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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bill-Toppers, by Andre Castaigne
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Bill-Toppers
+
+Author: Andre Castaigne
+
+Release Date: August 9, 2008 [EBook #26242]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BILL-TOPPERS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Poland, the Parisienne. Page 123. Frontispiece.]
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+THE BILL-TOPPERS
+
+By
+ANDRÉ CASTAIGNE
+
+With Illustrations
+BY THE AUTHOR
+
+A. L. BURT COMPANY
+Publishers--New York
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Copyright, 1909
+The Bobbs-Merrill Company
+
+August
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+TO MY LITTLE FRIENDS
+THE STARS!
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+THE BILL-TOPPERS
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+THE BILL-TOPPERS
+
+OVERTURE
+
+All around stretched the great blue sky and the blue sea of the Gulf of
+Bengal.
+
+Mrs. Clifton lay dozing at full length on a pillowed bench and her husband
+sat near her and followed his Lily, his daughter, with his eyes: his Lily,
+eight years old, "that high," waving among the passengers the white coral
+necklace which Pa had bought her on leaving Australia; his Lily, his star,
+his New Zealander on Wheels! His Lily who had had such successes at
+Melbourne, at Sidney: bouquets, tons and cart-loads of bouquets! And the
+past would be nothing compared with the future, with the astounding tricks
+which he was inventing for his Lily. The mere sight of her raised his
+enthusiasm to boiling-point. And he was going to show them, in Calcutta
+and elsewhere, if they knew how to make stars in New Zealand or if they
+were only fit for raising mutton.
+
+Clifton was an artist, an "artiste," a born artiste: starting as a mere
+clerk in an office, he had become an amateur cyclist and then a
+professional on the track. He married an Englishwoman at Wellington and,
+at Lily's birth, decided upon a career: the stage, with Lily for a star
+later on! And he set to work, with vim and vigor, learned a few tricks on
+his bike, taught his wife the business in less than no time; and Lily's
+first memories as a four-year-old were:
+
+"I was sitting on Ma's shoulders, Ma on Pa's and Pa on the bike."
+
+And Lily zigzagged through New Zealand, from east to west and north to
+south, and Australia after, where she received plenty of applause for her
+tricks, childish in themselves, but well presented. Her triumphant path
+wound among tinseled bottles containing paper flowers, with a faultless
+standstill for the climax, one hand on the handle-bar, the other blowing
+kisses to the audience. This procured Pa an engagement for India. He
+ordered a beautiful colored poster, "The Clifton Family, Trick Cyclists,"
+with a portrait in the corner of his own strong face and bristling
+mustache--"P. T. Clifton, Manager"--one more rung in the ladder of life
+mounted, thanks to his Lily.
+
+And Pa smiled to his daughter and, as she ran past him, lifted her on his
+knee and stroked her fair curls; and the child cuddled up to her Pa,
+opened her lips to ask questions, but was silent, with her eyes lost in
+space, puckering her little forehead, in which were heaped so many mingled
+memories of the stage and the great world outside: the Boxing Kangaroo;
+tall cliffs; green islands; the bike; Batavia among the trees; Singapore,
+with its noise and dust. And Lily, wearily, dreamed and murmured things,
+while the steamer sped on, thud, thud, thud, flat as a stage in its blue
+"set."
+
+Lily's impressions of India were months of jolting and bumping, stops in
+the dead of night while the tent was pitched, rains, strong smells,
+oppressive heats--months and months of it, Ma on Pa, Pa on the wheel and
+she on top, waving flags. Yellow faces on the benches, red flowers and,
+somewhere, on a river-bank, two eyes glittering in the dark: a tiger,
+somebody said! And every night the artistes, carrying lanterns, walked in
+file between the circus and the hotel, with the ladies in the center and
+Lily clinging to Ma's skirt.
+
+She did more now, in addition to the bike: a song-and-dance turn. In a
+piping falsetto, she quavered:
+
+"Star light! Star bright!"
+
+She was spoiled by the ladies, the wives of the officers stationed in
+those out-of-the-way holes. She played with smart children, was taken for
+drives, had her social successes! Chocolates, sweets, kisses. And a lady
+gave her such a pretty dress: his Lily! Pa burst with delighted pride to
+see her treated like that; and Ma scolded her a bit, for the little flirt
+that she was, while fondly tying the two satin bows over her ears.
+
+Lily was a regular tomboy, with pranks invented by herself, from ideas
+which she picked up in traveling: for instance, she would choose her
+moment and chuck a piece of bacon among the Mohammedans sitting under her
+window; and she would revel in her own fright at those furious faces
+suddenly glaring up at her from below! And she would stand with drooping
+head, one finger in her mouth:
+
+"Oh, _so_ sorry!"
+
+What fun! And as an artiste she was spoiled and petted everywhere. Goa,
+Bangalore, Tanjore and then Colombo, and a ship with elephants, tigers,
+camels, children, men, women, wagons, one great mix-up, a circus and
+menagerie in one, steaming toward South Africa; and Miss Lily of the
+Clifton Troupe paraded her well-brushed, neatly-parted curls in the midst
+of it all, gazed open-mouthed at the blue expanse of water until, her eyes
+drunk and dazed with light, she went and lay in her cabin.... And more and
+more blue water. And thud, thud, thud. And Cape Town in the mountains.
+Africa behind it: a country all yellow, where the trains wound in and out
+of the rocks; villages, up, up, up, or else right low down, on the yellow
+veldt; and, at night, on the benches, crowds and crowds. Immediately after
+the show came sleep, troubled by the jolting of the train; and the circus
+was always there next day, on the right or on the left, with its Chinamen
+and its niggers driving stakes or tugging at ropes. A bell for dinner, a
+whistle for the show; and, as soon as the show was over, to bed,--and off
+again.
+
+Pa made her practice harder now, wanted to make a great artiste of her.
+And there was a class, too, kept by a "marm" who traveled with the circus
+and taught spelling and arithmetic and the art of letter-writing, from
+"Yours to hand with thanks" down to "Believe me to be." Lily would have
+been bored to death but for the accidents of travel: sometimes the engine
+broke down, bringing the train to a dead stop amid the great African
+silence, near a field of Indian corn, in which the children played
+hide-and-seek. Or else there were locusts, locusts "that thick," right
+inside the carriages. Lily would tie them by the leg and:
+
+"Flip! Flap! Lively now! Jump!"
+
+But funniest of all was the caravan--she couldn't remember where, in Natal
+or thereabouts--wagons with ten yoke of oxen. They climbed up endless
+winding roads. The men shot at birds and prospected for diamonds along the
+wayside; and at night they took the hay from the mattresses to give to the
+cattle. Lolling indolence was in the air and plenty in the larder: big
+fruits, strange game, which they cooked in a makeshift oven consisting of
+a few stones. Then they rolled themselves up in a blanket, near the
+elephants tugging at their chains, and slept under the tent in the cool,
+bright, starry night.
+
+[Illustration: LILY IN INDIA]
+
+Months and months passed. Lily was becoming very clever: the New Zealander
+on Wheels! She was cleverer than Pa, who no longer performed, nor Ma
+either. On their return to Australia, Lily appeared by herself in the
+music-halls, and P. T. Clifton, Manager, watched her from the wings, in
+growing admiration: his Lily was a star now, too good for a circus! And
+Australia, pooh! Sidney, Melbourne, pooh! What Lily wanted was New York,
+London, the Hippodromes, the Palaces! He'd show them a star that was a
+star! And Clifton clenched his fists and pretended not to see when Lily
+made a blunder on the stage: his Lily missing a trick! Disgracing her Pa
+like that! He blushed to the eyes at the thought of it! And, when she
+returned to the wings, he twitted her proudly:
+
+"What next, Lily! An artiste like you!"
+
+And Ma adopted a sarcastic air and congratulated "mademoiselle" as she
+threw the white wrapper over "mademoiselle's" shoulders.
+
+Ma detested the stage. She did not think it a nice place for herself; but
+for a brat like Lily, Lord, it was quite different! And she ought to have
+tried to please her Pa and Ma. Mrs. Clifton, though she never voiced the
+wish, had visions of a trip to London, to stagger some relations, a
+sister-in-law she had there, and sneer at the old country, in the usual
+colonial fashion, and show them what the new countries can do, countries
+where you make a fortune in less than no time! And, little by little,
+smitten with Mr. Clifton's enthusiasm, she came to believe that, in Lily,
+they really possessed the infant prodigy, the treasure-child upon whom
+their fortune depended. And Ma, too, was vexed when Lily missed a trick on
+the stage.
+
+Lily laughed at their anger. Ma had never raised a hand to her; and, as
+for Pa, when he scolded, Lily had such a way of looking at him, with
+lowered head--"Oh, _so_ sorry!"--that Pa simmered down again at once.
+Lily, a regular "tenter," shot up freely, grew up a real tomboy, went a
+bit too far, in fact, Ma said: at Honolulu, for instance, on the road to
+'Frisco and New York, where Pa had resolved to go, at all costs, come what
+might--it was one step nearer London!--at Honolulu--ten days there and
+such a success!--the child played truant in the gardens teeming with birds
+and fruit, climbed apple-trees, was caught one day and scampered off at
+full speed, pursued by Ma, who threatened to give her a sound smacking
+this time, the little thief! But Pa thought it ridiculous, for the sake of
+an apple....
+
+"And suppose Lily had broken her leg with her nonsense?" asked Ma
+indignantly. "Where would your New York be?"
+
+Pa felt himself a conquering hero when they steamed through the Golden
+Gate: the States at last! And no sooner was his foot on the wharf at
+'Frisco than off to the agents at once, with his photographs, his
+contracts, his posters! But it was her birth-certificate they asked to
+see. And no babes and sucklings allowed on the stage here. It was all
+right down yonder, but the law prevented it here.
+
+"Damn your laws!" snapped Pa furiously. "Do you think we make stars to
+hide them under bushels?"
+
+And whoosh! Off for Mexico, where children are allowed to perform.
+
+Now, in Arizona, near Phoenix, where the train stopped for some hours,
+owing to an accident to the Rio Gila bridge, Pa happened upon a
+merrymaking which reminded him of West Australia. Cow-boys, galloping
+horses, a pretense at fighting, lassoing, revolvers, a track for amateur
+cyclists and--yes, there, in the desert!--on a platform, right in the
+middle, what should Pa see but an amazing artiste, riding on the
+back-wheel, with the other in the air! And such twirls! And the boys
+shouted to him:
+
+"Hullo, Trampy! Have a drink, Trampy!"
+
+And Trampy accepted:
+
+"With you, my lord! As soon as I've done, my lord!"
+
+And off he wheeled, head on the saddle, feet in the air, whistling _Yankee
+Doodle_!
+
+It was impossible! Pa rubbed his eyes: what! Was this what they did in the
+States in the desert? And he who had hoped, with Lily ... why, damn it,
+Lily knew nothing! He himself, her manager, knew less than nothing! He,
+who thought he had formed a star! Pa was red with shame. And, suddenly, he
+had a happy thought: he, too, offered Trampy a drink, something to propose
+to him....
+
+"All right."
+
+They shook hands, went to the bar, lit a cigar, like men, by Jove! Clifton
+loved to talk business, to pull out notebooks, quick, and jot things down
+with a knowing air. Trampy, a mere boy, easy-going, genial, without a red
+cent for the time being, didn't care a hang about business and was soon
+telling Clifton the story of his life: drummer, reporter, racer; his
+descent,--"Two whiskies, boy!"--what was he saying? Oh, yes, his descent
+of a staircase on the bike, yes, siree, with a red-hot stove under his
+arm--a stove painted to look red-hot--pursued by a policeman, leaping over
+obstacles on the bike; great success at Duluth and Denver as a tramp
+cyclist: hence his name of Trampy Wheel-Pad. But those girls, by Jove!
+Well, he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day. Still, a
+rolling stone doesn't climb hills. Here he was, stranded. Go to Mexico? So
+much a week? Such and such a turn? Teach the child? Cert!
+
+Lily never alluded to Mexico afterward without shaking with anger. My, to
+listen to her, how badly they treated her in Mexico! Worse than a Dago! To
+tell the truth, it was hot; and Lily, already tired by those long journeys
+in varying climates, Lily would have preferred to do nothing and to
+continue to lead her careless life as a playful filly. But no, poor Lily
+was caught by the hind-leg in Mexico! Ambition had seized upon Pa, body
+and soul, and life became a more serious matter for the child.
+
+"Look here!" said Pa, pointing to Trampy. "What he, a man, does, you can
+do! I'll see to that!"
+
+Pa arranged for a place in which to practise at their ease. In the
+evening, on the stage, he watched and studied Trampy's tricks and, in the
+morning, quick, out of bed, look alive, the bike! Pa no longer had his
+open-mouthed admiration for Lily, as in South Africa and Asia: his Lily
+knew nothing at all! But in three months, six months, if necessary, if it
+cost him every penny he possessed. And it was:
+
+"Come along, Lily ... to work! Show what you can do!"
+
+Trampy, in this country of _mañolas_--"Grand, by Jove!"--came round about
+eleven; and Pa, all out of breath, passed Lily on to him:
+
+"You have a go at her, Trampy! I give up, she won't do what I say!"
+
+And Trampy put down his cigar, took off his collar and cuffs and it was,
+"Come along, Lily!" till lunch-time. The child, her eyes blinking with
+fatigue, fell fast asleep before the end of the meal.
+
+Pa was delighted.
+
+And he confided her to Trampy more and more, with orders not to spare
+smackings in case of need:
+
+"Eh, Lily? Eh?"
+
+As for him, he had business to do, letters to write, great schemes in his
+head! for instance, he must try to get permission for Lily to appear in
+the States.
+
+"Time for a cigar, I guess," said Trampy, as soon as Clifton was gone.
+
+Work stopped abruptly; a tumbler's carpet rolled up in a corner formed an
+inviting lounge; and Lily, panting from her practice, would stretch
+herself beside him and enjoy a few happy moments, the only really happy
+moments of the day; for there were matinées in the afternoon and the
+evening performance at night, till she was ready to drop with weariness.
+Trampy treated Lily nicely, like a grown-up person, called her by the name
+of a fruit, or a flower, or a bird, jollied her, called her "little
+wifie:" it was all one to her. He made her laugh with his funny stories,
+his fairy tales about himself, his terrible struggle with a snake in the
+streets of 'Frisco, after a champagne supper: girls, by Jove! He toned
+down his anecdotes and dished them up for Lily's entertainment; told her
+absurd yarns enlivened with mimicry, in which he excelled, like the real
+mummer that he was, and Lily shrieked with laughter, head thrown back,
+full-throated.
+
+And there was a spice of fear in it all: was that Pa coming back? No, a
+carpenter or scene-shifter, perhaps, or else the Martellos, brother and
+sister, going to practise slack-wire, head and hand balancing. Their
+father, old Martello, a famous name, lived in London, it appeared, alone
+with his Bambinis, mere babes still. His other children and his
+apprentices had all run away, to escape his horsewhip, and the brother in
+Mexico was continuing the tradition. His brutality, in fact, got him into
+trouble wherever he went, so much so that the big music-halls were closed
+to him, for fear of scandal. And he terrorized his sister, Ave Maria, a
+girl of sixteen, a dark girl with great dark eyes. Ave Maria never spoke
+to anybody; when she passed through the room where Lily was having fun
+with Trampy, she fixed a fiery glance upon them, even ventured on a smile,
+for Trampy in particular, whose lively stories reached her through the
+partition behind which she dressed. Oh, how she envied Lily! But she
+passed very quickly, because of her brother.
+
+And this time it was Pa! Lily jumped on to the saddle like mad, played her
+part to perfection, puffed and panted, as if the last drop of strength
+were oozing out of her, and Trampy joined in the little comedy of fibbing
+and dissembling:
+
+"There, like that, Lily, or I'll smack you!"
+
+"That's right," said Pa. "Make her work!"
+
+And, just to show Lily what work meant and that her Pa was not so unkind
+after all--"It's for your good, Lily! You'll thank me one of these
+days!"--he took her to the stage, where Ave Maria was practising. Now, of
+course, in the circuses, Lily, occasionally, had seen children knocked and
+cut about with blows and trained to say, "It was the cat," when any one
+asked them about the marks. They were ordinary children; she had rolled
+about in the sawdust with them, played hide-and-seek with them in the
+fields of Indian corn; they were children who romped and ran about and
+laughed. Ave Maria was different. The brother, a savage, scowling brute,
+was always after her, harrying her with muttered threats. She was in a
+constant, visible tremble of fear; and, if she slipped on her wire, the
+fellow snarled as if to bite her in the foot, pinched her black and blue,
+restored her balance with a blow of the belt, shook the supports to make
+her fall just to see!...
+
+"Oh, Pa, he'll kill her!" whispered Lily, when she saw Ave Maria
+practising.
+
+"It's none of our damned business," replied Pa curtly.
+
+Martello's evil example ended by catching hold of Pa: that's how artistes
+were formed, damn it! And, at the thought of the time wasted, he clenched
+his fists. To have a Lily of his own, all his own, and to have made
+nothing out of her yet! Still, it was not Lily's fault. Yes, though, it
+was her fault, she was so stubborn, so wilful! When he told her to do a
+thing, why not do it? Instead of bleating:
+
+"Pa, I can't! Pa, I can't!"
+
+A brief struggle, in a way, followed between Lily and her Pa. Lily was not
+built for passive obedience, wasn't used to it. She no longer knew her Pa.
+When he came at her with his hand lifted to strike, when he spoke of
+unbuckling his belt--"Damn those blasted brats!"--Lily eyed him with a
+look of anguish:
+
+"But Pa, I'm not Ave Maria!" she said. "I'm not a Dago."
+
+And she raised her little rebellious face to him. He humbled her with a
+smack on the cheek:
+
+"On the saddle! Up! Quick!"
+
+The child, mastered by her Pa's strength and energy, ceased to be the
+spoiled child, became an artiste.... Head on the saddle, back-wheel: just
+like Trampy! Pooh, Trampy, after a few months of this life, was nowhere,
+Clifton admired him less and less, Lily was doing all that he did, more
+than he did; and without a fault, without a hitch, unerring and exact! Pa
+swelled with pride at the mere sight of his Lily, his four stone ten of
+flesh and bones fitted to the machine, his Lily, the Lily of his dreams!
+
+"I'll dress you in velvet and satin!" he said, in his enthusiasm. "I'll
+cover you with diamonds."
+
+Pa, thanks to his indomitable energy, had made something of his Lily, a
+real artiste, at last! And business was moving, too! He had a contract in
+his pocket for the States, where Lily would no doubt get permission to do
+her "childish tricks," seeing that she was traveling with her Pa and Ma.
+As for Trampy, Pa had no use for Trampy, made no bones about sacking him
+on some pretext or other:
+
+"Run away and play with your girls, by Jove! Or whatever you please!
+Good-by! Ta-ta!"
+
+And off for Denver, whence they were to continue the journey up to
+Chicago.
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was the dive for good and all into the stuffy atmosphere behind the
+scenes, which Lily was never again to leave, brick walls, where she waited
+her turn on the elaborate program of the "continuous performances," amid
+the thunder of the orchestra and the lightning of the reflectors. No time
+to go out, meals consumed in your dressing-room on the top of the basket
+trunk. In the mornings, new tricks to practise on the stage, in the midst
+of a herd of girls whom gentlemen in their shirtsleeves were training to
+sing in chorus and to keep step to the strum of the piano. And ever and
+ever so many new faces, a tumult of tongues which Lily heard on the stage,
+in the dressing-room, and even in her room at the hotel, through the thin
+partition walls: a lingo made up of coarse remarks and thick stories,
+punctuated with spitting and oaths strong enough to carry a tower of
+Babel. Lily opened her eyes and ears, heaping it all up, storing it all
+away behind her stubborn forehead....
+
+And new people, new people: "families," "brothers," "sisters," troupes,
+troupes, troupes! Or else stars by themselves, "bests," "uniques:" a
+female-impersonator, a green-eyed boy who wagged his hips like the very
+devil and took off the girls; Poland, a Warsaw Jewess, a redheaded,
+overscented beauty, who did the "Parisienne," and ever and ever so many
+others. And Lily, so slender and frail, was the pet of them all. They
+called her their pretty baby, their _petit chéri_, and, with their painted
+mugs, kissed her full on the lips.
+
+Pa detested this "rotten lot" and Pa was not always in a good temper. Lily
+"under age,"--again! Why, there were even managers who informed the
+police, so as to be on the safe side; "traveling with her parents;
+childish tricks; nothing difficult."... Ma's indignation knew no bounds:
+what nonsense to prevent a great big girl of fifteen from earning her
+living! For she aged Lily as much as she could, to obtain the permission,
+when no papers were asked for; and she had trained Lily to reply to the
+indiscreet questions of the officials: was her trick hard? Was she forced
+into doing it? Lily answered mechanically that she liked the bike very
+much. And then they allowed her to perform.
+
+As for practising, permission or none, that was nobody's damned business.
+And if some old sheep took to bleating--"Poor child, you'll be the death
+of her!"--Pa sent the old sheep to eat coke; and it was:
+
+"Up, Lily! Get on your bike! Look alive!"
+
+And the bloomers that Lily wore out! Ma was kept busy in the dressing-room
+mending the rents at the knees and patching the seats:
+
+"What a tomboy!" Ma cried.
+
+And this went on for months and months. And then came Chicago; a visit of
+Pa's to the agents; and a contract with the New York Olympians, a
+variety-show coming from the West and returning to New York by Columbus
+and Pittsburg. And new people, new people; stars of every kind: the Para
+woman, a rheumatic juggler, who was obliged to change her turn and become
+an exhibitor of performing parrots, a ragged, molting troupe, picked up
+cheap at second-hand; an infant prodigy who topped the bill, a
+boy-violinist, leading an orchestra, too, at fourteen, a pretentious
+little humbug trained to make a few movements, while others did the work.
+Lily thought him so good-looking she simply couldn't take her eyes off
+him. And then she had some big girl-friends who had had love affairs! They
+were the Three Graces, gymnasts endowed with bodies like so many Apollos,
+honest German faces and a bewildering amount of strength, pluck and
+precision....
+
+"What smackings that must have taken!" thought Pa.
+
+But no, their uncle and manager, Mr. Fuchs--a name as famous in its way as
+Martello's--was known for his gentleness and adored and coddled and
+pampered by the Three Graces, who, at a sign from "Nunkie," as they called
+him, joyously rushed to practice, taking a pride in pleasing their dear
+Nunkie.
+
+"The old rogue!" said Pa enviously. "He has an easy time of it; whereas I,
+with my skinny kitten, damn it ...!"
+
+Well, well, he mustn't complain, as he himself admitted: one more rung
+which he had mounted, thanks to his Lily, that engagement with the best
+variety-show in the States; nothing but big theaters: Orpheums! Dominions!
+And New York next! And then London! Things were moving, moving! And Pa
+looked lovingly at his Lily, as she played at being grown up with the
+Three Graces, in the train on Sunday, traveling from town to town, while
+Ma was knitting things for her tomboy. He talked to Mr. Fuchs as between
+equals, as between man and man, as between the manager of a star and the
+owner of a troupe; and the train rushed on, rushed on, with an indistinct
+sound of the engine-bell, now and again, when they crossed a street. Mr.
+Fuchs, heavy-jawed, slow of speech, said that he had had enough of
+traveling, at his age, if it were not for his dear nieces. He would like
+to retire to the country, to his little home, and grow his roses, as soon
+as he had married off his dear nieces, which would not be long, no doubt.
+As it was, one of them, Thea, the one who did five pullings-up with her
+left hand, had his permission to receive letters from her sweetheart, a
+young man at St. Louis, quite well-off. The idyl made good Mr. Fuchs
+blossom into a genial smile: family life! Simple joys! The only true ones!
+Worth more than the stage! And Nunkie talked and talked: the Parisienne, a
+perpetual scandal! And wait a bit: what was that he heard at an agent's
+the other day? Yes, the daughter of his old friend Martello, Ave Maria her
+name was, had left her brother, and run away from Mexico with a man! Tut,
+tut, the things one saw nowadays!
+
+Pa hardly listened to the old crock, preferred to dream of New York and
+the success his Lily would achieve there! And Lily, sitting close by,
+listened with all her ears, puckered her little forehead: love, love....
+And Ave Maria, who had run away with a man.... Why with a man? And she
+squeezed up against Thea, the Grace who was in love ... put question after
+question.... She talked of her boy-violinist, of Trampy. And they all
+laughed boisterously, with heads thrown back, full-throated, and Nunkie,
+very paternally, congratulated Mr. Clifton on his daughter's niceness.
+
+"For goodness' sake, don't go putting it into her head that she's pretty,
+the little devil!" protested Ma. "That would be the last straw!"
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+The arrival in New York was a disappointment to Pa. The authorities
+insisted on seeing the papers this time. Lily was under age; just as at
+'Frisco. What! Why? Because of former scandals, it appeared: Martello and
+Ave Maria. What had he, a British subject, to do with those Dagoes who
+spoil the profession? growled Pa. He ended by rebelling against the
+injustice of it, thought of the Three Graces hard at work rehearsing under
+Nunkie's eye, while he, Clifton, had not even the right to set foot on a
+stage and let Lily practise there. To work, to work, damn it! And he
+locked her up all day in her room doing her balancings, the boomerang on
+the front wheel, the standstill on the back-wheel, or the bike upside
+down, with Lily standing on the pedals, like a convict on the tread-mill.
+The pack of fools! Because a Dago had whipped his sister, wasn't a Pa to
+have the right to bring his own daughter up? To work, to work! And he kept
+her at it for hours and hours, watched and knit his brows, like a sage
+pondering for hours over the solution of a problem.
+
+Lily, breathless, would turn a look of entreaty upon her Ma, but Mrs.
+Clifton, with her nose bent over her work, pretended not to see,
+obstinately went on cutting out, patching, sewing her tomboy's bloomers.
+Lily longed for Trampy....
+
+At night, Pa ran from theater to theater: from Fourteenth Street, where
+they lodged, to Twenty-third Street; took the elevated to Fifty-eighth
+Street, to Hundred and-twenty-fifth Street! All theaters at which Lily
+would have triumphed but for those dirty Dagoes! And the things that were
+served up to the public, pooh! Clifton laughed with scorn. Troupes of
+English dancing-girls--the famous Roofers--with movements like stuffed
+dolls; and cyclists, pooh! Hauptmanns, fat freaks turned out in Berlin: if
+that was the best they could do, pooh! Oh, if he had only had the right to
+send his New Zealander on Wheels scooting in among their legs, just to
+show the public what a star really was! And all the morning he ran about
+the town talking of "childish tricks--a big girl" to the police and
+"wonderful tricks--the only girl of her age who can do them" to the agents
+in the St. James' Building. Oh, if he could have London! He longed to
+measure his strength against all those famous names--Marjutti, Laurence,
+the Pawnees--just to show them his Lily!
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now it was the last stage. All around stretched the dark sea; and the
+liner sped--thud, thud, thud--through a gloomy set. Three days more and
+then Liverpool; and London at last! Pa was about to realize his dream. He
+had signed, at last, for the Castle, in London! It was all right, it was
+all right! Prospects fine! And Harrasford was on board; it seemed a sign
+of good luck! He was traveling with his architect. Harrasford, the great
+English manager--Pa knew them all by name--Harrasford, the man for whom a
+whole nation of "artistes" toiled and moiled nightly. Pa had caught a
+glimpse of him.... He would have liked to introduce his Lily to him; no
+matter, he would know her one day, when she was starring in his halls! And
+on the Bill and Boom Tour! And elsewhere! She would soon be famous.
+
+Ma, who remained lying in her bunk sucking lemons, would have liked to
+have her Lily by her, within call, to keep her mother company, that great
+big girl spoiled by her Pa, even when she was not performing, as in New
+York; ... a new cloak and boots and gewgaws ... a couple of fools
+together, that's what Ma called them! And she needed watching, that
+tomboy, who would break her leg one of these days, tumbling up and down
+the companion-way. But Lily preferred to enjoy herself and expended on
+running about the energies which she no longer had to devote to her
+practising. Her accumulated weariness disappeared under the influence of
+the sleep and the good meals, which she had not the boredom of having to
+get ready, as in Fourteenth Street, where Lily, big girl that she was, had
+to help her Ma.
+
+She flitted all over the deck, munching candies, showed everybody her new
+boots and her red cloak, held her head high, was very proud of being
+looked at. Lily dreamed of the Three Graces; of the boy-violinist; of
+Trampy. She made conquest upon conquest, down to the electrician of the
+ship, quite a young lad, who looked as cold as ice.
+
+She sometimes stopped at his door, watched him handling levers, pressing
+buttons. It was like the switchboard of a theater. She pointed to this and
+to that. The lad smiled, told the New Zealander on Wheels all about his
+little world....
+
+As for Lily, she was going to star in London, where her Pa would cover her
+with diamonds! And she went on to tell him stories, like a little
+school-girl who has read a book or two: India, two eyes glittering in the
+dark, gee! And elephants she had known, little birds which she had kept in
+a cage in Natal, and kangaroos. The lion, who stands up on his hind legs
+when he's angry; and the tiger, who lies down flat. And parrots. And
+starry nights in Africa: stars "that big." And storms: waves "miles high!"
+And successes at Gangpur; and in Chicago, where she shared a dressing-room
+with three girls who, when they were undressed, were all over muscles,
+just like men. She liked the bike well enough, but those falls: oh, damn
+it!
+
+"That little monkey has seen everything in her time," thought Jimmy, the
+electrician.
+
+And he mused upon the numberless things which she had seen, the countries,
+the cities, and all that she would yet see, in her life as a wandering
+star, while he would remain walled up in his cabin, with his nose to the
+switchboard.
+
+And the steamer sped--thud, thud, thud--over the dark sea, where the noise
+of the waves sounded like the roar of multitudes of men. Huge clouds in
+the east were tinged with red, as though London were about to loom above
+the horizon in all its glory, filling the vast expanse with its rumors and
+its lights....
+
+
+
+
+CURTAIN RISES
+
+I
+
+
+"Lily ... who's Lily? A New Zealander: really? Ah well, we will look into
+the matter; it will be settled later on ..."
+
+Clifton, when he returned home that evening, gnawed his mustache and
+clenched his fists with rage. Ah, he would not soon forget his arrival in
+London! To get there and be chucked! Was that what he had come from New
+York for? To see Lily's place at the Castle filled by another troupe of
+the Hauptmanns--the Hauptmanns again, those fat freaks!--and nothing to be
+said or done?
+
+"Engagement not valid. Ought at least to have waited for the London
+agency's signed contract before leaving!"
+
+Intent upon his vexations of the moment, he described his day to Mrs.
+Clifton. What had staggered him, done for him, was his visit to the agent,
+where they hadn't seemed to know Lily!
+
+He had rushed at once to others, just to show them who Miss Lily was! But
+he got the same reply wherever he went:
+
+"Lily? Who's Lily? A Maori? Let's see the photograph."
+
+And would Mrs. Clifton ever believe, asked the indignant Pa, what they
+said when they handed him back the photograph? Yes, to him, the father, to
+his face, they said:
+
+"She's too thin, that Lily of yours!" "If that's the way they welcome
+British subjects returning to the mother-country, it's jolly encouraging,
+on my word it is!" concluded Clifton.
+
+Ma, among the open boxes, listened and said nothing; she was exasperated.
+Their entry into the metropolis struck her, too, as anything but
+triumphal. For all her dislike of those breakneck trades, for all her
+contempt for the bike, she displayed even more anxiety than Pa. With those
+fat freaks at the Castle and if engagements continued scarce, how would
+they manage, later on, lost in that huge London, with no money, and a
+child to feed? Her vanity was wounded as well. She had dreamed of dazzling
+her sister-in-law, making them all burst with jealousy over the splendid
+engagement at the Castle; and now everything was slipping from their
+hands, on the very day of their arrival, and there was nothing for them
+but to sit at home and keep quiet.
+
+But Pa, the next day, tore through London like one possessed, grinding his
+teeth and clenching his fists, railing at everybody, himself included. He
+thought of Lily, who had lost a week on the voyage and who was now messing
+about in the house, instead of practising her bike. This idea pursued him,
+clung to him; but his perseverance was indomitable, his courage ready to
+face anything or anybody. Lily should perform at the Castle! She had come
+to perform there and perform there she should! There were more visits to
+the agents, to this one and that one, to one and all, indefatigable
+visits. Clifton insisted on his Lily's merits, pulled out his pocket-book,
+bursting with press-cuttings, offered to prove his statements. The agent,
+on his side, had made inquiries. Lily was very clever for her age: a
+little thin, it was true, but very graceful; and the New Zealander on
+Wheels ought to get on. Clifton would work up her turn, no doubt. And, at
+last, Pa obtained a promise in writing--and signed--of an engagement in
+eight months' time ... at the Castle, damn it!
+
+An engagement in eight months was better than nothing; but what to do in
+the meanwhile? It wasn't the money question that bothered him; Pa had
+money; but Lily worried him: he wanted work for Lily, bike all the time
+and hard at it. Now, London was closed to him; he couldn't let her perform
+in London before appearing at the Castle; that was in the contract; and
+there was nothing for the provinces.
+
+His tenacity continued to do him good service. He got a few offers, in the
+London suburbs; that could do him no harm, he knew, though his Lily did
+appear at Dulwich, Deptford or West Ham: who would think of going there to
+discover that shrimp?... damn their impudence! And meantime the shrimp
+would work and her day would come, you pack of fat freaks, you!
+
+Pa, on the whole, was satisfied. To show Lily, that was all he asked for!
+He was quieter, now that she could practise. And Lily, also, was delighted
+and relieved. At first it was jolly, doing nothing; but to be always at
+home with Ma had its drawbacks; only the other day, because she had asked
+for a tam-o'-shanter with a feather in it, like those she saw the little
+girls wear in the street, she had nearly had a box on the ear, the
+extravagant little beast, who would bring them all to the workhouse!
+
+Better biking with Pa, from morning till night, and only coming home after
+the show. Besides, away from the work, Pa was nice to her: a packet of
+sweets here, a bunch of violets there; and then there were the train
+journeys out of London and back, over the roofs: all those little yellow
+houses, with white curtains, and those little back yards, no bigger than
+that--real dolls' houses, all alike--and such lots of little chimneys,
+such lots and lots of little chimneys; and those gorgeous posters:
+Hippodrome, Olympia, Bovril, mustard, elephants, the Hauptmanns. Pa
+wouldn't look at them, those fat freaks; but, oh, if he had them here--and
+a whip--just for five minutes ... and the chance of saying a word or two!
+To think that they were working at the Castle, while he was puffing out to
+the suburbs! And he racked his brain, as he traveled over the town--that
+town which he had to conquer and which was veiled from him between-whiles
+by the curtain of posters in the railway-stations, on the hoardings,
+everywhere--again, again; and imperial troupes and royal troupes, endless
+troupes, arrays of pink tights, lines of legs uplifted amid a flight of
+scarlet skirts, alternating with Sunlight and Van Houten and national and
+colonial troupes, loud as a trumpet-blare and with nothing behind them, he
+dared say....
+
+Those "troupes," those "families"--he turned it all over in his mind--yes,
+they judged talent by weight; the public wanted a lot for its money: well,
+why shouldn't he have a troupe? Why not? Lily--he had noticed it in the
+few shows she had given--Lily didn't cut much of a figure in London: five
+stone of flesh and bones, a mite, a minnow, a nothing. Well, if Lily
+wasn't enough by herself, he'd give them more: a whole troupe, if need be!
+Why, he'd set about it at once!
+
+With his customary determination, yielding to a fixed idea, he devoted
+himself to it. And, in the halls, at the agents', in the bars, at the
+Internationale Artisten-Klause in Lisle Street, that universal
+meeting-place, Pa, ever on the watch, strove to make people talk, listened
+with all his ears, took notes. It was very difficult to get at the real
+facts; one had to ferret them out; the owners of the troupes jealously
+concealed their methods, endeavored to put you off, talked of apprentices
+at five or six shillings a day, plus food and expenses. Pa saw through
+these tricks and, to arrive at the truth, discounted the six shillings
+down to sixpence. Lily, her Pa's own daughter, easily obtained information
+from the apprentices themselves which she afterward repeated to him. He
+studied _The Era_, the paper of the Profession, got the names by heart:
+the managers, the "Pas", the "bosses", the "profs." He got acquainted with
+some of them personally. Old Martello, for instance, the father of Ave
+Maria and the "Bambinis." Martello could have given Pa hints; but he no
+longer interested himself in anything except his Bambinis, whom the poor
+man, grown calm with age and overwork, was now spoiling. The rest left him
+indifferent; he hardly listened, spoke in short sentences, like a man too
+old to care:
+
+"Train apprentices? What's the good? Run a troupe? Pooh, madness!"
+
+Pa thought this exclusive admiration very touching, but it wasn't what he
+wanted and, madness or not, damn it, he was resolved to carry out his idea
+to the end!
+
+There were imperial and royal troupes, "Risleys," carpet acrobats,
+pyramids of tumblers, some of them undergoing an apprenticeship of cuffs
+and thumps. Pa was not interested in these methods, did not approve of
+them; he had never knocked Lily about, never let her fall on
+purpose--"Have I, Lily?"--whereas in the imperial and royal they sent the
+apprentice sprawling on his back, just to teach him, when he started
+wrong.
+
+Still, all these were boys; and it was the little girls that interested
+him, for he meant to have only girls among his apprentices. The rest
+wasn't his damned business; but the different troupes of Roofer girls, for
+instance, affected him directly: where did old Roofer fish those girls
+out? That's what Pa wanted to know. He had even, in order to visit the
+school, pretended to bring Lily as a pupil. He had seen the place in Broad
+Street, where they turned out "sisters" by the gross; had watched the
+squads in knickerbockers, scattered over the immense room, like recruits
+drilling in a barrack-yard: groups engaged in club-swinging, juggling,
+clog-dancing, all together, a tangle of different movements timed "one,
+two, three!" Roofer chose among the heap, sorted out the sizes, called
+this lot the Merry Wives, that lot the Crazy Things, christened them after
+an insect or a flower, packed them up in lots of ten or twelve girls, with
+snub-noses or Greek profiles, as preferred, despatched them,
+carriage-paid, C. O. D., with words, music and muslin skirts complete, and
+received every day a detailed account of his Honeysuckles and Bees,
+scattered all over the world, from the Klondike to Calcutta.
+
+This superlative organization produced upon Pa the effect of a state
+affair; it was something beyond him, above him; it interested him
+especially from the recruiting point of view; and what stimulated him
+above all was the troupes of trick cyclists. He had seen plenty of them in
+America, but then, wholly occupied as he was with his Lily, they did not
+interest him, whereas now he was seeking to fathom their lives, so that he
+might know. Some of them, who went cheap, slept three in a bed, niggers
+and whites all mixed; others, who were well paid, lived easily and
+comfortably and put themselves forward with less work and for more money
+than Lily, Lily who possessed artistic talent, and who had toiled harder
+than all the rest of them put together! Patience, his turn would come ...
+when she was a bit less thin. And he would have the troupe of troupes,
+he'd show them, jolly soon!
+
+Mrs. Clifton was terrified at her husband's boldness, but dared not
+protest; however, she observed that it was a big undertaking.
+
+"We shall have five apprentices," interrupted Clifton, "six including
+Lily. We must find lodgings."
+
+"But, dear...!"
+
+"Don't you think...?"
+
+"Yes, dear."
+
+As for the apprentices, he would see to that to-morrow. Ma suggested that
+her sister-in-law's daughter might do, but Pa wouldn't have relatives at
+any price--blubbering for a smacking bestowed upon their daughters--he
+knew all about them, thank you. Let such sheep bleat elsewhere. No, give
+him strangers. He could be freer with them and get as many as he wished.
+An advertisement in _The Daily Mail_--"Wanted, young girls for trick
+cycling," followed by the address--fetched them the same day. The pavement
+before the house was blocked with white aprons, sailor-hats and
+tam-o'-shanters. There were consumptive-looking girls, long hanks of
+girls, chunky girls, all crowding outside the door, until the landlady
+drove them away with her broom and threatened to do as much for Pa and Ma
+if all the street-arabs of London were to go on soiling her nice white
+steps.
+
+Pa, for that matter, found nothing in the bunch, not one in twenty that
+was any good; or else they made exhorbitant demands--two shillings a day
+those guttersnipes expected--as though shillings were to be had for the
+asking! But why look so far? There were girls, sometimes, at the back
+entrances of the theaters: stage-struck kids who devoured Lily with their
+eyes and looked at Pa as though to say, "Take me, take me!" That's what he
+wanted, damn it, girls who had the business in their blood and who
+wouldn't go whining over a professional slap or two, which he dared say
+he'd have to distribute to make up for lost time.
+
+[Illustration: "TAKE ME, TAKE ME!"]
+
+The first girl whom he engaged he had already seen gazing ecstatically at
+Lily, as they left the theater, far away down the Mile End Road, and he
+saw her again, one morning, in front of his house in the very heart of
+London! He could not believe his eyes. She must have followed his scent,
+slept on the threshold like a lost dog. Her Pa? Gone away. Her Ma? Dead.
+Her name? Maud. Her age? Didn't know. Born somewhere in the immensity of
+Whitechapel, towheaded, round-faced. Nothing to eat for two days. She'd
+do! He would go to the police-court, get the license later; meantime, he
+netted her and that was one!
+
+As regards the others, he had to make a selection. He chose them by
+preference in families which were overstocked with brats, so that one more
+or less, in the heap, made no difference. He got one this way; that made
+two! Next, a "local girl," seized with ambition, came and offered herself.
+Three! He found two others: a little Beak Street shop-girl and a
+Shoreditch Jewess. That made five. It did not take him long to judge the
+girls. He gave them a few days' trial before signing a contract; and what
+an anxiety for them, Mr. Clifton's final decision! If one trembled too
+much, was caught holding Pa's shoulder for no reason, for fear of falling,
+or blubbered because of a scratch on the skin, her fate was settled.
+
+"Pack up, my lady," Pa would say quite calmly.
+
+There was no getting out of it: off she had to go, before dinner, and home
+she went, through the gloomy streets, after a brief glimpse of paradise.
+
+He had to replace some of them: they were slack; or else, independent at
+times, they looked at him for the least push, as if they would fly at his
+throat. He asked himself whether he wouldn't be compelled to get some over
+from Germany or else to pick up on the highroads, in the Gipsies'
+caravans, children with skins tanned like donkeys', a troupe of
+blackamoors on wheels, who, perched up on the handle-bars of the bikes,
+would have looked like cockroaches mounted as brooches, damn it!
+
+However, by dint of selection, he ended by having only good ones left; and
+then he made a contract in due form with the parents for three years, or
+even five, such was his faith in the future. A few pence a week to the
+family, a few pence to the baggage herself: he to dress, lodge and board
+her and engage to make an artiste of her. Everything was provided for:
+during the training, just the board and the rest; when she began to work,
+a shilling a day in addition. Over and above, she would be looked after by
+a lady, Mrs. Clifton. Was that all right? Both parties signed; the girl
+was an artiste, became a New Zealander.
+
+They brought their little wardrobe: one spare chemise, on the average, one
+pair of stockings; their only protection against the weather was the dress
+they had on, a factory-girl's ulster and a tam-o'-shanter. Later on, when
+performing, they would be entitled to a celluloid collar, satinette
+knickers and pumps.
+
+Pa, though at first he took one extra room and then two in the same house
+and though he also made his apprentices sleep three in a bed, Pa soon
+found himself cramped. It would have been nice to have a little house
+somewhere in good air, next door to the country. But there was one thing
+which made Pa decide to remain in the West Central district. Jimmy, the
+young electrician with whom Lily used to chat on shipboard, had given up
+traveling. Harrasford and his architect had noticed him on board and the
+great man had engaged him to manage the electric installation of his
+theaters. Jimmy had taken possession of a lodging in Gresse Street,
+Tottenham Court Road. He slept over the shop, which, for the rest, served
+him rather as a place in which to keep the tools for his outside work. Pa
+often ran upon him in the neighborhood and had a nodding acquaintance with
+him which turned out to be useful, as Jimmy, being in Harrasford's
+employment, was more or less at home in the variety-theaters and nothing
+was easier than for him to obtain leave for Clifton to practise on the
+stage. This it was that persuaded Clifton to settle in the west end. In
+any case, it would be cheaper than dragging the six girls and himself
+daily from one end of London to the other. The house in which he took up
+his quarters, in Rathbone Place, quite close to Jimmy, was small and dark,
+but not dear. The upper story was occupied by people who were out all day
+and the basement served as a lumber room. They would feel quite at home
+here ... with no old sheep to listen at the keyholes.
+
+[Illustration: TOM, THE SHOEBLACK]
+
+And then he would have slept in the parks, if necessary, anywhere, rather
+than waste more precious time! His Lily, his troupe, before everything.
+What he had to do was to get a move on. He went so far as to engage a boy,
+a shoeblack at the corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road for
+the rest of the time, to attend to the bikes and the girls at practice.
+
+Pa gave his mind to the gear, the expenses, the general business. Ma saw
+to good order, to domestic discipline. It was no longer the quiet life of
+a Pa and Ma trotting round the world in the company of their one and only
+bread-winning star. As for Lily, the daughter of the boss and manager, she
+owed a good example to one and all. In the morning, with Maud, she went
+down to the kitchen, lit the stove, made the coffee. Next, she carried up
+the breakfast to Pa and Ma in bed, then distributed their rations to the
+famished girls. And off they went, all six of them, with Pa following at
+their heels.
+
+The stage-door gave the apprentices a thrill the first day they entered.
+The passage, gently sloping, tall and wide, because of the scenery,
+smelt of elephants and cheap scent. It was blocked with properties, with
+queer-shaped cases, flat as a slab or round as a ball. There were long,
+narrow boxes, for the horizontal bars; sometimes a row of wicker
+coffins, with a ventriloquist's figures inside. And labels from
+everywhere--Melbourne, Chicago, Berlin, Lisbon--and "Rlys." and "S. S."
+that made you feel in the hold of a liner, off to foreign ports.
+
+At the end, beyond an iron door, was the stage, very dark, pricked here
+and there with electric lamps. There were things that glittered with
+spangles. To the girls it seemed like the Kingdom of Puss-in-Boots or
+Blue-Beard; but to Lily it was an old story. She was a little like the
+school-girl in the good days long past, for whom the master was always
+waiting, cane in hand. The rest she didn't care about.
+
+Nevertheless, huge as the stage was, there was not always room to
+practise: ponies or elephants would monopolize it for hours at a time. Or
+else, when Roofer was supplying a ballet, he took up the whole stage, all
+day long: Lily, secretly delighted, sat down modestly in a corner, so as
+to be in no one's way. Roofer made his collection of calves and ankles
+flutter about, followed the new dances with an expert eye, throwing his
+hat back on his head, mopping his forehead, grumbling, finding fault:
+
+"Don't eat chocolates while you're dancing, you, Eva! Hi, you,
+Gwendolen!"
+
+And, to emphasize his remarks, he threw his felt hat at them.
+
+"Silly old ass!" thought Pa, with a grin. "To think you can train artistes
+like that. You'll use up fifty hats, you old fool, while my belt remains
+as good as new!"
+
+For that was now Pa's system, the strap--"à la Mexico!"--not that he used
+it often nor very hard; but he terrorized Lily with it and the other girls
+were afraid of it, too, though they never got more than the threat, seeing
+that they were apprentices, who might have run away if he had struck out.
+
+All this did not prevent them from working with a will--trot, trot,
+trot--when there was no Roofer on the stage and no elephants or ponies:
+yoop, on to the bikes and the fun began! The sight of Pa training his star
+made the apprentices shake in their knickers. Lily was to do everything
+and to do it very well: Pa ran after her, in a never-ending circle, and,
+from the corner of his eye, watched Tom, who held the girls and made them
+work, upon his instructions; and when they got off their bikes to wipe
+their foreheads:
+
+"Bravo, Miss Woolly-legs!" said Pa sarcastically. "Tired, eh? Dead, eh?
+Suppose you tried to get up again ... and be quick about it! And as for
+you, Tom, don't let them fall, or I'll catch you one on the side of the
+head!"
+
+For Pa already knew by experience that their little ladyships shirked
+work; that they shook with fright; that they lost confidence after a bad
+fall; and that then it was finished, nothing to be done with them: they'd
+let themselves be killed sooner.
+
+Maud, for instance, that Jonah, ever after one day she had seen her blood
+flow, trembled before her bike like a sheep that scents the
+slaughter-house. It was no use Pa's threatening her with his belt: she
+wouldn't let herself go, on the contrary, held on to everything, no matter
+what, for fear of falling. He ought to have sent her away long ago; he
+would pack her off that very night ... and made no bones about telling her
+so, that Jonah!
+
+Then Pa, giving Lily a rest, occupied himself with the girls: taught them
+the principle of the standstill, of side-riding, of the "swan," of the
+"frog." And,--quickly!--the indefatigable Pa went back to Lily, made her
+begin a trick ten times, twenty times over, so great was his rage at the
+lost time, the elephants, the Hauptmanns, Roofer. He pulled faces,
+clenched his fists:
+
+"Why don't you do as I say when I tell you, damn it!"
+
+"But, Pa, I can't!" protested Lily.
+
+"You can, if you like," said Pa, exasperated this time and unbuckling his
+belt.
+
+Crash! A heap behind him, a medley of limbs and steel fittings! Maud, who
+was still trying, on her bike, startled by Pa's threatening movement, had
+fallen flat down.
+
+"Maud again! That damned Jonah!" cried Pa, going up to her. "Well, Miss
+Woolly-legs, do you mean to stay there all night?"
+
+But she did not move; and, when they had disentangled her from the bike,
+Pa saw an eye that was quite red and a little stream of blood trickling
+down her cheek.
+
+"Let's look!" said Pa anxiously.
+
+A spoke sprung from the felly had scratched her eye.
+
+It was a serious accident. Sprained wrists, barked shins didn't count; but
+a spoke in the eye.... Luckily, Maud had no relations; there was no claim
+to be feared: not a vestige of old sheep on the mother's side. Pa said all
+this to himself as he ran to the chemist, and Lily consoled poor Maud as
+best she could, said that, after all, it was part of the game: she'd know
+better another time, eh? She'd be a great star yet, eh, Maud?
+
+The poor maimed thing lifted her face to Lily, stammered through her tears
+that it was nothing ... all right again now ... Pa's fault, with his
+belt.
+
+"For a little thing like that!" said Lily, laughing. "Fancy falling from
+your bike for that! Why, I'd rather have twenty 'contracts on the back'
+than lose an eye."
+
+For that was what it amounted to. Pa realized it, after he had dressed the
+wound. Clifton's mind was not at ease: a glass eye was not a very
+difficult matter ... but, who knows, some callous person might inform
+Harrasford, who stood no nonsense on that subject. Fortunately the
+artistes present had not paid much attention ... had hardly noticed
+anything, in the dim light of the stage....
+
+And soon after the New Zealanders were walking back to Rathbone place with
+Maud in their midst, her head a roll of bandages, leaning on Lily's arm.
+
+It was a pathetic home-coming. Ma had told them what would happen! That
+would teach them to take in vagabonds from the streets. Mrs. Clifton
+thought that, in a respectable house....
+
+"That'll do," said Pa, dropping into the easy-chair in the dining-room.
+"I'm worn out. If you'd been like me, Mrs. Clifton, running after those
+Woolly-legs all the morning"--and he pointed to the apprentices standing
+round the table--"gee, you wouldn't talk so much! I'll take Maud to the
+hospital this afternoon; it's only a trifle. Is dinner ready?"
+
+"Yes, dear."
+
+"Come along, then, all of you Woolly-legs," said Pa jovially.
+
+Pa was sorry for poor Maud, as a rule, but he felt a need to shed a little
+gaiety, to extenuate the accident as far as possible, to turn it into a
+joke, so as to prevent his girls from being panic-stricken. He talked of
+heads smashed to a jelly, of legs in smithereens, of a bicyclist who had
+had not one, but both eyes caught in the chain. As for himself, when he
+was a small boy--that was in the time when they brought up artistes, real
+ones, mind you; not, as nowadays, on sugar and sweets; no, real ones, on
+the whip and the stick, damn it!--why, the accidents which he'd seen! Yes,
+he himself, to go no farther, he could have shown them, here, there,
+there, here, damn it, all over his body, scars deep enough to put your
+finger in!
+
+"Eh? Frightens you, does it? Never fear," added Pa, in a good-humored
+voice, "that sort of thing won't happen to any of you Woolley-legs; a good
+Irish stew is better than a kick of the pedal, eh?"
+
+And Pa, after a last cup of strong tea, dismissed the girls, lit his pipe,
+threw himself into the easy-chair, with his legs long out in front of him;
+but soon:
+
+"Well, Maud, what is it? What are you crying for now? I tell you, I'll buy
+you a glass one," said Pa, at the sight of Maud, who blubbered silently
+and sat glued to her chair instead of getting up to go.
+
+Poor lost dog! Clifton, at the theater, had threatened to send her away.
+She knew what that meant: leaving Miss Lily, losing those good meals....
+
+Maud faltered something about packing up; pain in her eye; not her fault.
+
+"So what you want is to stay with us?" asked Pa.
+
+"Oh!" gasped Maud.
+
+"Well, then, stay! But no more bike; you shall be Lily's lady's maid,"
+said Pa, puffing at his pipe.
+
+It went down so well, as an effort of dry humor, that Ma could not help
+laughing. But Mr. Clifton was talking seriously. Then Ma, amazed,
+protested: what, a servant in her house! A lady's maid for Lily! He would
+end by giving her the moon! And what would Lily do all day? She'd sit
+twiddling her thumbs! Had Mr. Clifton thought of that?
+
+Yes, Mr. Clifton had thought of it. He was too tired to explain his
+reasons; but take it from him, it was best like that. Pa, in fact, feared
+lest that smashed eye might prove a worry to him: the papers weren't in
+order. He had made no declaration to the police; there was the Workmen's
+Compensation Act.... Much better keep Maud safe in the house, for a while
+...
+
+"Lily won't sit twiddling her thumbs for all that, will you, Lily?"
+continued Pa, smiling to his star.
+
+A touch of the brush and comb, a stroll through the streets with the
+girls, by leave of Pa, who wished Lily to take the air, then home again,
+more housework.... The apprentices, who did not yet perform in public,
+were sent to bed early, while Lily, escorted by Pa, went off to East,
+West, South or North London. An hour to get there; then undress, dress,
+appear on the stage under Pa's eye, undress and dress again; another hour
+to get back; a morsel of cold Irish stew, a cup of tea; and drowsily up to
+her room and bed....
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+"Lily!"
+
+Ma's voice woke her with a start in the morning. Lily dressed quickly and
+quickly ran down-stairs to the kitchen, where Maud had gone before her;
+and it was the same thing every day, except on tour, when discipline was
+less strict. It had gone on for months and months, for two years, ever
+since they came to London. Pa, with his iron will, had overcome
+everything. He felt at home in the old country, at last. After his
+engagements in the London suburbs, he had obtained a triumph at the
+Castle, a Bill and Boom tour of forty weeks, a season at Blackpool, the
+Harrasford tour now, successes everywhere. Before his boyish little girls,
+before his own particular troupe, the fat freaks trembled in their
+knickers! For Clifton, the new-comer, but yesterday unknown, it was an
+unhoped-for success and fame and fortune.
+
+Ma nearly always remained in London with Maud. Lily was not big enough yet
+to need the supervision of a Ma. Therefore, on tour,--when she was not
+practising with her Pa,--Lily did the catering, saw to the porridge and
+the Irish stew; Pa was not hard to please. Provided Lily was "great" on
+the stage, he asked for nothing more. Dishes burned for want of butter,
+salad mixed in the wash-hand basin: he swallowed everything with an
+appetite, ate standing, with his plate on the trunk, or else seated with
+the girls round a little table hardly large enough for three. This
+Bohemian life pleased him. He loved youth, gaiety and good fellowship. He
+was fond of a laugh, took Lily on his knee after dinner, played with her,
+praised her home-made cakes, her tough chops, and then began talking bike
+to Lily ... who hated bikes, and who got something different from a hat
+flung at her, when she missed a trick.
+
+No matter, hard as it was, she preferred touring to staying in London. The
+work was the same, but, at least, it was a change. She was spoiled by
+every one, down to that landlady who cried when she left.... After all
+there were many worse off than she, everlastingly set about by "profs,"
+confined to their rooms all day to practise their balancing; she had had a
+taste of it in New York; no, thank you! She preferred having good times
+with the girls, practical jokes, boxing-matches even, scrimmages,
+pillow-fights. In the boarding-houses, they flirted with the boys; they
+kept pet pigeons, white mice, a lizard; they exchanged secrets, stories of
+every country, professionals all! Sometimes, they consoled one another;
+promised to send kisses--x x x--on post-cards. And then there were new
+faces, always; a week in each town, no longer; a real life of adventure
+from one end of England to the other. Now it wasn't like that in London;
+she felt less free there. Ma was particular and hard to please; there were
+no pillow-fights, no romps; Ma hated those ways. The stage, yes, she put
+up with that because it was Lily's profession; but one came in contact
+with all sorts there; and that little devil of a Lily was wicked enough
+already! It took all the home influence to thwart the bad examples which
+she received outside; and it was Ma's business to see to it.
+
+The house in Rathbone Place had been smartened up. There was a dining-room
+which was used only for meals and which never had a bed put into it at
+night. There were things on what-nots: little photograph-frames, loose
+photographs, lucky charms, china cups; all shining and bright, thanks to
+the adjunction of a lady's maid, as Pa called Maud, in his funny way. At
+first, after the accident, it was terrible. Her natural awkwardness was
+made worse by a glass eye; she could not tell one side from the other,
+spilt the tea on the cloth, broke the crockery. Maud did the heavy work,
+washed and scrubbed all day long. When the girls were in London, she went
+with them to the theater, as dresser. Maud stood in the wings and admired
+the New Zealanders whirling about in the light. She stretched out her face
+in ecstasy toward Lily: that Lily who had traveled everywhere, who was
+born so far away, in a land full of monkeys and parrots. She followed Lily
+to her dressing-room, trotted after her like a dog, worshiped her
+open-mouthed.
+
+Lily had ripened out, was becoming more beautiful, more of a woman daily,
+despite the fact that her Pa still treated her like a kid. She no longer
+looked at things from the point of view of the child-girl who had been
+delighted with a satin hair-ribbon in India; now her pride was not
+appeased with such trifles. Ma, according to Lily, seemed ashamed of her,
+dressed her badly: an odd skirt here, an odd frock there, of a cheap make.
+That was not what Lily wanted. She was an artiste: she wanted a hat with
+big feathers and a gown with gold braid to it; but, when she showed Ma a
+dress which she liked in the shop windows, Ma would exclaim:
+
+"What do you want with that? My poor Lily, you must be mad! That's for
+rich little girls, girls who have time to be pretty; it wouldn't suit you
+at all. Why, if we listened to you, we'd soon be in the workhouse!"
+
+[Illustration: P.T. CLIFTON, MANAGER]
+
+Ma always said no, pretending that she had no money; whereas Lily knew to
+the contrary. She knew that the troupe earned a great deal and that the
+troupe was herself. The other day, at the theater, she had heard her aunt,
+who felt bitter that Mr. Clifton had not accepted her daughter Daisy--who
+could have learned the business and later on have starred by herself!--she
+had heard that "old sheep" say, speaking of her:
+
+"What a shame to dress her like that! A girl who brings them in capital to
+invest!"
+
+So Pa was investing capital. She didn't exactly know what investing
+capital meant; no doubt it meant making a lot of money. She asked for none
+of it! Children belong to their parents! But she would have liked to be
+treated with more consideration, to be spoiled; to get presents, nice
+things. She had plenty from her Pa, true enough: presents, my! But they
+were cheap gifts, for all that.... She was always having promises made her
+of more important things; and the promises were never kept: that big gold
+watch, for instance. She had a thirsting for luxury. It seemed to her that
+she was being treated like a performing dog, not a bit better. Ma, without
+exactly knowing, but with an infallible instinct, saw all this budding
+under that obstinate brow. Mr. Clifton might see nothing in it; but it was
+not so easy to take in a mother! Was there a love affair beneath it all,
+Ma asked herself. No, not yet; it might come later on, as with that
+apprentice who had run away, or that other one whom she had had to send
+packing for being too free with men. But Lily would not leave them like
+that.
+
+She did not let her go out. "Glass-eye Maud" ran the errands and Lily
+stayed at home, like a good little girl of whom her mother wished to make
+a lady. When she did happen to go out, she must not be long, or else it
+was, "Where have you been? Tell me at once!" At the theater, when Pa lost
+his temper, she could reckon on a mighty fillip, and then it was over: Pa
+was sorry, rather than otherwise. Ma, on the contrary, would nag for
+hours; muttered inarticulate phrases about "devil," "wild bull," and
+"taming her;" there was no end to it. Lily champed the bit! A star,
+indeed! Was that being a star? She thought differently! She had seen
+others drive up to the theater in their motors, accompanied by gentlemen
+carrying flowers, like that famous "M'dlle" at the Palace. Yes, those were
+stars: they dined at the Horse Shoe and did not spend their time in
+useless housework. Oh, she was quite sick and tired of that life! She'd
+had enough of it. Meanwhile, the days passed and the weeks and it was
+always the same thing: housework and stage-work; work, work, work....
+
+It was late that morning; they were not practising. Pa had run down on the
+previous day to see a troupe of cyclists, the famous Pawnees, who were
+back from the Continent, on their way to New York, and performing that
+week at the Brighton Hippodrome. Lily was in her room later than usual, as
+Ma was not awake. Maud had gone down to the kitchen. The apprentices were
+getting up, joking with one another, like tom-boys used to sharing the
+same bed at home, the same room at the theater, to dressing, undressing,
+splashing about naked in the same bath-tub.
+
+"Get up, Lily," said one of them, laughing and raising her sturdy little
+hand. "Get up, or...."
+
+"No," said Lily, "let me alone, I'm dead."
+
+As it happened, on the day before there had been a general tumble, six in
+a row, on the back-wheel; one of them, losing her balance, had dragged the
+others with her and the lot had fallen flat in a tangle of steel and
+flesh. Bucking Horse, Old Jigger, Street Donkey--the nicknames they gave
+their bikes--had kicked them to the raw. They showed one another the
+bruises on their limbs: "Oh, don't it hurt, just!" "What about mine?"
+"Look here!" like young recruits bragging of their wounds after the
+skirmish.
+
+"Lily!"
+
+"Yes, Ma!"
+
+And Lily washed quickly, put on her frock and ran down-stairs to prepare
+the coffee, but her Ma stopped her on her way.
+
+"Lily, you light the fire."
+
+"What about Maud?" said Lily. "Why can't Maud do it?"
+
+"You young impudence," ... said Ma; "Maud has gone to Jimmy's to take the
+bike which Tom couldn't get to him yesterday; he was shut. It's the bike
+you spoiled, you little bedlamite!"
+
+Lily had to laugh at the thought of Maud struggling with Old Jigger: Maud,
+who couldn't lead the machine by the handle-bar, or even walk beside it,
+without barking her shins.
+
+"Why!" cried Lily. "She'll explain everything wrong to Jimmy, and the bike
+will be no use!"
+
+"Well, then, go yourself," said Ma, after a pause. "And mind you, come
+back quickly; don't go loitering in the street; and don't stay long with
+that drunkard."
+
+"Yes, Ma."
+
+Gresse Street, where Jimmy lived, was quite as dreary as Rathbone Place:
+here and there, a few posters on the walls; some low-fronted shops,
+displaying sweets and candies, or else a dazzling case of oranges on the
+muddy pavement; alleys, stables, cab-yards....
+
+It was here that Jimmy had his workshop, or rather his tool-store, for he
+did not do much work there. The time which his occupation at the theater
+left him he devoted to improving himself. Electricity and its manifold
+uses held his interest. There was no doubt that, had he given all his time
+to it, he would have become very clever, for he had an inventor's brain
+and, moreover, possessed an astonishing manual skill for altering and
+perfecting things. He worked in copper and steel, was glad to make and
+repair bikes for a few customers, the New Zealanders, among others. While
+working, he brewed all manner of plans in his brain. They all revealed a
+practical intelligence. Saddle-supports which reduced the shaking on a
+bike, improved carriage-springs and so on; and, on the stage, inventions
+to dispense with men in the flies and wings; to work everything--scenery,
+curtain, lime-light--by means of the switchboard; and ever so many other
+things....
+
+Since joining the theater, Jimmy had naturally undergone the influence of
+the stage. It had affected his ideas, with all its new-fangled "turns,"
+which owed their success to a maximum of daring--or bluff--coupled with a
+minimum of scientific knowledge: illusionists basing their effects upon
+the reflections of invisible mirrors and the cunning use of combined
+lights; "looping the loop," "circles of death," in which sheer weight did
+the cyclist's work for him, his arrival at a given point depending upon
+his accelerated and calculated speed. From seeing so many of this sort
+scouring the world--erstwhile acrobats, former laboratory-students, who
+now, venturing all and risking all, topped the bills at the
+music-halls--Jimmy, greatly interested in this scientific side, had
+himself made researches in that direction. _Engineering_ and other
+journals had printed some of his schemes, including that of an apparatus
+based upon the notion of exterior ballistics: the resistance of the air
+proportional to the square of the velocity and, according to this
+velocity, the exact proportion of the angle of incidence to the angle of
+projection. Theoretically, it was perfect; in reality there might be some
+unexpected hitch. It was a question for the venturesome performer, who
+allowed himself to be projected by a series of powerful springs, to fall
+accurately from pedestal to pedestal, preserving a faultless balance; in a
+word, to risk his life six times in as many seconds. The daring of a
+Laurence and the agility of a Lily combined would not have been enough for
+the task; and so Jimmy had prudently contented himself with pinning his
+diagrams on the walls of the workshop and dismissing the idea from his
+mind. Not that he was afraid, rather not; but simply because it appeared
+impossible to him.
+
+Other plans had interested him, besides; flying machines, for instance,
+etc. He was a real enthusiast about flying machines! One day, perhaps,
+when he knew more ... to say nothing of the theater, which did not leave
+him much leisure; yet he managed, somehow, for he took but little sleep
+and the rest of the time he devoted to study.
+
+This was the Jimmy of whom Ma made a bugbear to Lily--in Lily's
+interest--for he was one of the few men whom she saw often; and you can
+never tell ... with those devils of the stage....
+
+Meanwhile, Lily, as soon as she had turned the corner of the street, drew
+herself up and, with a light step, went down Percy Street and Tottenham
+Court Road, instead of keeping straight on. It took her only five minutes
+longer and it suggested luxury, fine shops, handsome furniture,
+patent-leather shoes. She adored shopping, even if it was only with the
+eyes, through the plate-glass windows.
+
+She loved to pass in front of the Horse Shoe, where stars lived, real
+ones, not performing dogs. And then, round a piece of waste land, there
+was a hoarding covered with advertisements that interested her: the
+Hippodrome, the Kingdom, the Castle were displayed between extract of beef
+and mustard; and there were always new programs; always new names; and
+elephants, horses, lions; and tights....
+
+Lily looked at this for a few seconds. And, suddenly, she felt a thrill;
+on a scarlet poster, dazzling as the sun, she read:
+
+"Great success! Trampy Wheel-Pad!! At the Kingdom!!!" Trampy in London!
+
+Not that Lily was astonished: it seemed to her quite simple that he should
+be there, as simple as for her to be in Chicago, Bombay or Capetown;
+people do sometimes meet on tour, it all depends: you can be separated for
+years and then perform at the same theater for months. No, she was not in
+the least astonished: a little excited, that was all, without exactly
+knowing why....
+
+"But, if I should meet him," she thought, "what shall I say to him? What
+will he say to me? Will he think me grown prettier or uglier?"
+
+Lily came to herself again and continued on her errand; crossed Tottenham
+Court Road, plunged into a labyrinth of blocked alleys, of dark courts,
+and, suddenly, was at Jimmy's.
+
+Lily did not like him much; she considered him good-looking, for a man,
+but too shy. He never paid her a compliment. He seemed to think her ugly,
+whereas many others admired her and made no bones about telling her so,
+especially since the last few months; but he was ashamed of himself, no
+doubt: a drunkard, as Ma said.
+
+Poor Lily had no luck. She would have been so happy to be courted, to
+relieve her boredom. But nothing disgusted her so much as drink. And yet
+it didn't show in Jimmy. He always walked straight, never fell, like that
+head-balancer who, the other night, had come tumbling down from his perch.
+Besides, that one had an excuse; he drank because he was crossed in love;
+to forget, they said. Lily forgave everything the moment there was love in
+it; but an icicle like Jimmy, who loved nobody and who drank for the sake
+of drinking ... ugh!
+
+Jimmy was at work when Lily entered. The small, dark shop, crammed with
+things in steel, with loose wheels, queer-shaped objects, reminded Lily of
+a property store, only it was dirtier. There were tools everywhere;
+designs for machinery pinned on the walls; it was all very ugly.
+
+And Jimmy's greeting was none too engaging either. A curt smile--"Glad to
+see you, Miss Lily"--and, as for the bike, he hadn't understood a word of
+what the one-eyed creature who had just left had tried to say.
+
+"I thought as much," said Lily, laughing. "That's why I came."
+
+And, in a few words, she explained what she wanted. First, repair the
+twisted frame; next, a slight alteration for a new trick; a step here,
+another there.
+
+"Always fresh tricks, Lily?"
+
+"Always, Jimmy. No end of bruises, I tell you!"
+
+"It's part of the game," said Jimmy.
+
+"I should like to see you try it," retorted Lily contemptuously,
+"squeezing through the frame while it's going, with that pedal barking
+your back," and she rubbed herself as she spoke. "Only yesterday I got a
+kick; gee! It's like those new tricks in which I don't feel safe: riding
+with one foot on the saddle and the other on the bar and playing a banjo;
+it makes me shiver as I go past the footlights; and Pa watching me, you
+know; and, if I lose my balance, I get black and blue somewhere."
+
+"Pooh!" said Jimmy. "One can't expect a white skin at the game."
+
+Lily didn't care for this. If she couldn't be courted, at least she liked
+to be pitied: that flattered her pride.... It was all very well for Pa to
+say, "It's part of the game, my little lady." But that josser of a Jimmy,
+talking like that at his ease!
+
+"I'm glad I'm not your daughter!" she said. "My! You'd be harder than
+Pa."
+
+"Your Pa is hard, sometimes; but he's very fond of you, for all that."
+
+"Of course," said Lily, "he wouldn't like me to break my neck; I bring him
+in too much for that, eh?"
+
+"Come," interrupted Jimmy, "don't talk nonsense. It's not right to speak
+as you're doing. You'll be sorry for it, I'm sure. Tell me, rather: you
+were saying you wanted a step here, another there; do you mean like
+this?"
+
+And he rummaged among his tools, looked for loose pieces, showed them to
+Lily, while thinking of other things:
+
+"Look here," he went on, "do you think you're the only one that's got to
+work? Suppose you were shut up all day in a factory? Have you ever been to
+a factory? Do you know the life of a metal-buffer girl at Sheffield,
+standing in front of her wheel, from morning till night, and work, work,
+work?"
+
+"But I'm not a work-girl, you great silly! You know I'm an artiste! And,
+now, shall I tell you what I think of you, Jimmy?" said Lily, pouting.
+"You're a bad man, that's what you are!"
+
+And thereupon she put out her tongue, turned her back on him and began to
+look at the walls, the diagrams, the drawings, an illustration out of
+_Engineering_.
+
+There was a pause.
+
+Jimmy, while handling the bike, gazed at Lily. There was no sentimentality
+about Jimmy, but his lively imagination made him see things through and
+through; and, whatever he might be, Jimmy was not bad. That little Lily:
+to think that, among all the girls of her own age, she was the only one to
+do that trick! He pitied her and all child prodigies. To his mind, there
+was something unsportsmanlike about it; something like a race won by a
+one-year-old, with jockey, whip and spurs. He did not believe all he
+heard, of course. He knew, he lived with them, he was one of them. He knew
+the peculiar mania of the music-hall, the instinctive lie, uttered as if
+to discourage competition by giving it a fright at the start. To listen to
+them, it meant the horsewhip, the belt, all day long; going "through the
+mill," all the time. Among the people with the painted faces, it was a
+shot at martyrdom, a chance for professional boasting. The most
+commonplace, the most coddled lives were made more interesting by means of
+imaginary wounds and scars, like those explorers, in the books, who cross
+Africa without food or drink, barefooted, with a crocodile snapping at
+their heels.
+
+He took good care not to exaggerate. Life in the halls was no worse than
+anywhere else, thank God! It had its good side and its bad side and its
+professional risks. The "pros," taking them all round, were as good as the
+"jossers." He wanted to be just. He had seen many who were very happy; one
+could get anything done by firm kindness. He could also understand, in the
+terrible struggle for bread, that a man went on toiling hard in the trade
+in which he was born. A pro could not make a blue-stocking of his
+daughter; some were born duchesses, on satin; others artistes on the
+boards. One trade was as good as another; but dangerous practicings,
+bruised flesh, seamed skins: no, he didn't approve of that. He had seen
+the Laurences, mad with ambition, beginning all over again, in spite of
+falls calculated to stave in the stage; had seen girls who "do knots"
+lying in the dressing-rooms, gasping, exhausted. Even when professional
+vanity alone prompted such excesses, Jimmy protested within himself; and
+then there were so many abuses.... Besides, the stage so often spoiled a
+woman: every branch of the stage, from the highest to the lowest. All that
+coaxing familiarity! What he said was, if Lily had been his daughter, she
+should not be on the stage; but there she was and he couldn't help it;
+and, as it was her natural place to be there, he would not be guilty of
+the meanness of disgusting a poor girl with the profession which she had
+been at pains to learn. He preferred to let her call him "a bad man." And
+that required a certain courage; for it was no longer a child talking to
+him, but an exquisitely pretty girl. Jimmy could not believe his eyes.
+What a change! Was it possible? Having been away from London, on
+Harrasford's service, he had not seen her for many months, except the day
+before, just in time to shake hands behind the scenes, in the dusk; but
+here, in his shop, he hardly recognized her, he could not exactly say why.
+One thing was certain: he had left her a child and he now found her a
+beautiful girl.
+
+"Tush!" he said to himself. "She's a child for all that. Only, if she
+keeps on like this, what a handsome woman she will be!"
+
+That familiarity on the stage: he reproached himself for thinking of it;
+it seemed to him an insult to Lily. And he began to talk to her of
+different things, kindly and pleasantly, changing from subject to subject.
+He explained his drawings on the wall, his ideas: exterior ballistics; the
+resistance of the air; risking his life six times in as many seconds....
+
+"He's drunk," thought Lily.
+
+And, to stop this flow of words, as though talking to herself, Lily said
+she did not complain; no, she would quite like the bike, if she hadn't got
+to practise so hard; she only complained that they didn't treat her "fair"
+at home:
+
+"And look how I'm dressed! I've had the same toque two years. And what do
+you think of this frock? The material cost four-three a yard. I look like
+a tenter in it."
+
+Jimmy did not share Lily's indignation. He thought her neatly and nicely
+dressed, in spite of her performing-dog's toque, as she said. It all
+suited her so well. But, on examining that clear-cut little face, lifted
+toward him with a rebellious air, he felt that the fatigue, even the blows
+didn't count; that the hardest thing, for Lily, was to be "badly dressed;"
+that she would never swallow that.
+
+"But, look here," said Jimmy, "all this isn't worth making a fuss for; you
+get cross about nothing at all; when you came, you were all smiles; and
+now ..."
+
+"That's because," Lily began, with a sly laugh--oh, she was exasperated
+with Jimmy's coldness! She'd show him, the icicle, and have a bit of fun
+with him--"on my way here, Jimmy, I met ... now you won't give me away,
+Jimmy? ... I met my ... sweetheart."
+
+"A sweetheart? You? Lily?"
+
+"Yes, yes, yes," said Lily, nodding her head and looking at him archly,
+for she could see, by Jimmy's expression, that he was caught.
+
+"And your father and mother know nothing about it?" insisted Jimmy,
+nonplussed.
+
+"No, no; it doesn't concern them: at my age, a girl earns a living for her
+Pa and Ma; I have as much right to a sweetheart as any one else, I
+suppose."
+
+And, greatly amused, she fixed Jimmy with her mocking eyes.
+
+Jimmy stared at her in amazement.
+
+Then she understood that it was not a thing to joke about and that what
+she had just said was terrible. And, suddenly:
+
+"No, it's not true, Jimmy! I was only laughing! Oh, Jimmy, you're going to
+give me away!" cried Lily, squeezing Jimmy's arm with a convulsive little
+hand. "Oh, Jimmy, don't tell Ma, please, please, Jimmy!"
+
+And there was something so sincere in her voice that Jimmy saw that she
+was speaking the truth, that it was only the jest of a flapper used to the
+manners of the stage.
+
+"No," he said briskly, "I shan't tell; don't be afraid, Lily; only ..."
+
+"Ah, that's nice of you," said Lily, much relieved. "Marriage! If you only
+knew! And what would become of the troupe? I shall never marry. I
+think...."
+
+"Still, some day, it's bound to come," said Jimmy, interrupting her. "You
+won't spend all your life on a bike. You are sure to marry some day...."
+
+"Don't talk to me about marriage! No, not that. Gee!"
+
+"But--"
+
+"Love stories! With men! I! And you believed it," said Lily, drawing back
+her shoulder and raising her hand. "I could smack you, you great silly!"
+And, all of a sudden, "I must go," she cried, "I've stayed too long; Ma
+will be waiting for me with her broom!"
+
+And Lily rushed outside, without giving Jimmy time to answer. He could
+just see her turn the corner of the street.
+
+Jimmy went back to his work, silently, wrapped up in his thoughts. That
+nice little Lily! She could be easy in her mind. No, he would never be a
+cause of worry to her....
+
+Meanwhile, Lily ran home as fast as she could and, on entering, saw that
+it was no use; her Ma was waiting for her, furious.
+
+"Where have you been?"
+
+"Why, I've come straight from Jimmy's, Ma."
+
+"That's a lie! The butcher's boy, who has just left, saw you outside the
+Horse Shoe. Who were you waiting for?"
+
+"I wasn't waiting for any one!" cried Lily, her eyes blazing with anger.
+
+"You devil!" said Ma, looking round for a stick, an umbrella....
+
+And, when she saw nothing within reach, her anger increased. Then she
+stiffened her arm and made for Lily, who sprang behind the table....
+
+But Ma, tripping on the carpet, fell at full length, dragging down with
+her the table-cloth and two cups that were on it.
+
+"My two china cups! You viper!" she yelled.
+
+At that moment, the door opened; Clifton entered. He seemed preoccupied;
+looked at his watch:
+
+"Nine o'clock. We ought to be at the theater! Where are the girls? And
+what ... what's all this?" he asked, on seeing the disorder, Mrs. Clifton
+scrambling up from the floor, Lily scowling in a corner.
+
+Ma grunted an explanation. Two cups broken, Lily a gadabout who would
+bring them to the grave with shame!
+
+"But, Pa, I was only looking at the posters."
+
+"Posters?" repeated Clifton. "Which posters? What's all this nonsense?"
+
+And, when Ma had told him, interrupted by despairing "But, Pas," and "No,
+Pas," from Lily, he very calmly asked, was he going to have peace in his
+own house, or was he not? All this fuss about two broken cups; beating
+Lily for nothing!
+
+Never, in any circumstances, would Clifton have snubbed Mrs. Clifton like
+this before Lily. He would have waited until she had gone. But to come
+upon all this rot when there were so many serious things to discuss! The
+sisters Pawnee whom he had seen last night: Polly, Edith, Lillian. Yes,
+that Lillian, damn it, a winged rose! And the things they did on their
+bike without seeming to touch it!
+
+"My poor Lily," Pa went on, going up to his daughter and stroking her
+hair. "I'm not saying it to vex you; but you're not in it with the
+Pawnees! Come on! Beg your Ma's pardon; and let's be off to the theater.
+I'm in form this morning. We shall have a great practice."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+A few minutes later, Pa was hustling his herd before him:
+
+"Quicker, my Woolly-legs! No time to lose!"
+
+He thought of the tricks which he had jotted down the evening before in
+his note-book. Lily would learn them quick enough: she was as clever as
+the Pawnees, when all was said, only less graceful. She had the balancing
+power all right; but grace, grace, damn it, to do a thing like that as
+though it were child's play: that's what she hadn't got! You saw the
+effort. And the apprentices had no precision in their groupings. Now the
+fat freaks had. To combine German discipline with English gracefulness,
+that was the question; to have the troupe of troupes; to have a Lily who
+would be worth more by herself than Polly, Edith and Lillian put together.
+But that meant work and going through the mill! This last made Pa think of
+the old sheep and their bleatings. He gave a nervous little laugh and his
+hand had a convulsive movement, as though to strangle those pests.
+
+Pa had recovered his good humor and was grinning by the time they reached
+the theater. Merely by his way of taking the key of his dressing-room from
+the stage-doorkeeper one recognized the owner of a troupe, the man with a
+"permanent address," the manager, the boss, the prof, the Pa. On entering
+the lobby, he, with his six girls, took possession of the theater. He
+nodded to the staff; growled a "Lazybones!" as the Roofers passed out two
+by two, always two by two: a fair one with made-up eyes, a dark one with
+kiss-me-quick lips; sniffed their cheap perfumes amid the tarry smell of
+the packages marked Sidney, New York, Paris....
+
+[Illustration: "QUICKER, MY WOOLLY-LEGS!"]
+
+On reaching the stage, Pa first gave a glance to make sure that there were
+no elephants, or ponies, or Merry Wives, that they could practise at their
+ease, without having to burrow in a corner, like rats. The stage was
+almost empty. After the live street, it was a pallid light, in which
+ghosts moved. The New Zealanders, it need not be said, no longer fancied
+themselves in the cavern of Bluebeard or Puss-in-Boots; they had seen too
+many stages during the past two years. The slant of the floor, the
+roughness or smoothness of the boards was what interested them, for fear
+of falls and barked shins. Pa hurried them to their dressing-room to get
+into their knickers, while he took off his jacket and turned up his
+trousers, so as to run better. No more time to lose, with his Lily! He was
+still in a fever from seeing those Pawnees last night. As for the stage
+and the boards, a lot he cared, slanting or straight, rough or smooth! To
+work! to work! And he got ready the bikes, which Tom had brought down,
+without a glance around him.
+
+To a poet, to a painter, that glance would have been worth the taking. The
+iron curtain was raised, the house loomed vaguely; the balconies, covered
+with cloth, stood out like cliffs; the pit, with its seats under a gray
+drugget, because of the dust, lifted toward the stage its rows of
+motionless waves. The stage itself was strange: a sort of huge cave, with
+strips of scenery hanging like stalactites; near the wall, a metal
+pedestal, with a red velvet platform, looked like a blood-stained
+scaffold; one suspected the presence of properties: wheels, iron
+implements, tangled ropes, like so many instruments of torture. At the New
+Zealanders' feet, half-naked bodies, suggesting the souls of the damned,
+were tumbling, practising falls; a woman in a white wrap hovered round;
+and, near the proscenium, a pack of trained seals, lying in their moist
+boxes, raised their frightened heads, as who should say corpses cast up on
+the shores of hell by the silent waves of the pit.
+
+But three slender forms, spinning on their trapeze almost above Pa's head,
+sprang lightly to the stage, near an old fellow in spectacles.
+
+"Why, Mr. Fuchs and the Three Graces! Here's a surprise!" said Pa, who had
+not seen them since the New York Olympians. "When did you get here?
+Yesterday?"
+
+There was a general shaking of hands. Fuchs congratulated Pa on his
+success, said he had followed his progress in the papers. Pa owned a
+troupe now and had a name.
+
+"So this is your Lily," said Fuchs, tapping her on the cheek as she joined
+the group. "A real lady! And good, eh?"
+
+The Three Graces also congratulated Pa ... kissed Lily:
+
+"How sweet you've grown! Why, Lily, how pretty you are!"
+
+Lily was so surprised, so pleased; and her Pa was very proud. He thanked
+Mr. Fuchs, complimented the Three Graces in his turn, to their delight:
+
+"What arms! What muscles!" Then, "Excuse us, eh? Lily must get ready. We
+shall meet again presently, after practice."
+
+The Graces had gone back to it already. Pa tested the bikes; took a
+hurried turn at the pumps; and, when the apprentices and Lily returned:
+
+"Yoop, up with you!"
+
+The round began. Tom looked to the girls, constantly; ran after them; kept
+an eye on their falls. Pa, constantly, hung on to Lily. Nothing else
+existed when he was handling his star. His wish to do well, his love of
+art for art's sake worked him up, stimulated him, made him hit out but not
+in anger: it was the spark of enthusiasm, of which the apprentices caught
+the reflection.
+
+"Hi, you there, Mary! I'll pull your ear! Birdie, if I take my belt to
+you!"
+
+But his Lily above all; his Lily! his seven stone of flesh and bones! Pa
+was an artiste; he had thought of a thousand things since his trip to
+Brighton. New and astounding tricks; and easy at that ... if Lily only
+would! Oh, he'd soon make her graceful! But, for that, she would have to
+obey, to let go the handle-bar at a sign, instead of endlessly seeking her
+balance. For instance, Pa held her rein to prevent falls--there was
+nothing spiteful about Pa, he never let you fall on purpose--and
+Lily--"One! Two!--Count together, Lily!"--put one foot on the saddle, the
+other on the handle-bar: "Three!" That's where she had to let go her
+hands, smartly, and stand erect as she rode. The machine slipped under
+her. Lily, shaking with fear, stooped to seize the handle-bar.
+
+"Stand up, Lily! Show pluck, Lily!" said Pa.
+
+Lily, accustomed to obeying blindly, drew herself up again. But,
+sometimes, crash! The whole came tumbling down. Notwithstanding the rein,
+Lily fell to the ground; and the bike, in addition, caught her a kick in
+passing.
+
+"Nothing broken? A tiny scratch; it's nothing. Tom, the white stuff!"
+
+Tom left his Woolley-legs, brought a bottle of embrocation; a few drops of
+that on the skin, a bit of sticking-plaster; there, that was all right.
+
+"You see, Lily, you're not dead yet! Nothing to be frightened about. Come,
+try again!"
+
+The great thing was to hustle. Pa displayed so much enthusiasm--"Those
+Pawnees, damn it!"--that Lily, for all her fears, was smitten in her turn,
+ended by becoming exasperated against those Pawnees, felt a longing to
+wring their necks!
+
+She obeyed her Pa like an automaton, in her anxiety to do well.
+
+"More graceful! That's it! Not so stiff!" said Pa.
+
+"But, Pa, I can't!" protested Lily, soaked in perspiration.
+
+"But you've got to, my little lady!"
+
+They passed from one practice to another, almost without resting. Lily was
+worn out, Pa seemed indefatigable.
