Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-03-20

with Faust seemed about to bring her
a new success, when suddenly =.
a terrible thing happened.
Faust had knelt on one knee:
LET me gaze on the form below me,
While from yonder ether blue
Look how the star of eve. bright and
tender, fingers DER me,
To love thy beauty too"'
And Margarita replied:
''Oh, how strange!
Like q spell does the evening bind mel
And deep languid charm
1 feel without alarm
With its melody enwind me
And all my heart subdue."
At that moment, at that identical
moment, the terrible thing happened.
Carlotta croaked like a toad:
"Co-ack!"
There was CONSERVATION on Carlot-
ta's face and CONSERVATION on the
faces of all the audience. The two
managers in their box could not sup
press an exclamation Of horror. Every
one felt that the thing was not nat
ural, that there was witchcraft behind
it. That toad smelt of birthstone.
Poor, wretched, despairing, crushed
Carlotta!
The uproar in the house was in
describable. If the thing had hap
would have been hooted. But every
body knew how perfect an instrument
her voice was; and there was no dis
| play of anger, but only of horror and
dismay, the sort of dismay which men
would have felt If they had witnessed
the catastrophe that broke the arms
of the Venus de Milo. And
even then they would have seen .
and understood
But here that toad was incompre-
hensible! So much so that, after
some seconds spent in asking herself
| if she had really heard that note, that
| sound, that internal noise issue from
her throat, she tried to persuade her
self that 1t was not so, that she was
the victim of an Illusion, an illusion
of the ear, and not of an act of treach.
cry on the part OF her voice.
Meanwhile, in Box Five, Monchar
min and Richard had turned very pale
This extraordinary and inexplicable
incident filled them with a dread
which was the more mysterious mas
much as for some little while, they
had fallen within the direct influence
of the ghost. They had felt his breath
Moncharmin's hair stood on end. Rich
ard wiped the perspiration from his
forehead. Yes, the ghost was there
around them, behind them, beside
them; they felt his presence withou
seeing him, they heard his breath
close, close, close to them!
They we're sure that there were thret
people in the box. They trem
bled. They thought of run
ming away. They dared not
They dared not make a move
ment or exchange a word that woulC
! have told the ghost that they knew
that he was there! What wa
going to happen?
This happened.
"Co-ackI"
Their joint exclamation OF horro
was heard all over the house. The
felt that they were smarting unde
the ghosts attacks. Leaning over tn
, ledge of their box, they stared at Cal
lotta as though they did not recogniz
, her. That Internal girl must hav
given the signal for some catastrC
phe. All, they were waiting for tn
, catastrophe! The ghost had told ther
1T would come! The house had
: curse upon 1t! The two manager
gasped and painted under the weigh
: of the catastrophe. Richards stifie
voice was heard calling TO Carlotta
. We'll, go on"
No, Carlotta did not go on.
Bravely, heroically, she started aires
on the fatal line at the end Of whic
the toad had appeared.
An awful silence succeeded the u
a roar. Carlotta'g voice alone ono
more filed the resounding house:
81 feel without alarm -. -
). The audience also felt, but not wit
out alarm.
81 feel without alarm
d feel without alarTa-cO- ackl
With his melody enwiHd me-co-ac
3 And a., my heart sUb-co-ack"'
The toad also had started afresh
The house broke into a wild tumu
= The two managers collapsed in the
: chairs and dared not even turn roun'
they had not the strength; the gho