in that regard is
.inexorable. and the matter gets to the
fundamental question Of quality"
las serious as that. is it," was Hol-
ly's would be testing remark.
"As serious as that" replied Hol-