Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1916-11-09

glance fixed to his own bewildered
face. And something in the light that
fickered wildly behind Max's eyes re-
minded him so strongly Of a similar
expression he had remarked in the
eyes Of Drummond the night the lat
ter had been captured by Ember and
Sum Fat, that in alarm he half rose
from his seat.
simultaneously he saw Max spring
toward the box, with a distorted and
snarling countenance. He was tug
ging at something in his pocket. 1t
appeared In the shape of a heavy
pistol.
Instantly Whitaker was caught and
trippPd by Emher and sent sprawling
some minutes, the action Of the piece
had not yet been permitted to begin
TO unfold. Whitaker inferred that Max
had been dissatisfied with something
about the lighting Of the scene. The
manager was standing IN mid-stage,
staring up at the borders-a stout and
pompous figure, tenacious TO every de-
tail Of that public self which he had
striven SO successfully to make unfor-
gettably individual; a figure quantity
incongruous in his impeccable morn
ing coat and striped trousers and fat
brimmed silk hat, perchsd well back
on his head, with his malacca stick
and Iemon-colored gloves and small
and excessively glossy patent-leather
shoes, posed against the counterfeit
Of moonlit formal garden.
Aside from him, the only other occu"
pant Of the stage was Sara Law. She
sat on a stone bench with her profile
to the audience, her back to the right
Of the proscenium arch; so that she
could not, without turning, have nc
Hced the entrance Of Ember and her
husband. A shy, light, deathlessly
youthful figure In pale and flowing
garments that nodded themselves flu
emily to her sweet and girlish body,
In a posture Of pehsive meditation:
she was nothing less than adorable.
Whitaker could not take his eyes from
her, for sheer wonder and delight.
He was only vaguely conscious that
Max, at length satisfied, parked a word
10 that effect to an unseen electrician
off to the left, and waving his hand
with a gesture indelibly associated
with his personality, dragged a light
cane-seated chair to the left Of the
prOscenium and sat himself down.
Gall ready?" he demanded In sharp
and irritable voice.
The woman on the marble step nod
ded fmperceptibly.
go ahead" snapped the manager.
An actor advanced from the wings,
paused and addressed the seated
woman. His lines were brief. She
lifted her head with a startled air,
listening. He ceased to speak, and
her voice of golden Velvet filled the
house with the flowing beauty Of it's
unfOrgettably sweet modulations. Be
yond the footlights a handful of So
phisticated and skeptical habitues of
the theater forgot for the moment
their ingrained incredulity and thrilled
in sympathy with the wonderful rap
ture of that voice of eternal Youth.
Whitaker himself for the time forgot
that he was the husband Of this wom-
an and her lover; she moved before
his vision in the guise OF some divine
creature, divinely unattainable,
dream woman divorced utterly from
any semblance of reality.
on the floor of the box. AS this hap
pened, he heard the voice of the fire
arm, sharp and vtcious-a single re-
port.
Unhurt, he picked himself up In time
to catch a glimpse Of Max, on the
stage, momentariIy helpless In the en-
brace of q desperate and frantic wom-
an who had caught his arms from be-
hind and, presumably, had so defect
ed his arm. In the same breath En-
Der, who had leaped to the railing
round the box, threw himself across
the fOOtlights with the 1.-THE certainty
Of a beast of prey and, seemingly In
as many deft motions, knocked the
pistol from the managers hand, wrest-
ed him from the arms Of the actress,
laid him fiat and knelt upon him.
With a single bound Whitaker fol-
lowed him to the stage; in another he
had his wife In his arms and was
soothing her first transports Of semi
hysterical terror.
1t was possibly a quarter Of an hour
later when Ember paused before a
door in the grOund-fioOr dressing-rOOm
gangway of the Theater Max-a door
distinguished by the initials rs. L."
In the center Of q golden star. With
some hesitation, with even a little
diffidence, he lifted a hand and
knocked.
At once the door was opened by the
maid, Elise. Recognizing Ember, she
smiled and stood aside, making way
for him to enter the small, curtained
lobby.
"Madam-and monsieur" she said
with smiling significance, told me to
show you in at once, Monsieur En-
ber."
From behind the curtains, Whita-
ker's voice lifted up impatiently !:
THAT you, old man? Come right in /"
Nodding to the maid, Ember thrust
aside the portieres and stepped into
| the brightly lighted dressing room,
then paused, bowling and smiling his