Mountain advocate., 1922-11-24
The Third
Act
By ANTHONY REIMERT


There was a cry Of "encorew
The elder clutched the younger by
the arm. "Do you know herr he
asked
The other studied the programme
Madame Elise" he read.
Eyes, Elsie Roxbury, the famous
English beauty Good heavens, why
did she come heref You know her
storyr
Something about that man Saun-
derson, the government official who
disappeared isn't itf"
"Yes There were two acts to that
drama. Saunderson was a well-known
man in London. He was engaged to a
charming girl, Lord Elforth's daugh-
ter. He had everything In life to look
forward to--well-born. rich, talented.
"Then he met Elise Roxbury. and
for a while their lives were paradise.
That was act one. Lord Elforth's
daughter broke Off the engagement
That gave him his chance to hold up
his head. And nobody cared what the
relationship between him and Elise
was. People are tolerant.
"Then-there was very ugly scan
dal. He seems to havs done some
thing queer about money. Elise had
extravagant tastes. II was hushed up,
but II broke him. He had to leave
the government service. He had to
resign from his clubs. Doors that had
been open to him were slammed In his
face. That was bad enough, but a
second man appeared upon the scene,
a rich man. Elise threw Saunderson
over.
'Tf ever man was broken by a
woman, he was by Elise Roxbury. Act
two saw him a disgraced, discredlted
fugitive over the face of the earth,
penniless. Eventually Saunderson
came out here, got a position with a
mining company, retrieved himself.
Yes, this is the Land of Second
Chances.
ae Elise Roxbury, of course, went the
way of all such women. She disap-
peared from. sight. had forgotten
about her until I saw her twenty
minutes ago. Yes, that's she. She
always could sing. But"
His grip frightened on the others
arm.
1--WE mustn't let her meet Saunder-
son. He told her that she should
never ruin another mans life as she
had ruined his. lie went to her apart
ment in London with a revolver before
he left England. He fred at her
wounded her, believe. That scandal
was hushed up too.
"But If Saunderson sees Elise Rox-
bury here, he'll kill her. / know he
willard he comes in here generally
in the evenings. Now-what's to be
done?
The singers voice rang out In the
song from II TrovatOre:
-"Ah, I have longed to rest me
Deep in the quiet grave,
Have longed to rest me"
The elder mans face whitened.
"Saunderson" he whispered.
A man had just entered by a side
entrance, and was making his way
slowly down the aisle He was about
thirty-five years of age, prematurely
gray. His stern face was set rigidly;
there was a movement of the fingers
in his coat pocket.
The younger of the pair saw that
the singer was staring at the man
coming down the aisle. She had just
finished her song. Plaudlts filed the
cafe.
There was no stage, no footlights.
Elise Roxbury was singing in the small
open space by the plano at the upper
end of the cafe. There was no exit
there. 1t was impossible to flee. even
ii she wished to fee. And Saunderson
was coming on lneXorably.
TOO late !" muttered the older man.
II was far too late. A few steps
more and>the two would stand face to
face. No one in the audience had as
yet noticed anything queer. But the
two men at the table saw that the
singer seemed to have turned to stone.
She was staring AT the man approach
ing her as if fascinated helpless.
She had never appeared so beauti-
full. The plaudits had hardly ceased.
There went up ringing cries again of
"encorel"
The singer paid no attention to
them. But 1t seemed to the two men
at the table across the cafe as II she
made an Insignificant gesture, inviting
the revolver, as If her lips curved
proudly.
Then Elise Roxbury and the man
she had broken were standing face
TO face.
For an instant they confronted each
other; then of a sudden he took her
by the hand. She placed her arm
through his. smiling up into his face.
The two men at the cafe saw him
leading her down the aisle. The audi
ence understood nothing.
"By George" said the younger Of
the two men.