The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922, October 02, 1917, Image 6
If THE SEMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. The Real Adventure By Henry Kitchell Webster Copyright 1916, Bobbs-Merrill Co. TO FIRST PERFORMANCE OF "THE GIRL UPSTAIRS" IS GIVEN WITH HUGE SUCCESS FOR ROSE JIMMY WALLACE, DRAMATIC CRITIC, MAKES A DISCOVERY Synopsis. Roso Stanton, of moderate circumstances, marries wealthy Rodney Aldrlch, on short acquulntnncc, and for more than n year lives In idleness and luxury In Chicago. The life palls on her, sho longs to do something useful, hut decides that motherhood will bo a big enough Job. She has twins, however, and they nro put In tl'o caro of a professional nurse. Itoso Lgaln becomes Intensely dissatisfied with Idleness, so over the protest of her doting husband she disappears Into tho business world to mnko good on her own Initiative, gets a Job In the chords of a musical comedy In rehearsal and lives In a cheap rooming house. Ilcr taste and Intelligence soon get her a place as assistant to the producer. Her fashlonablo friends think sho has gono to California. CHAPTER XIX. 13 Success And a Recognition. There Is a kaleidoscopic character ntiout tho events of tho ten days or bo preceding tho opening performance of most musical comedies which would make n sober chronlclo of them seem fantastically Incredible. This law of naturo wade no exception In tho case of "The Girl Up-Stnlrs." There were rohearsnTH which ran so smoothly nnd swiftly that they'd have done for per formances; there wero others so ab ominably bad that flio bare Idea of presenting tho mess resulting from six weeks' toll, before tho people who had paid money to see It, was a night mare. Of all the persons directly, or even remotely, affected by this nervc-shnt-tcrlng confusion, Ro3o was perhaps tho least perturbed. Tho only thing that really mattered to her was tho successful execution of those twclvo costumes. Tho phantnsmogorla nt North End hall was n regrettable, but noccssary, Interruption of her more Important activities. Sho wakened automatically at holf past seven and wns down-town by half-post eight, to do whntcvor shop ping the work of tho provlous day re vealed the need of. At nine-thirty nn unheard-of hour In tho theater the watchman nt tho Globe let her In nt tho stogo door, and Itoso had half nn hour, beforo tho ar rival of the wardrobe mistress and her assistant, for looking over tho work dono since sho had left for re hearsal tho day before. Sho liked this quiet, cavernous old born of a place down under tho Globo stage ; liked It when sho hnd It to her self beforo tho two sowing women camo and later, when, with n couple of sheets spread out on tho floor, sho cut and basted nccordlng to her cam bric patterns, keeping nhcad of tho flying needles of the other two. After her own little room, tho mero spa ciousness of it seemed almost noble, In beeping with tho good luck which had attended everything thnt hap ucned In connection with this first venture of hers, sho wns able to tell Ualbralth that both sets of cos tamcB wero finished and ready to try on on tho very day ho announced that tho next rehearsal would be held at cn tomorrow at the Globe, Sho persuaded tho girls to wait un til all six wero dressed In tho nftcr- noon frocks and until sho herself had had a chance to glvo each of them n final Inspection and to mnko nfow last touches and readjustments. Then they nil trooped out on tho stage and stood In a row, turned about, walked hero and there, In obedlenco to Gnl bralth's instructions shouted from tho back of tho theater. It was dark out thcro and dlscon certlncly silent. The glow of two cigars Indicated tho presenco of Gold mlth and Block In the mlddlo of n llt tlo knot of other spectators. The only response Roso got thd raly Index to tho effect her labors hod produced was tho tono of Gal bralth's voice. "All right," he shouted. "Go and put on the others." Thero wns another silence after they had filed out on tho stage again, rind this time In tho evening gowns t hollow, hcnrt-constrlctlng silence, almost literally sickening. But It last cd only n moment. Then: "Will you come down horo, Miss Dane?" called Gnlbralth. There was a Blight, momentary, but perfectly palpable shock accompany- InK theso words a shock felt by ev I wouldn't usk for anything handsom er." nil along. I supposo it's the renson I