+
+Sometimes, practising was marked by interruptions. Maud's gouged eye
+remained the typical accident. Another time, a girl lay fainting for ten
+minutes after falling on her head; or else the stage was invaded by a
+ballet. There was no end to it. On this particular day, they had a visit
+from Harrasford himself, Harrasford the chief and master, who came along
+with Jimmy; a visit which was the more sensational for being quite rare.
+Pa, now that he was the owner of a troupe and sure of his position, would
+not have been sorry to be noticed by Harrasford, just to impress Mr. Fuchs
+and show him what they thought of Lily in London.
+
+"Do your best, my Lily," said Pa. "He's watching us."
+
+But bill-toppers, New Zealanders though they might be, were nobodies to
+"him;" Lily--one of a thousand, among all those of both sexes who
+performed in his theaters. There might have been ten cycling rhinoceroses
+on the boards; he might have seen Lily swallow her bike, and change into a
+butterfly: he would have paid no attention. Those were details that
+concerned the stage-manager. He hurried across the stage to the
+fly-ladder, made Jimmy explain things, took notes as he went, wanted to
+see for himself, pointed to the first batten, to the electric switches.
+
+"How much for so many lamps? And that? What does that come to, roughly?"
+
+And he stopped for a second in his course, his ear stretched toward Jimmy
+to catch his answer flying; then both of them went on again, quickly.
+
+Jimmy was now following Harrasford along the bridges, with the whole stage
+below him, in the ruddy semi-darkness; at one side, the half-naked bodies
+fell with a heavy thud after their somersaults; or else it was the sharp
+sound of a bike skidding; and distant voices rose up to him:
+
+"But, Pa, I can't!"
+
+"But you've got to, my little lady!"
+
+"Poor little thing!" thought Jimmy, disappearing in the flies, toward the
+side-rails, at Harrasford's heels. And Lily went on riding and Pa running
+after her, round and round and round. She seemed to be fleeing madly,
+pursued by a devil. Suddenly, Pa stopped, having exhausted his strength,
+and Lily fell rather than sat upon a hamper by the wall.
+
+"Here, Lily, put this over your shoulders," said Pa, giving her his
+jacket. "You'll catch cold, darling. Oof, let's take breath a bit!"
+
+But a glad voice burst through the silence: it came from the Three Graces,
+who always worked on stubbornly, even during the absence of Nunkie, who
+had been out for a smoke. Thea greeted his return with a cry of triumph:
+
+"Ten pullings-up with one arm, Nunkie! Ten without stopping!"
+
+"Well done! I'm very pleased with you," said Mr. Fuchs; and he crowned
+their excitement by declaring that, as a reward, he would that very day
+buy Thea the sleeve-links which he had promised her ever since last year.
+
+"Dear Nunkie!"
+
+A spasm of vanity made them rush back to their work; and soon the three of
+them formed, in mid-air, an involved group of ropes, bars and hardened
+limbs.
+
+Lily, in spite of her fatigue, was amused at those mad girls. To take all
+that trouble for the sake of a pair of sleeve-links! Her shoulders shook
+with nervous laughter, in spite of Pa's presence. He quieted her with a
+gesture, scolded her under his breath, kindly:
+
+"Shut up, Lily!... Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Lily?"
+
+And he looked at Nunkie with an air of saying:
+
+"You old rogue!"
+
+As for the Three Graces, it was a pleasure to watch them: their pluck was
+infectious.
+
+"To work!" said Pa. "Let's have a somersault, eh?"
+
+And, at a sign from him, two of the apprentices, assisted by Tom, fixed a
+little steel-legged table in the middle of the stage, bore down upon it
+with all their weight. The bike, set at full speed, stopped short as it
+struck the table; and Lily, carried on by the impulse, continued her
+whirl, full on her back, and, carrying the machine with her, came to the
+ground on the other side of the table and went on riding. But that shook
+her, in her stomach, her heart, everywhere. Each time, she was nearly
+succeeding, but it wasn't quite right.
+
+"I can see," said Pa, "you want to make me lose my temper!"
+
+"But, Pa, it hurts!"
+
+"Oh, those blasted little brats!" shouted Pa angrily. "Rickety machines,
+every one of them: no more energy than a sparrow and lazy into the
+bargain!"
+
+Then, suddenly, Lily succeeded magnificently.
+
+"You see you can do it when you like, you obstinate little wretch!" said
+Pa. "Now try not to miss it again, next time! That will do for to-day," he
+added, seeing Lily out of breath. "Go and get dressed, my Lily."
+
+The Three Graces were finishing also. Good old Nunkie wiped the
+perspiration from their foreheads with his big checked handkerchief,
+invited Clifton to come with Lily and choose the sleeve-links and
+suggested that they could have a chat at the restaurant.
+
+"Would you like to, Lily?" asked Pa.
+
+"Yes, Pa."
+
+"Very well, then."
+
+The girls would go back alone. Tom, having carried up the bikes, was told
+to run home and fetch Miss Lily's new dress and boots, Mrs. Clifton's
+brooch and big hat. And, half an hour later, Lily, who had crawled up to
+her dressing-room stiff-legged, exhausted, feeling sixty, came tripping
+down the stairs all freshly dressed, wearing the great hat of her mother,
+and a pair of creaking boots. She soon recovered when she was dressed out.
+She drew up her dainty figure, so as to be level with the imposing group
+of Pa, Nunkie and the Three Graces.
+
+Lily, very proud of herself, spun out the pleasure of drawing on her
+gloves to go shopping with those big girls, who had had love stories. Then
+they discussed what restaurant.... Nunkie, long ago--"Zæo's year at the
+Aquarium:--that doesn't make me any younger, eh?"--had discovered a little
+German place....
+
+Lily would have liked to propose the Horse Shoe, to walk in there with her
+big hat and creaking boots as though the place belonged to her. But they
+decided upon a "Lyons" in Wardour Street. At the table, it was touching to
+watch the attentions which the Three Graces lavished upon their Nunkie,
+the respect they showed him. Pa was not sorry that Lily should see that,
+but Lily took no notice at all: she just removed her gloves, held her
+knife and fork with the tips of her fingers, let Pa help her, thanked him
+with a pretty "'K you." From the corner of her eye, she watched other
+groups, to pick up good manners. She seemed to have frequented smart
+restaurants all her life: beside her, Nunkie and the Three Graces, who cut
+their bread with their knives and made a noise when eating, looked like a
+family of small farmers on a visit to London town. Pa was greatly amused,
+enjoyed his daughter's aristocratic ways, admired her refined air. When
+they went out, in obedience to a look from Lily, he bought her a bunch of
+violets, which he pinned to her bodice himself:
+
+"Well, Lily, are you happy? Do you love your Pa? Tell me you love your
+Pa," and he looked at her gently as if in regret at having been so harsh
+at practice.
+
+"It's for your good, my Lily, you'll thank me one of these days. I'll give
+you lovely dresses, I'll cover you with diamonds!"
+
+"Why not to-day?" asked Lily, with a comic pout.
+
+Then both of them laughed and Lily forgot everything, even the blow with
+the fist, at being treated so like a lady.
+
+"If I was married," she said to the Three Graces, "I should like to go
+shopping all day long and have fine dresses, a gold watch and no bike!"
+
+The Three Graces, with their heroic strength, had no thought of such
+luxuries. Thea told Lily of her successes in America:
+
+"Five pullings-up with one arm at Boston. Six at 'Frisco. Eight when we
+got back to New York! Eight, Lily! And to-day...."
+
+"And your lover in America, tell me about your lover ..." interrupted
+Lily, pressing Thea's arm.
+
+"Talk low," said Thea, looking back at Nunkie, who was walking behind with
+Pa. "Nunkie is furious with him. If he ever meets him! He says it's
+disgraceful, not writing to me, after asking leave to. It's an insult that
+ought to disgust me with men for good and all, Nunkie says."
+
+She told Lily everything, her unhappiness at first, for she loved him.
+Lily, with her little nose in the air, sniffed those love stories, gulped
+them down, so to speak, with an instinctive movement of the lips.
+
+"And did you write to him?"
+
+"I wrote to him, but he never answered. Oh, if Nunkie knew! He forbids us
+to write, because writing, you know, Lily, puts out the muscles of the
+arms, interferes with the pullings-up, Nunkie says...."
+
+[Illustration: NUNKIE]
+
+But they turned into Regent Street: to Lily it was the entrance to the
+paradise of shops. The huge curve displayed its window fronts; and ladies
+and gentlemen and little girls: not dressed in their Ma's leavings, these
+last, but a superior branch of mankind, similar to that in the front
+boxes.
+
+Nunkie blinked his eyes behind his spectacles: all this luxury terrified
+him; he had almost forgotten the sleeve-links, talking with Clifton of
+people they had known:
+
+"The boy-violinist? Not up to much. Ave Maria? A disgrace: married,
+deserted, I don't know what. Poland, the Parisienne? A scandal!" As for
+him, he had but one wish, after getting his girls married: to retire to
+his home, grow his roses, look after his pigeons; simple joys, the only
+ones....
+
+"Look, Thea!" Lily broke in, pointing through the plate-glass to a heap of
+imitation jewelry, lying, among watches, on red and black velvet.
+
+"Come on!" said Mr. Fuchs.
+
+But, when Thea saw the prices--ten shillings, twelve shilling's--she
+refused to go in, saying she could have it just as pretty in Wardour
+Street and ever so much cheaper.
+
+"Just as you please, my darling. I'll do whatever you like. I don't know
+anything about it!"
+
+Clifton felt something rise in revolt within him, he was unable to resist
+it; a case of showing that old curmudgeon what a Pa was and that his
+little girl, too, did pullings-up in her way and that he knew how to treat
+her as a Pa should:
+
+"Your watch, Lily," he said, opening the door and pushing her in. "Now's
+the chance to get it. Come, choose for yourself!"
+
+"Oh, Pa! Do you really mean it, Pa?" she said incredulously.
+
+"Now look here, I'll smack you, Lily! When your Pa tells you a thing!"
+
+Lily seemed a princess, with her way of saying, "'K you," of touching the
+ornaments, the watches, like a little creature thirsting for luxury and
+yielding to her inclination at the first opportunity. There was so great a
+look of happiness in her eyes; and Clifton was so proud of his Lily, that
+he offered her a chain as well, to go with the watch. Lily refused at
+first, for form's sake, and then took courage--like a poor little martyr
+who did not like to disoblige her Pa--and chose a very pretty watch-chain,
+to the great wonderment of the Three Graces and of Nunkie, who thought, as
+they left the shop, that the children of to-day ... upon his word ... the
+parents of to-day ... it was all very different in his time....
+
+Clifton laughed to himself at that old curmudgeon as he left him to go
+home, with his star. Lily hung heavily on her father's arm, passed the
+draper's shops with a serious air.
+
+"No, another time!" said Pa, who felt what she was after.
+
+And he hurried his daughter off, for he might have yielded, she was so
+nice.
+
+Lily set her watch in Piccadilly, as they passed; then at the Café de
+l'Europe, by the big clock at the back; and again, twenty steps farther,
+at the bar of the Crown. Lily looked at the time and Pa showed his Lily
+off. He was proud to be seen with her in the neighborhood of Lisle Street,
+where everybody knew him. True, he seemed to have the name of being hard
+with Lily. But, come, was he hard? Did she look like a martyr? It was
+preposterous, all those stories. And he redoubled his attentions to his
+daughter, who talked a heap of nonsense, asked funny questions:
+
+"Why should writing a letter interfere with the trapeze, when a girl has
+arms harder than a horse's hocks?"
+
+"What? What?" asked Pa, taken aback, and when he understood, he would have
+held his sides for laughing, if he had been at home:
+
+"Oh, the old rogue!" he said admiringly. "He loves his dear girls, does
+Nunkie!"
+
+He was still laughing when they reached Tottenham Court Road; and, as they
+passed the Horse Shoe, a voice, which Lily seemed to remember, called to
+them from behind:
+
+"Hullo, Clifton!"
+
+Pa turned his head in surprise:
+
+"Hullo, Trampy!"
+
+For he recognized him at once, though he was much changed. Besides, he
+knew him to be in London. But it was a prosperous and gorgeous Trampy,
+quite unlike the old days; and forthwith Trampy explained: a champagne
+supper last night, just come from the bar; glass of Vichy water, you know.
+Huge success in London. Girls, by Jove! And then, pretending not to know
+Lily:
+
+"I congratulate you, Clifton; what a dear little wife!"
+
+Pa, greatly amused, protested: not his wife, no, his Lily! Then Trampy
+went into ecstasies: how pretty she had grown, one of the handsomest girls
+in London, sure! And in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland!
+And in all the British dominions beyond the seas, by Jove! And what a
+change since Mexico! She was a woman now, a peach, a regular peach!
+
+Lily seemed fascinated by Trampy, examined him, his shiny hat, his gold
+rings, his patent-leather shoes. A swell, Trampy, a toff, a gentleman like
+those in the front boxes.
+
+"Yes, Lily," said Trampy, guessing her thoughts, "yes, that's the way it
+is; one's not always hard up. I've struck oil since leaving America. Heaps
+of money! Eh, what!" he continued, offering Clifton an expensive cigar.
+"You wouldn't have thought it, would you, when you left me stranded in
+Mexico? That was a nice dirty trick you played me! Come and have a drain,
+old man, to drink Miss Lily's health and show there's no ill feeling!"
+
+"No, another time," said Clifton, vexed at this recollection of Mexico,
+now that he was the established owner of a troupe, a man whose word was as
+good as gold. "I'm in a hurry to get home: a very nice home, Trampy, a
+real good one. Come and see us some day. _Au revoir_."
+
+But Trampy was so pleased at meeting them, he never stopped shaking them
+by the hand. Lily had to accept a bag of cakes to share with the troupe
+when they had their tea. Then, at last:
+
+"_Au revoir_, old man; _au revoir_, my love, my little peach!"
+
+Lily's head was quite turned by this jolly day: it made her forget six
+months of worries. To think that, for some people, every day was like
+that! However, she mustn't complain: a watch, a chain as well, the
+somersault pulled off, compliments from Trampy....
+
+Ma's reception of them, when they got home, was icy. Pa looked a little
+like a school-boy caught at fault; and Lily, none too easy in her mind,
+put the cakes on the sideboard, and hastened to take off her mother's big
+hat. Ma grumbled, under her breath: it was nothing but going out, now. Old
+Cinderella could stay at home, bareheaded, while my lady went shopping! A
+fine thing, my word, for a great sensible girl to abuse her Pa's weakness!
+There was nothing to do at home, of course! Well, if it pleased Mr.
+Clifton, she had no more to say!... And, while she grumbled, Ma prepared
+the tea and shot glances at Lily, a Lily with red cheeks and bright eyes
+and looking so pretty that Ma, full of mixed pride and anxiety, felt
+sudden longings to eat her up with kisses, "ugly" that she was!
+
+Pa did his best to calm Mrs. Clifton, tried to amuse her with the story of
+the sleeve-links, of the horse's hocks, and Pa laughed, my!
+
+"He laughs best who laughs last," growled Ma.
+
+"Just think, Ma," said Lily, taking courage from Pa's merriment. "That old
+rogue forbids his daughter to write, he pretends that...."
+
+"And quite right too!" said Ma. "What do girls want with writing? And who
+do you mean? What old rogue? You don't mean Mr. Fuchs, I suppose?"
+
+"Why, yes, Ma, old Fuchs."
+
+"Old Fuchs! You chit, to talk like that of respectable people! Go to your
+room, impudence! Dry bread for you!"
+
+"But, Ma...!" said Lily rebelliously.
+
+"That's what comes of it," said Mrs. Clifton, addressing her husband,
+"when a mother no longer has the right to correct her daughter."
+
+And she pointed to Lily, who persisted in remaining, who was even
+beginning an explanation:
+
+"But, Pa ... but...."
+
+"Obey your mother first," said Clifton.
+
+"Yes, Pa."
+
+And Lily went out, very anxious at the turn which things had taken.
+
+Clifton realized that he had perhaps been wrong that morning to blame Mrs.
+Clifton in Lily's presence. He was wrong also to laugh at old Fuchs before
+Lily. But, all the same, that old rogue ... and they had believed it,
+those Graces! That wouldn't go down with Lily!
+
+"It's an example you ought to follow, instead of laughing at it, Mr.
+Clifton!"
+
+"Upon my word, I'm very proud of my Lily; she works well, she really
+does," said Pa, stretching himself in the easy-chair. "I'm pleased with
+her; you know as well as I do, a girl is not a boy. She can do with a
+little spoiling. And only just now I made Lily a present of a gold watch
+and chain."
+
+"Then I give up!" said Ma, in a voice of exasperation. "Then I give up!
+Why should I take all this trouble bringing up your daughter? A little
+spendthrift who will bring us all to the workhouse! And a good thing when
+she does!"
+
+But Pa wanted peace in his own house. That was enough of it! Peace was
+what he wanted, damn it, and not a monkey-and-parrot life!
+
+And, jumping up from his chair, he opened the door and shouted up the
+staircase:
+
+"Come down, my Lily! Your Ma says you may! The cakes are on the table."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Pa would have covered his Lily with diamonds, if he had the money ... and
+if Ma had allowed it! But, on this special point, she ventured to oppose
+him. She had been Lily's age herself, had Ma, and she enlarged upon the
+necessity of keeping a tight rein on Lily.
+
+Ma enumerated the fugitives: Ave Maria, and this one, and that one, and
+ever so many others who had bolted; and troupes ruined by the flight,--or
+the marriage,--of the star....
+
+"Lily has changed a good deal lately, dear, are you sure she hasn't a man
+in her mind?"
+
+"There we are again!" said Pa. "Always the same old story! But just tell
+me, who does she see? Who does she know? Jimmy? You don't mean him, I
+suppose? Very well! Trampy, then? A married man, divorced, married again,
+goodness knows what! and then ... and then ... Oh, well, let's have peace
+at home, at any rate! Damn it, Lily may be a bit of a flirt: why shouldn't
+she be, a pretty girl like that? Beauty, in the profession, is half the
+battle."
+
+And Pa entered into details, comforted Ma with good news: a fresh contract
+signed with Bill and Boom, after that, the Harrasford tour: big salaries
+now....
+
+"No, dear, this isn't the time to worry Lily about trifles. And I don't
+want her to be bothered with useless work, either."
+
+"Call home work useless! A woman's greatest charm!" exclaimed Ma.
+
+Lily was a subject of friendly discussion to them. Both adored her
+equally: both were proud of her at heart. For Lily was growing very
+beautiful; everybody said so at the theater: the stage-manager; the acting
+manager, down to Jimmy, who stammered things. It was an endless series of
+compliments; Harrasford's friend, the architect, who had not seen her for
+a long time, fell into raptures when he met her on the stage:
+
+"Magneeficent!" he exclaimed, in his Franco-Belgian accent. "How old is
+she: sixteen? seventeen?"
+
+"Fourteen," said Ma, with a mincing air, for to that damned "parley-voo"
+she was as anxious to make Lily out a child now, in order to keep a firmer
+hold of her, as she had been to increase her age in America, so as to make
+her work.
+
+"What, fourteen, Ma!" protested Lily.
+
+"Yes, fourteen, of course; do you think you know better than your mother,
+you little fool? Can't you see everybody's laughing at you?"
+
+Ma dreaded those irresponsible jossers, who filled Lily's head with a pack
+of false notions, and kept a good watch, in her growing anxiety.
+
+Ma, in the early days of their arrival in London, had been terribly
+obsessed by the dread of being left without means in the huge city. Lily
+had got them out of that difficulty. And now she was earning such a lot of
+money: one day, who knows, they would have made enough to assure their
+independence for good and all! When she thought of this possibility, Ma's
+eyes lit up with yellow gleams; she felt like catching hold of Lily and
+locking her up in a safe.
+
+Pa was less eager for gain, less ant-like in his economies; he was an
+artiste, above all; he knew how to make allowances; there was a time for
+work and a time for play. He often treated himself to the pleasure of
+taking Lily out; and, each time, as usual, she got a nice little
+present--he liked to pass for a Pa who spoiled his daughter, loved to hear
+himself so described, and took a wicked delight in repeating it all to
+Mrs. Clifton.
+
+Lily was the gainer by the difference in opinion; she felt herself a
+little freer. When she went out in the morning, she considered herself at
+liberty to walk less fast, and no longer trembled on returning. She loved
+to loiter in the Tottenham Court Road; her little person assumed an air of
+importance; if, after practice, some artiste passed her in the street and
+gave her a smile, she believed that he was waiting for her; a "comic
+quartet," the Out-of-Tune Musicals, happening to come out of a bar and
+blow a kiss to her, were there on her account, she thought--four lovers at
+a swoop!
+
+It was almost impossible that she should not meet Trampy, who was always
+prowling about from bar to bar, between Oxford Street and Leicester
+Square. She did meet him, in fact. Trampy, that day, wore a felt hat, a
+blue suit, a red tie, with a sixpenny Murias cocked in the corner of his
+mouth, and he greeted her with a triumphant "Hullo, peach!" as she passed.
+Lily was quite excited, stopped just long enough to refuse a drink and
+then left him very quickly. She was afraid it showed on her face, when she
+got home, and his words still rang in her ears, that she was awfully
+pretty, the prettiest girl on the stage, a peach, a duck, a pearl, a
+daisy, a bird.
+
+All that she had seen and heard in her jostled existence, now came back to
+her, grew and sprouted in her ... now that Lily was being made love to by
+gentlemen, not the monkey-faces or the blue-chins, but men like Trampy,
+her craving for admiration oozed out of her at every pore....
+
+Trampy! Lily did not care for Trampy; but she thought him amiable, polite
+with the girls.... She was grateful to him for being there to say pretty
+things to her when she passed. She preferred that type to men like Jimmy,
+for instance, savages who always seemed on the point of speaking and never
+opened their mouths; with them, she thought, a wife would be bored to
+death. Besides, Jimmy, pooh, a common workman, a josser! While Trampy was
+an artiste, a bill-topper and rich, no doubt. You had only to listen to
+Trampy to see that he was very well off! Chocolates, sweets, jewelry,
+ostrich-feathers, patent-leather boots, everything! He would have loaded
+her with presents, if she had let him, but she had never accepted anything
+except a little gold ring, which she hid in her pocket when she came in,
+for, if Ma had caught sight of it, gee, what a smacking!
+
+Trampy often met her; he seemed almost to do so on purpose; he found
+pretty speeches, compliments which he had already uttered a score of times
+to ever so many girls, on ever so many stages, like a real Don Juan who
+had been all over the world and everywhere picked up love-speeches and
+jokes to "fetch" the ladies with. He tickled her vanity, told her that a
+dear little girl like her was cut out for dress, that a big hat with
+ostrich feathers would go well with her fair hair and that men, by Jove,
+ought to go on their knees whenever they spoke to her!
+
+All this hummed and buzzed in her head. At night, when she fell asleep in
+Maud's arms, she dreamed of big hats and fine dresses and referred to it
+during the day. Pa hardly knew what to think; if she did as well as last
+night--three encores--Lily could have half a sovereign, to buy a new hat
+in the Tottenham Court Road with, said Pa.
+
+"Oh, Pa, I shall do all right, you'll see. Will you be very nice? Then get
+me that one at two guineas, you know, in Regent Street."
+
+"But you're mad, Lily!" said Pa, without attaching too much importance to
+it, for he had other cares: agents to see, letters to write, business,
+damn it!
+
+That took down Lily's cheek a bit; but her luxurious ideas returned,
+nevertheless. For instance, from admiring the Three Graces or the Gilson
+girl, who looked like Venuses in their silk tights and whose entrance on
+the stage caused every opera-glass to glint upon them, the wish to appear
+in tights began to grow on Lily. Oh, not the plain tights of living
+statues; no, but with flowers and leaves embroidered here and there and
+jet braid laced about the right arm. She was tired of bloomers and told Pa
+so, straight out, when the apprentices had left the room and Pa, stretched
+in his easy-chair, seemed in a good temper. Pa thought this notion about
+tights, silly:
+
+"They're very nice, those bloomers; those little shirts. Ask your
+mother."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Ma sarcastically, "but bloomers are made at home, in the
+afternoon; you have to stitch them yourself, dear. Tights, which you buy
+ready-made and which cost just ten times as much and last only half as
+long, are much more convenient, aren't they, Lily? To say nothing of the
+absurdity of an ugly girl like you showing yourself in tights!"
+
+"And the troupe," said Pa. "What would the troupe look like? Might as well
+not have a troupe; there'd be no one but you!"
+
+"Well, what harm would that do? I _am_ the troupe!" said Lily, tossing her
+obstinate forehead. "And all the money you give them you could give me!"
+
+"Lily," said Pa, alarmed, "you deserve to be smacked for that!"
+
+"Oh, Pa, what an idea!" said Lily, who was just arranging her fringe
+before the glass. "A Pa to beat his Lily for a little thing like that,
+away from work!" And, darting a bright smile at Pa, "You never would, Pa,
+would you?" she ventured.
+
+Clifton, taken aback, looked at his Lily, as if to say that she was right,
+damn it! But Ma, in her fury, cried:
+
+"Wait a bit! You shall see if _I_ would!"
+
+Bang! A box on the ears, followed by an order to go to her room, on dry
+bread and water, impudence! And practise her banjo till the evening!
+
+The blow itself was nothing, but what an humiliation for Lily, who, only
+yesterday, had been told that she had the sweetest nose in the world,
+cheeks to cover with kisses, eyes, lovely eyes: there wasn't a girl in a
+hundred with eyes like that, by Jove! And those lovely eyes were only fit
+to cry with! And those pretty cheeks Ma had covered with smacks! When she
+thought of it, she felt inclined to kick over the traces. Did they think
+her such a kid, then, her Pa and Ma? She'd show Ma if she was fourteen!
+She'd be off like the others. Lily, at this idea, felt her heart come into
+her mouth: no, no; she would never dare; she never would. She swore it to
+herself; took the great oath of the stage: three fingers of her right hand
+uplifted, the left hand on her lucky charm. And yet, one day, she would
+marry. She didn't lack chances, if she wanted them. And a gentleman, too!
+And her Pa and Ma, to disgust her, of course, pretended that he was
+married! They must take her for an idiot: how could Trampy be married,
+considering that he had suggested ... suggested different things to
+her?...
+
+Lily brooded like this, reviewing the tiny events of which her life was
+made up. Then a gleam of sunshine came to change her thoughts. She amused
+herself by breathing on the window-pane, making a circle ... wrote a name
+with her finger and quickly licked it out with her tongue ... and Lily
+brooded ... brooded....
+
+But Ma's voice made her jump:
+
+"What are you doing there, you good-for-nothing? I told you to take your
+banjo!"
+
+"Yes, Ma," Lily replied mechanically, with her nose glued to the window.
+
+"Do you hear, Mr. Clifton?" said Ma furiously. "That's the way she
+obeys!"
+
+Mrs. Clifton had no doubt whatever that there was a man at the bottom of
+it ... a flirtation ... something or other. It was useless for Ma to
+provide for everything, to do her best to oppose Mr. Clifton's weakness.
+There was Lily now, taking up an independent attitude. She thought herself
+pretty, no doubt; some booby must have been stuffing her up, making love
+to her, to laugh at her later on! If she, Mrs. Clifton, had been a man,
+she would certainly never look at that ill-mannered baggage; but the
+London jossers liked that brazen type! And to think that time was passing
+... passing!... Oh, Ma would have liked to get hold of the man who
+invented the law about girls coming of age ... and love ... and marriage!
+A fierce jealousy seized upon her at the thought. Lily would have
+bouquets, champagne suppers; Lily would be loved by gentlemen! Tell Lily
+that she was pretty and, in less than six months the little hussy would
+think herself a fine lady! And, on that day, Mrs. Clifton would wash her
+hands of her!
+
+These continued attacks ended by shaking Pa. He didn't quite know what to
+say; there was a certain amount of truth in it:
+
+"But," he persisted, "why should she go? She has everything she wants
+here?"
+
+But he was more and more annoyed; yes, he admitted, he was wrong to laugh
+at Mr. Fuchs: you must never set children a bad example. And, from that
+moment, once his attention had been called to the matter, he daily
+discovered fresh causes for uneasiness: where the devil did she get that
+love of dress from? And who sent her that bouquet behind the scenes the
+other night? Why, Lily wanted to have it handed to her across the
+footlights, like a singer!
+
+And Pa and Ma watched Lily like a bag of money on which one keeps one's
+hand, for fear of pickpockets. Ma doubled her precautions.
+
+The gentlemen in the front boxes, especially, alarmed her, even more than
+the Jim Crows: creatures apart, devilish creatures, the gentlemen in the
+front boxes! She fancied she saw a reflection of hell in the eye-glass of
+every one of them. If ever Lily dared to smile to them, she knew what
+awaited her! Ma would get angry for nothing at all; she even scolded Lily
+for allowing herself to be approached on the stage by a contributor to
+_The Piccadilly Magazine_, which was publishing articles on _The Little
+Favorites of the Public_.
+
+"I am sure you only told him a lot of nonsense," said Ma. "A girl should
+call her mother in a case like that. What have you to do with the public?
+Aren't you ashamed?"
+
+No, Lily was not ashamed. She was exasperated rather. And she had not told
+the journalist any lies: just the plain truth, in her own little way.
+Sweat and blood! Broken legs! Broken arms! And here, there, there, all
+over her body, scars deep enough to put your finger in! That would revenge
+her a bit for the way in which she was treated. She knew that, when the
+article appeared, she would catch it at Pa's hands; but never mind! She
+had told everything, everything, in revenge; just as she might have flung
+her bike at their heads in a fit of anger!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+There had been a terrible scene at home that day. Ma had searched Lily's
+trunk and had not, it is true, discovered the love letters which she
+believed to be hidden there, but she had found a ring! It was Trampy's
+ring, which Lily, who usually concealed it about her person, had left by
+accident in the trunk among her things. Ma's face was a sight, when she
+came down to the dining-room. She was so upset that Pa asked her:
+
+"Are you ill, dear?"
+
+Ma, without answering the question, pushed the ring under his nose and
+screamed that she had told him so:
+
+"An engagement ring, dear; an engagement ring! Perhaps you'll believe me
+now!"
+
+Pa and Ma, when they had recovered from their surprise, had time to lay
+their heads together and replace the ring, pretending to know nothing, to
+be watching more closely than ever ... and then Pa had gone out; for, if
+Lily, who was walking with the apprentices, had come home just then, he
+could not have resisted the temptation to smack her face. It was better to
+go out and postpone the explanation until later. He had, indeed, resolved
+never to beat his daughter again ... but still! And he clenched his fists
+and ground his teeth when he reached the theater.
+
+On the stage, he looked round for Tom, who should have been there to mend
+a tire. He saw nothing at first: only a few electric lamps studding the
+darkness; a faint glimmer lighting up a number of properties; farther on,
+the dull gleam of stacked-up bikes; and, lastly, Tom, with his cap cocked
+back and trousers turned up, trying--brrr!--to do a clog-dance!
+
+"Bravo, Tom!" shouted Clifton, the moment he saw him. "Just you wait a
+bit. I'll teach you to dance: with the clogs on your hands and your head
+downwards, damn it! Here, take this to go on with!" continued Pa, fetching
+him a clout on the shoulder. "And get to the bikes and hurry up, or I'll
+smash your jaw in!"
+
+Meanwhile, Jimmy had also come, unseen by Pa. And the great batten lit up:
+the stage came to life again. Right up above, in the galleries from which
+the ropes were worked, mysterious forms moved to and fro. The iron curtain
+rose ... there was a clash of orchestra ... Jimmy, with his back against
+the drop-scene and his face to the stage, gave sharp orders....
+
+Pa watched the scene vaguely from the wings. He gnawed his mustache: the
+apprentices would be there soon, with his Lily. And he had something to
+say to the stage-manager; something of a delicate character.
+
+But Clifton was surprised to see Jimmy instead of the usual
+stage-manager:
+
+"Hullo! So it's you now," he couldn't help saying.
+
+"Why, yes, Mr. Clifton; since this morning. The other chap's ill, you
+know. Harrasford asked me to take his place ... for a few days, I suppose
+... or perhaps longer. Do you want to speak to me, Mr. Clifton?" added
+Jimmy, observing Pa's look of embarrassment. "Just a minute and I am
+yours."
+
+Two tall footmen, caparisoned in velvet and gold, disappeared behind the
+curtain with the number of the next turn. They came back in a few seconds.
+Jimmy pressed a button. The stage filled with light and noise, the turn
+marked on the program entered and, suddenly, under the dazzling light, it
+was a series of somersaults, of flights from shoulder to shoulder, and the
+muffled fall of feet on the thick carpet.
+
+"There will be eight minutes of this," said Jimmy, taking out his watch.
+"What have you to say to me, Mr. Clifton?"
+
+Oh, what he had to say was very simple; he wouldn't have mentioned it
+himself, but Mrs. Clifton had asked him to. To cut a long story short,
+wasn't it a shame that gentlemen should throw bouquets on the stage when
+Lily was giving her show? Like last night, for instance: why, it was
+making game of a child, putting ideas into her head! Lily, of course, paid
+no attention to it. However, was it or was it not allowed to throw or send
+bouquets on the stage?
+
+"Why, you know it is!" said Jimmy. "How would you have me prevent it?"
+
+If he could have prevented it, he would. To begin with, Jimmy realized the
+bothers which it brought down upon Lily. Moreover, Jimmy, who was vaguely
+uneasy himself, wondered who that ardent admirer could be. Some of
+Roofer's girls thought they had recognized Trampy, from the stage, in the
+front seats. What Jimmy had heard of Trampy did not inspire him with
+confidence. And Trampy, it appeared, was making love to Lily. Mr. Fuchs
+had met them at the corner of Oxford Street and Newman Street. The story
+was quite definite.
+
+Jimmy was astonished at the audacity of a Trampy: what could he say to
+her? he asked himself, what could he propose to her? Marriage? He was
+married, they said, in America. To run away with him? His scandalous life,
+his habit of easy conquest made this very likely. Jimmy had seen plenty of
+others, big ones who topped the bill and who did not despise a girl's
+companionship--on the contrary--and six months later, a year, two years
+later, left the girl in a hole, stranded, undone; mustard and game for Jim
+Crow. And he grew more and more anxious on Lily's behalf: not that Lily
+would come to that! Yet he had seen plenty of them, since he had
+frequented the stage, plenty of Lilies who had taken to flight for
+injuries often less serious than hers. He could have mentioned names: his
+head was full of those who let their anger, or their folly, get the better
+of them and escaped at random, and who went back to every-day
+life--through the door of scandal--sometimes to meet with worse: martyrdom
+of the heart, base exploitation in the name of love. Oh, he pitied them
+from the bottom of his soul! No, Lily shouldn't run away: it was
+impossible! But what a pity, all the same, that he could think of it! And
+what chance, what meeting would settle her fate and make her--who could
+say?--the companion of a loving heart, or a prey to some footy rotter? Oh,
+how he would have liked to go for Trampy, to break his jaw for him, to
+teach him to mind his business and leave Lily alone! And what Jimmy wanted
+to do he was never far from doing! And, then, oh, if he could procure a
+good position for Clifton, as an equivalent for his star and make Lily
+love him, marry him: that would be better still!
+
+This idea, perhaps, without his knowing it, dominated his present life,
+doubled his power of work: to invent something! To get himself talked
+about! To make money, plenty of money, become somebody! Others before him
+had risen from nothing. Harrasford, to go no farther ... a chap who had
+climbed every rung of the ladder: a small music-hall first; then two; then
+a big one; then two; then ten. And a whole army now toiling and moiling
+for him every night, for him the chief and master.
+
+"Oh!" thought Jimmy. "If I could only climb the ladder too!"
+
+First of all, he must choose his line, for his efforts to tell. And, since
+chance had given him a start at the theater, why not go on? Here his
+scientific luggage would be of use to him. It was only a question of
+adding pluck to it. He was the man to do so and now more than ever. Things
+which used to seem impossible to him, such as his invention published in
+_Engineering_, appeared quite feasible, now that he had watched Lily do
+her wonderful feats of balancing on the stage. It was only a question of
+courage and hard practice. Another line suggested itself: to find capital
+and start a theater. As regards the stage itself, by this time he
+understood the management of it from grid to cellar. He seemed to take in
+at a glance that huge entirety, from the flies with their windlasses,
+their bridges, the labyrinth of stairs, the maze of passages, down to the
+dressing-rooms and the painted faces that filled them: here, a Lily;
+there, a buck nigger; farther on, a living-picture girl. He felt all this
+rustle round him, carried it all in his head: he knew it all, from the
+porter's box at the stage-door to the glittering front of the house, with
+its palm-trees and its liveried chuckers-out. Jimmy knew what to think of
+the enchantments of the stage, those luminous visions which the audience
+admired to the tune of the orchestra: jealousies, vanities, hatreds to
+knock up against and calm down; recruits to put through their paces; and
+the whole day of it--and the whole night, too--for a few pounds a week,
+including the tips received from the artistes, twenty-five to forty
+shillings a month.
+
+But Jimmy had his idea: he was determined to obtain a thorough grasp of
+the business; he had already taken possession of the stage-manager's room
+and of his desk with the many compartments: photographs, programs,
+contracts, electric light, staff, scenery. A whole small people depended
+upon him, and asked his advice, bragged of its successes or told him of
+its misfortunes. And here again was Clifton continuing his jeremiads: they
+would drive his daughter silly by making game of her, pretending to be in
+love with her, at her age! Jimmy listened attentively, with one eye on the
+stage and the other on his watch:
+
+"Tut!" he said, trying to arrange things. "There's no great harm in
+receiving bouquets on the stage. However, as you object, if any more of
+them come, they shall be handed to you, to dispose of as you please.
+That's all that I can do."
+
+It was gradually filling up behind Clifton and Jimmy; the iron door was
+constantly slamming upon the passage; knowing-looking Roofer girls passed,
+two by two, always two by two, joked for a moment with the scene shifters,
+shook hands here and there, disappeared up the dressing-room staircase.
+There was life, swarming life, everywhere, in the corners, behind the
+back-cloth. The New Zealanders arrived, with Lily and her Ma, for Ma never
+left her now, for fear of the gentlemen who prowled around like famished
+hyenas: villains who did not hesitate to throw bouquets on the stage to
+make ugly girls think they were pretty!
+
+Lily seemed sad. She stopped for a moment. A haunting serenade droned
+across the stage, a Spanish melody sung by soft tremolo voices, with
+tapping of tambourines. It reminded her of Mexico: everything reminded her
+of that time now. She compared herself with Ave Maria. Oh, she would have
+liked to tell the whole world how she was treated, just the plain
+truth!--in her own little way. But no one cared, not even that rotten
+josser of a journalist, with his article published in _The Piccadilly
+Magazine_. It made her out a spoiled child, who had learned to ride in the
+country-lanes, with her French governess, and who had surprised her father
+and mother by coming home one day with her head on the saddle of her
+bicycle and her feet in the air, thereby causing an unparalleled scandal
+in that old Yorkshire family. Since then, they had been obliged to yield
+to her fancies and allow her to go on the stage with her little troupe of
+friends. Her salary? Ten pounds a night. Her recreation? The banjo....
+
+"Rotten josser of a journalist!" thought Lily.
+
+Nevertheless, she was flattered at heart because of the ten pounds a night
+and the governess.
+
+But things happened to distract her thoughts: the Three Graces entered in
+their turn, followed by Nunkie; they stood talking for a few moments,
+while the apprentices went and dressed; and Lily soon followed them, after
+a last glance at a little woman and her "partner," who were getting things
+ready for their performance---some little hoops, two cardboard bottles,
+gilt balls--and then waited humbly in the shadow.
+
+Lily recognized Para, who used to exhibit a troupe of parrots; somebody
+had put her "in his show," no doubt, the Para-Paras, a new turn.
+
+"How poor she looks!" Lily could not help whispering to Ma.
+
+"You'll be worse off yourself, some day," said Ma, "if you go on as you're
+doing! Don't laugh at other people."
+
+Lily had dressed quickly and had come down to the stage with the Three
+Graces and they had ten minutes of joking behind the scenes, while Ma was
+still up-stairs, busy with the girls. Thea walked on tip-toe to restore
+the circulation to her legs; Kala practised back-bendings: Lily applauded
+with the tip of her thumbnail, flung back her head and laughed and, from
+time to time, looked round over her shoulder to see if Ma was coming
+down.
+
+She amused herself also by feeling Thea's arms, all those little muscles
+which stood out, man's arms: she would have liked to nestle in them, to
+feel herself squeezed till she cried out. And everything around them
+savored of love: there were lots of Roofers; little intrigues were
+embarked upon; there were stifled fits of laughter and cries of "Hands
+off!" and "Stop!" Amorous speeches and stories of romantic adventures were
+exchanged in whispers; the flight of the Gilson girl, the other day, at
+Liverpool, was told in full detail; a Roofer, it seemed, giving a high
+kick the day before, had sent her slipper flying into the audience; it was
+returned to her filled with chocolate creams; and to-day there was a
+boquet with a letter in it.
+
+Ting! The curtain, the light; and, on the stage, the Roofers were
+glittering with gold and silver and their boyish voices came in gusts,
+punctuated by the jerky flights of their short skirts.
+
+"Your old sweetheart, eh, Lily?" said Thea, pointing to the boy-violinist,
+who had just arrived.
+
+Lily had only a careless glance for the boy-violinist, who was wiping his
+eye-glasses and pulling at his cuffs, while a call-boy was adjusting the
+false seat into which two bulldogs would presently dig their teeth. All
+the fascination was gone for Lily: it was no longer the child prodigy; a
+grotesque Orpheus, in a laurel and parsley crown, he now introduced his
+music-hating dogs, who interrupted his performance with plaintive and
+angry howls and ended by leaping at the seat of his trousers in a mad rush
+across the stage.
+
+Lily, who had "gone through the mill," looked upon him as a mere josser,
+had for him the instinctive contempt entertained by the real artiste for
+those fiddlers, those singers, those dancers and other drones brought up
+with blows of the hat.
+
+"Pooh! I have some one better than that," exclaimed Lily, excited by the
+proximity of the Roofers.
+
+"If you have any one better than that and he loves you," said Thea, in a
+dreamy voice, "love him, Lily, keep him; as for me, I no longer risk
+having to do with men."
+
+"I do!" Lily whispered, with a frightened glance around her. "As much as I
+can! I love talking to men! Why, Thea, and don't you like love letters and
+p.-c.'s?"
+
+Ting! Ting! Orpheus left the stage, with his bulldogs hanging to him.
+
+Ting! It was dark again; ropes, plated rings were let down from the flies;
+the Three Graces, like quivering marble statues, took one another by the
+hand to make their entrance.
+
+Ting! From their perches on either side, two electricians sent the
+lime-light beating down on an involved group of ropes, bars and hardened
+limbs.
+
+Ting! A crescendo in the orchestra and, bowing to the audience across the
+footlights, the Three Graces made their exit, their smiles suddenly
+hollowed out into tired wrinkles, but cheerful nevertheless. And Nunkie
+wiped their foreheads with his checked handkerchief, helped them on with
+their big cloaks; and the three goddesses were now just a wrapped-up
+group, limping off to the staircase, like gouty patients at a spa.
+
+Ting! A forest scene is let down, the wings are shifted. A click of
+chains, a flash of steel. The bikes in the shadow, the apprentices
+mounted, Lily leading.
+
+"And try to do your best, my Lily."
+
+"Yes, Pa."
+
+"And try to behave."
+
+"Yes, Ma."
+
+Ting!
+
+Lily gave a nervous smile. She always felt a little thrill before going
+on. Then, quick, in Indian file, two and two, three and three, the New
+Zealanders whirled round in the light, to the roar of a triumphal air.
+
+Pa ground his teeth and clenched his fists the moment he heard his music:
+at the mere sight of his Lily, his seven stone of flesh and bones adapted
+to the machine, unerring and exact, an immense intoxication exalted his
+pride, gladness dilated his heart. At last! He was there now: German
+discipline! English gracefulness! Everything! He, too, would have his
+London home, with a lawn behind the house and a plot of rose-trees. He
+would learn the meaning of family joys, as Nunkie understood them, with
+texts along the staircase: "Welcome!" and "God bless our home!" And, more
+and more excited, he built up his dream; his imagination gave itself scope
+amid the unreal scenery, the forest depths, the green and gold sky and his
+Lily, his faultless Lily, haloed in light! Every hope was permissible when
+he looked at his Lily, his joy, his handiwork! His New Zealander on
+Wheels! That india-rubber suppleness, those little nerves of iron, his
+Lily, his glory, his star, his own star! He romanced about her, dreamed of
+an imperial tour, a steamer of his own, a floating Barnum's show, with
+Roofers, elephants, rhinoceroses, Ave Marias, dogs, monkeys, the whole
+boiling; and Lily starring on her bike, stopping in every port, from
+Liverpool to Suez, from Suez to Yokohama: down to the desert, damn it, to
+show the whole world what an artiste he, Clifton, he, the father, had made
+of his Lily! And he looked at her with loving eyes, applauded her with a
+smile, restored her self-possession with a twitch of the eyebrow and
+counted her twirls on the back-wheel--O pride unspeakable!--a dozen!
+
+[Illustration: SHE NEVER LOST SIGHT OF LILY]
+
+Ma, standing by him, interested herself less in the show and, neglecting
+the artiste, watched the daughter and the faces she made at the gentlemen:
+the brazen flapper, whose sole attraction lay in the wickedness in her
+blood! She never lost sight of Lily and watched her closely, for Ma seemed
+always to catch her throwing an appealing glance to the seducers in the
+front boxes, to some St. George in full dress who would dart across the
+footlights to carry off her daughter.
+
+Thus caught between Pa and Ma, Lily's situation was hard indeed. As for
+the audience, she never troubled about it, from custom, like a true
+professional, who gives her performance mechanically, without minding
+about the rest. The audience, to Lily, was, behind a streak of flame, in
+the semi-darkness, a confused mass of black and gray. All this had no
+existence for Lily or the apprentices. The audience didn't pay them! The
+audience wouldn't give her a whacking if the show went badly! Pa, in the
+wings, frightened her much more than all the audiences in the world; and
+Ma was worse still, when a gentleman smiled at her from a box. Then Lily
+would stare at her Ma with the terrified eye of a parrot contemplating
+Para's whip. She even exaggerated, pinched her lips, like a school-girl
+applying herself to her book for fear of the ferule. Ma did not ask so
+much as that. Sometimes, when Lily, after a successful trick, threw out
+her chest to draw breath more easily and rode round the stage with a
+pretty smile on her lips, Ma saw no harm in it, even rejoiced within
+herself at her daughter's beauty. Ma knew how to be just and not to be
+angry for nothing. But what she could not forgive, what exasperated her
+was, just that very evening, with her own eyes, to see Lily smile at some
+person unknown and shoot fiery glances at the front boxes, the little
+devil, who would bring them to the grave with shame!
+
+For Lily, it must be confessed, flung prudence to the winds that night.
+Her head was turned with all those love stories. They sang in her ears,
+they distended her nostrils. Oppressed on every side, she escaped in
+imagination toward that spacious house, toward the confused mass in which
+her lover sat hidden. And, in spite of Pa and in spite of Ma, who stood
+watching her in the wings, Lily searched the audience with her eyes. Was
+it really Trampy? Had he come back? She had not met him for some time. She
+wanted to know and he would surely reveal himself. Ma might say what she
+pleased. Even in the final pyramid, she looked, while, with one apprentice
+on her shoulders, another forked before her, another standing behind, two
+others on either side, she twice went round the stage, with flags waving,
+to the hurricane of the orchestra. And then ting! And darkness anew, the
+stage suddenly invaded by scene-shifters dragging heavy sets along; and
+Lily, passing out, was seized by her Ma, who said:
+
+"Who were you laughing at?"
+
+"I wasn't laughing, Ma!"
+
+"I'll teach you to make eyes at gentlemen, you baggage you! I saw you this
+time! I saw you!" grumbled Ma, who had the engagement ring still upon her
+mind. "You shall pay for this, Lily; we'll see if I can drive the devil
+out of you or not!"
+
+And Ma squeezed Lily's arm as if she meant to break it, but all this
+noiselessly, in the shadow, behind the scenery, for fear of the stage
+manager. Besides, it was nobody's business what a mother thought fit to
+say to her daughter, and Lily, when people passed, pluckily tried to
+smile, so as to put them off, not to let them know that she was being
+beaten, a big girl like her; but, as soon as they were gone, she resumed
+her rebellious face.
+
+"I wasn't laughing, I wasn't laughing, Ma!"
+
+"That's to teach you to lie!" said Ma, catching her a blow in the back of
+the neck.
+
+The door of the staircase had swung to behind them; and, in the empty
+passage, the thumps continued all the way to the dressing-room, which the
+apprentices had not yet reached. Then, once inside, Ma pushed the bolt and
+made a rush at Lily. And Lily raised her elbow in vain: accompanied by a
+furious series of grunts--"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!"--Ma's diligent fist "signed a
+contract on her back":
+
+"And don't you dare to cry out, or I'll give it you twice as hard!"
+
+Lily, bruised all over, felt inclined to scratch her mother, like a
+wildcat; but the apprentices were coming. So she cooled her head in a
+basin of cold water and dressed with all speed, assisted by Ma, who
+perhaps regretted having been so hasty; but you had to be, with devils
+like that! And Ma's anger returned when, on reaching the stage again, she
+was herself, in accordance with Jimmy's orders, handed a bouquet intended
+for Miss Lily. What, another! Lily, following her down the stairs with the
+New Zealanders, saw Ma take the bouquet and toss it through the open
+door.
+
+"Come along," said Ma. "Give me your arm, Lily."
+
+And the New Zealanders walked away from the brightly lit-up music-hall,
+plunged through the drifting crowd, crossed the eddy of cabs, motors,
+'buses and, on the pavements, through the windows, had visions of elegant
+couples at sumptuous tables. Then they all went through the dark streets;
+and Lily, escorted by Pa and Ma, followed the herd of girls. Her face was
+hard and, from an angry brow, she shot glances askance at flight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+Now Trampy--even if he had to marry her for it, by Jove!--had set his mind
+on having Lily, at any cost; and that not only because of her prettiness,
+but also that he might play Clifton a damned good trick and teach him that
+he must smart for treating a gentleman as he had treated him in Mexico. It
+would be paying him out with interest to take his Lily from him. Besides,
+think of the credit it would give Trampy in the profession to have for his
+wife the prettiest, the cleverest girl on the boards, each of whose shows,
+when she performed alone, would be worth at least three pounds, as much as
+a whole troupe! He suspected in her the ripe fruit that was bound to drop;
+and he shook the tree to hasten the fall. He considered his reputation at
+stake: he, the man with the thirty-six girls, as he was called at the
+music-hall. He got caught in his own toils and wanted Lily madly, out of
+revenge and pride ... and jealousy too, for he suspected that Jimmy was
+courting her; and the idea that he had a rival inflamed his ardor.
+
+In the evening, pen in hand, in his dressing-room, or else at a table in a
+café, after a second and a third glass of old port, he prepared his
+batteries: letters, post-cards, he excelled in everything, was careful
+about his phrases, with the vanity of an author whose writings are widely
+quoted. Lily was "fascinating" and "bewildering;" he compared her to
+"those strange Indian poppies whose scent intoxicates a man and sometimes
+gives him death." Gee, but that set Lily dreaming! Fancy having all that
+in her! Who on earth would have thought it? Never mind, it was very nice.
+
+And the way in which she received her correspondence amused her as much as
+the rest. Trampy, it goes without saying, did not write direct: a few
+pence to Tom, who hated Clifton, and Lily received the cards in secret,
+devoured them when she was alone and then quickly tore them into little
+pieces and sent them flying through the window.
+
+Her trouble was how to answer. She really did not know what to say:
+
+  "Pa was so angry with the girls yesterday. I got a kick of the pedal
+  on my shin. Otherwise I am quite well. Excuse more for the present. I
+  must now conclude.
+
+                                                              "Lily."
+
+By return of post, she received "a thousand kisses on her rosy cheeks, on
+her fair tresses, everywhere," kisses without end.
+
+"He's mad," thought Lily.
+
+But she was greatly flattered by Trampy's attentions. He treated her as a
+woman, not as a child, as Pa and Ma went out of their way to do. Her life,
+after all, would be more agreeable if she was Trampy's wife; and he was
+delivering the attack in person, since his return from Lancashire, where
+he had traveled about with his property red-hot stove. He overwhelmed her
+with bouquets, even as a general bombards a bastion before the final
+assault, and he managed to meet her now. He dazzled Lily with his big gold
+watch-chain and the diamond in his tie. When he was able to whisper a word
+to her, it was always the same thing--"Motor-cars! Paris gowns! Jewels!
+Flowers!"--until Lily thought she saw all the shop-windows in Regent
+Street poured out at her feet.
+
+Jimmy made but a sorry lover, compared with Trampy. He never promised
+anything, silk dresses, diamonds or jewels. "The husband at work, the wife
+at home." Gee, there were no ostrich-feathers in that! But he adored her
+all the same, as Lily was well able to see; and she had many occasions to
+talk to both of them. Not that Lily was less closely watched. She never
+went out alone, but it was not always Ma who was at her heels: it was
+sometimes Glass-Eye. With faithful Glass-Eye, things took their own course
+and the interviews with Trampy became easy. As for Jimmy, he saw her every
+day at practice and he took that opportunity to tell her of his ideas, his
+plans for the future.
+
+"I shall succeed, you will see, Lily," he said. "I shall do something some
+day. I'm a bit of a mechanic, a bit of an electrician, that is to say, a
+bit of a wizard. Others have started lower down and climbed very high."
+
+"Yes," replied Lily, "I know. It's like Pa. He wasn't much before he got
+me into shape; and look at him now!"
+
+This was said with an artless candor that enraptured Jimmy.
+
+"What a dear little girlie you are!" he said. "What an adorable kid!"
+
+"That's right," retorted Lily. "Why not a baby, while you're about it, a
+school-girl in the biking-class and so on? Some people treat me as a
+woman, Jimmy, and propose to marry me!"
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"What I say, Jimmy."
+
+"And this man making up to you is worthy of you, I suppose? And do you
+love him?" asked Jimmy, greatly upset.
+
+"Pooh!" said Lily. "I'm not quite sure."
+
+"But you wouldn't marry him unless you loved him?"
+
+"I should marry him to change my life."
+
+"A change, Lily," said Jimmy, with feeling, "is not always a change for
+the better! And your life is a little pleasanter now, you told me so
+yourself. Your mother is sorry. You're getting pocket-money; ten shillings
+a week, eh? Why, Lily, that's splendid!"
+
+"Well; and I earn it, I suppose," said Lily. "And Ma isn't a bit sorry. Pa
+said he wouldn't have it, that's all. They were afraid of my running away
+if it went on. I am no longer a child!"
+
+"No," said Jimmy, taking her hands, "an adorable girl; that's what you
+are. Oh, a man whom you would love should do great things! He would love
+you with all his heart! And your life would be different then! No, you
+would not be a performing dog, as you call it; you would be a darling
+little wife. It's all very well to rove about the world, from theater to
+theater, riding round and round on your bike...."
+
+"I adore the stage, for all that!" interrupted Lily.
+
+"But that can't go on for ever," continued Jimmy. "You're entitled to have
+a nicer life: a home of your own, Lily; you have the making of a lady in
+you, if you were taught. In a year or two, Lily, you would be the equal of
+any lady in the land."
+
+"Learning, more learning, always learning! I've had enough of it in my
+life!" muttered Lily, affected, nevertheless, by Jimmy's intense
+excitement, and lowering her eyes under his glance.
+
+"Why, yes, Lily, always learning, that's life!" said Jimmy. "But the other
+chap, of course, promises you the earth! Some millionaire, I suppose: an
+admirer in the front boxes?"
+
+"He's an artiste," said Lily.
+
+"Why," said Jimmy, stepping back, without letting go of her. "But, no,
+it's impossible; you're not thinking of Trampy!"
+
+"Why not?" said Lily angrily, trying to release herself from Jimmy's
+passionate grasp.
+
+"Why, because ... because he's a drunkard ... a ... The other day I saw
+him at the bar of the Crown, as I was passing. He was blind-drunk."
+
+"What's the good of talking?" said Lily. "He's miserable. He worships me.
+He drinks to forget. He told me so himself!"
+
+"But they say he's married," said Jimmy. "Why ..."
+
+"It's mean and jealous of you to say that," said Lily, suddenly
+withdrawing her hands. "You deserve a smacking! How can he be married,
+when he wants to marry me?"
+
+And with that she left him and went up to the dressing-room.
+
+Jimmy was heartbroken.
+
+"It's a joke of Lily's ... as in my shop, some months ago, when she
+pretended to have a sweetheart, though she hadn't!"
+
+But, argue as he would, Jimmy thought with terror of Trampy's habits of
+conquest, of his reputation in the profession as a Don Juan. He bitterly
+regretted waiting so long to speak to Lily. He had thought that he was
+pleasing her by keeping in the background, for fear of causing her
+annoyance at home: was his sole offense now that of coming too late?
+
+Oh, if he had only had evidence to hand! But Trampy's marriage was one of
+those vague rumors. One could say nothing for certain. However, the
+danger, no doubt, was not yet imminent. And Jimmy had a friend who was
+doing America in the theaters of the Eastern and Western Trust: he
+resolved to write to him; the friend would receive his letter at the
+Majestic, Houston, Texas, or at the Denver Orpheum. The thing had happened
+over there; they would probably remember it in the theaters he passed
+through; he could make inquiries, perhaps even obtain proofs. That
+exquisite Lily, that masterpiece of grace: what a darling wife she would
+make! And all for Trampy! Jimmy was determined to do everything to prevent
+it.
+
+He did not despair of supplying Lily, before long, with the proof that
+Trampy was married; he would give the name, the date; he would compel
+Trampy to admit it. But he was not sure enough yet to accuse him openly:
+Lily would have seen nothing in it but a ridiculous jealousy and would
+never have forgiven him.
+
+Then Jimmy was worried: people came to him for this, for that, for the
+thousand details of the stage.
+
+Lily, on her side, left the theater. That day, she was accompanied by
+Maud, who fixed her with her glass eye, while the other was engaged in
+watching the flies. Of course, Trampy was prowling round the theater to
+see her part of the way home; for he, too, had decided to carry things
+with a high hand. And he set to work at a quicker pace than ever.
+
+He had none of Jimmy's scruples; he was not afraid of exaggerating: far
+from it. Lily always left him under the impression of a glimpse of
+paradise. This time, however, she failed to smile when Trampy vowed that
+she was "the sweetest little thing that one could lay eyes on, by Jove!"
+For a long time, but especially since that morning, she had been burning
+to put a question to him. Possibly she had no intention of marrying him,
+but she wouldn't allow him to make a fool of her; and she interrupted him
+in his compliments to ask if what they said was true.
+
+"Who says so? It's a lie!" Trampy hastened to answer.
+
+"I mean your marriage," replied Lily.
+
+"I thought as much," said Trampy.
+
+"Tell me the truth," persisted Lily innocently, looking him straight in
+the eyes.
+
+"If I was married, Lily, would I want to marry you?"
+
+"Of course not," said Lily, already shaken.
+
+"Who's been talking to you about that?" asked Trampy. "Your Pa, eh? And
+Jimmy: I'll bet that Jimmy ...?"
+
+"Jimmy too."
+
+"If I don't box that fellow's ears!" shouted Trampy. "Can't you see that
+he's jealous? Why? He didn't even give you my bouquets! He handed them to
+your Ma! And so I've been married, eh? Whereabouts? In America, I'll
+wager?"
+
+"Yes, somewhere on the Western Tour."
+
+"Of course," said Trampy. "That's what I've heard myself. Still, it seems
+to me that, if I had a wife, I ought to be the first to know it; don't you
+think so, Lily?"
+
+This was proof positive. Lily could find nothing to answer.
+
+"Come and have a drink, Lily?"
+
+"They're waiting for me at home," said Lily.
+
+Trampy went into the bar alone, in a desperate state of love which made
+him call for a port and another, by Jove! Then he sat down at a table in a
+corner, lit a cigar and examined his glass, as though truth lay at the
+bottom. For he could not tell for certain. Was he married or was he not?
+That's what he himself would like to know! According to him, upon his soul
+and conscience, he was not a married man; he did himself that justice.
+Opportunities, certainly, had not been wanting ... with all the girls he
+had known ... enough to fill a dozen beauty-shows. Sometimes even he had
+had a narrow escape, as in that damned town in the West, in one of those
+states where you can't so much as take a girl to supper without finding
+yourself married to her in the morning, all for entering yourself in the
+hotel book as "Mr. and Mrs. Trampy," in other words, as man and wife. And
+yet he couldn't ask the girl who adored him to sleep on the mat! Yes, a
+poor girl who had found glowing words in which to tell him her love, one
+night in Mexico, words which had set Trampy quivering with longing
+compassion: was he to be reproached with that? He had made her happy,
+after all; and, on the whole, this lark was one of his pleasantest
+memories; it hadn't lasted too long: a matter of a few weeks at most. He
+had left Mexico, taking the girl with him, and played Trampy Wheel-Pad in
+the Western States, with any amount of success, by Jove! Encores, packets
+of tobacco, a new suit of clothes! And, by way of _entr'acte_, the
+girl--"Tramp Wheel-Pad's Jumping Flea," as she was called--turned
+somersaults and flip-flaps. But she would have killed him, this dark girl
+with great dark eyes,--this girl with a boy's figure, all muscle and
+sinew, keeping him awake all night and talking of nothing but smackings,
+as though she had never learned anything else. And so much in love that
+she would bite and scratch: a very tigress. Any one but himself would have
+wearied of it. And then, one fine morning, for coupling their names in the
+visitors' book, they found themselves married, in the name of the law! And
+that was what people called a marriage! So little married were they,
+according to him, that he had given her the slip then and there, leaving
+her all the money he possessed, however: he was not the man to look at
+fifteen dollars, when honor demanded it. Trampy had had more stories of
+this kind in his life; they left as much impression on his mind as the
+recollection of a "schooner" swallowed at a bar on a summer night.
+
+It was dishonest, he considered, to pretend that he was married. Not that
+he was perfect: far from it! He did not set up as a model. He had had
+scandals in his life: he admitted it humbly; and, if some jealous person,
+some Jimmy, for instance, wanted to do him harm, all he had to do was to
+dig in the heap, instead of hawking round that story of an imaginary
+marriage.
+
+His differences with Poland, the Parisienne, for instance: a regular Mrs.
+Potiphar, that one. He had found it a hard job to get away from her. And
+ever and ever so many others! He couldn't remember. People were always
+talking ill of him. There was more than that, however: he, too, was
+capable of manly ambition; he, too, had taken a breakneck risk. He had
+perfected and patented at Washington an invention of which he had seen a
+drawing, by accident, in a scientific journal--_Engineering_, or
+another--a purely theoretical invention. The inventor himself, a young
+London electrician, declared it to be unrealizable. Well, he,
+Trampy--Poland had helped him with her purse; she was very nice about
+it--he, Trampy, had had the thing made. He had deposited the models at the
+Patent Office; and the apparatus itself was now in a London storage. He
+would get it out, some day, and show them all what he was capable of.
+
+Now he was wrong, perhaps, in abandoning Poland, after accepting her
+services; but, after all, those were matters which concerned nobody but
+himself. It was not fair play to tell Lily about them: she, he felt, would
+always be the girl of his heart, the thirty-seventh and last, and it would
+take a better man than Jimmy to snatch her from him!
+
+Already, it was much to have pacified Lily on that incident of the
+marriage: Lily believed him. One thing, however, disquieted Trampy:
+bigamy, all the same, meant doing time. Now, if some jealous person
+produced the proof of that marriage, contracted under the Western law ...
+suppose it were valid ... really valid? H'm! Was he going to lose Lily for
+that? And his liberty into the bargain? That Lily who was worth her weight
+in gold, love and fortune in one!
+
+Trampy resolved to broach this delicate subject:
+
+"Suppose I was married," he hinted, one day, "that wouldn't matter.
+Couldn't we ... live together ... eh?"
+
+"I like your style!" said Lily, feeling slightly indignant at such a
+proposal. "What do you take me for?"
+
+"I was only joking," Trampy hastened to say. "If you want to be married,
+I'm quite agreeable."
+
+"I insist upon it!"
+
+"So then you prefer to take strangers into our confidence?"
+
+"What strangers?" asked Lily, in surprise.
+
+"Why, the quill-drivers at Somerset House and those damned fire-escapes."
+
+Lily had enough religion to know that the fire-escape was the clergyman:
+
+"As for that," she said, "we shall see later; but I want the registrar's
+office. If I'm to be your little wife, I want to be so for good and all:
+marriage or nothing!"
+
+"I shall be delighted, Lily!"
+
+"And I'm determined!"
+
+Lily was the more bent upon it, because marriage made her free: that was
+the essential point. If she were not married, her parents could make her
+come back, she thought ... keep her with them ... gee! It gave her cold
+shivers down the back! Once married, she was protected by law; Pa and Ma
+had nothing to say; and so she was very keen upon marriage.
+
+"What a dear little wife she'll make!" thought Trampy. "And how she loves
+me!"
+
+That, however, did not advance matters. It was all very well for him to
+put his arm round her waist, to talk softly to her, to whisper those words
+which had already won him so many conquests:--one day, even, he had kissed
+her on the lips,--Lily thought that very nice; it was all very well for
+him to cut a dash at the bar, to stand her a claret and a biscuit; it was
+all very well for him to sing his love-litany: all this did not help him;
+at the rate at which he was going, he wouldn't get anywhere in six
+months.
+
+Lily, between those two jossers, amused herself immensely. How lucky she
+was! Two men, at her age! They irritated her, sometimes; when they went
+too far--Trampy, especially, who got excited at the game--anyhow, it was a
+homage paid to her beauty. Between that and going away with him there was
+all the difference in the world! To leave home was quite another matter.
+Why, goodness, if things went on as they were, she could do without
+marriage at all!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+"Lily, come down!" Pa's voice thundered from below.
+
+Lily was out of bed in a bound. She could hardly tie her skirt-strings for
+trembling. Why was Pa in such a rage?
+
+The moment Lily entered her parents' room, she realized what it was. Pa
+was holding a letter in his hand and scowling at her.
+
+"These are nice stories I hear!" he cried. "You let men kiss you? You've
+got a love affair? Come, Lily, is this true?"
+
+"It's Jimmy's doing," thought Lily. "The mean cur! He's given me away!"
+
+Pa went on hotly:
+
+"And you're going to marry, are you? To marry Trampy? Here, read that!"
+
+Lily felt hopeless. She took the letter, but did not attempt to read it.
+White with fear, could she have sprung through the window and fled, she
+would have done so.
+
+"Well," Pa went on apace, growing more and more excited, "is all this
+true? All that they tell me: about your receiving letters, post-cards,
+jewelry ... and that ring! I've seen it! You're going to marry Trampy, are
+you? Oh, the man who writes to me knows all about it, saw you with him at
+the corner of Oxford Street and Newman Street. Is that true, miss? What
+did you have to tell him, pray? Speak out!"
+
+Lily, terror-stricken, could only droop her head.
+
+"It's true then that you want to get married, you baggage!"
+
+"Pa!" cried Lily.
+
+But he, with an "Ah!" of rage, sprang upon her, clutched her mass of hair,
+banged her head against the wall:
+
+"On your knees! Say, 'I--beg--your--par--don--'"
+
+And, Bang! Bang! Bang! The phrase was punctuated with thumps.
+
+"Oh, Clifton," implored Ma, "stop! Not so hard!"
+
+"Beg--par--don! Beg--par--don!" continued Pa, without relenting.
+
+Lily was half-stunned, the world throbbed before her eyes, and, delirious
+with wrath, she hissed:
+
+"Never!"
+
+"But I say, I say you shall not marry him! I'll kill you first!"
+
+"Yes, I will marry him, yes, yes, I will marry him! kill me, if you like!
+God is my witness that I had not thought of getting married, but, as you
+say so, I will!"
+
+His fist closed her mouth. She clasped her arms about her head, to protect
+herself as best she could, but soon sank to the floor, fainting....
+
+For three days she was in bed, broken, dazed--then, no sooner on her feet,
+than off to the theater, guarded by Pa and Ma. If they could, they would
+have padlocked a chain to her ankle and a collar about her neck. Ma
+chilled Lily with her scornful pity, or racked her with repeated insults:
+
+"A disgrace to the family! You'll be the death of us!"
+
+She would shower cuffs upon Lily, throw books at her head, or whatever
+came readiest to hand. Lily hid the books, the umbrellas, shrank into
+corners, longing to cry; but the tears refused to come. She was too angry.
+And, with head down, but eyes alert, she crouched like a dog rebelling
+under blows, with lips drawn back above her teeth, ready to bite.
+
+"I'm going out, or I'll kill her!" growled Pa, slamming the door behind
+him.
+
+Pa was thoroughly upset: for Lily to leave him! Just when Hauptmann was
+starting a fifth troupe; when Pawnee was drawing full houses with his
+three stars; when competition was increasing and threatening: it meant
+disaster, certain ruin, the disbanding of his troupe, his contracts
+canceled. He seethed with indignation; or else, in despair, felt like
+taking Lily in his arms, seating her on his knee, begging her to tell him
+that it was all a nightmare, that she would never marry, never marry that
+Trampy: his good little Lily ... whom her Pa would cover with diamonds!
+She should have all she wished, and everything, if only she would assure
+him that it was not true that Trampy, that ungrateful cur, whom he, Pa,
+had picked out of the gutter, was going to steal his Lily! That damned Jim
+Crow! Pa, in his fury, bought a revolver to scatter the footy rotter's
+brains with, but Trampy received the tip from Tom and vanished, hey,
+presto, leaving no trace, allowing no sign of himself to crop up anywhere.
+Pa's rage was vented on his daughter.
+
+Happily for her, Lily now was a model of conduct. She felt thoroughly
+calm. Peace seemed to reign in the house. Lily was such a gentle little
+thing! One day--the very day on which Tom passed her a note from Trampy
+and she made a package of her new dress and of her photographs, and
+souvenirs--that evening, as she kissed her father and mother, tears came
+to her eyes. Then, instead of going to the kitchen, she fetched her
+bundle, stealthily opened the street-door and ran to the corner, where
+Trampy was waiting in a hansom, and hi, off for the holidays, the
+champagne, the long-dreamed-of Paradise!
+
+
+
+
+PLAYING 'EM IN
+
+I
+
+
+They were seated on the basket trunk marked, "Trampy Wheel-Pad," in big
+black letters. The steamer had left Harwich and was making for Holland.
+The English coast was disappearing in the mist. On the deck, a heap of
+luggage and parcels made a sort of nest for them. Trampy, with his dear
+little wife by his side, was thinking of the future ... so many things
+which he had flashed before Lily's eyes and which he could not give her
+... not directly, at least ... but, pooh, she'd get used to it by degrees.
+The great thing, to Trampy, was that he had his Lily! He was going to
+stuff himself to the throat with love and, first of all, to seek a shelter
+for his sweet wife and himself. England was no place for them. Pa was
+prowling round and Jimmy, too. Once their anger was over and they found
+themselves face to face with the irreparable, everything would calm down;
+meantime, the wisest thing for Trampy and Lily was to be prudent and run
+away as fast as they could. Trampy had his plan, he had seen the agents:
+Holland and Belgium first; then a performance at Ludwig's Concert House,
+in Hamburg, and a brilliant first appearance before a hall filled with
+managers. Already he saw himself in the famous little room of the Café
+Grüber, where so many contracts were signed during the few days that the
+hearing-season lasted, and then he would have the whole continent, from
+St. Petersburg to Lisbon, make heaps of money, treat Lily like the little
+peach she was and cover her with diamonds, by Jove! Trampy, meanwhile, was
+none too easy in his mind: funds were low; the two pounds paid at the
+registrar's office had lightened his purse still more. Fortunately, the
+fire-escape had not had his seven-and-six-pence: that was so much saved.
+
+"A poor consolation," thought Trampy. "The price of a dog-license."
+
+But he was gay, nevertheless, in his wife's company. He forgot his
+thirty-six girls. He told Lily stories, made her squirm with laughter,
+played with her, dazzled her with the champagne suppers ... which they
+would have later on. Or else, like the consummate mummer that he was, he
+put on the gloomy countenance of a man about to reveal the secret of his
+heart:
+
+"I'm a wretch," he muttered, while Lily, in her innocence--Lily, who had
+been living on tenter-hooks since her flight from home a few days
+before--turned her frightened eyes upon him. "A miserable wretch ...
+married. Yes, it's true; I'm married, Lily."
+
+"It's true what they said? You're married?"
+
+"Yes, I am."
+
+"Oh, I knew it!" said Lily, in despair. "But then ... if you are ... I'm
+not!"
+
+"You silly little thing!" said Trampy, kissing her and taking her on his
+knee. "Yes, I'm married; yes; and no one shall separate us. Haven't I the
+prettiest little wife--here, on my knee--my little Lily?"
+
+"Oh, how you frightened me!" said Lily, nestling against him. "Oh, don't
+ever let us part!"
+
+With a wife like that, said Trampy to himself, a little discomfort more or
+less made no difference. As long as she had her dear husband, she would be
+happy. She would have eyes for nothing but him and would not care a fig
+for all the rest.
+
+Now she loved him: there was no doubt about that. She had left everything
+for him! He could even have had her without marriage, by Jove, and saved
+two pounds, if he had insisted! So he thought, at least, and he put a
+conquering arm round Lily's waist, while she, with her head on his
+shoulder, dreamed and dreamed, her eyes fixed upon the horizon. She was
+married! She had dared! She would be, at last, the little lady she had
+always been by instinct! And Lily went on building her castles in Spain
+until, after the smooth crossing, arriving at the Hook of Holland, she
+would not have been surprised to find her own motor-car and servants
+waiting for her on the quay. But no, she had to carry her bag herself,
+under the fine drizzle, upon the slippery pavement, to the train ... and
+third-class to Rotterdam. It was all very well for Trampy to adopt a
+triumphant air, but Lily was greatly vexed at the idea of going with her
+husband to a little hotel frequented by artistes, bill-toppers though they
+were. She would have liked something different.
+
+Trampy observed that, with her Pa....
+
+"With Pa," said Lily, "it was not the same thing ... and I'm not with Pa
+now."
+
+Trampy showed himself accommodating. That evening, Lily had the proud
+satisfaction of walking into a smart hotel, with waiters in the hall, as
+at the Horse Shoe. She carried her head high, conscious of being looked
+at. She would have liked always to shine like that--to sit down to meals
+amid the rustling of silk dresses ... but she felt uneasy in her modest
+attire. Trampy would be only too pleased to give her a new outfit, later
+on, yes; but as he explained to Lily, he had had so many expenses
+recently, wouldn't it be better to take rooms somewhere, in a sort of
+place like Lisle Street, or St. Pauli, at Hamburg? Lily yielded to these
+arguments, she had to; but it was a bitter grief for her to leave that
+fine hotel, where everybody saw her as a lady ... perhaps because of her
+big hat, on which a bird, flat-spread, opened wide its wings and held in
+its beak a diamond the size of an egg.
+
+And, thenceforth, the mean life returned: Lily relapsed among the potatoes
+and the wash-hand-basin salads. There were occasional revolts, tart words,
+sudden disputes, which, at times, wrinkled her forehead with anger....
+
+Nevertheless, she had her good moments: she enjoyed the sensation of being
+a lady who does no work, of wearing gloves and a big hat and of looking at
+the time on her fine gold watch while her husband is on the stage. It
+seemed pleasant to her no longer to appear before the audience doing her
+performing-dog tricks, with Pa scrutinizing her from the wings. It was her
+turn now to make one of the small nation: pas, mas, profs, bosses,
+brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, all watching their bread-winners on
+the boards. She mingled with them, or else sat down prettily in a corner,
+talked to the artistes: other Martellos, other Nunkies; new faces every
+week, according to the theaters they were at: owners of troupes; sketch
+comedians, serio-comics; dancers of the Roofer class; laced-up, glittering
+"Mdlles.;" or else, from time to time, some josser, a friend of the
+manager's or an agent, prowling around among the flesh-colored tights.
+Lily had seen all this a hundred times, a thousand times before, when she
+was with her parents; and the mere thought of Ma made her talk nicely,
+from bravado, to all of them, though she was married now. Lily bore Pa no
+malice, in spite of the buckled belt. Pa was a man, with hair on his chest
+and harsh like all of them ... no, not all ... and not so bad, perhaps ...
+not always ... no; however, a man.... But her Ma, a lady, ought to have
+stood up for her! If Ma could see her now, gee! Lily felt a lump in her
+throat at the notion. And it was their fault that she had run away! It
+served them right! She was much happier, now, when she was a lady in her
+turn. Her talent and her beauty received the homage due to them. Lily
+Clifton, the New Zealander, what ho! A famous name in the profession! She
+was one of those whom the stage people point out to one another:
+
+"Gee!" she sometimes heard a voice say behind her. "Fancy owning a girl
+like that and not having the sense to keep her!"
+
+Lily was flattered to the core at hearing her parents blamed; she felt
+inclined to rise and say, "'K you," with the great stage bow: her right
+hand on her heart, the other raising her dress, her body bent forward in a
+sweeping curtsey.
+
+She took part in the conversations: she knew a little Spanish, which she
+had learned in Mexico, and a little German, which she had picked up in
+America from the Three Graces; and besides they all jabbered English, they
+were all "families," "misses," "the's," with impossible accents,
+suggesting some of those cosmopolitan towns beyond the "Rockies." In this
+medley, she was at her ease; but she did not at all like being called
+Lily, now that she was a lady:
+
+"Call me Mrs. Trampy," she said.
+
+After the show, she would sit in the restaurant with Trampy. There, amid
+clouds of tobacco-smoke, they all supped in a crowd. There were separate
+tables, at which silent little parties gobbled down their cutlets and
+compote in ten minutes and then slipped away quietly. Sometimes, a whole
+band of girls would swoop down at once, like a flight of thrushes, or
+exchange funny remarks over other people's heads and blow volleys of
+kisses in every direction.
+
+Trampy, always full of good stuff, amused the company. He lorded it in the
+select corner, the corner of the stage-manager and the pretty girls. After
+supper, he cocked a cigar between his teeth and told thick stories in the
+midst of an admiring throng. Lily followed with her lips, so as not to
+lose a word, but, when the final point was at hand, she blushed in
+advance, turned away her head, as though tired of listening without
+understanding, and talked to her neighbor, like a lady who respects
+herself. Or, sometimes, it was more than she could help and Lily would
+laugh and laugh:
+
+"Oh, dear! Oh, my!"
+
+Then they would "talk shop" among pros, they passed one another the
+papers: _Der Artist, The Era, Das Program_, they discussed engagements,
+quoted personal anecdotes: the Ma who made her star go down to the
+kitchen, lest the landlady, when peeling the potatoes, should slip one
+into her pocket. Yes, her own daughter, a star who brought her in a
+hundred marks a day!
+
+"That's just like it!" thought Lily.
+
+They made fun of that prof who pinched his apprentices till the blood
+came, while pretending to smile, or clawed them like a monkey. And the
+company laughed and laughed, especially when Trampy put out his hand to
+Lily to show her how the monkeys ... Lily would jump back and the crowd
+roared with laughter. And the glasses of beer and Moselwein accumulated on
+the table; and round backs were bent over interminable games of cards....
+
+And then, gradually, the room emptied; the girls went away and Lily,
+waiting for her husband, sank into her chair and yawned as though her jaws
+would drop. As they left, she reproached Trampy for his coarseness: those
+horrid stories which made her blush before everybody's eyes. Her Pa would
+never have permitted himself ... She was not accustomed ...
+
+"That didn't keep you from splitting your sides with laughter," said
+Trampy.
+
+"What an idea!" replied Lily, in a vexed tone. "Do you think I'm going to
+play the goody goody 'lalerperlooser'? One has to do as others do and not
+make one's self conspicuous."
+
+"Quite right!" said Trampy.
+
+But she turned crimson with rage when Trampy, some other night, forgot
+himself so far as to monkey-claw the girls. There were short violent
+scenes when they returned home, chairs upset, angry words. Trampy could
+not understand this jealousy. When he was confronted with these outbursts,
+he was greatly surprised, sought for a reason, muttered Jimmy's name--that
+was his sensitive point: he thought of it in spite of himself--ironically
+inquired of Lily if it was Jimmy who had put all that nonsense into her
+head. Lily was sorry to see the conversation take this turn. She flung her
+arms round her husband's neck, loved him, kissed him prettily, the great
+silly: he knew better; he knew she never thought of Jimmy:
+
+"Kiss me, darling! I wish you would make me happy," said Lily, moved to
+pity for herself. "I want to be a good little wife!"
+
+Thereupon they made it up. Lily did not feel, with her husband, that
+thrill which she had often noticed in other women: but she wanted to love
+him, stubbornly pursued the idea, fagged away at her love like a little
+school-girl only too anxious to learn. Trampy, on his side, could be
+amiable when he liked. He became the old Trampy again at times and treated
+Lily like a little playfellow. They would both run about in the
+_Biergarten_, in the morning, at practice-time, larking like children,
+hiding behind the tables, and their laughter enlivened the empty place,
+still soiled with the remnants of last night's meal and littered with
+programs and cigar-stumps.
+
+And time passed like this for weeks ... it was months now ... an existence
+like another, with good in it and bad ... and monotonous and common....
+
+"I should have been better off, perhaps, at home," she thought. "If this
+is marriage, it's not much."
+
+For, she saw it quite clearly, _that_ wasn't love; Trampy didn't
+understand her. A "girl" and a wife were all the same to Trampy: a mere
+pastime, both of them. He spoke of it lightly, through the smoke of his
+cigar. She learned to know him, heard him boast of his prowess, caught
+passing words:
+
+"Girls, girls, my!"
+
+She would have laughed, she would even have felt flattered at being chosen
+among so many, if he had put an end to his conquests. But he continued to
+prowl round the stage-girls, as he used to do before he was married. If
+even he had shone upon the stage, she would have understood that he had
+got "swelled head," that he was yielding to temptation; but his success
+was only middling. He had not made a hit at Hamburg. The manager of
+Ludwig's had told him flatly that he would do well to practise and
+practise a great deal. Trampy posed as a victim of jealousy, spoke of
+showing them--all of them, if once he put his back to it!--a new turn, a
+discovery that would show what he was made of! Meanwhile he had a new
+idea, as a sketch comedian, with a make-up of his own invention, the face
+painted white on one side and red on the other, with wrinkles cunningly
+drawn--a laughing Johnny and a crying Johnny, two men in one. He pestered
+Lily with his plans, made her cut out dresses for him, came back from the
+old-clothes shop laden with uniforms in rags, into which Lily had to put
+patches. And shoes, in particular, ran in his head; shoes of which the
+soles and the uppers yawned like lips; talking shoes, which said, "Papa!"
+and "Mamma!" This last suggestion made Lily laugh.
+
+Trampy haunted the bazaars, bought children's toys, took the stomachs out
+of the cardboard dogs and rabbits to make his quackers, sought about for
+his right note, pursued inspiration to the bottom of the glasses.
+
+Lily was sometimes driven to exasperation. This tramp-cyclist, this
+sketch-comedian was making her, Lily Clifton, patch up his dresses! And
+her husband rewarded her for it by making love to the girls, poor idiot!
+Oh, if Pa and Ma had not been so harsh with her! Lily always harked back
+to that, stiffened herself with the thought, remembered the Marjutti girl,
+in whom love of art produced wonders and whose Pa and Ma were so gentle
+and kind.
+
+"They should have treated me like that," she concluded, "and I should have
+been at home still!"
+
+She regretted her marriage. And there were some who pitied her for
+belonging to Trampy: they looked upon him as not worthy of her, blamed him
+for openly carrying on with girls. Others asked, as though it did not
+matter, was she really married or were they just "living together?"
+
+"What? Am I married? Is that what they think about me?" she said, a little
+annoyed. "Of course I am! At the Kennington registry-office!"
+
+And yet a doubt entered her mind too. Was she really married, after all?
+Lily did not know much about it. Had the banns been published? And those
+two witnesses picked up in the street ... a ceremony that took just five
+minutes ... like a conjuring trick. If it was true that they were "living
+together" without her knowing it, she would not stay with him. She would
+go back home at once. Marriage, certainly, was never intended for her.
+This she realized now. When she thought of the Gilson girl, mad on her
+man, and of others whom she sometimes caught in the dressing-rooms and
+passages eating each other up with kisses, she was at a loss to
+understand. How could they make so much fuss about it?
+
+Poor little wife, with so little love for her husband and no admiration at
+all! As an artiste she thought him lamentable. Trampy, who had seemed so
+great to her in Mexico ... why, she had shot miles ahead of him since! She
+felt that he was getting second-rate. He himself was well aware of it, for
+that matter; blamed everybody: suspected a hoodoo somewhere: some son of a
+gun bringing him ill-luck. And he was always casting about for an easy
+means of success ... another new plan ... always something new ... a
+high-sounding title: "Rusty Bike," an old jigger which, at each turn of
+the wheel, would grate like a cart, "Crrrra! Crrrra!" and bring the house
+down with laughter, while Lily, in the wings, was to sound an
+accompaniment on a grating rattle:
+
+"Crrrra! Crrrra!"
+
+"All that set-out for nothing!" said Lily to herself. "It would be much
+simpler to have a little talent."
+
+She felt herself overcome with contempt for her husband: what a sorry
+bread-winner he made! Why take a wife, when you had only that to keep her
+on? Lily did not know whether to laugh or to cry when she saw Trampy come
+down from his dressing-room, proud as a peacock, his chest swelling at the
+sight of so many girls at a time, a treat of which he never wearied. He
+was magnificent, was Trampy, against that background of shoulders, thighs
+and calves: in his element as a fish in water. Nor did he make any bones
+about smiling to them or monkey-clawing them as they came off the stage.
+The presence of his wife did not hinder him. He was sure of her love: he
+knew she must adore him, as all the others did. And, leaving Lily in a
+corner, in the shade of a pillar, with his eyes he devoured all that
+powdered flesh, all those coarse wigs.
+
+Lily hated him at such times. She could have boxed his ears. She had
+enough of it, at last. One evening, she caught hold of his arm to take him
+away, furious that a gentleman could find a pleasure in making his wife
+look so ridiculous! And Trampy, more or less flattered at what he
+considered a fond wife's jealousy, was turning to go, when a lady with
+plumes on her head and a woolly dog under her arm greeted him with:
+
+"Hullo, old boy! Glad to see you, Trampy!"
+
+Lily--it was a distant memory, but no matter--recognized Poland, the
+Parisienne, with the painted face and the violent scent. Trampy took a
+step backward. He expected a scene, though he owed her nothing, after all;
+but she did not seem angry, no. On the contrary, she looked at him with a
+roguish eye. She knew of Trampy's marriage, no doubt, as she knew of his
+conquests, having been his victim herself.
+
+"Hullo, old boy!" repeated Poland, sizing up Lily with an appraising
+glance and then fixing her eyes upon Trampy. "Still having your successes,
+old boy? Is this your number thirty? Thirty-six? Thirty-eight, eh?"
