The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1915-11-19
BY MAUD COBB.

mersley, "snd don't know quite
which II illustrates more. the power
OF men and women to rise on step
ping-stones OF their dead past. or the
regenerating force of love. However.
here you are: Anna Deyine, the eel
ebrated actress, used to spend her
summers at q famous place In the
North woods, now torn down. 1t = only
memory with us who used to go
there. But we had gay times there.
and Anna was always the biggest dare
devil of the lot of US.
There was a young fellow, q guide.
Just an ordinary, simple woodsman.
but made like a Greek god. Apollo.
we used to call him. He took the name
good-naturedly, and probably never
heard OF Apollo before Anna Devine
was struck by his appearance. ss any
woman would be.
Just for q joke she determined to
make the young fellow fall in love
with her. We were all in the secret
in fact, she confided it to us.
The climax came sooner than was
expected. Anna had staged the scene,
merely telling US to be at certain
spot at a certain time. Sure enough,
when we arrived, Jim Quantock was
on his knees before Anna. pouring
forth a food OF rapture and all that
And Anna was as demure as saint
until she looked up and spotted us.
Then she burst into a peal of such
hooking laughter that Jim was aghast.
How she let loose on him! Fury sue
ceeded mOckery-and all the time it
was game. She asked him how he
could have the presumption to aspire
to marry her, how he could dare to
violate his duty as a guide, a mere
hired servant-she rubbed that in
and tell her such nonsense. When she
got through with him he Was as limp
as a rag. He was Just standing with
open mouth, amazed at the transfer
nation.
Then he looked up and saw us,
aud he spotted the game. He doubled
his fists and stepped toward U.S. l
can tell you l didn't feel particularly
happy just then, with six feet of mus
cular manhood advancing on me- And
l was the nearest. However, he
stopped short and turned upon Anna.
And the speech he made, while 1t
lacked the fuency of the actress,
didn't lack dramatic effect. He told
her that she was a depraved woman
that no decent woman in any class
tricked the man who loved her. His
scorn seemed to shrivel up the actress
And when he went on to denounce
her, telling her that the day would
come when she would regret the hon
est love she had thrown away, Anna
just stared at him with wide, terrified
eyes, and said not a word.
Then he turned on his heel and
strobe away into the forest. Anna
turned to me with pitiful smile.
~ guess he spoke the truth, and
don't often hear it, she said. VIII
you kindly take me back to the hotel?
We'll, time went on, and from that
day Annals nature seemed to change
| saw her act that fall and | was
amazed at her performance. Gone was
all the old charm that had captivated
thousands. She seemed a mechanical
creature going through a mechanical
part The subtle power was lost fol-
ever.
Five years passed. Anna Devine
was now playing subordinate parts in
small companies. Sometimes a mana
ger would advertise her name and she
tried to come back, but she never
been was gone, and In place of her
was woman who was strange even
to herself. | guess it was about this
time that she began taking drugs
1.-THE end was approaching, and
Anna realized it. She had run through
her money, she was living in a CHEAP
furnished room somewhere in a
squalid part of the town. She had al
ready bought the carbolic acid She
was sitting upon the edge of her bed
gathering courage to take the draught
when the door opened and Jim Guam
took strobe in.
He dashed the bottle from her hand
fOr rev moments anna Qlu moi
know who he was. Then, somehow
among all her memories this one came
back to her
guess you spoke the truth when
you said | would regret it, she said
aud suddenly reached down for the
bottle again. But Jim was upon his
knees before her, just as he had been
that day in the woods, and telling her
again that he loved her
in those five years he had made
himself an educated man, and pros
porous one. He had a lumber yard in
town that was paying handsomely. He
had spent half the time at school and
the rest in business. First he had
made himself an educated man, then
he had built up his fortune And
through it all Anna had been his in
spiration.
We'll, that's all, gentlemen. You'll
keep the matter sacred. | know, be.
cause-well, you see, I'm about the
only old acquaintance whom Mrs.
QuantOck hasn't entirely drOpped