Evening star., 1924-05-25
One Year to Live
By JOHN HUNTER.

ever, and Brunei, apart from few
sine criticismc here and there, found
nothing but praise for her.
There were feverish days for Elise,
feverish In their strain and in their
excitement. She read her new name
wherever she went, on the boardings,
In the journals, everywhere. She
heard of it on the lips Of the people
who sat about her when she lunched
or dined with Brunei. as she now
did often. All the time she worked
and worked, trying to smother and
still that voice which repeated to her
| that every day was one cut off from
those 365 which Lapierre had given
her.
1t came at last-the premiere
came on the evening Of hot. sunny
day when Paris basked in the
warmth.
Elise went down to the theater in a
closed car, and was taken direct to
her dressing room, guarded against
any instrusion by BruneI's special in
structionS.
1t was her chance. She stood on
the brink of vast success or utter
failure. 1t was her chance.
That time during which Elise
waited in her dressing room for her
call was the longest period of dread
ful suspense she .had ever known. A
hundred doubts and hundred fears
filled her Brunei had all along
emphasized that she should dance
just as she had danced to him and
n EN- PITY theater, that she
sitting beyond the footlights. and
| imagine that only he was watching
her. That had all sounded easy until
this night, but now 1t was beyond
the bounds Of possibility. She must
| remember the audience, she must
acknowledge its presence.
She was to appear twice, once in
each part of the revue. The first ap-
pearance. just before the interval,
was to be short. light fantastic,
dance with plenty of movement
| which. as Brunei said, would help to
acclimatize her. On her second ap-
pearance she was to be presented the
piece de resistance of her perform
| ance-a dance scene of her own in
vention. which she had entitled The
Valley Of Hope Forgotten" and which
had been inspired by her own cir
cumstances. Regarding this, Brunei
had said very little, but it was sig
nifcant that IL was the one thing he
had not attempted to alter and the
first he had chosen for presentation
to the public.
The first bars of music from the
orchestra crept up to her. The show
She sat listening. afraid as though
all the piece was hers and her very
life was staked on 1t. The first burst
of applause was like a breIth of
Il
frequent and continuous. She heard
the laughter from the packed seats.
Brunei came into the room.
It's getting them" he said quietly.
You are on in five minutes. Come
down with me and look at the peo-
pie"
She went with him to the wings.
and while two famous comedians
ed out across the footlights to the
auditorium. Except for the little
colored lamps strung between the
tree trunks at the sides Of the stalls
and across the promenoir. the lights
were all dimmed, SO that the place
seemed to sweep away into a vast
immensity, dotted with white shirt
fronts, kissed here and there with the
CLEAN of Jewels. heavy with a rust
ling silence, which now and again
was broken by quick. spontaneous
laughter as one of the performers
made hit.
To Elise It seemed electric sur
charged with a tension which existed
only in her imagination, but which
nevertheless. was real enough to her,
and for little while, as she gaZed,
she felt that she would never have
the courage to walk past the shelter
of the wings into the full glare of
the arcs.
Brunei was apparently very cool.
Actually was tremendously excited,
for the show was going with a bang,
and. despite his great experience, first
nights-and successful first nights
Observation-Disclosures stirred him. But
for Elise's sake he displayed none of
his emotion, and treated the whole
affair with an admirably assumed in
difference which made an impress
sion on her.
The comedians finished-the cur
| tain dropped-the orchestra struck
up again. 1t was her music-hers,
She gathered herself. Brunei said
gently: Just dance. Only that.
Dance-with all yourself"
She was on the stage almost before
she realized II, for so thorough and
constant had been her rehearsals
that she went forward mechanically
at the call of the music.