felt you never could bo an nctross. You see tho thing tho way I do tho whole fun of the game Is getting tho thing. Once it's got . . ." lie snnppcd his fingers, nnd with nn tfligcr nod she agreed. "Well then, look here," ho said. "I've an Idea that I could use you to good advantage ns a sort of personal as sistant. There'll be a good deal of work Just of the sort you did with the ficxtctte, teaching people to talk and move about llko tho sort of folk they're sunposcd to represent. It would he dono more If we could teach chorus people to uct human. Well, you enn do that better than I, that's tho plain truth. Under this new contract of mine thnt I expect to sign In a day or two, I'll simply havo to have somebody. And then, of course, there's the cos tuming. That's a great game, and I think you've a talent for it. "Thero you nre! The Job will bo paid from tho first a great deal better than what you've got here. And the costuming end of it, if you succeed, would run to real money. Well, how about It?" "But," said Rose, a little breathless well enough what had happened. But It was all right. Sho was going on ns if nothing had happened. The other mnn was Jimmy Wallace himself. lie released, too, a llttlo sigh of relief when ho saw her off In her stride ngnln after that momentary falter. But he hardly looked at the stage after that; stared absently nt his program Instead, and presently availed himself of the' dramatic crit ic's license nnd left tho theater. As for Roso herself. In her conscious thoughts sho didn't recognize1 the hope J ly "but don't I have to stay here with tlien a lnwvor in the croun looked up already beating tumultously in Her 'Tho Girl Upstairs'? I couldn't Just Und recoirnlzed him. "Hello. Aid- around, and ronrched back lato bw own cubbyhole. "You needn't telephone, Mlew Bench," said Rodney curtly. And, without another word, he put On his hat nnd overcoat, wnlked straight over to tho club and told the man at the cigar counter to get htm n ticket for tonight's performance of "Tho Girl Up-Stairs." It was after five, nnd he decided he might as well dine here. So he went up .to the lounge, armed himself with an evening puper, nnd dropped Into u big leather chair. But all his carefully contrived en vironment hadn't the power, It seemed, to shift the current of his thoughts. aThey went on dwelling on tho bo- havlor of Miss Beach and young Crnlg, which really got queerer tho more one thought about it. . . . He flung down his paper and went into the adjoining room. Tho largo round table nearest the door was pre empted by a group of men he knew, and ho came up with the Intention of dropping Into the one vncnnt chair. But Just beforo the first of them caught a glimpse of him his ear picked up tho nhraso "Tho Girl Unstairs." And Tho rest of It didn't matter to Roso tho more guarded but nevertheless cordlnl approval of tho two owners, who had yet to make suro on tho fig ures; and tho details of settlement, which left her more than a hundred dollars' profit, even after sho had de ducted the hundred sho owed Rod ney. The point tho point settled by Gnlbrolth's praise was that she had succeeded. Jt was, on tho whole,, a good bar gain on -both sides. But Goldsmith and Block enmo back next day and drovo another bargain, principally to their own advantage, "You'vo certainly got a good eyo for costumes, Miss Dane," Goldsmith said, "and hero's a proposition we'd like to make. A lot of these other things wo'vo got for tho regular chorus don't look ns good ns they might You'll bo nblo to sco changes to mako In them that'll lmprovo them maybo fifty per cent. Well, you tnko It on, and we'll begin paying you your regular salary now; you understand, twenty-flvo dol lars u week, beginning todny." Roso accepted tho proposition with a warm Hush of gratitude. But, from tho moment her llttlo salary began, she found herself retained, body and soul, exactly as Gulbralth himself was. They'd bought all her ideas, all her energy, all her time, except a few scant hours for sleep and a fow snntched minutes for meals. Sho gavo her employers, up to the tlmo when tho ptqco opened nt tho Globe, at a conservative calculation, about flvo times their money's worth. Even If sho hadn't been in tho com pany, sho'd havo found something llko two days' work In every twenty-four hours, Just In tho wnrdrobo room. Thero wnsn't a single costumo outsldo Roso's own twclvo