The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-05-18

anu Sdlu 10 Her IN d low TOME.
I'm sure you are Madame ---,
the Austrian actress
She shivered. Her solitary lustrous
eye turned toward me. From the
black depths of it's pupil I saw flash
of yellow flame She spoke, but in
curious, restrained, hard tone:
why, Madame died in Denver
some years ago."
But the words made no impression
upon me. | had read of the death of
the actress, too. l had believed she
was dead, as would any reader of the
news. Strange that this woman
should be so we'll aware of the place
and the date of the death of this act
ress. / knew I was looking at and
talking to the woman who was sup
posed to be dead And l repeated, in
the same low tone:
I'm sure you are Madame -"
She sank back on the pillow and
became silent.
To the Sisters l said nothing about
my belief concerning the identity of
the patient. | had seen that great
actress perform just once on the aft
ernoon of the day, the remembrance
of which had so wildly and suddenly
come to mind. | was but a boy of
fourteen at the time. The voice of
the actress meant nothing to me. The
accent was forgotten. Had l been
asked before / had heard the old
woman in the hospital speak, whether
or not Madame ---, the great Aus
trian actress, had any accent, | could
not have told. But, by the curious
prank of memory, the profile of the
picture on the billboard had fingered
even though apparently unforgotten,
imprinted on the memory pages of my
brain, for those many years.
Eventually, she told me little. She
was Madame --. When the can
Ger appeared she gave out the news
of her death at Denver. The dispatch
she caused to be sent out said the
body would be taken to Austria by
her sister.
But there was no sister. Her ca
reer from the time she gave out the
| news of her own death was left I'M
| touched. But the imagination of a
physician who has seen the struggles
| and the sufferings of the disease-rid-
den, the poor, the dissolute, needed
no detailed story to fill out the gaps.
| She did not die in her misery. And
| this she felt to be the tragedy She
wished she had died. She hoped to
die, unknown in the slums, to be laid
away as one of the great multitude
of the destitute unknown. But she
had not died. From the miserable
| quarters in San Juan Hill, where she
was found by good st. Vincent dc
Paul man of the Paulist parish, she
had come to comfort, good surround
ings and a living death, living tor
ment in the hospital. For every hour
of her stay had filled her with re
morse. Her mental suffering knew
no bounds. She had~ been reared {
good Catholic and had not gone wrons
until she was a mature woman. Their
drink gaiety, fiattery and importuni
ties had taken her prisoner to thu
wiles, the dangers and the degrade
ton of her later life.
: Once I had penetrated the secret O
, her identity, she slowly confided il
me. But the Sisters were not to know
Madame received the priest
{ and, after months of spiritual content
she died Before she died, when tn
end was near, l asked her if thert
| was anyone, anyone in the world, tina
she wished to have told when he
end would come.
Her answer was that she would lie
me know later. And she did. Sh,
gave me a name and an address
shall call them Henry Wilson, Lo
Angeles-and asked when she wa
dead, "but not until them" to wir,
Mr.. Wilson,
HE, alone, was true; he alon,
, would really care" she murmured. H
knew she had not died in Denver, sh,
explained When he read the dispatcl
in the papers, he had gone to Den
yer, found where she had resided AM
learned that she had left there alive
Later she had sent him line to tel
him that she had heard of his tril
and that she was alive. But him sh,
would never permit to look upon he
disfgured face.
, She died few days after this con
versation with me. To the name ant
address at Los Angeles l sent thi
brief message:
Anna J. died here today"
Three hours after the message wa
filed, the most prominent florist in thu
city called me on the telephone.
eve have an order from Los Ange
les for flowers to be sent in your care
, Where shall we deliver them?" Tha
was the message.
. An hour afterward came this mes
sage from Los Angeles:
"Have burial and all arrangement
) at my expense, inquire Pacific Bank
I The bank informed me that an.
drafts or bills signed by me would b,
r honored.
: So Anna j. cher real name), he
i beauty long dead, and it's loss maxim!
her report her bodily death, now trul,
dead, was removed to an undertake
| orc Tho oocfIu Howorc rooo,