The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1911-05-01
A Tragedy In
A Greemoom
BY f. TOWNSEND SMITH
!. Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation ioil

erty articles were scattered ainnt r ,
cosmetics wigs. daegers indeed every
variety of ,pnteria for sham purposes,
He had h'cn playing In drama Ut
the French revolution and attracting
great attention. For hundred nights
he had held audiences sl,eIhnnEd In
the character Of Danton. while II
young actress Wes setting the public
Wild by the representation Of char
lotte CO day, TWO men met un the
street. and each remarked 10 the 9th
er. Have you seen Edward orme ms
Danton and Edith Kent rs Character
Two ladies drinking tea fell 10 talk
ing about the wonderful impcrSonn
ton. the one In admiration OF the
actor. the other Of the actress, and
quarreled. Nothing was discussed ey
cept the great play. the great actor
and the great actress.
Ry far the larger number considered
Miss Kent the greater genius or the
two. TO those the advocates Of ornin
declared that she Ind far better op.
portunity than he for Il display OF
genius: that nanton. like other reve.
lutonnry leaders. was simply yielding
to the cry Of the people for blood.
while Charlotte ecoraay was an en-
thusinst who offered herself "a n
martyr. Some even maintained that
the real Charlotte of history had
been mndtloned by the events Of
the revolution These avcrfed TINT
the genius of Miss Krnt's imper
sonatlon consisted. In throwing int"
her acting felgnrd suspicion of in
sanity, II was noticed that night after
night She dwet more on this feature
! thereby working to Il greater degree
upon the feelings OF the audience In.
deed so intense her emotions had be.
come so deeply did she feel herself 10
tr the real Charlotte, that Orlne ~
times began 10 fenr TINT she worlt'
stab him instead OF pretending to do
so. r,
One night before performance the
trngedian was sitting before mirror
making up when he heard the door
ul,rh Turning. he was surprised IL
see Mis- Kent.
why. Miss Kentr' he exclaimed In
establishment that she shQuld come to
bis room. But one glance nj her eye
told him that what he had been fenr
ing. what the public had called genius
had come to pass Miss Kent displayed
unmlstakable signs of insanity. In
stead of showing any shame at visiting
q man in his room. she turned the key
in the door nndfhnng the key hehind y
lot OF property articles.
Prepare for DEATH
The words sounded like knell ~
the actor Shut up In n room with n
mad woman. who had killed him on
the lyric stage for hundred nights
in succession and who now conceived
herself to be the real Charlotte. he saw
no way Of escape. His only hope was
that he could see no weapon IN her
possession. Looking her full in the
eye, Id apadc an effort to Stay her by
talkineswith her, n,
+ "Wliatf MEANS this VISIT" he asked.
u have come 10 sacritice tyrant
He hasfloiig been. drinking the peoples
4 blood a'lt Is time that the people drank
his hIood,t 4
Whom do you take me to beT q
"Cltizen Danton, whose right hand
is the guilotine.
"You are mistaken am the Marquis
de Lafayette | hare Just returned
! from America. where | have helped to
make people free"
"You are not the Marquis DE- Laf0
yette You are Danton. drunken witt
the blood of the French people, an
Charlotte Cordny.'
II Orme listened for sound without
hoping that some one might call fol
him or that the actress might b.
missed aud would he hunted for
though no one would think VI lookiul
for her III his dressing room. A cocI
licked on the wall before him. HI
glanced ut II and saw that 1t was bu
few minutes before he would b,
called to go on the stage But that few
minutes might be enough to end hl
earthly career
dagger was lying on n cabine
among other property articles TIL
girl seized II and advanced t0wurd tn
tragedan He WAS watching her eager
". AS soon as he Jaw her 'nke up III
weapon crafty look came into hI
own eyes. without looking away iron
her he reached back and placed hi
: hand over small bowl
II In nnother moment Miss Kent spran
I Mt him and brought the knife down o
his breast. Orme grnsped the dagger
and red blood spurted on his slayer
clothes. He fell on his face and Ia
still.
There was a hurried footstep and
knock on tho door. No answer The
came another saying. "Orme. your
called: times mp" Still no answe
Muttered sounds without. then u crasl
aud the door flies open
The stage manager mud several otl
ers stood looking In nj Miss Kent pat
ing back aud forth with blood on he
dress. mhtteriug TO herself whit
| Orme lay on the floor The sitmtio
was evident Two supers led the AZ
tress out, while the stage manager al
tempted to raise the tragediau ~
HAS she gomez" whispered 0rmes
aCraot Gonttt thoapht 4svou xvar