Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1920-03-19
CHAPTER /.
The Troops"

Il play lOI al MOllldll OIIiS W AiAlN tiAtta
she had vanished-jumped off the
earth into nowhere. This was my
highest flight, Singleton, the best writ
ing / ever did, and after the vast
pains 1 took with the thing, the only
woman l ever saw who could possibly
act it is unavailable; worse than that,
absolutely undiscOverable Nobody
knows | have this script: I've kept
quiet about it simply because I'm not
going to be forced into accepting a
star | don't want. | have Il feeling
about this play that I never had about
my other things. The public has been
so kind to my email offerings that
I'm trying to lead 'em on to the best |
can do; something a little finer and
more imaginative, with a touch OF
poetry, if you please. And now
He gIared at me as though | were
responsible for his troubles. AS he
knew I had been flying in the French
aviation corps for two years and had
just been invalided home, [ didn't
think it necessary to establish an
alibi. Fate had been kind to Dick
Searles. In college he had written a
play or two that demonstrated his
talent. and after a rigid apprentice
ship as Scene-shifter and assistant
producer he had made killing with
LET George Do IT, farce that earn
ed enough to put him at ease and make
possible an upward step into straight
comedy. Even as we talked a capac-
ity house was laughing at his skit,
'WhO Killed Cock Robin?" just around
the corner from his lodgings. SO his
story was not the invention of re-
jected playwright to cover the non
appearance of play which nobody
would produce.
isn't it always a mistake to write
a play for a particular starr" sug-
gested. Seems to me I've read some
where that that is among the beset-
ting sins of you playwrights.'
"Old stuff, my boy; but this isn't
one of those cases. The person l had
in mind for this play wasn't a star,
but a beginner, quite unknown. 1t
was when | was in London putting on
Fairy Gold that I saw her; she had
a small part in pantomime, and
pantOmime il the severest test of an
actors powers. you know. A little
later she appeared in Honorable Wo-
men, a capital play that died early,
h,1A onoiT1 / fnlt hnT, macmillan
charm--it was just that. She was ex-
quisitel No one ever captured my
Imagination as she did. l watched
her night after night. / was afraid
that when [ heard her voice it would
break the spell, and I actually shook
like man with an ague when she
tripped out on the stage as the in
genue in Honorable Women And
her laughter! You know how hollow
the usual stage mirth is but that girls
laugh had the joy of the lark ascend
ing!"
"By Jovew I calculated, there's
more here than appears. You're in
love with the girl!'
IbuODlSHg HC (IICu
''YOu'll think I'm talking rot, but this
girl was the Installation of a char
acter I had dreamed of and CROPPED
after for years. That's all; but it's
a whole lot, / can tell yOu!"
"Let us be practical for moment,
Searles," l urged. "EmperOrs, presi-
dents, and popular murderers are not
more conspicuous than the people of
the stage No girl talented enough to
get two engagements, even for small
parts, in tirSt-class London theater
could vanish. With your acquaintance
in the profession you'd be able TO
trace her anywhere on earth. BY the
way, what did the paragon call her
Self?'
'ViOlet Dewing was her stage name
and the only name the managers knew
her by. l assumed that, of course,
all / had to do was to finish my play
and then have Dalton. who represents
me over there, make an, appointment
to read it to her; but Dalton worked
for. three months trying to find her,
without success. I wasn't the only
person who was interested in her.
Dalton said that half a dozen mana
gers had their eye on her, but after
Honorable Women closed she stepped
into the void / knew what you're
thinking-that the other members of
the two companies she appeared
with must have had some inkling of
her identity, but | tell you Dalton and
/ exhausted the possibilities. 1t was
by accident that she got her chance in
the pantOminie-sOme one wouldn't do
at the last minute. and they gave Miss
Dewing trial. She was we'll liked
by her associates in spite of the fact
that she was bit offish and vanished
from their world the minute the cur
tain fell
"a clever governess out of a job,
satisfying a craving for excitement