that didn't huvo to bo remodeled moro or less. On top of all thnt, tho really tor-' rlblo grind of rehearsals begun: property rehearsals, curiously dlscon certlng nt first; scenery rehearsals that caused tho stago to seem small nnd cluttered up, and, last and ghast liest, a dross rehearsal, which began at seven o'clock ono night and lasted till four tho next morning. If you had seen them that morning, utterly fagged out, unsustalned by a sluglo gleam of hope, you'd have said It was Impossible that they should glvo any sort of perform anco that night let ulono a good one. But by eight o'clock, when tho over turo was called, you wouldn't havo known them for tho sanio people, Thero wns tho feeling, on tho edgo of this first performance, thnt they were now on their own. The appcaranco, back on tho stago of John Gulbralth In evening dress, Just ns tho cull of tho first uct brought them trooping from their dressing rooms, intensified this sensation, llo was going to be, tonight, simply ono of tho audience, Roso herself wns completely doml nntcd by the now spirit. .Iler nerves slack, frayed, numb an hour ago mid sprung miraculously into tune, Sho not only didn't fool tired. It seemed sho novcr could feel tired again. It wasn't until along In tho third net that tho nudlenco beenme, for her, inytuutg nut n colloid mass some thing that you squeezed and thumped nnd worked as you did tiny, to get It Into a properly plastic condition of receptivity, so that tho Jokes, tho songs, tho dances, even tho spindling veins, that ho would tell Rodney that perhaps even beforo sho got back to Iter dismal llttlo room, Rodney, pacing his, would know. It wns so irratlonnl n hope so un expected and so well disguised that sho mistook It for fear. But fear never mado one's heart glow like that, That's where all her thoughts were wncn Jonn Uulbraltn Halted nor on tho wny from tho dressing room after tho performance was over. "I know you'ro tired," ho said brusquely. "But I fancied you'd be' tlrcder In the morning, and I havo to leavo for New York on tho fast train. So, you see, It wus now or never." Strangely enough, that got her. Sho stared at him almost in consternation. "Do you mean you nro going away?" Bho asked. "Tomorrow?" "Of course," ho said, rather sharply. "I'vo nothing moro to stay around hero for." lie added, as sho still seemed not to havo got it through her hend: "My contract with Goldsmith and Block ended tonight, with the opening performance." "Of course," she said in deprecation of her stupidity. "And yet it's always seemed that tho show was you; Just something thnt T you mado go. It doesn't seem possible that it could keep on going with you not there." fino compliment just tho sort of com pllmcnt he'd npprcclate. But tho old perversity again tho very freedom with which sho said it spoiled it for him. "I may bo missed," ho said It was moro of a growl, really "but I sha'n't be regretted, There's nlways n sort of 'Hallelujnh chorus' set up by the company when they reallzo I'm gone." "I shnll regret It very much," said Rose. Tho words would have set his blood on fire if she'd Just faltered ovci them. But sho didn't. Sho was hope crybody within the sound of his voice, llttlo shafts of roniancu that you shot Because the director had not said, out Into It, could bo felt to dig In and Tnne. corao down hero ;" ho hud Bald : tako hold. nVlll you como down hero, Miss But nlong In the third act, as sho Duno?" And tho thing amounted, so enmo down to the footlights with tho rigid Is tho etiquette of musical com- rest 'of tho soxtotto in their "All edy, to nn accolade. Tho people on Alono" number, ono fnco detached it tho wings tiian't tho stage and in know what she had done, nor In what chnructer she was about to appear, but they did know sho wnf), from now vn, something besides n chorus girl. Rose obediently crossed tho runway and wnlked up tho aisle to whero Gal bralth stood, with Goldsmith and Block, waiting for her. Sho wns fool ,ng u llttlo numb nnd empty. Gulbralth, ns she came, held out n hand to her. "I congratulate you, MUs Dane," he suld. "They'ro admir able With all tho money In tho world. sou suuueniy rrom tno pasty gray surface of those that spread over tho auditorium ; became human lndtvldu nl and Intensely familiar; beenmo tho face, unmlstuknbly. of Jimmy Wnl luco I ii ih priiimmu uint or nil mo au dlence, only two men saw that any thing