The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1915-11-15
times WAIRLIGIc
BY MAUD COBB.

ITS a curious story" said Ham
mersley, land l don't know quite
which it illustrates more, the power
of men and women to rise on step
ping-stones of their dead past, or the
r0generating force of love. However,
here you are: Anna DeEine, the Gel
ebrated actress, used to spend her
summers at a famous place in the
North woods, now torn down. It's only
a 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 young fellow, 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, as any
woman would be.
Just for a joke she determined to
make the young fellow fall in love
with her. We were all in the secret
in fact, she confded it to US.
''The climax came sooner than was
expected Anna had staged the scene,
merely telling US to be at a certain
spot at a certain time Sure enough,
when we arrived, Jim QuantOck was
on his knees before Anna, pouring
forth a flood of rapture and all that.
And Anna was as demure as a 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 a 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,
and he spotted the game. He doubled
his fists and stepped toward US. l
can tell you I didn't feel particularly
happy just then, with six feet Of mus
cular manhood advancing on me. And
| was the nearest. However, he
stopped short and turned upon Anna.
And the speech he made, while it
lacked the fuency of the actress,
didn't lack dramatic effect He told
l., cI, low cd
that no decent woman in any class
tricked the man who loved her. His
scCrn 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 a pitiful smile
81 guess he spoke the truth, and
don't often hear it, she said. viii
you kindly take me back to the hotel?
well, 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 mechanical
part. The subtle power was lost for
ever.
Five years passed. Anna Devine
~ ri in,
small companies. Sometimes a mana
ger would advertise her name and she
tried to come back, but she never
could. She was gone-all that had
been was gone, and in place of her
was woman who was strange even
to herself. l guess it was about this
time that she began taking drugs.
"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 a few moments Anna did not
know who he was. Then, somehow,
among all her memories this one came
back to her.
81 guess you spoke the truth when
you said l would regret it, she said,
and 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 lumber yard in
! town that was paying handsomely. He
had spent half the time at school ard
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.
well, that's all, gentlemen. You'll
keep the matter sacred, l know, be-
cause-well. you see, I'm about the
only old acquaintance whom Mrs.