+
+"What!" Lily broke in, astounded at these manners. "What number
+thirty-six, thirty-eight?"
+
+"Ugh! A number in a lottery," said Trampy, looking quite vain between
+those two women in love with him. "Yes, a number ... with which I drew a
+prize!... Why, by Jove," he continued, addressing Poland, "this is my
+wife!... Lily Clifton! ... the New Zealander on Wheels."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Poland to Lily. "I did hear that you ran away: tired of
+this, eh?"
+
+And, tapping the back of her left hand with the palm of her right, she
+made the professional gesture that denotes a whipping.
+
+"Yes, I was a bit," said Lily, feeling rather proud than otherwise. "I've
+been through the mill, I have!"
+
+"You've had your fair share, eh?" insisted Poland. "You're not the first
+that has left her family to escape being whipped. You did quite right,"
+she concluded.
+
+Trampy was dumfounded and utterly floored by the revelation. What! He! He!
+Lily had married him because of that! Because ... And people said it! And
+talked about it!
+
+"Come along, Lily," said Trampy. "Let's go home."
+
+And, giving no further heed to Poland, who followed him with a mocking
+smile, he took Lily by the arm and went out with her.
+
+Lily felt her arm shake. Trampy was furious, evidently. She saw her
+mistake, too late. There would be a stormy scene when they got in. Well,
+who cared? She was resolved, under that obstinate forehead of hers, to
+face the facts. She had had enough of this husband. And she meant to know,
+that very moment, if she was married or not ... because with him one never
+knew. When she admitted that she had married him because of "that,"
+Trampy, in his humiliation would put her out of doors at once; if the
+marriage wasn't valid, he would get rid of her. There was no doubt about
+it.
+
+And she did not have to wait, for Trampy, even before they were out of the
+theater, in the passage, among the trunks and properties, Trampy, unable
+to restrain himself any longer, seized her by the wrists and looked her
+straight in the face:
+
+"Is it true?" he asked, in a voice trembling with rage.
+
+Lily, without replying, lowered her eyes as though to say yes, like a good
+little wife, oh, _so_ sorry to offend her husband!
+
+"And," said Trampy, choking with shame, "you married me for 'that:' me,
+Trampy!"
+
+"Yes," said Lily confusedly.
+
+"Damn you!" cried Trampy. "Oh, if we weren't married for good, wouldn't I
+just make you sleep out to-night!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+Poor Lily! She was Trampy's little wife, his little wife for ever! And
+life, monotonous and common, followed its usual course: a week here, a
+week there; and the theater every night at the fixed time, according
+to the scene-plot which they went and consulted on reaching the stage:
+"X, Corridor, 9.5; Z, Wood, 10.17; Y, Palace, 11.10," and so on. And
+for Trampy it was an everlasting grumbling at his ill-luck, a dull anger
+at "playing 'em in," so sure was he of seeing his name first,
+always--"Garden, 8.30, Trampy Wheel-Pad"--he who had had such a success
+in England with his red-hot stove. It was no use his saying to himself
+that it wouldn't last, that it would be better next week. It was just as
+though done on purpose. He played 'em in, always, from Bremen to
+Brunswick, from Leipzig to Madgeburg:
+
+"I wish I knew the son of a gun who has his knife into me!" growled
+Trampy, persuaded that he was the victim of an agent's jealousy, or else
+the stage-managers didn't understand their business.
+
+"If you had more talent," thought Lily to herself, "that sort of thing
+wouldn't happen. I'd like to see you with Pa: _he'd_ show you, _he'd_ make
+you stir your stumps, you rusty biker!"
+
+However, she was careful not to say so to him, for fear of blows; and Lily
+knew that, if ever she received them once, twice, without returning them,
+it was all up with her, she would lapse under the yoke again, it would
+become a habit: there would be nothing for it but to leave her husband, if
+she wished to avoid slaps, just as she had left her family, to avoid
+whippings.
+
+That would have been too grotesque. She did not want to give Pa and Ma the
+satisfaction of seeing her unhappily married. Lily armed herself with
+patience; and she needed it! Trampy was in a frightful temper, said that
+he would have been the ideal husband, if she had been the little wife he
+had dreamed of: but to think that she had married him for "that!"
+
+Now it was the constant allusion to "that" which made him die with shame.
+Everywhere, on the stages of the different music-halls, people had for
+Lily that sort of sympathetic pity which they feel for a performing dog:
+they approved of her running away; everybody seemed to know about it.
+Poland, it must be said, scored a fine revenge against Trampy, without
+counting the artistes who had seen Lily practising and who knew what harsh
+treatment meant, the Munich Roofers, among others, real ones, with their
+blows of the hat, gee!
+
+Among them, it became the fashion, when they saw Lily, to tap the back of
+their hands, and then to applaud with the tip of the nail, as though to
+approve her flight. Lily at first was annoyed at the reputation for
+cruelty which they were giving her Pa. He was right to hit her, she
+thought, sometimes. She was also annoyed on her own account. She was an
+artiste, damn it! It was not only a question of smackings! Why, if she
+hadn't had it in her...! It was a gift! But, on the other hand, to excuse
+the folly of her marriage, she let them talk, without protesting, like a
+poor little thing who would still be with her Pa and Ma if she had been
+treated "fair."
+
+And there were always angry disputes between her and Trampy. They were
+seen to disappear through the stage-entrance, Lily with an arrogant air,
+Trampy drooping his head, his lips distorted with stinging replies. Lily,
+though she was not performing at the theater, sometimes received a letter
+there. When there was one for her in the heap of envelopes, bearing the
+stamps of all countries, which had been round the world prior to "waiting
+arrival" in the doorkeeper's pigeonholes, Trampy looked at her furiously,
+wanted to know. Lily refused. Forthwith, in the passages, or on the stage,
+endless disputes went on between them ... oh, not in the least tragic in
+appearance and interlarded with "Hullo, boys!" and "Hullo, girls!" to left
+and right, whenever they passed any acquaintances. And in a low voice,
+abruptly:
+
+"Show it to me, you wench!"
+
+"Shut up, you footy rotter!"
+
+Trampy could not forgive Lily for marrying him on that account. He, who
+had only to choose among the crowd that walks the boards or flutters about
+in muslin skirts, suffered from Lily's scorn, looked upon himself as a
+sultan dethroned before the eyes of his harem. In order to infuriate Lily,
+though he did not feel in the least like laughing, he exaggerated his
+conquering ways. It ended by affecting his work. Only the night before, he
+had got drunk with two "sisters" out of ten: the fourth and seventh from
+the right. Result: he was still in bed when the matinée began. And his
+performance went so badly that they had to drop the curtain on him. That
+would pass for once: an illness was allowable; but it couldn't go on at
+that rate. He was becoming worse than the head-balancer who tumbled off
+his perch, without having his excuse of sorrow, the loss of a beloved
+wife, seeing that he, Trampy, had a dear little wife and very much alive,
+this one!
+
+Lily, in her calmer moments, foresaw that they would soon have to face
+hard times, flat poverty. She felt her contempt for Trampy increase. Those
+sketch-comedians, those tramp cyclists, pooh, they were less than nothing,
+bluff, that's all, as old Martello said!
+
+She saw her dreams flung to the ground. At first, it had been charming for
+her, so full of novelty, but, after all, she had only changed masters. She
+ended by considering herself more unhappy than she had been with Pa and
+Ma. To begin with, Pa always had money. She brought them in a lot. She
+lived much less comfortably with Trampy. She used to think that being a
+married woman would change everything, whereas--not a bit of it!--there
+was no change at all: potatoes, coal, all sorts of dirty, messy things;
+and no Maud to help her. And it was always as in the old days: damp
+sheets, dirty glasses, rickety tables, beds with worn-out mattresses; and
+the nights were dull as ditch-water. Trampy had hoped for something
+different, expected to find a whole harem in Lily, his thirty-six girls in
+one, including Ave Maria, with her body like a wildcat's. Alas, it was far
+from that!
+
+Lily loathed those nights. Love, yes, but not that, not that! Sacred love,
+not profane love (Lily had seen paintings of it in museums and remembered
+the title). Love, that is to say, to lie ever so nicely on the breast of
+the dear one, yes, as with Glass-Eye, and dream of hats and diamonds. No
+doubt, it was ambitious to want so much. She, who had seen everything, had
+never come across that; but it was what she wanted, what she had been
+promised, damn it! Things were going from bad to worse. Memories of her
+childhood moved her almost to tears, when she thought of it: those happy
+times in Africa, on the straw beside the horses, the stars seen through
+the tent and the smell of the elephants. When she was there, perhaps that
+had seemed less sweet to her: the hard ground, the noise of the chains;
+but everything was made more poetic by remembrance: it was the past, what!
+Nights sweet as milk, far from a man reeking of tobacco. And not only her
+early childhood, but her life of yesterday returned to her: touring with
+the troupe, the oatmeal porridge and the cakes she made--bricks!--but Pa
+laughed at them, took them good-humoredly, whereas Trampy lost his temper.
+In those days, it is true, she wasn't a lady, she used to work; but they
+had good fun, all the same, in the dressing-rooms; they had tea at the
+theater, romps in the passages, or else did crochet-work, to pass the
+time; and all those practical jokes, intensified by distance: hustling
+Glass-Eye into the hamper; coaxing the black cat into the dressing-room,
+for luck; or making the pantomime lady speak her tag; or going in to the
+Roofers, on some pretext, and giving a whistle which made them all rush
+out, dressed or undressed or half-dressed, never mind, and spin round
+three times to ward off the ill omen: all those memories touched her till
+she felt inclined to cry. Oh, if she had been with her Pa now, she would
+have sat down on his knee and begged his pardon!
+
+At such times, if Trampy became affectionate and tried to kiss his little
+wife, Lily would simply turn her back on him. Poor Trampy! And he could
+not play the master! For, call on the agents as he might and write as many
+fine letters as he pleased--an art in which he excelled--work was becoming
+scarce. He no longer had any money. One pay-day, Trampy was obliged to
+confess that he had had his salary in advance and spent it; a money-lender
+held his contract and kept back three-quarters of his pay. Trampy,
+tormented by urgent needs, had let himself in with a Brixton "financier,"
+a specialist in "loans from five pounds upward, music-hall artistes
+treated with the strictest confidence," who pocketed nearly the whole. Now
+Lily just happened to want a new dress, a new petticoat and a tiny
+mother-of-pearl lucky charm. Trampy had to own that he couldn't afford
+these fancies and Lily had a fit of temper! But then why promise so many
+things to a poor little wife who deserved better than that?
+
+"A poor little wife," said Trampy, "should marry her husband for love and
+not to escape whippings! There are ups and downs in the profession. It was
+your own lookout; you shouldn't have married a star!"
+
+"A star!" cried Lily, with a nervous laugh. "You a star! A damned
+comedian! A nice sort of star, indeed! A music-hall could have twenty
+black cats in it and you'd turn them into a white elephant!"
+
+In other words, Trampy, according to her, was a Jonah, good only for
+playing the people in, if that!
+
+"A wife has no right to speak to her husband as you do!" exclaimed Trampy,
+leaping up under the insult. "You deserve a good thrashing!"
+
+"None of that!" said Lily angrily, ready to fly at his throat.
+
+"A wife," resumed Trampy, with great dignity, "helps her husband, instead
+of insulting him."
+
+"We're in for it, I suppose!" said Lily.
+
+"Certainly, we're in for it! I have no engagement now, but that's no
+reason why you shouldn't find one. Look for one and work!"
+
+Lily was in for it, knee-deep, as she said. She was not excessively
+astonished: it was the inevitable end! Not that she disliked to work: her
+idleness, on the contrary, was beginning to pall upon her; but it was the
+humiliation of going back to it after putting on so much side and posing
+as the lady. She had worked for Pa; now she would work for Trampy; it was
+natural and proper. There were exceptions--the wife at home, as Jimmy
+said, that josser!--but they were rare.
+
+"Take up your bike again," said Trampy, after a pause. "Be a good little
+wife, help me out of this. I have something in my mind, a scheme which
+will make us rich; you'll see later on."
+
+"But," said Lily, "I haven't a stage bike, and yours is really too ugly."
+
+"I know of one for sale."
+
+"Very well, I'll work," said Lily. "I'll make them give me this tour which
+they promised you and didn't sign for; and to-morrow you shall see!"
+
+At heart, Lily was not sorry to show her husband how people got out of a
+scrape, when they had talent; and, the next day, she went to an agent,
+accompanied by Trampy, looking very dignified. Her cheeky feather was made
+to dance attendance for a moment; and then she was shown into the office.
+Lily Clifton? The New Zealander on Wheels? Straight away a contract,
+signed in duplicate! A week in each town; later on, perhaps, a month in
+Berlin, at the Kolossal. Lily displayed wonderful tact, did not triumph
+too openly over Trampy. She acted to perfection the part of the little
+lady who takes up the bike again just for fun--as in the time of her
+"French governess"--or rather of a dear little thing wholly wrapped up now
+in her wifely duty: her poor husband ill, she herself needing exercise,
+just for fun, you know.
+
+On leaving the agent's, she bought some material, then ran home, cut out
+stage dresses. In the evening, Lily was still hemming and stitching,
+indefatigably, seized once more with professional pride after her
+excursions into private life. And, all night, under the lamp, she
+contrived, cut out and sewed. Then came practice, without Pa. In an hour,
+in spite of the new machine, which put her out, she had picked up her
+"times" again. She felt as if she had been spinning round the night
+before, under Pa's eye, so absolutely at her ease was she, with her head
+on the saddle or twirling on the back-wheel.
+
+And, on the following Monday, her first appearance, her name on the walls:
+"Miss Lily" in big letters, right at the top of the posters, "Miss Lily,"
+not "Mrs." or "Madame." Had she had ten children, two husbands and three
+divorces, she would still have been "Miss," everywhere and always, as a
+further attraction for the swells in the front boxes and as a certificate
+of youth. Mighty few husbands, on the continent especially; not more men
+of any kind than could be helped, on the stage, except a few noted
+"profs," standing by the perches of velvet and steel or under the
+trapezes, displaying, beside the pink-silk tights, against the "palace"
+back-drop, the faultless correctness of their full-dress suits. But, for
+the rest, people preferred to ignore husbands, brothers and "friends;"
+Lily had known some who never showed themselves at all, who remained
+squatting at home, so as not to stand in their wives' way.
+
+Trampy, for that matter, knew better than to parade himself with Lily. And
+he preferred it so. He could have wished one thing to the exclusion of all
+others: that people should not know of his marriage, that they should
+cease to speak of it. Unfortunately, this was not to be. The story of the
+whippings was enlivening Lisle Street, exaggerated, as usual. The Bill and
+Boom tour, the Harrasford tour were beginning to spread it on every stage
+in England; before six months were over, it would have made the round of
+the world from the Klondike to Calcutta. What a disgrace for Trampy! Yet
+no sooner had he put his New Zealander on her wheels again than Trampy
+blossomed out once more. After all, who cared if people were seen to smack
+the back of their hands? He wasn't to be put out by a little thing like
+that:
+
+"Just so," he seemed to say. "We are married, whippings or no whippings,
+and I am the master; I have set her to work again; and there you are!"
+
+Trampy's reputation, so far from suffering, increased; all his compeers
+now envied him from the bottom of their hearts; the bosses, the profs, the
+managers, the Pas, the Mas treated him, in their own minds, as a lucky
+dog, all the more inasmuch as Trampy was not uppish and gladly stood
+drinks, while his wife, "Miss Lily," made money for him with her breakneck
+tricks. It was much smarter than doing it for one's self: the great thing
+was to have a "girl" like that! Trampy was having his revenge: he had been
+laughed at; he now had the laugh on them! and Trampy knew glorious times,
+in the _Biergarten_, or lounging at street-corners, near the stage-door,
+chaffing the girls, hat cocked back, hands deep in his pockets, a cigar
+stuck between his teeth. He told the story of his life, not without pride;
+said that he must write it one day, sell it to _The New York Standard_ for
+a thousand dollars. The girls _he'd_ had: whew! His love adventures: all
+over the world, by Jove! And his marriage with Lily Clifton, the New
+Zealander on Wheels, a dear little wife, so gentle, so obedient. No, he
+had no reason to complain of his life. He would write it, mark his words!
+To say nothing of a scheme he had in mind:
+
+"Just you wait and see! It's a trick to make a millionaire of you or break
+your neck."
+
+"Will you make Miss Lily do it?"
+
+"I'll see, I'll think it over," said Trampy, in a lordly tone.
+
+The directors, the stage-managers took no notice of him; but, among the
+artistes, Trampy Wheel-Pad was some one, he enjoyed his leisure, recovered
+his self-assurance: if, in addition, he could have destroyed the legend of
+the whippings, he would have been perfectly happy. He would turn the
+conversation on the subject of smackings in the music-hall generally, in
+the hope of hearing them contradicted or made little of; but it was no
+use; every one believed in them: all, boys and girls, even the most
+spoiled, quoted facts: blows which they had received! my! blows hard
+enough to split the front of a music-hall from top to bottom! The nation
+with the painted faces, the blue-chins seemed to vie with one another as
+to who had been most through the mill.
+
+"You're exaggerating," said Trampy. "It may be true, to a certain extent,
+in your case. But, Miss Lily, for instance: do you mean to say you believe
+all she tells?"
+
+"Oh, quite!" said two Roofer girls who were there.
+
+They had seen Lily practising. And they knew what it meant. They had had
+their share, too: old Roofer, gee! And Lily had done quite right to run
+away from her whippings.
+
+"There you go again!" said Trampy. "Can't you see she's humbugging you?"
+
+[Illustration: TRAMPY ENJOYED HIS LEISURE]
+
+But he pulled himself up suddenly, if Lily arrived, for, in spite of his
+big airs, he was all submission in her presence.
+
+"Oh, really! Glass-Eye caught it instead of me, I suppose," said Lily,
+drawing back her shoulder as though threatening to smack him, "when Pa
+went for me with his leather belt. And I have witnesses. I've been through
+the mill, if anybody has: that much I _can_ say!"
+
+Lily, after this burst of pride, would lower her head, a trifle
+embarrassed, like a dear little thing, all wrapped up in her duties as a
+wife, a wife whom her husband would cause to break her back one of these
+days, perhaps.
+
+This created a circle of admirers around her: all, besides, agreed in
+saying that you had to have the business "rubbed into your skin" to be as
+clever as she was.
+
+"'K you!" said Lily, with a stage bow.
+
+It was certain that she made a hit. They wanted her everywhere. She was
+asked to appear in tights. The engagements grew better and better. "Miss
+Lily" was more and more talked about. It was no longer a Trampy Wheel-Pad
+on a rusty bike: it was grace, youth ... and stage-smiles fit to turn the
+heads in the front boxes. When Lily appeared on the stage, she transfixed
+every white shirt-front, every opera-glass. She took a real delight in it
+all. Her beauty captivated the audience. In her pink tights, Lily turned
+and turned and turned, to the hum of the orchestra, against the "wood"
+back-drop of purple and gold. Then she returned to the wings, all excited
+by her show, received bouquets, chatted freely with the comrades. She met
+old friends: the green-eyed female-impersonator, for instance, pressed her
+closely. He, too, was touring Germany: a week here, a week there. Chance
+brought them together again. He was enraptured by Lily: how lovely she had
+grown! He would have liked to adopt her.... Lily threw her head back,
+laughed and repelled him with a thump in the ribs when he tried to kiss
+her.
+
+Another time, she saw the Bambinis, who were playing, by a lucky accident,
+at matinées only and by special permission, because of their age. She
+larked with them like a child. Elsewhere, it was Nunkie Fuchs, on his way
+to Vienna, where he was going to see to the building of his pigeon-house,
+leaving the Three Graces for a few weeks on the Harrasford tour. He had
+seen Lily's name on the posters and had come to say, "How do you do?" to
+her.
+
+And, amid the thunder of the band or the lull of the _entr'actes_, Lily
+received tidings of her Pa and Ma and details of what happened after her
+flight, as reported by Glass-Eye Maud. After Lily's departure, they had
+hunted everywhere. Then Ma thought of looking in the trunk: the pretty
+dress was gone. Then they had rushed to the theater: no Lily. Then they
+had guessed: Lily had run away. Ma fell on her knees and cried and cried.
+Pa seized his revolver and spoke of going to shoot the man who had robbed
+him of his child! His little Lily gone! And the contracts had to be
+canceled and Pa did not go out for a week and the house remained still and
+silent for a month. Pa, thoroughly upset, cried whenever Lily's name was
+mentioned and was near dying of shame when he felt himself blamed, even by
+those who used to congratulate him on his way of turning out an artiste.
+And Nunkie himself maintained that one must know how to handle young
+girls: gentleness above all.
+
+Lily bit her lips when she heard that. Her little nose tingled. She
+hardened her features, wrinkled her obstinate forehead, lest she also
+should cry:
+
+"If I had to do it again, I would!" she said quickly, just like that,
+without reflecting, in the way one says a thing to one's self which one
+knows to be untrue.
+
+They also told her things that made her laugh. Glass-Eye Maud no longer
+left her hole, cried like a tap, so much so that one day, Ma, noticing an
+insipid taste in the porridge, threatened her with the sack if that sort
+of thing went on.
+
+As for business, people did not know exactly. Pa, they said, had written
+to a Hauptmann's "fat freak" to take Lily's place. The reply ran:
+
+"No, thanks, I'm all right where I am.
+
+                                                             "Fat Freak."
+
+The signature was underlined, for people had ended by knowing about Pa's
+disrespectful remarks. Lily laughed when she heard this: my!
+
+"I will come ... when you take to wearing braces!" another had answered.
+
+This was an allusion to the blows with the belt; and Lily, with head
+thrown back, full-throated, her hand on her heart, laughed ... laughed ...
+laughed:
+
+"Bravo, girls!" she said, applauding with her thumbnail.
+
+And Tom? Tom had had the boot, with a bang on the nose, for carrying
+letters to Lily. For Pa ended by learning all: some one had told him.
+
+"Jimmy, that son of a gun!" said Lily.
+
+And Jimmy himself, what had become of that josser? Jimmy was no longer
+stage-manager. He had left everything after Lily's flight. He, too, had
+flown into a terrible rage when he heard about it ... spoke of Trampy as a
+thief in the night ... would have killed him, if he had met him ... and he
+was going to star in his turn.
+
+"Singing?" asked Lily.
+
+"No, something to do with the bike."
+
+"What a fool!" thought Lily. "Fancies himself an artiste because he used
+to mend my bike for me!"
+
+Jimmy, it seemed, had hired a huge shed and there, all alone, fitted up
+some apparatus of a complicated kind. He never went out by day. He worked
+and worked. A trick to break your neck at, it appeared, or make your
+fortune.
+
+"Those jossers!" exclaimed Lily scornfully.
+
+And what was he going to do on his bike? Nobody knew. There was something
+published in the papers, they said. It was something on the back-wheel.
+
+"What rot!"
+
+Lily laughed open-mouthed, laughed with all her muscles, twisting her
+hips, splitting her sides, smacking her thighs. What! Jimmy on the
+back-wheel! He! He! He cutting twirls, that josser!
+
+"And the troupe?"
+
+The troupe nobody knew about: dispersed, most likely; the troupe, after
+all, was Lily. When she went, everything was bound to fall to pieces. Pa
+didn't care either; told any one who would listen to him that he was going
+to retire to Kennington, that he was well off now ... thousands of pounds
+in the bank ... made his fortune ... meant to live on his dividends.
+
+"I knew it," said Lily; "I knew I had made his fortune! Thousands of
+pounds, damn it!"
+
+"Lily, don't swear like that!" said Nunkie Fuchs. "It's not right!"
+
+Lily lowered her head, taken aback; excused herself, like a lady who knows
+her manners:
+
+"And yet," she said to herself, "if he had had my troubles, that old
+rogue, perhaps he would have sworn, too!"
+
+For Trampy was becoming terrible: life was impossible with him. All the
+money which Lily earned went on champagne ... and on girls, probably; and
+the more she earned the greedier he grew. He wanted money, heaps of money;
+Lily had nothing left for herself. Trampy sought out new tricks, invented
+balancing-feats, made her practise them, in the morning, on the stage,
+with his sleeves turned back and his trousers turned up, absolutely like a
+Pa. Lily, accustomed to yield obedience, relapsed under the yoke. Bike in
+the morning, bike at the matinée, bike in the evening; and, with that, the
+cooking, the washing-up ... and not a farthing in her pocket, though she
+had made a fortune for her Pa, damn it! Pa living on his income at
+Kennington, while she continued her life of slavery! Wasn't it enough to
+make her send everybody to the devil, and Nunkie, that old rogue, with the
+rest? A pack of nigger drivers, that's what they were, every one of them!
+And what an idiot she was, to keep on barking her shins for other people!
+Would she go on doing it until she was fifty? And if she didn't begin now
+to put money by, who would do it for her later? Not that worthless
+husband, surely! He, who, that very morning, had dared, the loafer, to
+tell her of a scheme--a sort of a risky trick which she was to perform, a
+thing calculated to break your head or make a millionaire of you--for him,
+of course, just as for Pa! It had come to this, that her turn wasn't good
+enough, that it had to be more sensational; and she was expected to make
+it so for a man she didn't love! Oh, she had put him nicely in his place!
+Rather! Thank you for nothing: none of that for her! In the evening Lily
+was still trembling, with her two elbows on the table, as she sat facing
+her glass in her dressing-room; angrily she crushed the grease-paint on to
+her cheeks, which were pale with rage.
+
+Ting! Straight on to the stage, turning round and round, fifty rounds from
+habit, mechanically, without any "go" in them: an indolent performance,
+which would have earned her a good smacking in Pa's time.
+
+"You were shockingly bad!" said Trampy, who was waiting for her in the
+bar, after watching her from the front. "What's the matter with you? Are
+you ill?"
+
+Lily did not even answer.
+
+"I'm speaking to you," said Trampy crossly. "You did nothing right
+to-night."
+
+"Yes, I know; that'll do," said Lily.
+
+"It's not a question of 'Yes, I know,' but of doing better next time,"
+said Trampy.
+
+"I'm not taking any orders to-night," said Lily.
+
+"No, darling, but there was an agent in the house. He must have thought
+you bad."
+
+"That's none of your business!"
+
+"And, if you don't get engagements, what's to become of us?"
+
+"I don't care a hang," said Lily. "_I_ can always manage."
+
+"You ... you ... and what about me? We're married, aren't we?"
+
+"But the money I earn's mine," said Lily. "I mean to buy dresses and
+whatever I want to, with _my_ money. You'll be wanting to come on the
+stage next, in evening-dress, to stand over me while I do my turn, and
+getting out your belt. Do you take me for your daughter, tell me?"
+
+"What I'm saying," said Trampy, aghast, "is for your good, from the point
+of view of the business, the salary."
+
+"_My_ business, _my_ salary, damn it!" cried Lily. "_Mine, mine_, do you
+understand? And it concerns nobody but myself!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+It came as a smack in the jaw to Trampy.
+
+"_My_ pay, _my_ work, _mine_!"
+
+It meant no more pocket-money with which to lord it at the bar. It meant a
+cheap cigarette instead of his glorious cigar. It was the end of a
+beautiful dream; and the awakening was a hard one. At first, he hoped to
+make Lily jealous by going about openly with the stage-girls; but she no
+longer paid any attention, seemed to suggest that he had better amuse
+himself on his side and she on hers:
+
+"What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander," she said.
+
+Lily would no longer take his orders; and, because he felt his wife escape
+him, it was he, Trampy, who now became jealous. When, from a distance,
+among the tables, he saw Lily ride round the stage and all those heads
+raised toward her, those opera-glasses pointed at her, he followed her
+with an anxious eye. "Miss Lily!" "Miss Lily" was his wife, after all!
+Those rounded arms, that lissom figure, those twinkling legs were all his,
+every bit of them! He was the husband, by Jove! It was not a marriage for
+fun, as with Ave Maria: it was a marriage for good and all, which had cost
+him two pounds--"Yes, siree!"--at the Kennington registry-office. And it
+wasn't only her flightiness, her smiles at the front boxes, but "_my_
+work, _my_ salary, _mine_" into the bargain! She was acting like a bad
+wife, forgetting her most sacred duties!
+
+Lily stood on no ceremony with him, took her title of "Miss" seriously:
+very flattering for him, very flattering, he must say! He no longer knew
+himself: he who, in the old days, used to answer: "My lord, rely on me!"
+when a half-tipsy swell invited him to come and drink champagne with some
+stage-girls, now became furious if men in the audience, not knowing who he
+was, sized up "Miss Lily" before him--her shoulders, arms and the
+rest--with reflections such as "I could do with a bit of that!" or, "A
+nice little supper ..." He felt inclined to shout in their faces that she
+was no "miss," but his wife, by Jove!
+
+He became more and more jealous. The thought of Jimmy, especially, kept
+running in his head. He felt a twinge whenever he heard him mentioned. And
+Jimmy was often mentioned just at present, for he was said to be preparing
+a new turn, a turn which would make him famous, unless it killed him.
+
+"If only it would!" Trampy hoped.
+
+Jimmy was Trampy's bugbear. He had flattered himself that he had snatched
+Lily from Jimmy by sheer prowess; and not a bit of it! The recollection of
+that drove him mad, the sense of his powerlessness exasperated him, he had
+but one idea left: to show Lily ... and Jimmy ... the sort of man he was;
+to take his revenge. That great scheme of his, that discovery that would
+show what he was made of, the invention which he had patented in America
+with Poland's money--oh, she had revenged herself finely, had that
+Parisienne!--well, the time to apply himself to that trick had come. Lily
+had refused to do it. All right, he would do it himself!
+
+But, if he was to succeed, it was necessary that Lily should supply him
+with money, more money, lots of money. The apparatus was incomplete and
+had probably got damaged in the London warehouse; it would need repairs,
+improvements. Now Lily seemed intractable. She was vexed at having to earn
+money for two, pretended to have none too much for herself; it was her
+costumes now: six sets of tights, one for each evening, pink, green, red,
+blue, gray, white and assorted ornaments, silk ribbons....
+
+She didn't want to kill herself with work for nothing, as she had been
+doing up to now:
+
+"A lady isn't a performing dog!" she said.
+
+Trampy swallowed his bitterness when he heard that. Lily was escaping him
+altogether. Sometimes, he would go on the stage, sit down in a corner and,
+from there, see Lily, a shawl over her shoulders, her throat wrapped in a
+scarf, walk up and down, behind the back-drop, like a passenger on the
+deck of a ship, at one time with a monkey-faced, red-whiskered
+sketch-comedian; at others, according to the chances of the week, with the
+female-impersonator, the boy with the green eyes. There was no harm in
+that: they were at home, among themselves, Lily was no damned
+lalerperlooser, he wouldn't have had her so. And Trampy did not dare say
+anything, for fear of being made a laughing stock and also lest he should
+offend "Miss Lily." But he was tormented with jealousy nevertheless,
+merely at seeing her talk pleasantly with her acquaintances. And yet it
+was innocent enough, a mere "Hullo, Lily!" "Hullo, old boy!" by way of
+keeping herself in touch with the news, for Lily hardly ever looked into
+_The Era_ or _Das Program_; all those names, all that competition
+frightened her!
+
+[Illustration: THE BOY WITH THE GREEN EYES]
+
+She had learned nothing new about Pa, except that the troupe still
+existed, but in quite a small way, of course. Her Pa was in favor of soft
+treatment, now, so they said; he had changed his manner. "Too late!"
+murmured Lily thoughtfully; but she was much amused when she heard that
+Tom, in addition to keeping up his trade as a shoeblack, was learning
+boxing, with bulldog obstinacy, in order to give Pa back his blow on the
+nose and beat him in a square fight. And didn't some one say that Tom was
+stage-struck, too? Tom, that dwarf, with his short arms, on the stage!
+Crazy! every one of them!
+
+And then they were always talking of Jimmy: Jimmy here, Jimmy there. It
+was becoming serious, Lily couldn't get over it. She wondered what old
+Martello would say if he heard that: Jimmy an artiste! Pooh! Nonsense! And
+it was true, mind you! It was repeated from mouth to mouth, his fame was
+spreading, his fame, that is to say, in the bars, in the wings, among
+pros; you heard his name mentioned together with a hundred others; but
+that already was a great deal, that one could say, Butt Snyders, Laurence,
+Jimmy, Marjutti, all mixed up, as though he were their equal, he who had
+done nothing! But he would "do," it was in the air: some stroke of luck,
+who could tell? And Lily knew him to be ambitious. Lady or no lady, she
+was an artiste first and foremost and hated competition. She had been
+whipped for her rivals, Lillian, Edith and Polly, had caught it for
+Laurence and for the fat freaks, too, and she depended on her work for her
+bread. When she saw a new troupe come to the front it made her anxious:
+even children "that high," who played bike in between the pillars of the
+stage, she felt inclined to stamp upon; and if people ever asked her
+advice, she did not hesitate to tell them wrong. Men especially were
+disastrous competitors, even the ignorant ones. You never knew where you
+were with them, they dared do anything! She could not help getting mad
+when she thought of it. One more to take the bread out of her mouth! For
+it was all very well to treat him as a simpleton, to talk of his
+crotchets--he had views concerning a stage-apprentices' fund, a home of
+rest for superannuated artistes and so on--Lily considered him dangerous.
+He was not a silly Glass-Eye or a stage-struck Tom; he was an ambitious
+Jimmy. But all the same, how absurd! A hypocrite like that was fit to
+write to Pa and get a poor girl in trouble, but was not the man to risk
+his skin! She laughed, not a stage smile, no, a real laugh, head thrown
+back, full-throated. An artiste, O Lord! Yes, like a heap of bluffers who
+were to do this and that, all sorts of wonderful things! and who ended by
+making a laughing stock of themselves, the whole business was so childish,
+faked up with ropes and weights, nursery-toys, Punch-and-Judy rubbish. It
+would be just like that with Jimmy, sure: lots of noise and then ...
+nothing! And he would have lost his place as manager and he would starve,
+the josser: that would teach him to be spiteful! And where was Jimmy? He
+might be very clever, in his shed in London, swinging from his rope, like
+a monkey on a string, but to do that before an audience was different.
+There would be no Jimmy left!
+
+She liked to talk to herself like that. Miss Lily avoided thinking of a
+possible stroke of luck, she who had taken such pains to attain so little,
+just to become Mrs. Trampy, to have the honor of working for Trampy and
+feeding Trampy. Oh, she was tired of it, did all she could to find him
+work, to spur him on! She even wanted him to practise. And she mentioned
+Tom and Jimmy to him, all those beginners, all the others who were coming
+on.
+
+"She thinks more of him than of me," he said to himself.
+
+And time passed and passed. It was now eight months that they had been
+traveling through Germany: and then, at last, came Berlin, the center of
+the agencies, like the plunge into Chicago, after the Western Tour, or New
+York, after the Eastern, or Paris, or London. Lily asked herself for what
+part of the world she would sign contracts. She would have liked
+Australia, South Africa, the States, so as to leave her husband in Europe,
+sitting up on his hind-quarters, like a trained dog, waiting for his
+"missis" to come back:
+
+"If I could have the Kolossal in the meantime," Lily thought. "A month
+there would do me nicely! I'd like to beat the fat freaks in their own
+country and show Pa that I don't need his old troupe to star with!"
+
+And Lily had some hope: an agent had given her to understand that she
+would be engaged, without a doubt, at that famous music-hall. But no! She
+learned that the Kolossal was not wanting cyclists, it had an attraction
+for next month, something sensational, it was said. And, in fact,
+suddenly, in the space of a night, the walls of the capital were covered
+with huge posters--"Bridging the Abyss!"--at the Kolossal!
+
+"What's that?" Lily asked herself.
+
+And she was thunderstruck when she learned that this was Jimmy's new
+trick! She had no doubt left when, looking into a bookseller's window, she
+saw Jimmy's portrait in _Die Illustrirte Zeitung_, the popular illustrated
+paper in Berlin.
+
+Her arms fell to her sides! What, she thought, already? All this
+advertisement for that Jimmy? She had lost the Kolossal because of him.
+Already Jimmy was taking the bread out of her mouth! She could have wrung
+his neck!
+
+Never had the New Zealanders, or the Hauptmanns, or the Pawnees, or any
+one, or anybody known such advertising as that, except the great breakneck
+performers, Laurence, the Loopers, the Motor Girl; and even then the girl
+was packed up in her machine like a sausage. But "Bridging the Abyss," the
+papers said, required art: everything depended on the exact impetus, the
+faultless balance. The press was filled with clever puffs, biographies,
+descriptions of the apparatus, the cool daring which it needed to try that
+without a rope, to risk the performer's life six times in six seconds.
+London and Paris were both said to have wanted the attraction; and Berlin
+was to have it first; and _hoch_ for the Kolossal!
+
+Trampy also was flabbergasted, when he read about this:
+
+"But ... but ... but it's my apparatus and nothing else! Why, I patented
+it in America! Do you understand now," he asked, without, however,
+entering into technical explanations, "do you understand now, when I
+wanted you to help me? It wasn't a question of the rusty bike! You've made
+me miss fame and fortune! And to think that I have an apparatus rotting
+away in London, in a warehouse, and that, if you'd listened to me, I
+should have been at the Kolossal now ... and covering you with diamonds!"
+
+"I like your style!" said Lily. "You'd have made me break my back in your
+stead! I know you!"
+
+"Oh, but I shan't swallow that," said Trampy, in his exasperation. "We
+shall see! I have my rights. I shall enforce them!"
+
+"Don't make a fool of yourself," said Lily. "When a thing has to be done,
+it gets done without all that talk: look at Jimmy!"
+
+"Hang your Jimmy!"
+
+"It's not a question of _my_ Jimmy," retorted Lily, "but of _my_ money. I
+should simply have flung it away! You, do a thing like that! You risk your
+skin! Rot!"
+
+Trampy, in his rage, would have boxed Lily's ears, had it not been for her
+nails, which she held ready to scratch his face, and he went out fuming.
+He ran off to the agents, but there was nothing for him. And yet Trampy
+knew or, at least, supposed that they must want an opposition show to
+"Bridging the Abyss." They must, surely! Why, everywhere, in all the great
+centers, every music-hall had its rival opposite or beside it: everywhere,
+each establishment strove to inflict empty houses upon its rival by
+offering more sensational or more breakneck tricks. At the Kaiserin, the
+rival of the Kolossal, they were, without a doubt, looking for something
+to set against "Bridging the Abyss" and they had nothing, or else Trampy
+would have known it: among pros such matters were always known long
+beforehand. Oh, Trampy was prepared to do anything to escape his wife's
+sarcasm!
+
+And, one evening, behold Trampy returning in triumph to the café where
+Lily awaited him:
+
+"I knew it!" he cried. "I knew it wouldn't go like that!"
+
+"Well, what?" asked Lily. "Have you got a number thirty-seven?
+Thirty-eight? A fresh conquest? Something quite out of the common?"
+
+"Laugh away, Lily! That son of a gun shall hear me talked about yet, by
+Jove! And everybody else will, too. You must be prepared for anything,
+Lily, when you marry an artiste!"
+
+"Why, what's happened?" asked Lily, much surprised.
+
+This had happened: the two music-halls had fought. Jimmy, who was unable,
+it seemed, to get London or Paris, had offered his "Bridging the Abyss" to
+the Kaiserin, but his price was considered too high. From there he went to
+the Kolossal and made the same proposal. Now, times were hard for the
+music-halls, sucked dry by the enormous salaries that had to be paid. The
+managers were standing shoulder to shoulder, in the presence of the common
+enemy, the artiste and, more particularly, the originator of sensations,
+who is indispensable and who makes you an offer with a pistol at your
+head, like a highwayman demanding your money or your life.
+
+But a turn like that meant an assured success; and the Kolossal offered
+Jimmy five hundred marks a night, so as to spike the Kaiserin's guns by
+getting hold of a unique turn and one not easy to replace; a piece of
+underhand work involving two months' empty houses at the Kaiserin, which,
+as it was, had only a second-rate troupe by way of "sisters," while at the
+Kolossal they had Roofers engaged by the year, real ones, the complete
+dozen, words and music guaranteed. And now the Kolossal would make huge
+money with "Bridging the Abyss" and sink its rival; it was a
+master-stroke. But they knew everything at the Kaiserin. The Kaiserin also
+wanted a "Bridging the Abyss." It would have one, a better one, with a
+finer title: "Arching the Gulf!" And they would get it for three hundred
+marks! And they must be ready, quick, quick, before the Kolossal, and it
+was just possible: they had twenty days yet; the apparatus would be made;
+they knew the plans, the dimensions; the house would be fixed up
+accordingly; they must succeed at all costs and not let themselves be
+strangled without defense! It was a struggle to the death! They would
+fight with corpses, if need be! Other people had broken their backs for
+them before now; there would be no difficulty in finding one more to risk
+his life six times in six seconds for three hundred marks a night.
+
+And it was at that moment that Trampy offered himself. They had heard his
+name:
+
+"Trampy Wheel-Pad, the tramp cyclist with the red-hot stove?"
+
+"That's me," said Trampy.
+
+And, full of self-assurance, he explained the object of his visit:
+
+"I was the first to construct it; I patented it myself at Washington; I
+will produce the documents!"
+
+It will be understood why Trampy wore his air of conquest when he returned
+home that day. He had his engagement in his pocket! He displayed it
+victoriously to Lily, passed it over her face, reveled in his revenge. At
+last he was going to show Lily whether he was able to keep a wife or not;
+and champagne suppers every evening, by Jove, with girls--no damned
+lalerperloosers--just to show her!
+
+That same evening, he left for London, with an advance from the
+management, and came back to Berlin with the apparatus, the whole set up
+and repaired in a week, a gang of men working night and day. Followed
+practice with the rope, on a movable pulley, from early dawn, like a man
+determined to accomplish his breakneck feat, alive or dead; for Trampy
+would have done, no matter what, for Lily to cease being "Miss" Lily, to
+admit herself married and married for love and not to escape whippings, to
+cease being ashamed of him, to show herself proud of him, on the contrary,
+especially before Jimmy!
+
+Trampy, in his less enthusiastic moments, felt a certain uneasiness:
+Jimmy's proximity, his own patents far away, in America. But he assumed a
+bold face, declared himself the inventor, practised unrelentingly, with
+hatred of his rival in his heart. This hatred seemed to increase his
+powers of work. He practised, practised. He had a lively intelligence, if
+his heart was a trifle flabby. And he was very skilful, besides, when he
+condescended to take the trouble. He was a quick worker: in less than
+twenty days everything was ready, and "Arching the Gulf" sprawled over the
+hoardings of Berlin, side by side with "Bridging the Abyss." One saw
+nothing else; and the Kaiserin opened its doors forty-eight hours before
+Jimmy. It was a huge success. Trampy received an ovation when, after the
+release of the terrible springs which flung the bike from one pedestal to
+another, in five seconds he fell on the mattresses outspread to receive
+him, behind a cloth.
+
+It goes without saying that Jimmy was present at the show. He was smashed
+before he had even begun! There, before his eyes, was his own invention
+worked by another! He had expected competition, of course; it was
+impossible, he knew, to discover anything that wasn't copied at once;
+snatchers of ideas, who prowl around artistes, plagiarists, pirates,
+swarmed as thick as any other sort of thieves. And, as ill luck would have
+it, though his turn was difficult to perform, the apparatus, at least, was
+simple to construct: four powerful springs, screwed down with a jack,
+which the weight of the leaping cyclist, as he fell upon each pedestal,
+released one after the other, causing him to take enormous jumps forward.
+It was an ideal breakneck machine, easy to carry about; only the
+calculations had been difficult. They had cost him a lot of trouble to
+establish; and now another was profiting by them! Perhaps some one had
+patented the invention before him! For he, too, before showing it in
+public, had patented it in England and Germany; and his anger knew no
+bounds, his energy was increased fourfold when he learned the name of the
+plagiarist: Trampy again! Trampy, who had stolen his love, who had stolen
+his Lily ... and who was now stealing his idea ... robbing him of the
+fruit of his labor! Jimmy, in spite of his fury, resolved to keep calm:
+the law first. He was protected by the law, unless--and that was
+impossible--unless Trampy had had the same idea as himself before him and
+taken out his patents before the publication in _Engineering_. Jimmy
+showed a prompt decision, a feverish activity. First of all, he must put
+the law in motion, bring an action against Trampy, telegraph to the patent
+office at Washington to ascertain the date. Meanwhile, he made his first
+appearance on the day fixed for it. His success was even greater than
+Trampy's; his leaps were twice as wide, more in accordance with his
+courage. The way in which he "bridged the abyss," in the huge hall where
+he gave his show, was enough to prove that he was the inventor, the
+creator, the great, typical, daring performer, who, disclaiming death,
+marches to glory and fortune even as heroes, flag in hand, rush to the
+assault under fire.
+
+It was a bolt from the blue for the Kaiserin when the little paper
+arrived, the injunction against "Arching the Gulf." A steamer caught in a
+cyclone would undergo much the same disablement, under a sea sweeping her
+from stem to stern, swamping the saloons, drowning the very rats in the
+hold. Jimmy's active inquiries had not taken long: telegram followed upon
+telegram; the British consul woke up. The law at Washington was formal and
+precise: nothing could be patented that had been known, or used, or
+published before the patent was applied for. Now the article in
+_Engineering_, of course, appeared prior to the step taken by Trampy. And
+in Germany, also, Jimmy won his case; the court found in favor of the
+absolute novelty of the invention. The Kaiserin could not give its
+performance short of paying five hundred marks a night to its rival, the
+Kolossal. This meant the wreck of "Arching the Gulf;" and Trampy came down
+with it. For a few days, he led a terrible life, a desperate struggle,
+made efforts in every direction; but, at last, worried, hustled, driven to
+bay, Trampy disappeared into the darkness, while Jimmy, freed from this
+enervating opposition and feeling sure of himself henceforward, gained
+fresh courage, added another arch to "Bridging the Abyss."
+
+It was done, he had made his start, he had a name, he was the man who
+draws crowds; he received brilliant proposals from all sides, from the
+Western Trust, among others. He felt himself somebody; and money also was
+coming in. He could at last realize what he had in his head ... in the
+absence of love there would be fame ... oh, something a thousand times
+more sensational than "Bridging the Abyss," more modern, more scientific,
+something which he confided to nobody, which he kept locked up in his
+brain, in his heart, like a love passion, a thing which would be his
+alone, this time, which no one could take from him! For it would not be a
+question of a spring and a click, only. The thing moved in his breast,
+lived in his brain. When he thought of it, his cheeks became hollow with
+ambition, his eyes lit up. He seemed to tower over immense perspectives;
+and, from that height, Trampy appeared to him so small, so small, so
+really small that he felt his anger decrease. And then there was Lily! To
+send Trampy to his wife with a black eye or a bloody nose, to turn the
+husband into an object of ridicule to his wife, that was impossible for
+him; it would have shown lack of respect for Lily, poor darling; he would
+not humiliate her in her man! She loved him, perhaps, in the illusion of
+her seventeen years! Hurt _her_? Never! Jimmy wiped the episode from the
+slate; hard as it was, he forgave that highway robber, in the name of his
+dead love.
+
+Ah, if he could have seen Lily when Trampy was driven to confess his
+discomfiture to her! He would have been revenged offhand! Lily seethed
+with rage against her husband, that footy rotter! What! Was that his great
+scheme? Did he call that an idea? How often had not Jimmy spoken to her
+about it! It was pinned on the wall, it lay about in the Gresse Street
+workshop for months. She remembered seeing the plans, the diagrams, the
+drawings in the papers. Jimmy had explained everything to her at the time
+when he was still a josser. And Trampy had stolen it from him, stolen it,
+stolen it! Oh, he would make her die of shame!
+
+It was a terrible dispute, a real "playing humanity," with threats,
+clenched fists, broken crockery strewing the floor.
+
+"To humiliate me like that before Jimmy!" said Lily, furious.
+
+"Drop that about Jimmy!" snarled Trampy, green with jealousy. "I won't
+have you mention him!"
+
+"I shall mention him if I like! Jimmy is a son of a gun! Very well! But
+he's a man! He's worth two of you."
+
+Trampy strode up to her with his fist raised.
+
+"If you touch me," cried Lily, seizing the lamp, "if you touch me, I'll
+smash it over your head!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+When Trampy received the visit of the _Gerichtsdiener_, with the bill of
+costs to pay--for the Kolossal sued the Kaiserin for damages and the
+Kaiserin came down upon Trampy--when Trampy learned that, he became a limp
+rag. Already he saw himself dragged before the courts, his whole past laid
+bare: two wives on his hands, for all he knew; Lily crushing him with her
+scorn; Jimmy triumphant.
+
+Trampy had a moment of real despair. Lily preferred him like that, humbled
+at her feet. She seemed to understand her husband, a man spoiled by easy
+conquests, a boozer, a rake, who had taken too much upon himself when he
+wedded a wife. Trampy was certainly not made for marriage: having a wife
+was a different thing from having thirty-six girls. His heart, weakened
+with premature enjoyment, was no longer made for real love. All this he
+too now perceived; and, in spite of himself, realizing his unworthiness,
+he felt overcome by an ever-increasing jealousy.
+
+Those were melancholy weeks in the small room. He sat for hours brooding
+over his disgrace. Lily silently turned this time of rest to account and
+mended her costumes, sewed spangles on her bodices, beside the earthenware
+stove, on which the stew was bubbling; and then came the meal, on the
+table hastily cleared of the mass of ribbons, thread and needles, to make
+room for the plates. Trampy choked as he swallowed that dinner which he
+had not earned, sighed sadly for the good cheer of his dreams, the
+champagne suppers with girls. He gulped down his meagre fare in silence,
+he who had known the gay junketings, the noisy laughter and the "Roman
+nights!" To go from there and drown his sorrows in the bar next door was
+but a step. And Trampy had sorrows outside his recent defeat: sorrows
+which were even more bitter. He felt that, this time, he was losing Lily.
+
+Lily was surrounded with sympathy. When she went the round of the
+agencies, the pros courted her. They looked upon Lily in the light of a
+wife tired of her husband. They prowled round that possible prey. A Lily
+was worth the having, meant an assured income for whoever succeeded in
+winning her affections and managing her properly: not with brutality, no,
+rather not; home joys, like Mr. Fuchs! Who was destined one day to own
+those full-blown seventeen years, those twinkling legs, that lissom body,
+trained to spin round and round, unerring and exact? What lucky dog would
+have her for himself, would succeed in making her love him? They pitied
+Lily openly, to disgust her with her husband and hasten on the
+catastrophe. Trampy? He was no husband for her! They, ah, yes, now that
+was a different matter! And they talked of the dangers attendant upon
+Trampy's mode of life; the impersonator told her of the terrible diseases
+brought on by constant tippling; they exaggerated it all on purpose,
+amused themselves by frightening her; until Lily, sometimes, would look
+upon herself as a pretty little gazelle chained to a mangy bear.
+
+Trampy suspected all this, having himself, in the old days, in the time of
+his glory, been one of those who hovered round wives ready for divorce,
+helping them, if need be. He could have smashed the face of that
+green-eyed impersonator. There was also that architect, that
+theater-builder, Harrasford's friend: he was passing through Berlin and
+Lily had taken his fancy the other evening, at the café; he had patted her
+cheek gaily:
+
+"I knew you when you were 'that high.' You used to sit on my knee. How
+beautiful you've grown!"
+
+There appeared to be an infinity of people who had known Lily when she was
+"that high." They paid her more and more attention ... and then they
+believed her to be looked after by Jimmy. That again was a friendship
+dating back to her childhood, they said: Jimmy, the bill-topper. He, too,
+had known her when she was "that high."
+
+The greater part of this talk reached Trampy's ears. Oh, he could have
+killed that Jimmy! But he was obliged to hold his tongue. Jimmy had him
+under his heel, with that crushing lawsuit.
+
+They did not even dare speak of it, so painful was the subject. The little
+table by the earthenware stove separated them like a wall; and there was
+one thing always between them: Jimmy. Trampy never mentioned his name now.
+He would have had too much to say.... And there were continual summonses,
+always; and lawyers, always; and costs, always. Money melted away, like
+butter in the sun. Lily was tired of it; and an agony overcame her at the
+thought of leading a life like that for the rest of her days:
+
+"Oh," she said, "he's taking the very bread from our mouths, with his
+lawsuit! And I haven't a decent hat to wear."
+
+"He'll drive us to the workhouse," grumbled Trampy, staring before him,
+with folded arms.
+
+"It's your fault!" Lily began, but soon stopped: the subject led to a
+surfeit of quarreling.
+
+But, in her own mind:
+
+"That son of a gun of a Jimmy!" she thought. "All the same, who would ever
+have believed it of him? Can he guess that all of this falls upon me?"
+
+"Suppose you were to go and see him," said Trampy, at his wits' end, one
+day when he had exhausted himself in stormy explanations with the manager
+of the Kaiserin.
+
+"I go and see Jimmy?" exclaimed Lily. "What for?"
+
+"To try and arrange things," replied Trampy, dropping his head. "No one
+but you could ..."
+
+"I'll think about it, I'll see," said Lily.
+
+But she had to get used by degrees to the idea of going and seeing that
+Jimmy who was now ruining her. A strange curiosity, nevertheless, drove
+her toward that conqueror, once a bike-cleaning workman, who was now
+topping the bill at Berlin and making as much money by himself as a whole
+program put together. He would receive her kindly, she was sure of that.
+Oh and then she wanted to tell him that she had had nothing to do with
+that business of the patents ... that she did not approve of Trampy's
+conduct ...! And then he could give her news of Pa and Ma, as he had come
+from London, where he must have seen them! And she was dying to know! The
+idea was increasing with her that life with Trampy had become impossible.
+And, in case she should leave him, she dreaded finding herself alone.
+Already there were all those offers being made to her, a married woman,
+driving her mad! She, Lily Clifton, was treated like a "Parisienne": she
+hated that sort! To walk about the stage, two by two, might pass; but it
+was possible to go too far, like the conductor of the orchestra, who, the
+other day, tried to kiss her in her dressing-room, married woman though
+she was! Then what would it be when she traveled alone! On the continent,
+too! Oh, she would have liked to be a good little wife! But, as that could
+not be, better go back to her Pa and Ma and have a home, a real one, with
+a servant in it. She was yearning for a home. But how would she be
+received in that case? Would they put the blame on her? Had they forgiven
+her? Had she a Pa and Ma still? That was what she wanted to know.
+
+Lily would have liked to look handsome and elegant on the day when she
+went to Jimmy, so as to show him that he was not the only one who made a
+lot of money; but she felt very small and terribly excited. The hotel
+itself, the great clock, the waiters, everything made an impression on
+her, so different from her boarding-house in the Akerstrasse. She felt
+like running away after knocking at his door; and Jimmy opened it with the
+preoccupied air of a man who is disturbed at an inconvenient moment. But
+suddenly he put out his hand in hearty greeting:
+
+"Hullo, Lily! Come in."
+
+Lily entered a bright sitting-room, neatly furnished with a sofa and
+comfortable chairs; no bed; a room which served only for that. She at once
+felt more at her ease. Jimmy motioned her to a seat near a table covered
+with papers, full of marks and signs which she did not understand, and
+books, rulers and compasses. She tried to be simple and dignified;
+apologized for interrupting him:
+
+"Brain-work, I see," she said, pointing to the papers. "That's hard, too,
+I suppose," she added, to say something, for a start, like talking about
+the weather.
+
+"A matter of habit, like the bike," said Jimmy, in a tone of conviction.
+"Sit down, Lily, there in that big arm-chair; you're not disturbing me."
+
+"'K you," said Lily, sitting down, feeling reassured by his cordial
+welcome and thinking that, at least, he was polite.
+
+"I am glad to see you again, Lily," Jimmy went on, taking a chair himself.
+"Always glad to see you. And how are you? Keeping well?"
+
+"'K you," said Lily.
+
+"I'm very glad to hear it," said Jimmy, scrutinizing Lily with great
+kindness and trying not to see her preoccupied expression. "I know what
+brings you here, Lily. You're a dear little thing, a kid, eh? A real kid
+at heart, aren't you? I bet you I guess. I've come from London. You want
+to hear the latest news of your Pa and Ma, eh? You're not angry with them,
+I hope? Oh, it would be wrong of you to be angry with them still! They're
+very fond of you, you know. They cried when you went away, Lily. Your ...
+going away," Jimmy insisted, with a quaver in his voice, "was ... a great
+blow ... to them ... too."
+
+"How do they get on without me?" asked Lily eagerly, not wishing to break
+down and cry before Jimmy. "Poor Pa! Yes, he was fond of me. He never let
+me fall on purpose. He did not force me to work when I was ill."
+
+"Your Pa!" Jimmy broke in, glad of the chance to give a fresh turn to the
+conversation. "Why, there's no harm in him! Your Pa's an artiste in love
+with his art, that's all! I shouldn't be surprised if the troupe made a
+hit yet. It's had a success of a sort already--in the small halls--at
+Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells. Your Pa just does without you as well as he
+can. He runs after his pupils all day long, damn it!" said Jimmy, with a
+laugh. "Your cousin stars."
+
+[Illustration: COUSIN DAISY]
+
+"_Who_ stars?" asked Lily.
+
+"Your cousin Daisy. She came as soon as you ... as you went away and
+offered to take your place. Pa Clifton sent her to the right-about,
+treated her like a ... like an I don't know what, but she returned to the
+charge. She's doing very well now. She tries to be like you."
+
+"No! Impossible!" exclaimed Lily. "What, that fat freak?"
+
+"And your Pa will succeed," Jimmy hastened to add. "You'll see. You ought
+to be proud of having a Pa like that."
+
+"Yes, in a sense," said Lily, who felt a certain satisfaction at being the
+daughter of her Pa.
+
+He was a bit harsh at times; but a man like her Pa, or like Jimmy, was
+much better than her loafer of a tramp cyclist!
+
+"And ... Ma?" asked Lily.
+
+"Your Ma," said Jimmy, in a lower voice, "cried ... oh, how she cried when
+she found that you had gone! No doubt, she exaggerated any wrong she had
+done you. It seems she fell upon her knees and prayed and asked for
+forgiveness."
+
+"Forgiveness? What for? Of whom?" Lily inquired.
+
+"Why," said Jimmy, in a serious tone, "of whom do you think people ask
+forgiveness, when they are alone, on their knees?"
+
+"Oh," said Lily, greatly touched, "I understand! So they didn't put the
+blame on me?"
+
+"What blame?"
+
+"For my marriage," said Lily, lowering her eyes.
+
+"No ... if you had gone off to live with him ... oh, not you, not you, I
+know!" protested Jimmy, seeing a gesture of Lily's. "But marriage is
+different, I suppose. You had the right, you were old enough to go away
+with the man you loved."
+
+Jimmy turned pale as he said this; but Lily, hanging her head and red with
+shame, did not notice it.
+
+"What!" said Jimmy. "You're blushing! Do you regret it?"
+
+Lily did not reply.
+
+"Then," continued Jimmy slowly, "what they said--I wouldn't believe it,
+but you know they say a lot of things--is it true?"
+
+She nodded yes and raised her eyes to him with a sad, weary smile.
+
+"He doesn't love you? And ... and ... you, Lily," asked Jimmy, taking her
+hand in his, "don't you love him?"
+
+"Certainly not!" said Lily, with such an accent of conviction and such a
+look of disgust that Jimmy was, at one and the same time, delighted to the
+bottom of his heart and pained to the verge of tears.
+
+Poor Lily! He now noticed her pallor, the dark rims round her eyes, that
+exquisite face refined by inmost grief. Lily, upon whom, since her visit
+to the shop in Gresse Street, he had built his hopes of happiness! It
+seemed to him like yesterday and already it was the distant past. Was that
+what her rebellion, her bid for freedom had ended in? Was that the
+crowning point of her hard life? Lily, fashioned to be the companion of a
+loving heart, was the prey of a footy rotter! Oh, if Jimmy had not
+controlled himself, if he had not clenched his teeth, for fear of talking!
+If he had listened to his anger, let loose the storm that raged within
+him, shouted out what he felt! But what would be the good of telling her
+his love? Why add to Lily's sorrows by letting her know what might have
+been and thus cause trouble in her household, when he wished for one thing
+only, Lily's happiness? Suppose she did not love her husband: Trampy,
+alas, unworthy though he was, remained her husband, nevertheless! And
+there was no hope of breaking the chain. The letters from Denver and
+Houston were anything but encouraging. No proofs, no recollections of
+Trampy's marriage over there. So there seemed no way out.
+
+Nor did he wish to incense Trampy's jealousy. Lily would have had to bear
+the brunt of it ... as in the old days, with Ma's temper. Oh, there was no
+doubt about it: Jimmy, to hold his tongue now, needed more courage than
+when risking his life six times in six seconds! But what was the use of
+fighting against fate? Better submit, when there was no remedy, and strive
+for peace!
+
+"Everything gets straight sooner or later," Jimmy went on. "Many lives
+that once seemed spoiled have become quite endurable. Time is the great
+healer. Trampy, no doubt, will get over his faults. He will learn to
+appreciate you. Have patience. Don't exaggerate your bothers, Lily. There
+are others unhappier than yourself. You have a claim to happiness. You
+will know it yet. Just think. You're so young, you have all your life
+before you."
+
+"The simpleton!" thought Lily. "It's easy for him to talk. But then ...
+why was he so jealous? Why did he tell Pa about me? But for him, I should
+be at home now!"
+
+It was certain that, notwithstanding his kindly reception, Jimmy now
+seemed to be taking Trampy's part, as formerly he had sided with Pa and
+Ma. And he was lalerperlooser enough to ask Lily if her husband knew that
+she had come to see him:
+
+"I hope he knows, Lily. We must have no secrets: did you tell him?"
+
+"He sent me," she said, resolving to tell everything frankly, since that
+was what she had come for and not, after all, to talk about love ...
+money, only, and business ... it was a question of bread and butter to
+her.
+
+"Ah! He did!" said Jimmy, a little surprised.
+
+"Yes," said Lily, "it's about that lawsuit."
+
+"Speak quite frankly, Lily. Tell me everything," said Jimmy, very calm.
+
+"Well," said Lily, yielding before his air of candor, "Trampy is at the
+end of his tether; he has no money"--she colored up to the eyes--"no
+money, no work; the law-costs ..."
+
+"And whose fault is that?" interrupted Jimmy, rising and picking up a
+cigarette, so as to have something to fumble at with his fingers. "Whose
+fault is it, Lily, if not that ... well, if not Trampy's? Isn't it fair
+that he should pay for it? It would really become too easy, else, to steal
+other people's ideas! You know quite well, Lily--you saw it at my place,
+on the wall--is it my invention or is it not? And here comes Trampy," he
+continued, crunching up his cigarette with a nervous gesture, "and patents
+it ... as if it were his own. It's a bit too much, you know!"
+
+"Jimmy," cried Lily, starting up from her chair, "I swear to you that I
+had nothing to do with it! If I had known, Jimmy, I would have stopped it!
+I call it stealing, as you do."
+
+"Oh, I'm quite sure of that, Lily! I never thought it was you! Calm
+yourself; sit down, do," said Jimmy, relieved at the sight of Lily's
+indignation, as she stood before him with blazing eyes and her face
+crimson with shame.
+
+"Important tricks like that!" went on Lily, sitting down again. "No, those
+have no right to be copied. It's brain-work. You designed it yourself."
+
+"Yes, but about the present," said Jimmy, with a serious air. "I can't
+give in to Trampy. I'm bound to defend myself. You came to see me about my
+action, Lily. I can't say anything on the subject. It's ... Trampy's
+business, I suppose! Why, what would you do in my place, Lily?"
+
+"I should do as you're doing, Jimmy, you're perfectly right," said Lily,
+very low, without raising her head. "But couldn't one come to terms ...
+avoid a lawsuit ... and not waste all that money on jossers? What do you
+gain by it yourself? We can't pay up, Jimmy: those costs are breaking
+us."
+
+"What do you mean by 'us'?"
+
+"Trampy isn't working," continued Lily. "He hasn't done anything for a
+long time."
+
+"But then," asked Jimmy, stopping in front of her, "how does he live?"
+
+"I ... I'm earning money," explained Lily, blushing, ashamed to own her
+distress.
+
+Oh, it was hard for her, Lily Clifton, to have no money and to confess it
+to Jimmy, that josser, who was making his five hundred marks a day! Jimmy
+saw her before him, huddled in her chair ... her faded hat, her mean gown.
+He took in everything at a glance. Poor Lily, who used to dream of
+dresses, to be reduced to that! Then he understood. Pity moved him at the
+sight of that poor Lily. It was all very well for him to say, just now,
+"Business is business," and to ask, "What would you do in my place?" He
+knew what he would do. A lawsuit was not a question of sentiment,
+everybody knew that; but still, it was no longer between men....
+
+"Listen, Lily," he said, putting his hand kindly on her shoulder, "if all
+this is to fall upon you, we must see how we can arrange matters. Sorry
+you didn't come sooner; I don't want to add to your burdens, Lily, heaven
+knows I don't! I never thought of that. I ought to have suspected,
+perhaps. However, I will withdraw the case. I'll manage. And the costs ...
+well, I'll pay them myself, if necessary, for you, Lily, for you; because
+I knew you when you were 'that high' ... no, not quite so small; how old
+were you? Thirteen ... and such a little thing, such a dear little wee
+thing. Do you remember when I made night and day in your cabin, by just
+touching my levers? And then it seems to me that I always knew you: in
+Mexico, in India, in South Africa, at the time of the elephants and the
+tiny birds. And then later, that other Lily, the London one: the one of
+only a few months ago. The one for whom ..." continued Jimmy, in a voice
+smothered with emotion. "The Lily of Rathbone Place. The Lily of Gresse
+Street. That little toque, which suited you so well and which you
+complained of ... you poor little Lily!... You poor silly little thing!
+There, go home now and make your mind easy, as far as I'm concerned, Lily.
+None of your troubles shall come from me. Besides, as they say, a bad
+settlement is better than the best lawsuit. I'm doing it for your sake.
+Well, is that all right?"
+
+"Oh, how kind you are!" she said, raising her eyes to him, with a tear in
+them. "Why, Jimmy, you're not so bad, after all!"
+
+"Pooh!" said Jimmy, lighting a cigarette. "I'm no better than most, Lily,
+and no worse. Flesh and blood, like the rest. And, besides, for you, Lily
+... If ever you need me, Lily, if I can be of any use to you ..."
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+"For me," thought Lily, as she returned home, "for me. Ah, if I had known!
+Ah, when I think that he, too, wanted to marry me, what a fool I was!" she
+said, with a sigh.
+
+She still felt in her own palm the gentle, manly pressure of Jimmy's hand.
+She still heard the kind words with which he had comforted her on the
+threshold. Goodness, how happy she would have been with a man like him!
+Her ill-will disappeared. He was no longer a cur, that josser, but a
+gentleman, rather, a brother, a friend.... And she was proud, also, that
+Jimmy, who was so busy and making such a lot of money, had promised to
+come and applaud her, one of these evenings, at her theater, at Kleim's
+Garden, before his own turn at the Kolossal. Oh, wouldn't she work hard
+that night! She would do all her tricks! She was bent on pleasing him. And
+how vulgar and common Trampy appeared in comparison. However, there was no
+help for it now; and Lily hastened home to bring him the good news.... In
+any case, Trampy would be grateful to her for what she had done for him.
+As a matter of fact, it had cost her an effort to go and pay this visit.
+
+She happened to run up against Trampy coming out of the bar, where,
+according to his custom, he had been drowning his cares. He had a moment
+of delight on learning the result of the visit, but, mad with jealousy, at
+once adopted a lofty tone, so as not to have to thank her:
+
+"I knew he would knuckle under!" he said, without looking at Lily. "The
+braggart! He prefers a settlement, eh? And quite right too! He knows he's
+in the wrong. He's retreating, he's afraid."
+
+"Afraid of what?" asked Lily, bewildered.
+
+"Afraid of me. He knows it won't pay to try my patience too far!"
+
+"Afraid? Jimmy?" said Lily, indignant at all that foolery. "Do you think
+he's done that because he's afraid?"
+
+"And for what other reason would he have given in so soon?"
+
+"He did it to please me, he did it for _me_, damn it, for _me_!" said
+Lily. "You're rid of your lawsuit: you ought to talk differently and thank
+me!"
+
+"And why should he do it to please you? What is there between you?" asked
+Trampy, looking her in the face.
+
+"You're drunk!" said Lily furiously, with her hand ready to scratch.
+
+"No scenes in the street!" said Trampy. "We'll go into this at home ..."
+
+"Then I shan't come in!" said Lily, abruptly turning her back on him. "I'm
+going to the theater!"
+
+She had nothing to do on the stage; only the idea of being alone in the
+room with Trampy seemed intolerable to her. At the least discussion, Lily
+felt it, she would have thrown the lamp at his head, so great was her
+indignation at his insolence!
+
+She was boiling over with anger when she reached the theater. There were
+people practising; it was the time for it. Lily went up to her
+dressing-room, shifted things in her trunk, anyhow, for something to do.
+The idea that her husband thought her capable of anything wrong made her
+angry. Oh, to get a divorce, to part from him! As this could not go on for
+ever, it might as well be done at once; but it would be better if there
+were no fault on her part. A divorce, yes; but with the honors on her
+side; a divorce in her favor! Patience, the opportunity would come! It
+ought to be quite easy, with the girls whom Trampy beguiled, the love
+letters which he received, to catch him in the act, cover him with
+ridicule, get the best of him. Oh, if she only could! To be a poor little
+victim, how touching! A dear little outraged wife!
+
+"You fool, if I catch you!" she said.
+
+Then another idea passed through her brain. Oh, if it were true! She would
+have danced for joy! Trampy's marriage in America.
+
+"Is it true? Is it true? God above, grant that it be true!"
+
+It was possible. Already, a few days before, the Jim Crows who hovered
+round her had talked about it, in covert words, in the hope of making
+things worse. There must be some truth in it. There was so much news going
+from mouth to mouth: Lillian, Edith and Polly were the rage in Chicago....
+That poor boy-violinist: at Budapest, the stuffed seat to his trousers had
+slipped from its place and allowed the dog's teeth to reach the living
+flesh; he had had to spend a week in bed with poultices.... Harrasford was
+contemplating a theatrical trust on the Continent, planning a model
+music-hall in Paris.... There were Jimmy's successes, his ambitions....
+Amid all this news, to which Lily listened, sometimes absent-mindedly,
+sometimes with interest, among these adventures dating from
+everywhere--names which she greeted like old acquaintances, with a little
+nod: "Denver? Yes, I know; a big flat stage. Mexico? I remember!"--among
+all those tales, Lily pricked her ears when she heard the name of Ave
+Maria coupled with Trampy's. She had a vague recollection of Ave Maria's
+flight, after her departure from Mexico; was it with Trampy? Were they
+really married then? Oh, if it were only true! God above, grant that it
+were true!
+
+Lily, haunted by this idea of a divorce which would set her free, had
+rummaged in Trampy's trunk, among his programs and posters. It was full of
+letters, photographs of girls in outrageous hats, in tucked-up skirts, in
+tights, with inscriptions. All this dated back to before the marriage, a
+collection of treasures which he had not had the courage to destroy. She
+had hoped to find some proof, some clue; but no, there was nothing serious
+in it. Lily did not give up, for all that; on the contrary. After the
+visit to Jimmy, which made Trampy so meanly jealous, she lost no
+opportunity of inquiring. But Martello himself, the father, never had news
+of his daughter. He hadn't heard for ever so long; and it was to no avail
+that Lily asked about Ave Maria, the one who ran away with a man, a great
+artiste; she always received the same reply:
+
+"Ave Maria? Don't know the name. Ave Maria? Haven't seen her since ..."
+
+But Jimmy, always; Jimmy here, Jimmy there; they talked about him all the
+time: his ideas; something new he had invented; something no one had ever
+seen: much cleverer than "Bridging the Abyss," it seemed; but nobody knew
+what.
+
+"I know!" said Lily, with a well-informed air and very proud of knowing
+Jimmy and of letting people think ...
+
+"Do you know Jimmy?"
+
+"Ever since I was that high," answered Lily. "He used to hold me on his
+knees."
+
+"And what is his new trick?"
+
+"I'm not allowed to tell. He asked me not to say."
+
+Everybody praised her for her discretion. The sympathy with which she was
+surrounded increased.
+
+"Jimmy," they hinted. "Now there's a fellow you ought to have married,
+instead of your ..."
+
+"Not a word against my husband," she said, like a good and devoted little
+wife. "I won't have him insulted."
+
+That did not prevent her from laughing with her friends. She felt a need
+of forgetting, or she would have died of boredom, with a husband like
+that. She was heavy at heart, sometimes. She was a woman, not an icicle.
+She felt herself made for love. She was flesh and blood, like Jimmy. She
+would have liked some one to console her, to talk softly to her, as
+Glass-Eye Maud used to do. There were plenty willing to play the part of
+Glass-Eye Maud, no doubt: the female-impersonator, for instance, with the
+green eyes. Oh, she would have liked to be hugged, kissed full on the
+mouth, or else stroked and petted gently! No home, no happiness; marriage
+without love; that was her life henceforth. These stage friendships were a
+relief.
+
+The Bambinis romped with her. She loved their gaiety, liked to touch their
+sturdy little limbs. That evening, Lily, who was ready for her performance
+early, was having fun with them. Dressed in her pink tights, she looked
+like a blithe nymph playing with rollicking cupids.
+
+"What a charming group!" said a voice behind her. "If I were a painter,
+Lily, I would do you like that!"
+
+It was Jimmy, who had come to see her on the stage, as he had promised.
+
+"Am I spoiling your game?" he asked. "It's so pretty! It makes me want to
+kiss the lot of you!"
+
+"Well, booby!" said Lily, all excited and laughing. "Why don't you? You
+daren't!"
+
+"I daren't! I'll show you whether I dare ... and ... I'm stronger than I
+look!"
+
+And thereupon he caught hold of Lily and lifted her like a feather--Lily,
+all taken aback, had not time to say "Oof!" so great was her surprise--and
+Jimmy crossed the whole stage with Lily in his arms, shouting to the
+manager:
+
+"Look what a dear little baby I've found! Isn't she sweet, eh?"
+
+And then, in the wings, he gave her a good big kiss on the cheek before
+putting her down.
+
+The people around them laughed, applauded that stage joke:
+
+"Jimmy, her old friend," they said, "knew her when she was that high."
+
+Lily was very proud of it. And, a few minutes after, when he had left her
+to take a seat in front, Lily jumped into the saddle and rode round and
+round, without a hitch, smiling to the audience, smiling to Jimmy in a
+front box, Jimmy to whom she was grateful for coming to see her: a famous
+bill-topper putting himself out for her ... before everybody! She was
+faultless that evening, did a dozen twirls on the back-wheel, made a
+record, was grand.
+
+Trampy, meanwhile, was waiting for Lily outside, in the passage leading to
+the stage-door. He had not seen Jimmy kiss Lily, but he saw him carry her
+across the stage, just as he was coming on himself, so he had turned and
+hurried out to avoid scandal ... giving way to his wife, who worked while
+he did not. He had gone out at once, time to run to the bar and drown two
+or three sorrows, and he was waiting for her now, without paying any
+attention to the girls passing. As soon as he saw Lily, he seized her by
+the arm:
+
+"I've had enough of this," he said. "I saw you, you and your Jimmy! You
+can't deny it this time!"
+
+"Oh, Trampy, don't insult me like that!" protested Lily. "Why do you
+always say 'my' Jimmy? One can have a laugh and a joke on the stage
+without meaning wrong, you know one can. Besides, if you didn't like to
+see him carry me in his arms, you ought to have smashed his face, without
+so much talk."
+
+"I didn't want to make a fuss."
+
+"You were afraid to. You're afraid of him, that's what you are!"
+
+"Stop jeering at me!" said Trampy, shaking her violently. "You're dragging
+me in the mud; it's like those whippings of yours! I'm tired of the
+affronts you put upon me! You ought to have married your Jimmy and left me
+in peace."
+
+"I can't say," sneered Lily, "that I remember running after you!"
+
+"That Jimmy!" repeated Trampy. "I'll kill that fellow like a dog! If I
+don't do it now, I will later, in a year, in a hundred years, if
+necessary. I'll kill him like a dog!"
+
+Lily gave a little laugh as she went out, followed by Trampy. She did not
+wish, in that lobby, before the people passing, to look like a woman
+insulted by her husband. She laughed bravely, as she used to, on the
+stage, with Ma, in the days of the great smackings. To see her laugh, one
+would have thought that Trampy was telling her a story; and he repeated:
+
+"I'll kill him like a dog, like a dog!"
+
+"Pooh!" said Lily, who knew Trampy. "You talk too much to act."
+
+"We shall see. Where's your Jimmy hiding?"
+
+"You'd be nicely caught, if you met him," said Lily, who had just noticed
+Jimmy leaving the music-hall to go to the Kolossal: "there he is, behind
+you."...
+
+"What's that? Don't you try to get at me!" said Trampy.
+
+"I tell you, he's behind you, damn it! Turn round and you'll see ... if
+you have eyes to see with."
+
+Trampy turned round, half-reluctantly: he didn't like those jokes, but he
+didn't wish to seem afraid.
+
+"Where? Where do you see Jimmy?" he grumbled.
+
+"There, in front of you," insisted Lily, pointing with her finger and
+pushing him by the shoulder. "Off you go!"
+
+There was no drawing back. He marched straight up to Jimmy, who did not
+even recognize him and who stopped politely. But Trampy had time for
+reflection, no doubt: a clearer perception of professional brotherhood.
+Better, after all, to remain friends ... among artistes. And, when he
+stood before him:
+
+"H'm, h'm. Have you got a light about you, Jimmy? Give us a match," said
+Trampy, taking a cigar from his pocket.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+It stifled Lily, for the moment. She would rather have received twenty
+"contracts" with the steel buckle than see that cowardice in her husband.
+She had her Pa's blood in her, damn it!
+
+"What!" she thought. "He believes me to misconduct myself with Jimmy, and
+he is too much of a coward to object!"
+
+But there was nothing to be done. Trampy was as incapable of anger as of
+love. All those years of a low life had degraded him to that point. And
+Trampy had even lost the right to bear Jimmy a grudge, made as though he
+had forgotten everything, said that, after all, it was much better to be
+friends. And all this under Lily's critical eye!
+
+Jimmy! To be obliged to look pleasant at Jimmy! It gave him a lump in his
+throat. Fortunately, he had the others, the crowd of assiduous pros who
+thronged round his wife. Against those he gave free scope to his jealousy,
+and showed himself as strict with the rest as he had been accommodating
+with Jimmy. He meant to keep an eye on his wife:
+
+"A married woman, on the stage, alone! I won't have any more of that!"
+
+He hit upon a contrivance to be always with her: he would be her "comic."
+It was a new system which had come into fashion: the most plastic
+performances spoiled by the juxtaposition of their caricatures; acrobats,
+Olympian gods, parodied by a merry-andrew in a ridiculous coat: just as
+though Nunkie Fuchs, for instance, had taken it into his head to appear
+with his Three Graces and mimic their tricks, kicking about at the end of
+a wire with his fat, fatherly paunch and his round, silly face.
+
+And Trampy, riding behind Lily, would simply give a parody of her tricks;
+it meant little work to him and was as good a way as another of going on
+the stage with her and establishing his title to _her_ work and _her_
+salary....
+
+And off they went again, with the basket trunk, and the bikes; and on the
+stage, every night, Lily, looking like a goddess, and Trampy, dressed in
+rags, went through their tricks and smiled ... applause for her, always;
+none for him, ever. Lily wore a very sad look in consequence, when they
+returned to the wings: a poor little wife, so sorry for her husband; but
+she triumphed at the bottom of her heart, while Trampy turned green with
+spite. He was furious with Lily: tried to make her fall, pushed her in
+turning; but Lily was too clever and sat as firmly on her bike as Ave
+Maria walked her slack-wire, when the brother used to shake it on purpose,
+whip in hand and snarling as if to bite.
+
+Oh, if Lily had not made efforts to be a good little wife! Trampy was
+becoming unbearable. She posed as the poor little thing, despised,
+deceived and betrayed by her husband; she loved to hear people tell her
+so, called them to witness and continued, but without result, to make
+inquiries about Ave Maria.
+
+And there were everlasting scenes at home. Lily had enough of it, more
+than enough of it! She had even decided to go away, to return to London;
+but, worn out with worry, she had to take to her bed, with a high fever.
+It was the finishing stroke: no work,--all the savings gone....
+
+Trampy, fortunately, found an engagement:
+
+"It's all right, the neighbors will look after you," he said, as he took
+his leave. "A man's duty is to see that his wife doesn't starve, eh,
+darling? I'm going to make money, too, and I'll bring you heaps when I
+come back; and I'll send you some. That's the sort of man I am. I don't
+talk of '_my_ money!'"
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+Lily was left alone in Berlin.
+
+Generally, she hated the hotels frequented by artistes, but she was very
+glad to be in one this time. She, poor little broken-down thing, was not
+left to the care of a common servant; she had nice, kind nurses.... And
+she had no lack of friends who took interest in her, very sincerely, for
+that matter, for she was a favorite with all of them, that pretty Miss
+Lily, who would soon be free....
+
+Lily let herself be coddled. Pending the arrival of the money which Trampy
+was to send, she wanted for nothing, especially in the way of luxuries:
+chocolates, sweets, flowers, they brought her everything. Her friends
+passing through Berlin, the impersonator, the Paras, many others, hearing
+that she was ill, came to see her, treated her as a lady, cried out how
+well she was looking, how pretty she was and how it suited her to be ill
+in bed.
+
+Lily thought that very nice, put on a languid air, like a poor little
+jaded thing that had got out of gear:
+
+"I shall die of overdoing it, I know I shall," she said. "I've been at the
+bike ever since I was that high"--raising her hand twelve inches above the
+bed--"and my heart's worn out by the hard work. My knees, too. Sit down
+there on the basket trunk. You at the foot of the bed. Have a chocolate."
+
+Then she turned over in her sheets, which molded her firm, plump shape,
+took a bag of sweets from the chair beside her and offered it round. Poor
+little martyr, she had been forbidden them by the doctor, because of a
+cough.... But she took them all the same, merely for the sake of taking
+them, with a graceful movement, her bare arm outstretched, her wrist
+making a supple curve, like a swan's neck, as she dipped her pretty hand
+into the bag.
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+In addition to her regular friends, such as the impersonator or the Paras,
+others, the people staying in the hotel, would tap discreetly at the glass
+door between her room and the passage, come in on tip-toe, speak in a
+whisper.
+
+"What nonsense!" Lily would say. "I'm not dead yet, you know!"
+
+And she laughed, and "Ugh! Ugh!" a cough or so, a matter of lifting her
+embroidered handkerchief to her mouth, a favorite gesture. And there were
+stories from all parts, the cackle of the profession. The Paras were
+living together now, as they explained to her. The parrots? No go; given
+them up; one had its neck wrung by a monkey in Chicago; another died of
+consumption at Stockholm; the rest of the troupe sold to the
+stage-doorkeepers of the different variety-theaters. His sight was
+beginning to fail. She wanted smartness; wasn't--how should he put it? The
+husband looked for a word--wasn't "Tottie" enough. However, they managed
+somehow, as "eccentric duetists." Lily thought that very nice, those two
+talents combined, very original; but could they give her any news of Ave
+Maria ... a great artiste ... on the wire?...
+
+If ever Lily might have hoped to receive news of Ave Maria, it was during
+this illness, from the artistes who visited her, on their way from
+anywhere to God knows where. Lily had news of everybody: of Mirzah, the
+white elephant, who had to be pole-axed for killing his keeper; of Captain
+North's seals; of the Three Graces, who were doing triumphantly in
+England; of Poland, the Parisienne, now starring at Bill and Boom's. Tom
+was talked about: biceps like thighs, now: a hornpipe danced on the hands.
+She had news of the Pawnees, of the Hauptmanns. Roofer was sending out
+four new troupes, to Canada, Australia, India, Cape Colony: the
+Greater-England Girls. She had news of the New Zealanders and of her
+cousin Daisy, who seemed to find the star business jolly hard work:
+
+"The wind-bag!" said Lily.
+
+They talked of Jimmy, of dogs, cats and monkeys and of Tom Grave and Butt
+Snyders, those great breakneck acrobats: they talked of one and all, but
+not a word of Ave Maria. They knew her by reputation, as one who had been
+through the mill, more than Lily had, as Lily modestly admitted.
+
+"Darling," said the impersonator affectionately, "don't bother about that
+Ave Maria of yours. I'm jealous. Be mine, darling! How well we two should
+get on together, eh, Lily?"
+
+"Hands off!" said Lily. "Be good ... there ... like that ... down by your
+sides ... or you'll get a smacking!"
+
+Concerts were got up for Lily's amusement. Sketch-comedians pulled their
+faces: a musician twanged his banjo. At other times, by closing her eyes,
+Lily could have imagined herself in an aviary: the Whistling Wonder
+imitated the nightingale, the thrush, the lark. Another, an equilibrist,
+showed her how, when he was obliged to stay in bed with a broken leg and
+had nobody to wait on him, he used to wait on himself by going round the
+room on his hands ... like that. Lily was given, for nothing, a
+performance which was worth a whole music-hall program. To put everybody
+at their ease, Lily told them to smoke, took a puff or two at a cigarette
+herself--"Ugh! Ugh!"--almost choked....
+
+They amused themselves, among themselves, free from any constraint due to
+the presence of jossers. Lily joked with them as she used to do with the
+apprentices in the mornings, when they showed one another their bruises of
+the day before. She made them look at her pigeon's egg, on the side of her
+foot, the little ball-shaped muscle special to her profession, like the
+triceps of the pugilist or the dancing-girls' calves. She was vain enough
+to put on a silk stocking, poked out her foot from under the bedclothes,
+let them feel "her egg," made it jump under their fingers by a sudden
+contraction.
+
+"Is that all you've got to show us, darling?" asked the impersonator.
+
+"You don't want much, I _don't_ think!" said Lily, pulling back her foot
+under the quilt.
+
+The incident was interrupted by new-comers who had also known Lily when
+she was that high. They brought fresh news from Lisle Street. They had had
+a drink with P. T. Clifton himself, had had a drink with an author who was
+writing a book on the business.
+
+"Another josser who's sure to talk a lot of nonsense!" cried Lily. "If
+only they told the truth and described us as we are, a sight better than
+the society ladies, who come and wait for pros outside the stage-door!"
+
+And they went on. The healths they had drunk with this girl and that girl;
+and new turns: competitors who were cropping up ... names ... names ...
+Ave Maria? Dead, they said: somewhere in Ecuador or Peru.
+
+Then Lily stretched herself to her full length in the sheets, feeling
+weary, weary, crushed under all that talk.
+
+And Trampy just didn't write, sent no money at all. She blushed for him
+... in spite of her wish to catch him tripping, before witnesses. She was
+ashamed to be his wife, his only wife, his little wife for ever.