had happoned, so brief was tho frozon Instant whllo sho stood trans fixed. Ono of them was John Gal bralth, In tho back row, nnd he let his breath go out again In relief almost in tho act of catching It Ho guessed leuve, could I?" "Oh, I shn'n't bo ready for you just yet, anyway," ho said. "I'll write when I am, nnd by thnt time you'll be per fectly free to give them your two weeks' notice. They'll be annoyed, of course; but, after all, you've given them moro titan their money's worth already. Well will you come if I wrlto?" "It seems too wonderful to be true," she said. "Yes, I'll come, of course." Ho gazed at her in a sort of fas cination. Her eyes were starry, her lips n llttlo parted, nnd she was so still she seemed not even to bo breathing. But the eyes weren't look lng at him. Another vision filled them. Tho vision oh, ho was sure of it now 1 of thnt "only one," whoever he was, "that mattered." "I won't keep you any longer," he said. "I'll have them get a taxi and send you homo." She snld sho didn't want a taxi. He didn't demur to her wish to be put on a car, and at tho crossing "where they waited for It after an almost silent walk, ho did manage to shako hands und tell her sho'd heur from him soon. But he kicked his way to the curb after tho car Jmd carried her off, and mnrched to his hotel In a sort of bnflled fury, llo didn't know exactly Tho sincerity of thnt mado It a r.eally just what it was he'd wanted. 'But ho did know, with n perfectly abysmal conviction, that ho wns a fool I CHAPTER XX. One Faco Detached Itself Suddenly. lessly sereno about It. "You'ro tho person who's mado tho six weeks bear uble, and, In a way, wonderful. I nev or could thank you enough for tho things you've dono for me, though I hopo I may try to, somo time, "I don't wnnt any thanks," ho snld And this was completely true. It was something very different from grati tude that ho wanted. But ho realized how nbomlnnbly ungracious his words Bounded, and hastened to amend them. "What I mean is thnt you don't owo mo any. You'vo dono n lot to mako this show go as well ns it did, In moro ways than you know about. It wasn't for me, personally, that you did It. But all tho same, I'm grateful. You'll stay with this piece, I suppose, as ldng-ns tho run lasts. But In tho end, what's tho' idea? Do you wanv to bo an actress?" "Tho notion of Just going on not changing anything or Improving any thing; doing tho same thing over ami over again for forty weeks, or even four, seems perfectly ghastly Just to keep going round and round like n horse nt tho end of n pole. What I'd llko to do, now. thnt this Is finished, Is well, to start another." Ills eyes kindled Anticlimax, It was out of the limbo of the un foreseeable that the blind instrument of Fnto appeared to tell Rodney about Rose. Ho wns a country lawyer from down-state, who had been in Chlcugo thrco or four days, spending an hour or two of every day In Rodney's olllco in consultation with him, and, for tho rest of tho time, dangling about, moro or less at n loose end. A belated senso of this struck Rodney at tho end of their last consultation, "I'm sorry I haven't been able to do more," llouney said "do anytmng, really, In the way of showing you a good time. As a matter of fact, I've spent every evening this week here In tho office." "Oh, I haven't lacked for entertain ment," the mnn snld. "Wo hayseeds find tho city n pretty lively place. I went to sco n show Just last night called 'The Girl Up-Stalrs.' I sup poso you'vo seen It." "No," said Rodney, "I haven't." "Well, It was downright funny. 1 hnven't laughed so hard In a year. If you want a real good time, you go to see It." Tho last part of this conversation took place In tho outer office. Rodney snw tho man off with n final hand shake, closed the door nftcr hlra, and strolled Irresolutely back toward Miss Beach's desk. It was true, he'd been taking It on rather recklessly during tho past two months. But they'd been pretty sterile, thoso long, solitary evening hours.. He'd worked fitfully, grinding away by brute strength for a while, nnd then, In n frenzy of Impatience, thrusting tho legnl rubbish out of tho wny nnd letting tho enigma of his great falluro usurp his mind nnd his memories. "Telephone over to tho University club," ho said suddenly to Miss Beach, "and sco If you can get mo n scat for The Girl Up-Stalrs.' Tho ofllco boy was out on an errand nnd