Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-11-10
| | l.

bra7el7.
H..
Ann shiversd again under some.
thing she read. In Madam Holmes
eyes. She had felt it even before the
woman crossed the threshold, had
been feeling it in ever increasing vol
ume while De Retsky and her hus-
band outlined plans for his operate
studies abroad. The great singer had
been silent, strangely silent since 1t
was she who was doing the financing
of that voice. And now the wife
knew that madam was about to speak
and with her eyes pleaded to the
celebrity-as woman to. woman-for
pity, for charity. And madam shrank
before that look, even while her lips
frightened. a$
"Of course" she said slowly, Il shall
provide for your wife while you are
abroad, Mr., Merwin."
Though she had been expecting q
blow, though she had nerved herself
for the worst, Ann could not repress
the little cry of incredulous pain that
leaped from her lips. Her hands
sought her heart gropingly, the hands
that still gripped the unfinished shoe.
you mean-you mean that am
not to go-that Henry is to 60 alone
to leave me and-andI" 49, "
"A student should have no distrac'
ton in his studies" ,ass
Ann felt something go dead within
her. Her hands went out In cropping
fashion toward her husband. l.
Henry you-you want to leave"
She could not finish for the great,
choking sob constructing her throat,
suffocating her.
He wheeled upon her aercely,
plunged into a rage Of his own Great
ing, but madam flashed him a warn.
ing look as Ann sank back In her
chair. t3
my dear" in the great sopranos
voice we're all the tones that had
quickened tears in the hearts of au-
diences throughout the world, you
must not make it any harder than It
is already. Don't you know that !
understand; that I am a woman, and
that I understand your pain at part
ing?" She moved q step closer, plac'
ing her hand upon AIMS shoulder and
k,,rp}nn s,nop Tho <u,o man r ..-s.
you have your choice, Mr.. Merwtn
-milkman or a Voice. I had the
choice and Voice won. It has brought
me fame, wealth, honor. glory: 1t has
lost me all that my heart would have
chung to did I consider happiness
alone. lido not say that it is always
SO, but the price Of fame is often mis-
cry. The price of Fame must be paid
and Fame Is aahard bargainer."
Ann looked'up eagerly, timidly, yet
with u strange ferocity to catch the
impression. upon her husband. What
she read. upon his face filled her with
swift selfIreproach.
II think 1 understand, she wills.
pered softly. II want. the fame for
him.,
sazH Nv.
Strange the quips and whimsies Of
Chance, elusive Chance.
Years that seemed interminable.
years of goading desperation, dis
couragement, self.sacriace, endurance
stretched behind Henry Merwin as he
halted a moment at the stage door Of
the New York Grand Opera house to
allow M Of the stars to enter. A
bitter smile curved his lips, lips that
had frightened since the days when
the milk route alone oppressed his
mind, as he slowly made-up in the
male dressing room for a peasant in
the opening act of "Pagliacci." He
was a chorus man-only a chorus
man.
From below he could hear the
strains of "Cavalleria Rusticana"
which preceded "Pagliacci" and the
voice Of Cabosso. greatest Of all ten
ors. Cabosso. who stood where the
ignorant young milkman had dreamed
Of standing: Cabosso, the announce.
ment of whose singing was sufficient
to pack the great house.
The soul of the artist within him
struggled impotently at his situation,
the difference between the dream and
the reality. Cabosso singing Canfo,
the bitter, disillusioned %pantaloon,
when everything that life could hold
was his: and he, Henry Merwin, with
a voice no less than that of the star,
sang among the peasants. Uncon.
sciously he threw himself into the
role of the man, compelled to amuse
the public with his antics, compelled
to don grease paint when he wished
to smear his face with the blood Of
rival and u%nfaithful wife. His lips
opened and tie tenor aria at the close
of the first act poured from his throat.
He stopped abruptly as q hand fell
upon his shoulder, biting his lips in
mute embarrassment as he looked up
into the eyes of the stage manager. 1t
dawned upon him that he was trans.
crossing the rules of the house in
singing, that in all likelihood. he
would be discharged. And suddenly