Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1914-10-23
CHAPTER XXI.
From the Top Gallery.

NN4oC4-
Has Mr.. Wentworth come in YETI"
a telegram.
NO, sir; we're watching for him.
Nobody has seer him."
Ask him to come here as soon as
he arrives"
None of the employees of the Gotham
recognized a man beside the stair of
the upper gallery, where a steep iron
railing jutted out o the side
street. The rain fell softly and he was
mufied to the chin in a drab overcoat.
A felt hat was drawn over his eyes.
He emerged suddenly from the shadow
to lay his hand upon the arm of a
boy who went springing up the grated
stair.
Here, do you want to sell your
ticket for a dollar?" he asked.
are,9 cried the boy emphatically.
Say, mister, why don't We buy one
fer syerself? They're fifty cents, if
yet git in line at the window"
y don't want to stand in line"
The boy thrust the slip of paste
board into Wentworth's hand, seized
b money, and fed to take his place
at the end of the line which struggled
round the corner. from Broadway.
Enoch waited until a throng began
70 press its way up the steps. He
pulled his hat down close about his
forehead and the rim fell to his eyes
When he reached out his hand to the
attendant at the door, the man did not
look at him; he was trying to stem
a tide of human beings and make Ger
tain that each one had paid his way.
Wentworth moved inside the door
and glanced at the gray coupon, then
he passed to an end seat in the third
row. He laid his hat upon the floor,
pulled off his damp coat, and waited
for the curtain to rise. Although the
CHATTER of voices about him was insist
ent, he heard them like a dull jargon
Once he rose to allow two girls with
theft escorts to pass, then seated him
self again with his body hunched for
ward. watching the musicians Chamber
through a low door below the stage
The leader lifted his baton and the
overture began. A a who pushed
unceremoniously past aroused Enoch
from his listless mood. He turned and
stared at a girl who sat beside him
not by the years she had lived, but
by a girlhood spent in airless places
amid the roar Of machinery.
He sat watching her with an impas
sive stare. A dreamy look crept into
her face. The orchestra began to play
an inconsequential thing in which
there was the trip of dancing feet and
a sway Of 1.-THE bodies. He could see
the lines smoothing out in her care
worn face. Her ungloyed fingers beat
time to the music with perfect rhythm
Then her hand went out in an uncon
scious caress to the thin, shabby lac
who sat beside her. He clasped it and
turned to her with an eager smile
Wentworth sighed. !
The curtain rose. People who sal
close under the roof listened with {
tense stiffness. which was never dis
turbed by the rustic that occasionally
RAJ through the orchestra The story
OF the play had grown old, threadbars
and uninteresting to wentworth, bu'
it moved these men and women to the
quick. During the first act the cir
beside him turned to her sweethear
and spoke in a .tremulous whisper
She's a cruel devil!"
Her eyes were bent with hatred ant
scorn upon zilla Paget, who stoot
looking down at Merry. His guilt hat
been discovered. He sat beside a tabl
with his face hidden in his out
stretched arms. while the wife hurle,
upon him a torrent of bitter contume
iy. Once his body shook with a hall
stified sob. Little Julie clasped hi
hand, but her terrified eyes wer
turned upon her mother. Wentworth
had seen the woman in a towerinI
passion; now she threw herself int
the fury Of her role as she had don
in real life, pacing the floor like
Gagged tiger. She paused at Merry
side half exhausted.
Think of the child" he pleade
miserably.
The child-to perdition with tn
child"
Into Enochfs memory leaped a seen
long forgotten Upon the edge of
battlefield, after a bloody encounte
he had once been pressed into no
pital service. Anesthetics were nc
at hand and he had helped by mai
strength to hold a mutilated soldie
while the rye amputated a sha
frro1 hnnn Thu uOnnu 0f n -
which the man tried to stifle, haunte
Wentworth for months. Some tim
in his life Merry must have hear
such a sound and was repeating i
Then the woman upon the stag
laughed.
Damn herr" whispered the lad. WI
sat holding the girls hand.
Wentworth smiled absently. f
watched Dorcas make her entpanc
Something stately and high-mettle
likesan unconscious hauteur, had bee
added to the dignity which was h
sisters great charm. This dignity CO
stantly put Zilla Paget at a disa
vantage; she was coarsened by it, br
talized, and cheapened to a degre
The contrast dawned quickly on a ga
lery audience.
"Ain't Miss Wentworth sweet
whispered the girl by his side.
"Sweet?" repeated her escol
"She's a peg higher n sweet. She
game. game clear to the spine. II
peroxide liddy's a bruiser. I'm achil
10 bat her in the snoot."
you hold your hands off her, Cha
ley answered the factory girl wi
-
wuIcu &c THE DARK AeE