The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1923-03-01
The Prin1a Donna @
Verdict

BY JUSTIN wENTwooD

: In the cities, Mr.. Beyan.v
Hank Beyan scratched his head
wal, / dunno" ne solilOquizea
"'Pears TO me a mighty risky thing t.
send a girl off to New York because
she's got a singing voice How muci
d'you reckon it'd bring herr Twent,
dollars week."
Olga smiled. 81 get five thousand
dollars a night, Mr.. Bevan," she an
swered, "and your daughter, trained
| will probably become better singer
than ] am"
"You mean to tell me that gal can
20 straight TO New York and earn five
thousand a night?" demanded the in
credulous farmer.
"Oh, no, Mr. Beyani Not now. Not
for five or six years. And she'll have
10 study, and there will be the awful
struggle that lies before all Of us"
Beyan nodded. Il guess know
about that" he answered. Same in
| every line. Same in my line. When
| took hold of two hundred acres, 1t
was an everlasting grind before / got
penny tucked away in the bank.
You'd oblige me, madame, by not say
| Ing too much to Helen-you under
| stand"
Olga Darkoffsky thought a good deal
about It, She had never expected,
when she took it into her head to
spend a summer month in the old
farmhouse, to find singing prodigy
there. But Helen Bevan's voice. with
its fiutelike quality, amazed her. She
had never heard anything like 1t In an
unframed girl And the thought of
giving a new genius to the world was
at war with her own membranes of
her struggle.
Helen came to her the next day and
opened the matter. shyly saying that
folks thought her voice was good.
Wouldn't she just hear her sing some
thing?
Olga Darkoffsky hesitated. well,
Miss Bevan, suppose you come to me
tomorrow morning, and I'll see what
you can do, and give you my honest
opinion" she answered.
The little girl departed radiant.
The prima donna gazed wistfully after
her youthful FORM How long ago it
seemed since she had been girl
like that, with the same inexperience,
the same ambitions. How hard the
struggle had beenl
And she wondered what her life
would have been Il she had accepted
love instead. She and Marcus had
been wildly In love with each other.
He had begged her to abandon her
hope of career, to marry him for
one evening Olga had been terribly
shaken; then she had made her choice.
and Marcus had gone away. He had
been happily married for years. She
wondered whether she was glad at the
choice she had made.
She could have married often, but
with maturity had come the Inevitable
establishment. II only she could
have preserved that first Illusion that
she had shared with Marcus
She strolled into the lane at eve
ming. IT was growing dark. There
was the sweet fragrance of the sum-
mer flowers In the air Suddenly she
became aware OF 3 couple walking on
the other side of the hedge. She
heard their words:
Helen. there's nothing to 1t. Stay
at home and marry me. I'll be good
to you. sure will You dunno what
that life means"
But want to be great singer.
Jimmy" The girls voice was fearful.
when I've made my name and fame
I'll come back to you"
You won't never come back. Gee,
Helen, can't h see what's going to
happen7 You gotta choose between
that life and me-"
Silence. The mans pleading voice,
again; then Helen:
II Just can't. Jimmy. / want
success so much. l can't give Ii up,
even for you, although love you so
dearly"
Olga Darkofrsky passed on, bitter
little smile about her mouth. So 9TH
ers were going through the same
process; she was glad that she was |
not the onls one who had to suffer.
But she lay awake nearly all night |
thinking.
She rose from her piano in the morn
Ing as Helen entered the room
radiant and fresh.
well, child, what can you singf'
she asked. only the old songs? An.
nile Laurie? That's as good as any
thing. my dear. Now. then" She
crashed out a few chords on the
piano and the sweet, birdlike voice
filled the room.
Helen Bevan ended. turned and
stood waiting. Olga Darkoffsky went
up to her and took her hands.
MY dear, pretty voice. but not
not anything special" she said. II
couldn't encourage you; no. my dear
A nice, second class drawing-ro0m
voice, but nothing more There, done
cry don't cryi"
II wonder whether / did riyhtf" she
asked herself, watching the despond-
emit little figure from her window.
Qualified.
SAre you competent to be motion
picture press agentY asked the emf
nent producer