The Ekalaka eagle. [volume] (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, 1913-01-31
Stinoaree's Farewell.

MAI speech, Which deIlSnteO ana anus
cd the press men, actors and actresses
whom he had collected for the occasion.
Only the guest Of honor looked a little
weary and condescending. She had a
sufficient experience Of such entertain
ments In London, where the actors
We're all London actors. the authors
and journalists mel whose names one
knew. Mere peers were no great treat
either. In a word. Hilda Bouverie
was not a little spoilt. She had lost
the girls glad outlook on the world,
which some women keep until old age.
There We're stories about her which
would have accounted for a deeper
deterioration. Yet she was the COVER
nor's guest and her behavior not I'M
worthy OF the honor. On him a: least
she smiled, and her real smile, less ex-
pansive than the platform counterfeit,
had still its genuine sweetness, its
winning flashes, and at its worst it
was more sad than bitter.
Tonight the woman vas an exhaust
ed artist-unnerved, unstrung, untitled
for the world. yet only showing it in
a languid appreciation which her host
and hostess were the first to under
stand. Indeed, 1t was the great lady
who carried her off. bowling with her
platform bow and smiling that smile,
before the banquet was at an end.
A charming suit Of rooms had been
placed at the disposal Of the prlma
donna. The boudoir was like a hot
house with the floral offerings Of the
evening. already t~astefully arranged
by madam's own Swiss maid. But the
weary lady walked straight through to
her bedroom and sank with a sigh into
the armchair before the glass.
"Who brought this" she asked,
peevishly picking a twisted note from
amid the golden furniture of her toilet
table.
II never saw 1t until this minute,
madame" the Swiss maid answered in
dismay. ut was not there ten min
utes ago, l am sure, madame"
"Where have you been since""
Down to the servants hall for one
minute, madame"
Miss Bouverie read the note and was
an animated being in three seconds.
She looked in the glass. The flush be-
came her. and even as she looked all
horror died in her dark blue eyes. In
stead there came a glitter that warned
the maid.
&" am tired Of you, Lea" cried
madam. You let people bring notes
into my room, and you say you were
only out Of 1t a minute. Be good
enough to leave me for the night. I
a look after myself for once"
The maid protested, wept, but was
expelled, and a key turned between
them. Then Hilda Bouverie read her
note again:
concert. Hiding in boudoir. Civ me five
minutes or raise alarm, which you please.
STINGAREE.
So a his words in pencil on her
own paper, and they were true. She
had heard at supper Of the escape.
Once more she looked in the glass, and
to her own eyes in these minutes she
looked years younger. There was a
new sensation left in life!
A touch to her hair, a glance in the
pierglass, and all for a notorious con-
Wet broken prison! So into the bou-
doir with her grandest air. But again
she locked the door behind her and,
sweeping round, beheld a bald man
bowling to her in immaculate evening
clothes.
Are you the writer Of a note found
on my dressing table?" she demanded,
every syllable off the ice.
II am"
"Then who are you besides being an
impudent forger"
You name the M crime I never
committed" said he. II am %Stingaree."
And they gazed in each others eyes.
But not yet were hers to be believed.
HE only escaped this afternoon"
II am he"
with a bald head?"
"Thanks to a razor
"And in those clothes"
II found them where I found the
z Look, they don't fit me as we'll
as they might"
And he drew nearer, f1inging out an
abbreviated sleeve, but she looked all
the harder in his face.
Eyes, l begin to remember your face.
But it has changed"
ut has gazed On prison walls for
many years"
II heard. l was grieved, but it was
bound to come"
ut may come again. l care very
little, after this!'