+
+On that day, as it happened, Jimmy came to pay her a visit. His engagement
+at the Kolossal was ending. He was to perform at the London Hippodrome,
+before going to the States. A certain air of respect surrounded him from
+the moment he entered the room, that Jimmy who already stood higher than
+any of them among the famous bill-toppers! And they gradually retired, as
+though Lily would prefer that. It was no use her saying, "Do stay!" They
+went all the same; and Lily was left alone with him, a little embarrassed
+and yet flattered at being thought on such good terms with Jimmy. As for
+him, he had just heard about Lily's illness, Trampy's absence, and hurried
+to see her, bringing her the good news that the lawsuit was over. Trampy
+would have nothing more to pay....
+
+From that day, Jimmy was sometimes seen at Lily's. He spoke little, sat
+down on the basket trunk, listened, thought of things. He was known to
+have his mind full of an invention superior to "Bridging the Abyss," one
+could expect anything from him: a wonderful chap Jimmy, a bit cracked,
+though, with ideas of his own which went the round of the profession and
+were variously appreciated. A fund for stage-children; a reserve upon
+their earnings, to be banked and kept untouched till they came of age; a
+home of rest for the old and the sick; a weekly matinée for the benefit of
+the fund....
+
+Jimmy described the piteous lot of those who grow old in a profession
+intended for youth: but a few shillings a month paid into the fund, a
+benefit performance or two ... and our home is established and endowed and
+we should see no more stars flung aside, to die in hopeless poverty, after
+amusing crowds of people for years and years.
+
+"I'm with you," said Lily, laughing. "Put me down for a pension for my old
+age ... if ever I reach old age ... ugh, ugh!"
+
+And she coughed, with the embroidered handkerchief at her lips.
+
+But Lily's joke was left unechoed: everybody talked professional shop,
+quoted figures; the habit of signing contracts, of avoiding the traps laid
+by the agents had given them all a keen sense of business. And the
+frequent traveling, in the absence of education, had made them sharp at
+understanding, quick in the uptake. Their clean-shaven faces fell into
+wise folds, like lawyers'.
+
+Jimmy also explained his idea about the apprentices, the compulsory so
+much per cent., the inalienable deposit paid in by the Pas and Mas ...
+and, much more still, by the profs and managers....
+
+"Good!" said Lily. "I'm with you!"
+
+There was a general laugh. The Whistling Wonder interrupted the
+conversation by quacking like a duck at Jimmy and cooing like a pigeon at
+Lily. Jimmy got up and said good-by, pleased to see Lily making daily
+progress.
+
+"Ah, Lily," they said again, when he had gone, "that's the one you ought
+to have married, not the other!"
+
+And thereupon they began to pursue their favorite theme and amuse
+themselves by describing the awful troubles which she would get into one
+day with "the other," that drunkard;--the man with the thirty-six girls!
+And they laughed and they laughed, my! Lily herself held her sides with
+laughing.
+
+All this was stage effect, professional exaggeration. Lily dared not
+indulge in it before Jimmy. She was more sincere, always a little
+embarrassed, in the presence of that man toward whom everybody was driving
+her, as though they all saw farther into her life than she herself could.
+She was no longer ill, only tired, with an accumulation of past
+wearinesses that made her love to lie down flat. But she would get up
+to-morrow, instead of remaining in bed to see her friends; no humbug
+before Jimmy.
+
+The next day when he came, Lily was alone. So much the better, he had
+something to say to her. He had made up his mind that day. His own present
+prosperity formed too great a contrast with the poverty of Lily ... that
+poor kiddie who had run away from home in pursuit of happiness and whom he
+now found here, in this squalid room.... It was all very well to theorize
+about children who have earned fortunes and who haven't a farthing; but
+that was mere talk! Suppose he helped Lily a little in the meantime. He
+had prepared all sorts of good reasons; he had found a smart excuse, the
+great excuse of the music-hall, that he had been betting on horses and
+losing. He would ask Lily to keep his money for him, as a kindness,
+otherwise he simply couldn't help it, his money burned a hole in his
+pocket. Then, on second thought, why all that fuss? Hadn't he known her
+since she was that high? And, the moment he came in, he just handed Lily a
+thousand-mark note:
+
+"For the law-costs, Lily! And, anything over, for your expenses, till
+Trampy's money comes. Only too pleased to be of any use. You can pay it
+back when it suits you. And good-by, Lily, ta-ta!"
+
+And he hurried out, leaving Lily with the thousand marks in her hand.
+
+Lily was stupefied and confused. She asked herself why? why? a real piece
+of brain-work, which made her head ache. Anyhow she would give back the
+money to-morrow! She wouldn't keep it! Trampy would be sure to bring some;
+it was impossible that he should bring nothing; but, come what may, she
+would give back the money to-morrow! She took the great oath of the stage
+upon it: three fingers of her right hand uplifted; her left hand on the
+lucky charm. And then she went and shut the door, turned the key in the
+lock and lay down....
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+A noise woke her: some one was knocking outside; but, before she could get
+out of bed, one of the glass panes of the door broke into fragments.
+Somebody had smashed it with his elbow. A hand came through the opening,
+turned back the key. The door opened and Trampy entered, raging,
+growling:
+
+"There's a man here!"
+
+"You won't find him; you can kill me if you do!" cried Lily.
+
+She expected a terrible scene. Trampy, drunk, had the look which he wore
+on his bad days. He peered into the corners, turned a cunning eye on
+Lily.
+
+Trampy had spent the evening at the café and there heard of the visits
+which Lily received during his absence. The neighbors he didn't mind
+about, but Jimmy. Jimmy again! The damned dog! Why should he poke his nose
+in? And, perhaps, at heart, Trampy was not sorry to have a scene with
+Lily, for he wasn't bringing home a pfennig, having spent all his money on
+champagne with girls. He felt himself at fault. He would get out of it
+with violence.
+
+"There's a man here!" repeated Trampy, walking up to Lily like a madman.
+
+She was humiliated to the core when she saw Trampy, dazed with tobacco,
+heavy with beer, stoop and look under the bed. And, suddenly, seeing the
+banknote which Lily had laid on the table, Trampy shouted:
+
+"You can't deny it this time. Tell me where the money comes from!"
+
+"It's from Jimmy," said Lily, beside herself. "He thinks of me, Jimmy
+does, while you leave me here to starve. It's ... it's for the
+law-costs."
+
+"Oh, that's another thing!" said Trampy, putting the note in his pocket.
+
+"Let the money be!" cried Lily, leaping out of bed. "Don't you touch it!"
+
+"Everything here belongs to me, I should think," said Trampy, a little
+more calmly, already overcome with drunken drowsiness. "Everything, even a
+dear little wifie," he continued, putting his snout under Lily's disgusted
+nose.
+
+But she gave a movement of revulsion so spontaneous that Trampy turned
+pale under the insult:
+
+"W-what! N-no love?" he stammered. "I'm not used to that. I can get
+l-l-love for the asking ... at the ca-ca-café ... or the th-theater ... or
+anywhere."
+
+And Trampy, making a false step, caught hold of the curtain and drew it
+back.
+
+In the pitiless light of the morning, he appeared to Lily like a drowned
+man, with a puffed-out face, swollen eyes and wan cheeks. To think that
+she belonged to that! Lily spat at him in contempt. Oh, rather sleep with
+lizards and guinea-pigs than that; rather with a woolly dog, like Poland,
+that Parisienne! Oh, to get rid of him and be free again, thought Lily,
+never again to have Trampy before her eyes! And, suddenly, her mind was
+made up. She dressed herself hurriedly.
+
+"Where are you going?" asked Trampy.
+
+"I'm off!" said Lily. "I've had enough of this!"
+
+"What's that?" said Trampy, dull-mouthed, flinging his body across the
+bed. "What's that? Say it again!"
+
+"I say I hate the sight of you! I'm going back to my Pa and Ma!"
+
+"You, you're going back to ... well, good-by, darling, goo-good ...
+goo-good-by," stammered Trampy, sprawling on the bed, among the disordered
+clothes....
+
+Lily moved freely round the room, without even troubling about him, like
+one who has made up her mind once and for all. She packed up her things in
+the basket trunk. She put her bike outside the door; and, just as she was
+going to look for a neighbor to help her down with her trunk, an idea
+entered her head. She stopped on the threshold, came back to Trampy,
+slipped her hand into his pocket and gingerly took out the banknote:
+
+"An insult like that!" she muttered. "I'd rather starve than not give
+Jimmy back the money!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+"Lily!"
+
+She thought she heard herself called, in her dream, just because she was
+back in her room again, in London, among familiar objects. She felt as if
+her life was going on exactly as in the old days, as if nothing had
+happened in between. Her marriage? A nightmare. And her home-coming
+yesterday had been very nice: no questions asked, no whys and hows. Her
+parents knew, of course. They knew all about her troubles with Trampy. But
+no reproaches, nothing: kisses, everybody very happy, including herself.
+She snuggled under the bedclothes, in the hollow left by Glass-Eye, who
+had gone down-stairs. Lily felt sorry that she had left her trunk at the
+hotel, when she thought of the cordial welcome she had received at the
+hands of Pa and Ma.
+
+It was quite three weeks since she left her husband. She went over it all
+again in her head. Her departure from Berlin! She meant to go straight to
+Jimmy, first, and give him back that money; only, those Vienna hats,
+displayed in the shop-windows, those dresses, those boots, when she saw
+all that, Lily understood that she could not return to London, to her
+parents, with dingy-looking clothes, after her successes on the continent!
+Pa and Ma would have laughed in her face.
+
+Lily felt bound to say that she had been most reasonable: three hundred
+marks for that Vienna dress, which suited her so well; why, Jimmy himself
+would have approved.
+
+"Let's see!"
+
+She reckoned on her fingers: forty marks the hat, three hundred the dress;
+and the underthings, chemises, stays, a silk petticoat, boots ... that
+came to ... came to ... a week at a hotel in Berlin ... time lost at
+Hamburg ... the journey from Hamburg to Rotterdam, Harwich and London ...
+the hotel on arriving, so as to be able to dress before going home: it
+left her just fifty shillings to play the lady with and buy presents for
+Pa and Ma. And Jimmy ... Jimmy, who was in London also, due to open at the
+Hippodrome! And she had sworn that she would give him back that money at
+once! To quiet her conscience, Lily, under her blankets, took the
+"counter-oath" of the stage, with her left hand behind her back, the
+fingers closed over the thumb, that she would repay him the money, most
+certainly, as soon as she began to earn any.
+
+"Lily! Can I come in, Lily?"
+
+It was Ma, bringing her breakfast and a paper, _The Era_. Lily gave a
+quick glance round the room: her skirt was hanging on the peg; the bodice
+lay, without a crease, over the back of a chair, the hat on top of it, the
+linen neatly folded: good! She did not look a scarecrow, at any rate! And,
+sitting up against the pillows, with a napkin on her knees, Lily
+breakfasted daintily, with her finger-tips:
+
+"Pa, Where's Pa?" asked Lily. "Tell him to come up."
+
+"Your Pa has gone out with the apprentices," said Ma. "He wouldn't wake
+you, you looked so tired last night. Here, Lily, some more coffee? Another
+slice of bread and butter?" continued Ma, spreading it for her.
+
+"'K you!"
+
+Lily accepted this as her due, like a lady accustomed to the manners of
+good society, to having her breakfast brought to her in bed by the maid.
+
+"Oh, Ma," said Lily, as she sugared her coffee, "they do understand things
+on the continent! They know how to appreciate artistes there. I've had
+such successes!"
+
+"And you were angry with us for teaching you your profession," said Ma.
+"You see now that it was for your good."
+
+"But it depends on how it's done," said Lily. "If I had always been
+treated like this, I should never have left you."
+
+"Well, you don't bear your Pa and me a grudge, I suppose," said Ma, "or
+you wouldn't have come back. We knew you'd come back. This has always been
+your address; your Pa never took your name out of _The Era_."
+
+"You didn't treat me fair," said Lily, "but I've forgotten most of it. Oh,
+don't let's talk about it any more! Let's talk of something else; let's
+talk of you."
+
+Lily knew all about their struggles, their successes; had heard of it on
+the stage, in the cafés. But here, in her room, as described by Ma, she
+put her finger on it, so to speak, and realized more fully what a blank
+her flight had made, what a catastrophe it had been for them.
+
+And Ma gave details, tried to interest Lily in the fate of the troupe;
+told her that, for months, the troupe had been refused everywhere, because
+she wasn't in it, and her Pa had to change apprentices.
+
+"I was the troupe!" said Lily.
+
+"Oh, the trouble your Pa took running after his own fat freaks! I thought
+he would get heart-disease! And months of it, without earning a thing. Oh,
+if your Pa hadn't had some money ...!"
+
+"But he had plenty!" said Lily.
+
+"Oh, not much, not so much as you think!" Ma hastened to say, thinking she
+saw a spiteful allusion in Lily's remark.
+
+"Yes, all right, I know," said Lily. "Never mind about that. It's my turn
+to make money now, for myself."
+
+"Still that independent spirit! We haven't got her yet!" thought Ma.
+
+And she went on talking of the troupe, of the cousin who played the star.
+
+"Pooh!" said Lily. "A nice sort of star!"
+
+"It's not every one who can star in Berlin by herself, like you," said Ma.
+"Do you know, Lily, you ought to stay with us: we should get on so well
+together. You would manage the troupe; and, one day--who knows?--you might
+make a nice marriage."
+
+"But I am married, Ma! I didn't live with him! Do you mean to say you
+think ...? Not I!"
+
+"I know you're married, but you can get a divorce. Jimmy used to make love
+to you; now there's a man who ..."
+
+"And you used to say he was a drunkard, Ma!"
+
+"Never!" said Ma, rising to leave.
+
+Lily was flattered, at heart, to be received like that. She also felt
+proud that her Pa had not been ashamed of her and that he had kept her
+name in _The Era_. Well, they treated her as a lady, saw her value, gave
+her her due. And she lay for a while enjoying her triumph, while she
+turned the pages of _The Era_ in an absent-minded way: Miss This, Miss
+That, Cape Town, Calcutta ... actors, singers ...
+
+"Those aren't artistes, any of them!"
+
+Programs, plays, songs: "_Why I Love Women_!"
+
+"I know, you footy rotter!"
+
+"_Is Marriage a Failure_?"
+
+"I should think so!" thought Lily.
+
+And articles, biographies ...
+
+"Pack of lies!" thought Lily.
+
+And pages of "Wanted ... Wanted ..."
+
+Lily ran her eye down the columns: artistes' boarding-houses,
+_costumiers_, scene-painters, dancing-schools, every town, every theater.
+Hullo!--she had turned the page--Tom, the dancer--Hullo! At Milan!
+
+"Bravo, Tom!"
+
+Jimmy at the Hippodrome next week; private address, Whitcomb Mansions.
+
+"Pooh, he's well off! What's fifty pounds to him?"
+
+Hullo! Miss Lily--Berlin--Permanent address, Rathbone Place, London, W.
+
+"Well done, Pa! Serve him right, the tramp cyclist!" said Lily, throwing
+down the paper and jumping out of bed.
+
+Quite a business, her toilet. She was two hours titivating herself. She
+wanted Pa and Ma to be proud of her, of her successes on the continent.
+And, when the apprentices came in from practice, you should have seen her
+walk into the dining-room. A little air of simplicity, her forehead put
+out for her delighted Pa to kiss, hands all round--"Hullo, girls! Hullo,
+Daisy!" And she sat down like a lady accustomed to smart restaurants, who
+does not despise dinner at home, however, with a boiled leg of mutton to
+recruit her inside after those champagne suppers, those truffled
+pheasants, that damned continental cooking! She accepted everything, and
+thought it all very nice, simple life, simple joys, the only ones!
+
+She set a good example to the new apprentices, who eyed her stealthily,
+instead of eating, for Miss Lily's presence turned their heads entirely.
+My! A star like that, a real one! Lily Clifton, the New Zealander on
+Wheels! And dressed ... dressed like a lady in the front boxes! Cousin
+Daisy was green with jealousy. Lily talked of her travels, her successes
+and the crossing, gee! Waves "miles high," the boat standing on end! Glass
+Eye Maud devoured her with her one eye, screwed up her fat red cheeks in a
+fixed and motionless laugh, scared before Lily, who came from over the
+sea, from countries where savages live. Glass-Eye, in her perturbation,
+served Lily first. Pa made no objection, asked Lily's permission to light
+his pipe: was she sure she didn't mind smoke? Lord, you never knew, with
+those ladies! He swelled with pride. If it had been Christmas-time, he
+would have ordered a pudding, my, a real wedding-cake three feet across!
+His ideas of grandeur returned, his triumphal tour round the world, the
+definite extermination of the fat freaks ... if Lily remained with him
+...
+
+After dinner, the apprentices retired, to finish sewing some bloomers.
+Lily approved:
+
+"Bloomers? Very nice ... for a troupe!"
+
+Presently, in the afternoon, the three of them went for a walk: Pa freshly
+shaven; Ma decked out in her jewelry: Lily did not wear any, "only in the
+evening when she went into society." Tottenham Court Road, the Palace, the
+Hippodrome.... Pa would have liked to write up on his hat:
+
+"Lily has come back!"
+
+He looked to right and left, had the satisfaction of distributing nods and
+bows to some artistes, with Lily on his arm, as though to say:
+
+"You see it was wrong, all that people were saying, about those smackings!
+And the proof is, here she is,--on my arm, damn it!"
+
+As for Lily, she thought only of showing herself:
+
+"If Trampy could see me now!" she reflected. "And Jimmy, if he could see
+me, in my fine dress, while it's still new!"
+
+Regent Street reminded Lily of Pa's generosity. She would not be
+behindhand. Pa had to accept a red tie, a pair of gloves, a match-box, as
+a present; Ma, an embroidered handkerchief, a lucky charm. Lily had the
+satisfaction of paying with gold and receiving change.
+
+She was tired, in the evening, put on a languid air: gee, her mother would
+have shaken her for less in the old days! Lily put it on still more, to
+show them all that times were changed. But she did the troupe the honor of
+going to see their performance at the Castle. It was a great success for
+her.
+
+"Made a bit, eh?" asked the manager, seeing her fine dress. "Coming back
+for good, to star with the New Zealanders?"
+
+"I don't know; I shall see."
+
+Lily was quite ready to come back, in her own mind, but she wanted to
+return in triumph. It all depended on the price offered: to think that she
+had worked for them at ten shillings a week, when she was worth quite two
+pounds a night! She would see; she would make her own conditions: for
+instance, herself in tights, the others in bloomers ... a special tune for
+her entrance ... no star beside herself!
+
+Lily watched the New Zealanders' performance with the air of an expert:
+
+"Not so bad; quite good ..."
+
+And she had various ideas: herself as a fine lady, undressing on the
+stage. Or rather, no, as a statue, on a pedestal in a park ... with Cousin
+Daisy at her feet, throwing flowers to her. Then she would come to life,
+as though waking from sleep, and step down prettily to a special tune.
+Hullo, what's this? A bike! And then, gee, a blast of the trombone and she
+would show them what a star was, a real one! Yes ... she would see ... if
+Pa and Ma insisted ... perhaps ...
+
+But her real triumph was next day, at practice. Her Pa, excited by her
+presence, ran and ran, notwithstanding his palpitations of the heart. It
+was no use his trying to restrain himself: his enthusiasm mastered him as
+soon as he saw them all in the saddle, his little Woolly-legs!
+
+And no more Tom: he was all by himself now; and, when he sat down to take
+breath, he still ordered his little Woolly-legs about, shouted his cutting
+remarks at them.
+
+Lily raised her head proudly. She seemed to take the apprentices to
+witness. She had gone through that, much worse than that, for years! She
+was a gentle little lady, all the same. Besides, she was all for
+gentleness:
+
+"Leave her to me, Pa; you're making poor Cousin Daisy quite nervous. She
+doesn't know; I'll show her!"
+
+And, under her great waving feather, Lily, without even taking off her
+gloves:
+
+"There, put your foot there ... like that ... and like that ... firmly.
+No, not like that!"
+
+And, suddenly, stimulated with professional zeal:
+
+"Wait, I'll show you how it's done!"
+
+And, in an instant, to show them all how you're got up when you're a star
+and when you come back from the continent, Lily took off her bodice,
+pinned up her skirt amid the rustling of the silk and, bare-armed, in a
+lace-trimmed chemisette:
+
+"Now then, I'll show you!"
+
+And Lily, with all her little muscles alive, took a bike, jumped on it as
+she would on a stool and then--yoop!--the bike on its back-wheel, spinning
+round like a top.
+
+"Twirls are as easy as anything: you only have to know how to do them.
+Come on! Have a try!"
+
+And the other, encouraged by a friendly slap, tried in her turn
+and--yoop!--succeeded ... very nearly.
+
+Pa was enraptured at the mere sight of Lily's little curled nostrils and
+her earnest look:
+
+"What a professor she would make!" he thought. "If ever she takes the
+belt, she'll be simply grand. I can just fold my arms!"
+
+But he made her dress very quickly. That exhibition of dainty underwear,
+which flattered his pride as a father, would have driven girls used to
+sewing their own calico shifts quite crazy: there would have been no
+holding them; and, besides, artistes might come in at any moment. It would
+not do for Lily to be seen half-dressed like that; and she realized this
+herself, like a sensible little lady, who hates scandal.
+
+"Stay with us, Lily," said her Pa, at home, after dinner, when the
+apprentices had gone out. "Stay with us."
+
+"It's your duty," said Ma.
+
+"If you stay," continued Pa, "I'll make you a present of a brand-new
+banjo!"
+
+"Thank you, no more banjo for me," said Lily, laughing. "I've had my
+share."
+
+"All right, no more banjo," agreed Pa, "provided you stay with us: that's
+all I ask. I shall be afraid of nobody then; I'll show them what an
+artiste is!"
+
+And, warming to his subject, Pa built up his plans: the great English
+tours; and Eastern and Western America, Australia, South Africa:
+
+"Eh, Lily? Wouldn't you like to see it all again? Or else, for once, I'll
+get up a troupe and take it round the world myself, with you in it!"
+
+"But, Pa," said Lily, very coldly, "I have business arrangements of my
+own, more engagements than I want."
+
+"It's a business arrangement I'm proposing to you," said Pa.
+
+"And shall I come on in tights?"
+
+"In tights, if you like."
+
+"And no other star but me!" continued Lily, explaining her idea:
+undressing on the stage, or else the statue, her own scenery ...
+
+"Capital idea!" cried Pa.
+
+"And then there's the money side of the question," said Lily. "I make a
+lot of money now. I want to work for myself."
+
+"And what you make with us, won't it be yours, one day?" suggested Ma.
+
+"Stay with us," said Pa, "and Trampy will burst with spite and you'll be
+much happier here, with your Pa and Ma, instead of with that
+good-for-nothing!"
+
+"Or instead of remaining alone, which is even worse," Ma insisted. "You
+want us still, Lily ..."
+
+"And you me! Let us talk business," interrupted Lily, who would have liked
+a pencil and paper, to make her calculations with.
+
+Ma, in her heart of hearts, did not think it at all nice of a daughter to
+consider only her own interests; but Pa hurried up, thought Lily was quite
+right ... although he was greatly embarrassed in reality and asked himself
+how much he could well offer her, so as to make a profit for himself.
+
+Fortunately, he was relieved of his predicament by Glass-Eye, who came in
+with a telegram for Miss Lily.
+
+"Give it here!" said Lily, who noticed, as she opened the envelope, that a
+chair had creaked and that the palm of her left hand was itching: a sign
+of money. "I'll bet it's about an engagement. I have offers from every
+side; you have no idea ... Well, I never!" she said. "A telegram from
+Jimmy, at the Horse Shoe! I thought he was at Whitcomb Mansions. What can
+he want with me? He asks me to call on him! Funny way of treating a lady.
+Why can't he come himself?"
+
+But Pa and Ma thought differently: Jimmy was "somebody," a man to be
+considered, right at the top of the profession; she'd have done better to
+marry him and not her Trampy Wheel-Pad!...
+
+"You must go," insisted Ma. "Don't you like going alone? Shall I come with
+you?"
+
+"Yes, that's different," said Lily, who had a certain pride and who felt
+sure that Jimmy would never mention that thousand marks before a witness.
+
+Her heart beat a little, as she went up the staircase of the Horse Shoe to
+the third floor, on the left, door 32. At first, she was surprised that he
+should be there, having read in _The Era_ ... but he might have moved. On
+the whole, she was not sorry to show herself to Jimmy in her pretty frock,
+he having seen her last in her room in Berlin, looking ill, unkempt and
+frightfully ugly. She was not sorry, either, that Ma was with her:
+
+"He's in love, I suppose," said Lily. "Everybody makes love to me: why do
+they, Ma? I'm not a bit pretty, off the stage."
+
+And she took a mischievous pleasure in enlarging upon her successes and
+her flirtations, there, on the staircase of the Horse Shoe, with Ma beside
+her, and no smackings, gee, nor any fear of smackings in the future! What
+a change since her marriage!
+
+"Yes," Lily went on, as she read the numbers on the doors--29--"Ma, you
+ought to see the flowers I get, the chocolates, the sweets"--31--"but all
+that does not prevent a lady from keeping straight"--32--
+
+Then she gave a stifled cry, her voice stuck in her throat: Trampy, Trampy
+himself stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, a cigar in his
+mouth, his hat cocked over one ear; and he looked at her with a bantering
+air:
+
+"Sorry to disappoint you, Miss Lily. You hoped to find some one else,
+eh?"
+
+Ma, utterly flabbergasted, had dropped on to a bench in the passage, in
+the shadow. Trampy did not even see her. Lily was crimson with shame at
+being caught tripping by Trampy: she could not deny it. She wanted to run
+away, but, stupefied with surprise, remained where she stood, with dilated
+pupils, open-mouthed.
+
+"You can look at me till to-morrow morning and it won't help you," said
+Trampy quietly, with the air of a man who has prepared his speech. "I've
+got you this time! I sent the telegram; I knew you'd come, wherever he
+thought fit to meet you; you'd have come for less than Jimmy; you'd have
+come for the impersonator or any one else, never mind whom; any one in the
+rotten lot, any gentleman in the front boxes, eh? It's 'Whistle and I'll
+come to you, my lad!' with you! But I thought Jimmy would do best, Jimmy
+your lover, whom you followed to London. Now my luck has brought me here,
+too ... for my work ... not like you! And, by the way, Miss Lily, have you
+brought me that thousand marks which you got from Jimmy and which I was
+going to give back to him, when you stole it out of my pocket? Or did you
+spend it on the way here? You hadn't a rag to your back, when you left me,
+and I find you dressed up like a Tottie. My compliments, Miss Lily."
+
+"O God, strike him dead!" prayed Lily. "Strike him, kill him, kill him!"
+
+Lily felt like fainting. She could not breathe, her ribs seemed to be
+crushing her lungs. At last she drew a long, slow breath:
+
+"Well," she stammered, overcome with shame, "well, we can be divorced ...
+if you like."
+
+"I'll see," said Trampy, hardening his voice and throwing away his cigar.
+"Go back to your Jimmy in the meantime. You may be sure I have no use for
+a traitress like you, an idler who refuses to work, a woman who lets every
+man make love to her!" And, suddenly, pointing to the stairs, "You can be
+sure that I've no further use for you! Get out of this, damn you! And
+you're not going, mind you: I'm kicking you out!"
+
+And therewith Trampy went back into his room and slammed the door in her
+face.
+
+Mrs. Clifton and Lily remained glued where they were. At last, Ma,
+trembling all over, rose from the bench and led away her daughter, who
+shook her fist at the door, crying:
+
+"Liar!"
+
+"Why didn't you speak just now, my poor Lily?" said Ma. "You ought to have
+answered back! So it's true, all that? A nice thing! You, who
+pretended...."
+
+"Oh, let go, you're crushing my sleeve!" retorted Lily angrily, pulling
+her arm away from the hand that clasped it.
+
+She went down the stairs, followed by Ma, without knowing what she was
+doing. She would have liked to find a train on the pavement, a motor, to
+jump into it, to make off and never see anybody again, after the
+humiliation which she had undergone before Ma.
+
+She flung herself into the first cab that came along, yelled a direction
+to the driver: Hyde Park, anywhere! Ma found herself by Lily's side,
+without being asked to step in, and she repeated:
+
+"Lily, you ought to have ... Why did you let him treat you like that? Is
+it true?"
+
+"First of all," said Lily, suddenly turning and facing her Ma; "first of
+all, it's your fault ... yours ... all that's happened, damn it! If you
+had been less hard on me, I shouldn't have gone off with that footy
+rotter!"
+
+"I've often been sorry since," said Ma. "I've been sorry for it. Calm
+yourself, Lily. And then ... were we so very wrong? Look how your husband
+has just treated you before me, before your mother!"
+
+"He's a liar! I swear it!"
+
+"And Jimmy's thousand marks? What was that money for? Why didn't you give
+it back?"
+
+"It's a lie! It's a lie!"
+
+"You, who pretended you were making such a lot of money!" continued Ma.
+"There's not a word of truth in what you said. You haven't a penny. I can
+see it. Oh, you're the same as ever, my poor Lily--extravagant habits,
+dresses--and here you are, penniless, left to yourself with your expensive
+tastes. You'll die in poverty one day, without a Pa or Ma. Come back to
+us, Lily."
+
+"To make nothing? No, thank you!"
+
+"Who says so?"
+
+"Oh, I know! Ten shillings a week, eh? Family life, as that old beast of a
+Fuchs says!"
+
+"Lily," said Ma severely, "don't insult decent people! Have some respect,
+at any rate."
+
+But Lily had no respect left for anybody. Pas, Mas, Trampies, Nunkies, one
+and all, were so many slave-drivers!
+
+"And yet it's quite true, I'm penniless," thought Lily to herself. "I, who
+have earned a fortune for you!" she grumbled under her breath, stifling a
+sob.
+
+"You're mad, my poor Lily! All that we have will be yours some day. You
+never think of the future; you spend your last penny."
+
+"I earn and I spend!"
+
+"And suppose you fell ill, my poor Lily?"
+
+"Hospitals aren't made for dogs! Besides, I have friends. And then, at
+least, I shall have had some fun for my money, while you, if you died
+to-morrow, Pa would marry another woman, who would spend all your savings,
+all the money I have earned for you."
+
+"Lily," cried Mrs. Clifton, "you're insulting your father!"
+
+"I'm telling you things as they are; and I won't come back to you, because
+I can make more elsewhere! Every one for himself!"
+
+"But you don't make a penny!" said Ma, gradually getting angry. "You heard
+Trampy, just now. He called you an idler. Your Pa, at least, used to make
+you work. You're trying to bluff us with those stories of your successes.
+I dare say you'll be glad, one day, of a crust of bread with us."
+
+"Ma!"
+
+"Your contracts," said Ma, "you're always talking of your contracts. I
+should like to see them and your programs too."
+
+"Certainly," said Lily. "I'll show them to you: Munich, Berlin, Hamburg.
+I've had successes everywhere, engagements everywhere! I make more by
+myself than all Pa's troupe put together!"
+
+"Yes, but how do you get your engagements?" said Ma, pale with anger,
+seeing that Lily was escaping them and, this time, for good. "Tell me how
+you get them?"
+
+"Why, through my talent, I suppose."
+
+"Your talent! Pooh! You've none left! You get them through your friends:
+through your Jimmy, your gentlemen friends...."
+
+"That's a lie!"
+
+"You get them ... by looking pretty and getting round the men ... you ...
+you ... you...."
+
+"Mother!"
+
+Lily drew back her shoulder, her arm stiff, ready to strike; but a sense
+of respect withheld her.
+
+"Stop!" she cried to the cabman, in a hoarse voice.
+
+And, without even waiting for the cab to pull up beside the curb, Lily
+jumped out in the roadway, into the mud.
+
+"Mother," she said to Mrs. Clifton, "mother, I shall never forget this!"
+
+And, mechanically, in her haste to get away, she handed the man what money
+she had left, made a sign to him to go on and, without saying good-by,
+Lily saw the cab drive off. It was evening, in a quiet street: where was
+she? Lily did not know; her head was in a whirl. She recognized Old
+Compton Street: had they gone no farther? It seemed to her that she had
+been riding for an hour ... but no, barely a few minutes....
+
+Alone in London, without money, in the mud, in the dark, oh! she wished
+she could be swallowed up in the sewer. She felt like killing herself.
+
+"If I walk toward the Thames," she muttered, "I am done for!"
+
+And she took a street on the left, leading in the direction of the
+embankment. The movement restored her to her self-consciousness.
+
+An idea came to her, a distant hope, a glimmer, very faint at first, which
+suddenly grew in dimensions within her and lit her up in every particle.
+Jimmy! He appeared to her, all at once, like a giant eight feet high, as
+on his posters. Ah, people seemed to associate her life with his, to
+presume all sorts of things ... though he had never even kissed her! Yes,
+he had ... on the stage ... in Berlin, but that was before everybody! And
+everything drove her toward him, she always found herself on his path:
+Jimmy was everywhere, always. And Jimmy was powerful and he was
+good-looking and he loved her! He loved her! To keep straight was no use.
+Why, all of them, all of them, including her husband, that footy rotter,
+who was jealous of Jimmy without reason: she'd give him cause for jealousy
+soon, if it killed him with rage, him and all the rotten lot. And she'd do
+it that very moment! At two minutes' walk from where she stood, in
+Whitcomb Mansions! She was not one of those women whom you can drive to
+despair with impunity: she had her vengeance ready....
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+Jimmy was alone in his room; his table was covered with books and papers.
+He was still at his great plan.
+
+Jimmy sat plunged in work, without the least thought of what was happening
+near him: in fact, he did not even know that Lily was in London. His
+installation of "Bridging the Abyss" at the Hippodrome had taken him the
+whole day. There was a scenic effect to contrive with the manager: a
+"hydrodrama" ... bridging the abyss over a torrent ... with a waterfall
+behind ... and the whole thing set and framed in a pantomine, which was
+ready for production, because Jimmy had been expected for a month; in
+short, it would go of itself.
+
+And under the peaceful light he resumed his compasses, or else flung
+himself back in his chair, lit a cigarette, followed the smoke with his
+eyes....
+
+Poor Lily, what was she doing, over there, in Berlin, thought Jimmy. She
+deserved something better than Trampy, that adorable Lily, to whom he,
+Jimmy, would gladly have devoted his life ... and whom he felt as it were
+swelling up inside him ... in his heart ... in his brain ... in spite of
+himself! That poor Lily! To think that he could do nothing for her, that
+he almost regretted having done her a service, after the short scene which
+he had had the day after with Trampy, blinded with jealousy, because he,
+Jimmy, had visited Lily during his absence; the reproaches which that
+simple action had earned for him:
+
+"Look here, you righter of wrongs, you who preach to others and go making
+love to their wives!"
+
+To have put himself in a position that he could be spoken to like that, in
+a position to have Lily suspected! What a shame! Oh, the worries it would
+cause her! Yes, he had been imprudent, perhaps: it was all his fault;
+another man's wife....
+
+[Illustration: "Oh, you mean cur!" roared Lily.]
+
+A tap at the door. It was opened behind him, before he had time to say,
+"Come in," and Lily walked up to Jimmy, who sat dumb with surprise: a
+strange Lily, feverish, distraught with passion. At any other time, she
+would have felt constrained, because of the thousand marks, or proud to
+show off her dress. Perhaps also she had prepared things to say. But all
+that was forgotten, gone, blown away, like a straw in the storm, for
+nothing came from her but this, in an anxious voice:
+
+"Tell me, Jimmy, is it true that you love me?"
+
+"Why," said Jimmy, perceiving Lily's agitation, without guessing the
+reason: oh, but for Lily to do a thing like that! How she would regret it
+later; it was terrible this time really. He saw all that at a glance; a
+great pity invaded him; and yet he was a man of flesh and blood and felt
+stirred to the marrow. "Why," he began, in a voice which he strove to make
+friendly, no more, "why, Lily, who told you that? Why really ... I...."
+
+"Jimmy," she cried, fixing her eyes, like two flaming swords upon him,
+"answer me! Do you love me or not?"
+
+Jimmy, turning as pale as a corpse, looked at her without flinching and
+shook his head in sign of no.
+
+"Oh, you mean cur!" roared Lily.
+
+And she struck him on the face with her clenched fist.
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then she went out without a word, ran down the stairs, out into the blaze
+of Leicester Square, made for the dark streets and plunged into the
+night....
+
+
+
+
+INTERMEZZO
+
+I
+
+
+The artistes' special left Euston at noon that Sunday. The Three Graces
+were the first to arrive; then the waiting-rooms, until lately deserted,
+began to fill with silent groups of five or six persons at a time, who
+had, no doubt, arranged the night before, at the theater, to travel
+together and avail themselves of the reduction allowed to members of the
+M. H. A. R. A.: a reduction of at least a third, provided there were five
+in the party. They now swarmed into the station from every side: pale
+faces, under huge feathers; wrists hooped round with bangles; breasts
+bristling with gollywogs and lucky charms. There were little girls with
+bows over their ears, dressed in plush and velvet and following their Pas
+and Mas. There were troupes of carpet acrobats, with low foreheads, broad
+shoulders and bow legs; and profs, bosses and managers, recognizable by
+the richness of their watch-chains, looked after the luggage. Theater-vans
+discharged immense basket trunks, marked with letters a foot
+high--"Brothers This ... Sisters That ... So-and-so Trio ... Miss
+Such-and-such"--and bearing on the handles, on the yellow labels of the M.
+H. A. R. A., addresses of Empires and Palaces and of Grand Opera-Houses
+and Grand Theaters, too, for there were not only "artistes," but singers,
+actresses, "chicken-necks," "woolly-legs," who rubbed shoulders with the
+muscular acrobats. All of them crowded round the booking-office; they
+handed in professional cards, helped one another, among pros; those who
+were traveling alone borrowed tickets to enable them to get their
+over-weight luggage labeled: complicated pieces of apparatus,
+nickel-plated rods wrapped up in sacking, equilibrists' perches; the
+coaches, which were carried by assault, were encumbered with hand-luggage,
+bags, parcels, picture-frames containing photographs for the doors of the
+theaters, heaped up in the racks, under the seats, in the corridor; and
+there was a constant fire of "Hullo, girls! Hullo, boys!"
+
+The Three Graces, standing before the carriage-door, now that their things
+were settled, watched this tumult sadly, especially Thea. What was it?
+Nunkie's absence? No, but poor Lily had been kicked out by her husband, so
+they heard, and turned out by her mother as well: was it possible? Lily
+was dead or vanished, they didn't know which; they were told about it at
+the theater; a stagehand had met her near St. Martin's Lane, in a small
+street, with her hair undone and her hat on the back of her head, crying,
+biting her handkerchief, drunk, apparently, and running in the direction
+of the Thames. And, since then, they had had no news of her.
+
+"Poor Lily, what can she have done, what can have happened?" sighed Thea.
+"Poor Lily, she was always so nice!"
+
+Thea could have cried for sadness.
+
+The start caused a diversion. The collector punched the tickets:
+
+"Blackpool? Glasgow?"
+
+The Three Graces stepped in, the engine whistled. But a porter rushed
+past, pushing before him, with a rumbling like thunder, a huge trunk on a
+barrow. Thea turned her head and a name in scarlet letters caught her
+eyes: "Miss Lily!" And, running after the trunk, magnificently bedecked,
+in a hat all feathers and gold tassels, who? What? Lily! Lily herself, red
+and out of breath, leading her bike with one hand, carrying an umbrella in
+the other, and Glass-Eye, her arms stretched wide with parcels, following
+in her train! Just time to throw her bike to the porter in the luggage-van
+and quick, quick, Lily came scudding back, hustled along by the
+train-master! She would have missed the start, were it not for Thea, who
+opened the door and, with her arms of steel, gripped her as she passed:
+
+"Hullo, Lily! That's a good girl! Quick!"
+
+Lily leaped into the carriage with a bound. Glass-Eye, entangled in her
+parcels, had, amid general laughter, to be dragged by main force, through
+the narrow doorway, like a piece of luggage. Oof, just in time ... Off
+they were!
+
+In the railway-carriage was nothing but gaiety and handshaking and
+ingenuous questions:
+
+"Traveling by yourself? Where's Trampy? And your Pa and Ma? So you're not
+dead, eh?"
+
+"Certainly not," said Lily. "If they had come to annoy me at the station,
+I'd have shown them if I was alive or dead! I was ready for them!"
+
+And she brandished her umbrella.
+
+Then she had to make herself comfortable, to find room for all her
+belongings as best she could. Lily pushed Glass-Eye about, like a fine
+lady used to being waited on:
+
+"Here, take my hat, Glass-Eye; hang it up. Take my wrist-bag. Wait, give
+me my handkerchief first!"
+
+To look at Lily, all fresh and rosy, one would never have suspected the
+trials she had passed through, but a few days ago. Still quite flustered
+with that hurried departure, she smiled as she watched the Three Graces,
+who, on their side, were carefully folding up their cloaks. And the train
+rushed on, rushed on through deep cuttings, dashed through deserted
+stations ... and then, suddenly, entered a tunnel. Lily, but for the noise
+of the wheels, would have seen herself as she had been that night. Oh, she
+would never forget it! It clutched at her heart. She clenched her fists
+with anger. Turned out by Trampy! Insulted by her Ma! Flouted by Jimmy,
+that mean cur! Oh, when she left his place, a few days ago, she felt like
+a madwoman! Her first idea was to disappear, to take a header into the
+black water! But, ugh, the mud, the cold! And then the hospital, with
+those people who cut you up! She must also show Pa and Ma whether it was
+through her gentlemen friends that she meant to earn more by herself alone
+than they and all their rotten troupe put together. Perhaps Pa and Ma
+would come to her, one day, to beg their bread! But Ma must first ask
+Lily's pardon on her knees. On her knees, damn it! And, in despair,
+inwardly raging, her chest aching with grief and spite, Lily, penniless,
+but brave for all that and ready for the fray, returned to her hotel,
+where, to her great surprise, she found some one waiting for her, with a
+parcel in her hand.
+
+Lily recognized Glass-Eye.
+
+It was, indeed, poor Glass-Eye. When she heard what had happened and that
+Lily would starve in London and a jolly good thing too, that she could
+sleep in Leicester Square for all they cared: when she heard this behind
+the door, Glass-Eye almost fainted. Without a word to a soul, she had
+packed up her parcel and gone to join Lily; and Lily, in her misery, cried
+for joy when she saw the decent girl, who offered her her savings, twelve
+shillings in all, saying:
+
+"Take me with you, Miss Lily; I'll wait on you for nothing. Take me, take
+me!"
+
+Oh, not to feel alone, to have some one beside you who loves you: that had
+consoled Lily....
+
+The next day, accompanied by Glass-Eye, she called on the agents, in the
+Leicester Square quarter, at the risk of meeting Pa, or Trampy, or Jimmy;
+but who cared? With her umbrella in her hand, she feared nobody and did
+not give a fig for any of them.
+
+Nothing for her at Harrasford's, where the Warwicks were starring. Very
+well, she'd come back again some other time! And straight on to Bill and
+Boom's in Whitcomb Mansions, below Jimmy. As she climbed the stairs, Lily
+screwed up her eyes, like a short-sighted person, for fear of meeting
+Jimmy, prepared a haughty attitude; but she saw no one. She was not kept
+waiting, was shown in at once to Boom's office. Lily Clifton? the New
+Zealander on Wheels? Straight away a contract! And Lily left with twenty
+music-halls in her pocket! Liverpool, Birmingham, Sheffield and so on: a
+week in each town, beginning on Monday next. And that was how she got
+engagements through her gentlemen friends!
+
+The next day, she borrowed some money on her contracts from the Brixton
+financier: "loans from five pounds upward, in the strictest confidence."
+Then, proposed and seconded by two artistes, she joined the Variety
+Artistes' Federation and, in return for ten shillings, received the red
+card of membership. She paid another ten shillings and the same for
+Glass-Eye, her maid, to the M. H. A. R. A. and obtained the right, for one
+year, to travel at reduced fares, including an insurance against
+accidents: five hundred pounds to her heirs in case of death--her
+heirs!--and two hundred and fifty pounds if she lost a hand or foot in a
+railway accident; and one hundred and fifty for a serious injury. Then she
+bought a big gollywog, for her dressing-room, and a little lucky charm for
+her watch-chain--a closed black hand, with the thumb between the fingers,
+as a preservative against falls--and with that and her bike she would have
+set out for India and Australia as calmly as she might have taken the
+omnibus to Earl's Court.
+
+Oh yes, she had done a deal in those few days and, above all, she had got
+out of her difficulties, thanks, to a certain extent, to Glass-Eye, who
+had comforted her. And besides, hang it, that was all over now! The
+worries were forgotten, and, as the train emerged from the tunnel, Lily,
+with her arm round Glass-Eye's waist, was patting that decent girl and
+Glass-Eye lifted her one good eye to Lily, while the other, the glass one,
+gazing fixedly at the door, reflected the thinly scattered houses and the
+beginning of the country.
+
+Lily, when she had recovered a little from her mad rush, lay down at full
+length among her bags, parcels and bandboxes. She laughed with the Three
+Graces; and there was no one there to interfere with them; there they
+were, by themselves, among themselves, alone in the compartment, a
+regular, rollicking school-girls' picnic. Lily made them scream by telling
+them about her life since they had last seen her. She felt a need for a
+reaction of gaiety, after her sadness of the days just past. The Graces
+fixed their round eyes upon her, upon that Lily who was so thoroughly up
+in all sorts of things which they knew only by hearsay: men, love. A life
+fit to kill a horse; and a very nice girl, for all that: a kind of
+forbidden fruit, pink and fair-haired, soft to the touch; and no jealousy
+between them, friendship rather, a rare thing, in the "Profession"....
+
+Lily grew excited in talking, told of her successes, the receptions, the
+teas she used to give in her drawing-room, in Berlin, when she was ill.
+Jossers, according to her, would have paid any price to have been there!
+It would form a subject of conversation over there for many a long day to
+come. And then her journeys, her impressions of the continent--"Jam with
+your meat, my dear!"--and such clean dressing-rooms in Germany; very
+severe managers, though: gee, harder than Pas. But very good to her, all
+the same. The Battenberg at Leipzig: nothing but leading turns; and she
+had topped the bill at Leipzig! And to see all those people eating, during
+the show, when you were hungry yourself, had a very funny effect upon you.
+By the way, she didn't like that system of being lodged and boarded by the
+management; it was all very well for those people; but none of that for
+her: give her a nice flat in town or a smart hotel! Once she was started,
+Lily never stopped, called Glass-Eye to witness, went on telling of her
+life in Berlin; how Jimmy had fallen in love with her when he saw her on
+the stage, and he had the cheek to want her to run away with him; but who
+got a box on the ear that day, eh? She perhaps: yes, rather, over the
+left! And Jimmy and Trampy had fought for her! So had all the pros, worse
+than dogs in September!
+
+"What a rotten lot!" concluded Lily.
+
+"My, how you've changed!" said Thea. "You used to be so fond of men."
+
+"I give it them where they deserve," said Lily, slapping her firm, round
+hips.
+
+And they laughed noisily at Lily's anger when, with her shoulder drawn
+back and her arm ready to strike, she spoke of breaking the jaws of those
+two scoundrels.
+
+"Go it! Hit me!" said Thea, putting forward her deltoid muscle. "Hit away!
+You'll only smash your wrist!"
+
+And then those Spartans calmed down, asked one another for news of absent
+friends, talked about different people they had known, all over the place,
+on the stage: their conversation always came round to the profession.
+Lily, with greater refinement, sometimes tried to discuss dress: tulle
+ruches were to be worn this year, she heard; feather boas. The Graces knew
+nothing about that, stuck to their "Did you ever know...? Do you
+remember...?" And every part of the world was mixed up in their talk:
+India, Tasmania, Mexico, South Wales, New South Wales, York, New York,
+Hampshire, New Hampshire.
+
+"Did you know Ave Maria?" asked Lily.
+
+"No."
+
+But they mentioned other friends, like school-girls living in the same
+quarter; only, for them, the school, the quarter was San Francisco,
+Chicago, Berlin, and the schoolmates were the girl in a knot, who had sold
+her skeleton in advance to the Medical College: Marjutti, the
+double-knotted girl, to whom the South Kensington Museum offered five
+hundred pounds for a cast of her figure; the Pawnees, who had just won a
+treble beauty prize; and the Laurence girl, whose cruelly daring
+performance was forbidden by the Manchester police; and heaps of others
+whom they had known and who, at that moment, were asleep at the antipodes,
+right under your feet, or waking up in the Far West, or going to bed in
+the Far East, or pitching on the ocean, or rolling in express trains
+toward the five corners of the earth. And their own traveling adventures,
+the Graces' and Lily's: broken railway-bridges! ships on fire at sea!
+towns blazing up in the night! ropes breaking, falls head-first, my! One
+would have thought that these girls of seventeen to twenty were South Sea
+pirates, talking of hangings and tortures, or, rather, children playing at
+frightening one another. Lily, for instance, in India: two eyes glaring at
+her in the dark, gee! And, in New York, a fall into a mirror; all over
+blood; half dead. She grew excited, in her desire to outdo Laurence and
+Crack-o'-Whip: the steel-buckled belt, the kicks in the ribs! Stories of
+brutal treatment picked up on every side--from the Gilson girl, from Ave
+Maria, from all the boys and all the girls and all the monkeys who had
+been through the mill--she made every one of them her own, served them up
+hot and hot to the astounded Graces, talked of whole days spent in
+practising on rough, uneven boards--"And given no food, was I,
+Glass-Eye?"--so much so that she would sometimes get up in the night and
+go and pick up the crusts under the table, gee! Lily reveled in the
+pitying expressions of the Three Graces and her heart swelled with pride
+when Thea, greatly touched, remarked that, in such cases, it would have
+been better not to be born.
+
+"You're quite right," said Lily, with a drooping air; but she burst into a
+peal of fresh, young laughter when she saw Glass-Eye overcome with
+emotion. "What's that?" asked Lily, giving her a thump in the ribs.
+"Crying? You silly cuckoo!"
+
+If it hadn't been for her Ma's insults and Jimmy's and Trampy's--when it
+all came back to her, it was like a needle stuck in her heart!--Lily would
+have been in the seventh heaven! No more Pa, no more Ma, no more anybody;
+no boss, no prof, no husband, nothing, all alone ... with her maid!
+Certainly, there would be the worry of business, looking for her "digs,"
+seeing the agents, writing letters and so on; but she would know how to
+put herself forward, how to make the most of her work; and she smiled as
+she reflected how little all those worries meant, compared with her past
+life: and she would be free, free, free at last. She was going to earn
+money, to enjoy life.
+
+And the train rushed on, rushed on through the fields. Glass-Eye, with her
+nose glued to the window, was astonished to find everything so large
+outside of London: red villages decked the green country-side; and then
+came empty railway stations. Sometimes the train slowed down:--a large
+silent town lay spread in the valley, white smoke rose from the endless
+roofs; homes, more homes; the air of rest, the empty streets and the
+indistinct chimes of the church-bells proclaimed to the pale heavens the
+majesty of prayer. Lily listened with a dreamy air; it all reminded her of
+things:
+
+"It's like the American engines," she said to the Three Graces, "that used
+to ring their bells when they passed through Syracuse."
+
+But the train rushed on, rushed on.... And they again began to talk shop,
+as always: with, here and there, an excursion into the cost of food. The
+Graces, just then, were unpacking their lunch; and Lily fetched her
+traveling provisions from her bag in the corridor. There was a sound of
+clattering plates from end to end of the train, in a mist of
+tobacco-smoke. Lily rejoined the party very quickly, to avoid coming in
+contact with the pros, and, waited on by Glass-Eye, attacked her meal and
+broke her bread so heartily that the crusts flew to the ceiling. They
+drank out of the same cup, took their meat in their hands, Lily saying
+that fingers were made before forks. They chattered noisily, with the
+time-honored jokes about apples and bananas. They made Glass-Eye talk a
+lot of nonsense. Lily, flinging back her head, laughed full-throated, held
+her sides.
+
+"My!" said the Graces. "What a pity that we are separating! It would have
+been so nice to travel together; one's never bored with you. What a
+tomboy!"
+
+"'K you!" said Lily, greatly flattered, with a stage curtsey.
+
+Unfortunately, they would have to part at Warrington. The Graces were
+going on to Glasgow, Lily was changing for Liverpool; a few moments more
+and it was good-by, until chance....
+
+At Lily's request, the Graces gave her a few last words of advice,
+explained the system of the pass-book of the Artistes' Federation: the
+sixpenny stamp to be stuck in the little square every week; the extra
+stamp at each death of a member, for the benefit of the heirs. They talked
+to her of the Friday meetings at Manchester, at which every artiste can
+speak and see himself printed afterward in the London _Performer_.
+
+"Good!" thought Lily. "I may have things to say. There will be news for
+somebody!"
+
+The Graces had a "three years' book," the professional _agenda_, with
+nothing but Mondays marked on it for the weekly engagement: 8 January, 15
+January and so on.
+
+"Yes, I know," said Lily. "Mine's full for months ahead!"
+
+They showed her, on theirs, the last pages containing portrait
+advertisements of famous artistes: the Pawnees, Marjutti, Laurence.
+
+"Oh, if I could get there one day!" thought Lily. "I'd post it to Pa; it
+would be the death of him!"
+
+And then followed the thousand and one details of the wandering life: your
+name on the red list, the list handed in at the station; the journeys at
+reduced fares; the music for twelve instruments, forty executants, sent on
+to the theater a fortnight in advance.
+
+"And matinées are paid for now. And you know, Lily, in the Federation you
+can get a solicitor free."
+
+"That's a good thing to know," thought Lily, "for my divorce from that
+rusty biker!"
+
+Oh, how she hated pros, now! The sight of them in the corridor, looking at
+her with glistening eyes, made her want to put out her tongue at them! But
+she preferred not to see:
+
+"I don't like to seem stuck-up with them, it's not polite," she observed.
+
+Nevertheless, she shrugged her shoulders when one of them who, no doubt,
+had known her when she was "that high," blew kisses to her from the tips
+of his fingers, with a gesture straight at her heart, through the window.
+
+And the train rushed on, rushed on. They were nearing Warrington. The
+slopes, on either side, bristled with chimneys and houses, houses, endless
+roofs ... a Lancashire rid of its black smoke, like an extinct and silent
+crater ... Warrington!
+
+A few minutes' wait. There was a general hustle, pros stretching their
+legs, running to the refreshment-room for a drink, some seeking seats in
+the train, others saying good-by:
+
+"Write to me, eh? Cathedral Hotel, Melbourne."
+
+And a shake of the hand; so long; perhaps for ever. More basket trunks
+were being trundled down the platform. A wife was leaving her husband: six
+months, twelve months, without meeting; who could tell? Or else, perhaps,
+between two trains, as the luck of the tours would have it; and they
+seemed very fond of each other, too; Lily thought it very pretty. But she
+had other things to do than sentimentalize. She handed out her parcels to
+Glass-Eye and then, standing on the platform, said good-by to the Three
+Graces:
+
+"Hope you'll have a good journey! _Au revoir_! Send me some post-cards,"
+said Lily. "Address them to the theater, I love that! Good-by! Ta-ta!"
+
+The train started. Lily waved her handkerchief to the Three Graces.
+
+One more separation; one more little rent: Lily had had so many in her
+life. As far back as she could remember there had been heads at the
+carriage-window, like that; ships standing out to sea; trains rushing into
+the night. But, this time, she was alone, with her maid. And she drew
+herself up proudly, like a lady who had a sense of her responsibilities. A
+new life was opening before Lily, as before a girl just coming out. Poor
+Lily, a girl still, in her way, yes, with, for her portion, a feather in
+her hat, a gollywog in her trunk, a pair of supple legs and nerves of
+steel, unerring and exact, trained to turn round and round....
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+"Liverpool! Come along, Glass-Eye!" said Lily, jogging her maid in the
+ribs.
+
+Glass-Eye, half asleep, clumsily gathered up her parcels, while Lily
+looked round for the baggage-man. On the platform was an avalanche of
+bags, boxes, picture-frames, as at the departure from Euston; the basket
+trunks were being piled up in the theater-vans. Lily pointed out her
+hamper and her bike to the boy from the theater, who had come to meet the
+"program" at the station.
+
+"Are you the bicyclist?"
+
+"I am," replied Lily modestly.
+
+She gave her address: not the pros' boarding-house, but private "digs"
+which had been recommended to her in London, with a note of introduction.
+Then she walked out of the station, followed by Glass-Eye.
+
+Lily knew Liverpool, vaguely, as she knew all the towns of the United
+Kingdom and those of America, too, and Australia and India and Germany and
+Holland and elsewhere. They were all muddled up in her memory, she had
+seen so many, and made as it were one great city, but for occasional
+salient points, as in the towns which you came to in a boat, or those in
+which you had a circus parade, or others still, here and there: Glasgow,
+where she had fallen and broken a tooth; Blackpool with its ball-rooms,
+its tower and a "contract!" Sheffield, with its smoking chimneys;
+Washington, with a dome at the end; New York, with its sky-scrapers. The
+towns of her early childhood, leaning against mountains, buried under
+trees, were more remote, more like a dream. Elephants, monkeys, harnessed
+buffaloes; and then Mexico and Ave Maria, London and those footy rotters!
+
+Liverpool was Lime Street: Lily remembered a sort of round church; when
+you got to that, you turned to the left. She soon found the house and
+received from a huge, full-blown lady the friendly welcome which Lily's
+artless air and fair curls always insured her. No gentleman with them? All
+alone by themselves? A room with a big double bed, a little parlor with a
+bow-window; sixteen shillings a week, including the use of the kitchen.
+Just then, the baggage-man arrived, took the trunk up to the room and went
+on with the bike to the pros' boarding-house and the theater. Lily,
+assisted by Glass-Eye, fixed herself up for the week: her dresses on the
+pegs, her linen safe under lock and key in the hamper. Then she made a
+special parcel of things for the stage: paper flowers, ostrich feathers,
+white laced boots.
+
+"There, wrap that up in my petticoat," said Lily. "And the music and the
+gollywog: you can bring all that to my dressing-room to-morrow morning."
+
+Next, Lily made herself look smart, freshened up her two bows, threw her
+green muslin scarf over her shoulders and went down to the parlor to pick
+out her favorite tune--_The Bluebells of Scotland_--with one finger on the
+piano. Meanwhile, the landlady spread the cloth: bread, marmalade,
+watercress, two eggs. Then, according to instructions received, Glass-Eye
+announced to Miss Lily that tea was ready. Lily affably invited Glass-Eye
+to sit down to table with her; and the two ate away like friends. Lily
+took the opportunity to settle her expenses; for instance--and this she
+insisted upon--if she, Lily, took a maid, she wouldn't have her for
+nothing; she intended to pay her some small monthly wage.
+
+"And a good many little perquisites besides, you understand, Glass-Eye; my
+old frocks, my hats."
+
+Glass-Eye did not ask that, would have given her other eye to serve Miss
+Lily.
+
+Lily was still asleep, at twelve o'clock the next morning, when Glass-Eye
+entered the room. She had lost her way, had walked miles, had been to the
+landing-stage of the music-hall....
+
+"At what time's rehearsal?" asked Lily.
+
+"At one o'clock, Miss Lily."
+
+"And you let me sleep till twelve, when I have so much to do!" said Lily.
+"Go and get breakfast ready ... or you'd better mind yourself!"
+
+And Lily put out her hand to lay hold of a boot; but Glass-Eye was gone.
+
+[Illustration: GLASS-EYE MAUD]
+
+Lily, while dressing, reflected upon her new responsibilities, upon the
+way in which servants should be treated. No familiarity; not too severe,
+either; and no smackings ... that is to say ... however ...
+
+"I must dress her simply," thought Lily. "My hats, but without the
+feathers; coarse thread gloves; and she must always carry a parcel."
+
+Lily was eager to go to rehearsal, accompanied by her maid. There is no
+rehearsing at "rehearsal:" the "times," the scenic effects are settled
+with the conductor of the band; there are no bare arms or bloomers
+practising on their carpets: a few dark groups, in ordinary walking dress;
+others, in their shirt sleeves, are opening boxes, and no mystery, no
+shifting lights: the stage and the house one wan hole, except the red and
+gold note of the curtain and the black mass of the musicians, with the
+gleaming brasses.
+
+The artistes went up to the conductor, one after the other, and explained
+their "turns:"
+
+"When I come on, this tune, soft, six times, to begin with; then, once,
+loud. When I go off ... a roll of drums."
+
+The band, each time, played two or three bars, mechanically, at sight;
+then it was understood and ... next, please.
+
+Lily had seen this before, but not under these conditions; not dressed as
+at present; not accompanied by a maid. She listened as hard as she could
+when she walked on to the stage, caught the remarks, enjoyed the
+impression which she produced. They seemed to ask:
+
+"Who is it? A singer? A dancer?"
+
+"No, Lily; Miss Lily, you know."
+
+She guessed all that. Then:
+
+"My score, Maud!"
+
+And, leaning toward the orchestra, she explained, in her turn: pizzicati,
+mazurka, frog, swan, back-wheel, the waltz for the twirls, the march for
+the exit. And Lily withdrew with a half-curtsey and a pretty smile. Next,
+she put out her things in her dressing-room, on the table, before the
+looking-glass: brushes, pencils, grease-paints, strings of pearls for her
+hair. She hung a cord from the door to the window, to dry her tights on,
+when she washed a pair in the basin. She got out her little work-box, in
+case of anything tearing, threaded a needle, freshened up the knots of her
+ribbons, pinned photographs and p.-c.'s on the wall. And, over all, she
+hung her gollywog, a hairy doll, white-collared, red-waistcoated, with, in
+its black face, under the bristling hair, two shining tacks by way of
+eyes. It was the protecting idol. Not that Lily, ever faithful to the
+Church of England, believed much in gollywogs; but, like most music-hall
+people, she felt safer when she knew it was there. And her dressing-room,
+with the spangled skirts and the tights hanging down like flayed skins,
+suggested some strange, exotic chapel in which a fetish sat enthroned.
+
+After that, Lily had nothing left to do. She went out with Glass-Eye and
+walked round to the front to look at her lithos. She saw to her annoyance
+that a serio was topping the bill--and a comic singer middling it and a
+cinematograph bottoming it. But no matter, she had a good place, just
+under the bill-topper.
+
+Next came shopping, through the windows. She bought a pair of thread
+gloves for Glass-Eye at Lewis's and then went in and lay on her bed,
+feeling ever so tired from getting up late that morning. She dreamed and
+dreamed, while Glass-Eye went marketing. As soon as Lily was alone, the
+thought pricked her like a pin: looking pretty, indeed! Her gentlemen
+friends! Jimmy, that traitor, and Trampy! Trampy would be sure to play her
+some dirty trick. Oh, if she could get a divorce from him, in spite of
+all! She had made inquiries in London. She would want a solicitor. She
+must have one, to set inquiries on foot.... She could have as many
+witnesses as she pleased: all those girls ... and the stage hands ... and
+two artistes, on the day when Trampy, in his fury, had flung his bike at
+her on the stairs; the pedal had grazed her temple, yes, at Dresden. That
+wasn't the way to treat a lady. Everything that had happened was his
+fault; and they'd see who won the day, he or she. Her forehead wrinkled up
+with anger when she thought of it. She bit her lips and clenched her fists
+and then ... and then ... enough of that! She'd see to-morrow. And other
+cares came to bother her: the indispensable things which she would have to
+buy at the end of the week out of her salary; open-work stockings, an
+aigrette for the theater, a little black bog-oak pig to wear at her wrist.
+And Jimmy's thousand marks ...
+
+"Damn it, let him wait!" And, with her hand on her lucky charm, Lily fell
+asleep.
+
+In the evening, at the theater, she forgot everything. She felt a longing,
+a fevered desire to appear. When her turn came, after the xylophones, who
+seemed, behind their tables laden with bottles, to be keeping a bar of
+musical sounds; when the light shining on the great back-drop threw up
+into dazzling relief the blue sea, the blue sky and the white colonnade
+and terraces; when, amid the flash of the lime-light and the thunder of
+the orchestra, she made her entrance on the stage, Lily had a smile of
+triumph. Life was beginning for her at last! She could have cried out for
+happiness to that human mass which, behind the flaming streak of the
+footlights, spread itself, bare-necked and bedizened, in the warm shadow
+of the front boxes. And she directed a scarlet smile, set off with a glint
+of gold, to the audience.
+
+"I believe I was grand to-night," said Lily, as she went off, out of
+breath. "Oh, if there had been an agent in the house! But no such luck:
+they're never there when they're wanted! And those two fellows," she
+thought to herself. "If they had been there, they'd have died of
+jealousy."
+
+Everybody spoiled her. She needed a strong head to resist the flatteries
+with which she was overwhelmed, both as artiste and woman. For instance,
+when a row of Roofers were puffing away on the stage, some manager, who
+had known her when she was "that high," was sure to observe that her
+talent, her firm, round hips--"Eh, Lily, you've got plenty of that now!"
+... Lily blushed under the compliment--would make more impression than a
+whole herd of Roofers:
+
+"Eh, Lily? I say, what are you doing to-night? Come and have some ..."
+
+"Glass-Eye, my handkerchief," Lily broke in, suspecting an invitation to
+supper.
+
+Glass-Eye, in obedience to a gesture of Lily's, opened the wrist-bag, gave
+Lily the lace handkerchief and Lily hid her mocking smile in a scented
+gesture. Then:
+
+"Good-by. Ta-ta!"
+
+And they shook hands, like good friends, nothing more.
+
+Glass-Eye frightened off the admirers with her fixed stare. And Lily had
+no lack of them. She loved flirting. She wanted adulation, wanted to be
+made much of. She had a revenge to take, arrears to make up; she and
+sympathy had, till then, been strangers. She now took her fill of it, got
+carried away, saw nothing but lovers around her, three or four at a time,
+as when the comic quartet, the Out-of-Tunes, used to grin kisses to her in
+the street. It was for her that they were there, every one of them, down
+to the acting managers, who did not disdain to come round from the front
+and take a turn on the stage. It might be a question of steam-pipes or
+electric wires; no matter, Lily took it all to herself, made herself
+amiable toward their dress-coats and white shirt-fronts, and said "'K
+you!" with the great stage bow, the body bent in a sweeping curtsey, when
+they complimented her on her firm, round hips. She stabbed them with
+smiles, to make sure of complimentary phrases in their weekly reports to
+the central boards. All of them; the electrician, the conductor of the
+band, she had them all at her feet. It became a need for Lily to see
+people all around her dying for love. It gave her a feeling of mingled
+pride and remorse.
+
+"Can I help it, Glass-Eye?" she would ask, to quiet her conscience.
+"They're mad. They would leave their wives and children for me!"
+
+She had an autograph album filled with "thoughts" and declarations:
+
+"I love you! _Je vous aime! Ich liebe dich_!"
+
+[Illustration: In the pros' smoking-room.]
+
+Lily, now that the audience was good for invitations to supper, bouquets
+and sweets, occupied herself with that somber mass which, formerly, did
+not cause her so much uneasiness as the presence of her Pa. Lily, like a
+real stage-girl, who had beheld waves miles high between Harwich and the
+Hook of Holland, saw in a few flowers a bouquet large enough to fill a cab
+and the least little love letter grew, in her eyes, into an offer to
+present her with motor-cars and to abandon wife and child. If a gentleman,
+for once in a way, stood on the pavement waiting for her, she dreamed of
+an elopement. And there were pros, too, who prowled around her, in the
+half light of the wings, and came up to her with outstretched hand:
+
+"Hullo, Mrs. Trampy!"
+
+"Call me Miss Lily," she said, in a vexed voice. "That's the name I'm
+known by."
+
+And many of them did know her, in fact, from having talked about her in
+Fourteenth Street in New York, or in State Street at Sidney, or in the
+theaters in South Africa, for that story of the whippings had traveled all
+around the world, under the folds of the Union Jack. Some proposed to take
+her with them in their show, or to go with her to clean her bike, instead
+of Glass-Eye:
+
+"Is it a bargain?"
+
+"Yes, I _don't_ think!" said Lily.
+
+Another, just off for Melbourne, told her that, in Australia, you could
+find fire-escapes to marry you for half-a-crown. They joked without
+constraint, in the pros' smoking-room, a small and dark corner between the
+house and the stage.... All of them, all the pros, she had them all at her
+feet; but she didn't care for that sort and she sent them all to eat
+coke.
+
+The months all passed alike. She had finished the Bill and Boom tour. She
+continued in the private music-halls, from north to south, from east to
+west of England. In spite of Glass-Eye's impossible cooking and the
+everlasting ham sandwiches and pork-pies of the railway station
+refreshment rooms, Lily grew plumper and plumper, her nervous leanness
+filled out, with pigeon's eggs and ostrich's eggs everywhere, in front and
+behind. She did not kill herself with work. Once, in Glasgow, at a
+music-hall where, a few weeks earlier, Laurence had had a terrible fall,
+lying unconscious for two whole hours, the frightened manager said:
+
+"No dangerous tricks, mind! They only get us into trouble!"
+
+Another time, she was given only seven minutes, watch in hand, on the
+stage.
+
+"Couldn't you cut that little trick? You know the one I mean," said the
+manager.
+
+He called a little trick a performance which it had cost her eighteen
+months' hard practice and no end of bruises to learn. Lily did not wait to
+be asked twice. She cut as desired and thought it a jolly lot easier to
+trot round quietly, as though out for a ride, with pretty smiles to the
+audience. She ended by paying more attention to her dresses than to her
+work:
+
+"It's not so much what one does," she said, "as the way one does it."
+
+The sympathy with which she was surrounded unmanned the Spartan in her.
+She strove to please, no longer gave her performance for herself, like a
+machine, unerring and exact. Already in a few months, she was spoiled. She
+looked for adventitious successes. She said, "The audience is very cold at
+Birmingham," because she was not asked out to supper, and, "They do like
+artistes at Sheffield, gee!" because a gentleman had sent her champagne
+and flowers in her dressing-room.
+
+In the towns where she played three times a day--a matinée and two night
+turns--she gave half of her performance, cut whatever was dangerous or
+tiring. She never practised now; just went down in the morning to fetch
+her letters at the theater, where she loved receiving them, post-cards
+especially, which any one could read. She said to the jossers:
+
+"Send me lots; talk about motor-cars and champagne suppers: that drives
+the pros wild."
+
+She left them lying on the table, or else walked about on the stage, with
+her letters in her hand, like a lady overwhelmed with offers, with
+invitations. If, by any chance, she went to the practice at the end of the
+week, it was to display her hat, her new boots; and she laughed to herself
+when she saw the artistes, each on his carpet, fagging away like mad. She
+felt like a fine lady visiting a boarding-school, among those little girls
+practising their flip-flaps or gluing themselves to the wall to try their
+back-bendings. The pride of a Marjutti, who, they said, tortured her
+spinal column to achieve a double knot; the inordinate ambition of a
+Laurence, risking her life for the pleasure of risking it, were things
+which she did not understand. And then, all those accidents! Dolly Pawnee,
+the other day, had broken her arm at the New York Hippodrome; the Gilson
+girl had fallen on her head at Budapest. They were mad, thought Lily, to
+do all that without being obliged to! No, no; no more of that for her! The
+last thing she wanted was to spoil her face, seeing that she had nothing
+but her smile to keep her. And Lily grew timid, looked upon herself more
+and more as a very precious little thing. She gave herself terrible airs
+on rehearsal day; thought the stage too slippery, or too small. Lily
+wanted a stage thirty feet wide, no less; she who, in the old days, at a
+gesture from Pa, would have performed her whole turn, including the
+head-on-the-saddle, on the top of a cab or on the Stoke Newington
+pavement. Formerly, she used to think everything good, did not know what
+fatigue meant; now, in the middle of her turn, she would say to herself,
+sometimes with a feeling of discouragement:
+
+"I've only done half. I've still got this and that to do."
+
+And the audience itself seemed to act as her confederate. When she missed
+one of her tricks, Lily would lay her bike on the stage, step down to the
+footlights, bow with a confused air, beg pardon with a smile and receive a
+reassuring round of applause. Lily loved these refined audiences: _her_
+audiences, as she said; not the matinée audiences, with seats at reduced
+prices: to see your grocer or your butcher in the front boxes was rotten;
+and those people gave themselves such airs. A cheap way of doing the
+grand!
+
+And the landladies spoiled her, too; those worthy souls who treated her as
+their own daughter.
+
+"And a jolly sight better!" thought Lily.
+
+Others pitied her for the profession she followed, feared she would break
+something, one fine day. Lily thought that very sweet of them, would have
+liked to stay with them for ever; but there was the constant rent at
+parting, a bit of herself which Lily left behind her every week. And the
+bothers that Maud caused her! Her stupidity drove Lily mad: tickets lost,
+bags mislaid, disputes with the tradesmen, battles with the bike,
+scratches on the shins, on the hands, everywhere. Lily lost patience,
+threatened her with the leather belt, damn it!
+
+Sometimes, Lily became incensed with herself and everybody. Her divorce
+kept running in her head. And her three years' book, with its last pages
+unsoiled by engagements, also gave her cause for uneasiness; and yet the
+acting managers must have sung her praises, in their weekly reports,--the
+ones who came and made love to her on the stage!
+
+After different music-halls, she had done the Harrasford tour, but without
+any great success. People who had known her with the troupe thought that
+she had gone off. Lily was furious: if, on those evenings, she missed a
+trick, she would knock Glass-Eye about when she returned to the wings,
+storm at the stage--"Slippery as ice, damn it!"--fling her bike, which was
+not to blame, against the wall. Lily, in her pink tights, under the
+pendants of false pearls on her forehead, looked like an angry savage,
+ready to fly at your throat.
+
+That was her life. No adventures, really; theaters in which she caught on,
+theaters in which she didn't go down so well; more or less prolonged
+applause; an encore or two; and, here and there, a bouquet large enough to
+fill a cab: those were the great events. And it was always the same show,
+on the same stage, from one end of England to the other; theaters and
+theaters; so many theaters that, in her memory, they ended, like the
+towns, by making only one. It was always herds of Roofers, swaying in
+unison, with flaxen wigs, scarlet legs, boyish voices; and "families,"
+"sisters," "brothers," all different, but all alike, going up the
+staircase to their dressing-rooms in wraps, like gouty people at a spa,
+and serios, serios, with choruses emphasized by dances. Sometimes, a new
+attraction, a Venus without tights, or a bare-breasted Salome, would draw
+whole groups, boys and girls mixed, to the wings, with their necks
+stretched toward the stage. And there were exotic features, too: conjurers
+from Malabar; boomerang-throwing bush-men; the Light of Asia, a Chinese
+girl without arms, an artificial product, like those beggar-monsters whom
+they cultivate in pots in the mountains of Navarre. She saw the
+boy-violinist again. Since that bite in the seat of his trousers, at
+Budapest, he had abandoned all hope of fame and was looking for an
+engagement in the orchestra. She saw the female-impersonator with the
+green eyes. She saw numbers and numbers. She ended by seeing them all
+again, in the various greenrooms. She heard names mentioned. People were
+coming on all round: Tom, singing-girls, dancing-girls. She would have to
+do something, too, after all, to get herself talked about! She had
+received a shock on opening _The Era_: they had not taken out her name!
+There was still a Miss Lily at Rathbone Place: her cousin Daisy, it
+appeared, a stranger, was there in her stead, under her name! And they
+were stealing her idea! The New Zealanders were now called the New
+Trickers; no doubt the turn which she had described to Pa. Something new,
+something new was essential. She must manage to hit upon something! She
+turned it all over in her head. There were too many Lilies, Lilians,
+Lillians; you saw nothing but Lillians on the posters. But what about a
+Lilia Godiva, quite naked on her bike, like the other on her horse? She
+would mimic the scene, love and despair, and she would think of something
+to raise a laugh! Peeping Tom, for instance, stretching out his neck and
+stealing a kiss as she passed. Oh, she would find a way--trust her!--of
+showing them what she had in her! And Jimmy and Trampy pursued her
+incessantly with their hateful memory. Trampy, she was told, was still the
+darling of the fair.
+
+Lily was greatly astonished that he had not tried to obtain a divorce, on
+his side:
+
+"He's afraid," she said to herself.
+
+More than ever, she busied herself with collecting her witnesses; she
+would soon be rid of her tramp cyclist.
+
+People also talked about Jimmy, whose reputation was still increasing.
+After a triumphant season at the Hippodrome, he had left for America.
+Jimmy was becoming a national champion. An article in _The Era_ spoke of
+"our Jimmy."
+
+"He's a friend of yours, Lily," people said. "You ought to know all about
+him."
+
+Lily tossed her head, like one who could say a great deal if she
+would....
+
+Oh, how she longed for revenge when she thought of that! Oh, if she could
+only have served them out somehow! If she could get _The Performer Annual_
+to send her those questions to answer: "Q. Your favorite town? Your
+favorite audience? Your idea of marriage? Your pet aversion?" wouldn't she
+give it them hot, just! She thought of having her biography written, the
+real one. She herself sometimes jotted down things she remembered, on bits
+of paper, on the backs of envelopes, in her dressing-room; arranged her
+picture post-cards in order; called that writing her memoirs. She would
+crush them with her successes, give names and dates: that lord who wanted
+to travel with her, the fifty-pound diamond brooch he had given her. And
+bouquets, chocolates, sweets ... by the cart-load! That stage-manager who
+cried when she went away! All, all in love with her: yes, those and ever
+so many more!
+
+She had so much to say that she did not know where to begin. She knocked
+up against too many people, men and women, without counting monkeys,
+parrots, dogs, cats, ponies, elephants; it all ended by getting mixed up
+in her head, like the theaters and the towns. She grew quite bewildered,
+among so many different things. She had seen everything and done
+everything. Once, during a week when she was "resting," she had helped her
+landlady, who kept a public-house, to draw the beer and had waited on the
+customers, with her fifty-pound diamond brooch at her throat.
+
+At a benefit performance, one night, when they were drinking champagne on
+the stage, actors, singers, artistes, all together, her pink tights had
+excited the dress-coats. Lily had been "pressed in company," that is to
+say, surrounded till she did not know which way to turn, while her time
+was pretty well taken up with saying, "Paws off!" before, behind, on every
+side. She had triumphed at galas, above a tumult of heads and parasols: at
+Roundhay Park, among other places, beneath the motto, "Let Leeds
+flourish!" Feeling anxious about her future, she had consulted a "Zanzig"
+at Earl's Court. Each week brought its surprises, its fresh knowledge.
+Lily learned something every day: "If you see a lamb in the fields with
+its head turned toward you, that's lucky; if you see its tail first, it's
+a sign of bad luck," and the way of holding your hands, of placing your
+fingers, of whispering certain words in certain circumstances.
+
+She collected halfpennies with holes in them. In Ireland, she had kissed
+the Blarney stone and picked shamrock in the ruins. She had lost her
+little mother-of-pearl hunchback in the labyrinth of underground passages
+at the Blackpool Tower Circus. The loss of this lucky charm had damped her
+spirits for a week. And her profits were small and her "exes" constantly
+increasing: tips to the call-boy, who cleaned her bike; tips to the
+stage-manager; half-crowns and five shillings in every direction. As soon
+as she had put a trifle by, a week without an engagement made her hard-up
+again. Though she traveled at reduced fares and contented herself with a
+ham sandwich or a slice of pork-pie on the road, she would never, never be
+able to repay Jimmy that money: she had not even paid Glass-Eye yet! Her
+dresses for on and off the stage swallowed up everything. And yet she
+couldn't go about naked, like Lady Godiva!
+
+And time passed and passed. Lily was growing _old_: she was eighteen!
+There were girls of her age who were already beyond work, used up, like
+that girl contortionist who had just been cut open for a tumor; and Lily
+had as yet achieved nothing! Oh, she ought to have signed for America or
+Australia, or else for Russia, of which she had heard wonders--Poland, the
+Parisienne, had just returned from there covered with diamonds--theaters
+that played all night and did not close till dawn, to the clicking of
+champagne-glasses. Lily dreamed of it, ecstatically: England was no good
+to her now. The New Trickers, with their own cheap Lily, were working her
+idea on the Bill and Boom Tour! If only she could have the continent! They
+were talking of a new music-hall which Harrasford was to open in Paris. He
+meant to make a palace of it, they said, and he was also stretching out
+his arm toward Antwerp, Cologne, Lyons, Marseilles, a continental
+trust....
+
+"That's what I ought to have," thought Lily.
+
+Her present life seemed empty, notwithstanding its excitement: it was like
+the sound of a band; nothing remained of it. Departures, constant
+departures from one town to another, always leaving, never staying. But
+for Glass-Eye's company she would have cried, sometimes, for sheer
+melancholy, as at the sight of those really loving couples in the
+boarding-houses, on the stage itself; those babies in the arms of their
+Mas; it made her heart ache; the thought of it pursued her like the call
+of distant bells, while the train rushed into the darkness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+               "May joy and pleasure be your lot
+               As through this world you trot, trot, trot.
+
+                                                      "X."
+
+        "In the golden chain of friendship, regard me as a link.
+
+                               "Loving Pal (Palace, Sheffield)."
+
+There were pages and pages like this in Lily's autograph book. The last
+entry was that of a couple of friends, the dark one and the fair one:
+
+        "May success always follow you, and eventually a good
+        fellow collar you, is the sincere wish of the
+
+          "Sisters Arriett and Nancy--The ideal pair (of legs!)"
+
+Since Miss Lily's arrival in Paris, her collection had been increased by
+the addition of a fervent declaration from her friend, the architect. This
+had been her welcome in Paris, the good fellow, no doubt, prophesied by
+the ideal pair of legs; yes, she had hardly reached Paris and already
+there were people dying of love around her, already a man at her feet.
+
+Lily was delighted to meet this sincere friend again, a friend of her
+childhood, who, she said, had known her when she was "that high": one poor
+devil the more ready to leave wife and children for her sake. The evening
+before, in her dressing-room, at the Bijou Theater, she had told him the
+story of her life since leaving her parents. It made her forget to ask
+about Harrasford and the new theater which he was to open: was it ready?
+The architect ought to know better than anybody. She would ask him
+to-night. And Lily lay turning this over, in the morning, in bed,
+notwithstanding her other cares, for she must get clear somehow, must see
+the agents that afternoon. She had plenty to do beside her turn. She had
+to busy herself with those thousand and one details.... She would never
+have believed that it was so hard to fill her three years' book. Lily felt
+half-dead with fatigue before she started:
+
+"Let me sleep!" said Lily, stretching herself in the big double bed which
+Glass-Eye had just left; "clear out! Let me sleep!"
+
+But Glass-Eye made a rush at Lily, tickled her in the neck, stifled her
+laughter under the pillow: it was a necessity for them in the morning,
+those few minutes of horse-play, of thumps and smacks, which rang out on
+every side. Lily, at last, full-throated, with fluttering nostrils, cried
+out for mercy. The maid went off, Lily, now quite awake, remained alone,
+and her worries returned: no more love, no more music, as at the theater,
+no more purple rays, nothing but gloomy hours, a long day stretching out
+before her like a gray corridor. It was real life now: letters to write,
+costumes to mend, last night's tights to wash in the basin.... Lily,
+sitting on the edge of her bed, took her purse from where she had hidden
+it under the bolster--a habit she had acquired in marriage, because of
+Trampy's nightly ferretings--and emptied it on the sheets: one blue
+banknote; one, two, three gold coins. How much did that make in pounds,
+shillings and pence? Hardly seven pounds. It was all in vain for her to
+economize, like that Ma of a star, who counted the potatoes. It was all in
+vain for her to stint in every way, to keep back Glass-Eye's wages for
+over a year, saying that she would pay her in a lump: she would have
+almost nothing left after the purchases which she had to make. It was true
+that, to-morrow, she would receive her fortnight's pay; and she hoped for
+a renewal. She felt sure of it, if only because of the way in which the
+manager had taken her by the chin. Then a fortnight at the Brussels
+Alhambra--1 November, Flora, Amsterdam--10 January, Copenhagen--and, for
+the rest, her three years' book was empty and each empty page represented
+months without work--all her profits would be swallowed up by her enforced
+idleness. She would never clear herself, never be able to pay Jimmy. Oh,
+she was furious with him because she could not discharge her debt to him
+once and for all, fling his money in his face, show him if people remained
+penniless long when they had her talent! That idea comforted Lily. And it
+was important that she should look nice to-day, to go the round of the
+agents. Lily dressed quickly, cunningly puffed out her bows, a trick she
+had learned as a child, and then, before putting on her dress, cooked the
+food with Glass-Eye, who had just come in with her parcels.
+
+Then a dash of scent on the handkerchief, a touch of rouge on the lips
+and, leaving the room all untidy, she went out, followed by Glass-Eye,
+rigged out in a pair of thread mittens and carrying the sunshade and the
+wrist-bag. Quick, quick! For Lily knew by experience that it is well to be
+the first at the agent's or else there's nothing for you.
+
+She did not dislike those walks through the Paris streets:
+
+"Let's have some fun," she said to Glass-Eye.
+
+By this, Lily meant laughing at those "tiny Frenchies"; and, if they
+ventured to accost her, crushing them with a "_Vous hettes oun cochon_!"
+Although, among the people she mixed with, agents, artistes, stage-hands,
+everybody spoke English, Lily had not come to Paris without learning a few
+words, "_Oui_ ... _Non_ ... _Vous_ _hettes oun cochon_!" and so on, which
+were indispensable, she thought, to a girl who wanted to make herself
+respected on the continent, a girl alone, especially. And she loved to
+snub those damned _parley-voos_ who dared to accost ladies. It seemed to
+lighten those days of visits to the agents, the very prospect of which
+gave her a headache in advance, because one had to think of everything,
+lithos, photographs, programs; and, if the agent wasn't in, ruin one's
+self in correspondence; and puff one's self in every way, rub it into them
+that one was the cleverest person on earth....
+
+"If you're too modest," said Lily, "they'll take you at your word!"
+
+And the pay would drop, in consequence.
+
+"Never tell your salary!" was another of Lily's favorite maxims.
+
+She gave out that she made heaps, that a little star like her, the Marie
+Loyd of the bike, was only to be obtained for untold gold. But, at the
+agent's, she had to cut her prices: there was no hiding anything from
+them; it was like going to the doctor.
+
+"And, when you're in work, everybody wants you; and, when you're out of
+work, they have nothing for you: it's help yourself as best you may!" she
+said.
+
+She had to help herself now; and it was delicate business dealing with
+people who have only one idea in their heads, to swindle you, in order to
+curry favor with the managers by getting them cheap turns. They would have
+skinned you alive:
+
+"Two pounds a week. Do you accept?"
+
+"Go to Halifax!" Lily would reply in such cases, looking them straight in
+the face. It took courage to do that: the agent might grow bigger, become
+an enemy. She didn't care! She wasn't going to lower her price for
+anybody! And the commission she had to pay them was a torment to Lily;
+calculating the percentage made her head split--not to speak of the
+complicated nature of the contracts, worse than insurance policies. The
+poor artiste was bound down on every side, at the mercy of the manager;
+everything was foreseen, down to the prohibition of black tights, which
+concealed one's poverty. And it was bad enough in England; but in the Dago
+countries, on the continent, it was worse.
