Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-10-29
PINK LINEN FROck
sy DOROTHY ok

|NEN ~ I-rNN.
-wha-aat." cried the Angel. who
haA backed the new musical extrava-
Unxa, The Queen Of the Cannibal
lssss." Lorraine Torrance going to
ieAvc the stage in the midst Of the big
rest Broadway success in years, Is
she crazy. or whaty'
she Is a woman" replied the man
ager. succinctly. as n that explained
everything,
such a voice" went on the Angel,
goomily reminiscent always made
me think Of birds singing in a golden
dawn. or-er-er something like that, you
know. 1t was so full of the joy of
lfving. Then her gaiety and humor-
50 Spontaneous. so fresh. and that lit
tie way she had, so demurely wicked.
by George. 1t was about the most
fesching thing i ever saw"
1T takes a saint to play the devil.
commented the manager. grimly.
-And to think OF her being fool
enough to throw everything up right
now" continued the Angel. why, she's
got s-access-it's in her very hand
Well observed the manager. If.
when Heaven gives a woman tempera.
.ment. 1t would also endow her with a
little reason, It would have saved me
from becoming bald so early in life,
and would have made the show bust
ness a safer and more agreeable occus
patton"
what does she say inquired the
Angel.
The manager fshed a letter out
from under a pile on his desk. and be-
gun to read aloud: Sorry she can't
renew her contract with us. but she IL
going to leave the stage Hopes 1t
won't ~disappoint us. and that we will
have no trouble in finding a substitute
for her In The Queen. but she's
found out that there's something bet
ter than the tinsel of the stage. and
more worth striving for than fame and
mooney"
wish she'd tip me on to what It
is" put in the Angel. parenthetically.
I'm short" continued the manager.
summarizing the lengthy letter, "she
hzs determined to leave the stage,
and stay at home with hubby-you
know that in real life she is Mrs.
lanes Benton-and darn his socks
and cook his dinners"
Where is she?" asked the Angel.
oh" responded the manager, at
soRe little iron mine down in Ala
damn. where her husband is manager
mr. q company. It's a gay metropolis
that consists Of a company store,
with the post office in one corner,
and an interesting population Of a
thousant negro and Italian laborers."
she wont stay there" exclaimed
tho Angel. bringing his fist down on
the desk with a thump. Good God.
think OF a woman like that being
buried alive In such a hole. She'll
be back In two months begging for
her old part. and we win make her
ray for giving us this attack of heart
~fzflure.
Don't count on her too much"
warned the manager. shes a woman.
.yoa know"
While the two men in the little
BFosdway Office were settling her fate,
the pima OF whom they spoke was
standing on a great pile Of Stag. send.
ing her voice ont in a roulade of song
thst siienced. for very shame. the
knocking birds In the nearby clean
-ders. At last, wearied. she stopped,
and turning to the great ugly bulldog
'that crouched at her feet she cried
enthusiastically:
What. Tige, not a round of ap-
plAuse7 Don't you know, sir, that
was my big Broadway hit, and was
gp8x for three curtain calls every
nzgh1- But the faithful dumb ami
mzf only licked her hand by way Of
reply. and with something like a sob
she caught her fingers in his collar
and started homeward.
xvve years before she had married
Jim Benton. who had taken her from
an uncongenial home. where a shrew-
ish and vulgar stepmother had made
fiEe well-nigh unbearable for the girl,
ssdhUse nature was as highly strung
and sensitive as a violin. She had
bored. rs well as her unawakened
hoart could. the big, silent, strong
man. who yearned over her with
~eezseiess tenderness. and for awhile
she had been happy enough in the lit
tie cottage at the mines where they
had gone to live. By and by, however.
.she begun to grow restless, to- feel the
stirring. within her of u-nguessed |
forces and powers and to know. as
genius must always know. that It must
lind expression or die.
she was intensely, vibrantly alive,
and she had never lived. She wanted
TN know. TO feel. to see. to measure
her beauty against other women,s, to
try. the splendid power OF her glorious
voice, and to sway men and women
with It. She yearned and hungered
tor fhe glitter Of streets that were
hui Eames to her, and to be part Of
tfe Wild tide Of life that sweeps
through a great city. For q long dime
1loux ck~ cx~.. M 4.