In his ab&cnco tho switchboard was In Miss Rcuch'B caro. She arose obediently und moved over to the switchboard, then began fumbling with tho directory. "Why, Miss Bcacn!" said Rodney. -You know tho number of tho Unlver- ty club I" Ho wns looking at her now with un d.sgulsod curiosity. Sho was acting, for n perfectly infalllblo machine llko MIbs Bench, almost queer. Without looking around at him, sho snld : "Mr. AJdrlch, you won't like that show. If ytu go, you'll bo sorry." "While ho was still staring nt her. young uraig camo oursung niitneiy 1 out of his office. "Oh, Miss Bench I" ho said, and then stopped short, see ing that something had happened Rodney tried nn experiment. "Crnlg," he said, "Miss Beach doesn't wnnt mo to seo 'Tho Girl Up-StnlrR.' She says I won't llko It. Do you ngree with her?" A flare of red camo Into tho boy's '.face, and his Jaw dropped. Then, ns rich," he said, nnd tho flash of silence thnt followed had a galvanic quality. The others began urging him to sit down, but he snld ho was look ing for somebody, nnd walked away down the room und out tho farther door. He knew now tnat he was nfraiA Yet the thing ho was afraid of refused to come out Into the open' where he could seo It and know what it wns. Ho still believed that he didn't know what It was when he walked pust the framed photographs in tho lobby of tho theater without looking, nt thorn nnd stopped nt the box ofllco to tsx change his scat, well down In front, for ono near tho back of tho theatisr. But when the sextette made their first entrance upon the stage, he knew that ho had known for a good many hours. He never stirred from his seat dur ing either of the intermissions. But along In the third net he got up and went out. The knout that flogged his soul had a score of lashes, each with the sting of Its own peculiar venom. Everybody who knew him, his closer friends nnd his ensual acquaintances ns well, must have known, for weeks, of this dis grace, nis friends had been sorry for him, with just n grnln of contempt; his acquaintances had grinned over it with Just a pleasurable salt of pity. "Do you know Aldrlch? Well, his wife's in the chorus nt tho Globe theater. And he doesn't know It, poor devil." The northwest wind which had been blowing icily since sundown, had In creased Jn vlolcnco to n gale. But ho strode out of tno lobby and into tno street unaware or it. He found the stage door and pulled It open. An Intermittent ronr of hand clapping, increasing nnd diminishing with tho rapid rise and fall of tho curtain, told him that the perform ance wns Just over. A doorman stopped him and asked him what ho wanted. I wnnt to seo Mrs. Aldrlch," ho said. "Mrs. Rodney Aldrlch." No such person here," snld the mnn, nnd Rodney, in his rage, simply assumed that ho wftB lying. It didn't occur to him thnt Rose would have tnken another name. Ho stood there a moment, debating whether to attempt to force an en trance against the doorman's unmls tuknblo Intention to stop him, nnd de cided to wait Instead. Tho decision wnsu't duo to common seuse, but to n wish not to dlsslpato his rage on people that didn't mat- tor. Ho wanted It intact for Rose. o went back to the alley, braced himself In tho nnglo of a brick pier, and waited. He neither stnmped his feet nor flailed his arms about to drive oft tho cold. Ho Just stood still with the pntlence of his immemorial ances tor, waiting, unconscious of the lnpse of time, unconscious of tho figures thnt presently hegnn straggling out of tho unrrow door that were not she, What do you suppose happens when Rodney meets Rote at tho stage door? It Is a thrilling meeting they have and the emo tional strews takes them almost to tho breaking point. The netct Installment tells you all about what happened. ITO 1113 CONTINUED.) Why He Camo Home, Roscoo Boone, a Munclo electrical contractor, went homo Into tho other afternoon to Hnd Mrs. Boone enter tulnlng n company of women nt cards, Ho had forgotten about tho party and besides It was the usual period of the day for hltn to remember about the evening meal. "Oh, Mr. Boone," said ono of the guests ns ho stumbled upon tho room llliea witn women, -uia you como homo to supper?" . "Oh, no; not nt all," ho replied gal Inntly, oven If somewhat confusedly, "I Just camo homo to see what tlmo It was." Indlnnnpolls News. Spend More for Sweets. Amerlcnn peoplo are spending moro for candy every