+
+"Can you understand a word of it, Glass-Eye?" asked Lily, explaining to
+her maid the tricks which the artiste had to fight against. "I don't know
+how the small turns manage," she concluded, in the tone of a woman who
+towers above all that.
+
+Lily's prettiness made the people in the street turn round to look at her.
+They would gaze at her cheeky feather, whisper, "You pretty, pretty
+darling!" in her ear. Lily, secretly delighted, held herself ready to
+crush the saucy rascal with a "How dare you?" like a lady who knows how to
+appreciate a compliment, without permitting the least familiarity. And
+when she approached the agency, she insisted on Glass-Eye's keeping by her
+side, asked for things: her wrist-bag, her embroidered handkerchief. And
+her way of walking in! Lily pretended to be short-sighted, so as to see no
+one in the rotten lot. She sent in her card, sat down in the waiting-room.
+It reminded her of the dentist's, with those pale people sitting on
+benches; those serio-comics, all over-fat; loud-voiced topical singers,
+who took the place of the real artistes, just like the bioscopes and
+cinematographs! There were also little families--small turns that had
+struggled hard to learn a few tricks--nobody wanted them, because they had
+no "chic" costumes, sometimes, or no lithos....
+
+Those were received like dogs: a wretched couple was just coming out, a
+man and a woman, sad with a humility accustomed to rebuffs; and the agent
+drove them toward the door, with his voice:
+
+"Eccentric mashers? No opening for you. Call again."
+
+Lily got a good reception, in the agent's room; but there was nothing for
+her. And the agent saw her to the door, with a satisfied air and a knowing
+wink, as though to make the others believe ... Lily didn't like that
+kind--her short-sightedness did not prevent her noticing it and blushing
+at it--but she was very pleased, all the same, to be seen to the door,
+before those small turns who were received like dogs....
+
+On the pavement outside, the wretched couple came up to her shyly:
+
+"Don't you know us, Miss Lily? The Para-Paras."
+
+She had to listen to a pitiful tale. She heard nothing but that, when she
+went on her rounds of visits to the agents. Oh, the distress which she
+beheld there! It made Lily feel quite ill at night. A little more and she
+would have said her prayers, before getting into bed, to thank God that
+she hadn't come to that. Poor Paras! Starving, no doubt, remaining for
+weeks in their garret, pretending that they had been performing in the
+provinces ... abroad.... Lily pictured them passing the stage-doorkeepers
+to whom they had sold their parrots and being greeted with a "What's for
+breakfast, Polly?"
+
+"Miss Lily," they confessed, in a whisper, "you know such a lot of people:
+if ever you hear of anything for us, never mind where ..."
+
+"Poor beggars!" thought Lily.
+
+And her Ma had prophesied to her that, one day, she would be worse off
+than they! No, she would never be half so badly off! Why, she could have
+had anything she wanted, motor-cars, Paris gowns, for the asking.
+
+[Illustration: THE PARA-PARAS]
+
+"Glass-Eye, my bag!" And, handing a small gold coin to the wretched
+couple, "There ... between artistes, you know ... give it back when you
+can; good-by. Did you notice, Glass-Eye," asked Lily, as she walked away,
+"how flattered they were when I said, 'Between artistes?' They looked
+quite touched."
+
+But there was no time to waste in nonsense, on a day when she was calling
+on the agents. The thing was to get there first; and Lily consulted her
+addresses....
+
+She was exasperated at being obliged, with her talent, to climb all those
+stairs, to hang about in the waiting-room, she, Lily Clifton! And it
+reeked of vice, stunk with the trashy scent of the "not-up-to-muches:"
+merely to look at them suggested faces seen in Piccadilly at night or in
+the Burlington Arcade.
+
+Lily sent in her card, threw a short-sighted glance around her and
+remained standing, like a lady who is never kept waiting and who is sure
+to be received at once. And, with her head bent down and her chin in her
+gold-spotted tie, she turned over the pages of _Le Courrier des Cafés
+Concerts_ on the table ... names which she didn't know ... the small
+"numbers" of the continent ... so much the better ... all the more chance
+for her. But the engagement which she dreamed of did not offer this time
+either. What the agent did propose to her, almost without lowering his
+voice, with the door open, before everybody, was the grated private boxes
+of South America ... the private rooms of Russia ... accompanied, at a
+startled movement on Lily's part, by this concession:
+
+"You needn't sleep there, you know!"
+
+To talk like that to a lady! Lily felt stifled. Was that what she had
+learned the bike for? To exhibit herself after the show, at the customers'
+disposal? Lily could have fainted on the stairs, as she went down.
+
+"One of those!" she said. "Not I!"
+
+And she continued her weary pilgrimage of stairs, from agent to agent.
+
+"I must have six months filled up in my book before to-night!" she said,
+determined to visit them all, small and large, rather than go back
+empty-handed.
+
+There were some who suggested to her that ten per cent. was really very
+little....
+
+"I like their style!" thought Lily. "They want an extra sop thrown to
+them: one might as well work for nothing!"
+
+She thanked them, nevertheless, so as not to make enemies of them--one
+never knows--and the agent doesn't matter so much; but the assistant, who
+happens to have known you when you were "that high" ... better give him a
+tip, lest he should round on you.
+
+She also saw a former artiste, a friend of Pa's, who had become an agent.
+
+"Miss Lily? Lily Clifton? What are you doing now? Won't you see my
+secretary? Leave your address with him."
+
+"Fellows whom Pa helped!" she grumbled angrily, as she went down the
+stairs. "They're the worst of all! They make you pay for the humiliation
+of their own failure on the stage!"
+
+Presently, she came to an agent who practised almost in the street, in an
+arcade somewhat like the Burlington, an agent for everything ... circus,
+music-hall, theater ... artistes formed in a week ... white flesh at
+famine salaries. There were all sorts of people there, a moving heap of
+frayed velvet and shabby plush. Lily passed by with great dignity. Next,
+she came to the big agent, with offices in Berlin and London ... the
+ting-ting of telephones, the tick-tack of typewriters all day ... business
+pure and simple, an exchange for supple loins, swelling biceps, muslin
+skirts, pigeon's eggs ... a sheaf of stars who, from there, radiated over
+Australia, America, England, the Eastern and Western Trusts, Bill and
+Boom, Harrasford, the continent. Lily felt a little ill at ease as she
+entered--she had a pain in the pit of her stomach, as when she used to
+expect a smacking--and again in the private office crammed with papers and
+registers, when alone with the agent, who looked at her card, he seated,
+she standing. Then, suddenly:
+
+"Lily? Miss Lily? Your price is two hundred francs a week, I believe."
+
+"What!" said Lily. "With a bike and a maid?"
+
+"It's what you had at Maidstone, so I was told."
+
+"What a lie!" said Lily. "Three hundred francs is the lowest I've ever
+had. I'll show you my contracts."
+
+"Don't trouble," said the agent. "I thought ... we can get plenty at that
+price, you know ... in your style...."
+
+"In my style, perhaps ... but not me."
+
+"Pooh, the audience doesn't know the difference." And he started looking
+through a register, turning over the pages and repeating mechanically,
+like a refrain or a lullaby, "The audience doesn't care a hang; it's all
+the same to the audience." And, suddenly, with his hand flat on the open
+book and the other ready to take up the pen, with a piercing eye fixed
+upon Lily, "I can give you a month at a thousand francs ... they want a
+girl in tights ... at Lisbon."
+
+"Lisbon?" said Lily. "That's at the Colosseo. A thousand francs to go to
+the Colosseo, with one's luggage and a maid?"
+
+"Well?" broke in the agent. "And what do you want a maid for, you
+extravagant little beast? Why not your maid's family while you're about
+it? A thousand francs: will you take it? I've got some one who will, if
+you don't."
+
+Lily had to say yes or no quickly. Her forehead was wrinkled with the
+effort of turning the francs into shillings, the shillings into pounds.
+She consulted her book, like an artiste who doesn't know, who may not be
+free, for a whole month. She lowered her chin in her tie, but without
+smiling ... had a cramp in her stomach, rather ... at a pinch, by leaving
+Glass-Eye in Paris.... After Lisbon, one generally had Madrid and
+Barcelona and returned by Marseilles and Lyons. Friends of hers had done
+well like that. But to accept a lower salary once meant accepting it
+always, in establishments of the same class; it meant reducing her price,
+for always, by two pounds a week, at least.
+
+"A thousand francs: will you have it?"
+
+And Lily:
+
+"No, it's impossible! I can't take less than twelve pounds a week." And
+she began to sum up her proofs: "Look here, at the Hippodrome, Glasgow ...
+at the Palace, Leeds...."
+
+But the agent wouldn't listen, shut up the register, was sorry:
+
+"Can't do it ... bad season ... cyclists to be had for the asking.
+Good-by."
+
+"Good-by."
+
+And Lily went out, went down the stairs, feeling half-inclined to go back
+and accept; but no! Lower her prices? Never! Oh, those cheap artistes,
+those black-legs deserved to be hanged! Great lazybones who learn a few
+baby tricks on the bike or the tight-rope, back-shop acrobats, slop-shop
+Lilies, who practise at a safe distance, by watching you on the stage,
+through an opera-glass. They cut your prices by half; they would work for
+a handful of rice, like a monkey. They deserved to have the iron curtain
+come down on them, and flatten them out like black-beetles, the
+wind-bags!
+
+"I say, Glass-Eye, perhaps it's they who fell into the orchestra, was it,
+when I got my thighs full of lamp-glass from the footlights, eh? They copy
+you, think themselves artistes.... What! Yes? You say they are, Glass-Eye?
+Damn it, I'll have your eye out!"
+
+And Lily had a fit of laughing when she saw Glass-Eye, who hadn't said a
+word, raise her elbow in affright to ward off the blow.
+
+Lily held the banister with one hand, leaned on Maud's shoulder with the
+other and laughed and laughed, only to see her maid's terrified face, a
+regular fat freak shrinking before the belt. My! She would have fallen
+with laughing, if Glass-Eye had not held her up; she plugged her lips with
+her scented handkerchief, slapped her thighs. She had never laughed so
+much in her life. She already felt consoled for all her bothers:
+
+"Watch me, Glass-Eye! This is the way to go down-stairs!"
+
+And, nimbly as a bird, Lily hopped on the banister, with her back to the
+wall, and--w-w-w-w-whew!--slid down to the bottom, keeping her balance
+faultlessly, sprang to her feet on the last stair and, with a wave of the
+hand, as after a successful trick:
+
+"There! What do you think of that?"
+
+Lily was not given to long spells of sadness. Reaction always followed
+immediately upon her worries, made the thousand and one vexations of a day
+like this easier for her to bear. The compliments which caught her ear in
+the street comforted her too:
+
+"You pretty, pretty ..."
+
+But she had no time to listen. Six months in her book before night! As
+time passed, Lily would have been content with less. And trot, trot, trot:
+while she was at it; then she would end by seeing whether they would get
+her for a handful of rice.
+
+This idea amused her. Lily had confidence in her talent and continued her
+visits. She saw them all: other agents, former bosses or profs, who had
+sucked apprentices dry to the marrow and who continued their evil
+practices in their offices; this sort sized you up with the eye of a
+slave-dealer. There was also the lucky agent, who had started a
+sensational attraction, a Laurence or a Light of Asia. This agent had a
+touch of pride about him, with his eternal, "I gave her her first start!"
+as though to say:
+
+"They'll never find another like her, never! They don't turn them out like
+that now!"
+
+And all this was a pretext for offering you ridiculous terms, because you
+were neither Light of Asia nor Laurence. It was no use Lily's boasting of
+having declined Bill and Boom and Harrasford, pretending to be an artiste
+for whom the managers were competing against one another with sheaves of
+banknotes. There was nothing for her at this one's ... nothing for her at
+the others', either ... only a scrap of news of her family, through an
+artiste. The New Trickers were all the rage in Scotland, it seemed; an
+engagement in London, at the Palace, was waiting for them. When Lily heard
+that, she turned pale with envy: so it was on their account that she had
+been refused that tour in England, so that they might have it! Patience!
+Her
+
+[Illustration: LILY]
+
+day would come ... when she returned from the continent and, instead of
+Miss, called herself Mlle., like Adeline Genée and lots of others!
+Meanwhile, she had found nothing. Still, Lily knew that one sometimes had
+whole months of enforced idleness, without knowing the reason, and then,
+suddenly, one's luck returned. One only has to wait a bit, thought Lily,
+making herself very short-sighted as she passed before the arcade, the
+haunt of the out-at-elbow pros and of the piffling little agents, the
+jackals of the profession, on the lookout for a bone to gnaw. And it was
+not a little vexing to hear her name pass from mouth to mouth--"Mrs.
+Trampy, Mrs. Trampy"--and who could be drawing attention to her in that
+rotten lot? Was Trampy there, by any chance, pointing his finger at her?
+She felt inclined to go back to them, to tell them in two words what she
+thought of them. Mrs. Trampy, indeed! It was not for long, in any case.
+Her divorce was not far off!
+
+In the evening, at the theater, she forgot her bothers, as usual. The day,
+for that matter, was quite an ordinary one: it was the typical day, the
+trot, trot, trot, of the star alone, in search of engagements. And,
+thoroughly tired, in her dressing-room, she related in her own way the
+adventures which she had had since the morning, the compliments on her
+beauty; and at the agents', my! If she had liked, she could have filled up
+her three years' book! The architect came in her dressing-room for a
+moment: so interesting a Lily! so amusing, he thought, as funny, in her
+way, as Light of Asia, the Chinese girl without arms. Sitting on the big
+trunk, he admired by turns Lily and the disorderly dressing-table, its
+cracked looking-glass, scribbled over with names, and, under the glaring
+light, the grease-paints--red, white, black--the powder-puffs and hare's
+feet, the biscuits in the tray among the hair-pins, a bottle and glasses
+beside the powder-box. From nails on the whitewashed walls, scratched all
+over with inscriptions, covered with penciled dates, hung rainbow skirts,
+bodices with metallic flowers. The bike shone in a corner, half-buried
+under Lily's outdoor clothes. Tights hung beside it, like pink skins, gold
+spangles strewed the uncarpeted floor and scent hovered over
+everything.... Half-open doors admitted gusts of music from the orchestra;
+and Lily, opposite the glass, fumbled among her pots with the tip of her
+finger, stained her lips blood-red, fixed the rebellious curl to her
+forehead with a touch of gum. Outside, in the passage, was the row of
+doors, with spy-holes and visiting cards, half-sheets of paper, stuck down
+with wafers and bearing the names of the various occupants:
+
+"Prof. X. The Famous X. Family. Absolutely the best."
+
+There were others "absolutely the best."
+
+On Lily's door, her card--"Miss Lily"--and, under that, modestly:
+
+"And maid."
+
+Lily revived amid these surroundings; here she forgot her fatigue,
+blossomed out to her heart's delight. With her rainbow dress, her feathers
+and her pearl pendants, combined with her elaborate gestures as she made
+up her face in front of the gollywog, she resembled the officiating
+priestess of a strange religion, pacifying some angry-eyed idol to the
+sound of distant choirs.
+
+While finishing her make-up, Lily continued her stories, talked of her
+successes in England and here and there and everywhere ... and the lord
+who wanted to marry her and rained down presents upon her: fifty-pound
+brooches, diamonds.... Everybody in love with her: to listen to her you
+could have followed her traces like the passage of a cyclone ... men gone
+mad ... others blinded through weeping ... millionaires ruined in
+chocolates and sweets ... and flowers, my!
+
+"You could fill the Colosseum with them, couldn't you, Glass-Eye? I've
+been spoiled everywhere," continued Lily, "and I'm known everywhere! Even
+in Paris, to-day, there were a lot of ladies and gentlemen under an arcade
+and you heard nothing but 'Miss Lily, Miss Lily,' didn't you, Glass-Eye?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Lily."
+
+But these social successes did not make Lily forget her business affairs.
+Harrasford's new music-hall worried her: if she could only play there,
+only snatch it from the New Trickers! For they would certainly try to get
+there; and the architect, of course, knew ...
+
+But Lily was interrupted by the call-boy: time for her to go down to the
+stage!
+
+A hurricane came up from the orchestra, muffled, with beats of the big
+drum, like distant cannon. The curtain would go up soon; it was the time
+when Lily stretched her legs, before giving her performance, and took a
+breath of air in the painted forest. A click of the padlock and:
+
+"Come along, Glass-Eye, the bike!"
+
+Lily, in spite of her brilliant successes in England, was dead tired of
+tipping the boys; it ran away with all her money. As she allowed herself
+the luxury of a maid, by Gollywog, she might as well make use of her; she
+wasn't going to feed her to do nothing! And poor Glass-Eye attended to the
+bike, at the risk of putting out her other eye. Every day the struggle
+between Glass-Eye and the bike formed the joy and the delight of the
+passage. There were incredible swervings, scratchings of the wall,
+barkings of Glass-Eye's shins. Lily followed behind, bursting with
+laughter, warning Glass-Eye to take care or she would put the bike out of
+gear by knocking it about with her legs:
+
+"Oh, where's my belt?" she cried, patting the back of her hand.
+
+The artistes, attracted by the noise, half-opened the doors; laughing eyes
+gleamed at the spy-holes; voices cried:
+
+"Go it! Never say die!"
+
+Glass-Eye perspired like anything, pursed her eyebrows above her fat, red
+cheeks, grumbled, in her Whitechapel slang:
+
+"Kim up, you lousy moke! Igher up, Jerusalem, you pig-headed bag of
+tricks!"
+
+Lily lost patience, snatched the machine from her, ran it down the stairs,
+pushed the door of the "meat-tray," and found herself behind the scenes,
+the drops rising and falling, the nightly spectacle since she had been
+"that high," the land of the unreal lights. And the sudden glare from the
+reflectors set clusters of shoulders blazing with a silvery glow, brought
+up out of the shade the pale flesh of the dancing-girls, heaped up behind
+the pillars. It swarmed from every side, right and left--"Hi, there! Meat,
+meat!"--under the rush of the stage-hands shifting the wings. There were
+fleecy foams of fair wigs, smiles from kiss-me-quick lips, blinkings of
+made-up eyelids, a swarm of arms, thighs and necks, preparatory to a
+ballet, _Heures d'amour_, in which Poland, the Parisienne, triumphed with
+her costumes _Déshabillé gallant, Dessous diaphanes, Le tub, Volupté,
+Dodo_, eight pantomimic scenes in a sumptuous setting, with girls to
+impersonate the Hours, from pale-pink flirtation to scarlet desire.
+
+Lily watched this familiar sight with a wandering eye; and suddenly she
+turned pale: what was that? Who was that? In the midst of it all, smiling
+to her from a distance, as though laughing at her, stood Trampy! My!
+
+"Here, hold my bike, Glass-Eye!"
+
+It was close on her turn, but, before going on, she had a word to say to
+the stage-manager and, walking up to him:
+
+"Do you see that josser looking at me?" said Lily, pointing to Trampy. "If
+he stays here, I ... to begin with, I shan't go on. I won't be humbugged
+by any one!"
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+"My husband!"
+
+"All right, darling," said the stage-manager and, suddenly, between the
+scene which was being hoisted up and the other let down on the silent,
+empty stage: "You there! Get out!"
+
+Trampy could not believe that the words were meant for him. He waited
+until the order had been twice repeated. He, an artiste, before those
+girls! He made a gesture as though to ask:
+
+"Do you mean me?"
+
+"Yes, you! No jossers here," said the stage-manager. "Sling your hook!"
+
+"Gee!" thought Lily, when he had gone. "This time you've been paid back in
+your own coin! So you kicked me out at the Horse Shoe, did you? It's my
+turn now, you damned tramp!"
+
+She exulted with delight, as she went through her performance. It was her
+first revenge! the other's turn would come next.
+
+"I don't forgive and I don't forget," she muttered to herself. "Every dog
+has his day."
+
+Oh, how happy she was! She was magnificent on the stage, under the
+flashing lights, and the dull sounds in the orchestra were to her as the
+throbbing of a riotous heart.
+
+"Well, Trampy, you got soaked to-night, to-night," thought Lily, as she
+might have said, "One, two!" to mark her times. "To-night, to-night. And,
+if you don't like it--one, two--you've only got to lump it! Divorce was
+made for men and women, not for dogs!"
+
+Lily was triumphant, laughed, winked her eye, as she rode past, at the
+stage-manager, who threw her a kiss and grinned. Immediately after her
+turn, she ran to her dressing-room, poured water on her steaming skin,
+while the make-up trickled in pink streaks down her face, and devoted an
+hour to the dainty care of her person, like a cat licking itself. And then
+Lily, without paint or powder--awfully ugly, not in the least pretty off
+the stage, as she said, smiling in her muslin tie with the gold
+spots--Lily went out by the front, to avoid the pros' corridor.
+
+The moment she was in the lobby, she assumed the air of a lady accompanied
+by her maid. She cast an indifferent eye at the string of carriages, like
+one who changes her mind and prefers to walk, a smile to the gentlemen at
+the _contrôle_, a nod to the Roofers going out, two by two, always, a dark
+one and a fair one. Lily stopped for a second, to look round....
+
+Then: "Let's go home, Glass-Eye!"
+
+She took a few steps along the street, but a jolly voice behind her
+cried:
+
+"Gee, what a spanking walk!"
+
+She turned round; it was Trampy again!
+
+"Ah, this time," thought Lily, "I shall have witnesses!"
+
+She expected blows! She would have given anything to be struck: her
+divorce, at last, would be hastened on! Cruelty, public insults! But no:
+
+"How's my dear little wife?" asked Trampy, with outstretched hand.
+
+Lily was so greatly surprised that it took her some seconds to recover her
+presence of mind; and then, without turning her head:
+
+"Come away, Glass-Eye," she said. "There are drunkards about."
+
+"Don't let us quarrel, little wifie. Aren't you my dear little wifie?
+Well, then...."
+
+And Trampy took her by the arm.
+
+"Let me go, or I'll break your jaw," muttered Lily, under her breath.
+
+Trampy seemed in a jovial mood, with his cigar in his mouth, his cheeks
+flushed with insolence, his eyes moist with libations.
+
+"Let's make peace," said Trampy. "Peace in the home: that's my motto!"
+
+"Divorce!" cried Lily.
+
+"Peace in the home for me!" rejoined Trampy, who grew the more radiant as
+Lily grew more and more incensed.
+
+"Let me tell you," he continued, puffing luxuriously at his cigar, "that
+divorce--why, how can you think of it?--means a public scandal, my name
+dragged in the mud...."
+
+"Footy rotter!" roared Lily.
+
+"Dragged in the mud; and my dear little wife left to her own resources,
+marrying again, as she feels inclined, marrying some one unworthy of her,
+perhaps. I won't have it! I'm responsible for you! I'm your natural
+protector! You're not Miss Lily, you're Mrs. Trampy. You've been in the
+wrong, certainly; you had me turned off the stage, me, your husband; but I
+forgive you."
+
+"And I ... take that!" Lily broke in, spitting in his face. "That's how
+_I_ forgive _you_! Take that! And that!"
+
+Trampy reveled with delight:
+
+"You _are_ my dear little wifie, aren't you? And you'll remain so ... and
+you'll never belong to any one else, do you hear? I am a faithful husband.
+You're trying for a divorce, I know, but you won't get it. The wrong is on
+your side and I'm not going to law, and you're Mrs. Trampy and Mrs. Trampy
+you'll remain! Will you come and have a drink, Mrs. Trampy?" he continued,
+lighting a fresh cigar. "Won't you? Very well. Good night, wifie!"
+
+And Trampy, turning his back to her, disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Lily came home and went straight to bed, without even waiting for supper,
+so great was her hurry to forget. It seemed to her that things had
+happened, things without end; that this day had been as long as a year.
+She simply could not understand Trampy. She could have imagined anything,
+except that! She racked her brain to conjecture how, why; and sleep
+quieted her till the next morning; and she woke up with teeth clenched and
+eyebrows set and ... why? Why? And again why? Did he still want to keep
+her?--after realizing in a hundred different ways that she did not love
+him, that she loathed him, that she had married him only to escape her
+whippings and that she had but one idea in her head: to divorce him!
+
+Now--only Lily could not know this--it was because of that very reason
+that Trampy clung to her, like a faithful husband: Jimmy, Jimmy was his
+bugbear. He believed Jimmy to be in love with his wife. Once Lily was
+divorced, Jimmy could marry her; and Trampy would see him further first!
+The greater Jimmy became, the more jealous Trampy grew. He knew the steps
+Lily had taken to obtain a divorce, the witnesses she had tried to secure.
+She was very keen on a divorce, was she? All the more reason for not
+gratifying her; and she wasn't going to get it. The witnesses, Trampy had
+just heard, declined to give evidence. They had seen nothing, heard
+nothing. A bike at her head? Maybe. They didn't know. A bit of a fuss
+between artistes, such as you see every day, and none of their damned
+business. Outside that, Lily had nothing to go upon; on the contrary. She
+had abandoned the conjugal home; all the wrong, apparently, was on her
+side. He, Trampy, alone was entitled to file a petition; but that never!
+He considered that Jimmy and Lily had trifled with him sufficiently. He
+could not swallow the idea that they were only waiting for the divorce to
+get married; the idea that Lily would be Mrs. Jimmy, of her own free
+choice, after marrying him, Trampy, to escape her whippings; no, he
+couldn't swallow that! Now it rested entirely with him to prevent that
+marriage. He had only to keep his dear little wife for himself. In that
+case, Jimmy, if he wanted her, would be obliged to do without her or else
+to "live with her" and set a bad example, lavish bestower of good advice
+that he was, the dirty hypocrite, preaching morality to others! That was
+what Trampy had determined to do. As for Lily, Trampy, who was incapable,
+at bottom, of either hatred or love, didn't care one way or the other. He
+was always sure to want for nothing, so long as there were girls on the
+boards and whisky in the bars.
+
+There was another reason still that urged him to let matters rest, without
+going further. To embark on a divorce-case, to have his name in the papers
+and his story hawked round the four quarters of the globe--"Trampy, you
+know. You knew Trampy, didn't you? The husband of Lily?" and so on--was
+what he didn't want at any price, for a reason known to himself. He had
+made inquiries, quite privately, at the beginning, when he thought of
+petitioning for a divorce; and what he had learned had made him prudent:
+his marriage in America was valid beyond a doubt. He was well and duly
+married, whether he liked it or not. By the common law, two wives meant
+bigamy; and bigamy meant prison, which was the last thing he wanted, as he
+himself said. But, so long as there was no scandal, he ran no great risk.
+He had lived on tenter-hooks at first, in Germany. Chance might have
+brought him face to face with Ave Maria, on the stage of a music-hall.
+This danger was not to be feared now, so far as he knew. Ave Maria and her
+brother Martello were no longer fit stars for Europe, nor for North
+America. He was too well known to the agencies; his brutality had produced
+too many complaints, too many denunciations to the police; it discredited
+any theater employing him. He might have come to Europe--who knew?--to try
+to get hold of the Bambinis, now that the old man had not much longer to
+live. But that was not very likely, either. An artiste, come across by
+accident, had seen the pair at Iquique, in a wretched circus that was
+doing the coast of Chili. He gave Trampy details: poor Ave Maria had grown
+very ugly; a body all skin and bone and nerves; no hips, no chest; nothing
+of the woman about her; in the last stages of consumption; and finished,
+as an artiste, done for; no spring left in her overworked thighs, no
+suppleness in her loins: even her brother, that brute, could get nothing
+out of her now. And Trampy, who knew Chili, followed them, in his mind, on
+their tour along the coast, from Iquique to Copiapó, to Valdivia: a trying
+climate, biting winds which would kill her on the spot, unless she went
+and perished in the fever-stricken plains of the Argentine.... When people
+had fallen so low as that, they did not rise again: there was nothing to
+fear from that side. But her presence was not necessary; the danger still
+existed. There were documents, in black and white. Their names were
+bracketed on a register somewhere or other: he knew where. It was better,
+therefore, in every way, not to call attention to himself. Meanwhile, he
+was playing a nice trick on Lily and her Jimmy. And Lily was Mrs. Trampy
+and Mrs. Trampy she would remain; and that was all there was about it.
+
+But it was no use for Lily to give herself a headache trying to make out
+why and how. She did not guess Trampy's secret thoughts, any more than he
+suspected the actual nature of her relations with Jimmy. For her, too, one
+thing was certain: Mrs. Trampy she was and Mrs. Trampy she would remain!
+She would never be free; she would always be chained to that tramp
+cyclist! And, if a match should happen to turn up for her among her
+admirers, the architect, for instance--you can never tell: plenty of
+others had already proposed for her hand in marriage, in England--she
+would be obliged to refuse! And, if some gentleman were to pay her his
+addresses, treat her like a lady, take her to choose a hat or a silk
+petticoat in a smart shop, there was somebody who would have the right to
+say to her, as she passed:
+
+"How's my little wife getting on?"
+
+Oh, those two Jim Crows round her, spoiling her future! Jimmy and Trampy!
+They would end by being the death of her. Oh, if she had had Thea's arm,
+what a blow in the jaw for one or both of them! And Lily, when she thought
+of it, wore the face which was hers on her bad days, teeth clenched,
+stubborn forehead. Glass-Eye shook in her boots when she saw it, for
+sometimes Lily vented her anger upon the poor girl with a smack,
+considering herself quits if she begged pardon after!
+
+"If it's one of those footy rotters," growled Lily, hearing a knock at the
+door, "smash a bottle over his head!"
+
+But no, it was simply her letters, sent on from the theater. Nothing of
+importance this morning; prospectuses, mostly: a wig-maker, special
+theatrical department; a manufacturer of traveling-hampers, for South
+Africa, Australia....
+
+"No use for them," thought Lily, with a sigh.
+
+[Illustration: A ROOFER GIRL]
+
+And, on opening _The Era_, she received that discouraging sensation:
+always so many names, and so many tricks, and all "the best;" new ideas
+and troupes, troupes, troupes; another new troupe of fat freaks, a very
+flood of them; and Roofers, Roofers; "Greater-Greater England Girls,"
+words and music guaranteed, with scarlet legs and muslin skirts, complete;
+page upon page of pink tights; and national troupes and colonial troupes;
+and one had to earn a livelihood and shine among all that! Lily was half
+crushed; and everybody she knew was triumphing: the Pawnees,--one hundred
+and thirty music-halls, the whole of the Eastern and Western Trusts, the
+great two-years' tour! The Three Graces also were continuing their
+triumphs. Lily, who felt herself the equal of any of them, held her breath
+as she read the news. Laurence had won her terrible bet that she would
+ride straight across Manchester and Salford on her bike, hands tied
+together, feet fastened to the pedals. At the Art Institute in Chicago,
+Marjutti had given a lecture on the art of contortion.
+
+"Some josser of a journalist wrote it for her," thought Lily.
+
+And _The Performer Annual_ had sent Marjutti its set of questions to
+answer, she had been published in print! And Lily was still waiting! And
+Tom? Tom was in England now, in the De Frece circuit; had had a triumph at
+the Portsmouth Hippodrome, as "Topsy Turvy Tommy," dancing a sailor's
+hornpipe on his hands. All, all were successful, including others even who
+were not so good as she was: one who obtained engagements because she had
+a nigger in her show; another because of a monkey.
+
+"And I've done nothing yet!" grumbled Lily.
+
+Oh, to be talked about in her turn, to achieve something, to become "our
+Lily!"
+
+"It's twelve o'clock and I'm still in bed!" she cried. "I ought to be
+practising!"
+
+It was just a flash of pride, mixed with remorse. She knew it well enough;
+often and often, she had reproached herself for her idleness, for her
+habit of sleeping till the middle of the day, of taking her meals before
+the performance; but she would make up for it to-morrow! It is the usual
+refrain of stars who have become detached from their troupes, far removed
+from regimental discipline, so to speak: without a Pa, without a boss, you
+can do nothing. You must have some one to force you.
+
+"A month on the three years' book before to-night!" prayed Lily, touching
+her lucky charm.
+
+And she studied the omens with an expert air, gave an ear to passing
+sounds, tried to catch the meaning of them, for she had visits to pay,
+letters to write, business, damn it!
+
+That was what Pa used to say before her. And it was not so easy to turn a
+letter prettily: that was Trampy's forte. She knew something about it.
+Lily, in her night-dress, with her elbows on the table, bit her pen,
+reflected, in a mental effort that gave her a headache. And that
+note-paper wasn't nice, either, without a heading; true, it only rested
+with herself; every day she was approached with offers of artistic
+photographs, even of tricks which she did not do: standing with one foot
+on the saddle, the other in the air and her arms stretched out before her,
+like a flying genius; or as Cupid, with his dart in his hand: impossible
+things which neither the Pawnees nor Laurence would have dared to attempt!
+But it would look well, with her name in red letters: "Miss Lily," or "La
+Belle Lily." Or else a photograph showing her strolling in a great park,
+with a palace in the background, taken from nature, followed by her maid,
+or by a footman, hired by the hour, for the occasion.
+
+"I think I shall select the governess," said Lily to herself, "because of
+my biography; it will be nicer, truer. Or I might be taken riding on the
+back-wheel, like a lady just leaving the house and doing that to amuse
+herself?"
+
+Lily, still undecided, took up the pen again: one foot on the saddle; six
+pairs of tights; three dresses; the theaters at which she had
+appeared....
+
+What a pack of jossers! She couldn't forgive the agents for her present
+want of success. She was exasperated. She felt inclined to go and see the
+managers themselves, those who had made love to her on the stage, and to
+send in her card to them--"Miss Lily"--just to teach those jossers of
+agents! Her independent ways had already made enemies for her: she knew
+that; but how could she help being angry? The tricks they played you, down
+to making you miss a marriage, as had happened in London, the other day,
+to the Three Graces, to one of them, who had been courted, during Mr.
+Fuchs' absence, by the boy-violinist. Their agent had launched into
+slanders and even insults to prevent the marriage, which would have split
+up the troupe and broken the contract....
+
+"What a pack of nigger-drivers!" thought Lily. "As long as they get their
+ten per cent., the rest can go hang, for all they care!"
+
+There was no doubt that Lily had got out of bed on the wrong side, at the
+thought of having to climb all those staircases again and to dance
+attendance with the rotten lot in the waiting-rooms. But, by Jove, she
+could have boxed the ears of the first agent she visited that afternoon!
+He had the impudence to offer her a magnificent engagement in the Indian
+show at Earl's Court, she to stain her skin brown, dye her hair black,
+with rings in her nose, at the wrists, at her ankles; a costume like Miss
+Ruth's, all in gauze; the nautch-girl on the bicycle; six times a day, in
+the open air, to the sound of tomtoms. Play the negress; that's what he
+offered her! She could not help laughing, in spite of her anger. But she
+became quite intractable and snubbed another agent who suggested a one
+day's billet in a tiny music-hall at a ridiculous price.
+
+"I don't give my performance under five pounds, or on a stage of less than
+thirty feet!" cried Lily.
+
+At last, luck seemed to turn; she settled for Spain and Portugal, and that
+same evening, at the Bijou Theater, she was offered another engagement,
+for three months hence. This contract would procure her others, after her
+spell of ill luck. Lily at once took courage again:
+
+"Oh, if I had the Astrarium!" she thought.
+
+Everywhere, at the theater, at the agents, people were talking of the new
+music-hall. It even became a current joke. They said, "So-and-So's
+performing at the Astrarium," as though to say, "He's not performing! He's
+living in a castle in the air!" Every one was talking of the great
+music-hall which was to open in a few months and which was not to be seen
+building anywhere. Some said that it was serious; they quoted engagements:
+Tom; the Three Graces; the impersonator; nothing but turns quite unknown
+to Paris; novelties, nothing but novelties: Marjutti; Laurence, perhaps;
+or the New Trickers. Lily shivered when she heard that!... She opened wide
+eyes, like Alice in Wonderland. Oh, to appear there! But she had performed
+in Paris. Then she would change her name; bike mixed with dancing; and her
+whole trick done backward, as Pa had once advised Trampy to do in Mexico!
+Oh, if she could have that! Lily Godiva, undressed on the bike! She'd show
+them she was a lady, not a performing dog! The Astrarium, that was
+certain, would open in Paris in a few months. Harrasford had said so
+himself. There was no doubt about it. They even told the name of the
+stage-manager, Joe Brooks, the cleverest of all. Lily felt herself carried
+away with ambition. Oh! to open there! Oh, if it were true! God grant that
+it might come true! Oh, if Daisy, their star, could only break a leg! The
+few days which Lily was still to remain in Paris, before leaving for
+Spain, she employed in obtaining further information. She learned the most
+exact particulars. Incredible though it seemed, the Astrarium was to open
+quite shortly! The blue-chins discussed the thing, amid clouds of tobacco
+smoke, in the bars, after the show. To allude to it now was not like
+talking of castles in the air; on the contrary. To tease a pal, one said:
+
+"You're opening at the Astrarium, aren't you? I _don't_ think!"
+
+Which was another way of saying:
+
+"The Astrarium's no place for you! They're taking nothing but bill-toppers
+there!"
+
+The new music-hall, even before it came into existence, was beginning to
+spread, like the story of the whippings; it would be talked about, all
+round the world, as something stunning, a more complete show than the
+Tivoli at Sidney or the New York Hippodrome. Harrasford was credited with
+designs for a palace in onyx and marble. He had bought or was going to buy
+a theater with the object of transforming it; names and prices were given.
+Everybody was interested in it. Just now, especially, when the bioscopes
+and the gramophones and the singers were taking the bread out of the
+"artistes'" mouths, it meant twenty turns more to receive princely
+salaries there; and, every month, that galaxy of stars, which Harrasford
+would send shooting to Paris, was to disperse toward Brussels, Antwerp,
+Marseilles, Hamburg: the European Trust, the Moss and Stoll tour of the
+continent, managed by Harrasford, the great English manager.
+
+To open at the Astrarium meant having work insured and your three years'
+book filled for ever so long; meant appearing in public, later, wearing on
+your chest the medal which they meant to distribute in memory of the
+opening. Gee, Lily had a pain in her side at the thought of it! The Three
+Graces, it was said, were on the program. Lily would have consulted
+them--there was no jealousy about the Graces--but they were not yet in
+Paris. Oh, Lily was longing and dying to be settled! Who was Harrasford's
+agent? If she had to go to London to see him, she would go.
+
+Why, damn it, she would go to Heaven itself to get the Astrarium!
+Anything, anything to open there! That dream of greatness made her endure
+her present vexations. Mrs. Trampy ... Mrs. Trampy ... She was addressed
+as Mrs. Trampy everywhere. Trampy must be telling the story, taking his
+revenge for the whippings, making little of her in his turn. One night
+even, the night before her departure for Spain, when the architect was to
+wait for her at the door of the theater, Lily, who had dressed herself in
+her best, once more had the humiliation of being accosted by Trampy in
+front of everybody.
+
+"Hullo, wifie! How are you, darling? All right?"
+
+Lily bristled with rage as she left Paris. Even when she was far away, she
+still felt that she was dragging a chain which lengthened out endlessly
+without breaking. Never, oh, nothing could ever get her out of that! Yes,
+a brilliant triumph. Then, at least, she could crush him from the height
+of her success, that footy rotter with his red-hot stove! Oh, what a
+grudge she bore him! Jimmy was different: that was a wound of her own and
+nobody would ever know; but Trampy, who laughed at her everywhere and
+called himself her husband! He would make her lose all her friends. To say
+nothing of the fact that those tales perhaps counted for much in her
+failure: they were repeated from mouth to mouth. Oh, her profession
+disgusted her at times! And to think that she, an English girl, was going
+to earn her bread among the Dagoes, instead of starring in England!
+
+Her wandering life continued; her journeys from town to town, in the
+Spanish provinces, her arrival in the chill of the morning, her anxiety
+about her salary, the hustle and bustle of departure and--trot, trot,
+trot!--lugged about in the railway-carriage, like a performing dog in his
+box.
+
+And what theaters! It was worse than Germany or even Paris. In England, on
+the Harrasford tour or the Bill and Boom, they had nice dressing-rooms,
+with a carpet, water hot and cold, quick attendance, stairs swept every
+day. Here, old plaster and those idiots who looked as if they understood
+nothing--it took three of them to shift a scene--Dagoes who asked her
+straight out, in Pidgin-English, if she was alone:
+
+"No man viz you?"
+
+It touched her on the raw. Lily lost all her cheerfulness: to begin with,
+that engagement was not a particularly brilliant one; it was not at all
+calculated to prompt her to do better, to introduce novelties into her
+turn. Besides, on stages not yet overrun with Roofers or fat freaks, an
+artiste performing by herself made an impression. Her old tricks sufficed;
+sometimes she topped the bill:
+
+"Theaters are the same everywhere; artistes the same everywhere, from New
+York to Bilbao. Topping the bill in one means topping the bill in the
+others ... doesn't it, Glass-Eye?"
+
+But she knew quite well that it didn't; and, besides, that satisfaction of
+her vanity put no money in her pocket. The amount she owed, my! She
+thought of the past, of what she had earned for "them" since Mexico. If
+she had only had half of it, a quarter, a quarter of a quarter, damn it!
+
+Meantime, she had to make herself respected. In those countries, where
+people used gestures when they spoke to you, a lady could not be too
+careful. Why, the men treated an English girl just as they treated their
+own women. She could have flung her bike at their heads! And they kept it
+up all night, as in Russia, all except the jewels; you had to stay till
+morning and were expected to accept invitations for supper, so as to keep
+the customer there and push business! A little more and she would have had
+to sleep there! She had threatened to tear up her contract, to complain to
+the consul. And what annoyed her also was being in the same dressing-room
+with singers who undressed without shame, while receiving their friends,
+and made eyes at Lily worse than the impersonator.
+
+And she had to have her food at the theater, no dessert, nothing but a
+biscuit or an apple; and, if she asked for a pear, it caused a terrible
+to-do. Rather than stand that, Lily went to the hotel, which put her to
+double expense, for the board at the theater was compulsory. She had to
+pay in any case; so that she went away without a farthing, thinking
+herself very lucky if the manager did not try to kiss her in his office.
+Oh, the things she saw, the things she rubbed shoulders with, the vice,
+the promiscuity, the rushes of girls in the passages before the onslaughts
+of footy rotters, direct propositions, with eyes looking straight into
+eyes, brief wooings on the stairs, behind the properties, between people
+just about to take the train, one east, the other west, and in a hurry to
+have done with it; a silent embrace in the dressing-room, a neigh, a kiss;
+and _au revoir_, ta-ta!
+
+And the conversations between the stage-girls, who were always surrounded
+by legends of the white slave-trade; stories of disappearances; of
+"engagements for Caracas" and finding one's self over there without
+resources, stranded in a bad house: like that poor girl, a Roofer, who had
+received a letter and some sweets in her slipper, which she had sent
+flying into the audience with a high kick--Lily remembered--well, she had
+disappeared in South America, somewhere; one or two despairing letters and
+then silence. And that other one, at Alexandria, who had called out for
+help, behind her green blinds; and ever and ever so many others, whom she
+had known slightly. Lily shivered: brrrrrr!
+
+She was sick to death of it. She had had enough of it, was fed up with it.
+She aspired to better things. Lily had hoped that her engagement in Spain
+would have marked the end of her bad luck; but no, nothing offered. She
+was sour, bitter, fierce; a wild bull, a stallion, as Ma used to say. And
+she became especially terrible now, when her energy was spent in neither
+work nor love, so much so that there was a cross against her name in the
+agents' books.
+
+Oh, she had often felt inclined to send them all to the devil: the made-up
+eyes, the kiss-me-quick lips, the tow wigs, the low jokes, the
+monkey-claws! There were some who had merit, no doubt, like that boy who
+was all over scratches, from head to foot, through training cats; but the
+rest, almost all of them, were a pack of good-for-nothings who copied
+their betters: amateurs, jossers all; and they had more work than she, who
+had taken such pains and who had made a fortune for her Pa. Oh, if that
+wasn't enough to make her chuck everything and see life, in her turn. She
+had only to choose ...
+
+These reflections came to her more particularly when she returned to
+Paris, after Brussels and Copenhagen, and was again performing at the
+Bijou Theater, where she had already appeared.
+
+"To make all that money," thought Lily, when she saw Poland again, "and
+never to have been through the mill!"
+
+She admired Poland for that, envied her good manners, her grace, the way
+she slipped on her dressing-wrap in the living picture, _The Bath_. She
+turned green with jealousy at the sight of Poland's motor-car, her
+thousand-pound ear-rings, her sable furs. It was not that Lily lacked
+admirers or sympathizers. She even had a little triumph at the Bijou
+Theater, one day when she passed round the hat for old Martello, who was
+ill in bed and penniless. Lily topped the bill in her own fashion, by
+putting her name at the head of the list, and the collection was a
+success, everybody contributed ... including the architect, who was still
+prowling round her, in the passages, on the stage, everywhere. Lily was
+decidedly courted: the rich bookmaker who ran the theater as his private
+harem, he, too, patted her cheek in a funny way, complimented her on her
+firm, round hips before the group of dancing-girls packed like poultry, in
+the shadow of the pillars. Gee, it only rested with herself to have as
+much of that as Poland! And everything reeked with love, amid the
+cannonade of the big drums and the clash of the cymbals, while the sudden
+flashes of the reflectors, moonlight-blue on one side, bright-red on the
+other, lit up all around her the herd of the languid Hours. But her heart
+swelled and puffed with pride. No, no, not that! She would succeed by her
+talent, damn it, not by getting round men! She, an English girl; she, Pa's
+daughter; she, who had gone through the mill, to sell herself like cat's
+meat! Never! And her Ma should beg her pardon on her knees, on her knees,
+damn it! The thought infuriated her.
+
+She was quite sincere with herself. It was all her fault. She ought to
+have worked and practised, practised every day, improved and improved her
+turn; but she would do so now, to-morrow. It was her last chance. She had
+hardly any money left; her three years' book was virgin once again,
+unsoiled by contracts; but she had a stage to practise on and she was
+going to practise to-morrow even if she had to pay somebody to run after
+her, with the belt, if need be! Lily had nothing but that in her head now:
+to get out of her present life, to get out of the mud, to reach the summit
+at a bound. Was it possible? She consulted the Zanzigs; she spent a
+fortune in penny-in-the-slot machines to learn the future, but always
+received the same reply:
+
+"You will marry the man who loves you. You will be very happy."
+
+She smiled with pity when she read that nonsense; to prophesy her
+marriage: how silly! She was only too much married! That was not what she
+wanted to know; but the Astrarium! the Astrarium! Would she be there or
+would she not? The New Trickers were plotting to get there, with a turn
+which she had given them, goose that she was; and Cousin Daisy, that
+farthing dip, would triumph and not she, a star, a real one! Lily was
+rather in the position of Pa, when he arrived in London from New York ...
+with this difference, that Pa had money and Lily had none. But there was
+the same display of energy, once her pride was aroused. Lily also had run
+round Paris like a mad thing: not to the agents!--with them it was: "Lily?
+Lily Clifton? nothing your way to-day!"--but to her friends and
+acquaintances, to find out about the Astrarium. Lily grew crazy at the
+idea that she might perform there, be there at the opening, ride over all
+of them, treat the New Trickers like so many fat freaks!
+
+"Oh, God, if it were true!" she cried, with her hand on her lucky charm.
+"God above grant that it may come true!"
+
+She was at the end of her tether. Nothing short of the Astrarium could set
+her on her legs again. She had no choice; it was either that or an
+absolute come-down: the nautch-girl on the bike, at Earl's Court, or else
+nights of dissipation, champagne and diamonds, like Poland; and Lily, like
+her Pa in the old days, clenched her fists and gnawed her lip as she went
+off to the Three Graces, who had their engagement and who would be able to
+give her some hints.
+
+Lily knew their hotel by reputation. Nothing but pros; a rallying-point of
+troupes, an hotel where nobody's skin was free from bruises and where,
+from morning until night, you heard the clatter of the clog-dancers'
+heels. It reeked of potatoes, of sleepers three in a bed; chests,
+strange-shaped packing-cases, ticketed with distant labels, made the yard
+look like the stage-entrance of a music-hall. Lily did not care for that
+sort of place: no matter; besides, the Bambinis were there and their mad
+rushes, their yells of mirth filled the gloomy house with gaiety. And Lily
+did not mind walking in with her gold-tasseled hat on. All those heads at
+the windows: it was just like a fine lady visiting the poor. And yet she
+was not proud now. Formerly, she would have laughed on learning the kind
+of life led by the Three Graces, those three girls who remained good so as
+not to break up the troupe and annoy Nunkie and who were said to spend
+their spare time in sewing and cooking and doing Sandow exercises and
+measuring one another round the biceps and the chest: simple joys, the
+only true ones.
+
+"They may be right, after all," thought Lily, who envied them from the
+bottom of her heart for having the Astrarium. "If I had only practised
+too! Practising is certainly better than attaching all that importance to
+dresses or sending those puff photographs to the agents!"
+
+A surprise awaited Lily when she entered the hotel; pros were talking with
+a mysterious air. There was muttering in the corners, a piece of news was
+going round: the Bijou Theater had closed, that very day; the treasury was
+empty, bankrupt; everything sealed up; just on the eve of pay-day too!
+
+[Illustration: THE BAMBINIS]
+
+"My! Is it possible?" thought Lily, distracted and forgetting the
+Astrarium and the Three Graces. "And what am I to do for food to-morrow?
+Come, quick, Glass-Eye!" she whispered, catching her a thump in the ribs.
+"To the theater, quick!"
+
+For Lily knew by experience that it was a good thing to be first. Her Pa
+had saved his salary once, in a similar case, at Perth, in Australia; but
+one must arrive in time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+There was a crowd in front of the Bijou when she arrived. They were
+commenting on a notice pasted on the door:
+
+"_Fermé_."
+
+What could that mean? Lily had not provided for this in her vocabulary of
+the French language; but the theater was closed until new arrangements
+could be made. It meant complete ruin, enforced idleness....
+
+"The rotten lot!" growled Lily. "Money, damn it, money! Pay up, you pack
+of thieves!"
+
+But Lily soon recovered herself, when she saw that there was nothing to be
+done. She had been through worse than that, when the iron curtain all but
+smashed her to a jelly, at Milwaukee, and when she tumbled into the
+orchestra, at Glasgow! Notwithstanding the anguish that wrung her inside
+and heralded the coming hunger, Lily put a good face on the matter before
+all those people, like a lady who is above that sort of thing: a
+disappointment, that was all.
+
+"But how will those small artistes manage?" she seemed to say. "Those
+families with babies?"
+
+Lily declared that it was very sad, called Glass-Eye to witness, as usual;
+but poor Glass-Eye remained dumb, reflected that she would never, never be
+paid, if this went on. Lily owed her eighteen months' wages now! True, she
+got enough to eat, or nearly; she traveled with Lily; and she wore her old
+hats.
+
+Meanwhile, the door opened; the artistes were allowed to take away the
+implements of their work, before the final closing. The move began: they
+fetched out basket trunks, hoisted packing-cases on to cabs. It was a
+heartrending sight, all those things, made for the glitter of the
+footlights, now displayed in the street. And everybody made such haste as
+he could, under the eyes of the inquisitive passers-by, for fear of a
+general execution, with every door sealed up and days to wait before one
+could recover one's property. Fellow-artistes from other theaters came to
+look on. Some were indignant that the Artistes' Federation could not take
+up the matter and hurl the experience of its lawyers at the heads of the
+proprietor or syndicate responsible, to say nothing of the moral weight of
+its five thousand members, who had already made the English music-halls
+come to terms by means of a wholesale strike. Others observed that it was
+a private theater, one of those theaters run, for the fun of it, by some
+prosperous gambler or lucky bookmaker; a sort of harem theater, with
+almost empty houses, but with swells on the stage, among the swarm of
+half-naked women; and no one responsible, the old boy ruined, the treasury
+empty, bankruptcy; couldn't be helped; take in your belt a peg, that's
+all!
+
+"What do you think of this, eh, Lily?" asked a voice. "Only yesterday we
+were passing the hat for others!"
+
+Lily still had the list; and the money was locked up in one of the
+dressing-rooms. Then it passed from mouth to mouth, like a watchword: they
+would give back the collection; but not in the street, not before
+everybody, for the honor of the profession. Lily, quite excited, entered
+the passage and there, in the dim light, assisted by two one-legged
+artistes, who called out the amounts and ticked off the names, she handed
+back the collection of the previous day. Some received their share with an
+air of furious determination; others looked shy and blushed; others,
+again, refused, Lily among them; and it was decided to go to the "Pros'
+Corner," or artistes' bar, near the stage entrance, to drink up what
+remained: the ups and downs of life, damn it! Your turn to-day, mine
+to-morrow; jolly lucky not to break a leg, after all! And their gaiety
+returned, amid the smoke and the glasses, through a need of reaction; and,
+after the first drink or two, came jokes, after-dinner stories, impromptus
+which had traveled ten times round the world and brought tears of laughter
+to the eyes of the audiences in thousands of music-halls, not to speak of
+the second-class cabins of every ship of every line and the
+smoking-carriages of every train, from the G. I. P. R. of Bombay to the S.
+F. of Buenos Ayres.
+
+                     "Owen Moore went West one day,
+                     Owing more than he could pay.
+                     Owen Moore came back to-day--
+                     Owing more!"
+
+And they joined in the chorus and they sang, "We all came into this world
+with nothing!" and the one-legged artistes beat time with their crutches,
+my! the pink Hour and the scarlet Hour, who were there, got a stitch in
+their sides. Lily, with her head flung back, full-throated, laughed
+nervously. Besides, as she said, artistes did as they pleased and didn't
+care a hang for anybody! All made plans for the morrow, all had been
+through that sort of thing before and much worse, too: six stories cleared
+at a bound, to escape from a theater in flames! Falls of seventy feet on
+one's head! And wrecks! And waves miles high! Already they began to talk
+of going away, of traveling; traced the route with their finger on the
+table: Cape Town, Australia, the States. To listen to them, those
+everlasting wanderers seemed to have pretty nearly the whole world under
+their hands. They spoke of taking a rest at their permanent addresses:
+good old London; good old Manchester; there was nothing like good old
+England, after all, eh? They'd had enough of the Dago countries!
+
+But enthusiasm broke out when the great news arrived, brought by some one
+straight from the agencies: Harrasford--"Guess, boys!"--Harrasford had
+bought the Bijou Theater! It was all signed and sealed. He was carrying
+out his program: and he wanted to open at once. For three months, it
+appeared, there had been a silent struggle between him and the unlucky
+bookmaker, who did not want to sell; and Harrasford had got it almost for
+nothing; he had practically won it, yesterday, at the races,--with Dare
+Devil, his wonderful horse. Dare Devil had beaten Cataplasm, his rival's
+colt, and the smash had followed at once: the Bijou closed; a forced sale;
+Harrasford had bagged it; and that was one, with more to come!
+
+The artistes were carried away by this daring stroke! Harrasford, a son of
+a gun, who could put them all in his pocket! The one-legged artistes
+fought a mock duel between France and England, the victor to marry Lily:
+what did they think of that? Hurrah!
+
+"Say, boys, which is the quickest way of dropping money?"
+
+"Fast women!"
+
+"No, slow horses!"
+
+It was grand. They drank to everybody's health. They drank to Harrasford;
+they drank to the Astrarium! They counted the money on the bar-counter;
+the amount of the collection had been greatly exceeded and somebody
+suggested that it was a nice thing, upon my word, yes, a very nice thing,
+what they were doing: having a good time, while the Bambinis, perhaps,
+were going to bed without any supper! The whiskies and sodas had warmed
+their hearts: my turn to-day, yours to-morrow, damn it! It might happen to
+any of them, to hop the twig and leave Bambinis behind him.
+
+"Lily, the hat!"
+
+And Lily handed round the hat again and collected more than on the day
+before, even among those who had had their money back.
+
+"Take that to the Bambinis," they said. "We've been behaving like Dagoes,
+damn it! Artistes ought not to act as such!"
+
+"'K you! 'K you!"
+
+And Lily Clifton walked off, very proudly, with her maid, to hand the
+money to Nunkie, who was acting as treasurer.
+
+"And, meantime, one's got to live," said Lily to herself, when she was
+outside.
+
+After the spurious gaiety of the moment, she seemed to be returning to her
+distress, with no work, no money, the Bijou closed, Harrasford taking
+possession of the theater. She revolved all this in her head, without
+succeeding in connecting the whole: rags of ideas hung in her brain, like
+the strips of scenery at the back of the stage. She had not even the
+courage to go and take her bike ... to-morrow ... to-morrow. The Hours,
+the pink one and the scarlet one, who came out of the bar also, resigned
+themselves gaily. Their salary mattered so little. As they explained to
+Lily, you're always well paid, when you have rich friends, and, if you
+haven't, all you have to do is to look out for them:
+
+"Like Poland, what! A fat lot she cares the old boy's ruined! All she will
+do is to find another, change her owner!"
+
+Lily had knocked up against everything, seen everything, heard everything,
+in her adventurous life; but this way of getting out of a difficulty
+always made her blush to her eyes. No, a triumph at the Astrarium: that
+was the only solution for her, Lily Clifton! She was eager also to hand
+the money to Nunkie. The Bambinis' money was a different matter from
+Jimmy's: they were hungry children. Nunkie must be at the theater now,
+with his Three Graces, quite close, and they were going to perform at the
+Astrarium. So it was not essential never to have appeared in Paris! That
+meant one more chance for her!
+
+"Come along, Glass-Eye!"
+
+They now passed into the noisy quarters. The Olympia opened its furnace of
+light before them. The Three Graces stood displayed in life-size on
+posters, with others beside them, names which Lily knew vaguely, as she
+knew them all, from seeing them somewhere,--as she knew the stage-entrance
+of the Olympia, by instinct, in the dark street, at the side: the mouth by
+which the monster nightly swallowed and rejected its fill of meat. A
+courtyard ... three steps up ... turn to the right ... Lily was at home
+again, amid rainbow lights.
+
+"Hullo, Lily!"
+
+It was Nunkie greeting her on the stage, while his dear girls were
+dressing in their room. He took the money for the Bambinis, congratulated
+Lily on the result of her collection, thanked her.
+
+"And what about the Astrarium?" asked Lily. "Do you know...?"
+
+Of course, Nunkie knew. His dear girls were engaged to perform there. And
+he had seen some one on his way to the theater: the opening would take
+place in a month ... in six weeks at the latest....
+
+The architect--"You know, Lily?" said Nunkie--the architect who used to
+hang about on the stage, in the passages, on some pretext or other--to
+make love to girls, apparently--was minding everything for Harrasford! He
+was taking measurements, drawing out plans:
+
+[Illustration: THE ARCHITECT]
+
+"Everything is ready in advance, everything's ordered; they've only got to
+put things in their places; the workmen will start to-morrow."
+
+"So that's what he came for!" thought Lily angrily. "The damned
+_parley-voo_!"
+
+"And your Pa, you know," continued Nunkie, "will be there too, with his
+New Trickers: it would have been easy for you to get there first," he
+added, with a meaning smile.
+
+"The New Trickers! Daisy Woolly-legs!" stammered Lily, turning pale. "Who
+told you so?"
+
+"I'm sure of it, I had it from Jimmy himself," replied Nunkie.
+
+"Jimmy told you? And what has Jimmy to do with it?" asked Lily,
+anguish-stricken.
+
+"What has he to do with it? Why, he's simply going to top the bill," said
+Nunkie. "And, besides, Harrasford has left it to him to make out the
+program. Why, didn't you know?... Your friend Jimmy...?"
+
+She was in the street once more, feeling weak-kneed and light-headed. She
+leaned on Glass-Eye's arm; she had a pain in her side from the emotion.
+She felt inclined to enter a café, to get drunk on champagne, to forget.
+
+The next day an awful headache made her keep her room.
+
+"To-morrow," she said to Glass-Eye, "to-morrow I will fetch my bike."
+
+She dared not go out; she felt as if it was written on her forehead:
+
+"The New Trickers at the Astrarium! Daisy Woolly-legs at the Astrarium and
+not you!"
+
+And, "to-morrow," again she spent the day stretched on her bed. And the
+next day, well, as she had to ... as her bike was her bread-winner, after
+all ... her only bread-winner, whatever happened!...
+
+"Come on, Glass-Eye! Let's go for the bike! I don't care if I do play the
+darky at Earl's Court!"
+
+But, on reaching the Bijou, she could not restrain a cry. Nunkie had
+spoken the truth; they were at work everywhere, unloading joists, running
+up scaffoldings, attacking the theater from every side. Her friend, the
+architect, passed, looking very busy, greeted her with a "Hullo, Lily!"
+But Lily did not even see him.
+
+"I hope our things are still in the dressing-room. Hurry up, Glass-Eye!"
+
+And Lily ran along the passage, where already sacks of plaster had taken
+the place of the velvet and nickel properties. She crossed the stage,
+which was still untouched, took the dressing-room corridor and there,
+almost before her door, met Jimmy! She felt like turning her back on him,
+after spitting on the floor, as a mark of contempt; but, after all, no!
+The coward! They'd see which of them should lower eyes first! And she
+planted hers straight in his face, like a blow of the fist!
+
+Jimmy, who was coming toward her, had a moment of hesitation ... but it
+did not last. He soon recovered himself. It would have been obvious to any
+one seeing that masterful face that here was a man cured of his love, a
+strong man and sure of himself, a man whom a kid like Lily--Lily had
+always remained a kid to him, and not Mrs. Trampy, not the wife of Trampy,
+that thief in the night!--a man whom a kid like Lily could not have at her
+beck and call. And he held out his hand, like a good friend, simply, among
+artistes:
+
+"How do you do, Lily? Delighted to see you."
+
+"Glass-Eye," said Lily, opening the door of her dressing-room, "Glass-Eye,
+my bag ... the key of my trunk ... get out the bike first. One can't turn
+in this rotten hole," she added, as she entered.
+
+And, as Glass-Eye seemed all day releasing the bike from the hooked-up
+skirts and tights hanging from the wall, to say nothing of the kicks which
+she received from the pedals, Lily, grumbling, snatched it out of her
+hands, and ordered her maid to go and wait for her in the street, great
+good-for-nothing that she was!
+
+"So you refuse to speak to me?" asked Jimmy.
+
+Lily lowered her head, took no more notice of him than if he had not been
+there, collected her clothes, pulled the gollywog from the wall without
+the slightest regard, heaped up everything promiscuously in the trunk,
+thumping it down with her fists, as though eager to have done with it.
+
+"Come, Lily, are you still angry with me?" asked Jimmy, quite at a loss.
+"When you took me by surprise that day, at Whitcomb Mansions ..."
+
+"A lot I care for your love!" growled Lily contemptuously.
+
+"But my friendship, Lily ..."
+
+"Your friendship," said Lily, "your friendship ... a rag! I'll show you
+how I value your friendship!" she said, flinging a dirty towel on the
+floor and stamping on it in her rage.
+
+"And that Daisy Woolly-legs!" resumed Lily, with an unspeakable expression
+of scorn on her face.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Jimmy, who did not understand.
+
+"Giving that shop to the New Trickers!" she continued violently. "You who
+always used to talk of my talent! Giving a shop like that to those New
+Trickers, who haven't as much talent among the six of them as I have in my
+little finger!... You! To treat me like that!... When I think," cried
+Lily, beside herself, "when I think that Pa and Ma will be here ... with
+tricks stolen from me! footy rotter that you are!"
+
+Jimmy understood that the engagement of the New Trickers exasperated Lily:
+a question of outraged pride, of professional jealousy. He tried to
+explain: she had already performed in Paris and Harrasford insisted on
+that. He, Jimmy, wasn't altogether the master. The New Trickers were very
+clever, very original, very new ...
+
+"And I'm only fit to throw to the dogs, eh?" cried Lily furiously. "And
+that rot about having performed in Paris. The Graces have performed in
+Paris and they're to be at the Astrarium and why not I? Because you're my
+friend, perhaps. Such a friend! When it would have been so easy for you to
+give me that pleasure. But no one will ever do anything to please me! Yes,
+strangers, gentlemen in the front boxes; but not friends like you! You
+always bore me a grudge for marrying Trampy.... And who knows what people
+say of me behind my back!... that I cut my turn ... that I do less than I
+might. You know what I can do, damn it! But it's work I want, do you hear,
+work! I'm not what you think!... One of those ... not I! I'd rather chew
+glass than take any of that!"
+
+And Lily spoke with nervous movements of the shoulder and fiery glances
+and she forced Jimmy to lower his eyes and she told him what she thought
+of him straight out, told him all her heaped-up, rankling spite, told him
+all she had at heart, in words round and solid enough to build a tower of
+Babel on!
+
+"And I would have given my life, yes, given my life to perform here!
+However, it's done now, isn't it? And it can't be undone," said Lily, more
+calmly, and two tears sprang to her eyelids.... Then, while Jimmy, plunged
+in his own thoughts, watched her without speaking and listened to her like
+a judge, "You've nothing to say to me, eh?" she continued, closing her
+trunk with a thump of the fist. "Nor I either. Then help me to carry down
+my hamper: you haven't helped me to get into the Astrarium; at least you
+can help me to get out of it. No? You refuse? And you so generous!" she
+said, with a scornful laugh. "Well, then, help me take it on my shoulders.
+No? Not even that? Then I must try by myself ... and never mind if I do
+get crushed! _That's_ all I care for my life now!" added Lily, snapping
+her fingers.
+
+"But, Lily," said Jimmy, taking up the hamper. "You're going out of your
+sense; you know that ..."
+
+Jimmy could find nothing to say. He was pained to the bottom of his heart
+... for the grief which he was causing her. The tone of feverish banter
+which Lily was adopting upset him more than her anger had done. He felt
+himself filled with pity for that poor little creature standing at bay.
+
+With a turn of the hip, Jimmy jerked to his shoulder the great basket
+trunk which contained all Lily's fortune. It was not very heavy: tights,
+spangled skirts, faded flowers. And, in the passage down-stairs, the
+astounded stage-doorkeeper saw the famous bill-topper submissively
+carrying the trunk of the bicyclist, who walked in front of him, wheeling
+her machine beside her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+The fortnight that followed upon this meeting was such a strenuous one for
+Jimmy, with eighteen hours out of the twenty-four spent at the Astrarium,
+among the day and night gangs; his life was such a slavery that he had
+hardly time to think of Lily. But he did think of her, for all that. He
+seemed to hear her still. Yes, he confessed to himself, he had, perhaps,
+believed ... he had, in fact, been told that Lily was Lily no longer ...
+But he had just been admiring her magnificent anger. He had seen her eaten
+up with ambition, quivering from head to foot, and that brave face lifted
+up to his. Twenty times over he was on the point of saying something to
+her; but he must see first ... Would she herself be willing? Even though
+she had seemed resolved to do anything?
+
+"Meanwhile," thought Jimmy, as on the former occasion, when she was ill,
+in Berlin, "how are we to help her out of this ... how?"
+
+And he was caught in the whirlwind again: it was Jimmy here, Jimmy there.
+He had to be in ten places at once. Not that he was manager or
+stage-manager: his was a special case. Since his return from America,
+Jimmy possessed an even more thorough knowledge of all the machinery of
+the theater. He had his memorandum-books filled with notes, his head
+crammed with new ideas. He had a smattering of everything, a vast amount
+of experience picked up in rushing about the world. After his triumphs
+with "Bridging the Abyss," the managers, knowing that he had prepared
+something different, something strange and terrible, without knowing
+exactly what, the managers had bombarded him with offers: Chicago, Berlin,
+London. A conversation with Harrasford, whom the Astrarium held body and
+soul, had determined the matter otherwise: he would open the Astrarium
+with Jimmy and remodel the theater from top to bottom in view of the new
+trick, the most sensational that had ever been seen. And Jimmy should make
+the necessary alterations, he should have a free hand.
+
+Jimmy accepted. To open in a theater made for himself seemed preferable to
+Jimmy to launching his new invention in a closed hall, such as the London
+Hippodrome, for instance, which did not provide the aperture in the roof,
+the door opening on to the stars, which he required to obtain his effect
+upon the crowd. And that was why, in the work at the Astrarium, everything
+turned upon Jimmy. He was responsible to both Harrasford and himself. For
+that matter, he was fully equal to the interests at stake. Harrasford, a
+great judge of men, intrusted everything to Jimmy, the sensational
+bill-topper, removed above all jealousy; and he left it to his experience
+to construct the program. Harrasford himself, the chief and master, rarely
+left London; he managed all his theaters from his office, with the 'phone
+at his ear, or else flew like the wind in every direction, buying a
+theater here, picking up a star there, on the wing. It was not until the
+third week that he came to see for himself how the work was doing and to
+discuss the accounts. His broad back was seen, followed by Jimmy, to
+plunge down the plastery corridors, to pass under the
+
+scaffoldings. He looked like a conqueror, tracing with his finger the plan
+of the palace that was to rise upon the ruins of the destroyed city; or
+else he would point out things with a jerk of the chin:
+
+"The proscenium pushed forward to here, eh, Jimmy? A cluster of electric
+lights here. Another there. And what about your trick, Jimmy?"
+
+"You must imagine the house in darkness," said Jimmy, "and blue and green
+rays falling on the stage from above. Through the blue, we send a great
+dazzling beam, from over there, lighting up every inch of the house, a
+terrific light, the light of the Last Judgment...."
+
+"Good!" said Harrasford. "We want two or three fits of hysterics at the
+opening, real ones, not hired at two bob a night," he added, with a wink.
+"They're working, up there," he continued, a piece of old plastering
+falling on his shoulder, as they crossed the floor of the house, denuded
+of its seats.
+
+"It's the opening in the roof," said Jimmy. "I should have liked to show
+you ... the staircase is blocked with scaffoldings ..."
+
+But Harrasford, at the risk of breaking his neck, had already grasped the
+rungs of a provisional ladder, made of spokes stuck through one of the
+four beams which rose from the floor to the ceiling and supported it,
+while the whole of the space between them was being opened. The architect
+was there when Harrasford came out on the roof. He showed him four piers
+of strong masonry which were being built against the outer walls,
+explained that two T irons of considerable strength would rest with their
+ends on the piers and run across the roofing from wall to wall. Two other
+irons, also parallel, but running lengthwise, would be bolted to the first
+two. This arrangement would make a horizontal frame of twenty by thirty
+feet. They would then remove the beams which supported the roof during the
+operations. When the plastering was finished and the gilding applied, this
+would form, as seen from below, a handsome frame to the sky. The architect
+also explained how the truncated roof would be secured to the frame,
+forming a whole as firm as a rock, and how a light iron sash, completely
+glazed, could be drawn along the two transverse T irons, thus opening or
+closing the hall as desired.
+
+"The whole thing's worked from below by electricity," said Jimmy.
+
+"How long will it take?" asked Harrasford.
+
+"It's all ready. It's only got to be fixed up," said the architect.
+
+"And how much? Give me the detailed account to-night, at the station. I'll
+study it on my way to Berlin." And, turning to the workmen, "_Faites vite!
+Dépêchez_!"
+
+They were the only words of French he knew, a vocabulary no more extensive
+than Lily's, but of a different kind.
+
+"And the lights?" asked Harrasford, before he went down again.
+
+"Here, there," said Jimmy, "on steel rods, connected by electric wires."
+
+"That'll dish the Berlin Winter Garden, with its stars set in black
+velvet," said Harrasford.
+
+And he followed Jimmy toward the stage wall, which stood out above the
+roof of the auditorium. Here some other workmen were cutting a doorway.
+
+"Let's go and see the floor now."
+
+And Harrasford plunged through the door, followed by Jimmy. They crossed
+the fly-galleries and
+
+made for the blocked staircases. Before they went down, Jimmy called his
+attention to a pulley which was being fixed to the ceiling and which was
+to carry a rope with a stirrup for the performer's foot, to enable him to
+reach the stage in a few seconds, after doing the trick.
+
+"Very good," said Harrasford.
+
+In half an hour, he had visited everything: the roof, the flies, the
+cellar, the auditorium, the front entrance. Workmen were hurrying
+everywhere. Harrasford encouraged them with a slap on the shoulder:
+
+"_Dépêchez! Faites vite_!"
+
+They were working at everything at once, from the new installation of
+electric light and the steam-heating apparatus, in the basement, to the
+emergency exits and the main lobby. Upholsterers were taking measurements
+in the front boxes. The sound of the hammer rang out from top to bottom,
+amid a cloud of dust; men climbed the scaffoldings, hoisted up things; and
+the sight of all this activity gave the impression of a plan thought out
+in advance, executed with great certainty, but incomprehensible to any one
+not in the secret. There could be no doubt but that the spectacle which
+was being prepared would be of a sensational character: even the back-wall
+of the stage, which was empty at that moment, had been altered. By
+clearing away a few dressing-rooms, they had raised the floor and ceiling
+of the huge property-entrance. It had been closed up at the back and
+fitted with a sliding door in front.
+
+"The bird's cage," said Jimmy, with a smile.
+
+"And how does he get out?" asked Harrasford.
+
+"Windlasses here ... a rope up above ... hooks," said Jimmy.
+
+"And when will it be fixed?"
+
+"Finished next week, everything's ready, the trials have been made. It
+will only need a little practice, here, on the spot, calculating the
+effort, getting used to the distance."
+
+"House packed for six months!" said the manager. "Here's a cigar to your
+success, Jimmy! Come and let's have a drink at the bar; we'll settle the
+program over there."
+
+A moment later, the two entered the bar where, a fortnight earlier, Lily
+had handed round the hat a second time for old Martello and his Bambinis
+and where the artistes, who had already dispersed toward the four corners
+of Europe, had raised their glasses to the success of the Astrarium. And
+there, in the little back room, which was deserted by the artistes, now
+that the theater was closed, but which would soon again be the
+intersecting point of so many vagabond existences ... where the nigger
+cake-walker from Chicago would play poker with the equilibrist from Japan
+... where the profs and the bosses would exchange complaints about the
+strictness of the regulations concerning the work of apprentices ... where
+little girls, worth their weight in gold, would come, coyly, encompassed
+by Pas and Mas, but with glances askance at flight; in that corner where
+funny men would swallow mixed drinks and talk through their noses; there,
+under the frames containing row upon row of signed photographs of
+artistes: human pyramids, girls in a knot, foaming muslins, Apollos and
+Venuses all muscles; there, in Pros' Corner, Harrasford, the man for whom
+all those people toiled and moiled, head down or feet in the air, the man
+from whom one thousand persons drew salaries night after night, Harrasford
+lit his cigar and sat down at a table with Jimmy, over a
+
+bottle of beer, and, forthwith, pencil and note-book in hand:
+
+"Let's see the program."
+
+Jimmy, on his side, took a written list from his pocket and laid it on the
+table.
+
+It goes without saying that the select turns which they were about to
+discuss had long been engaged for Harrasford's different music-halls, some
+of them two or three years ahead, as often happens in the case of the
+great bill-toppers, and the question was to choose among the best, so as
+to insure the triumph of the opening night. For Harrasford, who had as yet
+appointed no one as manager or stage-manager, the thing was to settle a
+program which would discourage any attempt at competition, to have none
+appearing except stars, without counting those whom he held in reserve for
+the following month, before distributing them over his variety-theaters in
+England, or, later, to any part of Europe, in the "Great Powers Tour"
+which he proposed to create and of which the Astrarium would be a sort of
+"commodore" music-hall, or headquarters. Jimmy only gave his opinion,
+after which Harrasford would decide.
+
+Harrasford's dream was a model music-hall, something, in its own way, like
+the Grand Opéra in Paris: a palatial edifice, in a new style of
+architecture, with friezes displaying bodies in contortion, caryatids,
+cast from life, supporting the springers of the arches, mixed groups of
+loins and chests with swelling muscles, under the electric lights, and, in
+the lobbies, a lavish display of African onyx, Scotch granite and Russian
+porphyry. The crowd would pass in between Venus and Apollo, holding
+flowers and lights; and there would be music everywhere; gaiety, noise,
+red and gold everywhere; all cares would be laid aside and forgotten on
+entering; it would be a hall containing every modern convenience, like the
+Iroquois at Buffalo or a 'Frisco sky-scraper: newspapers, café, bars,
+smoking-room, barbers' saloon, telegraph-office, telephone-office,
+messenger-boys, ticket-office, private rooms in which phonographs would
+shout out the latest news illustrated with telesteriography, from eight
+o'clock till midnight. The idea was to create, thirty years ahead of its
+time, the great popular music-hall, with its ball-rooms, as at Blackpool,
+its side-shows, a palm-garden, a roof-garden; to draw to the theater those
+who, on getting up from dinner, go to the café and stay there; to give
+them an atmosphere of mirth and jollity, of comforting lights, a sort of
+night forum, of People's Palace, with, in the middle, in the sumptuous
+hall, facing the furnace that was the stage, a long thrill of three hours'
+duration.
+
+And he would realize it next year, but he was in a hurry to open now, to
+plant his flag of victory:
+
+"_Faites vite! Dépêchez_!"
+
+Dare Devil had won the place for him and Jimmy was bringing him the
+sensational attraction, the inspired godsend which would pack the
+Astrarium for six months and fill its till and spread its name far and
+wide over Europe.
+
+Harrasford thought of this with a puff at his cigar, after glancing at the
+photographs on the wall, and then, suddenly:
+
+"Let's see the program."
+
+"Nothing but bill-toppers," said Jimmy. "Picked turns from the first to
+the last ..."
+
+"Which will be you," Harrasford broke in.
+
+"Yes ... I ... or somebody else ..."
+
+"What do you mean, somebody else?"
+
+"Perhaps," said Jimmy, "to heighten the effect of my turn ... for reasons
+which I'll explain to you ... perhaps it would be better to have a woman
+... better for the success of the attraction!" he hastened to add, at an
+astonished gesture of Harrasford's.
+
+"And ... are you sure?" asked the other.
+
+"I think so," said Jimmy.
+
+"The program first," said Harrasford, returning to his notes.
+
+"We open with a gallery in marble and gold, something showy and quaint, in
+the Potsdam style, with a negress inside."
+
+"I know. Light of Asia, eh? The armless Chinese girl whom I discovered at
+Poplar.... Music of cymbals and triangles, eh?"
+
+"No," said Jimmy. "I have something better ... more æsthetic, less cruel
+... a Soudanese woman from Chicago. She walks on to the stage in a
+low-necked dress ... a magnificent woman ... a creamy complexion, with a
+touch of pink ... and golden hair ..."
+
+"You said a negress," interrupted Harrasford.
+
+"Wait ... a splendid voice ... classical music ... then a wild African
+melody.... She feels a flutter of homesickness; the perspiration streams
+down her face; she presses the sponge soaked in water, hidden beneath her
+wig,--and the enamel, the white of the shoulders, the pink cheeks all
+trickle away and, finally she appears black as ebony, and, to the growl of
+the kettle-drums, does a disheveled dance, kicking up her legs like a
+puppet on a string ... Patti-Patty ... talent and absurdity mixed ... a
+crazy toy ... movement and noise, while the hall fills."
+
+"Next?" asked Harrasford.
+
+"Next, without any interval," continued Jimmy, "directly after that
+performance by the court fool before his majesty the audience, the curtain
+rises upon a park ... and the New Trickers chasing one another among the
+trees."
+
+"The New Trickers!" said Harrasford. "Bicyclists: that's very stale. And,
+besides, what about you?"
+
+"Has one ever," asked Jimmy, "seen a music-hall give two similar special
+turns, two bicycle turns, for instance, in the same show?"
+
+"Absurd!" said Harrasford. "Explain yourself."
+
+"It's to differentiate between my invention and trick-riding from the very
+first," replied Jimmy, "to show, once and for all, that mine has nothing
+in common with the ordinary turns you see on the stage: 'Bridging the
+Abyss' or 'Looping the Loop.'"
+
+"You may be right," said Harrasford, "it will prevent confusion; yours is
+purely scientific. And the New Trickers: tights? Bloomers?"
+
+"Skirts, all in white, Warwick style," said Jimmy. "A school-girls' spree:
+see-saw on the bike ... somersaults over the benches ... waltzes, lively
+tunes: an impression of gaiety and happiness. The star is a statue on a
+pedestal in the park. The others throw flowers to her. She wakes; steps
+down: 'Hullo, a bike!' And then a special tune for the star and a waltz on
+the back-wheel, amid the admiring circle of school-girls."
+
+"All right," said Harrasford. "And what's the price of the New Trickers?"
+
+"So much."
+
+And he jotted it down in his note-book, near the prices of Dare Devil and
+Cataplasm.
+
+Jimmy also took notes, mentioned the names of the great serio, the great
+comic singer, with their figures:
+
+"So much."
+
+"They earn their money pretty easily, those two!" grunted Harrasford. "But
+I've got to submit to it, I suppose. Next?"
+
+Jimmy only described the spectacular turns. Harrasford listened, saw it in
+his head: a corner of untamed nature, a valley in the mountains, blue
+distances, sunshine in the foreground. The Three Graces arrive all out of
+breath.
+
+"You understand," said Jimmy, "they are supposed to have been chasing the
+deer or hunting butterflies. As a matter of fact, Mr. Fuchs will have made
+them do their Sandow, before going on, to bring the blood to their cheeks;
+he's full of ideas, is Mr. Fuchs. On arriving, a moment's rest, an
+adorable group in all the splendor of the nude ... sweet, solemn music ...
+and then a glorious performance, a sort of human cluster hanging from the
+trapezes, something healthy and robust."
+
+"All right," said Harrasford, putting a cross in his note-book opposite
+the Three Graces. "And next?"
+
+With Harrasford it was always "And next?" like a man who never has more
+than just so many minutes to spare, because his train's waiting.
+
+It was a curious sight to see the two talking together in low voices, with
+an occasional glance at the door when some indiscreet person looked in.
+They might have been taken for a pair of conspirators plotting a move; no
+one would ever have suspected that they were composing a performance,
+unique of its sort, which would be famous to-morrow. Everything was
+provided for: scenery, music, the color of the dresses, effects of light,
+the alternate doses of laughter or grace or terror to be served up to the
+audience; everything was discussed then and there, in all its details,
+down to those two sketch-comedians, with faces streaked red and white,
+against a back-drop representing an old English street, two drunken
+sports, with hats mashed in, coats turned inside out, ten minutes of mad
+tricks and inhuman cries; for the audience must have its pittance of the
+grotesque as well.
+
+There was a herd of comic elephants, five enormous animals in a Hindoo
+setting; and no master on the stage, no boss, no prof: they all obeyed a
+whistle blown in the wings. And, conducting the orchestra with an air of
+unspeakable gravity, a monkey, Mozart II., a caricature of an infant
+prodigy, made the huge brutes perform their evolutions, to the Soldiers'
+Chorus from _Faust_. Then, in his enthusiasm, Mozart sent his desk flying
+into the air, followed by his coat, his shoes, his conductor's baton, and
+ended by seizing his tail in his hand and beating time with that.
+
+"That dishes Orpheus and Mad-darewski," said Harrasford. "And next?"
+
+The _entr'acte_ came next, with portraits and biographies of the artistes
+distributed among the audience.
+
+"Yes, yes," said Harrasford, laughing. "Old English families ...
+clergymen's daughters...."
+
+"Learned all that with their governesses, as a surprise for their Pa and
+Ma!" continued Jimmy. "Mozart II., a favorite of the king of Lahore;
+Patti-Patty, a descendant of the Queen of Sheba: we've got to do it.
+There's no getting away from it."
+
+"We must hide the bruises," said Harrasford. "And next?"
+
+"Next, I hope to have the Bambinis: ten minutes of rosy mirth; real
+biographical babies, born with that in their blood, brother and sister,
+two marvels. I shall obtain permission for them to appear, though they're
+under the age; the old father is dying, the famous Martello."
+
+"We must engage them for my tour," said Harrasford.
+
+"If the old man doesn't die first; in that case, there's a brother who
+will come and claim them, it seems. They're a fortune, the two Bambinis,
+to whomever secures them."
+
+"One dress-coat more on the stage," said Harrasford. "And next?"
+
+"Topsy Turvy Tom."
+
+"Oh, yes, I know!" said Harrasford, laughing. "The fellow who used to wear
+leaden armlets to harden his muscles and smash Clifton's jaw."
+
+"That's the one," said Jimmy, laughing in his turn. "A threat of
+Clifton's, who said that he would 'make him dance the hornpipe on his
+hands, damn it!' suggested the idea of a turn to him, so they say. He set
+to work with superhuman energy--and now he is a bill-topper...."
+
+"Well done!" cried Harrasford, banging his fist on the table. "There's no
+country but old England can turn out bulldogs like that, lads who jump
+from the gutter to the top of the bill! That's what I call a man! And
+what's his turn like?"
+
+"A scene of his own: the front of a palace. A pink marble figure, naked
+down to the waist, supports a huge cornice. A thunder of big drums, a
+flash of lime-light and the palace splits from top to bottom. The figure
+staggers, falls on its hands and gives a stupendous acrobatic performance:
+somersaults on the hands; waltzing; treading the ball: the 'hornpipe, damn
+it!' And then Tom stands on his feet, all in shadow. A powerful ray of
+light is thrown upon him, and you see the muscles of the abdomen slowly
+moving, the pectoral muscles quivering, the deltoids leaping and starting,
+the biceps swelling; and, when he turns round, the rhomboids hollowing
+out, the muscles of the back rolling: the triumph of the human machine ...
+and of Tom."
+
+"And of will," said Harrasford. "How much?"
+
+"So much."
+
+"It's worth it. And next?"
+
+"Roofers, high-kickers: the Merry Wives. We begin with dancing and end
+with dancing. The puppets make their bow to the public before being put
+away in their boxes ... the curtain falls ... and good night!"
+
+"And then you come!"
+
+"Then I come," said Jimmy. "Or she."
+
+"Your invention," said Harrasford seriously, "is not a music-hall
+entertainment. It is, undoubtedly, the greatest of all scientific toys, a
+marvel of modern ingenuity. Do you really want a pair of tights on the top
+of that? And, first of all, where will you find the woman who will dare?"
+
+"That's the question, obviously," admitted Jimmy.
+
+Not that Jimmy must have been in love with Lily, to think of her! It had
+first just passed through his head, no more. But, on reflecting, it had
+appeared to him that, in the theater, the beauty of a Lily would add
+greatly to the success of his attraction. To work his invention in public
+was different from experimenting with it in his shed in London. It was
+leaving the laboratory to take its place in life; and it would be a
+triumph to see the daring trick succeed, every day, at the fixed hour,
+within a restricted compass; to see it go through the opening above; to
+see that machine worked by a young girl in whom one would have suspected
+neither the strength nor the nerve: it would make the public infer the
+excellence of the engine. Now Jimmy was possessed, above all, of
+scientific enthusiasm. His machine before everything; not his personal
+triumph, his machine. He dreamed of giving that added grace to his
+diagrams; and he considered that there was no disadvantage in allowing
+science to be introduced by youth and beauty. Moreover, Jimmy was a little
+heavy for an apparatus in which he had even suppressed the motor, in order
+to make it more easily manageable ... a lighter body would perhaps be
+better ... Lily, Lily was the ideal operator; but was she capable of it?
