The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-12-29

StlHg onAu III Aut uIek NIl
In the dress ofla fashionable princess.
She was modish and worldly, For the
only time in the play she was modern
and conyentional, and whatever breed
Ing she might have been able to claim.
from whatever class she was born, as
she stood there in her beautiful gown
she was grace Itself, and charm She
was distinctly star. and showed her
appreciation Of her audiences admita,
tion.
At the end Of the. tenor solo
Princess oitary runs into the pavilion
and there changes her dress and ap
pears once more to dance before the
rajah andgt6 prove herself the dancer
he has known and loved in q cafe in
Paris. Lefty Lsnels dress in his dance
was the classic ballet dancers. white
as the leaves OF a lily. She seemed to
swim and float: actually 10 be breathed
and exhaicd from out her flIn gown;
and the only ray OF color In her cos.
tune was her own golden hair sur
mounted by a small coral.colored cap,
embroidered in pearls. The actress
bowed to the right and left, ran to the
right, a 10 left; glanced toward the
Duchess OF Breakwater's box, ac-
knowledged the burst Of applause; be.
gan to dance and finished her pas seul.
and with folded hands sang her song.
Her beautiful voice came out clear
as crystal water from a crystal rock,
and her words were Graded like
doves, like boats on the b~oundless
seas.
From midas coral strand. !"
But there was no hymn tune to this
song of Lefty Lanes in "Mandalay!''
To the boy in the box, however. the
words, the tune, the droning Of the
flies on the window pane, the strong
odor of the hymn books and panama
fans, came back, and the clear sun.
light Of Montana seemed TO steal into
the Gaiety as Lefty Lane sang.
The Duchess OF Breakwater clapped
with frank enthusiasm, and said:
she Is a perfect wonder, Isn't she?
oh. she is too bewitchingt"
And she turned for sympathy to her
friend. who stood behind her, his face
illumined. He was amazed; his blue
eyes ablaze, his head bent forward,
he was staring. staring at the Galety
curtain, gone down on the first act.
He laughed softly, and. the duchess
heard him say:
Good! Well, l should say she
was! She's a girl from our town.
When the duchess tried to share ner
enthusiasm with Dan he had disap-
peared. He left the box and with no
Difficulty made his way as far as the
first wing.
-Can you get me an entrance?r he
asked a man he had met once at Os.
dene. and who was evidently an
habitue.
Il dare say. Rippln' show. isn.tit?'
Dan put his hands on ducal shoul.
ders and followed the nobleman
through the labyrinth OF flies.
Which Of 'em do YOU wantlto see,
old mani"
Dan, without replying went. forward
to a small cluster of lights In one OF
the wings. He went forward intuitive,
ly, and his companion caught his arm:
'oh, say, for Gods sake: don't go on
like this!"
But withoptyresponse Dan continued
his direction. A call page stood be,
fore the door, and Dan, on a card over
the entrance read Miss Lane.r The
smell of calcium and paint and per
fume and the auxiliary hung heavy on
the air. The other man saw Dan
knock, knock again and then so In.
Unannounced Dan Blair opened the
door OF the dressing room OF the
actress. Miss Lanes dressing.rooms
were worth displaying to her intimate
friends. They were done with great
taste In coral tint. She might have
been said to be in a coral cave under
the "a, as far as young Blair was
concerned. As he came In he felt HIS
ears dcaden, and the smoke Of ciga'
rettes grew so thick that he looked
as through a veil. The dancer was
standing in the center OF the room,
one hand on her hip. and In the other
hand a cigarette. Her short skirt
stood out around her like a bell, and
over the bell fell a rain Of pinkish
coral strands. She. wore a thin slip
from which her neck and arms came
shining out. and her woman knelt al
her feet Swapping on a little coral
shoe.
Blair shut the door behind him. and
began to realize how rude. how imper
tinent mis- entrance would be consid
cred. But he came boldly forward and
would have introduced himself al
Dan Blair from Blairtown.r but Miss
Lane. who. stood at the entrance
through the smoke, burst into a laugh
SO bright. so delightful. that he was
carried high up on the coral strands
to the very beach. She crossed hei
white arms over her breast and leaned
forward rs a saleswoman might lear
forward overSa counter, and with hel
beautifully trained voice. all sweet,
she asked him:
"Hello, little boy, what will yor
take?"
I -. - 49,