year, according to fig ures compiled recently by tho crnsus bureau. They spent over SlSo.OOO.OOO for factory-mndo sweets lust ronr, which Is an average of about SI. SO for every man, woman and child, retires recorded Co yours ago shw that the "That's It," he I well as he could, ho pulled himself annual per capita coiiMiinptlon of suld. "That's what l'vo felt about you 1 together. "Yes, sir," ho said, swung 1 candy was then about 1U cents. A PHYSICAL WRECK Laid Up In Bed, Barely Holding Onto Life. Doan's Effected Marvelous Recovery. "Without warning I was dragged to the brink of tho grave by malignant kidney trouble," says Robert Wen gatz, 114 Cypress Ave., Bronx, N. x. "My kidneys seemed to stop acting and tne pains in ray uau were terrible. Big, bloaty puffs came under my eyes and attacks of dizziness often blinded me. My limbs swelled twice normal size nnd I could press big dents in to tho flesh. "I was confined to Mr. Wtatttz. Bevcrai times a day. Despite the best of treatment, I grew worse and was taken to the hospital. I didn't improve, however, and was brought home again, barely holding onto life. "Toward the last of 1913, a friend persuaded me to try Doan's Kidney Pills and I cannot put into words what they did for mo. The first box helped more than all the other medi cines and treatments I had taken. I continued nnd from an emaciated wreck of a man I have taken on good, solid flesh until I now weigh 225 pounds and am in the best of health. Doan's alone deserve the credit." Bicorn to before me, JAMES T. COUGHLIN, Com. of Deeds Get Doan'a at Any Store, 60c a Box DOAN'S'SSa FOSTER-MILBUIIN CO.. BUFFALO, N. Y. fs no mora ncccitary thanSmnllpox. Army experience bas demonstrated the almost miraculous effi cacy, and harmlessnesj, ot Antityphoid VacclnstlcfV. Be vaccinated NOW by your physician, you and your family. It ti more vital than bouse Insurance. Ask your physician, druggist, or (end for Hava you bad Typhoid?" telling of Typhoid Vaccine, results from use, and dinger from Typhoid Carriers. Producing Vaccines and Serums tinder U. S. License Thi Cutter Laboratory. Berkeley, Csl., Chicane, IIL Won't You Try to Stop Needless Telephone Calls the Lines Are Very Busy and Equipment is Scarce The constantly Increasing scarcity of men and ninterlals Is causing grent difficulty In getting nnd Installing tele phone equipment for the most urgent needs. Long distance telephone fa cilities are loaded to their ut most capacity, and local serv ice in some localities Is suf fering on adcount of the con ditions over which the tele phone companies have no con trol. As the war goes on, the' government's requirements for trained telephone men and for service nnd equipment are increasing. The present busi ness activity Is. also likely to bo extended as tho war con tinues. You can help tho telephone companies "do their bit" for .the government by asking for no additional equipment un less absolutely essential to the conduct of your business nnd by putting every posslblo restraint on the unnecessary and extrnvagant uso of tho local and long distance service. The Plain Truth. "We urc going to eutertuln company tonight." "Somo peoplo you like, I presume." "Mercy, no I Wo would lose our soclul standing If wo entertained peo ple wo like." LIFT YOUR fcORNS OFF WITH FINGERS How to loosen a tender corn or callus so It lifts out wlthout'paln. HHHH,,H,,.,,avHt,,t..Mt Let folks tep on your feet herenfter; wear shoes a size simller If you like, for corns will never again send electric spnrks of pain through you, according to this Cincinnati authority. Ho says that a few drops of a drug called freezone, applied directly upon n tender, aching corn, Instantly re lieves soreness, nnd soon tho entlro corn, root nnd nil, lifts right out. This drug dries at onco nnd simply shrivels up the corn or cnllus without even Irrltutlng tho surrounding skin. A smnll bottle of freezone obtained at any drug store will cost very llttlo but will positively remove every hard or soft corn or callus from one's feet. If your druggist hnsn't stocked this new drug yet, tell him to get n small bottle of freezone for you from his wholosnlo drug house. adv. When a policeman henrs a girl scream after dark he doesn't know whether she Is helng kissed or only assassinated. When Your Eyes Need Care Try Murine Eye Remedy Ho Smarting -J 11st Ujo Comfort. 10 cents at MUHItsE KVK HKMKOY CO..OIIICA(H