+Jimmy had confidence in her. Jimmy, certainly, did not allow sentiment to
+mix in his affairs; there was the weight of his responsibility to
+consider. But then there was also his meeting with Lily in the
+dressing-room passage. And he had understood her mental agony. He had seen
+the gleam in her eyes and so great a display of energy in her face that
+Jimmy had resolved to try her; and he would judge her much better by the
+way in which she should face death.
+
+That is what Jimmy explained to the manager, leaving a good deal untold,
+of course, and Harrasford retired behind the smoke of his cigar, listened,
+approved.
+
+"It's your affair, when all is said and done. All you want is success, I
+suppose? And will you arrange with her ... with your ... what did you say
+her name was?"
+
+"Lily."
+
+"There are so many Lilies; and, if somebody has to break his or her back,
+I had rather it was a Lily, one out of the bunch, than you."
+
+Lily, meanwhile, was loitering outside. Harrasford and Jimmy had no notion
+that the girl about whom they were talking was quite close to them,
+thinking of them. Lily had heard an artiste say that Harrasford was
+visiting the Astrarium. She had come in all haste, impelled by some vague
+hope. Chance would have it that she was still in Paris. Everything,
+besides, seemed to be keeping her there: an agent, the day after her
+interview with Jimmy, had advised her to stay a few days longer; there
+might be something important for her. Lily could not understand in what
+way; however, she had stayed, though she was almost without means of
+support. She began by trying to sell her jewels, the fifty-pound diamond,
+among others, which that lord had given her in England: the jeweler handed
+it back to her, saying that it might be worth eight francs! That meant
+destitution. And yet hope always returned to her in one way or another.
+She had even received three blue banknotes, three hundred francs, in an
+envelope! Her fortnight at the Bijou! No doubt about it, they were paying
+the artistes' salaries; perhaps the Federation had taken the matter up?
+Three hundred francs; not enough to pay Glass-Eye or to give to Jimmy, but
+just sufficient to settle her small debts, buy some new dresses and go to
+London to play the darky at Earl's Court. Oh, what a ridiculous come-down!
+And so, when she learned that Harrasford was at the Astrarium, she took
+her courage in both hands: she would see Harrasford. She would try the
+fascination of her smile upon him. She would be settled at once and for
+ever.... When she thought of the New Trickers, her blood seemed to stand
+still in her veins: the New Trickers at the Astrarium! And Jimmy, the mean
+cur, not to have got her that shop, when she had such a splendid idea:
+Lady Godiva on a bike! And a scene of her own: the front of Peeping Tom's
+club, with all the boys at the windows!
+
+Just then, Harrasford came out of the bar. She hurried up to him and
+introduced herself:
+
+"Miss Lily."
+
+"Which one?" said Harrasford. "Excuse me; no time now. See Jimmy, will
+you?"
+
+And he plunged into a cab and shouted an address to his driver.
+
+Lily stood stupefied, as she watched the cab disappear. This time it was
+finished, quite finished.... She gave a last glance at the Astrarium and
+sighed....
+
+"Lily!" It was Jimmy coming out and crossing the street. "Hullo, Lily!"
+
+She did not reply.
+
+"Listen, Lily," said Jimmy, gently and gravely. "You wanted to get there
+the other day, didn't you? You told me you would do anything for that."
+
+"To take the place of the New Trickers, yes!" exclaimed Lily. "I'd have
+risked my life!"
+
+"The New Trickers are there," said Jimmy, "and are going to remain. Listen
+to me, what I have to propose to you is very serious: it's something
+else."
+
+"What else? You know that's all I'm good for ... to go round and round ...
+you know it quite well!" cried Lily, her face drawn with impotent anger.
+"I know what you can do. Look here: would you like to be above the New
+Trickers? Would you like to top the bill? Are you ready to do everything
+for that?"
+
+"May God forgive you for mocking at me!"
+
+"Will you top the bill?" asked Jimmy again, in an accent that sent a
+thrill down her back. "Answer me: yes or no?"
+
+"Yes," cried Lily. "My life, everything, damn it!"
+
+
+
+
+AMONG THE STARS
+
+I
+
+
+Jimmy was greatly excited when Lily had given him her answer and he led
+her to the Astrarium. To understand his feelings fully, one would have to
+know his life since the evening when, at Whitcomb Mansions, he had looked
+Lily in the face and told her no. He realized then, from the emotion which
+he experienced, how great a place Lily had filled in his heart, the little
+passenger from New York to Liverpool; the girl who came to see him in his
+shop in Gresse Street; the Lily whom he dreamed of "helping out of that"
+when he saw her on the stage, from up in the fly-galleries; the one whom
+he had tried to take away from Trampy; the poor sick girl in Berlin; those
+Lilies whom he felt moving inside him, around him, like a breath of April;
+all those Lilies, he had broken with them all! Oh, it was hard! Lily
+should never, never know what courage he had needed to keep silent, he,
+the man she thought so cold, nor what a tempest ... oh, if she could only
+have seen into him! And then ... he had not met her again....
+
+He, after his engagement at the Hippodrome, went off to America; Lily
+traveled on her part. Also, he was a prey to his fixed idea, his great
+project, always: his ambition increased, the same longing for success
+which, formerly, in Gresse Street, had made him spend nights in study
+after days of toil, at the time when, under Lily's influence, his roaming
+thoughts built castles in the air, when he felt awakening within himself
+his racial instinct as an heroic seeker after profitable adventures.
+
+And his ambition took great strides forward, was not limited, as in
+Clifton's case, to upsetting the fat freaks or training New Zealanders to
+spin round and round. He dreamed of a useful life, based upon his own
+efforts. He wished to found his future upon a discovery of his own, which
+had long haunted him and which had ripened in Berlin, between his flights
+in "Bridging the Abyss," a thing at which he worked incessantly in
+Whitcomb Mansions; and, this time, the stage prowlers, should not steal
+his idea. To begin with, apart from a few pieces of technical advice which
+he received from a friend of his, an engineer, nobody knew about it; and
+Jimmy felt sure that, even when the apparatus was at work, he would not
+fall a victim to the confraternity who, ever on the watch for new tricks,
+study them, judge of the weak points, copy whatever suits them, including
+scenery and music, and, sometimes, succeed in earning more money than the
+inventor himself; he would have nothing to fear from the Trampies, the
+pirates, the plagiarists, those plagues of the profession. Certainly,
+there were great bill-toppers, creators of sensations who discovered new
+things--terrifying feats of gyroscopic balancing, or flights through
+space, based upon principles of ballistics, assisted by the spiral
+spring--daring risk-alls, nerve-shakers, purveyors of thrills, turning to
+intelligent account the seductive power which dangerous feats exercise
+upon the public. Jimmy knew all about that. He was not the only one; but,
+this time, it was a question of a scientific application which would,
+beyond a doubt, place him at the head of that pick of the music-hall. It
+would be pure science and patient calculation: an algebraical hippogriff,
+with pluck in the saddle.
+
+Jimmy's plans resulted from intuition rather than real knowledge; but
+learning has nothing to do with the creative spirit. Now Jimmy, although
+he was unaware of it, possessed the genius that invents; and his
+comparative ignorance did him no great harm: his imagination, unhampered
+by theories, was all the freer for it. Jimmy had the higher instinct of
+the born machinist, who is content to use a bit of string where a
+school-bred engineer will cram every manner of gear, chains, pulleys and
+windlasses. It is true that he was assisted in his research by many
+experiments already tried elsewhere; but he dreamed of something different
+and, in the calm of Whitcomb Mansions, had studied without respite.
+
+"Pooh!" he reflected. "All those sails, all that weight! Boxes heaped one
+on the top of the other--cubes to catch the air--a man sitting inert in a
+basket, with his hand on a lever and a crank: it's as though one tried to
+make a stuffed bird fly! And what becomes of the man in all that: the back
+push, the daring stroke? The man has got to be the backbone of the
+machine, with his quick balancings, his bendings, which are worth more
+than any wheelwork."
+
+And, always, his inventive imagination built on without respite, pulled
+down, built up again.
+
+His daily success at the Hippodrome did not divert him from the end he had
+in view. "Bridging the Abyss," for him, was but a means of making money,
+to enable him to climb higher. He thought of nothing but that: getting on,
+climbing higher; and this obsession of the future made him scorn or rather
+overlook the temptations of the stage. He would only have had to choose
+among the lot. All, down to the great Parisienne, would have jumped at a
+champagne supper with Jimmy, the famous bill-topper, the man who looked
+like the swells in the front boxes and who made such a "pile." But Jimmy
+knew all about that: he left the theater in the quietest way, took a glass
+of ale with the boys or girls at the Crown, had a light supper and went
+home. And sometimes a frenzy for work made him rush to his table, as
+though the band of the Hippodrome were shaking his nerves:
+
+"Get to work," he would growl, "get to work, cheesy brain!"
+
+"But, Pa, I can't!"
+
+"But you've got to, my little siree!" he insisted, with a flickering
+smile.
+
+And he read treatises, made diagrams; took up his compasses again ... or
+else stayed as he was, with his chin in his hand, plunged in his thoughts,
+his mind soaring above London.... He seemed to fly over the huge city,
+whose distant rumbling rose up to him, similar to the roar of the sea....
+Oh, he would succeed, he knew he would! And he felt within himself an
+increasing will of so tenacious a character that he could have swung it,
+so it seemed to him, like a battering-ram against the obstacle to be
+overcome and then:
+
+"Damn it!" he would growl, banging his fist on the table. "That thief in
+the night! What a sweet wife he got hold of! Poor Lily, to fall into such
+hands! Ah, yes, she would have done better to stay at home!"
+
+And Jimmy got to work again, to forget Lily; and he kept on thinking of
+her:
+
+"Damn that girl!"
+
+What on earth did he think of her for ... when he didn't love her, after
+all?
+
+Even during his triumphal tour of the Eastern and Western Trust, that
+Lily, whom he did not love, haunted his memory. At first, he hoped to
+forget her in his life of excessive activity. And he saw so many theaters,
+as many as Lily did in England: so many artistes, on so many stages ...
+faces whom he had already met in England: fair wigs, scarlet legs, boyish
+voices; "Roofers," "brothers" and "sisters," returning from London,
+Manchester, or Glasgow. He would have ended by seeing them all again in
+time. There were other Lilies shooting up, Lilies "that high," elbowed by
+every vice, petted by every hand, kissed by every pair of lips. His
+sympathy went out to them all; and Lily had lived amid all that; it was
+just her life. He found something to remind him of her at every turn, on
+those stages on which she had performed. He seemed to see her near him,
+with her light walk, in her little black dress, looking so nice in her
+"performing-dog" toque: the poor little silly thing, running away with
+that thief in the night and left alone now, quite alone, it appeared,
+among the "rotten lot." The thought drove him mad:
+
+"Damn that girl!" he said to himself. "I don't love her. Then why am I
+always thinking about her?"
+
+And he rushed into work, into danger, when he thought of that; risked
+terrible leaps in "Bridging the Abyss." He sometimes felt as though he
+were rushing toward oblivion, into the jaws of death! And his great
+project also nearly outweighed Lily's influence:
+
+"What are the leaps in 'Bridging the Abyss,'" he thought, "if not a
+fractional flight? If I had two flat surfaces, one on either side, and a
+motor behind me, it seems to me that I should continue to go upward; and
+the best rudder would be the man riding it, with his flexible body, his
+springy back: a live weight is less heavy than a dead weight. How many
+hundred volts does pluck stand for ... or skill ... or hatred ... or
+love?"
+
+By dint of composing his machine in his head and studying it on paper,
+Jimmy grew calmer. He thought less about Lily, or, at least, thought about
+her only in her interest, not his. For instance, in that little town in
+the West which was not on his tour, but in which Trampy had appeared,
+Jimmy tried to obtain information. He went out of his way in order to make
+inquiries. A marriage with Trampy Wheel-Pad? It was impossible to discover
+anything; and he would not be able to make Lily the magnificent present
+which he had dreamed of: her divorce from Trampy!
+
+And "Miss Lily," Miss Lily, always; he was not satisfied with thinking of
+her, he heard her name mentioned. Boys and girls who had seen Lily in
+England and whom the chances of travel brought across his path in America
+told him with many amplifications, of her outrageous adventures, her
+passion for flirting. She no longer did all her turn. She paid more
+attention to her dresses than to her performance. She was extravagant,
+traveled with her maid, put up at the big hotels. She received bouquets,
+my, as big as cabs, and invitations to supper and post-cards covered with
+x x x x! She had an autograph-book full of declarations of love.
+Motor-cars, furnished houses: she was offered everything. The son of a
+lord had ruined himself in jewelry for her, the impersonator was nearly
+off his head for love of her, gee, she did have a good time! She spent her
+life receiving chocolates and sweets and distributing her photograph as
+Lady Godiva, with her signature. Lily, according to them, laid waste every
+heart; men had left wife and children for her sake; her love affairs were
+going the round of the world, like her whippings. Lily was the thing; and
+game and mustard for Jim Crow.
+
+These tales left Jimmy very sad. He made allowances for professional
+exaggeration in matters of love as of smackings, but, nevertheless, there
+must be some truth in what they said, for it reached him from various
+sides. Oh, he pitied that dear little Lily from the bottom of his heart!
+The harm was done, the theater had spoiled the woman. This time, he felt
+that it was finished, between her and him.... He, no doubt--who could
+tell?--would continue his forward progress, and, one day, he would have a
+wife of his own, a woman without a past, and he would take his stand
+firmly on the earth, with a home and love; and Lily, soon, would be little
+more than a dead memory....
+
+Meanwhile, his brain, redoubling in vigor amid those stormy squalls, took
+in everything, seized everything in a wide sense, became steeped in life,
+rejected bitterness and retained enthusiasm. He heaped up personal
+observations which he noted every evening, enough to build the ideal
+music-hall one day. Harrasford, he knew, was cherishing that plan. Perhaps
+they would realize it together? And the retreat for the aged and the home
+of rest for the sick, and, in each capital or large town, a local
+artistes' home--like the Sailors' Home--a little corner of England,
+providing comfort for the man and protection for the girl. And his scheme,
+his scheme was ripe now, the bold stroke which would enable him to realize
+all the rest later. He felt the strength within him, if not to succeed, at
+least to dare everything: "Brass Heart," as he had been christened at
+'Frisco. He had served an apprenticeship to will-power: he had bruised his
+ribs with a vengeance in a fall at the Columbia Theater at Cincinnati; he
+had nearly split his skull at the Milwaukee Majestic; he had shed his
+blood at the Washington Orpheum; and he was going to risk more with his
+new invention. No matter, he had now but one idea, to return to England,
+in spite of magnificent offers from Australia.
+
+The moment he reached London, he set to work. And he fixed up the whole
+apparatus at his leisure, in the shed which he had kept, notwithstanding
+the expense: a sort of large hall in which he had already rehearsed his
+"Bridging the Abyss." Here, with a couple of confidential assistants who
+had traveled with him in America, he worked from morning till night,
+correcting, revising, improving, in the midst of stretched cords and nets.
+And then came his interview with Harrasford, his engagement at the
+Astrarium, his meeting with Lily, in the dressing-room passage....
+
+And it was untrue! What they had said about her was a lie! Lily had not
+fallen! Jimmy, merely at that moment's sight of her, would have sworn it
+in the face of the whole world: the tales about Lily, due probably to
+professional boasting on her own part,--were false! He knew it, because he
+had seen her magnificent anger and the flash from her chaste eyes. And he
+would give Lily that joy--he owed at least as much as that to his dead
+love--and he would see that it was all right. It would not be a question
+of:
+
+"Pa, I can't!"
+
+"But you've got to, my little lady!"
+
+She would have to dare of her own accord, with a will of adamant, and Lily
+would do it, Jimmy was sure of that. He had found the partner wanted for
+his success and he rejoiced to the bottom of his heart as he led Lily to
+the stage of the Astrarium.
+
+Lily, on the other hand, felt an anxiety which made her sides ache and her
+heart beat:
+
+"What on earth can it be?" she asked herself.
+
+But, whatever it was, she would do it if it cost her her skin! And Lily
+did not even take the stage oath, so sincere and spontaneous was her
+resolve.
+
+"I'll show you, Lily," said Jimmy, seeing her look at the hall and the
+opening in the ceiling as she passed. "It's a new trick."
+
+"Yes," said Lily, "new: it'll be like the last, they'll take it from you
+as soon as it's out. It's like me, the tricks which Pa invented and which
+the fat freaks cribbed from me. Tricks are always copied, you know they
+are," continued Lily, who trembled at the thought of seeing others beside
+herself topping the bill with that.
+
+"You needn't be afraid," said Jimmy, "they won't take this one from me;
+and yet I hope, in a few years' time, to see it all over the place."
+
+"You hope to have it taken from you in a few years only, eh? But why?"
+
+"For all the world to profit by it."
+
+"All the world on the back-wheel!" protested Lily, who was always thinking
+bikes. "Then what will become of the artistes?"
+
+"In a few years, Lily, people won't go about on wheels," said Jimmy
+jokingly.
+
+"What will they do then?"
+
+"They'll fly!"
+
+Lily would have burst out laughing, in other circumstances; but they had
+now reached the stage. The iron curtain was down. She looked round with
+scared eyes for something out of the common. Jimmy, after making sure that
+they were quite alone, walked up to the monster's cage, slid back the door
+...
+
+The aerobike, with wings wide open, seemed to loom out of the darkness.
+
+"My!" cried Lily. "It's a bird! So that was your brain-work in Berlin and
+in ... What is it?"
+
+It was, in any case, a strange creature, with two inclined planes, one on
+either side, that looked like wings; and, at the back, it showed a
+screw-propeller sticking up in the air, like a tail. The whole thing
+rested on two wheels.
+
+"And it's a bike, too! I knew it!" cried Lily, clapping her hands. "Well
+done, Jimmy! And do you want me to get up on it? Come along! Just wait
+till I take my hat off," she went on, drawing out the hat-pins from under
+her big feathers.
+
+"Not so fast!" said Jimmy, laughing. "Keep calm! We'll start next week.
+There are a good many little things to make sure of first; and then I must
+put up a cable in case of a fall."
+
+"I don't care a hang for a fall," cried Lily, immensely excited. "You'll
+soon see if I'm afraid!"
+
+"Be serious, Lily. Listen to me," replied Jimmy. "Yes, you will have to
+stand on the back-wheel, but not to ride round the stage. You will have to
+start up at full speed and then go up and up, straight up, into space and
+then shoot out through a hole which they are making in the roof."
+
+"Yes," said Lily, "I saw. . . . My, that makes a good distance! And, when
+I'm through the hole, what do I do up there? Go on...!"
+
+"I'll explain all that to you," said Jimmy.
+
+"Dive into the street, eh?" asked Lily, in her Spartan voice. "Well, I
+don't care! Anything! I'll do anything! And I'll show them," she added, to
+herself, "if you can do _that_ through your gentlemen friends!"
+
+But she calmed herself: after all, she was going to top the bill; have her
+name in all the papers, with her portrait; see the walls covered with her
+posters. What a revenge for her! That was enough, for the moment. She did
+not want to appear surprised before Jimmy. The right thing was to take it
+as something very natural, like a lady who is used to the best.
+
+Jimmy, meanwhile, was explaining his trick:
+
+"We shan't fly at once," he said. "We shall practise on the stand to learn
+how the handles work. Oh, you'll have to think of everything during the
+few seconds that the flight lasts! The machine isn't perfect, it's a first
+attempt, it can only be ridden by a professional and a very clever one.
+Look here," he continued, "it's the principle of the back-wheel; you'll
+have to keep your side-balance and front and back, but you'll do it, I'm
+sure. _I've_ done it."
+
+"What you can do, a man," Lily interrupted, "I can do too. One can do
+anything on the bike!"
+
+The machine which Jimmy explained to Lily in detail was a bike just like
+another, with a few differences in its general construction, bearing upon
+the services which it was expected to perform. The saddle, for instance,
+was made to slide backward and forward, so that the center of equilibrium
+could be shifted with a push of the rider's back. The stability of the
+apparatus did not depend upon that alone. The ascensional rudder or
+screw-propeller, which was able to impart a speed of thirty miles an hour
+to the machine, was in the extension of the horizontal bar of the frame.
+It was fitted to a long piece of bent steel, pinned below the saddle,
+which, running beside the frame, ended by forming a pedal, so that, with a
+pressure of the foot, the rider could move it downward, at will, within an
+arc of some ten degrees. This propeller, which was small in dimensions,
+but endowed with enormous speed, was, in its normal position,
+perpendicular to the frame. The pressure of the foot raised it to its
+highest point. In this position, the propeller turned at full speed and
+therefore tended to descend and, consequently, to point the front of the
+aerobike upward. When brought still lower, its ascensional force increased
+and the front of the aerobike pitched downward. These two extremes would
+obviously serve only in sudden movements. In reality, the rider's skill
+would consist in moving the propeller only very slightly, in order to
+maintain a horizontal flight. As for the machine itself, Jimmy had
+rejected the cumbersome system of cells, which he compared to boxes:
+
+"The shape of a fish for the ship, the shape of a bird for the
+flying-machine," he said.
+
+He stuck to that principle and therefore he had added two enormous wings,
+one on each side. He had first experimented with reduced models, shaped
+like a bird, sending them up anyhow, to see, and he had ended by
+constructing one which preserved its stability when gliding over the
+atmospheric layers. He had thus been led to construct wings with a
+slightly rounded surface whose coefficient of yield was nearly double that
+of wings with flat surfaces. The width of these wings was about five feet
+and their length about sixteen. They tapered a little, were drawn out in
+front and widened at the opposite end, so as to get a more powerful hold
+of the air. They were made of double-milled canvas, stretched on curved
+ash and fastened to the sections by aluminum stays riveted with copper and
+clenched. They were as light as they were stiff. These two wings pointed
+slightly upward in front, parallel to the machine, and were fastened to it
+in the middle by means of an axis below the saddle-pillar, which brought
+their axis to the center of gravity. Other ingenious and quite individual
+arrangements made the apparatus very manageable. The resistance of the
+air, combined with the propelling power of the screw, exercised all its
+force in vain: the wings remained stationary. Their lines were carefully
+studied to facilitate the flow of the air, on the principle of Langley's
+kite: and the two of them presented a carrying surface of forty-nine
+square feet.
+
+"It's not much," Jimmy explained to Lily, who listened attentively. "If I
+carried my motor," he said, "I should have a bigger surface. The machine
+ought then, theoretically speaking, to rise when it is going at a rate of
+thirty miles an hour; with a good back push the front-wheel would leave
+the ground and continue its course upward. But, on the stage, we have no
+room to acquire speed: we shall get it from an inclined plane, as at the
+start of 'Looping the Loop.' As for the side steering, the front wheel has
+spokes fitted with canvas and offers resistance to the air: it will steer
+the aerobike to left or right at a touch of the handle-bar, as in ordinary
+riding, and there you are, Lily."
+
+"My!" said Lily, bewildered by all this complicated apparatus. "Did you
+work it all out on paper? It's enough to drive one mad!"
+
+"When you're on it, Lily," said Jimmy, smiling, "you'll have to work also,
+_I_ promise you. But, with your talent, ... you'll manage better than I
+should. And to-morrow," he added, "I will give you something on account of
+your salary."
+
+"No, I have money," said Lily, very proudly and fearing lest she should
+wear out her luck by adding that to it, by being paid for doing
+nothing....
+
+Lily spent the whole week in a fever of expectation; she did not know
+where she was for joy. But she stifled that within herself. And it was
+owing to her talent, all owing to her talent! When people wanted a
+difficult trick done, they did not go to Daisy or the fat freaks, no, they
+came to little Lily! And it was settled, she wanted no more familiarity,
+now that she was going to top the bill at the Astrarium! A lady should be
+more reserved in her friendships: she would make herself very
+short-sighted, so short-sighted as to be almost blind, when she met the
+rotten lot! Resolved, that she would give up saying, "Damn it!" give up
+talking of smackings and using vulgar expressions:
+
+"Do you hear, Glass-Eye?" she said, calling her maid to witness. "You're
+to box my ears if you catch me at it again!"
+
+The thought of having to handle that delicate machine increased Lily's
+importance in her own eyes. She had noticed that Poland, apart from an
+inordinate love of champagne suppers, had very nice manners: Lily would
+profit by her example and become more refined; she would show Pa and Ma
+the kind of Lily they had lost and she would crush them with the amount of
+her salary! She would earn more by herself than the whole troupe. She
+would let them know it, even if she had to do the trick for nothing, for
+glory, to see her Ma beg her pardon on her knees! She had recovered all
+the pride of her eighteen years, all her freshness, in a day: the touch of
+bitterness about her lips had changed into a smile. It would have taken
+very little more to make her dance for joy. But she restrained herself,
+dared not believe in her happiness; and she was quite decided not to
+accept anything from Jimmy before earning it. It was bad enough to owe him
+that thousand marks. She made herself a nice practising dress and spent
+the morning in bed reading a novel of fashionable life, of which the
+heroine was called Lily, like herself! And she, too, would become a
+society-girl, just to show them, damn it! But, suddenly, catching herself
+at fault, she laughed and asked Glass-Eye for a box on the ear; and a
+desperate pillow-fight ensued, in which they indulged whole-heartedly,
+like two regular tom-boys who loved to wrestle and punch each other. And
+it put her in a good humor for the rest of the day. She went shopping
+through the windows, only bought herself a spray of roses to fasten to her
+bodice. She went to the Astrarium, walked in as though the place belonged
+to her, followed by her maid. She examined the works with the eye of an
+expert. Three days, three days more and she would begin to rehearse! Her
+legs were itching to commence!
+
+The alterations to the stage especially interested her. The door of the
+cage remained closed and Lily looked at the auditorium:
+
+"Is it possible, after all?" she thought.
+
+And she measured the distance with her eye. It seemed enormous to her, but
+never mind, she'd do it! And she grew wildly enthusiastic in the midst of
+all that activity, of a theater which was being rearranged for her: "For
+me, Glass-Eye! All of it for me! From here," she said, stamping her foot
+on the stage, "from here to right up there!" And she pointed to the hole
+in the sky. "All that on the bike! A somersault miles high!"
+
+[Illustration: OLD MARTELLO]
+
+Glass-Eye opened two terrified eyes, wondered if Lily was going mad....
+
+Glass-Eye had become dulled through constant obedience, had lost her
+memory, mixed up her yeses and noes, like those actors who forget their
+parts through playing them too frequently; her recent life had excited her
+too much, and never a sou in her pocket, only barely enough to eat ... it
+was ten times worse than in Rathbone Place.... And then that new crotchet
+of Lily's.
+
+"Can I fly, Glass-Eye, or can't I? Am I a bird or am I not?" It was enough
+to make Glass-Eye lose her head....
+
+Glass-Eye was obliged to answer yes ... and that very quickly. But she
+kept on trotting behind Lily, who, realizing that she would soon be taken
+up with her rehearsals, took advantage of her last days of liberty to pay
+visits and show herself a little, accompanied by her maid, like the fine
+lady that she was. She went and took the Bambinis some candies. Poor kids!
+Their games and laughter no longer filled the hotel with mirth and gaiety:
+old Martello was getting worse and worse and was now not able to leave his
+room at all. Lily found a kind word for everybody and was grieved at not
+having any money, which would have allowed her to be generous. That would
+come later. She worked out a scheme for occupying herself with the
+children when the old man was gone, for having them always with her, like
+two dear little lucky charms. It was impossible, of course: never mind, it
+was the idea of a lady, which she would not have had in the old days, and
+Lily was pleased with herself for having entertained it.
+
+"I will speak about you to Jimmy," she said to the Bambinis. "I'll get you
+engaged at the Astrarium, eh?"
+
+And the old man trembled with delight, stammered out his thanks, tried to
+accompany her to the door, like a princess; and the little boy, to thank
+her, promised to teach her a way of standing on your head which he had
+learned all by himself!
+
+"Poor darlings!" thought Lily, as she left them. "If ever they fall into
+their brother's hands! They would be better dead! Luckily for them, he has
+disappeared for good; and his Ave Maria with him, unluckily for me!"
+
+For Lily understood how badly her position as a lady went with that name
+of Mrs. Trampy. It was like dragging a tin kettle at her skirts, to make
+the people in the street turn round and look at her.
+
+And, more than ever before, Trampy posed as a faithful husband. Nothing
+sufficed to take down his arrogance. Always the same old Trampy: great, by
+Jove! And, with his red lips, his glittering eye and the cigar stuck in
+the corner of his mouth, he made love to second-rate "sisters," inferior
+Roofers in red calico skirts. His glamorous title as the bill-topper's
+husband still won him a few conquests. And Trampy, especially since
+Jimmy's return, plumed himself more and more on the fact that he was the
+husband of his dear little wife!
+
+Lily knew all this and it made her fume with rage at heart; but she showed
+nothing, pretended, on the contrary, to treat it as a little matter of no
+account. For instance, after her visit to the Bambinis, as she passed an
+artistes' bar, quite close, there stood Trampy, lording it on the
+pavement, among a lot of unemployed pros. Lily made herself short-sighted
+to the point of absolute blindness. Trampy caught her, as she passed, with
+a:
+
+"Hullo, Lily! Hullo, my dear little wife!"
+
+But Lily behaved like a real fine lady who knows how to put people in
+their place without calling them names:
+
+"Hullo, Mr. Trampy!" she replied, in a sarcastic tone. "Still got your
+red-hot stove, Mr. Trampy? Still a success with the girls? Kind regards,
+Mr. Trampy!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+But Lily was grandest of all at the rehearsals. She was now no longer a
+lady: she once more became the Spartan, bare-necked, her hair undone, her
+body streaming with perspiration, and to work, to work, to make up for
+lost time! In the mornings, alone on the deserted stage, she practised and
+practised....
+
+"Come on!" said Jimmy. "And mind you do your work properly," he added,
+with a laugh, "or else, you know ..."
+
+And he patted the back of his hand.
+
+"I don't care!" said Lily.
+
+"You may break your head, you know," continued Jimmy, to try her.
+
+"It's none of your damned business if I do! Show me your tricks. To
+work!"
+
+And Jimmy showed her a movement to execute on her bike, which she had
+brought with her: balancings, as in "Bridging the Abyss," an excellent
+training for the aerobike. And Lily went about it clear-eyed,
+hard-cheeked, with all the little muscles contracted on her stubborn
+forehead, ready to butt at the obstacle. A few falls to begin with, but
+she jumped up again nimbly:
+
+"That's all right!" she said. "It's part of the game!"
+
+"But stop, stop," insisted Jimmy. "Be careful!"
+
+They were sometimes on the stage for hours at a time, but to Lily, all
+wrapped in her work, it seemed so many minutes. She understood the jerk
+which she was to give at the moment when, after rolling along the inclined
+plane, she should shoot out into space for the soaring flight of fifty
+yards:
+
+"The start, that's the great thing with the back-wheel," she observed.
+"The rest goes of itself."
+
+"Don't cry till you're out of the wood!" said Jimmy. "It'll be different
+when you're riding the aerobike."
+
+Lily was longing to begin that famous practice! And, a few days later, she
+at last had that delight, took that further step toward triumph. Jimmy
+removed the bird from the cage, fixed it on a stand. When Lily sat in the
+saddle, she was crimson with pleasure, prouder than a princess sitting on
+a throne for the first time:
+
+"There," she said. "Here I am! And what next?"
+
+Jimmy explained the complicated touches--"Press your left foot, there,
+like that, to make it point upward"--and showed how, explained why; then
+he passed to the working of the handle-bar--"There, like that, to turn it,
+there"--and how and why the saddle slipped backward and forward.
+
+"And then?"
+
+"That's all."
+
+"That's all?" repeated Lily. "That won't want any smackings! Let's see,
+like this, eh? Then that. Suppose I'm coming down at full speed. I throw
+myself backward, a back push, there, like that. A kick, gently, there,
+that's it. I'll do it as soon as you like! This minute, if necessary!"
+
+But Jimmy, without replying to these sallies, proceeded methodically. He
+made her practise again, standing still, with the motor going at
+half-speed. This was a different impulse: the displacement of the air
+raised a stormy wind, the dust flew, the scenery hanging from the flies
+waved to and fro and Lily shook in her saddle under the vibration of the
+propeller.
+
+"Well, Lily?" said Jimmy. "That shakes you up, eh? That complicates
+matters?"
+
+"Pooh!" said Lily. "And what about the boards? There are some of them that
+are pretty rough, too! At Pittsburg, you know, it's like riding over
+cobblestones. I prefer that to a stage that's too smooth: it's less
+treacherous."
+
+A few days later, Jimmy ran up a steel cable from the stage to the opening
+in the ceiling, which was now finished and covered with a tarpaulin; and
+Lily was to try the flying. At the time for practice, there was no one in
+the theater, from which the scaffoldings had been removed. There were no
+seats on the floor or in the boxes: everything was being made outside, and
+would be put in place in a day or two. In the afternoon, when there was no
+practice, the house was filled with workmen, painters, upholsterers,
+carpenters, whose places were taken by others at night, working by
+electric light. Ten days more and they would have the triumphal opening;
+already Paris was covered with picture placards: you saw Tom, as a
+caryatid, supporting the weight of a palace; the Three Graces entwined in
+their radiant nudity; the impersonator standing, like a Don Juan,
+surrounded by a bevy of women: the ballet-girl, the shop-girl, the fine
+lady; then, besides those, the New Trickers--"My idea!" thought Lily, but
+she didn't care a jot now--the New Trickers fluttered round Daisy. You saw
+the elephants; the monkey; Patti-Patty, the white negress; all, all, down
+to the Bambinis, whom Lily had "got" engaged. The whole program was
+reverberated on the walls and hoardings, like a thousand-voiced echo. An
+even larger poster than the others, all blue, strewn with stars, displayed
+the aerobike in full flight in the sky; and a human figure, seated upon
+it, lifted a hand filled with rays.
+
+The mere sight of the posters was enough to stimulate Lily to the maddest
+feats of daring. She felt herself firmer than steel, when she thought of
+the New Trickers and of Pa and Ma, who were coming with Daisy, their
+farthing dip!
+
+When everything was ready, Jimmy hung the aerobike to the steel cable by
+two ropes, ten feet long, ending in pulleys which ran along the cable.
+Each of these two ropes was looped up and the loop secured with thin
+twine: this was an infallible way of ascertaining if the aerobike weighed
+down upon them or if it was supporting itself in the air; the two cords
+acted as a spring balance registering the tension in the rope. Should the
+twine break, because the aerobike rested on the ropes, then the ropes
+would unloop and the machine remain hanging without any danger for Lily.
+This was the way in which Jimmy had worked when learning "his trade as a
+bird," as he called it; and Lily, he had no doubt, would succeed even
+better than he did, being more supple, lighter and quite as plucky.
+
+Oh, the rapture with which Lily bestrode the aerobike for the first
+flight!
+
+Jimmy and two confidential assistants hauled up the machine to the top of
+the inclined plane that gave it its impetus. Jimmy spent an endless time
+in verifying and testing everything. The electric wire that set the
+propeller in motion also caused him uneasiness. It had to unroll behind
+and follow the aerobike without weighing upon it, without retarding its
+flight; for the machine, which was necessarily a small one, to be able to
+move within a confined space, did not carry the additional load of a
+motor, but only a wire, as wireless transmission of power was not yet
+available. At last, when everything was provided for, Jimmy allowed Lily
+to make her trial. He trembled; not that she ran any danger, for a fall
+was impossible: the machine was stopped, up above, automatically, by a
+cable stretched crosswise and fastened to a strong spring, which slowed
+and stayed the flight within the space of a few yards. But if the two
+pieces of twine broke suddenly and if this happened several times in
+succession, the shocks might come to frighten Lily, for all her
+self-control.
+
+And Jimmy went on explaining.
+
+"I know," said Lily. "I quite understand. It's like this, like this, yes,
+I know. It's only a matter of trying! It's a trick I've got to do and
+that's all about it! Daisy would kill herself on it and so would the fat
+freaks, but I shan't! I shall succeed."
+
+"Well, then, steady!" cried Jimmy, and his voice rang through the empty
+theater. "Go!"
+
+The machine ran down with a swoop, the propeller whirred, Lily gave a
+magnificent back push, when she reached the bottom of the inclined plane;
+then she went straight up and the two pieces of twine snapped in two. Lily
+found herself hanging fifty feet in the air, the two pulleys glided slowly
+backward toward the stage. Jimmy stopped the machine.
+
+"That's wrong!" cried Lily. "Let's try again. I see what it was: I forgot
+to push down my foot to point the machine up. It was a slip."
+
+However, at the next attempt, it went better. The twine broke each time,
+but Lily rectified her movements:
+
+"It's my back push! It's the propeller! It's the front-wheel!"
+
+And, in fact, that was what it was. Jimmy and his assistants, who followed
+her with their eyes, had noted the fault and Lily, too, had observed it,
+in spite of the giddy flight. She was extraordinarily plucky and cool, her
+eight stone of flesh and bone, unerring and exact, seemed made for the
+aerobike.
+
+"Bravo, Lily! Hurrah!" cried Jimmy.
+
+She could have screamed for joy in the street, as she went out.
+
+Her unparalleled stroke of luck in being chosen tickled her heart. She
+felt her sense of responsibility increase and also her wish to do well; no
+sooner had she left off practising than she was seized with but one idea,
+to begin again:
+
+"Eight days more!" she thought.
+
+At night, she dreamed of backward jerks, of turning the handle-bar,
+pushing the pedal. Poor Glass-Eye, cowering in a corner of the bed, had
+terrible nightmares, and, in the morning, after Lily's kicks, she rose
+with her ribs smarting and her shins all black and blue. That was all her
+profit, for Lily had hardly any money left and was not yet drawing a
+salary.
+
+Lily submitted to all sorts of privation with a proud dignity. She would
+be beholden to nobody. Soon her whole fortune would consist of her box of
+lucky halfpence and a franc which she had won by turning a cartwheel, for
+a bet, among artistes, in the country, to stagger the jossers. And so
+their little evening meal was a scanty one. A sausage, a little fruit, a
+cup of tea ... and then to bed. That was better than listening to the
+owner of the Hours and all those men who propose things to you. Never,
+never! Her work, her work! Lord, after what she had seen of Poland and the
+Hours, it was much simpler to work, to be self-reliant. At night,
+sometimes, Lily would lie awake and think ... where did that three hundred
+francs of the Bijou come from? Not from the Bijou: Cataplasm's defeat had
+swallowed up everything and the theater had long been without a penny;
+they used to fill the house with paper distributed among the staff, with
+orders to get rid of it anyhow. They were not far short of inviting
+soldiers from the barracks. There had never been more than two hundred
+seats paid for of an evening; it meant flat bankruptcy. And she was the
+only one who had received anything: why? How? Then it must have been some
+admirer, but who? Not the architect, surely, that josser! Who then? And
+why had Jimmy engaged the Bambinis, when she asked him to? He did
+everything to please her. He was letting her top the bill: why? She made a
+heap of guesses, without getting at the exact truth ... Jimmy ... Jimmy
+... that man, with his coldness, interested her. While so many others were
+prowling around her, he alone seemed indifferent. She would have liked to
+see him in love with her ... to make him suffer a little in his turn! All
+the beauty-shows which Lily had seen, all the exhibitions of painted Hours
+had not spoiled her good taste: Jimmy pleased her, with that strong face
+of his. What an endless pity that she had married Trampy! She gave a
+scornful pout when she thought of it: she married to Trampy! Married to
+that soaker: she, a woman made for a man, a creature of flesh and blood,
+who admired fine muscles, rough sport and virile smackings! Gee, if she
+had been a man, it seemed to her that she would have enjoyed spoiling a
+little Lily: outside working hours, of course! And, if a little Lily had
+asked her, "Do you love me, yes or no?" she would never have answered no.
+To-day, she would have bitten off her own tongue rather than put that
+question to Jimmy! And yet Jimmy had a dignity about him that pleased her.
+She could see into the game of the others. The architect, for instance,
+would give her just a smile in passing, a pleasant word, as one performs a
+social duty, between two pieces of business. A little amusement, no more:
+that was all she was to him ... and to all of them. Jimmy seemed
+different. But, still, if he loved her, why hadn't he the courage to tell
+her so? And, besides, when all was said, she was sick and tired of men!
+Some of them ran after you like dogs; others, damn it, were icicles! A
+girl could have Marjutti's figure, Thea's arms, Nancy's legs, Lillian's or
+Laurence's face ... and still they would not be satisfied! And thereupon
+Lily pursed her brows, asked herself how and why and went to sleep like a
+baby.
+
+And the rehearsals continued every day, without respite. Lily became
+terrible the nearer she drew to success: her indomitable spirit mounted to
+her heart. Jimmy had difficulty in holding her in. She made twenty
+flights, thirty flights ... and the twine no longer broke. From that
+moment, she was sure of succeeding, always. When you have once succeeded,
+even if it be but once, you have no right ever to fail again. She had been
+brought up in those principles, had had them rubbed into her skin. She
+could not fail now, it was impossible! Even in her flight to the opening
+up above! She had learned her "times," she knew how to aim exactly at the
+right spot. Jimmy hastened to have the roof arranged for the final exit,
+when the aerobike would disappear before the eyes of the audience, in the
+star-strewn sky. All that remained was to get everything ready for the
+final rehearsal: the complete show, with all lights lit, as for a gala
+night. Lily seemed to see it all beforehand. On the day when she realized
+that no accident was possible, that it was a trick of which she was
+certain, she stifled a cry of triumph in her throat. She was afraid to
+believe in it herself, so greatly did it surpass her dreams. She would
+have stayed for days on the aerobike to experience the delight of the leap
+into space. It seemed to her as though she were becoming a bird and about
+to hover in mid-air and leave them all behind her, in the crowd below ...
+all, all ... and be a little Lily, flying away on the back-wheel before
+their noses.
+
+"You'll make yourself ill," said Jimmy. "Take a rest; there's no need to
+tire yourself; you do it as well as I."
+
+For Jimmy, of course, had done the thing too, if only to show Lily;
+besides, it was easy for him, who had had so much practice in London and
+who knew his machine from end to end. And he appreciated the difficulty
+all the more. He admired Lily's incredible pluck, her all-devouring
+ambition and that splendid determination to get out of her scrape, to be a
+little Lily earning her bread as she knew how, by her work, even if she
+had to break her neck in the doing of it! And proud to her finger-tips, in
+spite of the dog's life she had led.
+
+"If I had not procured her this delight," thought Jimmy, "I should never
+have forgiven myself to the end of my days."
+
+And, from working with her for hours and hours, from holding her by the
+waist at the first trials, from feeling that little body quiver under his
+hand, from seeing Lily rush at danger, Jimmy became madly in love with her
+again ... if he had ever ceased to be so! Ah, if Trampy...! But Lily was
+married ... the divorce depended on the husband ... and the husband
+wouldn't have it ... at any price: not for a million, he said, by Jove,
+would he be separated from a little wife whom he adored!
+
+"Poor Lily!" thought Jimmy sadly. "Will she always be doomed to drag that
+dead weight about with her?"
+
+During the intervals for rest, while Lily wiped the perspiration from her
+forehead, Jimmy talked to her ... at first, of insignificant things ...
+the name "Astrarium," for instance ... a place devoted to planets, to
+stars: as a palmarium is to palms. Stars ... that was to say,
+bill-toppers: the Three Graces; the Laurences; the Lillians; the
+Marjuttis; the Lilies ... yes, the Lilies! Then he pitied her for
+belonging to Trampy; and what a good little Lily she would have been if
+she had remained with her family!
+
+"But I _am_ a good little Lily!" she said, with a display of childish
+vehemence. "What more do you want? We artistes do what we jolly well
+please, and we don't care a damn for the rest!" And she had half a mind to
+tell him that it was all his fault! "I had to do a silly thing and I did
+it," she continued, with an expression of regret on her face. "I married
+without love, but lovers, my! I've had, I may say, as many as I wanted ...
+from the son of a lord down."
+
+And Lily, to excite him, told him the long array of her love affairs, as
+it was told everywhere, on the Bill and Boom Tour, on the Harrasford, on
+the Eastern and Western Tours, like the whippings and the rest.
+
+"Yes, I know," replied Jimmy, very coldly.
+
+"What, you don't believe me!" exclaimed Lily. "There were men who would
+have left wife and child for me! ... heaps of lovers, tons of them!"
+
+"My poor Lily, having so many is the same as having none at all," added
+Jimmy dreamily.
+
+But still he did not declare his love: besides, he had constantly to leave
+her, to go and give orders, or climb up on the roof, or look at the
+heating-apparatus, below.
+
+Lily watched him go, followed him with a sphinx-like glance, while a vague
+smile flickered about her lips....
+
+But she hardly had time to think of all this: the assistants replaced the
+bird in its cage, locked the door, opened that leading to the
+dressing-room passage and the artistes arrived and took up their places on
+their carpets.
+
+Lily had seen it a hundred times, a thousand times, "millions of times!"
+She never wearied of it. She spent the day there, among the groups of
+bloomers: the Three Graces, bare-armed, went to work, practised the human
+cluster; Nunkie kept an eye on his dear nieces and rehearsed the Bambinis,
+now that old Martello was keeping his room for good. Lily, who was almost
+reduced to eating dry bread, but who remained the fine lady nevertheless,
+brought them bags of sweets. Calmed by her work, she sat down in a corner,
+laughed, her head thrown back, full-throated, applauded the others with
+her thumbnail, shook hands with new-comers, made herself liked by all. And
+it was:
+
+"Hullo, girls! Hullo, boys! Dear old Blackpool! What's the news at the
+Palace? Who's topping the bill at the Hippodrome?"
+
+Lily, on her rickety chair, made as it were a little center at which the
+news was exchanged; to think that, instead of being there, at the top of
+the profession, she might have been at Glasgow, some twopenny theater,
+where ladies are admitted without shoes or stockings, or playing the darky
+at Earl's Court! Yes, but for Jimmy, that's where she would have been! Or
+else the Parisienne, in Russia! She, an English girl, my! And Lily
+fervently touched her lucky charm: oh, work, work, thank goodness for it!
+And Lily rendered homage to work and sprang from her chair to shake hands
+with Tom, who had come to see his palace unpacked:
+
+"Good morning, Tom! Welcome!"
+
+This Tom, who now topped the bill everywhere and had a permanent address
+and his own scenery: wasn't it wonderful? He was no longer her Pa's old
+servant: genius removes all distances; a man is what he makes himself! And
+they shook hands warmly, like equals.
+
+Lily, as a sensational bill-topper and a friend of Jimmy's, was always in
+great request. She talked nicely, without pose of any kind, like a woman
+who is sure of herself and knows things. The Astrarium ... the Astrarium
+... what did that mean? They asked Lily:
+
+"It's like ... a palmarium," she explained, "with sunflowers in it, all
+sorts of things ... girls ... stars ..."
+
+She described her journeys, storms, gee! Weren't there, Glass-Eye? People
+who had never been outside Europe and the States had no idea! Lily talked
+of India, Africa, Australia; talked of lions, which stand on their
+hind-legs when they're angry, and tigers, which lie down flat; mentioned
+stage friendships between elephants and camels and herself in the midst of
+it all: "That high!" lowering her hand to six inches from the floor;
+talked of animal-training: dogs, cats, sea-lions and that "great, big,
+wicked Australian rabbit" which boxed like a man. She was a well-informed
+person, was Lily. And a providence for her family also, to listen to her.
+When any one brought news of her Pa and the New Trickers, with Daisy as a
+statue on her pedestal, one of the successes of the year:
+
+"Yes," Lily replied, in a patronizing tone, "I know. It was my idea. I
+gave it to them!"
+
+They thought it very nice of her. She listened with great dignity to what
+they said about the New Trickers. They would not be at the Astrarium on
+the opening night. They were finishing an engagement on the Bill and Boom
+that same evening. They would be in Paris the next day. Mr. Clifton was
+reckoning on this appearance for the final triumph of his troupe ... and
+he deserved it. What a man, Mr. Clifton, what a man! "Not easy to please,
+eh, Lily?" And the inevitable gesture followed. But Lily would have none
+of that now, she would not hear her Pa spoken of as a brute! Did they take
+her for a performing dog? One was born with the gift or else one remained
+all one's life a Daisy or a fat freak! She was proud to have a Pa like
+hers. She wasn't a mountebank picked up on the road! Lily had a Pa and a
+Ma: a Ma of her own, a Ma whom she was certain about. She bore a
+well-known name. She belonged to the "father and son" aristocracy of the
+music-hall. She had never needed "that" to make her practice, she an
+artiste, brought up like a lady:
+
+"Wasn't I, Glass-Eye? Tom, wasn't I?"
+
+And the jewelry and the sweets her Pa bought her, my! Tons of it! Of
+course, he would stand no nonsense about behavior; and Lily made them all
+laugh till the tears came about that footy rotter who made love to her in
+London, before the time when drink made him look so disgusting, and, when
+she loitered in the street with him, Pa, the moment she reached the door,
+caught her such a blow that she took all the steps to the basement at one
+jump; and there found her Ma waiting for her ... gee!
+
+"And they were quite right, too! And ... do they know that I'm going to
+top the bill at the Astrarium?" she asked.
+
+"No, they think you're in Spain or somewhere."
+
+"Somewhere!" said Lily to herself, with a thrill at her heart. "I'll show
+them!"
+
+She choked with joy at the idea of the startled look on the faces of Pa
+and Ma when they saw her on the aerobike. An exuberant gladness filled her
+heart. And that feverish work, those laborers everywhere, the opening in
+the roof, the terrace up above, those posters all over Paris and there,
+behind the iron door, in the dark, the bird! It was all for her: a theater
+for herself! And she felt a need to leap, to laugh, to spread gaiety all
+around her; and she rushed about madly with the Bambinis, romped with them
+behind the pillars, rolled with them on the floor of her dressing-room,
+became once again the Lily who had played truant all around the world,
+inventing practical jokes in India and climbing apple-trees in Honolulu.
+She crossed the combs and tooth-brushes on the Roofer girls' tables,
+rushed into their room when they were undressed, drove the trembling herd
+of them distracted, talked of the thousand dangers that awaited them if
+they didn't mend their ways, made them fly to their lucky charms to ward
+off ill-luck, when she offered them a yellow flower, with great pomp, or
+some broken glass in a jewel-box. Then she talked to the Three Graces,
+those big girls who always astonished her with their cloistered
+existence--Nunkie before everything--and who amused themselves by
+measuring one another round the biceps, round the chest, or else, with
+their elbows on the table, played at who should first bend back the
+other's wrist. Lily sat down for a moment with them, then stopped,
+breathless with larking and talking, and went back to her dressing-room:
+
+"I shall have months to spend in here!" she thought.
+
+[Illustration: LILY'S GOLLYWOG]
+
+And, assisted by Glass-Eye, she pinned up bits of stuff, tied a silk bow
+to the back of the chair, put up nails for her costumes, laid out on her
+table long rows of post-cards, photographs of friends, all dispersed to
+the four quarters of the globe, some dead, others done for, all the poor
+witnesses of her life. Then she took her black gollywog from her trunk and
+kissed it passionately--"Darling! Darling! Darling!"--before hanging it up
+on the wall. And along the dressing-room passage and through the window
+came the sound of voices ... snatches of homesick tunes: _From Rangoon to
+Mandalay_ or _Way down upon the Suwanee River_ ... and "Hullo, Lily!
+Hullo, old boy!"... The female-impersonator walked into her room as though
+it were his own, sat down on the basket trunk, plunging his green eyes
+into hers.
+
+And sometimes Jimmy passed, always at a run: something had gone wrong
+somewhere, the heating apparatus, the electric light....
+
+"Hullo, Lily!" And he stopped for a moment, frowned at the sight of the
+impersonator. "Always busy?" he asked, seeing Lily, bare-armed, washing
+something in her basin.
+
+"Have to be," said Lily. "I always wash my little blouses; we do
+everything ourselves, don't we, Glass-Eye? And, when I'm performing, I
+have two pairs of tights to wash a day!"
+
+"Two pairs of tights!"
+
+"Why, of course, matinée and night! You have no idea, Jimmy ... the nickel
+... when I sit on the handle-bar, it makes a great mark ... just here,
+look!"
+
+And she laughed at Jimmy over her shoulder while she pointed to the place
+... and then blushed, like a frolicsome child that has been found out and
+is, oh, so sorry!
+
+"Every one's got to keep to his own dressing-room!" said Jimmy, feeling
+very uncomfortable, to the man with the green eyes. "You can't stay here;
+it's against the rules!"
+
+"We're doing no harm, please, Mr. Jimmy," retorted Lily, sitting down
+beside the impersonator and slipping her arm round his waist.
+
+"Poor Jimmy!" said the impersonator, when the other had left the room in a
+rage. "He's jealous, isn't he, darling?"
+
+"He jealous? Then why doesn't he say so? One can't guess a thing like
+that! When you're a man, you speak out!"
+
+And the architect appeared in his turn, he, too, running from one end of
+the theater to the other. He wore a bandage over one eye:
+
+"Knocked up against a beam ... a little accident. Have you seen Jimmy?"
+
+"He's over there, I think," replied Lily, without troubling to look at
+him.
+
+There was no jealousy about the architect. He stayed for a moment, sniffed
+at the scent-bottle, smiled at the photographs on the wall. A green-eyed
+impersonator, a blue-eyed impersonator: the room could have been full of
+impersonators, for all he cared. Dark girls, yellow girls, fair girls, so
+many playthings to distract him from his rules and compasses. He was bored
+at once; turned to another at once; and it was all so amusing! He was the
+typical lover of the woman of the stage, with his little surface passions.
+And very amiable withal, knowing them all, and friendly with them, a great
+purveyor of anecdotes:
+
+"The Para-Paras, you know, Lily, committed suicide in their room ... awful
+poverty. The wife wasn't ... Tottie enough ... and the husband was
+teaching the English accent to continental clowns! Poland? A magnificent
+engagement in Russia. Old Martello hasn't three days to live. Oh ... and
+Nunkie! There's news among the Three Graces! The troupe's done for this
+time!"
+
+And he told how, last night, poor Thea, while mending her uncle's
+overcoat, found in the lining an old letter from America ... from some
+swain she had had over there ... a letter glowing with love and regret.
+Yes, Nunkie knew how to hold his nieces, the architect explained, laughing
+... watched them like a Spanish duenna, confiscated the letters that came
+for them, if necessary, the old rogue, and calmed their ardors with a few
+drops of bromide in a glass of water, every evening, on the pretense of
+keeping them from catching cold in the drafts. Oh, the old rogue! And Thea
+had almost fainted with grief in her dressing-room when she read the
+letter.
+
+"Quite a business, Lily! A scandal in their little home! Very funny, eh?"
+he added, as he ogled Lily's pigeon's eggs and rolled a cigarette.
+
+Lily, who had seen poor Thea cry before and who knew to what extent her
+lover's treachery had humiliated her, was secretly furious to hear that
+josser talk carelessly of things like that: did he imagine, the idiot,
+that they weren't built like other people, in the profession, that they
+had no feelings? What need had the public to know about their lives? It
+was among themselves, quite among themselves, all that!
+
+"Get out of my sight, you damned josser!" said Lily. "Go and eat coke!"
+
+But the other, greatly amused, described his latest discovery, a pearl, in
+an out-of-the-way neighborhood ... at Vaugirard fair ... an extraordinary
+girl, showing off on a couple of trestles in front of a canvas booth, in
+which her man lifted weights to the light of the Argand burners:
+
+"Picture this girl, Lily," said the enthusiastic josser, "picture this
+girl on her trestles, doing weights, balancings, all sorts of things. A
+body like a boy's, all muscle, and thin: whew! Not _that_ much fat on her,
+no hips, arms and shoulders, like Michael Angelo's flayed model. And I
+talked to her afterward! And her man gave me a queer look you know ... I
+got a blow...."
+
+"Well done!" cried Lily, clapping her hands. "The beam, eh? That'll teach
+you to meddle in other people's business! Oh, you don't know those
+tenters! One of these days you'll be picked up with your face smashed in,
+or shot through the chest with a revolver."
+
+"I say, though," the architect interrupted, "that girl ... I don't know
+how we came to speak of you ... she knows you, Lily!"
+
+"That's right! Now I have mountebanks among my acquaintances!" said Lily,
+with an air of disgust. "Get out of this, I say!... You wanted Jimmy;
+there he is, look!"
+
+And Lily, furious, jerked her head toward the passage.
+
+When Lily went home again she did not even think of what she had just
+heard. The death of the Paras; the Graces ... Nunkie, that old rogue!...
+She forgot all about it.... She saw only that: the theater, the aerobike,
+the theater! Ah! she had it in her blood, in spite of those ugly stories!
+Even outside, when, upon Jimmy's advice, she went to take the air in the
+parks, under the great blue sky, she regretted the dark stage, the canvas
+landscapes of the back-drops; the open-air scenery appeared paltry to her,
+beside it. Between her and nature there was always the aerobike! In a few
+days ... was it possible? She clenched her little hands over an imaginary
+handle-bar, hardened her pigeon's eggs, made pedaling movements, in spite
+of herself, on the floor of the tram-car which she very soon took to get
+back to the theater again! It was her life, her joy, her suffering, her
+good and evil ... it was her field, her very own field, the field which
+she had sown with sweat that she might reap fame and glory.
+
+And, when she returned, she reveled in that smell of hot glue and tar and
+scent; oh, it was much nicer than the country! And more interesting, too:
+all the little drama that was being enacted among the Graces, for
+instance; Nunkie had lost his wonderful reputation, he was surrounded with
+less reverence; the story of the confiscated letters was beginning its
+round of the world. It was all very well for him to spoil his dear girls,
+to double his attentions, to treble the doses of bromide; there was no
+doubt about it, the troupe's days were numbered. The boy-violinist and
+others were making love to the Three Graces, fresh troupes were being
+formed, three more, any number! And they all talked freely, turned their
+backs without hesitation upon Nunkie, who was prowling round:
+
+"Well?" he asked. "What's the mystery?"
+
+"We were discussing marriage, Nunkie," the Graces answered.
+
+"That's right, my children," he replied, with a sigh.
+
+Lily, in all these plots and counter-plots, knew how to remain neuter and
+to be very nice to everybody; she had been trained from childhood to keep
+her opinions to herself; none of her damned business, all that; something
+that might have been foreseen and expected ... like the death of old
+Martello, which Jimmy told her of.... Yes, the old man had flickered out
+in his bed just like that....
+
+But she needed all her composure, indeed, when Jimmy told her that those
+dear little Bambinis ... ah, there was bad news for them, the poor loves!
+
+"What? What?" asked Lily.
+
+"Well, we are going to lose them; they've been claimed by their brother,
+it seems."
+
+"What!" cried Lily. "Their brother? The ... the Mexican one?"
+
+"Yes, I think so," said Jimmy. "He's come back from South America. He is
+in Paris now ... somewhere in a penny show, in the suburbs ... I don't
+know where ... with a girl."
+
+"With a girl!" thought Lily.
+
+Everything returned to her in a flash! The girl with the bruised skin ...
+that boy's body all muscle ... Ave Maria! Ave Maria! Not dead! She felt
+inclined to run up to Trampy, to fly at his throat, to bellow in his face
+that Ave Maria was here, just to see the effect! But she restrained
+herself. Suppose it were not true? Oh, she would soon know! That footy
+rotter, if it were true! O God, grant that it might be true!
+
+All this passed through her brain in less than a second.
+
+"Why!" said Jimmy, seeing her turn pale. "Does that affect you so much ...
+the loss of your little friends, the Bambinis? For you're going to lose
+them...."
+
+"No, Jimmy!" she replied indignantly. "You shall not give up the Bambinis
+to their brother, a cruel, cowardly brute like that, right at the bottom
+of the profession. I know ... I've seen.... You shan't do it, Jimmy, and,
+look here, I forbid you!"
+
+"Well, Lily, Lily, I'll do what I can, to please you, you know; I'll try;
+I'll see the police; you must give your evidence, if you have anything to
+say. Do you know, Lily, you are as good as gold. You're a good little
+Lily: hard upon herself and kind to others."
+
+But he was interrupted ... Jimmy here, Jimmy there ... he was wanted ...
+for the flies, for the roof.... Jimmy flew to the stage, bothered on every
+side, worried by the Astrarium ... and Lily. Lily! He could not escape her
+now, do what he might! He had her in his heart, in his brain, everywhere.
+She lived and existed in his breast, shot up there like a flame! Whatever
+he had been told about her he no longer knew, did not want to know. And,
+besides, even if it had been true, oh, he would have forgiven everything!
+He would have passed over everything! He would have plunged into the abyss
+to get Lily out of it, whatever she had done; yes! In spite of everything!
+in spite of everybody! In spite of Trampy, husband or not!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+To-morrow was to be the great day, the opening of the Astrarium, the first
+night; and Jimmy, more bustled than ever, forgot Lily ... almost ... on
+that evening, especially, the evening of the dress-rehearsal: not an
+ordinary rehearsal, with the band-parts handed to the conductor across the
+footlights--"A march here, please, a waltz there. 'K you"--no, the whole
+show, with orchestra and all complete; the stage flooded with light; each
+turn in its own setting: corridor, wood, room, palace. Jimmy multiplied
+himself in the final fever. The theater, arranged according to his ideas,
+was still encumbered with ladders and scaffoldings; but gangs of laborers
+were hard at work on every side. The obstructions all disappeared like
+magic, were juggled away. Jimmy had made sure that the roof was ready; he
+had run from the landing-point, out of sight of the audience, through the
+door contrived in the wall of the stage, crossed the fly-galleries, come
+down by the pulley-rope; the whole thing, from roof to stage, had taken
+him, watch in hand, thirty seconds. And Lily had done it also. It formed
+part of the turn, a sensational addition to the aerobike. All would be
+ready, all would go well, provided that Lily was not nervous that evening
+... and to-morrow especially! Those confounded crazy little girls! Crazy
+every one of them: Laurence herself, the bravest of the lot, had just had
+an awful fall, at Boston, in her excitement at losing her lucky charm. It
+was the event in the profession, the accident of the day. Lily might be
+frightened by it. Now it was essential that she should succeed and succeed
+at the first attempt. His fortune and hers, his future, the success of the
+Astrarium depended on it. And Jimmy, obsessed by his labors, had hardly
+time to think of Trampy, in the formidable effort of the eleventh hour.
+And yet, sometimes, he felt a pain at his heart. That adorable Lily! Would
+he succeed in making her love him? And now there was that impersonator!
+Oh, to work, to work! And he went at it, hammer and tongs, to make sure of
+the aerobike's success. To make them talk of him ... to achieve fame ...
+which was as sweet as love! And he was wanted from one end of the theater
+to the other. Oh, he might well look upon the Astrarium as his creation!
+Already, a few days before, rumors of a strike were current. The managers
+were boycotted by the artistes, in England.... Jimmy feared lest the
+Astrarium should feel the consequences, under the pressure of the
+Performers' Association, but he had arranged everything, seen each artiste
+separately, explained his plans: gala matinées, creation of an asylum, a
+home of rest ... a glory to help in such a task ... who could tell but
+that they were working for themselves by adding their stone to the
+edifice? He quoted the Para-Paras and their wretched end; old Martello,
+dead without leaving a penny; the Bambinis, homeless; Ave Maria,
+unprotected. The men listened, with serious faces. As for the girls, his
+words came straight from the heart. Those decent girls, who earned their
+living as they knew how and the living of others besides, they understood
+him at once; and Lily no longer laughed; on the contrary:
+
+"Me? Whatever you like! For nothing, if you like; rely on me, Jimmy!"
+
+And now the hour had come; they were to appear under the critical eye of
+Harrasford. The acting-manager had arrived from England that same day with
+the stage-manager, who was "behind." It made a strange impression, that
+huge red-and-gold house, glittering with light and sounding curiously
+empty to the thunder of the band. Everybody was at his post: the tall
+flunkeys stood motionless at the entrance-doors, in the promenades, as if
+the audience had been there, whereas there was practically nobody except
+Harrasford and the manager. And on the stage, which had been cleared of
+every superfluous piece of property, splendid order reigned: the
+scene-shifters, up above, had their hands on the windlasses; the two
+electricians, on their perches, turned the lime-light where it was to
+fall; the drops rose and fell without a hitch; the scenes slipped into
+their places, shifted, in the English fashion, by one man. For each turn
+on the stage, the next was ready to come on, no more; all the rest were in
+the dressing-rooms. But there, behind the iron curtain, one could picture
+staircases crowded with people running up and down, passages full of
+light, a flurried ant-hill, and feel that a ring of bells would be enough
+to bring tumbling on to the stage a whole glittering, grotesque or radiant
+world of people, from the monkey-faced comedian to Lily, in her pink
+tights, an image of Venus. There was electricity in the air of that empty
+house, in which all felt the presence of the powerful master, harder to
+please than a crowd! And rays of light ran along the stage, the back-drop
+seemed a cloud ready to split in the crash of the thunder, under the storm
+of the raging brasses. On the stage, the turns defiled in their order,
+under the shimmering lights: the Bambinis, brother and sister, supple
+grace and strength combined, filled the huge space with the free play of
+their rosy bodies and the brightness of their genuine gaiety. The Three
+Graces formed the human cluster, a hanging group of faces, figures,
+shoulders and glorious lines. The program poured out laughter, harmony,
+beauty, till, against the blue forest, came the scarlet step-dances of the
+Roofers. And then silence: the feature of the evening, the aerobike! There
+was a moment's anxiety. A net was stretched above the stalls, from the
+footlights to the opening in the roof. For the audience, at any rate, all
+danger was removed, even in case of a fall. Then the glass dome above
+opened, and the curtain rose on the Elysian glimmer of a scene studded
+with stars; and everything was empty, stage and auditorium. The distance
+seemed immense: "miles and miles!" The machine was to start out suddenly,
+rush through space, disappear up above, like a meteor that shoots out from
+infinity and returns to it.
+
+A few seconds passed, during which Jimmy gave Lily her last instructions:
+
+"You're not afraid, Lily? Would you like me to do it?"
+
+Afraid! She turned her calm face to him. Oh, she could have accomplished
+impossible and cruel things, braved torture, walked on burning coals! She
+felt herself made of supple steel, unerring and exact:
+
+"Up, quick, quick! Ready, Jimmy?"
+
+"Ready!"
+
+"Then ... GO!"
+
+The aerobike flashed like an arrow from the bow, raised itself with a
+magnificent jerk; the propeller hummed like a thunder-bolt, the wings
+rustled in flight, pointed toward the opening, went up ... up ... up ...
+disappeared in the star-strewn sky.... It was done! The band struck up the
+triumphal march, Harrasford, the manager, the few who were present all
+burst into cheers; and, suddenly, over the house plunged in darkness, from
+the back of the stage, came a burst of light. Lily, after running over the
+roof and sliding down the pulley, was descending against the blue
+back-drop, bringing with her the star! First, one saw the light breaking,
+then swelling and increasing in brilliancy, and Lily appeared, a starry
+Eve, holding, in her upraised hand, a dazzling luminary, a crystal globe,
+which an invisible wire from behind filled with an intensity of light. And
+powerful rays shot to every side, end-of-the-world coruscations, above the
+crater of the orchestra.
+
+"Splendid!" cried Harrasford. "That dishes the waterspouts at the
+Hippodrome, the avalanches, everything!" And, as Jimmy came up, "Good boy,
+Jimmy!" he said, catching him a great smack on the shoulder by way of a
+compliment. "And your girl ... your ... Maggy ... your ... what's her
+name? Lily ... glorious! Very good indeed! Couldn't be better! Capital
+idea!"
+
+He gave a quick glance at his watch, a few words to Jimmy, to the manager,
+over his shoulder, on the wing:
+
+"All the boxes booked three weeks ahead? All the stalls? That's right!
+Good-by, good luck!"
+
+Already his broad back was disappearing through the door; had to catch the
+midnight train for Cologne; presence indispensable.
+
+"Telephone to-morrow; let me know how things go. Ta-ta!"
+
+And Harrasford was far away.
+
+And Lily? Lily was in her dressing-room, stupefied with delight. How soon
+it was done! How simple it was! Jimmy, after all, with his scrawls and his
+scribbles, with his brain-work: what a discovery he had made! She would
+have liked it to last for ever, the flight on the aerobike; she still
+seemed to be rushing up to the stars, to feel the coolness of the night on
+her face. How funny it was, going up, up, up and out through that hole.
+She was still laughing at it, with little convulsive movements of the
+shoulders, and stammering out things.
+
+When she was dressed, she received Jimmy's congratulations and
+everybody's. They gave her a bouquet:
+
+"To our little favorite!"
+
+She answered, without knowing what she said; went home. Everything seemed
+to be turning round and round. She ate a few mouthfuls, washed down with a
+glass of milk; and then, suddenly, made a rush for Glass-Eye! A pillow
+fight followed:
+
+"Here, take that! Take that! And that! And that!"
+
+Ten minutes of an epic struggle, on the bed thrown into confusion and
+disorder, as after a murder; huge slaps on the firm, rounded forms; virile
+smackings; and Glass-Eye, breathlessly, had to own herself beaten, to beg
+for mercy.
+
+"That'll teach them!" cried Lily, falling on the bed, panting, drunk with
+joy, drunk with joy! Trampy, Mexico, Ma's insults, the jealousies, the
+grudges, Daisy, the fat freaks: pooh, none of that existed for her!
+Nothing remained but herself, drunk with an immense joy! She was almost
+delirious, in the excess of her great happiness:
+
+"I'll smash up their damned troupes, do you hear, Glass-Eye? There! Like
+that!" And she tried to renew the fight, but her strength failed her.
+"Dished and done for, their damned troupes!"
+
+And she laughed, she burst with laughing, when she thought of their
+eighteen feet of stage:
+
+"Stages as big as my hand, Glass-Eye, is what they've got to turn in!"
+
+Whereas, she went straight up in the air, up to the stars, miles high, up
+above everything! Bang! A smack for Glass-Eye, who was just taking off her
+skirt!
+
+"And I say, Glass-Eye! Ma, who said that I ... you know what she said! But
+wait till they see me in my grand dresses! I'll order them to-morrow; and
+my hats too. And I'll invite Pa and Ma to the hotel! And we'll drink
+champagne and I'll have fifty francs' worth of flowers on the table, just
+to show them! 'Our Lily,' that's what I'm going to be, 'our own Lily,'
+damn it!"
+
+Lily, when she was in bed, turned things over and over in her brain. Yes,
+her Pa was quite right. It was for her good, for her own good! Big
+salaries, which would all belong to her! And no more performing-dog
+toques, but big hats and feathers and motor-cars and furs, but no goggles!
+No, she must find something that wouldn't hide her face, so that people
+would recognize her and say:
+
+"That's Lily!"
+
+And the road behind her motor would be strewn with the bodies of pros who
+had died of jealousy!
+
+And she would consult Pa and Ma on the color of her liveries, on her
+crest: a wheel, with wings to it! And Lily dropped off into a sleep
+interrupted by awful nightmares, in which Ma was dead--poor Ma!--before
+witnessing her triumph--and in which elephants trumpeted in her honor and
+sea-lions applauded her with their finny fore-paws, all along a queer sort
+of Tottenham Court Road, paved with fat freaks, at the end of which a
+Horse Shoe, as big as the Marble Arch, opened out upon the stars.
+
+Poor Glass-Eye, on her side, had the most outlandish dreams. Her brain was
+turned from living in the midst of all that. She dreamed that she was
+flying, too; that she was Lily in her turn; that she was soaring over
+Whitechapel; but, from time to time, a nervous kick from Lily recalled her
+to the realities of life.
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Glass-Eye! There's a knock at the door, I think. Or else I'm dreaming.
+What's the time? Ten o'clock. Get up, Glass-Eye! If it's the landlady,
+tell her I'll pay her next week!"
+
+But Glass-Eye, who had gone to the door, shut it suddenly and came back to
+Lily, looking quite startled:
+
+"Miss Lily, there's some one, all in black, on the stairs; a ghost!"
+
+"If you're trying to frighten me," cried Lily, jumping out of bed, "I'll
+knock your other eye out! Take care!"
+
+She was choking with excitement. Lily was afraid of nothing. But those
+confounded ghosts: poor Ma, perhaps! And she quickly separated two fingers
+wide behind her back, so as to be on the safe side and ward off ill-luck:
+
+"Come with me, Glass-Eye; you go first!"
+
+And Lily, in her night-dress, half-opened the door, looked out.
+
+A thin woman, all in black, stood motionless. It was not Ma. Lily breathed
+more freely:
+
+"What do you want?" she asked.
+
+"I want to speak to Miss Lily," said the woman in black. "I went to the
+theater and they gave me your address. I came.... I suppose you don't
+remember me, it's so long ago. Ave Maria, on the wire in Mexico?"
+
+"Ave Maria! Come in," said Lily.
+
+Ave Maria, whom she had sought for so long. She would know at last! Oh, if
+it were true! God grant that it might be true! Lily, hardly recovered from
+her fright, quivered at the thought. And she devoured Ave Maria with her
+eyes. She recognized her, now that she knew: it was she indeed, but grown
+old before her time, looking wretched, thin, hollow-eyed, a face all skin
+and bone. And the two stood contemplating each other in silence.
+
+"How pretty you've grown!" whispered Ave Maria timidly. "No one would take
+you for a professional."
+
+But a sudden fit of coughing brought scarlet patches to her pale cheeks.
+
+"It catches me here," she said, pressing her hand to her chest. "It's
+damp, sometimes, in the tent. And then half-naked on those trestles. The
+work warms one, it's true. The other night I saw some one who knew you, a
+gentleman. I should have liked to ask him more, but my brother struck him
+in the face. I got my turn after. However, I wanted to see you. I went to
+the Astrarium. I asked them."
+
+"Go on," said Lily, who was burning to know, but did not want to show it.
+"Glass-Eye, give me my dressing-gown. Go on, please!"
+
+"I don't know that I dare," said Ave Maria, "now that I have seen you. You
+are so much better-looking than I am. Are you still living with him?" she
+asked, in a low voice, fixing two fiery eyes on Lily.
+
+"No," said Lily, "I am living with nobody!"
+
+"But they told me. I heard at Buenos Ayres ... the story of the whippings,
+your running away with him...."
+
+"What whippings? And I'm living with nobody!" retorted Lily, very
+haughtily.
+
+"But you have lived with him ... in Germany ... Trampy, you know."
+
+"No," said Lily, "I was married, wasn't I, Glass-Eye?"
+
+"But _I'm_ married to him!" Ave Maria broke in, more aggressively than
+before.
+
+"Oh, if it were true!" thought Lily. "Oh, if it were true!"
+
+She dared not believe it, it would have been too beautiful, beautiful
+beyond dreams. And, with her nerves stretching to breaking-point:
+
+"Prove it!" she said coldly, to Ave Maria.
+
+"Yes, I have my proofs," replied Ave Maria, shaken with a furious cough.
+"And I'll show them! Trampy belongs to me, not to you! He's in Paris, they
+tell me.... And I mean to have him, do you hear? I've suffered enough and
+to spare. I've done everything since he left me. Look here, at Caracas
+people used to offer me twopence to let them black my eye, sometimes, when
+my brother was locked up at the police-station. And there were the
+one-horse circuses where we slept in a heap on the straw, in Chili or some
+such country. And, sometimes, I lost my balance on the wire, because of my
+cough. And my brother: you know him! And the cattle-men, when they're
+drunk! One of them stabbed me here, with a knife, there, here, in the
+breast; they had to cut it off--the breast--later, at Montevideo, because
+of the gangrene. Yes, he stabbed me with a knife, because I wouldn't say,
+'I love you,' to him! Fancy my saying, 'I love you,' to any one but
+Trampy! Never! I would have let them jump on my chest with their hobnailed
+boots first! And, now that Trampy's here, I want him! He belongs to me and
+I mean to have him."
+
+"Well, take him, if he belongs to you!" said Lily. "I don't care a hang
+for your Trampy; I've turned him out long ago!"
+
+"So ... it's true? If he's no longer with you, I can have him again. I
+shall have him! I'll have my brother locked up, if necessary, to be free!
+I have only to say a word, not because of the story of that nose which he
+bit off at Rio: no, the other day, at Vaugirard, he used the knife. I'll
+tell everything, to have my Trampy back."
+
+And her rough voice became gentle now, in her Anglo-Italian jargon, with a
+dash of Spanish in it; everything became clear, everything yielded before
+the violence of that fierce love. Lily was astounded to hear it:
+
+"That's what I call love!" she thought. "I had no idea, my! And all for
+Trampy! It's worse than in the novels."
+
+And she was touched, in spite of herself, and, when Ave Maria cried, "Oh,
+how happy you must be, if he loves you!" Lily dared not protest that she
+didn't care a hang for that soaker, for fear of hurting the poor martyr.
+She replied, on the contrary, that Trampy was very nice, but that he was
+hers no longer, that he belonged to Ave Maria, since Ave Maria had the
+proofs ... _if_ she had the proofs.
+
+"I have them here, Miss Lily, my marriage-lines. I was able to get them,
+after he went. I had the certificate witnessed. My brother, when he came
+to fetch me, never knew about it. I sewed it into the lining of a
+portmanteau; no chance of losing it: here it is."
+
+And she produced a yellow document from her bodice and laid it on the
+table.
+
+Lily seized upon it ... read it at a glance ... it was quite regular! Oh,
+the footy rotter! Two wives! To say nothing of his thirty-six girls! And
+what a fine trick she would play him! At last, she was about to get rid of
+her festering sore! She could not breathe for happiness. And, as Ave Maria
+was watching her movements, lest she should keep the paper, Lily handed it
+back to her, certain that it was in good hands, that it would not be
+lost.
+
+Then and there an idea came to her. Trampy would be at the theater that
+afternoon with Tom, who, knowing little about all these stories,
+interested only in the condition of those biceps of his, had taken Trampy
+as his assistant and had told Lily so. And Lily had said nothing,
+reserving to herself the right to have him turned off the stage by Jimmy,
+with a smack in the eye, before everybody: the footy rotter, coming there
+to defy her! Well, there would be no smack in the eye; she would simply
+hand him over to Ave Maria, as one flings a lump of carrion to a tigress!
+
+"Wait a bit, you faithful husband!" she growled. "You'll see, presently!"
+
+And, first of all, when Ave Maria rose to go, Lily forbade her to do
+anything of the kind, for fear that the brother, who must be out looking
+for her, might drag her back to the booth at the fair and then take the
+first train to some other place, after getting hold of the Bambinis. And
+Lily meant none of all this to take place; she would rather go to the
+police and have the brute arrested!
+
+"Stay here, Ave Maria," she said. "I'll give you back your Trampy this
+afternoon."
+
+Oh, if she had been alone, how she would have flown at Glass-Eye, to work
+off her superabundant joy! It would have been a merciless fight, with
+slaps in the Mexican style! But a lady receiving her friends must set a
+good example. She contented herself with hustling Glass-Eye by word and
+gesture:
+
+"My new dress! My big hat!"
+
+Ave Maria, quite taken up with the excitement of seeing Trampy again, of
+having him back again, left herself in Lily's hands. She felt as if she
+were looking at a princess, when Lily made Glass-Eye spin round the room.
+She could not even help smiling when she saw Glass-Eye catch her foot in
+the dresses spread out on the floor, so much so that Lily asked her
+angrily if she meant to go on hopping about like that for ever, if she
+really wanted to have a candle lit in her glass eye to make her see that
+bodice, there, right in front of her nose, damn it! And Glass-Eye's
+fright, when she heard that ... though Glass-Eye was never surprised at
+anything that Lily said or did!
+
+Going to the Astrarium, Lily, followed by Glass-Eye, walked along the
+street with her cheeky feather waving like a flag in battle. Ave Maria, by
+her side, kept close to the wall, with frightened glances to right and
+left; Lily did not call her attention to the Astrarium posters for fear of
+humiliating her: she would have had to explain that she was topping the
+bill and poor Ave Maria, who was starring at the fair, would never have
+understood. A professional abyss separated the two of them. Lily saw this
+and had too kind a heart to let the other feel it. What a difference
+between them! Merely in the way in which Lily entered the theater and
+smiled to the stage-doorkeeper! Ave Maria followed very timidly, like a
+beggar-woman stealing into a palace. She felt out of her element in those
+big theaters, where she had not appeared for ever so long, having come
+down to the level of one-horse circuses, patched canvas tents, acrobatic
+performances in the open air, on the slack-wire stretched from tree to
+tree. Lily looked a princess beside her, really. Ave Maria was even
+surprised to see her address a gentleman who was there: it was the
+architect, with a bandage over his eye. Ave Maria recognized him; and he,
+rendered prudent by the blow which he had received from "her man," stepped
+back instinctively at the sight of her. But Lily caught him by the lapel
+of his coat:
+
+"You've been fooling me ... with your measurements," she said, "and there
+are certain things that jossers oughtn't to meddle with; and it serves you
+right, that black eye of yours; but I forgive you, because of the immense
+service you're doing me ... without knowing it ... you lover of
+second-rate goods!" she muttered, as she watched him slink off, taking her
+forgiveness with him.
+
+The stage was almost empty. Tom had come, not Trampy; so much the better,
+there would be all the more there presently, for the great scene!
+
+"Wait for me a minute," she said to Ave Maria. "Sit down over there, in
+the corner."
+
+And Lily went up to her dressing-room; she wanted to look her best, to
+bedizen herself ... a little red on her lips, a little blue on her eyelids
+... to make Trampy regret the more what he was going to lose. And, when
+she was ready, Jimmy passed and, icicle though he was, could not help
+paying her a compliment on her good looks. He appeared quite
+disconcerted:
+
+"Just imagine, Lily. What do you think happened to me, in the
+impersonator's dressing-room? I had something to say to him ... I walk in
+... see the impersonator half undressed ... and it's a woman, Lily, a
+magnificent woman! You never told me, you kiddie!"
+
+"Hush!" said Lily. "Don't give her away; it's a secret, it's her living,
+Jimmy."
+
+"Don't be afraid, Lily, I won't prevent any one from earning her living,
+as long as she does all right on the stage. But I don't know where I am
+now. That woman who came in with you, for instance," continued Jimmy
+jestingly, "she looks just like a man; there's no knowing; nothing would
+surprise me after that!"
+
+"She's a woman, Jimmy, a married woman! You'll see presently. We'll have a
+good laugh; mind you're there! I want everybody to be there! It's a
+surprise, Jimmy!"
+
+What a kiddie she was, thought Jimmy, as he went down the stairs. The
+architect, the impersonator: the two scandals of her life. That
+impersonator whom she kissed in front of him, a story that had gone round
+the world, Lily's love affairs, one more ready to leave wife and children
+for her sake: the exaggeration of the stage, always; professional
+boasting. Like the story of the whippings, like those girls whom she had
+described to him, and herself, with all over her skin--"Here, here, damn
+it!"--wounds that you could put your finger into. Or like those who were
+said to be done for, or burned alive, or drowned in shipwrecks, with waves
+miles high, all for the honor of the profession; when, perhaps, it was
+simply as good a way as another of retiring from the stage, to get
+married, with a flourish of trumpets! It wasn't true, all that, or their
+parade of vice either, all humbug, from end to end, their amorous
+conquests, their orgies, their escapades, like their ostrich-feathers,
+that long, or their sham diamonds, that big, and bouquets large enough to
+fill a cab. But they were decent-hearted girls, all the same: that Lily,
+what a kiddie, thought Jimmy, feeling quite comforted, quite glad on her
+account.
+
+And just then, as luck would have it, he met Tom, to whom Glass-Eye had
+brought Miss Lily's album, with a request for his autograph. Tom, whose
+formidable muscles were hardly capable of wielding a pen, especially to
+write "thoughts," was holding the album with a sheepish look, turning it
+round and round:
+
+"I say," he said, as Jimmy passed, "write something; for me!"
+
+"All right!" said Jimmy.
+
+And he lightly turned the pages of the album, the famous album, said to be
+crammed with passionate declarations. Not a bit of it! Nothing but foolery
+and childish nonsense:
+
+                    "May joy and pleasure be your lot
+                    . . . trot, trot, trot!"
+
+                      "... Regard me as a link.
+                                      Loving Pal."
+
+"_Un afetuoso saludo y un augurio de feliz viaje le desea Pedro y
+Paolo_."
+
+            "Hoping we shall meet again, if not here, there.
+
+                            "Joe Brooks."
+
+"_Puedo decir que nunca he visto yoo ... tan cuida y bella_...."
+
+There was page upon page, in this style, with, here and there, a rough
+sketch: a heart pierced by an arrow, signed, "Castaigne;" a dried
+shamrock: "Blarney Castle;" a bit of seaweed: "Dundee." Jimmy smiled to
+himself and especially at what he heard beside him, where Glass-Eye, while
+gazing wide-eyed at Tom's immense arms, was telling him all her troubles:
+quite mad, Miss Lily, ought to be locked up! And _she_ ought to know:
+never left her side since she began traveling by herself, day or night.
+
+"You're a lucky one, you are!" Tom broke in.
+
+"I should like to see you try it, just!" Glass-Eye retorted. "And meantime
+I get more smacks than halfpence. Oh, I know she'll pay me all in a lump,
+when she gets it! She's very generous, really. And her Pa and Ma ... yes
+... do you know what she means to do? She's not angry with them any
+longer. She's going to stuff them with turkey and pudding at the hotel and
+stand them fifty francs' worth of flowers. She's forgiven them!"
+
+"That's more than I have!" replied Tom. "Her Pa will know what I am made
+of to-morrow, the brute! He'll have one on the mug, for boxing my ears and
+kicking me out ... you know ... because of the letters from Trampy."
+
+"If you do that, Tom, you'll have Miss Lily to reckon with! What! You're
+laughing!" cried Glass-Eye angrily. "You don't know how it hurts ... on
+one's bones! And those pillow-fights: I've had my nose smashed in one of
+them before now! Nothing surprises me that Miss Lily says or does. Why,
+this very morning, she wanted to put a lighted candle in my glass eye!"
+
+"Eh, what? A light in your eye?" exclaimed Tom suddenly. "I wonder if one
+really could ... I say, Jimmy, could one?"
+
+"Yes," said Jimmy, greatly amused, "with an invisible wire under the
+dress...."
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Tom. "Would you like two shillings a day, Glass-Eye? And
+your food and clothes? You shall travel with me; you shall appear on the
+stage. Come along to the café, we'll sign the engagement!"
+
+"But what will Miss Lily say?" objected Glass-Eye, trembling at the idea
+of announcing her departure to her terrible mistress.
+
+"Well," said Tom, "I'll be nice to her Pa, if she's nice to you. Come
+along!"
+
+"But I don't know how to sign my name."
+
+"You can make your mark, before two witnesses. Come along!"
+
+Glass-Eye, dazzled and beglamored, followed Tom. She, an artiste! On the
+stage! At last! Going round the world with Tom ... living with him ...
+married ... almost!
+
+"That's come in the nick of time!" said Jimmy, as he watched her go off
+the stage. "Lily, perhaps ... in her new position ... will want a real
+maid, not a Glass-Eye! Lily ... why, she's perfection! To think of the
+abysses she has walked along without falling! There's more merit than one
+thinks in that kind of life. And how I should like to get hold of the
+people who talk ill of her. And that ... that ... oh, that one!"
+
+And Jimmy clenched his fists, at the thought of Trampy, and his heart
+burst forth: all his patient, brave, manly heart, now well nigh
+exhausted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Poor Ave Maria, indifferent to what was going on before her, was still
+waiting on the stage. For that matter, it was but a few minutes since Lily
+brought her there. Ave Maria felt inclined to go and meet Trampy on the
+pavement, to throw her arms round his neck as soon as he appeared. But
+Lily had earnestly recommended her not to move, whatever happened. So she
+remained in her corner and, under the pale light, with her back to the
+forest scene, in the shadow, Ave Maria looked like a lurking she-wolf,
+ready to leap out at any moment.
+
+[Illustration: AVE MARIA]
+
+As for Lily, she tripped down the stairs to the stage, for a few seconds
+contemplated all those bill-toppers at her feet, so to speak; but she took
+the last stairs at a bound: Trampy had just entered! Ave Maria, in her
+corner, behind the pillars and the confused heap of scenery, could not see
+him. Lily preferred that. She would manage everything her own way and get
+rid of him once and for all ... get rid of that footy rotter who had come
+there to jeer at her. He stepped along, with his hat on one side and a
+dead cigar between his teeth. Trampy, broken, diseased, done for, was
+jubilant for all that; turned his broad smile from girl to girl, winked
+his eye gaily at the Roofers, who drew back in disgust, and, with
+outstretched hand:
+
+"How d'you do, Lily? How's my dear little wife?"
+
+He enjoyed the humiliation which he was inflicting upon her, would have
+liked his clothes to be still shabbier, his shoes more down at heel, so
+that he might thoroughly disgrace his dear little wife--that great
+bill-topper, who was leaving the pink of husbands in such a state of
+destitution. And he threw out his chest, increased his familiarities, and
+even pretended to kiss her, pushed his blotched and pimpled mug close to
+that charming face. Jimmy gave a bound: Trampy! On the stage! Lily's
+tormentor! Jimmy, pale with fury, walked up to him, stiff-armed, ready to
+break the jaw of that thief in the night and chuck him into the street,
+without more words! But Lily stopped him with a quick gesture:
+
+"Why, Jimmy," she said, "would you keep a man from earning his living? Do
+you find fault with a husband for loving his little wife? I am your little
+wife, am I not?" she continued, tantalizing Trampy with her peach-like
+cheek, tickling his nose with her fair curls. "Don't you deserve a dear
+little wife?"
+
+"Why, of course I do!" Trampy agreed, surprised, all the same, at this
+loving reception from his dear little wife.
+
+"There!" cried Lily, unable to restrain herself any longer and giving him
+a box on the ears. "That'll teach you to call me your little wife, you
+damned tramp cyclist! I've never been your little wife. I'll show you your
+little wife, the real one. Come along, Ave Maria! Here's Trampy!"
+
+"Eh, what?" said Trampy, turning color. "Ave Maria? I don't know any Ave
+Maria."
+
+But already Ave Maria was upon him, pressing him in her arms: her Trampy!
+And her cough brought pink-red patches to her hectic cheeks.
+
+"What's this mean? I don't know you," he stammered, gazing horror-stricken
+at this old, lean woman, who was taking possession of him before
+everybody, taking possession of him who cared only for plump little
+things, sultan that he was. "I don't know her, I don't know her!"
+
+"Here!" cried Lily, snatching the paper from Ave Maria's bodice. "Do you
+know that? Can you read? Now will you deny that she's your wife ... your
+wife ... your wife?" she repeated, rejoicing in being able to hurl the
+word to Trampy, who turned pale with fright.
+
+"We'll try and arrange it," whispered Jimmy, still hardly recovered from
+his surprise. "A divorce in Lily's favor first! She'll dictate your answer
+for you; you've only got to say yes to everything. And then you can be off
+somewhere; to West Australia. I'll pay your expenses. And don't you ever
+dare to show your face again! Never! Do you understand?"
+
+"And that'll teach you to make little of people!" cried Lily. "Let's drink
+to the health of Trampy, the faithful husband! I'll stand champagne all
+round to the health of good old Trampy and his dear little wife!"
+
+But, without waiting for the champagne, already Ave Maria was dragging
+Trampy to the door and the Roofer girls gave him a triumphal exit. They
+sent him to Halifax, they sent him to Coventry. They flourished things at
+his head, amid an uproar of jolly hootings, and took aim at him--"Ping!
+Ping!"--and pinched him, as the Merry Wives did Falstaff in Windsor
+Forest. And they slipped off their shoes in honor of his wedding, by Jove!
+And Trampy fled under a shower of boots and slippers, fled like mad, as
+though the devil were after him.
+
+Jimmy did not know if he was on his head or his heels for joy:
+
+"I'll stand the champagne!" he said. "To Miss Lily's health!"
+
+So much had happened in those few minutes: Lily free again ... and no
+scandal ... the divorce assured ... Trampy admitting his misdeeds,
+inventing them, if necessary, confessing anything they asked him to, as
+long as they did not mention bigamy.... Jimmy, had it been possible, would
+have offered a general picnic to the whole company. He, usually so calm,
+felt inclined to sing, to laugh. Never would he have dared to hope.... And
+it had all come so simply, like the things that are bound to happen. Lily
+was free!
+
+"Bring the bottles up here," he said to the call-boy, "and biscuits and
+cakes. We'll drink it here! We'll christen the stage, as if we were
+launching a ship ... in champagne, here, by ourselves! among ourselves!
+Here's to the stage-manager! Here's to all of us!"
+
+Lily, happy as happy could be, shook everybody by the hand, distributed a
+"'K you" here and a "'K you" there. She would have liked to have Glass-Eye
+by her side, to keep her in countenance, open her bag, give her her
+handkerchief ... liked to be a little lady who can't do without her maid
+... but, damn it, where was Glass-Eye? And Lily clenched her fist when she
+saw her return with cakes in her hands, escorted by Tom, who helped to
+carry the champagne.
+
+"Where have you been, Glass-Eye?" asked Lily severely. "What have you been
+doing with Tom? Give me my handkerchief, Glass-Eye."
+
+"Here's your bag, Miss Lily," said Glass-Eye excitedly. "I'm going to
+leave you, Miss Lily."
+
+"What for?" said Lily, feeling vexed. "Because I owe you a few little
+things?"
+
+"Oh, no, not that! I'm going to be a star, too; on my hands: Demon Maud,
+the lady with the flaming eye; a candle in my glass eye ... before two
+witnesses ... I made my mark at the bottom."
+
+"She's drunk!" cried Lily, utterly dumfounded. "Or else she's going mad.
+Jimmy! Tom! Glass-Eye's going mad!"
+
+But, when Tom had explained, Lily approved. Glass-Eye wasn't stupid,
+really; very intelligent, though you'd never think it. Glad to see her
+engaged.... And she shook her by the hand, like an old friend and comrade,
+glad to hear of the success of others ... among artistes....
+
+And, suddenly, with head thrown back, full-throated, her feather nodding
+hysterically on her head, Lily laughed ... laughed ... laughed!
+
+Maud an artiste! On her hands! A candle in her eye! One fat freak the more
+on the stage! Gee, they must drink to Glass-Eye's health: Glass-Eye, the
+bill-topper!
+
+They were all laughing now, filling their glasses at a table in the middle
+of the stage, eating cakes, amusing themselves with the corks, which went
+pop, like toy guns, and applauding with their thumb-nails. To the
+Astrarium! And long live jollity! That night, they would one and all risk
+their skins. They were like soldiers drinking to their sweethearts, in the
+trenches, before the battle. And everything promised well; already a
+legend was forming among the painted faces: the booking office besieged;
+ladies and gentlemen in motors; motors in a row, miles and miles of
+motors; the street bursting with people who had come to book seats! And
+champagne on the stage, cakes, my, for the asking! An orgy which would
+start its trip around the world to-morrow, with those few bottles
+transformed into a Niagara of champagne, enough to flood every greenroom
+from the Klondike to Calcutta!
+
+They all enjoyed themselves and let themselves go. And the Roofers, who
+worshiped Lily, in spite of her abominable tricks, raised their glasses to
+her health, crowded round her, smiled merrily at her with their white
+teeth, congratulated her for sending that footy rotter packing:
+
+"Here's to Miss Lily! And a round on the thumbnail in honor of Miss
+Lily!"
+
+This christening of the Astrarium was turning into a triumph for her; and
+there was the evening to come ... the evening! It made her forget Trampy,
+Jimmy, Glass-Eye, everybody. And ... the next day ... her Pa, her Ma, the
+New Trickers would be at her feet! Oh, she would give ten years of her
+life if to-morrow could be there now!
+
+And the evening came. Lily did not leave the theater. She walked nervously
+from her dressing-room to the stage, inspected the final operations,
+interested herself in everything, stopped the boy-violinist, who was
+crossing the stage with the other members of the band, congratulated him
+on his approaching marriage with one of the Graces. She talked to the
+artistes going up to their dressing-rooms, bestowed a smile upon Jimmy,
+another on the stage-manager, joked with the limelight-men working their
+apparatus on either side of the stage. The footlights lit up with a row of
+flames, the storm approached. There was a ringing of electric
+bells--"Ting! Ting! Ting!"--as in the machine-room of a ship before the
+tempest; the orchestra roared; and, as though at a thunder-clap, the
+velvet curtain split asunder: Patti-Patty was revealed on the stage, while
+the band played as if possessed. Lily, in the shadow of the wings, put her
+hand to her heart; her veins were ablaze. And that audience, at which she
+peeped through a crack in the scenery; that audience was hers, with its
+rustling silks, its bare shoulders, its diamonds, its flowers! She would
+have liked to step forward, to say:
+
+"Here I am!"
+
+She felt herself excited by a curious feeling; an aggressive mood, which,
+no doubt, came from all the healths she had drunk: to the Astrarium, to
+this one, to that one, to all of us! Gee, what fun it had been: champagne,
+cakes, my, tons of cakes! And Lily, who had long been unused to any such
+excess, felt her head splitting. A fever seemed also to reign all over the
+dressing-rooms and passages. They talked of front boxes reserved at a
+thousand francs by the Aero Club; stalls at fifty francs; every seat in
+the house filled; and the best people, nothing but the best! Lily, in her
+exalted condition, took it that they had all come for her; and she had to
+dazzle them all! And soar above them all! To a hurricane of applause from
+"her favorite audience," the Astrarium audience, on a first night!
+
+And she felt so gay that she was not angry when Glass-Eye asked her, now
+that _she_ was an artiste, too, to teach her her stage-smile.
+
+"Why, of course, Glass-Eye! I owe you that, to say nothing of the rest!
+But you won't lose by waiting! Take my word for it: among friends, you
+know!..."
+
+And she kissed her maid, felt inclined to cry, became quite sentimental at
+her going....
+
+She was less amiable to Nunkie, who was prowling around near her. Oh, how
+angry she felt with that old rogue! Because of Thea, first of all; and
+then it was he who gave her away, not Jimmy! Tom had told her. Nunkie
+mumbled something to her: his dear girls; ungrateful creatures who were
+leaving him! His poor life shattered! His pigeons, he had his pigeons
+left; yes, and his home; but what was that compared with loving hearts?
+And, as she was on such good terms with Jimmy and everybody, couldn't she
+use her influence? Oh, if he could have the Bambinis, be appointed their
+guardian! "He would bring together such a nice little family troupe: all
+the joys of home!
+
+"You old wretch!" cried Lily, in a threatening voice. "Just go and look,
+at the corner of Oxford Street and Newman Street, if you can see me! You
+old snaky! You old bromide merchant! Hiding letters, too, you
+nigger-driving humbug! Oh, you're sure to get the Bambinis, I _don't_
+think!"
+
+"_Ver-r-rdammt_!"
+
+Nunkie turned on his heel, shaking the passage with tremendous oaths.
+
+"I thought," Lily shot at him from behind sarcastically, "I thought one
+ought never to swear! It's wicked to swear, Mr. Fuchs!"
+
+In her dressing-room, she went on laughing at Nunkie and his
+"_Donner-r-r-wetter-r-r_!" and his "_S-s-satan_! _S-s-satan_!" It made her
+comb her hair all awry and apply the grease-paint to her cheeks with a
+trembling hand. She felt a buzzing in her head: that confounded music
+which seemed to come from everywhere and hissed in her ears! But, when her
+turn came, she'd show them! Never had she felt so light. She was sure of
+herself, strangely sure. It seemed to her that, if need be, she'd have
+shot up to the stars, damn it!
+
+As soon as she was ready, she went down to the stage. She didn't know why.
+It was her wish to be everywhere, her craving for movement. The aerobike
+had been taken from its cage, behind the back-drop; the stage-manager,
+Jimmy and Jimmy's assistants were standing round it. Jimmy was testing
+everything, for the last time, making sure that there would be no hitch:
+
+"Hullo, Lily!" he said, when he saw her. "Are you ready?"
+
+"Ready?" said Lily. "Look!"
+
+And she flung back her wrap with her two bare arms and stood, a figure all
+charm and grace, with youth, joy and courage sparkling in her eyes. In the
+mysterious half-light, amid the endless sounds from the band, Lily seemed
+to shed rays. Jimmy, dazzled, looked at that dainty form, that delicate
+breast, those rounded shoulders, that splendid body fashioned by years of
+Spartan life, each muscle of which was quivering with enthusiasm. And she
+laughed ... laughed ... head thrown back, full-throated; told the story of
+Nunkie, with furious gestures, as though she were strangling the old
+beast. And then came sudden displays of feeling, for the Three Graces and
+the Bambinis.
+
+Jimmy had never seen her like that. The stage-manager also thought her
+queer, for he looked at Jimmy as though to ask what on earth was the
+matter with her. And, going up to him, he said:
+
+"Look how she's trembling! One would think she had a fever."
+
+"It's quite true," said Jimmy.
+
+And the two stared at each other in consternation when Lily, stooping to
+pick up her cloak, was nearly losing her balance and coming to the ground.
+They exchanged a few words in a whisper. Then the stage-manager said:
+
+"Go up to your dressing-room, Miss Lily. You mustn't stay here, you know.
+We'll send for you when the time comes. Go and put your hair straight."
+
+It was only a pretext; but the same thought had passed through both their
+minds: it was the champagne! Lily, who was accustomed to drink nothing but
+water, was ... if not exactly drunk ... well ...
+
+Thereupon, in an instant, Jimmy made up his mind: it was finished and
+settled, irrevocably, as though he had spent hours in reflecting. The
+newspapers had expressed doubts; there had been suggestions of trickery.
+An immediate, brilliant success was essential, to carry the thing off: a
+hitch and all was lost and the luck of the Astrarium and his own fame
+vanished in smoke! Lily was out of the question that night: she was
+bubbling over at every pore with unnatural excitement ... she was not
+Lily,--was not herself ... it meant certain death to her, the aerobike
+smashed to pieces, the end of all things! Lily would do it to-morrow, the
+next night; but not to-night.
+
+He had just time to go to his dressing-room and put on his white sweater,
+black breeches, black stockings: an athletic costume which he always kept
+at the theater in case of need. And quick, in the saddle: the moment had
+come! He must succeed, now or never! And Jimmy, calm and sure of himself,
+took his seat on the aerobike. A great silence followed....
+
+Lily, at that very minute, anxious at not being sent for in her
+dressing-room, was going back to the stage, but she was stopped at the top
+of the stairs by the stage-manager, who said that he had received an order
+by telephone from Cologne, from Harrasford: Lily not to perform that
+night....
+
+"Let me pass," cried Lily, laughing in spite of everything. "That's enough
+of a joke. It's time for me to go on, I say! Are you mad? I tell you, it's
+my turn!"
+
+But she ceased, as though struck by thunder. The aerobike, with wings wide
+open, was taking flight toward the stars, in a tempestuous wind.
+
+It was done! The thing had shot past her very nose! She thought that she
+would fall, so great was the pain at her heart.
+
+"No! No!" she gasped, with dilated eyes.
+
+And, suddenly, she understood and uttered a cry of rage!
+
+But she could have shouted, "Murder!" and it would have sounded as the
+buzzing of a bee amid that explosion of cheers. And the orchestra grew
+like a flame and the light appeared, increased and shone all over the
+house.
+
+Lily flung herself back, closed her eyes so as not to see, fled to her
+dressing-room with a shriek like a wounded beast's....
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+She dropped into her chair, stopped up her ears; but the cheers never
+ceased, kept on increasing, filled the theater with a roar as of thunder!
+Oh, it seemed to her that her chest was on fire, that they were pounding
+her heart; that some one was taking her by the hair and banging her head
+against the walls! And that storm of applause kept on and kept on ... but
+it wasn't for her! It was for Jimmy all the time: they had tried it with
+her, that was all! To see if it worked! And she, she, she who, only just
+now, was giving herself airs with the others: a poor rag, yes, that was
+all she was, less than anybody; less than Tom, her old servant, less than
+Glass-Eye, that idiot, less than Ave Maria, less than a performing dog,
+less than anything, worse than anything, perhaps! Mad with rage she jumped
+at her gollywog, pulled down the white-eyed idol--the traitor!--spat on
+it, crushed it on the floor with her heel, furious, beside herself; and
+then dropped into her chair again, with her two arms flat on the table,
+her head between her arms, among the grease-paints, the powder, the
+overturned box of spangles, which rolled about everywhere and strewed the
+floor. She felt inclined to bite into her flesh to relieve herself, she
+clenched her fists and dug her nails into her skin. Oh, she would have
+liked to die, to die! It was so fierce a longing, so desperate a cry that
+the force of her prayer ought to have struck her dead where she sat. And
+suddenly the tears began to flow and she cried and cried, all convulsed
+with sobs, floored, shipwrecked, done for. She cried and cried, as though
+stupefied, saw nothing save through a thick veil of water, like a person
+drowning, sinking. It seemed to her as if the tears would groove her face,
+for always. Oh, what would she give to be at home, in bed! Never, never
+again would she have the strength to do a thing. She was done for, buried
+alive. And that coward of a Jimmy, to obey Harrasford's order! Oh, the
+harm he had done her! She would rather have died smashed to a jelly on the
+stage: she would have suffered less! Oh, to behave like that: to flash so
+much before her eyes; and then to fling her to the ground! Oh, when she
+had thought that he loved her and that she loved him also, perhaps! And
+Lily cried and cried....
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+Meanwhile, in front, the aerobike was receiving endless applause. The
+disappearance through the opening, the plunge into space, the star
+snatched from up above, that piece of theatrical symbolism filled the
+audience with enthusiasm. The aerobike brought down the house, its success
+surpassed all expectation, and the Astrarium was opening with a victorious
+clamor.
+
+"Yes, but at what a cost!" said Jimmy to himself, in spite of the cheers.
+
+And, as soon as he was able to escape, putting off for a few minutes his
+replies to the cards that poured in--the chairman of the Aero Club,
+journalists begging for interviews--Jimmy had but one idea, to console
+Lily for her disappointment of that evening: poor Lily!
+
+His heart was beating very loudly as he went to her dressing-room. Jimmy
+was no longer the fellow who knew no fear. To fly away on the aerobike, to
+risk his skin was easy, for him at least; but to face Lily ... to explain
+to her ... with all those things seething within him ... and, oh, the pain
+he was causing her! How could he approach her after that? And could he
+ever get her to love him? Ah, perhaps it would have been better if he had
+gone and broken his neck in the street, on the pavement! Jimmy was
+trembling like a child; in his perturbation, he even forgot to knock at
+the door ... turned the knob ... entered....
+
+Lily heard nothing, seemed crushed into her chair, with her face buried in
+her right arm folded on the table, while the left hung lifeless by her
+side. Her whole attitude expressed abject misery, profound despair; she
+seemed extinguished in a terrifying calmness.
+
+Jimmy, to attract her attention, closed the door noisily. Lily stirred no
+more than a wax figure: one might have thought her dead.
+
+He shivered; and, stepping forward, leaning over to her, anxiously, he
+placed his hand on her shoulder.
+
+It was like a spring that is suddenly released! Lily threw up her
+sorrow-stricken face, down which the tears, mingling with the red paint,
+flowed like blood, looked at him for a few seconds with a wandering air
+and then leaped at him, as though she meant to bite him in the face; but
+her lips shriveled up in silence, nothing came from them; and she crushed
+Jimmy with an unspeakable look of terror and contempt.
+
+Jimmy did not flinch:
+
+"You must not be angry with me," he said gently. "I was bound to do it,
+Lily; I had to save the theater."
+
+"And get rid of me!" cried Lily, wild-haired, hard-eyed, hoarse-throated,
+with the tears drying on her red-hot cheeks.
+
+Jimmy was pale as death. Ah, all his dreams, too, were fading away!
+
+"Lily," he said, in a voice which he strove to make firm, but which
+trembled with emotion. "I have done my duty to everybody, yourself
+included! But for me, you would be lying dead at this minute and the
+Astrarium would be ruined. You were not in a state to appear in public ...
+this evening ... believe me, Lily. The stage-manager himself...."
+
+Lily lowered her head under his calm gaze....
+
+"But you'll do it to-morrow," continued Jimmy, very quickly, "before Pa
+and Ma! To-morrow and the following days ... and always! Your name will be
+right at the top of the bill! Do you hear? To-morrow ... and always!"
+
+"But what...? Why...?" asked Lily, as though stupefied.
+
+"Poor Lily," he replied, gently raising that face all distorted with
+grief. "Poor little Lily! I have caused you a heap of pain."
+
+Lily, for her sole answer, gave a convulsive sob; a tear leaped to her
+eyelids.
+
+"Don't cry," whispered Jimmy, "don't cry any more. It will be your turn
+to-morrow, before the New Trickers. To-morrow! Every night!"
+
+"Every night?" asked Lily, still incredulous and yet transfigured with
+hope. "You're saying that, Jimmy; but...."
+
+"Do you doubt my word, Lily?" he replied, pressing her gently to him.
+"What, I, your best friend, your only friend ... I who ... haven't I
+always loved you, Lily? Do you think I've changed?... I love you more than
+ever I did! I will explain everything later. And you doubt me ... who
+would give my life for you; yes, life without you means nothing to me,"
+continued Jimmy, in a stifled voice and clasping Lily in his arms.
+
+Lily quivered in his embrace, hid her blushing features on his breast,
+where she heard great dull throbs. She trembled from head to foot. Her
+quickened senses seemed to perceive everything now; the passing
+indisposition from which she had suffered, without knowing it, the light
+fumes of the champagne: all that had suddenly gone, was far away; she had
+never felt more lucid; she saw, she understood and was overcome with
+delight, overcome with a delight beside which her enthusiasm of the
+previous day seemed dark and dreary. The ardor of her eighteen years
+swelled her breast. Success, in any case! To-morrow! And that man was
+hers, that heart was hers! It was a dream, an enchantment! Her head rolled
+back, a smile drew up her lips, her eyes, through her tangled curls,
+seemed all ablaze. Jimmy bent his glowing face over her. Lily, on the
+point of swooning, raised her lips to his.
+
+Vanished around them the low ceiling, the scratched walls, the shabby
+rags. Standing on the wretched spangles that strewed the dusty floor,
+Lily, drunk with joy ... Jimmy, distraught with pride ... seemed like
+youth and love, in mid-sky, among the stars!
+
+CURTAIN
+
+[Illustration: Lily quivered in his embrace.]
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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+Rue: With a Difference. By Rosa N. Carey.
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+Story of the Outlaw, The. By Emerson Hough.
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+Explorer, The. By William Somerset Maugham.
+Abbess of Vlaye, The. By Stanley Weyman.
+Alton of Somasco. By Harold Bindloss.
+Ancient Law, The. By Ellen Glasgow.
+Barrier, The. By Rex Beach.
+Bar 20. By Clarence E. Mulford.
+Beloved Vagabond, The. By William J. Locke.
+Beulah. (Illustrated Edition.) By Augusta J. Evans.
+Chaperon, The. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.
+Colonel Greatheart. By H. C. Bailey.
+Dissolving Circle, The. By Will Lillibridge.
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+Cash Intrigue, The. By George Randolph Chester.
+Delafield Affair, The. By Florence Finch Kelly.
+Dominant Dollar, The. By Will Lillibridge.
+Elusive Pimpernel, The. By Baroness Orczy.
+Ganton & Co. By Arthur J. Eddy.
+Gilbert Neal. By Will N. Harben.
+Girl and the Bill, The. By Bannister Merwin.
+Girl from His Town, The. By Marie Van Vorst.
+Glass House, The. By Florence Morse Kingsley.
+Highway of Fate, The. By Rosa N. Carey.
+Homesteaders, The. By Kate and Virgil D. Boyles.
+Husbands of Edith, The. George Barr McCutcheon.
+Inez. (Illustrated Ed.) By Augusta J. Evans.
+Into the Primitive. By Robert Ames Bennet.
+Jack Spurlock, Prodigal. By Horace Lorimer.
+Jude the Obscure. By Thomas Hardy.
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+Kingsmead. By Bettina Von Hutten.
+Ladder of Swords, A. By Gilbert Parker.
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+Stooping Lady, The. By Maurice Hewlett.
+Subjection of Isabel Carnaby. By Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler.
+Sunset Trail, The. By Alfred Henry Lewis.
+Sword of the Old Frontier, A. By Randall Parrish.
+Tales of Sherlock Holmes. By A. Conan Doyle.
+That Printer of Udell's. By Harold Bell Wright.
+Throwback, The. By Alfred Henry Lewis.
+Trail of the Sword, The. By Gilbert Parker.
+Treasure of Heaven, The. By Marie Corelli.
+Two Vanrevels, The. By Booth Tarkington.
+Up From Slavery. By Booker T. Washington.
+Vashti. By Augusta Evans Wilson.
+Viper of Milan, The (original edition). By Marjorie Bowen.
+Voice of the People, The. By Ellen Glasgow.
+Wheel of Life, The. By Ellen Glasgow.
+When Wilderness Was King. By Randall Parrish.
+Where the Trail Divides. By Will Lillibridge.
+Woman in Grey, A. By Mrs. C. N. Williamson.
+Woman in the Alcove, The. By Anna Katharine Green.
+Younger Set, The. By Robert W. Chambers.
+The Weavers. By Gilbert Parker.
+The Little Brown Jug at Kildare. By Meredith Nicholson.
+The Prisoners of Chance. By Randall Parrish.
+My Lady of Cleve. By Percy J. Hartley.
+Loaded Dice. By Ellery H. Clark.
+Get Rich Quick Wallingford. By George Randolph Chester.
+The Orphan. By Clarence Mulford.
+A Gentleman of France. By Stanley J. Weyman.
+
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+The Halo. By Bettina von Hutten.
+Jerry Junior. By Jean Webster.
+The Powers and Maxine. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.
+The Balance of Power. By Arthur Goodrich.
+Adventures of Captain Kettle. By Cutcliffe Hyne.
+Adventures of Gerard. By A. Conan Doyle.
+Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. By A. Conan Doyle.
+Arms and the Woman. By Harold MacGrath.
+Artemus Ward's Works (extra illustrated).
+At the Mercy of Tiberius. By Augusta Evans Wilson.
+Awakening of Helena Richie. By Margaret Deland.
+Battle Ground, The. By Ellen Glasgow.
+Belle of Bowling Green, The. By Amelia E. Barr.
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+Best Man, The. By Harold MacGrath.
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+Broken Lance, The. By Herbert Quick.
+By Wit of Women. By Arthur W. Marchmont.
+Call of the Blood, The. By Robert Hitchens.
+Cap'n Eri. By Joseph C. Lincoln.
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+Car of Destiny, The. By C. N. and A. N. Williamson.
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+Mystery of June 13th. By Melvin L. Severy.
+Mystery Tales. By Edgar Allan Poe.
+Nancy Stair. By Elinor Macartney Lane.
+Order No. 11. By Caroline Abbot Stanley.
+Pam. By Bettina von Hutten.
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+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+<title>
+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Bill-Toppers, by André Castaigne.
+</title>
+
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bill-Toppers, by Andre Castaigne
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Bill-Toppers
+
+Author: Andre Castaigne
+
+Release Date: August 9, 2008 [EBook #26242]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BILL-TOPPERS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 413px; height: 582px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 413px;'>
+Poland, the Parisienne. Page 123. <i>Frontispiece.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:2em; margin-top:1em;'>THE</p>
+<p style=' font-size:2em; margin-bottom:1em;'>BILL-TOPPERS</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'><i>By</i> ANDRÉ CASTAIGNE</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-emb.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 65px; height: 65px;' /><br />
+</div>
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>With Illustrations</span></p>
+<p style=' margin-bottom:3em;'>BY THE AUTHOR</p>
+<p>A. L. BURT COMPANY</p>
+<p><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Publishers&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;New York</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce' style=' font-size:0.8em;'>
+<p>Copyright, 1909</p>
+<p style=' margin-bottom:1em;'>The Bobbs-Merrill Company</p>
+<p>August</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p>TO MY LITTLE FRIENDS</p>
+<p>THE STARS!</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p>THE BILL-TOPPERS</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>THE BILL-TOPPERS</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_1' name='page_1'></a>1</span></div>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.2em;'>OVERTURE</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>All around stretched the great blue sky and the blue
+sea of the Gulf of Bengal.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Clifton lay dozing at full length on a pillowed
+bench and her husband sat near her and followed his
+Lily, his daughter, with his eyes: his Lily, eight years old,
+&#8220;that high,&#8221; waving among the passengers the white coral
+necklace which Pa had bought her on leaving Australia;
+his Lily, his star, his New Zealander on Wheels! His
+Lily who had had such successes at Melbourne, at Sidney:
+bouquets, tons and cart-loads of bouquets! And
+the past would be nothing compared with the future, with
+the astounding tricks which he was inventing for his
+Lily. The mere sight of her raised his enthusiasm to boiling-point.
+And he was going to show them, in Calcutta
+and elsewhere, if they knew how to make stars in New
+Zealand or if they were only fit for raising mutton.</p>
+<p>Clifton was an artist, an &#8220;artiste,&#8221; a born artiste: starting
+as a mere clerk in an office, he had become an amateur
+cyclist and then a professional on the track. He married
+an Englishwoman at Wellington and, at Lily&#8217;s birth, decided
+upon a career: the stage, with Lily for a star later
+on! And he set to work, with vim and vigor, learned a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_2' name='page_2'></a>2</span>
+few tricks on his bike, taught his wife the business in less
+than no time; and Lily&#8217;s first memories as a four-year-old
+were:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was sitting on Ma&#8217;s shoulders, Ma on Pa&#8217;s and Pa
+on the bike.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily zigzagged through New Zealand, from east
+to west and north to south, and Australia after, where
+she received plenty of applause for her tricks, childish in
+themselves, but well presented. Her triumphant path
+wound among tinseled bottles containing paper flowers,
+with a faultless standstill for the climax, one hand on
+the handle-bar, the other blowing kisses to the audience.
+This procured Pa an engagement for India. He ordered
+a beautiful colored poster, &#8220;The Clifton Family, Trick
+Cyclists,&#8221; with a portrait in the corner of his own strong
+face and bristling mustache&mdash;&#8220;P. T. Clifton, Manager&#8221;&mdash;one
+more rung in the ladder of life mounted,
+thanks to his Lily.</p>
+<p>And Pa smiled to his daughter and, as she ran past him,
+lifted her on his knee and stroked her fair curls; and the
+child cuddled up to her Pa, opened her lips to ask questions,
+but was silent, with her eyes lost in space, puckering
+her little forehead, in which were heaped so many mingled
+memories of the stage and the great world outside:
+the Boxing Kangaroo; tall cliffs; green islands; the
+bike; Batavia among the trees; Singapore, with its noise
+and dust. And Lily, wearily, dreamed and murmured
+things, while the steamer sped on, thud, thud, thud, flat
+as a stage in its blue &#8220;set.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily&#8217;s impressions of India were months of jolting and
+bumping, stops in the dead of night while the tent was
+pitched, rains, strong smells, oppressive heats&mdash;months
+and months of it, Ma on Pa, Pa on the wheel and she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span>
+on top, waving flags. Yellow faces on the benches,
+red flowers and, somewhere, on a river-bank, two eyes
+glittering in the dark: a tiger, somebody said! And
+every night the artistes, carrying lanterns, walked in file
+between the circus and the hotel, with the ladies in the
+center and Lily clinging to Ma&#8217;s skirt.</p>
+<p>She did more now, in addition to the bike: a song-and-dance
+turn. In a piping falsetto, she quavered:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Star light! Star bright!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She was spoiled by the ladies, the wives of the officers
+stationed in those out-of-the-way holes. She played with
+smart children, was taken for drives, had her social successes!
+Chocolates, sweets, kisses. And a lady gave her
+such a pretty dress: his Lily! Pa burst with delighted
+pride to see her treated like that; and Ma scolded her a
+bit, for the little flirt that she was, while fondly tying the
+two satin bows over her ears.</p>
+<p>Lily was a regular tomboy, with pranks invented by
+herself, from ideas which she picked up in traveling: for
+instance, she would choose her moment and chuck a piece
+of bacon among the Mohammedans sitting under her window;
+and she would revel in her own fright at those
+furious faces suddenly glaring up at her from below!
+And she would stand with drooping head, one finger in
+her mouth:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, <i>so</i> sorry!&#8221;</p>
+<p>What fun! And as an artiste she was spoiled and petted
+everywhere. Goa, Bangalore, Tanjore and then Colombo,
+and a ship with elephants, tigers, camels, children, men,
+women, wagons, one great mix-up, a circus and menagerie
+in one, steaming toward South Africa; and Miss Lily
+of the Clifton Troupe paraded her well-brushed, neatly-parted
+curls in the midst of it all, gazed open-mouthed at
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span>
+the blue expanse of water until, her eyes drunk and dazed
+with light, she went and lay in her cabin....
+And more and more blue water. And thud, thud,
+thud. And Cape Town in the mountains. Africa behind
+it: a country all yellow, where the trains wound in and
+out of the rocks; villages, up, up, up, or else right low
+down, on the yellow veldt; and, at night, on the benches,
+crowds and crowds. Immediately after the show came
+sleep, troubled by the jolting of the train; and the circus
+was always there next day, on the right or on the left,
+with its Chinamen and its niggers driving stakes or tugging
+at ropes. A bell for dinner, a whistle for the show;
+and, as soon as the show was over, to bed,&mdash;and off again.</p>
+<p>Pa made her practice harder now, wanted to make a
+great artiste of her. And there was a class, too, kept by
+a &#8220;marm&#8221; who traveled with the circus and taught spelling
+and arithmetic and the art of letter-writing, from
+&#8220;Yours to hand with thanks&#8221; down to &#8220;Believe me to be.&#8221;
+Lily would have been bored to death but for the accidents
+of travel: sometimes the engine broke down, bringing the
+train to a dead stop amid the great African silence, near
+a field of Indian corn, in which the children played hide-and-seek.
+Or else there were locusts, locusts &#8220;that thick,&#8221;
+right inside the carriages. Lily would tie them by the leg
+and:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Flip! Flap! Lively now! Jump!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But funniest of all was the caravan&mdash;she couldn&#8217;t remember
+where, in Natal or thereabouts&mdash;wagons with ten
+yoke of oxen. They climbed up endless winding roads.
+The men shot at birds and prospected for diamonds along
+the wayside; and at night they took the hay from the
+mattresses to give to the cattle. Lolling indolence was in
+the air and plenty in the larder: big fruits, strange game,
+which they cooked in a makeshift oven consisting of a
+few stones. Then they rolled themselves up in a blanket,
+near the elephants tugging at their chains, and slept under
+the tent in the cool, bright, starry night.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span>
+<img src='images/illus-pg005.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 350px; height: 557px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 350px;'>
+LILY IN INDIA<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span></div>
+<p>Months and months passed. Lily was becoming very
+clever: the New Zealander on Wheels! She was cleverer
+than Pa, who no longer performed, nor Ma either. On
+their return to Australia, Lily appeared by herself in the
+music-halls, and P. T. Clifton, Manager, watched her
+from the wings, in growing admiration: his Lily was a
+star now, too good for a circus! And Australia, pooh!
+Sidney, Melbourne, pooh! What Lily wanted was New
+York, London, the Hippodromes, the Palaces! He&#8217;d
+show them a star that was a star! And Clifton clenched
+his fists and pretended not to see when Lily made a blunder
+on the stage: his Lily missing a trick! Disgracing her
+Pa like that! He blushed to the eyes at the thought of it!
+And, when she returned to the wings, he twitted her
+proudly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;What next, Lily! An artiste like you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Ma adopted a sarcastic air and congratulated
+&#8220;mademoiselle&#8221; as she threw the white wrapper over
+&#8220;mademoiselle&#8217;s&#8221; shoulders.</p>
+<p>Ma detested the stage. She did not think it a nice place
+for herself; but for a brat like Lily, Lord, it was quite
+different! And she ought to have tried to please her
+Pa and Ma. Mrs. Clifton, though she never voiced the
+wish, had visions of a trip to London, to stagger some relations,
+a sister-in-law she had there, and sneer at the old
+country, in the usual colonial fashion, and show them
+what the new countries can do, countries where you make
+a fortune in less than no time! And, little by little, smitten
+with Mr. Clifton&#8217;s enthusiasm, she came to believe
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span>
+that, in Lily, they really possessed the infant prodigy, the
+treasure-child upon whom their fortune depended. And
+Ma, too, was vexed when Lily missed a trick on the stage.</p>
+<p>Lily laughed at their anger. Ma had never raised a hand
+to her; and, as for Pa, when he scolded, Lily had such
+a way of looking at him, with lowered head&mdash;&#8220;Oh, <i>so</i>
+sorry!&#8221;&mdash;that Pa simmered down again at once. Lily, a
+regular &#8220;tenter,&#8221; shot up freely, grew up a real tomboy,
+went a bit too far, in fact, Ma said: at Honolulu, for instance,
+on the road to &#8217;Frisco and New York, where Pa
+had resolved to go, at all costs, come what might&mdash;it was
+one step nearer London!&mdash;at Honolulu&mdash;ten days there
+and such a success!&mdash;the child played truant in the gardens
+teeming with birds and fruit, climbed apple-trees,
+was caught one day and scampered off at full speed,
+pursued by Ma, who threatened to give her a sound
+smacking this time, the little thief! But Pa thought it
+ridiculous, for the sake of an apple....</p>
+<p>&#8220;And suppose Lily had broken her leg with her nonsense?&#8221;
+asked Ma indignantly. &#8220;Where would your New
+York be?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Pa felt himself a conquering hero when they steamed
+through the Golden Gate: the States at last! And no
+sooner was his foot on the wharf at &#8217;Frisco than off to the
+agents at once, with his photographs, his contracts, his
+posters! But it was her birth-certificate they asked to see.
+And no babes and sucklings allowed on the stage here. It
+was all right down yonder, but the law prevented it here.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Damn your laws!&#8221; snapped Pa furiously. &#8220;Do you
+think we make stars to hide them under bushels?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And whoosh! Off for Mexico, where children are allowed
+to perform.</p>
+<p>Now, in Arizona, near Ph&oelig;nix, where the train stopped
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span>
+for some hours, owing to an accident to the Rio Gila
+bridge, Pa happened upon a merrymaking which reminded
+him of West Australia. Cow-boys, galloping
+horses, a pretense at fighting, lassoing, revolvers, a track
+for amateur cyclists and&mdash;yes, there, in the desert!&mdash;on
+a platform, right in the middle, what should Pa see
+but an amazing artiste, riding on the back-wheel, with the
+other in the air! And such twirls! And the boys shouted
+to him:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, Trampy! Have a drink, Trampy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Trampy accepted:</p>
+<p>&#8220;With you, my lord! As soon as I&#8217;ve done, my lord!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And off he wheeled, head on the saddle, feet in the air,
+whistling <i>Yankee Doodle</i>!</p>
+<p>It was impossible! Pa rubbed his eyes: what! Was
+this what they did in the States in the desert? And he
+who had hoped, with Lily ... why, damn it, Lily
+knew nothing! He himself, her manager, knew less than
+nothing! He, who thought he had formed a star! Pa
+was red with shame. And, suddenly, he had a happy
+thought: he, too, offered Trampy a drink, something to
+propose to him....</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right.&#8221;</p>
+<p>They shook hands, went to the bar, lit a cigar, like men,
+by Jove! Clifton loved to talk business, to pull out notebooks,
+quick, and jot things down with a knowing air.
+Trampy, a mere boy, easy-going, genial, without a red
+cent for the time being, didn&#8217;t care a hang about business
+and was soon telling Clifton the story of his life: drummer,
+reporter, racer; his descent,&mdash;&#8220;Two whiskies, boy!&#8221;&mdash;what
+was he saying? Oh, yes, his descent of a staircase
+on the bike, yes, siree, with a red-hot stove under his arm&mdash;a
+stove painted to look red-hot&mdash;pursued by a policeman,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span>
+leaping over obstacles on the bike; great success at Duluth
+and Denver as a tramp cyclist: hence his name of
+Trampy Wheel-Pad. But those girls, by Jove! Well, he
+who fights and runs away lives to fight another day. Still,
+a rolling stone doesn&#8217;t climb hills. Here he was, stranded.
+Go to Mexico? So much a week? Such and such a turn?
+Teach the child? Cert!</p>
+<p>Lily never alluded to Mexico afterward without shaking
+with anger. My, to listen to her, how badly they
+treated her in Mexico! Worse than a Dago! To tell the
+truth, it was hot; and Lily, already tired by those long
+journeys in varying climates, Lily would have preferred
+to do nothing and to continue to lead her careless life as
+a playful filly. But no, poor Lily was caught by the hind-leg
+in Mexico! Ambition had seized upon Pa, body and
+soul, and life became a more serious matter for the child.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here!&#8221; said Pa, pointing to Trampy. &#8220;What he,
+a man, does, you can do! I&#8217;ll see to that!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Pa arranged for a place in which to practise at their
+ease. In the evening, on the stage, he watched and
+studied Trampy&#8217;s tricks and, in the morning, quick, out
+of bed, look alive, the bike! Pa no longer had his open-mouthed
+admiration for Lily, as in South Africa and
+Asia: his Lily knew nothing at all! But in three months,
+six months, if necessary, if it cost him every penny he
+possessed. And it was:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come along, Lily ... to work! Show what
+you can do!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Trampy, in this country of <i>mañolas</i>&mdash;&#8220;Grand, by
+Jove!&#8221;&mdash;came round about eleven; and Pa, all out of
+breath, passed Lily on to him:</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have a go at her, Trampy! I give up, she won&#8217;t
+do what I say!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span></p>
+<p>And Trampy put down his cigar, took off his collar and
+cuffs and it was, &#8220;Come along, Lily!&#8221; till lunch-time. The
+child, her eyes blinking with fatigue, fell fast asleep before
+the end of the meal.</p>
+<p>Pa was delighted.</p>
+<p>And he confided her to Trampy more and more, with
+orders not to spare smackings in case of need:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh, Lily? Eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>As for him, he had business to do, letters to write,
+great schemes in his head! for instance, he must try to
+get permission for Lily to appear in the States.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Time for a cigar, I guess,&#8221; said Trampy, as soon as
+Clifton was gone.</p>
+<p>Work stopped abruptly; a tumbler&#8217;s carpet rolled up
+in a corner formed an inviting lounge; and Lily, panting
+from her practice, would stretch herself beside him and
+enjoy a few happy moments, the only really happy moments
+of the day; for there were matinées in the afternoon
+and the evening performance at night, till she was
+ready to drop with weariness. Trampy treated Lily
+nicely, like a grown-up person, called her by the name of
+a fruit, or a flower, or a bird, jollied her, called her &#8220;little
+wifie:&#8221; it was all one to her. He made her laugh with
+his funny stories, his fairy tales about himself, his terrible
+struggle with a snake in the streets of &#8217;Frisco, after
+a champagne supper: girls, by Jove! He toned down his
+anecdotes and dished them up for Lily&#8217;s entertainment;
+told her absurd yarns enlivened with mimicry, in which
+he excelled, like the real mummer that he was, and Lily
+shrieked with laughter, head thrown back, full-throated.</p>
+<p>And there was a spice of fear in it all: was that Pa
+coming back? No, a carpenter or scene-shifter, perhaps,
+or else the Martellos, brother and sister, going to practise
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span>
+slack-wire, head and hand balancing. Their father, old
+Martello, a famous name, lived in London, it appeared,
+alone with his Bambinis, mere babes still. His other
+children and his apprentices had all run away, to escape
+his horsewhip, and the brother in Mexico was continuing
+the tradition. His brutality, in fact, got him into
+trouble wherever he went, so much so that the big music-halls
+were closed to him, for fear of scandal. And he
+terrorized his sister, Ave Maria, a girl of sixteen, a dark
+girl with great dark eyes. Ave Maria never spoke to
+anybody; when she passed through the room where Lily
+was having fun with Trampy, she fixed a fiery glance upon
+them, even ventured on a smile, for Trampy in particular,
+whose lively stories reached her through the partition
+behind which she dressed. Oh, how she envied Lily!
+But she passed very quickly, because of her brother.</p>
+<p>And this time it was Pa! Lily jumped on to the saddle
+like mad, played her part to perfection, puffed and panted,
+as if the last drop of strength were oozing out of
+her, and Trampy joined in the little comedy of fibbing
+and dissembling:</p>
+<p>&#8220;There, like that, Lily, or I&#8217;ll smack you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s right,&#8221; said Pa. &#8220;Make her work!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, just to show Lily what work meant and that her
+Pa was not so unkind after all&mdash;&#8220;It&#8217;s for your good, Lily!
+You&#8217;ll thank me one of these days!&#8221;&mdash;he took her to the
+stage, where Ave Maria was practising. Now, of course,
+in the circuses, Lily, occasionally, had seen children
+knocked and cut about with blows and trained to say,
+&#8220;It was the cat,&#8221; when any one asked them about the
+marks. They were ordinary children; she had rolled
+about in the sawdust with them, played hide-and-seek
+with them in the fields of Indian corn; they were children
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span>
+who romped and ran about and laughed. Ave
+Maria was different. The brother, a savage, scowling
+brute, was always after her, harrying her with muttered
+threats. She was in a constant, visible tremble of fear;
+and, if she slipped on her wire, the fellow snarled as if
+to bite her in the foot, pinched her black and blue, restored
+her balance with a blow of the belt, shook the supports
+to make her fall just to see!...</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Pa, he&#8217;ll kill her!&#8221; whispered Lily, when she saw
+Ave Maria practising.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s none of our damned business,&#8221; replied Pa curtly.</p>
+<p>Martello&#8217;s evil example ended by catching hold of Pa:
+that&#8217;s how artistes were formed, damn it! And, at the
+thought of the time wasted, he clenched his fists. To
+have a Lily of his own, all his own, and to have made
+nothing out of her yet! Still, it was not Lily&#8217;s fault.
+Yes, though, it was her fault, she was so stubborn, so
+wilful! When he told her to do a thing, why not do it?
+Instead of bleating:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pa, I can&#8217;t! Pa, I can&#8217;t!&#8221;</p>
+<p>A brief struggle, in a way, followed between Lily and
+her Pa. Lily was not built for passive obedience, wasn&#8217;t
+used to it. She no longer knew her Pa. When he came
+at her with his hand lifted to strike, when he spoke of
+unbuckling his belt&mdash;&#8220;Damn those blasted brats!&#8221;&mdash;Lily
+eyed him with a look of anguish:</p>
+<p>&#8220;But Pa, I&#8217;m not Ave Maria!&#8221; she said. &#8220;I&#8217;m not a
+Dago.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she raised her little rebellious face to him. He
+humbled her with a smack on the cheek:</p>
+<p>&#8220;On the saddle! Up! Quick!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The child, mastered by her Pa&#8217;s strength and energy,
+ceased to be the spoiled child, became an artiste....
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span>
+Head on the saddle, back-wheel: just like Trampy!
+Pooh, Trampy, after a few months of this life, was nowhere,
+Clifton admired him less and less, Lily was doing
+all that he did, more than he did; and without a fault,
+without a hitch, unerring and exact! Pa swelled with
+pride at the mere sight of his Lily, his four stone ten of
+flesh and bones fitted to the machine, his Lily, the Lily of
+his dreams!</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll dress you in velvet and satin!&#8221; he said, in his enthusiasm.
+&#8220;I&#8217;ll cover you with diamonds.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Pa, thanks to his indomitable energy, had made something
+of his Lily, a real artiste, at last! And business
+was moving, too! He had a contract in his pocket for
+the States, where Lily would no doubt get permission to
+do her &#8220;childish tricks,&#8221; seeing that she was traveling
+with her Pa and Ma. As for Trampy, Pa had no use for
+Trampy, made no bones about sacking him on some pretext
+or other:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Run away and play with your girls, by Jove! Or
+whatever you please! Good-by! Ta-ta!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And off for Denver, whence they were to continue the
+journey up to Chicago.</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>It was the dive for good and all into the stuffy atmosphere
+behind the scenes, which Lily was never again to
+leave, brick walls, where she waited her turn on the elaborate
+program of the &#8220;continuous performances,&#8221; amid
+the thunder of the orchestra and the lightning of the reflectors.
+No time to go out, meals consumed in your
+dressing-room on the top of the basket trunk. In the
+mornings, new tricks to practise on the stage, in the
+midst of a herd of girls whom gentlemen in their shirtsleeves
+were training to sing in chorus and to keep step
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span>
+to the strum of the piano. And ever and ever so many
+new faces, a tumult of tongues which Lily heard on the
+stage, in the dressing-room, and even in her room at the
+hotel, through the thin partition walls: a lingo made up
+of coarse remarks and thick stories, punctuated with
+spitting and oaths strong enough to carry a tower of
+Babel. Lily opened her eyes and ears, heaping it all up,
+storing it all away behind her stubborn forehead....</p>
+<p>And new people, new people: &#8220;families,&#8221; &#8220;brothers,&#8221;
+&#8220;sisters,&#8221; troupes, troupes, troupes! Or else stars by
+themselves, &#8220;bests,&#8221; &#8220;uniques:&#8221; a female-impersonator,
+a green-eyed boy who wagged his hips like the very devil
+and took off the girls; Poland, a Warsaw Jewess, a redheaded,
+overscented beauty, who did the &#8220;Parisienne,&#8221;
+and ever and ever so many others. And Lily, so slender
+and frail, was the pet of them all. They called her their
+pretty baby, their <i>petit chéri</i>, and, with their painted
+mugs, kissed her full on the lips.</p>
+<p>Pa detested this &#8220;rotten lot&#8221; and Pa was not always
+in a good temper. Lily &#8220;under age,&#8221;&mdash;again! Why,
+there were even managers who informed the police, so as
+to be on the safe side; &#8220;traveling with her parents; childish
+tricks; nothing difficult.&#8221;... Ma&#8217;s indignation
+knew no bounds: what nonsense to prevent a great big
+girl of fifteen from earning her living! For she aged
+Lily as much as she could, to obtain the permission,
+when no papers were asked for; and she had trained
+Lily to reply to the indiscreet questions of the officials:
+was her trick hard? Was she forced into doing it? Lily
+answered mechanically that she liked the bike very much.
+And then they allowed her to perform.</p>
+<p>As for practising, permission or none, that was nobody&#8217;s
+damned business. And if some old sheep took to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span>
+bleating&mdash;&#8220;Poor child, you&#8217;ll be the death of her!&#8221;&mdash;Pa
+sent the old sheep to eat coke; and it was:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Up, Lily! Get on your bike! Look alive!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And the bloomers that Lily wore out! Ma was kept
+busy in the dressing-room mending the rents at the knees
+and patching the seats:</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a tomboy!&#8221; Ma cried.</p>
+<p>And this went on for months and months. And
+then came Chicago; a visit of Pa&#8217;s to the agents; and a
+contract with the New York Olympians, a variety-show
+coming from the West and returning to New York by
+Columbus and Pittsburg. And new people, new people;
+stars of every kind: the Para woman, a rheumatic juggler,
+who was obliged to change her turn and become an
+exhibitor of performing parrots, a ragged, molting
+troupe, picked up cheap at second-hand; an infant
+prodigy who topped the bill, a boy-violinist, leading an
+orchestra, too, at fourteen, a pretentious little humbug
+trained to make a few movements, while others did the
+work. Lily thought him so good-looking she simply
+couldn&#8217;t take her eyes off him. And then she had some
+big girl-friends who had had love affairs! They were
+the Three Graces, gymnasts endowed with bodies like so
+many Apollos, honest German faces and a bewildering
+amount of strength, pluck and precision....</p>
+<p>&#8220;What smackings that must have taken!&#8221; thought Pa.</p>
+<p>But no, their uncle and manager, Mr. Fuchs&mdash;a name
+as famous in its way as Martello&#8217;s&mdash;was known for his
+gentleness and adored and coddled and pampered by the
+Three Graces, who, at a sign from &#8220;Nunkie,&#8221; as they
+called him, joyously rushed to practice, taking a pride in
+pleasing their dear Nunkie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The old rogue!&#8221; said Pa enviously. &#8220;He has an
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span>
+easy time of it; whereas I, with my skinny kitten, damn
+it ...!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Well, well, he mustn&#8217;t complain, as he himself admitted:
+one more rung which he had mounted, thanks
+to his Lily, that engagement with the best variety-show in
+the States; nothing but big theaters: Orpheums! Dominions!
+And New York next! And then London!
+Things were moving, moving! And Pa looked lovingly
+at his Lily, as she played at being grown up with the
+Three Graces, in the train on Sunday, traveling from
+town to town, while Ma was knitting things for her
+tomboy. He talked to Mr. Fuchs as between equals, as
+between man and man, as between the manager of a star
+and the owner of a troupe; and the train rushed on, rushed
+on, with an indistinct sound of the engine-bell, now and
+again, when they crossed a street. Mr. Fuchs, heavy-jawed,
+slow of speech, said that he had had enough of
+traveling, at his age, if it were not for his dear nieces.
+He would like to retire to the country, to his little home,
+and grow his roses, as soon as he had married off his
+dear nieces, which would not be long, no doubt. As it
+was, one of them, Thea, the one who did five pullings-up
+with her left hand, had his permission to receive letters
+from her sweetheart, a young man at St. Louis, quite
+well-off. The idyl made good Mr. Fuchs blossom into a
+genial smile: family life! Simple joys! The only true
+ones! Worth more than the stage! And Nunkie talked
+and talked: the Parisienne, a perpetual scandal! And
+wait a bit: what was that he heard at an agent&#8217;s the other
+day? Yes, the daughter of his old friend Martello, Ave
+Maria her name was, had left her brother, and run away
+from Mexico with a man! Tut, tut, the things one saw
+nowadays!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span></p>
+<p>Pa hardly listened to the old crock, preferred to dream
+of New York and the success his Lily would achieve
+there! And Lily, sitting close by, listened with all her
+ears, puckered her little forehead: love, love....
+And Ave Maria, who had run away with a man....
+Why with a man? And she squeezed up against Thea,
+the Grace who was in love ... put question after
+question.... She talked of her boy-violinist, of
+Trampy. And they all laughed boisterously, with heads
+thrown back, full-throated, and Nunkie, very paternally,
+congratulated Mr. Clifton on his daughter&#8217;s niceness.</p>
+<p>&#8220;For goodness&#8217; sake, don&#8217;t go putting it into her head
+that she&#8217;s pretty, the little devil!&#8221; protested Ma. &#8220;That
+would be the last straw!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>The arrival in New York was a disappointment to Pa.
+The authorities insisted on seeing the papers this time.
+Lily was under age; just as at &#8217;Frisco. What! Why?
+Because of former scandals, it appeared: Martello and
+Ave Maria. What had he, a British subject, to do with
+those Dagoes who spoil the profession? growled Pa. He
+ended by rebelling against the injustice of it, thought of
+the Three Graces hard at work rehearsing under Nunkie&#8217;s
+eye, while he, Clifton, had not even the right to set foot
+on a stage and let Lily practise there. To work, to work,
+damn it! And he locked her up all day in her room doing
+her balancings, the boomerang on the front wheel, the
+standstill on the back-wheel, or the bike upside down,
+with Lily standing on the pedals, like a convict on the
+tread-mill. The pack of fools! Because a Dago had
+whipped his sister, wasn&#8217;t a Pa to have the right to bring
+his own daughter up? To work, to work! And he kept
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span>
+her at it for hours and hours, watched and knit his brows,
+like a sage pondering for hours over the solution of a
+problem.</p>
+<p>Lily, breathless, would turn a look of entreaty upon
+her Ma, but Mrs. Clifton, with her nose bent over her
+work, pretended not to see, obstinately went on cutting
+out, patching, sewing her tomboy&#8217;s bloomers. Lily longed
+for Trampy....</p>
+<p>At night, Pa ran from theater to theater: from Fourteenth
+Street, where they lodged, to Twenty-third Street;
+took the elevated to Fifty-eighth Street, to Hundred
+and-twenty-fifth Street! All theaters at which Lily
+would have triumphed but for those dirty Dagoes!
+And the things that were served up to the public, pooh!
+Clifton laughed with scorn. Troupes of English dancing-girls&mdash;the
+famous Roofers&mdash;with movements like stuffed
+dolls; and cyclists, pooh! Hauptmanns, fat freaks turned
+out in Berlin: if that was the best they could do, pooh!
+Oh, if he had only had the right to send his New Zealander
+on Wheels scooting in among their legs, just to
+show the public what a star really was! And all the
+morning he ran about the town talking of &#8220;childish tricks&mdash;a
+big girl&#8221; to the police and &#8220;wonderful tricks&mdash;the
+only girl of her age who can do them&#8221; to the agents in
+the St. James&#8217; Building. Oh, if he could have London!
+He longed to measure his strength against all those famous
+names&mdash;Marjutti, Laurence, the Pawnees&mdash;just to
+show them his Lily!</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>And now it was the last stage. All around stretched
+the dark sea; and the liner sped&mdash;thud, thud, thud&mdash;through
+a gloomy set. Three days more and then Liverpool;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span>
+and London at last! Pa was about to realize
+his dream. He had signed, at last, for the Castle, in London!
+It was all right, it was all right! Prospects fine!
+And Harrasford was on board; it seemed a sign of good
+luck! He was traveling with his architect. Harrasford,
+the great English manager&mdash;Pa knew them all by name&mdash;Harrasford,
+the man for whom a whole nation of &#8220;artistes&#8221;
+toiled and moiled nightly. Pa had caught a glimpse
+of him.... He would have liked to introduce his
+Lily to him; no matter, he would know her one day, when
+she was starring in his halls! And on the Bill and Boom
+Tour! And elsewhere! She would soon be famous.</p>
+<p>Ma, who remained lying in her bunk sucking lemons,
+would have liked to have her Lily by her, within call, to
+keep her mother company, that great big girl spoiled by
+her Pa, even when she was not performing, as in New
+York; ... a new cloak and boots and gewgaws ... a
+couple of fools together, that&#8217;s what Ma
+called them! And she needed watching, that tomboy,
+who would break her leg one of these days, tumbling up
+and down the companion-way. But Lily preferred to
+enjoy herself and expended on running about the energies
+which she no longer had to devote to her practising.
+Her accumulated weariness disappeared under the influence
+of the sleep and the good meals, which she had not
+the boredom of having to get ready, as in Fourteenth
+Street, where Lily, big girl that she was, had to help
+her Ma.</p>
+<p>She flitted all over the deck, munching candies,
+showed everybody her new boots and her red cloak, held
+her head high, was very proud of being looked at. Lily
+dreamed of the Three Graces; of the boy-violinist; of
+Trampy. She made conquest upon conquest, down to the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span>
+electrician of the ship, quite a young lad, who looked as
+cold as ice.</p>
+<p>She sometimes stopped at his door, watched him handling
+levers, pressing buttons. It was like the switchboard
+of a theater. She pointed to this and to that. The
+lad smiled, told the New Zealander on Wheels all about
+his little world....</p>
+<p>As for Lily, she was going to star in London, where
+her Pa would cover her with diamonds! And she went
+on to tell him stories, like a little school-girl who has
+read a book or two: India, two eyes glittering in the
+dark, gee! And elephants she had known, little birds
+which she had kept in a cage in Natal, and kangaroos.
+The lion, who stands up on his hind legs when he&#8217;s angry;
+and the tiger, who lies down flat. And parrots. And
+starry nights in Africa: stars &#8220;that big.&#8221; And storms:
+waves &#8220;miles high!&#8221; And successes at Gangpur; and in
+Chicago, where she shared a dressing-room with three
+girls who, when they were undressed, were all over
+muscles, just like men. She liked the bike well enough,
+but those falls: oh, damn it!</p>
+<p>&#8220;That little monkey has seen everything in her time,&#8221;
+thought Jimmy, the electrician.</p>
+<p>And he mused upon the numberless things which she
+had seen, the countries, the cities, and all that she would
+yet see, in her life as a wandering star, while he would
+remain walled up in his cabin, with his nose to the switchboard.</p>
+<p>And the steamer sped&mdash;thud, thud, thud&mdash;over the
+dark sea, where the noise of the waves sounded like the
+roar of multitudes of men. Huge clouds in the east were
+tinged with red, as though London were about to loom
+above the horizon in all its glory, filling the vast expanse
+with its rumors and its lights....</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span>
+<h2>CURTAIN RISES</h2>
+<h3>I</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lily ... who&#8217;s Lily? A New Zealander: really?
+Ah well, we will look into the matter; it will be settled
+later on ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>Clifton, when he returned home that evening, gnawed
+his mustache and clenched his fists with rage. Ah, he
+would not soon forget his arrival in London! To get
+there and be chucked! Was that what he had come from
+New York for? To see Lily&#8217;s place at the Castle filled
+by another troupe of the Hauptmanns&mdash;the Hauptmanns
+again, those fat freaks!&mdash;and nothing to be said or done?</p>
+<p>&#8220;Engagement not valid. Ought at least to have waited
+for the London agency&#8217;s signed contract before leaving!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Intent upon his vexations of the moment, he described
+his day to Mrs. Clifton. What had staggered him, done
+for him, was his visit to the agent, where they hadn&#8217;t
+seemed to know Lily!</p>
+<p>He had rushed at once to others, just to show them who
+Miss Lily was! But he got the same reply wherever he
+went:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily? Who&#8217;s Lily? A Maori? Let&#8217;s see the photograph.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And would Mrs. Clifton ever believe, asked the indignant
+Pa, what they said when they handed him back the
+photograph? Yes, to him, the father, to his face, they
+said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s too thin, that Lily of yours!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span>
+&#8220;If that&#8217;s the way they welcome British subjects returning
+to the mother-country, it&#8217;s jolly encouraging, on
+my word it is!&#8221; concluded Clifton.</p>
+<p>Ma, among the open boxes, listened and said nothing;
+she was exasperated. Their entry into the metropolis
+struck her, too, as anything but triumphal. For all her
+dislike of those breakneck trades, for all her contempt
+for the bike, she displayed even more anxiety than Pa.
+With those fat freaks at the Castle and if engagements
+continued scarce, how would they manage, later on, lost
+in that huge London, with no money, and a child to feed?
+Her vanity was wounded as well. She had dreamed of
+dazzling her sister-in-law, making them all burst with
+jealousy over the splendid engagement at the Castle; and
+now everything was slipping from their hands, on the
+very day of their arrival, and there was nothing for them
+but to sit at home and keep quiet.</p>
+<p>But Pa, the next day, tore through London like one
+possessed, grinding his teeth and clenching his fists, railing
+at everybody, himself included. He thought of Lily,
+who had lost a week on the voyage and who was now
+messing about in the house, instead of practising her bike.
+This idea pursued him, clung to him; but his perseverance
+was indomitable, his courage ready to face anything or
+anybody. Lily should perform at the Castle! She had
+come to perform there and perform there she should!
+There were more visits to the agents, to this one and
+that one, to one and all, indefatigable visits. Clifton
+insisted on his Lily&#8217;s merits, pulled out his pocket-book,
+bursting with press-cuttings, offered to prove his statements.
+The agent, on his side, had made inquiries.
+Lily was very clever for her age: a little thin, it was true,
+but very graceful; and the New Zealander on Wheels
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span>
+ought to get on. Clifton would work up her turn, no
+doubt. And, at last, Pa obtained a promise in writing&mdash;and
+signed&mdash;of an engagement in eight months&#8217; time ... at the Castle, damn it!</p>
+<p>An engagement in eight months was better than nothing;
+but what to do in the meanwhile? It wasn&#8217;t the
+money question that bothered him; Pa had money; but
+Lily worried him: he wanted work for Lily, bike all the
+time and hard at it. Now, London was closed to him;
+he couldn&#8217;t let her perform in London before appearing
+at the Castle; that was in the contract; and there was
+nothing for the provinces.</p>
+<p>His tenacity continued to do him good service. He got
+a few offers, in the London suburbs; that could do him
+no harm, he knew, though his Lily did appear at Dulwich,
+Deptford or West Ham: who would think of going
+there to discover that shrimp?... damn their impudence!
+And meantime the shrimp would work and her
+day would come, you pack of fat freaks, you!</p>
+<p>Pa, on the whole, was satisfied. To show Lily, that
+was all he asked for! He was quieter, now that she could
+practise. And Lily, also, was delighted and relieved.
+At first it was jolly, doing nothing; but to be always at
+home with Ma had its drawbacks; only the other day,
+because she had asked for a tam-o&#8217;-shanter with a feather
+in it, like those she saw the little girls wear in the street,
+she had nearly had a box on the ear, the extravagant little
+beast, who would bring them all to the workhouse!</p>
+<p>Better biking with Pa, from morning till night, and
+only coming home after the show. Besides, away from
+the work, Pa was nice to her: a packet of sweets here, a
+bunch of violets there; and then there were the train journeys
+out of London and back, over the roofs: all those
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span>
+little yellow houses, with white curtains, and those little
+back yards, no bigger than that&mdash;real dolls&#8217; houses, all
+alike&mdash;and such lots of little chimneys, such lots and lots
+of little chimneys; and those gorgeous posters: Hippodrome,
+Olympia, Bovril, mustard, elephants, the Hauptmanns.
+Pa wouldn&#8217;t look at them, those fat freaks; but,
+oh, if he had them here&mdash;and a whip&mdash;just for five minutes ... and the chance of saying a word or two!
+To think that they were working at the Castle, while he
+was puffing out to the suburbs! And he racked his brain,
+as he traveled over the town&mdash;that town which he had to
+conquer and which was veiled from him between-whiles
+by the curtain of posters in the railway-stations, on the
+hoardings, everywhere&mdash;again, again; and imperial
+troupes and royal troupes, endless troupes, arrays of
+pink tights, lines of legs uplifted amid a flight of scarlet
+skirts, alternating with Sunlight and Van Houten and
+national and colonial troupes, loud as a trumpet-blare
+and with nothing behind them, he dared say....</p>
+<p>Those &#8220;troupes,&#8221; those &#8220;families&#8221;&mdash;he turned it all
+over in his mind&mdash;yes, they judged talent by weight; the
+public wanted a lot for its money: well, why shouldn&#8217;t
+he have a troupe? Why not? Lily&mdash;he had noticed it
+in the few shows she had given&mdash;Lily didn&#8217;t cut much of
+a figure in London: five stone of flesh and bones, a mite,
+a minnow, a nothing. Well, if Lily wasn&#8217;t enough by herself,
+he&#8217;d give them more: a whole troupe, if need be!
+Why, he&#8217;d set about it at once!</p>
+<p>With his customary determination, yielding to a fixed
+idea, he devoted himself to it. And, in the halls, at the
+agents&#8217;, in the bars, at the Internationale Artisten-Klause
+in Lisle Street, that universal meeting-place, Pa, ever on
+the watch, strove to make people talk, listened with all his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span>
+ears, took notes. It was very difficult to get at the real
+facts; one had to ferret them out; the owners of the
+troupes jealously concealed their methods, endeavored to
+put you off, talked of apprentices at five or six shillings a
+day, plus food and expenses. Pa saw through these tricks
+and, to arrive at the truth, discounted the six shillings
+down to sixpence. Lily, her Pa&#8217;s own daughter, easily
+obtained information from the apprentices themselves
+which she afterward repeated to him. He studied
+<i>The Era</i>, the paper of the Profession, got the names
+by heart: the managers, the &#8220;Pas&#8221;, the &#8220;bosses&#8221;, the
+&#8220;profs.&#8221; He got acquainted with some of them personally.
+Old Martello, for instance, the father of Ave Maria and
+the &#8220;Bambinis.&#8221; Martello could have given Pa hints; but
+he no longer interested himself in anything except his
+Bambinis, whom the poor man, grown calm with age and
+overwork, was now spoiling. The rest left him indifferent;
+he hardly listened, spoke in short sentences, like a
+man too old to care:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Train apprentices? What&#8217;s the good? Run a troupe?
+Pooh, madness!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Pa thought this exclusive admiration very touching,
+but it wasn&#8217;t what he wanted and, madness or not, damn
+it, he was resolved to carry out his idea to the end!</p>
+<p>There were imperial and royal troupes, &#8220;Risleys,&#8221; carpet
+acrobats, pyramids of tumblers, some of them undergoing
+an apprenticeship of cuffs and thumps. Pa was not
+interested in these methods, did not approve of them; he
+had never knocked Lily about, never let her fall on purpose&mdash;&#8220;Have
+I, Lily?&#8221;&mdash;whereas in the imperial and
+royal they sent the apprentice sprawling on his back, just
+to teach him, when he started wrong.</p>
+<p>Still, all these were boys; and it was the little girls that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span>
+interested him, for he meant to have only girls among
+his apprentices. The rest wasn&#8217;t his damned business;
+but the different troupes of Roofer girls, for instance,
+affected him directly: where did old Roofer fish those
+girls out? That&#8217;s what Pa wanted to know. He had
+even, in order to visit the school, pretended to bring Lily
+as a pupil. He had seen the place in Broad Street, where
+they turned out &#8220;sisters&#8221; by the gross; had watched the
+squads in knickerbockers, scattered over the immense
+room, like recruits drilling in a barrack-yard: groups engaged
+in club-swinging, juggling, clog-dancing, all together,
+a tangle of different movements timed &#8220;one, two,
+three!&#8221; Roofer chose among the heap, sorted out the
+sizes, called this lot the Merry Wives, that lot the Crazy
+Things, christened them after an insect or a flower,
+packed them up in lots of ten or twelve girls, with snub-noses
+or Greek profiles, as preferred, despatched them,
+carriage-paid, C. O. D., with words, music and muslin
+skirts complete, and received every day a detailed account
+of his Honeysuckles and Bees, scattered all over the
+world, from the Klondike to Calcutta.</p>
+<p>This superlative organization produced upon Pa the
+effect of a state affair; it was something beyond him,
+above him; it interested him especially from the recruiting
+point of view; and what stimulated him above all was
+the troupes of trick cyclists. He had seen plenty of them
+in America, but then, wholly occupied as he was with
+his Lily, they did not interest him, whereas now he was
+seeking to fathom their lives, so that he might know.
+Some of them, who went cheap, slept three in a bed,
+niggers and whites all mixed; others, who were well
+paid, lived easily and comfortably and put themselves
+forward with less work and for more money than Lily,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span>
+Lily who possessed artistic talent, and who had toiled
+harder than all the rest of them put together! Patience,
+his turn would come ... when she was a bit less
+thin. And he would have the troupe of troupes, he&#8217;d
+show them, jolly soon!</p>
+<p>Mrs. Clifton was terrified at her husband&#8217;s boldness,
+but dared not protest; however, she observed that it was
+a big undertaking.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We shall have five apprentices,&#8221; interrupted Clifton,
+&#8220;six including Lily. We must find lodgings.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, dear...!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you think...?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As for the apprentices, he would see to that to-morrow.
+Ma suggested that her sister-in-law&#8217;s daughter might
+do, but Pa wouldn&#8217;t have relatives at any price&mdash;blubbering
+for a smacking bestowed upon their daughters&mdash;he
+knew all about them, thank you. Let such sheep bleat
+elsewhere. No, give him strangers. He could be freer
+with them and get as many as he wished. An advertisement
+in <i>The Daily Mail</i>&mdash;&#8220;Wanted, young girls for trick
+cycling,&#8221; followed by the address&mdash;fetched them the same
+day. The pavement before the house was blocked with
+white aprons, sailor-hats and tam-o&#8217;-shanters. There
+were consumptive-looking girls, long hanks of girls,
+chunky girls, all crowding outside the door, until the
+landlady drove them away with her broom and threatened
+to do as much for Pa and Ma if all the street-arabs of
+London were to go on soiling her nice white steps.</p>
+<p>Pa, for that matter, found nothing in the bunch, not
+one in twenty that was any good; or else they made exhorbitant
+demands&mdash;two shillings a day those guttersnipes
+expected&mdash;as though shillings were to be had for
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span>
+the asking! But why look so far? There were girls,
+sometimes, at the back entrances of the theaters: stage-struck
+kids who devoured Lily with their eyes and looked
+at Pa as though to say, &#8220;Take me, take me!&#8221; That&#8217;s
+what he wanted, damn it, girls who had the business in
+their blood and
+who wouldn&#8217;t
+go whining over
+a professional
+slap or two,
+which he dared
+say he&#8217;d have
+to distribute to
+make up for lost
+time.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg028.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 247px; height: 357px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 247px;'>
+&#8220;TAKE ME, TAKE ME!&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The first girl
+whom he engaged
+he had already
+seen gazing
+ecstatically
+at Lily, as they
+left the theater,
+far away down
+the Mile End
+Road, and he
+saw her again,
+one morning, in
+front of his
+house in the very heart of London! He could not believe
+his eyes. She must have followed his scent, slept on the
+threshold like a lost dog. Her Pa? Gone away. Her
+Ma? Dead. Her name? Maud. Her age? Didn&#8217;t
+know. Born somewhere in the immensity of Whitechapel,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span>
+towheaded, round-faced. Nothing to eat for two
+days. She&#8217;d do! He would go to the police-court, get
+the license later; meantime, he netted her and that was
+one!</p>
+<p>As regards the others, he had to make a selection. He
+chose them by preference in families which were overstocked
+with brats, so that one more or less, in the heap,
+made no difference. He got one this way; that made
+two! Next, a &#8220;local girl,&#8221; seized with ambition, came
+and offered herself. Three! He found two others: a
+little Beak Street shop-girl and a Shoreditch Jewess.
+That made five. It did not take him long to judge the
+girls. He gave them a few days&#8217; trial before signing a
+contract; and what an anxiety for them, Mr. Clifton&#8217;s
+final decision! If one trembled too much, was caught
+holding Pa&#8217;s shoulder for no reason, for fear of falling,
+or blubbered because of a scratch on the skin, her fate
+was settled.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pack up, my lady,&#8221; Pa would say quite calmly.</p>
+<p>There was no getting out of it: off she had to go, before
+dinner, and home she went, through the gloomy
+streets, after a brief glimpse of paradise.</p>
+<p>He had to replace some of them: they were slack; or
+else, independent at times, they looked at him for the
+least push, as if they would fly at his throat. He asked
+himself whether he wouldn&#8217;t be compelled to get some
+over from Germany or else to pick up on the highroads,
+in the Gipsies&#8217; caravans, children with skins tanned like
+donkeys&#8217;, a troupe of blackamoors on wheels, who,
+perched up on the handle-bars of the bikes, would
+have looked like cockroaches mounted as brooches,
+damn it!</p>
+<p>However, by dint of selection, he ended by having
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span>
+only good ones left; and then he made a contract in due
+form with the parents for three years, or even five, such
+was his faith in the future. A few pence a week to the
+family, a few pence to the baggage herself: he to dress,
+lodge and board her and engage to make an artiste of her.
+Everything was provided for: during the training, just
+the board and the rest; when she began to work, a shilling
+a day in addition. Over and above, she would be looked
+after by a lady, Mrs. Clifton. Was that all right? Both
+parties signed; the girl was an artiste, became a New
+Zealander.</p>
+<p>They brought their little wardrobe: one spare chemise,
+on the average, one pair of stockings; their only protection
+against the weather was the dress they had on, a
+factory-girl&#8217;s ulster and a tam-o&#8217;-shanter. Later on,
+when performing, they would be entitled to a celluloid
+collar, satinette knickers and pumps.</p>
+<p>Pa, though at first he took one extra room and then
+two in the same house and though he also made his apprentices
+sleep three in a bed, Pa soon found himself
+cramped. It would have been nice to have a little house
+somewhere in good air, next door to the country. But
+there was one thing which made Pa decide to remain in
+the West Central district. Jimmy, the young electrician
+with whom Lily used to chat on shipboard, had given up
+traveling. Harrasford and his architect had noticed him
+on board and the great man had engaged him to manage
+the electric installation of his theaters. Jimmy had taken
+possession of a lodging in Gresse Street, Tottenham Court
+Road. He slept over the shop, which, for the rest, served
+him rather as a place in which to keep the tools for his
+outside work. Pa often ran upon him in the neighborhood
+and had a nodding acquaintance with him which
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span>
+turned out to be useful, as Jimmy, being in Harrasford&#8217;s
+employment, was more or less at home in the variety-theaters
+and nothing was easier than for him to obtain
+leave for Clifton to practise on the stage. This it was
+that persuaded Clifton to settle in the west end. In any
+case, it would be cheaper
+than dragging the six
+girls and himself daily
+from one end of London
+to the other. The house
+in which he took up his
+quarters, in Rathbone
+Place, quite close to
+Jimmy, was small and
+dark, but not dear. The
+upper story was occupied
+by people who were
+out all day and the basement
+served as a lumber
+room. They would feel
+quite at home here ... with
+no old sheep to
+listen at the keyholes.</p>
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg031.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 254px; height: 324px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 254px;'>
+TOM, THE SHOEBLACK<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>And then he would
+have slept in the parks,
+if necessary, anywhere, rather than waste more precious
+time! His Lily, his troupe, before everything. What he
+had to do was to get a move on. He went so far as
+to engage a boy, a shoeblack at the corner of Oxford
+Street and Tottenham Court Road for the rest of the
+time, to attend to the bikes and the girls at practice.</p>
+<p>Pa gave his mind to the gear, the expenses, the general
+business. Ma saw to good order, to domestic discipline.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span>
+It was no longer the quiet life of a Pa and Ma trotting
+round the world in the company of their one and only
+bread-winning star. As for Lily, the daughter of the
+boss and manager, she owed a good example to one and
+all. In the morning, with Maud, she went down to the
+kitchen, lit the stove, made the coffee. Next, she carried
+up the breakfast to Pa and Ma in bed, then distributed
+their rations to the famished girls. And off they went,
+all six of them, with Pa following at their heels.</p>
+<p>The stage-door gave the apprentices a thrill the first
+day they entered. The passage, gently sloping, tall and
+wide, because of the scenery, smelt of elephants and
+cheap scent. It was blocked with properties, with queer-shaped
+cases, flat as a slab or round as a ball. There
+were long, narrow boxes, for the horizontal bars; sometimes
+a row of wicker coffins, with a ventriloquist&#8217;s figures
+inside. And labels from everywhere&mdash;Melbourne, Chicago,
+Berlin, Lisbon&mdash;and &#8220;Rlys.&#8221; and &#8220;S. S.&#8221; that made
+you feel in the hold of a liner, off to foreign ports.</p>
+<p>At the end, beyond an iron door, was the stage, very
+dark, pricked here and there with electric lamps. There
+were things that glittered with spangles. To the girls
+it seemed like the Kingdom of Puss-in-Boots or Blue-Beard;
+but to Lily it was an old story. She was a little
+like the school-girl in the good days long past, for whom
+the master was always waiting, cane in hand. The rest
+she didn&#8217;t care about.</p>
+<p>Nevertheless, huge as the stage was, there was not
+always room to practise: ponies or elephants would
+monopolize it for hours at a time. Or else, when Roofer
+was supplying a ballet, he took up the whole stage, all
+day long: Lily, secretly delighted, sat down modestly in
+a corner, so as to be in no one&#8217;s way. Roofer made his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span>
+collection of calves and ankles flutter about, followed
+the new dances with an expert eye, throwing his hat
+back on his head, mopping his forehead, grumbling, finding
+fault:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t eat chocolates while you&#8217;re dancing, you, Eva!
+Hi, you, Gwendolen!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, to emphasize his remarks, he threw his felt hat at
+them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Silly old ass!&#8221; thought Pa, with a grin. &#8220;To think
+you can train artistes like that. You&#8217;ll use up fifty hats,
+you old fool, while my belt remains as good as new!&#8221;</p>
+<p>For that was now Pa&#8217;s system, the strap&mdash;&#8220;à la
+Mexico!&#8221;&mdash;not that he used it often nor very hard; but
+he terrorized Lily with it and the other girls were afraid
+of it, too, though they never got more than the threat,
+seeing that they were apprentices, who might have run
+away if he had struck out.</p>
+<p>All this did not prevent them from working with a
+will&mdash;trot, trot, trot&mdash;when there was no Roofer on the
+stage and no elephants or ponies: yoop, on to the bikes
+and the fun began! The sight of Pa training his star
+made the apprentices shake in their knickers. Lily was
+to do everything and to do it very well: Pa ran after her,
+in a never-ending circle, and, from the corner of his eye,
+watched Tom, who held the girls and made them work,
+upon his instructions; and when they got off their bikes
+to wipe their foreheads:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bravo, Miss Woolly-legs!&#8221; said Pa sarcastically.
+&#8220;Tired, eh? Dead, eh? Suppose you tried to get up
+again ... and be quick about it! And as for you,
+Tom, don&#8217;t let them fall, or I&#8217;ll catch you one on the side
+of the head!&#8221;</p>
+<p>For Pa already knew by experience that their little
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span>
+ladyships shirked work; that they shook with fright; that
+they lost confidence after a bad fall; and that then it was
+finished, nothing to be done with them: they&#8217;d let themselves
+be killed sooner.</p>
+<p>Maud, for instance, that Jonah, ever after one day she
+had seen her blood flow, trembled before her bike like a
+sheep that scents the slaughter-house. It was no use
+Pa&#8217;s threatening her with his belt: she wouldn&#8217;t let herself
+go, on the contrary, held on to everything, no matter
+what, for fear of falling. He ought to have sent her
+away long ago; he would pack her off that very night ... and made no bones about telling her so, that
+Jonah!</p>
+<p>Then Pa, giving Lily a rest, occupied himself with the
+girls: taught them the principle of the standstill, of side-riding,
+of the &#8220;swan,&#8221; of the &#8220;frog.&#8221; And,&mdash;quickly!&mdash;the
+indefatigable Pa went back to Lily, made her begin
+a trick ten times, twenty times over, so great was his
+rage at the lost time, the elephants, the Hauptmanns,
+Roofer. He pulled faces, clenched his fists:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why don&#8217;t you do as I say when I tell you, damn it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Pa, I can&#8217;t!&#8221; protested Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can, if you like,&#8221; said Pa, exasperated this time
+and unbuckling his belt.</p>
+<p>Crash! A heap behind him, a medley of limbs and steel
+fittings! Maud, who was still trying, on her bike, startled
+by Pa&#8217;s threatening movement, had fallen flat down.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maud again! That damned Jonah!&#8221; cried Pa, going
+up to her. &#8220;Well, Miss Woolly-legs, do you mean to
+stay there all night?&#8221;</p>
+<p>But she did not move; and, when they had disentangled
+her from the bike, Pa saw an eye that was quite red
+and a little stream of blood trickling down her cheek.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s look!&#8221; said Pa anxiously.</p>
+<p>A spoke sprung from the felly had scratched her eye.</p>
+<p>It was a serious accident. Sprained wrists, barked
+shins didn&#8217;t count; but a spoke in the eye.... Luckily,
+Maud had no relations; there was no claim to be
+feared: not a vestige of old sheep on the mother&#8217;s side.
+Pa said all this to himself as he ran to the chemist, and
+Lily consoled poor Maud as best she could, said that,
+after all, it was part of the game: she&#8217;d know better another
+time, eh? She&#8217;d be a great star yet, eh, Maud?</p>
+<p>The poor maimed thing lifted her face to Lily, stammered
+through her tears that it was nothing ... all
+right again now ... Pa&#8217;s fault, with his belt.</p>
+<p>&#8220;For a little thing like that!&#8221; said Lily, laughing.
+&#8220;Fancy falling from your bike for that! Why, I&#8217;d rather
+have twenty &#8216;contracts on the back&#8217; than lose an eye.&#8221;</p>
+<p>For that was what it amounted to. Pa realized it, after
+he had dressed the wound. Clifton&#8217;s mind was not at
+ease: a glass eye was not a very difficult matter ... but,
+who knows, some callous person might inform Harrasford,
+who stood no nonsense on that subject. Fortunately
+the artistes present had not paid much attention ... had hardly noticed anything, in the dim light of
+the stage....</p>
+<p>And soon after the New Zealanders were walking back
+to Rathbone place with Maud in their midst, her head a
+roll of bandages, leaning on Lily&#8217;s arm.</p>
+<p>It was a pathetic home-coming. Ma had told them
+what would happen! That would teach them to take in
+vagabonds from the streets. Mrs. Clifton thought that,
+in a respectable house....</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;ll do,&#8221; said Pa, dropping into the easy-chair in
+the dining-room. &#8220;I&#8217;m worn out. If you&#8217;d been like me,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span>
+Mrs. Clifton, running after those Woolly-legs all the
+morning&#8221;&mdash;and he pointed to the apprentices standing
+round the table&mdash;&#8220;gee, you wouldn&#8217;t talk so much! I&#8217;ll
+take Maud to the hospital this afternoon; it&#8217;s only a
+trifle. Is dinner ready?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come along, then, all of you Woolly-legs,&#8221; said Pa
+jovially.</p>
+<p>Pa was sorry for poor Maud, as a rule, but he felt a
+need to shed a little gaiety, to extenuate the accident as far
+as possible, to turn it into a joke, so as to prevent his girls
+from being panic-stricken. He talked of heads smashed
+to a jelly, of legs in smithereens, of a bicyclist who had
+had not one, but both eyes caught in the chain. As
+for himself, when he was a small boy&mdash;that was in the
+time when they brought up artistes, real ones, mind
+you; not, as nowadays, on sugar and sweets; no, real
+ones, on the whip and the stick, damn it!&mdash;why, the accidents
+which he&#8217;d seen! Yes, he himself, to go no farther,
+he could have shown them, here, there, there, here, damn
+it, all over his body, scars deep enough to put your finger
+in!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh? Frightens you, does it? Never fear,&#8221; added Pa,
+in a good-humored voice, &#8220;that sort of thing won&#8217;t happen
+to any of you Woolley-legs; a good Irish stew is better
+than a kick of the pedal, eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Pa, after a last cup of strong tea, dismissed the
+girls, lit his pipe, threw himself into the easy-chair, with
+his legs long out in front of him; but soon:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Maud, what is it? What are you crying for
+now? I tell you, I&#8217;ll buy you a glass one,&#8221; said Pa, at
+the sight of Maud, who blubbered silently and sat glued
+to her chair instead of getting up to go.</p>
+<p>Poor lost dog! Clifton, at the theater, had threatened
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span>
+to send her away. She knew what that meant: leaving
+Miss Lily, losing those good meals....</p>
+<p>Maud faltered something about packing up; pain in her
+eye; not her fault.</p>
+<p>&#8220;So what you want is to stay with us?&#8221; asked Pa.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; gasped Maud.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, stay! But no more bike; you shall be
+Lily&#8217;s lady&#8217;s maid,&#8221; said Pa, puffing at his pipe.</p>
+<p>It went down so well, as an effort of dry humor, that
+Ma could not help laughing. But Mr. Clifton was talking
+seriously. Then Ma, amazed, protested: what, a servant
+in her house! A lady&#8217;s maid for Lily! He would
+end by giving her the moon! And what would Lily do
+all day? She&#8217;d sit twiddling her thumbs! Had Mr.
+Clifton thought of that?</p>
+<p>Yes, Mr. Clifton had thought of it. He was too tired
+to explain his reasons; but take it from him, it was best
+like that. Pa, in fact, feared lest that smashed eye might
+prove a worry to him: the papers weren&#8217;t in order. He
+had made no declaration to the police; there was the
+Workmen&#8217;s Compensation Act.... Much better
+keep Maud safe in the house, for a while ...</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily won&#8217;t sit twiddling her thumbs for all that, will
+you, Lily?&#8221; continued Pa, smiling to his star.</p>
+<p>A touch of the brush and comb, a stroll through the
+streets with the girls, by leave of Pa, who wished Lily
+to take the air, then home again, more housework....
+The apprentices, who did not yet perform in
+public, were sent to bed early, while Lily, escorted by Pa,
+went off to East, West, South or North London. An
+hour to get there; then undress, dress, appear on the
+stage under Pa&#8217;s eye, undress and dress again; another
+hour to get back; a morsel of cold Irish stew, a cup of
+tea; and drowsily up to her room and bed....</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lily!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Ma&#8217;s voice woke her with a start in the morning. Lily
+dressed quickly and quickly ran down-stairs to the kitchen,
+where Maud had gone before her; and it was the same
+thing every day, except on tour, when discipline was less
+strict. It had gone on for months and months, for two
+years, ever since they came to London. Pa, with his iron
+will, had overcome everything. He felt at home in the old
+country, at last. After his engagements in the London
+suburbs, he had obtained a triumph at the Castle, a Bill
+and Boom tour of forty weeks, a season at Blackpool,
+the Harrasford tour now, successes everywhere. Before
+his boyish little girls, before his own particular troupe,
+the fat freaks trembled in their knickers! For Clifton,
+the new-comer, but yesterday unknown, it was an unhoped-for
+success and fame and fortune.</p>
+<p>Ma nearly always remained in London with Maud.
+Lily was not big enough yet to need the supervision of
+a Ma. Therefore, on tour,&mdash;when she was not practising
+with her Pa,&mdash;Lily did the catering, saw to the porridge
+and the Irish stew; Pa was not hard to please. Provided
+Lily was &#8220;great&#8221; on the stage, he asked for nothing more.
+Dishes burned for want of butter, salad mixed in the
+wash-hand basin: he swallowed everything with an appetite,
+ate standing, with his plate on the trunk, or else
+seated with the girls round a little table hardly large
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span>
+enough for three. This Bohemian life pleased him. He
+loved youth, gaiety and good fellowship. He was fond
+of a laugh, took Lily on his knee after dinner, played
+with her, praised her home-made cakes, her tough chops,
+and then began talking bike to Lily ... who hated
+bikes, and who got something different from a hat flung
+at her, when she missed a trick.</p>
+<p>No matter, hard as it was, she preferred touring to
+staying in London. The work was the same, but, at
+least, it was a change. She was spoiled by every one,
+down to that landlady who cried when she left....
+After all there were many worse off than she, everlastingly
+set about by &#8220;profs,&#8221; confined to their rooms all
+day to practise their balancing; she had had a taste of it
+in New York; no, thank you! She preferred having
+good times with the girls, practical jokes, boxing-matches
+even, scrimmages, pillow-fights. In the boarding-houses,
+they flirted with the boys; they kept pet
+pigeons, white mice, a lizard; they exchanged secrets,
+stories of every country, professionals all! Sometimes,
+they consoled one another; promised to send
+kisses&mdash;x x x&mdash;on post-cards. And then there were new
+faces, always; a week in each town, no longer; a real
+life of adventure from one end of England to the
+other. Now it wasn&#8217;t like that in London; she felt less
+free there. Ma was particular and hard to please; there
+were no pillow-fights, no romps; Ma hated those ways.
+The stage, yes, she put up with that because it was Lily&#8217;s
+profession; but one came in contact with all sorts there;
+and that little devil of a Lily was wicked enough already!
+It took all the home influence to thwart the bad examples
+which she received outside; and it was Ma&#8217;s business to
+see to it.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span></p>
+<p>The house in Rathbone Place had been smartened up.
+There was a dining-room which was used only for meals
+and which never had a bed put into it at night. There
+were things on what-nots: little photograph-frames, loose
+photographs, lucky charms, china cups; all shining and
+bright, thanks to the adjunction of a lady&#8217;s maid, as Pa
+called Maud, in his funny way. At first, after the accident,
+it was terrible. Her natural awkwardness was made worse
+by a glass eye; she could not tell one side from the other,
+spilt the tea on the cloth, broke the crockery. Maud did
+the heavy work, washed and scrubbed all day long.
+When the girls were in London, she went with them to
+the theater, as dresser. Maud stood in the wings and
+admired the New Zealanders whirling about in the light.
+She stretched out her face in ecstasy toward Lily: that
+Lily who had traveled everywhere, who was born so far
+away, in a land full of monkeys and parrots. She followed
+Lily to her dressing-room, trotted after her like a
+dog, worshiped her open-mouthed.</p>
+<p>Lily had ripened out, was becoming more beautiful,
+more of a woman daily, despite the fact that her Pa still
+treated her like a kid. She no longer looked at things
+from the point of view of the child-girl who had been
+delighted with a satin hair-ribbon in India; now her
+pride was not appeased with such trifles. Ma, according
+to Lily, seemed ashamed of her, dressed her badly: an
+odd skirt here, an odd frock there, of a cheap make.
+That was not what Lily wanted. She was an artiste: she
+wanted a hat with big feathers and a gown with gold
+braid to it; but, when she showed Ma a dress which she
+liked in the shop windows, Ma would exclaim:</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you want with that? My poor Lily, you
+must be mad! That&#8217;s for rich little girls, girls who have
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span>
+time to be pretty; it wouldn&#8217;t suit you at all. Why, if we
+listened to you, we&#8217;d soon be in the workhouse!&#8221;</p>
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg041.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 228px; height: 385px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 228px;'>
+P.T. CLIFTON, MANAGER<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Ma always said no, pretending that she had no money;
+whereas Lily knew to the contrary. She knew that the
+troupe earned a great deal and that the troupe was herself.
+The other day, at the
+theater, she had heard her
+aunt, who felt bitter that
+Mr. Clifton had not accepted
+her daughter Daisy&mdash;who
+could have learned
+the business and later on
+have starred by herself!&mdash;she
+had heard that &#8220;old
+sheep&#8221; say, speaking of
+her:</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a shame to dress
+her like that! A girl who
+brings them in capital to
+invest!&#8221;</p>
+<p>So Pa was investing
+capital. She didn&#8217;t exactly
+know what investing capital
+meant; no doubt it
+meant making a lot of
+money. She asked for
+none of it! Children belong
+to their parents! But
+she would have liked to be
+treated with more consideration, to be spoiled; to get
+presents, nice things. She had plenty from her Pa, true
+enough: presents, my! But they were cheap gifts, for
+all that.... She was always having promises made
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span>
+her of more important things; and the promises were
+never kept: that big gold watch, for instance. She had
+a thirsting for luxury. It seemed to her that she was
+being treated like a performing dog, not a bit better.
+Ma, without exactly knowing, but with an infallible instinct,
+saw all this budding under that obstinate brow.
+Mr. Clifton might see nothing in it; but it was not so
+easy to take in a mother! Was there a love affair beneath
+it all, Ma asked herself. No, not yet; it might
+come later on, as with that apprentice who had run away,
+or that other one whom she had had to send packing for
+being too free with men. But Lily would not leave them
+like that.</p>
+<p>She did not let her go out. &#8220;Glass-eye Maud&#8221; ran the
+errands and Lily stayed at home, like a good little girl
+of whom her mother wished to make a lady. When she
+did happen to go out, she must not be long, or else it
+was, &#8220;Where have you been? Tell me at once!&#8221; At the
+theater, when Pa lost his temper, she could reckon on a
+mighty fillip, and then it was over: Pa was sorry, rather
+than otherwise. Ma, on the contrary, would nag for
+hours; muttered inarticulate phrases about &#8220;devil,&#8221;
+&#8220;wild bull,&#8221; and &#8220;taming her;&#8221; there was no end to it.
+Lily champed the bit! A star, indeed! Was that being
+a star? She thought differently! She had seen others
+drive up to the theater in their motors, accompanied
+by gentlemen carrying flowers, like that famous &#8220;M&#8217;dlle&#8221;
+at the Palace. Yes, those were stars: they dined at the
+Horse Shoe and did not spend their time in useless
+housework. Oh, she was quite sick and tired of that life!
+She&#8217;d had enough of it. Meanwhile, the days passed
+and the weeks and it was always the same thing: housework
+and stage-work; work, work, work....
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span></p>
+<p>It was late that morning; they were not practising.
+Pa had run down on the previous day to see a troupe of
+cyclists, the famous Pawnees, who were back from the
+Continent, on their way to New York, and performing
+that week at the Brighton Hippodrome. Lily was in her
+room later than usual, as Ma was not awake. Maud
+had gone down to the kitchen. The apprentices were
+getting up, joking with one another, like tom-boys used
+to sharing the same bed at home, the same room at the
+theater, to dressing, undressing, splashing about naked
+in the same bath-tub.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get up, Lily,&#8221; said one of them, laughing and raising
+her sturdy little hand. &#8220;Get up, or....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Lily, &#8220;let me alone, I&#8217;m dead.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As it happened, on the day before there had been a
+general tumble, six in a row, on the back-wheel; one of
+them, losing her balance, had dragged the others with
+her and the lot had fallen flat in a tangle of steel and
+flesh. Bucking Horse, Old Jigger, Street Donkey&mdash;the
+nicknames they gave their bikes&mdash;had kicked them to the
+raw. They showed one another the bruises on their
+limbs: &#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t it hurt, just!&#8221; &#8220;What about mine?&#8221;
+&#8220;Look here!&#8221; like young recruits bragging of their
+wounds after the skirmish.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Ma!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily washed quickly, put on her frock and ran
+down-stairs to prepare the coffee, but her Ma stopped
+her on her way.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily, you light the fire.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What about Maud?&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;Why can&#8217;t Maud
+do it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You young impudence,&#8221; ... said Ma; &#8220;Maud
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span>
+has gone to Jimmy&#8217;s to take the bike which Tom couldn&#8217;t
+get to him yesterday; he was shut. It&#8217;s the bike you
+spoiled, you little bedlamite!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily had to laugh at the thought of Maud struggling
+with Old Jigger: Maud, who couldn&#8217;t lead the machine
+by the handle-bar, or even walk beside it, without barking
+her shins.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why!&#8221; cried Lily. &#8220;She&#8217;ll explain everything wrong
+to Jimmy, and the bike will be no use!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, go yourself,&#8221; said Ma, after a pause.
+&#8220;And mind you, come back quickly; don&#8217;t go loitering in
+the street; and don&#8217;t stay long with that drunkard.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Ma.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Gresse Street, where Jimmy lived, was quite as dreary
+as Rathbone Place: here and there, a few posters on the
+walls; some low-fronted shops, displaying sweets and
+candies, or else a dazzling case of oranges on the muddy
+pavement; alleys, stables, cab-yards....</p>
+<p>It was here that Jimmy had his workshop, or rather
+his tool-store, for he did not do much work there. The
+time which his occupation at the theater left him he devoted
+to improving himself. Electricity and its manifold
+uses held his interest. There was no doubt that, had
+he given all his time to it, he would have become very
+clever, for he had an inventor&#8217;s brain and, moreover,
+possessed an astonishing manual skill for altering and
+perfecting things. He worked in copper and steel, was
+glad to make and repair bikes for a few customers, the
+New Zealanders, among others. While working, he
+brewed all manner of plans in his brain. They all revealed
+a practical intelligence. Saddle-supports which
+reduced the shaking on a bike, improved carriage-springs
+and so on; and, on the stage, inventions to dispense with
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span>
+men in the flies and wings; to work everything&mdash;scenery,
+curtain, lime-light&mdash;by means of the switchboard;
+and ever so many other things....</p>
+<p>Since joining the theater, Jimmy had naturally undergone
+the influence of the stage. It had affected his ideas,
+with all its new-fangled &#8220;turns,&#8221; which owed their success
+to a maximum of daring&mdash;or bluff&mdash;coupled with a
+minimum of scientific knowledge: illusionists basing their
+effects upon the reflections of invisible mirrors and the
+cunning use of combined lights; &#8220;looping the loop,&#8221; &#8220;circles
+of death,&#8221; in which sheer weight did the cyclist&#8217;s
+work for him, his arrival at a given point depending
+upon his accelerated and calculated speed. From seeing
+so many of this sort scouring the world&mdash;erstwhile acrobats,
+former laboratory-students, who now, venturing all
+and risking all, topped the bills at the music-halls&mdash;Jimmy,
+greatly interested in this scientific side, had himself made
+researches in that direction. <i>Engineering</i> and other
+journals had printed some of his schemes, including
+that of an apparatus based upon the notion of exterior
+ballistics: the resistance of the air proportional
+to the square of the velocity and, according to this velocity,
+the exact proportion of the angle of incidence to
+the angle of projection. Theoretically, it was perfect; in
+reality there might be some unexpected hitch. It was
+a question for the venturesome performer, who allowed
+himself to be projected by a series of powerful springs,
+to fall accurately from pedestal to pedestal, preserving a
+faultless balance; in a word, to risk his life six times in
+as many seconds. The daring of a Laurence and the
+agility of a Lily combined would not have been enough
+for the task; and so Jimmy had prudently contented himself
+with pinning his diagrams on the walls of the workshop
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span>
+and dismissing the idea from his mind. Not that
+he was afraid, rather not; but simply because it appeared
+impossible to him.</p>
+<p>Other plans had interested him, besides; flying machines,
+for instance, etc. He was a real enthusiast about
+flying machines! One day, perhaps, when he knew more
+... to say nothing of the theater, which did not
+leave him much leisure; yet he managed, somehow, for
+he took but little sleep and the rest of the time he devoted
+to study.</p>
+<p>This was the Jimmy of whom Ma made a bugbear to
+Lily&mdash;in Lily&#8217;s interest&mdash;for he was one of the few men
+whom she saw often; and you can never tell ...
+with those devils of the stage....</p>
+<p>Meanwhile, Lily, as soon as she had turned the corner
+of the street, drew herself up and, with a light step, went
+down Percy Street and Tottenham Court Road, instead
+of keeping straight on. It took her only five minutes
+longer and it suggested luxury, fine shops, handsome
+furniture, patent-leather shoes. She adored shopping,
+even if it was only with the eyes, through the plate-glass
+windows.</p>
+<p>She loved to pass in front of the Horse Shoe, where
+stars lived, real ones, not performing dogs. And
+then, round a piece of waste land, there was a hoarding
+covered with advertisements that interested her: the
+Hippodrome, the Kingdom, the Castle were displayed between
+extract of beef and mustard; and there were always
+new programs; always new names; and elephants, horses,
+lions; and tights....</p>
+<p>Lily looked at this for a few seconds. And, suddenly,
+she felt a thrill; on a scarlet poster, dazzling as the sun,
+she read:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Great success! Trampy Wheel-Pad!! At the Kingdom!!!&#8221; Trampy
+in London!</p>
+<p>Not that Lily was astonished: it seemed to her quite
+simple that he should be there, as simple as for her to
+be in Chicago, Bombay or Capetown; people do sometimes
+meet on tour, it all depends: you can be separated
+for years and then perform at the same theater for months.
+No, she was not in the least astonished: a little excited,
+that was all, without exactly knowing why....</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, if I should meet him,&#8221; she thought, &#8220;what shall I
+say to him? What will he say to me? Will he think
+me grown prettier or uglier?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily came to herself again and continued on her errand;
+crossed Tottenham Court Road, plunged into a
+labyrinth of blocked alleys, of dark courts, and, suddenly,
+was at Jimmy&#8217;s.</p>
+<p>Lily did not like him much; she considered him good-looking,
+for a man, but too shy. He never paid her a
+compliment. He seemed to think her ugly, whereas many
+others admired her and made no bones about telling her
+so, especially since the last few months; but he was
+ashamed of himself, no doubt: a drunkard, as Ma said.</p>
+<p>Poor Lily had no luck. She would have been so happy
+to be courted, to relieve her boredom. But nothing
+disgusted her so much as drink. And yet it didn&#8217;t show
+in Jimmy. He always walked straight, never fell, like
+that head-balancer who, the other night, had come tumbling
+down from his perch. Besides, that one had an
+excuse; he drank because he was crossed in love; to forget,
+they said. Lily forgave everything the moment there
+was love in it; but an icicle like Jimmy, who loved nobody
+and who drank for the sake of drinking ... ugh!</p>
+<p>Jimmy was at work when Lily entered. The small,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span>
+dark shop, crammed with things in steel, with loose
+wheels, queer-shaped objects, reminded Lily of a property
+store, only it was dirtier. There were tools everywhere;
+designs for machinery pinned on the walls; it
+was all very ugly.</p>
+<p>And Jimmy&#8217;s greeting was none too engaging either.
+A curt smile&mdash;&#8220;Glad to see you, Miss Lily&#8221;&mdash;and, as for
+the bike, he hadn&#8217;t understood a word of what the one-eyed
+creature who had just left had tried to say.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought as much,&#8221; said Lily, laughing. &#8220;That&#8217;s why
+I came.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, in a few words, she explained what she wanted.
+First, repair the twisted frame; next, a slight alteration
+for a new trick; a step here, another there.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Always fresh tricks, Lily?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Always, Jimmy. No end of bruises, I tell you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s part of the game,&#8221; said Jimmy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should like to see you try it,&#8221; retorted Lily contemptuously,
+&#8220;squeezing through the frame while it&#8217;s
+going, with that pedal barking your back,&#8221; and she rubbed
+herself as she spoke. &#8220;Only yesterday I got a kick; gee!
+It&#8217;s like those new tricks in which I don&#8217;t feel safe: riding
+with one foot on the saddle and the other on the bar
+and playing a banjo; it makes me shiver as I go past the
+footlights; and Pa watching me, you know; and, if I lose
+my balance, I get black and blue somewhere.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pooh!&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;One can&#8217;t expect a white skin
+at the game.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily didn&#8217;t care for this. If she couldn&#8217;t be courted, at
+least she liked to be pitied: that flattered her pride....
+It was all very well for Pa to say, &#8220;It&#8217;s part of the game,
+my little lady.&#8221; But that josser of a Jimmy, talking like
+that at his ease!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m glad I&#8217;m not your daughter!&#8221; she said. &#8220;My!
+You&#8217;d be harder than Pa.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your Pa is hard, sometimes; but he&#8217;s very fond of
+you, for all that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; said Lily, &#8220;he wouldn&#8217;t like me to break
+my neck; I bring him in too much for that, eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come,&#8221; interrupted Jimmy, &#8220;don&#8217;t talk nonsense. It&#8217;s
+not right to speak as you&#8217;re doing. You&#8217;ll be sorry for it,
+I&#8217;m sure. Tell me, rather: you were saying you wanted
+a step here, another there; do you mean like this?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And he rummaged among his tools, looked for loose
+pieces, showed them to Lily, while thinking of other
+things:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;do you think you&#8217;re the
+only one that&#8217;s got to work? Suppose you were shut up
+all day in a factory? Have you ever been to a factory?
+Do you know the life of a metal-buffer girl at Sheffield,
+standing in front of her wheel, from morning till night,
+and work, work, work?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I&#8217;m not a work-girl, you great silly! You know
+I&#8217;m an artiste! And, now, shall I tell you what I think of
+you, Jimmy?&#8221; said Lily, pouting. &#8220;You&#8217;re a bad man,
+that&#8217;s what you are!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And thereupon she put out her tongue, turned her back
+on him and began to look at the walls, the diagrams, the
+drawings, an illustration out of <i>Engineering</i>.</p>
+<p>There was a pause.</p>
+<p>Jimmy, while handling the bike, gazed at Lily. There
+was no sentimentality about Jimmy, but his lively
+imagination made him see things through and through;
+and, whatever he might be, Jimmy was not bad. That
+little Lily: to think that, among all the girls of her own
+age, she was the only one to do that trick! He pitied
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span>
+her and all child prodigies. To his mind, there was
+something unsportsmanlike about it; something like a
+race won by a one-year-old, with jockey, whip and spurs.
+He did not believe all he heard, of course. He knew, he
+lived with them, he was one of them. He knew the peculiar
+mania of the music-hall, the instinctive lie, uttered
+as if to discourage competition by giving it a fright at
+the start. To listen to them, it meant the horsewhip, the
+belt, all day long; going &#8220;through the mill,&#8221; all the time.
+Among the people with the painted faces, it was a shot
+at martyrdom, a chance for professional boasting. The
+most commonplace, the most coddled lives were made
+more interesting by means of imaginary wounds and
+scars, like those explorers, in the books, who cross Africa
+without food or drink, barefooted, with a crocodile snapping
+at their heels.</p>
+<p>He took good care not to exaggerate. Life in the halls
+was no worse than anywhere else, thank God! It had
+its good side and its bad side and its professional risks.
+The &#8220;pros,&#8221; taking them all round, were as good as the
+&#8220;jossers.&#8221; He wanted to be just. He had seen many
+who were very happy; one could get anything done by
+firm kindness. He could also understand, in the terrible
+struggle for bread, that a man went on toiling hard
+in the trade in which he was born. A pro could not make
+a blue-stocking of his daughter; some were born duchesses,
+on satin; others artistes on the boards. One trade
+was as good as another; but dangerous practicings,
+bruised flesh, seamed skins: no, he didn&#8217;t approve of that.
+He had seen the Laurences, mad with ambition, beginning
+all over again, in spite of falls calculated to stave in
+the stage; had seen girls who &#8220;do knots&#8221; lying in the
+dressing-rooms, gasping, exhausted. Even when professional
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span>
+vanity alone prompted such excesses, Jimmy
+protested within himself; and then there were so many
+abuses.... Besides, the stage so often spoiled a woman: every
+branch of the stage, from the highest to the
+lowest. All that coaxing familiarity! What he said was,
+if Lily had been his daughter, she should not be on the
+stage; but there she was and he couldn&#8217;t help it; and, as
+it was her natural place to be there, he would not be
+guilty of the meanness of disgusting a poor girl with the
+profession which she had been at pains to learn. He
+preferred to let her call him &#8220;a bad man.&#8221; And that required
+a certain courage; for it was no longer a child
+talking to him, but an exquisitely pretty girl. Jimmy
+could not believe his eyes. What a change! Was it
+possible? Having been away from London, on Harrasford&#8217;s
+service, he had not seen her for many months,
+except the day before, just in time to shake hands behind
+the scenes, in the dusk; but here, in his shop, he hardly
+recognized her, he could not exactly say why. One thing
+was certain: he had left her a child and he now found her
+a beautiful girl.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tush!&#8221; he said to himself. &#8220;She&#8217;s a child for all
+that. Only, if she keeps on like this, what a handsome
+woman she will be!&#8221;</p>
+<p>That familiarity on the stage: he reproached himself
+for thinking of it; it seemed to him an insult to Lily.
+And he began to talk to her of different things, kindly
+and pleasantly, changing from subject to subject. He
+explained his drawings on the wall, his ideas: exterior
+ballistics; the resistance of the air; risking his life six
+times in as many seconds....</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s drunk,&#8221; thought Lily.</p>
+<p>And, to stop this flow of words, as though talking
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span>
+to herself, Lily said she did not complain; no, she would
+quite like the bike, if she hadn&#8217;t got to practise so hard;
+she only complained that they didn&#8217;t treat her &#8220;fair&#8221; at
+home:</p>
+<p>&#8220;And look how I&#8217;m dressed! I&#8217;ve had the same toque
+two years. And what do you think of this frock? The
+material cost four-three a yard. I look like a tenter in it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Jimmy did not share Lily&#8217;s indignation. He thought
+her neatly and nicely dressed, in spite of her performing-dog&#8217;s
+toque, as she said. It all suited her so well. But,
+on examining that clear-cut little face, lifted toward
+him with a rebellious air, he felt that the fatigue, even
+the blows didn&#8217;t count; that the hardest thing, for Lily,
+was to be &#8220;badly dressed;&#8221; that she would never swallow
+that.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, look here,&#8221; said Jimmy, &#8220;all this isn&#8217;t worth
+making a fuss for; you get cross about nothing at all;
+when you came, you were all smiles; and now ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s because,&#8221; Lily began, with a sly laugh&mdash;oh,
+she was exasperated with Jimmy&#8217;s coldness! She&#8217;d show
+him, the icicle, and have a bit of fun with him&mdash;&#8220;on my
+way here, Jimmy, I met ... now you won&#8217;t give
+me away, Jimmy? ... I met my ... sweetheart.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A sweetheart? You? Lily?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes, yes,&#8221; said Lily, nodding her head and looking
+at him archly, for she could see, by Jimmy&#8217;s expression,
+that he was caught.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And your father and mother know nothing about it?&#8221;
+insisted Jimmy, nonplussed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no; it doesn&#8217;t concern them: at my age, a girl
+earns a living for her Pa and Ma; I have as much right
+to a sweetheart as any one else, I suppose.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span></p>
+<p>And, greatly amused, she fixed Jimmy with her mocking
+eyes.</p>
+<p>Jimmy stared at her in amazement.</p>
+<p>Then she understood that it was not a thing to joke
+about and that what she had just said was terrible. And,
+suddenly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, it&#8217;s not true, Jimmy! I was only laughing! Oh,
+Jimmy, you&#8217;re going to give me away!&#8221; cried Lily,
+squeezing Jimmy&#8217;s arm with a convulsive little hand.
+&#8220;Oh, Jimmy, don&#8217;t tell Ma, please, please, Jimmy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And there was something so sincere in her voice that
+Jimmy saw that she was speaking the truth, that it was
+only the jest of a flapper used to the manners of the
+stage.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he said briskly, &#8220;I shan&#8217;t tell; don&#8217;t be afraid,
+Lily; only ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, that&#8217;s nice of you,&#8221; said Lily, much relieved.
+&#8220;Marriage! If you only knew! And what would become
+of the troupe? I shall never marry. I think....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Still, some day, it&#8217;s bound to come,&#8221; said Jimmy,
+interrupting her. &#8220;You won&#8217;t spend all your life on a
+bike. You are sure to marry some day....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t talk to me about marriage! No, not that.
+Gee!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Love stories! With men! I! And you believed it,&#8221;
+said Lily, drawing back her shoulder and raising her
+hand. &#8220;I could smack you, you great silly!&#8221; And, all
+of a sudden, &#8220;I must go,&#8221; she cried, &#8220;I&#8217;ve stayed too
+long; Ma will be waiting for me with her broom!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily rushed outside, without giving Jimmy time
+to answer. He could just see her turn the corner of
+the street.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span></p>
+<p>Jimmy went back to his work, silently, wrapped up in
+his thoughts. That nice little Lily! She could be easy in
+her mind. No, he would never be a cause of worry to
+her....</p>
+<p>Meanwhile, Lily ran home as fast as she could and, on
+entering, saw that it was no use; her Ma was waiting for
+her, furious.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where have you been?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, I&#8217;ve come straight from Jimmy&#8217;s, Ma.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a lie! The butcher&#8217;s boy, who has just left,
+saw you outside the Horse Shoe. Who were you waiting
+for?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t waiting for any one!&#8221; cried Lily, her eyes
+blazing with anger.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You devil!&#8221; said Ma, looking round for a stick, an
+umbrella....</p>
+<p>And, when she saw nothing within reach, her anger
+increased. Then she stiffened her arm and made for
+Lily, who sprang behind the table....</p>
+<p>But Ma, tripping on the carpet, fell at full length,
+dragging down with her the table-cloth and two cups that
+were on it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My two china cups! You viper!&#8221; she yelled.</p>
+<p>At that moment, the door opened; Clifton entered.
+He seemed preoccupied; looked at his watch:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nine o&#8217;clock. We ought to be at the theater! Where
+are the girls? And what ... what&#8217;s all this?&#8221; he
+asked, on seeing the disorder, Mrs. Clifton scrambling
+up from the floor, Lily scowling in a corner.</p>
+<p>Ma grunted an explanation. Two cups broken, Lily a
+gadabout who would bring them to the grave with shame!</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Pa, I was only looking at the posters.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Posters?&#8221; repeated Clifton. &#8220;Which posters? What&#8217;s
+all this nonsense?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, when Ma had told him, interrupted by despairing
+&#8220;But, Pas,&#8221; and &#8220;No, Pas,&#8221; from Lily, he very calmly
+asked, was he going to have peace in his own house,
+or was he not? All this fuss about two broken cups;
+beating Lily for nothing!</p>
+<p>Never, in any circumstances, would Clifton have
+snubbed Mrs. Clifton like this before Lily. He would
+have waited until she had gone. But to come upon all this
+rot when there were so many serious things to discuss!
+The sisters Pawnee whom he had seen last night: Polly,
+Edith, Lillian. Yes, that Lillian, damn it, a winged rose!
+And the things they did on their bike without seeming
+to touch it!</p>
+<p>&#8220;My poor Lily,&#8221; Pa went on, going up to his daughter
+and stroking her hair. &#8220;I&#8217;m not saying it to vex you;
+but you&#8217;re not in it with the Pawnees! Come on! Beg
+your Ma&#8217;s pardon; and let&#8217;s be off to the theater. I&#8217;m
+in form this morning. We shall have a great practice.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>A few minutes later, Pa was hustling his herd before
+him:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quicker, my Woolly-legs! No time to lose!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He thought of the tricks which he had jotted down
+the evening before in his note-book. Lily would learn
+them quick enough: she was as clever as the Pawnees,
+when all was said, only less graceful. She had the balancing
+power all right; but grace, grace, damn it, to do
+a thing like that as though it were child&#8217;s play: that&#8217;s
+what she hadn&#8217;t got! You saw the effort. And the
+apprentices had no precision in their groupings. Now
+the fat freaks had. To combine German discipline with
+English gracefulness, that was the question; to have the
+troupe of troupes; to have a Lily who would be worth
+more by herself than Polly, Edith and Lillian put together.
+But that meant work and going through the
+mill! This last made Pa think of the old sheep and their
+bleatings. He gave a nervous little laugh and his hand
+had a convulsive movement, as though to strangle those
+pests.</p>
+<p>Pa had recovered his good humor and was grinning
+by the time they reached the theater. Merely by his way
+of taking the key of his dressing-room from the stage-doorkeeper
+one recognized the owner of a troupe, the
+man with a &#8220;permanent address,&#8221; the manager, the boss,
+the prof, the Pa. On entering the lobby, he, with his six
+girls, took possession of the theater. He nodded to the
+staff; growled a &#8220;Lazybones!&#8221; as the Roofers passed out
+two by two, always two by two: a fair one with made-up
+eyes, a dark one with kiss-me-quick lips; sniffed their
+cheap perfumes amid the tarry smell of the packages
+marked Sidney, New York, Paris....</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span>
+<img src='images/illus-pg057.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 406px; height: 599px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 406px;'>
+&#8220;QUICKER, MY WOOLLY-LEGS!&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span></div>
+<p>On reaching the stage, Pa first gave a glance to make
+sure that there were no elephants, or ponies, or Merry
+Wives, that they could practise at their ease, without
+having to burrow in a corner, like rats. The stage was
+almost empty. After the live street, it was a pallid light,
+in which ghosts moved. The New Zealanders, it need
+not be said, no longer fancied themselves in the cavern
+of Bluebeard or Puss-in-Boots; they had seen too many
+stages during the past two years. The slant of the floor,
+the roughness or smoothness of the boards was what interested
+them, for fear of falls and barked shins. Pa hurried
+them to their dressing-room to get into their knickers,
+while he took off his jacket and turned up his
+trousers, so as to run better. No more time to lose,
+with his Lily! He was still in a fever from seeing
+those Pawnees last night. As for the stage and the
+boards, a lot he cared, slanting or straight, rough or
+smooth! To work! to work! And he got ready the
+bikes, which Tom had brought down, without a glance
+around him.</p>
+<p>To a poet, to a painter, that glance would have been
+worth the taking. The iron curtain was raised, the house
+loomed vaguely; the balconies, covered with cloth, stood
+out like cliffs; the pit, with its seats under a gray drugget,
+because of the dust, lifted toward the stage its rows of
+motionless waves. The stage itself was strange: a sort
+of huge cave, with strips of scenery hanging like stalactites;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span>
+near the wall, a metal pedestal, with a red velvet
+platform, looked like a blood-stained scaffold; one suspected
+the presence of properties: wheels, iron implements,
+tangled ropes, like so many instruments of torture.
+At the New Zealanders&#8217; feet, half-naked bodies, suggesting
+the souls of the damned, were tumbling, practising
+falls; a woman in a white wrap hovered round; and, near
+the proscenium, a pack of trained seals, lying in their
+moist boxes, raised their frightened heads, as who should
+say corpses cast up on the shores of hell by the silent
+waves of the pit.</p>
+<p>But three slender forms, spinning on their trapeze
+almost above Pa&#8217;s head, sprang lightly to the stage, near
+an old fellow in spectacles.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, Mr. Fuchs and the Three Graces! Here&#8217;s a
+surprise!&#8221; said Pa, who had not seen them since the
+New York Olympians. &#8220;When did you get here? Yesterday?&#8221;</p>
+<p>There was a general shaking of hands. Fuchs congratulated
+Pa on his success, said he had followed his
+progress in the papers. Pa owned a troupe now and had
+a name.</p>
+<p>&#8220;So this is your Lily,&#8221; said Fuchs, tapping her on the
+cheek as she joined the group. &#8220;A real lady! And good,
+eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The Three Graces also congratulated Pa ...
+kissed Lily:</p>
+<p>&#8220;How sweet you&#8217;ve grown! Why, Lily, how pretty
+you are!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily was so surprised, so pleased; and her Pa was very
+proud. He thanked Mr. Fuchs, complimented the Three
+Graces in his turn, to their delight:</p>
+<p>&#8220;What arms! What muscles!&#8221; Then, &#8220;Excuse us,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span>
+eh? Lily must get ready. We shall meet again presently,
+after practice.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The Graces had gone back to it already. Pa tested the
+bikes; took a hurried turn at the pumps; and, when the
+apprentices and Lily returned:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yoop, up with you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The round began. Tom looked to the girls, constantly;
+ran after them; kept an eye on their falls. Pa, constantly,
+hung on to Lily. Nothing else existed when he
+was handling his star. His wish to do well, his love of
+art for art&#8217;s sake worked him up, stimulated him, made
+him hit out but not in anger: it was the spark of enthusiasm,
+of which the apprentices caught the reflection.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hi, you there, Mary! I&#8217;ll pull your ear! Birdie, if I
+take my belt to you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But his Lily above all; his Lily! his seven stone of
+flesh and bones! Pa was an artiste; he had thought
+of a thousand things since his trip to Brighton. New
+and astounding tricks; and easy at that ... if
+Lily only would! Oh, he&#8217;d soon make her graceful!
+But, for that, she would have to obey, to let go the
+handle-bar at a sign, instead of endlessly seeking her
+balance. For instance, Pa held her rein to prevent falls&mdash;there
+was nothing spiteful about Pa, he never let you
+fall on purpose&mdash;and Lily&mdash;&#8220;One! Two!&mdash;Count together,
+Lily!&#8221;&mdash;put one foot on the saddle, the other
+on the handle-bar: &#8220;Three!&#8221; That&#8217;s where she had to
+let go her hands, smartly, and stand erect as she rode.
+The machine slipped under her. Lily, shaking with fear,
+stooped to seize the handle-bar.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stand up, Lily! Show pluck, Lily!&#8221; said Pa.</p>
+<p>Lily, accustomed to obeying blindly, drew herself up
+again. But, sometimes, crash! The whole came tumbling
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span>
+down. Notwithstanding the rein, Lily fell to the
+ground; and the bike, in addition, caught her a kick in
+passing.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing broken? A tiny scratch; it&#8217;s nothing. Tom,
+the white stuff!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tom left his Woolley-legs, brought a bottle of embrocation;
+a few drops of that on the skin, a bit of
+sticking-plaster; there, that was all right.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You see, Lily, you&#8217;re not dead yet! Nothing to be
+frightened about. Come, try again!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The great thing was to hustle. Pa displayed so much
+enthusiasm&mdash;&#8220;Those Pawnees, damn it!&#8221;&mdash;that Lily, for
+all her fears, was smitten in her turn, ended by becoming
+exasperated against those Pawnees, felt a longing to
+wring their necks!</p>
+<p>She obeyed her Pa like an automaton, in her anxiety
+to do well.</p>
+<p>&#8220;More graceful! That&#8217;s it! Not so stiff!&#8221; said Pa.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Pa, I can&#8217;t!&#8221; protested Lily, soaked in perspiration.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;ve got to, my little lady!&#8221;</p>
+<p>They passed from one practice to another, almost without
+resting. Lily was worn out, Pa seemed indefatigable.</p>
+<p>Sometimes, practising was marked by interruptions.
+Maud&#8217;s gouged eye remained the typical accident. Another
+time, a girl lay fainting for ten minutes after
+falling on her head; or else the stage was invaded by a
+ballet. There was no end to it. On this particular day,
+they had a visit from Harrasford himself, Harrasford
+the chief and master, who came along with Jimmy; a
+visit which was the more sensational for being quite rare.
+Pa, now that he was the owner of a troupe and sure of
+his position, would not have been sorry to be noticed by
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span>
+Harrasford, just to impress Mr. Fuchs and show him
+what they thought of Lily in London.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do your best, my Lily,&#8221; said Pa. &#8220;He&#8217;s watching
+us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But bill-toppers, New Zealanders though they might
+be, were nobodies to &#8220;him;&#8221; Lily&mdash;one of a thousand,
+among all those of both sexes who performed in his theaters.
+There might have been ten cycling rhinoceroses
+on the boards; he might have seen Lily swallow her bike,
+and change into a butterfly: he would have paid no attention.
+Those were details that concerned the stage-manager.
+He hurried across the stage to the fly-ladder,
+made Jimmy explain things, took notes as he went,
+wanted to see for himself, pointed to the first batten, to
+the electric switches.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How much for so many lamps? And that? What
+does that come to, roughly?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And he stopped for a second in his course, his ear
+stretched toward Jimmy to catch his answer flying; then
+both of them went on again, quickly.</p>
+<p>Jimmy was now following Harrasford along the
+bridges, with the whole stage below him, in the ruddy
+semi-darkness; at one side, the half-naked bodies fell
+with a heavy thud after their somersaults; or else it was
+the sharp sound of a bike skidding; and distant voices
+rose up to him:</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Pa, I can&#8217;t!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;ve got to, my little lady!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor little thing!&#8221; thought Jimmy, disappearing in
+the flies, toward the side-rails, at Harrasford&#8217;s heels.
+And Lily went on riding and Pa running after her,
+round and round and round. She seemed to be fleeing
+madly, pursued by a devil. Suddenly, Pa stopped,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span>
+having exhausted his strength, and Lily fell rather than
+sat upon a hamper by the wall.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here, Lily, put this over your shoulders,&#8221; said Pa,
+giving her his jacket. &#8220;You&#8217;ll catch cold, darling. Oof,
+let&#8217;s take breath a bit!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But a glad voice burst through the silence: it came
+from the Three Graces, who always worked on stubbornly,
+even during the absence of Nunkie, who had been
+out for a smoke. Thea greeted his return with a cry of
+triumph:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ten pullings-up with one arm, Nunkie! Ten without
+stopping!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well done! I&#8217;m very pleased with you,&#8221; said Mr.
+Fuchs; and he crowned their excitement by declaring
+that, as a reward, he would that very day buy Thea the
+sleeve-links which he had promised her ever since last
+year.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear Nunkie!&#8221;</p>
+<p>A spasm of vanity made them rush back to their work;
+and soon the three of them formed, in mid-air, an involved
+group of ropes, bars and hardened limbs.</p>
+<p>Lily, in spite of her fatigue, was amused at those mad
+girls. To take all that trouble for the sake of a pair of
+sleeve-links! Her shoulders shook with nervous laughter,
+in spite of Pa&#8217;s presence. He quieted her with a gesture,
+scolded her under his breath, kindly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Shut up, Lily!... Aren&#8217;t you ashamed of yourself,
+Lily?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And he looked at Nunkie with an air of saying:</p>
+<p>&#8220;You old rogue!&#8221;</p>
+<p>As for the Three Graces, it was a pleasure to watch
+them: their pluck was infectious.</p>
+<p>&#8220;To work!&#8221; said Pa. &#8220;Let&#8217;s have a somersault, eh?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span></p>
+<p>And, at a sign from him, two of the apprentices, assisted
+by Tom, fixed a little steel-legged table in the middle
+of the stage, bore down upon it with all their weight.
+The bike, set at full speed, stopped short as it struck the
+table; and Lily, carried on by the impulse, continued her
+whirl, full on her back, and, carrying the machine with
+her, came to the ground on the other side of the table and
+went on riding. But that shook her, in her stomach, her
+heart, everywhere. Each time, she was nearly succeeding,
+but it wasn&#8217;t quite right.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can see,&#8221; said Pa, &#8220;you want to make me lose my
+temper!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Pa, it hurts!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, those blasted little brats!&#8221; shouted Pa angrily.
+&#8220;Rickety machines, every one of them: no more energy
+than a sparrow and lazy into the bargain!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Then, suddenly, Lily succeeded magnificently.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You see you can do it when you like, you obstinate
+little wretch!&#8221; said Pa. &#8220;Now try not to miss it again,
+next time! That will do for to-day,&#8221; he added, seeing
+Lily out of breath. &#8220;Go and get dressed, my Lily.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The Three Graces were finishing also. Good old
+Nunkie wiped the perspiration from their foreheads
+with his big checked handkerchief, invited Clifton to
+come with Lily and choose the sleeve-links and suggested
+that they could have a chat at the restaurant.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Would you like to, Lily?&#8221; asked Pa.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Pa.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well, then.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls would go back alone. Tom, having carried
+up the bikes, was told to run home and fetch Miss Lily&#8217;s
+new dress and boots, Mrs. Clifton&#8217;s brooch and big hat.
+And, half an hour later, Lily, who had crawled up to her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span>
+dressing-room stiff-legged, exhausted, feeling sixty, came
+tripping down the stairs all freshly dressed, wearing the
+great hat of her mother, and a pair of creaking boots.
+She soon recovered when she was dressed out. She
+drew up her dainty figure, so as to be level with the imposing
+group of Pa, Nunkie and the Three Graces.</p>
+<p>Lily, very proud of herself, spun out the pleasure of
+drawing on her gloves to go shopping with those big
+girls, who had had love stories. Then they discussed
+what restaurant.... Nunkie, long ago&mdash;&#8220;Zæo&#8217;s
+year at the Aquarium:&mdash;that doesn&#8217;t make me any younger,
+eh?&#8221;&mdash;had discovered a little German place....</p>
+<p>Lily would have liked to propose the Horse Shoe, to
+walk in there with her big hat and creaking boots as
+though the place belonged to her. But they decided upon
+a &#8220;Lyons&#8221; in Wardour Street. At the table, it was touching
+to watch the attentions which the Three Graces lavished
+upon their Nunkie, the respect they showed him.
+Pa was not sorry that Lily should see that, but Lily took
+no notice at all: she just removed her gloves, held her
+knife and fork with the tips of her fingers, let Pa help
+her, thanked him with a pretty &#8220;&#8217;K you.&#8221; From the corner
+of her eye, she watched other groups, to pick up good
+manners. She seemed to have frequented smart restaurants
+all her life: beside her, Nunkie and the Three Graces,
+who cut their bread with their knives and made a noise
+when eating, looked like a family of small farmers on a
+visit to London town. Pa was greatly amused, enjoyed
+his daughter&#8217;s aristocratic ways, admired her refined air.
+When they went out, in obedience to a look from Lily,
+he bought her a bunch of violets, which he pinned to her
+bodice himself:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Lily, are you happy? Do you love your Pa?
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span>
+Tell me you love your Pa,&#8221; and he looked at her gently
+as if in regret at having been so harsh at practice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s for your good, my Lily, you&#8217;ll thank me one of
+these days. I&#8217;ll give you lovely dresses, I&#8217;ll cover you
+with diamonds!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why not to-day?&#8221; asked Lily, with a comic pout.</p>
+<p>Then both of them laughed and Lily forgot everything,
+even the blow with the fist, at being treated so like
+a lady.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I was married,&#8221; she said to the Three Graces, &#8220;I
+should like to go shopping all day long and have fine
+dresses, a gold watch and no bike!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The Three Graces, with their heroic strength, had no
+thought of such luxuries. Thea told Lily of her successes
+in America:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Five pullings-up with one arm at Boston. Six at
+&#8217;Frisco. Eight when we got back to New York! Eight,
+Lily! And to-day....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And your lover in America, tell me about your lover
+...&#8221; interrupted Lily, pressing Thea&#8217;s arm.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Talk low,&#8221; said Thea, looking back at Nunkie, who
+was walking behind with Pa. &#8220;Nunkie is furious with
+him. If he ever meets him! He says it&#8217;s disgraceful,
+not writing to me, after asking leave to. It&#8217;s an insult
+that ought to disgust me with men for good and all,
+Nunkie says.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She told Lily everything, her unhappiness at first, for
+she loved him. Lily, with her little nose in the air,
+sniffed those love stories, gulped them down, so to speak,
+with an instinctive movement of the lips.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And did you write to him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wrote to him, but he never answered. Oh, if Nunkie
+knew! He forbids us to write, because writing, you
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span>
+know, Lily, puts out the muscles of the arms, interferes
+with the pullings-up, Nunkie says....&#8221;</p>
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg031.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 254px; height: 324px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 254px;'>
+NUNKIE<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>But they turned into Regent Street: to Lily it
+was the entrance to the paradise of shops. The huge
+curve displayed its window fronts; and ladies and gentlemen
+and little girls: not
+dressed in their Ma&#8217;s leavings,
+these last, but a superior
+branch of mankind, similar to
+that in the front boxes.</p>
+<p>Nunkie blinked his eyes behind
+his spectacles: all this
+luxury terrified him; he had
+almost forgotten the sleeve-links,
+talking with Clifton of
+people they had known:</p>
+<p>&#8220;The boy-violinist? Not up
+to much. Ave Maria? A disgrace:
+married, deserted, I
+don&#8217;t know what. Poland, the
+Parisienne? A scandal!&#8221; As
+for him, he had but one wish,
+after getting his girls married:
+to retire to his home,
+grow his roses, look after his
+pigeons; simple joys, the only
+ones....</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look, Thea!&#8221; Lily broke
+in, pointing through the plate-glass
+to a heap of imitation
+jewelry, lying, among watches,
+on red and black velvet.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on!&#8221; said Mr. Fuchs.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span></p>
+<p>But, when Thea saw the prices&mdash;ten shillings, twelve
+shilling&#8217;s&mdash;she refused to go in, saying she could have it
+just as pretty in Wardour Street and ever so much
+cheaper.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just as you please, my darling. I&#8217;ll do whatever you
+like. I don&#8217;t know anything about it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Clifton felt something rise in revolt within him, he was
+unable to resist it; a case of showing that old curmudgeon
+what a Pa was and that his little girl, too, did pullings-up
+in her way and that he knew how to treat her as a Pa
+should:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your watch, Lily,&#8221; he said, opening the door and
+pushing her in. &#8220;Now&#8217;s the chance to get it. Come,
+choose for yourself!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Pa! Do you really mean it, Pa?&#8221; she said incredulously.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now look here, I&#8217;ll smack you, Lily! When your Pa
+tells you a thing!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily seemed a princess, with her way of saying,
+&#8220;&#8217;K you,&#8221; of touching the ornaments, the watches, like a
+little creature thirsting for luxury and yielding to her inclination
+at the first opportunity. There was so great a
+look of happiness in her eyes; and Clifton was so proud
+of his Lily, that he offered her a chain as well, to go with
+the watch. Lily refused at first, for form&#8217;s sake, and
+then took courage&mdash;like a poor little martyr who did not
+like to disoblige her Pa&mdash;and chose a very pretty watch-chain,
+to the great wonderment of the Three Graces and
+of Nunkie, who thought, as they left the shop, that the
+children of to-day ... upon his word ... the
+parents of to-day ... it was all very different in
+his time....</p>
+<p>Clifton laughed to himself at that old curmudgeon as
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span>
+he left him to go home, with his star. Lily hung heavily
+on her father&#8217;s arm, passed the draper&#8217;s shops with a
+serious air.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, another time!&#8221; said Pa, who felt what she was
+after.</p>
+<p>And he hurried his daughter off, for he might have
+yielded, she was so nice.</p>
+<p>Lily set her watch in Piccadilly, as they passed; then at
+the Café de l&#8217;Europe, by the big clock at the back; and
+again, twenty steps farther, at the bar of the Crown. Lily
+looked at the time and Pa showed his Lily off. He was
+proud to be seen with her in the neighborhood of Lisle
+Street, where everybody knew him. True, he seemed to
+have the name of being hard with Lily. But, come, was
+he hard? Did she look like a martyr? It was preposterous,
+all those stories. And he redoubled his attentions
+to his daughter, who talked a heap of nonsense, asked
+funny questions:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why should writing a letter interfere with the trapeze,
+when a girl has arms harder than a horse&#8217;s hocks?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What? What?&#8221; asked Pa, taken aback, and when
+he understood, he would have held his sides for laughing,
+if he had been at home:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, the old rogue!&#8221; he said admiringly. &#8220;He loves
+his dear girls, does Nunkie!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He was still laughing when they reached Tottenham
+Court Road; and, as they passed the Horse Shoe, a voice,
+which Lily seemed to remember, called to them from
+behind:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, Clifton!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Pa turned his head in surprise:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, Trampy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>For he recognized him at once, though he was much
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span>
+changed. Besides, he knew him to be in London. But it
+was a prosperous and gorgeous Trampy, quite unlike the
+old days; and forthwith Trampy explained: a champagne
+supper last night, just come from the bar; glass of Vichy
+water, you know. Huge success in London. Girls, by
+Jove! And then, pretending not to know Lily:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I congratulate you, Clifton; what a dear little wife!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Pa, greatly amused, protested: not his wife, no, his
+Lily! Then Trampy went into ecstasies: how pretty she
+had grown, one of the handsomest girls in London, sure!
+And in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland! And
+in all the British dominions beyond the seas,
+by Jove! And what a change since Mexico! She was a
+woman now, a peach, a regular peach!</p>
+<p>Lily seemed fascinated by Trampy, examined him, his
+shiny hat, his gold rings, his patent-leather shoes. A
+swell, Trampy, a toff, a gentleman like those in the front
+boxes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Lily,&#8221; said Trampy, guessing her thoughts,
+&#8220;yes, that&#8217;s the way it is; one&#8217;s not always hard up.
+I&#8217;ve struck oil since leaving America. Heaps of
+money! Eh, what!&#8221; he continued, offering Clifton an expensive
+cigar. &#8220;You wouldn&#8217;t have thought it, would you,
+when you left me stranded in Mexico? That was a nice
+dirty trick you played me! Come and have a drain, old
+man, to drink Miss Lily&#8217;s health and show there&#8217;s no ill
+feeling!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, another time,&#8221; said Clifton, vexed at this recollection
+of Mexico, now that he was the established owner of
+a troupe, a man whose word was as good as gold. &#8220;I&#8217;m
+in a hurry to get home: a very nice home, Trampy, a real
+good one. Come and see us some day. <i>Au revoir</i>.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Trampy was so pleased at meeting them, he never
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span>
+stopped shaking them by the hand. Lily had to accept a
+bag of cakes to share with the troupe when they had their
+tea. Then, at last:</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>Au revoir</i>, old man; <i>au revoir</i>, my love, my little
+peach!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily&#8217;s head was quite turned by this jolly day: it made
+her forget six months of worries. To think that, for
+some people, every day was like that! However, she
+mustn&#8217;t complain: a watch, a chain as well, the somersault
+pulled off, compliments from Trampy....</p>
+<p>Ma&#8217;s reception of them, when they got home, was icy.
+Pa looked a little like a school-boy caught at fault; and
+Lily, none too easy in her mind, put the cakes on the sideboard,
+and hastened to take off her mother&#8217;s big hat. Ma
+grumbled, under her breath: it was nothing but going
+out, now. Old Cinderella could stay at home, bareheaded,
+while my lady went shopping! A fine thing, my
+word, for a great sensible girl to abuse her Pa&#8217;s weakness!
+There was nothing to do at home, of course!
+Well, if it pleased Mr. Clifton, she had no more to say!...
+And, while she grumbled, Ma prepared the tea
+and shot glances at Lily, a Lily with red cheeks and
+bright eyes and looking so pretty that Ma, full of mixed
+pride and anxiety, felt sudden longings to eat her up with
+kisses, &#8220;ugly&#8221; that she was!</p>
+<p>Pa did his best to calm Mrs. Clifton, tried to amuse her
+with the story of the sleeve-links, of the horse&#8217;s hocks,
+and Pa laughed, my!</p>
+<p>&#8220;He laughs best who laughs last,&#8221; growled Ma.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just think, Ma,&#8221; said Lily, taking courage from Pa&#8217;s
+merriment. &#8220;That old rogue forbids his daughter to write,
+he pretends that....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And quite right too!&#8221; said Ma. &#8220;What do girls want
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span>
+with writing? And who do you mean? What old rogue?
+You don&#8217;t mean Mr. Fuchs, I suppose?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, yes, Ma, old Fuchs.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Old Fuchs! You chit, to talk like that of respectable
+people! Go to your room, impudence! Dry bread for
+you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Ma...!&#8221; said Lily rebelliously.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what comes of it,&#8221; said Mrs. Clifton, addressing
+her husband, &#8220;when a mother no longer has the right to
+correct her daughter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she pointed to Lily, who persisted in remaining,
+who was even beginning an explanation:</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Pa ... but....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Obey your mother first,&#8221; said Clifton.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Pa.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily went out, very anxious at the turn which
+things had taken.</p>
+<p>Clifton realized that he had perhaps been wrong that
+morning to blame Mrs. Clifton in Lily&#8217;s presence. He
+was wrong also to laugh at old Fuchs before Lily. But,
+all the same, that old rogue ... and they had believed
+it, those Graces! That wouldn&#8217;t go down with
+Lily!</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an example you ought to follow, instead of laughing
+at it, Mr. Clifton!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Upon my word, I&#8217;m very proud of my Lily; she works
+well, she really does,&#8221; said Pa, stretching himself in the
+easy-chair. &#8220;I&#8217;m pleased with her; you know as well as I
+do, a girl is not a boy. She can do with a little spoiling.
+And only just now I made Lily a present of a gold watch
+and chain.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I give up!&#8221; said Ma, in a voice of exasperation.
+&#8220;Then I give up! Why should I take all this
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span>
+trouble bringing up your daughter? A little spendthrift
+who will bring us all to the workhouse! And a good thing
+when she does!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Pa wanted peace in his own house. That was
+enough of it! Peace was what he wanted, damn it, and
+not a monkey-and-parrot life!</p>
+<p>And, jumping up from his chair, he opened the door
+and shouted up the staircase:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come down, my Lily! Your Ma says you may! The
+cakes are on the table.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Pa would have covered his Lily with diamonds, if he
+had the money ... and if Ma had allowed it! But,
+on this special point, she ventured to oppose him. She
+had been Lily&#8217;s age herself, had Ma, and she enlarged
+upon the necessity of keeping a tight rein on Lily.</p>
+<p>Ma enumerated the fugitives: Ave Maria, and this
+one, and that one, and ever so many others who had
+bolted; and troupes ruined by the flight,&mdash;or the marriage,&mdash;of
+the star....</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily has changed a good deal lately, dear, are you
+sure she hasn&#8217;t a man in her mind?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There we are again!&#8221; said Pa. &#8220;Always the same old
+story! But just tell me, who does she see? Who does
+she know? Jimmy? You don&#8217;t mean him, I suppose?
+Very well! Trampy, then? A married man, divorced,
+married again, goodness knows what! and then ...
+and then ... Oh, well, let&#8217;s have peace at home, at
+any rate! Damn it, Lily may be a bit of a flirt: why
+shouldn&#8217;t she be, a pretty girl like that? Beauty, in the
+profession, is half the battle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Pa entered into details, comforted Ma with good
+news: a fresh contract signed with Bill and Boom, after
+that, the Harrasford tour: big salaries now....</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, dear, this isn&#8217;t the time to worry Lily about
+trifles. And I don&#8217;t want her to be bothered with useless
+work, either.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Call home work useless! A woman&#8217;s greatest charm!&#8221;
+exclaimed Ma.</p>
+<p>Lily was a subject of friendly discussion to them. Both
+adored her equally: both were proud of her at heart.
+For Lily was growing very beautiful; everybody said so
+at the theater: the stage-manager; the acting manager,
+down to Jimmy, who stammered things. It was an endless
+series of compliments; Harrasford&#8217;s friend, the
+architect, who had not seen her for a long time, fell into
+raptures when he met her on the stage:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Magneeficent!&#8221; he exclaimed, in his Franco-Belgian
+accent. &#8220;How old is she: sixteen? seventeen?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fourteen,&#8221; said Ma, with a mincing air, for to that
+damned &#8220;parley-voo&#8221; she was as anxious to make Lily
+out a child now, in order to keep a firmer hold of her, as
+she had been to increase her age in America, so as to
+make her work.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What, fourteen, Ma!&#8221; protested Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, fourteen, of course; do you think you know better
+than your mother, you little fool? Can&#8217;t you see
+everybody&#8217;s laughing at you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Ma dreaded those irresponsible jossers, who filled Lily&#8217;s
+head with a pack of false notions, and kept a good watch,
+in her growing anxiety.</p>
+<p>Ma, in the early days of their arrival in London, had
+been terribly obsessed by the dread of being left without
+means in the huge city. Lily had got them out
+of that difficulty. And now she was earning such a lot
+of money: one day, who knows, they would have made
+enough to assure their independence for good and all!
+When she thought of this possibility, Ma&#8217;s eyes lit up
+with yellow gleams; she felt like catching hold of Lily
+and locking her up in a safe.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span></p>
+<p>Pa was less eager for gain, less ant-like in his economies;
+he was an artiste, above all; he knew how to make
+allowances; there was a time for work and a time for
+play. He often treated himself to the pleasure of taking
+Lily out; and, each time, as usual, she got a nice little
+present&mdash;he liked to pass for a Pa who spoiled his
+daughter, loved to hear himself so described, and took a
+wicked delight in repeating it all to Mrs. Clifton.</p>
+<p>Lily was the gainer by the difference in opinion; she
+felt herself a little freer. When she went out in the
+morning, she considered herself at liberty to walk less
+fast, and no longer trembled on returning. She loved
+to loiter in the Tottenham Court Road; her little person
+assumed an air of importance; if, after practice, some
+artiste passed her in the street and gave her a smile, she
+believed that he was waiting for her; a &#8220;comic quartet,&#8221;
+the Out-of-Tune Musicals, happening to come out of a
+bar and blow a kiss to her, were there on her account,
+she thought&mdash;four lovers at a swoop!</p>
+<p>It was almost impossible that she should not meet
+Trampy, who was always prowling about from bar to
+bar, between Oxford Street and Leicester Square. She
+did meet him, in fact. Trampy, that day, wore a felt hat,
+a blue suit, a red tie, with a sixpenny Murias cocked in the
+corner of his mouth, and he greeted her with a triumphant
+&#8220;Hullo, peach!&#8221; as she passed. Lily was quite excited,
+stopped just long enough to refuse a drink and
+then left him very quickly. She was afraid it showed
+on her face, when she got home, and his words still rang
+in her ears, that she was awfully pretty, the prettiest
+girl on the stage, a peach, a duck, a pearl, a daisy, a bird.</p>
+<p>All that she had seen and heard in her jostled existence,
+now came back to her, grew and sprouted in her ...
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span>
+now that Lily was being made love to by gentlemen, not
+the monkey-faces or the blue-chins, but men like Trampy,
+her craving for admiration oozed out of her at every
+pore....</p>
+<p>Trampy! Lily did not care for Trampy; but she
+thought him amiable, polite with the girls.... She
+was grateful to him for being there to say pretty things
+to her when she passed. She preferred that type to
+men like Jimmy, for instance, savages who always seemed
+on the point of speaking and never opened their mouths;
+with them, she thought, a wife would be bored to death.
+Besides, Jimmy, pooh, a common workman, a josser!
+While Trampy was an artiste, a bill-topper and rich, no
+doubt. You had only to listen to Trampy to see that he
+was very well off! Chocolates, sweets, jewelry, ostrich-feathers,
+patent-leather boots, everything! He would
+have loaded her with presents, if she had let him, but she
+had never accepted anything except a little gold ring,
+which she hid in her pocket when she came in, for, if Ma
+had caught sight of it, gee, what a smacking!</p>
+<p>Trampy often met her; he seemed almost to do so on
+purpose; he found pretty speeches, compliments which
+he had already uttered a score of times to ever so many
+girls, on ever so many stages, like a real Don Juan who
+had been all over the world and everywhere picked
+up love-speeches and jokes to &#8220;fetch&#8221; the ladies with. He
+tickled her vanity, told her that a dear little girl like her
+was cut out for dress, that a big hat with ostrich feathers
+would go well with her fair hair and that men, by Jove,
+ought to go on their knees whenever they spoke to her!</p>
+<p>All this hummed and buzzed in her head. At night,
+when she fell asleep in Maud&#8217;s arms, she dreamed of big
+hats and fine dresses and referred to it during the day.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span>
+Pa hardly knew what to think; if she did as well as last
+night&mdash;three encores&mdash;Lily could have half a sovereign,
+to buy a new hat in the Tottenham Court Road with, said
+Pa.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Pa, I shall do all right, you&#8217;ll see. Will you be
+very nice? Then get me that one at two guineas, you
+know, in Regent Street.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;re mad, Lily!&#8221; said Pa, without attaching too
+much importance to it, for he had other cares: agents to
+see, letters to write, business, damn it!</p>
+<p>That took down Lily&#8217;s cheek a bit; but her luxurious
+ideas returned, nevertheless. For instance, from admiring
+the Three Graces or the Gilson girl, who looked like
+Venuses in their silk tights and whose entrance on the
+stage caused every opera-glass to glint upon them,
+the wish to appear in tights began to grow on Lily.
+Oh, not the plain tights of living statues; no, but with
+flowers and leaves embroidered here and there and jet
+braid laced about the right arm. She was tired of
+bloomers and told Pa so, straight out, when the apprentices
+had left the room and Pa, stretched in his easy-chair,
+seemed in a good temper. Pa thought this notion
+about tights, silly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re very nice, those bloomers; those little shirts.
+Ask your mother.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes,&#8221; said Ma sarcastically, &#8220;but bloomers are
+made at home, in the afternoon; you have to stitch them
+yourself, dear. Tights, which you buy ready-made and
+which cost just ten times as much and last only half as
+long, are much more convenient, aren&#8217;t they, Lily? To
+say nothing of the absurdity of an ugly girl like you showing
+yourself in tights!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And the troupe,&#8221; said Pa. &#8220;What would the troupe
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span>
+look like? Might as well not have a troupe; there&#8217;d be
+no one but you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, what harm would that do? I <i>am</i> the troupe!&#8221;
+said Lily, tossing her obstinate forehead. &#8220;And all the
+money you give them you could give me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily,&#8221; said Pa, alarmed, &#8220;you deserve to be smacked
+for that!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Pa, what an idea!&#8221; said Lily, who was just arranging
+her fringe before the glass. &#8220;A Pa to beat his
+Lily for a little thing like that, away from work!&#8221; And,
+darting a bright smile at Pa, &#8220;You never would, Pa,
+would you?&#8221; she ventured.</p>
+<p>Clifton, taken aback, looked at his Lily, as if to say
+that she was right, damn it! But Ma, in her fury, cried:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait a bit! You shall see if <i>I</i> would!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Bang! A box on the ears, followed by an order to
+go to her room, on dry bread and water, impudence!
+And practise her banjo till the evening!</p>
+<p>The blow itself was nothing, but what an humiliation
+for Lily, who, only yesterday, had been told that she
+had the sweetest nose in the world, cheeks to cover with
+kisses, eyes, lovely eyes: there wasn&#8217;t a girl in a hundred
+with eyes like that, by Jove! And those lovely eyes
+were only fit to cry with! And those pretty cheeks Ma
+had covered with smacks! When she thought of it, she felt
+inclined to kick over the traces. Did they think her such
+a kid, then, her Pa and Ma? She&#8217;d show Ma if she was
+fourteen! She&#8217;d be off like the others. Lily, at this idea,
+felt her heart come into her mouth: no, no; she would
+never dare; she never would. She swore it to herself;
+took the great oath of the stage: three fingers of her right
+hand uplifted, the left hand on her lucky charm. And yet,
+one day, she would marry. She didn&#8217;t lack chances, if
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span>
+she wanted them. And a gentleman, too! And her Pa
+and Ma, to disgust her, of course, pretended that he was
+married! They must take her for an idiot: how could
+Trampy be married, considering that he had suggested
+... suggested different things to her?...</p>
+<p>Lily brooded like this, reviewing the tiny events of
+which her life was made up. Then a gleam of sunshine
+came to change her thoughts. She amused herself
+by breathing on the window-pane, making a circle ...
+wrote a name with her finger and quickly licked it out
+with her tongue ... and Lily brooded ...
+brooded....</p>
+<p>But Ma&#8217;s voice made her jump:</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are you doing there, you good-for-nothing?
+I told you to take your banjo!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Ma,&#8221; Lily replied mechanically, with her nose
+glued to the window.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you hear, Mr. Clifton?&#8221; said Ma furiously. &#8220;That&#8217;s
+the way she obeys!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Clifton had no doubt whatever that there was a
+man at the bottom of it ... a flirtation ...
+something or other. It was useless for Ma to provide
+for everything, to do her best to oppose Mr.
+Clifton&#8217;s weakness. There was Lily now, taking up an
+independent attitude. She thought herself pretty, no
+doubt; some booby must have been stuffing her up,
+making love to her, to laugh at her later on! If she,
+Mrs. Clifton, had been a man, she would certainly never
+look at that ill-mannered baggage; but the London jossers
+liked that brazen type! And to think that time was
+passing ... passing!... Oh, Ma would have
+liked to get hold of the man who invented the law
+about girls coming of age ... and love ... and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span>
+marriage! A fierce jealousy seized upon her at the
+thought. Lily would have bouquets, champagne suppers;
+Lily would be loved by gentlemen! Tell Lily that she
+was pretty and, in less than six months the little hussy
+would think herself a fine lady! And, on that day, Mrs.
+Clifton would wash her hands of her!</p>
+<p>These continued attacks ended by shaking Pa. He
+didn&#8217;t quite know what to say; there was a certain amount
+of truth in it:</p>
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; he persisted, &#8220;why should she go? She has
+everything she wants here?&#8221;</p>
+<p>But he was more and more annoyed; yes, he admitted,
+he was wrong to laugh at Mr. Fuchs: you must never set
+children a bad example. And, from that moment, once
+his attention had been called to the matter, he daily discovered
+fresh causes for uneasiness: where the devil did
+she get that love of dress from? And who sent her that
+bouquet behind the scenes the other night? Why, Lily
+wanted to have it handed to her across the footlights, like
+a singer!</p>
+<p>And Pa and Ma watched Lily like a bag of money on
+which one keeps one&#8217;s hand, for fear of pickpockets. Ma
+doubled her precautions.</p>
+<p>The gentlemen in the front boxes, especially, alarmed
+her, even more than the Jim Crows: creatures apart, devilish
+creatures, the gentlemen in the front boxes! She
+fancied she saw a reflection of hell in the eye-glass of
+every one of them. If ever Lily dared to smile to them,
+she knew what awaited her! Ma would get angry for
+nothing at all; she even scolded Lily for allowing herself
+to be approached on the stage by a contributor to <i>The
+Piccadilly Magazine</i>, which was publishing articles on
+<i>The Little Favorites of the Public</i>.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sure you only told him a lot of nonsense,&#8221; said
+Ma. &#8220;A girl should call her mother in a case like that.
+What have you to do with the public? Aren&#8217;t you
+ashamed?&#8221;</p>
+<p>No, Lily was not ashamed. She was exasperated
+rather. And she had not told the journalist any lies:
+just the plain truth, in her own little way. Sweat and
+blood! Broken legs! Broken arms! And here, there,
+there, all over her body, scars deep enough to put
+your finger in! That would revenge her a bit for the
+way in which she was treated. She knew that, when the
+article appeared, she would catch it at Pa&#8217;s hands; but
+never mind! She had told everything, everything, in revenge;
+just as she might have flung her bike at their
+heads in a fit of anger!</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>There had been a terrible scene at home that day. Ma
+had searched Lily&#8217;s trunk and had not, it is true, discovered
+the love letters which she believed to be hidden
+there, but she had found a ring! It was Trampy&#8217;s ring,
+which Lily, who usually concealed it about her person,
+had left by accident in the trunk among her things. Ma&#8217;s
+face was a sight, when she came down to the dining-room.
+She was so upset that Pa asked her:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you ill, dear?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Ma, without answering the question, pushed the ring
+under his nose and screamed that she had told him so:</p>
+<p>&#8220;An engagement ring, dear; an engagement ring!
+Perhaps you&#8217;ll believe me now!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Pa and Ma, when they had recovered from their surprise,
+had time to lay their heads together and replace the
+ring, pretending to know nothing, to be watching more
+closely than ever ... and then Pa had gone out;
+for, if Lily, who was walking with the apprentices, had
+come home just then, he could not have resisted the
+temptation to smack her face. It was better to go out
+and postpone the explanation until later. He had, indeed,
+resolved never to beat his daughter again ...
+but still! And he clenched his fists and ground his teeth
+when he reached the theater.</p>
+<p>On the stage, he looked round for Tom, who should
+have been there to mend a tire. He saw nothing at first:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span>
+only a few electric lamps studding the darkness; a faint
+glimmer lighting up a number of properties; farther on,
+the dull gleam of stacked-up bikes; and, lastly, Tom, with
+his cap cocked back and trousers turned up, trying&mdash;brrr!&mdash;to
+do a clog-dance!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bravo, Tom!&#8221; shouted Clifton, the moment he saw
+him. &#8220;Just you wait a bit. I&#8217;ll teach you to dance: with
+the clogs on your hands and your head downwards, damn
+it! Here, take this to go on with!&#8221; continued Pa, fetching
+him a clout on the shoulder. &#8220;And get to the bikes
+and hurry up, or I&#8217;ll smash your jaw in!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Meanwhile, Jimmy had also come, unseen by Pa. And
+the great batten lit up: the stage came to life again.
+Right up above, in the galleries from which the ropes
+were worked, mysterious forms moved to and fro. The
+iron curtain rose ... there was a clash of orchestra
+... Jimmy, with his back against the drop-scene
+and his face to the stage, gave sharp orders....</p>
+<p>Pa watched the scene vaguely from the wings. He
+gnawed his mustache: the apprentices would be there
+soon, with his Lily. And he had something to say to
+the stage-manager; something of a delicate character.</p>
+<p>But Clifton was surprised to see Jimmy instead of the
+usual stage-manager:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo! So it&#8217;s you now,&#8221; he couldn&#8217;t help saying.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, yes, Mr. Clifton; since this morning. The other
+chap&#8217;s ill, you know. Harrasford asked me to take his
+place ... for a few days, I suppose ... or
+perhaps longer. Do you want to speak to me, Mr. Clifton?&#8221;
+added Jimmy, observing Pa&#8217;s look of embarrassment.
+&#8220;Just a minute and I am yours.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Two tall footmen, caparisoned in velvet and gold, disappeared
+behind the curtain with the number of the next
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span>
+turn. They came back in a few seconds. Jimmy pressed
+a button. The stage filled with light and noise, the turn
+marked on the program entered and, suddenly, under the
+dazzling light, it was a series of somersaults, of flights
+from shoulder to shoulder, and the muffled fall of feet on
+the thick carpet.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There will be eight minutes of this,&#8221; said Jimmy, taking
+out his watch. &#8220;What have you to say to me, Mr.
+Clifton?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Oh, what he had to say was very simple; he wouldn&#8217;t
+have mentioned it himself, but Mrs. Clifton had asked
+him to. To cut a long story short, wasn&#8217;t it a shame that
+gentlemen should throw bouquets on the stage when Lily
+was giving her show? Like last night, for instance: why,
+it was making game of a child, putting ideas into her
+head! Lily, of course, paid no attention to it. However,
+was it or was it not allowed to throw or send bouquets
+on the stage?</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, you know it is!&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;How would you
+have me prevent it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>If he could have prevented it, he would. To begin
+with, Jimmy realized the bothers which it brought down
+upon Lily. Moreover, Jimmy, who was vaguely uneasy
+himself, wondered who that ardent admirer could be.
+Some of Roofer&#8217;s girls thought they had recognized
+Trampy, from the stage, in the front seats. What Jimmy
+had heard of Trampy did not inspire him with confidence.
+And Trampy, it appeared, was making love to
+Lily. Mr. Fuchs had met them at the corner of Oxford
+Street and Newman Street. The story was quite definite.</p>
+<p>Jimmy was astonished at the audacity of a Trampy:
+what could he say to her? he asked himself, what could
+he propose to her? Marriage? He was married, they
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span>
+said, in America. To run away with him? His scandalous
+life, his habit of easy conquest made this very likely.
+Jimmy had seen plenty of others, big ones who topped
+the bill and who did not despise a girl&#8217;s companionship&mdash;on
+the contrary&mdash;and six months later, a year,
+two years later, left the girl in a hole, stranded, undone;
+mustard and game for Jim Crow. And he grew more
+and more anxious on Lily&#8217;s behalf: not that Lily would
+come to that! Yet he had seen plenty of them, since he
+had frequented the stage, plenty of Lilies who had taken
+to flight for injuries often less serious than hers. He
+could have mentioned names: his head was full of those
+who let their anger, or their folly, get the better of them
+and escaped at random, and who went back to every-day
+life&mdash;through the door of scandal&mdash;sometimes to meet
+with worse: martyrdom of the heart, base exploitation in
+the name of love. Oh, he pitied them from the bottom
+of his soul! No, Lily shouldn&#8217;t run away: it was impossible!
+But what a pity, all the same, that he could think
+of it! And what chance, what meeting would settle her
+fate and make her&mdash;who could say?&mdash;the companion of a
+loving heart, or a prey to some footy rotter? Oh, how he
+would have liked to go for Trampy, to break his jaw for
+him, to teach him to mind his business and leave Lily
+alone! And what Jimmy wanted to do he was never far
+from doing! And, then, oh, if he could procure a good
+position for Clifton, as an equivalent for his star and
+make Lily love him, marry him: that would be better
+still!</p>
+<p>This idea, perhaps, without his knowing it, dominated
+his present life, doubled his power of work: to invent
+something! To get himself talked about! To make
+money, plenty of money, become somebody! Others before
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span>
+him had risen from nothing. Harrasford, to go
+no farther ... a chap who had climbed every rung
+of the ladder: a small music-hall first; then two; then a
+big one; then two; then ten. And a whole army now
+toiling and moiling for him every night, for him the chief
+and master.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; thought Jimmy. &#8220;If I could only climb the ladder
+too!&#8221;</p>
+<p>First of all, he must choose his line, for his efforts to
+tell. And, since chance had given him a start at the theater,
+why not go on? Here his scientific luggage would
+be of use to him. It was only a question of adding
+pluck to it. He was the man to do so and now more
+than ever. Things which used to seem impossible to
+him, such as his invention published in <i>Engineering</i>, appeared
+quite feasible, now that he had watched Lily
+do her wonderful feats of balancing on the stage. It was
+only a question of courage and hard practice. Another
+line suggested itself: to find capital and start a theater.
+As regards the stage itself, by this time he understood
+the management of it from grid to cellar. He seemed
+to take in at a glance that huge entirety, from the
+flies with their windlasses, their bridges, the labyrinth
+of stairs, the maze of passages, down to the dressing-rooms
+and the painted faces that filled them: here, a
+Lily; there, a buck nigger; farther on, a living-picture
+girl. He felt all this rustle round him, carried it all in
+his head: he knew it all, from the porter&#8217;s box at the
+stage-door to the glittering front of the house, with its
+palm-trees and its liveried chuckers-out. Jimmy knew
+what to think of the enchantments of the stage, those
+luminous visions which the audience admired to the tune
+of the orchestra: jealousies, vanities, hatreds to knock up
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span>
+against and calm down; recruits to put through their
+paces; and the whole day of it&mdash;and the whole night,
+too&mdash;for a few pounds a week, including the tips received
+from the artistes, twenty-five to forty shillings a month.</p>
+<p>But Jimmy had his idea: he was determined to obtain
+a thorough grasp of the business; he had already taken
+possession of the stage-manager&#8217;s room and of his desk
+with the many compartments: photographs, programs,
+contracts, electric light, staff, scenery. A whole small
+people depended upon him, and asked his advice, bragged
+of its successes or told him of its misfortunes. And here
+again was Clifton continuing his jeremiads: they would
+drive his daughter silly by making game of her, pretending
+to be in love with her, at her age! Jimmy listened
+attentively, with one eye on the stage and the other on his
+watch:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tut!&#8221; he said, trying to arrange things. &#8220;There&#8217;s no
+great harm in receiving bouquets on the stage. However,
+as you object, if any more of them come, they shall be
+handed to you, to dispose of as you please. That&#8217;s all that
+I can do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was gradually filling up behind Clifton and Jimmy;
+the iron door was constantly slamming upon the passage;
+knowing-looking Roofer girls passed, two by two, always
+two by two, joked for a moment with the scene shifters,
+shook hands here and there, disappeared up the dressing-room
+staircase. There was life, swarming life, everywhere,
+in the corners, behind the back-cloth. The New
+Zealanders arrived, with Lily and her Ma, for Ma never
+left her now, for fear of the gentlemen who prowled
+around like famished hyenas: villains who did not hesitate
+to throw bouquets on the stage to make ugly girls
+think they were pretty!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span></p>
+<p>Lily seemed sad. She stopped for a moment. A
+haunting serenade droned across the stage, a Spanish
+melody sung by soft tremolo voices, with tapping of
+tambourines. It reminded her of Mexico: everything
+reminded her of that time now. She compared herself
+with Ave Maria. Oh, she would have liked to tell the
+whole world how she was treated, just the plain truth!&mdash;in
+her own little way. But no one cared, not even that
+rotten josser of a journalist, with his article published
+in <i>The Piccadilly Magazine</i>. It made her out a spoiled
+child, who had learned to ride in the country-lanes, with
+her French governess, and who had surprised her father
+and mother by coming home one day with her head on
+the saddle of her bicycle and her feet in the air, thereby
+causing an unparalleled scandal in that old Yorkshire
+family. Since then, they had been obliged to yield
+to her fancies and allow her to go on the stage with
+her little troupe of friends. Her salary? Ten pounds
+a night. Her recreation? The banjo....</p>
+<p>&#8220;Rotten josser of a journalist!&#8221; thought Lily.</p>
+<p>Nevertheless, she was flattered at heart because of the
+ten pounds a night and the governess.</p>
+<p>But things happened to distract her thoughts: the
+Three Graces entered in their turn, followed by Nunkie;
+they stood talking for a few moments, while the apprentices
+went and dressed; and Lily soon followed them,
+after a last glance at a little woman and her &#8220;partner,&#8221;
+who were getting things ready for their performance&mdash;-some
+little hoops, two cardboard bottles, gilt balls&mdash;and
+then waited humbly in the shadow.</p>
+<p>Lily recognized Para, who used to exhibit a troupe of
+parrots; somebody had put her &#8220;in his show,&#8221; no doubt,
+the Para-Paras, a new turn.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;How poor she looks!&#8221; Lily could not help whispering
+to Ma.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll be worse off yourself, some day,&#8221; said Ma, &#8220;if
+you go on as you&#8217;re doing! Don&#8217;t laugh at other people.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily had dressed quickly and had come down to the
+stage with the Three Graces and they had ten minutes of
+joking behind the scenes, while Ma was still up-stairs,
+busy with the girls. Thea walked on tip-toe to restore
+the circulation to her legs; Kala practised back-bendings:
+Lily applauded with the tip of her thumbnail, flung back
+her head and laughed and, from time to time, looked
+round over her shoulder to see if Ma was coming down.</p>
+<p>She amused herself also by feeling Thea&#8217;s arms, all
+those little muscles which stood out, man&#8217;s arms: she
+would have liked to nestle in them, to feel herself squeezed
+till she cried out. And everything around them savored
+of love: there were lots of Roofers; little intrigues were
+embarked upon; there were stifled fits of laughter and
+cries of &#8220;Hands off!&#8221; and &#8220;Stop!&#8221; Amorous speeches and
+stories of romantic adventures were exchanged in whispers;
+the flight of the Gilson girl, the other day, at Liverpool,
+was told in full detail; a Roofer, it seemed, giving
+a high kick the day before, had sent her slipper flying
+into the audience; it was returned to her filled with chocolate
+creams; and to-day there was a boquet with a letter
+in it.</p>
+<p>Ting! The curtain, the light; and, on the stage, the
+Roofers were glittering with gold and silver and their
+boyish voices came in gusts, punctuated by the jerky
+flights of their short skirts.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your old sweetheart, eh, Lily?&#8221; said Thea, pointing to
+the boy-violinist, who had just arrived.</p>
+<p>Lily had only a careless glance for the boy-violinist,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span>
+who was wiping his eye-glasses and pulling at his cuffs,
+while a call-boy was adjusting the false seat into which
+two bulldogs would presently dig their teeth. All the
+fascination was gone for Lily: it was no longer the child
+prodigy; a grotesque Orpheus, in a laurel and parsley
+crown, he now introduced his music-hating dogs, who interrupted
+his performance with plaintive and angry howls
+and ended by leaping at the seat of his trousers in a mad
+rush across the stage.</p>
+<p>Lily, who had &#8220;gone through the mill,&#8221; looked upon
+him as a mere josser, had for him the instinctive contempt
+entertained by the real artiste for those fiddlers,
+those singers, those dancers and other drones brought
+up with blows of the hat.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pooh! I have some one better than that,&#8221; exclaimed
+Lily, excited by the proximity of the Roofers.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you have any one better than that and he loves
+you,&#8221; said Thea, in a dreamy voice, &#8220;love him, Lily, keep
+him; as for me, I no longer risk having to do with men.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do!&#8221; Lily whispered, with a frightened glance
+around her. &#8220;As much as I can! I love talking to men!
+Why, Thea, and don&#8217;t you like love letters and p.-c.&#8217;s?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Ting! Ting! Orpheus left the stage, with his bulldogs
+hanging to him.</p>
+<p>Ting! It was dark again; ropes, plated rings were let
+down from the flies; the Three Graces, like quivering
+marble statues, took one another by the hand to make
+their entrance.</p>
+<p>Ting! From their perches on either side, two electricians
+sent the lime-light beating down on an involved
+group of ropes, bars and hardened limbs.</p>
+<p>Ting! A crescendo in the orchestra and, bowing to the
+audience across the footlights, the Three Graces made
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span>
+their exit, their smiles suddenly hollowed out into tired
+wrinkles, but cheerful nevertheless. And Nunkie wiped
+their foreheads with his checked handkerchief, helped
+them on with their big cloaks; and the three goddesses
+were now just a wrapped-up group, limping off to the
+staircase, like gouty patients at a spa.</p>
+<p>Ting! A forest scene is let down, the wings are shifted.
+A click of chains, a flash of steel. The bikes in the shadow,
+the apprentices mounted, Lily leading.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And try to do your best, my Lily.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Pa.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And try to behave.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Ma.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Ting!</p>
+<p>Lily gave a nervous smile. She always felt a little
+thrill before going on. Then, quick, in Indian file, two
+and two, three and three, the New Zealanders whirled
+round in the light, to the roar of a triumphal air.</p>
+<p>Pa ground his teeth and clenched his fists the moment
+he heard his music: at the mere sight of his Lily, his
+seven stone of flesh and bones adapted to the machine,
+unerring and exact, an immense intoxication exalted his
+pride, gladness dilated his heart. At last! He was there
+now: German discipline! English gracefulness! Everything!
+He, too, would have his London home, with a
+lawn behind the house and a plot of rose-trees. He would
+learn the meaning of family joys, as Nunkie understood
+them, with texts along the staircase: &#8220;Welcome!&#8221; and
+&#8220;God bless our home!&#8221; And, more and more excited, he
+built up his dream; his imagination gave itself scope amid
+the unreal scenery, the forest depths, the green and gold
+sky and his Lily, his faultless Lily, haloed in light!
+Every hope was permissible when he looked at his Lily,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span>
+his joy, his handiwork! His New Zealander on Wheels!
+That india-rubber suppleness, those little nerves of iron,
+his Lily, his glory, his star, his own star! He romanced
+about her, dreamed of an imperial tour, a steamer
+of his own, a floating
+Barnum&#8217;s show, with
+Roofers, elephants, rhinoceroses,
+Ave Marias,
+dogs, monkeys, the whole
+boiling; and Lily starring
+on her bike, stopping in
+every port, from Liverpool
+to Suez, from Suez
+to Yokohama: down to
+the desert, damn it, to
+show the whole world
+what an artiste he, Clifton,
+he, the father, had
+made of his Lily! And
+he looked at her with loving
+eyes, applauded her
+with a smile, restored her
+self-possession with a
+twitch of the eyebrow
+and counted her twirls on the back-wheel&mdash;O pride unspeakable!&mdash;a
+dozen!</p>
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg093.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 177px; height: 301px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 177px;'>
+SHE NEVER LOST SIGHT OF LILY<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Ma, standing by him, interested herself less in the show
+and, neglecting the artiste, watched the daughter and
+the faces she made at the gentlemen: the brazen flapper,
+whose sole attraction lay in the wickedness in her blood!
+She never lost sight of Lily and watched her closely, for
+Ma seemed always to catch her throwing an appealing
+glance to the seducers in the front boxes, to some St.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span>
+George in full dress who would dart across the footlights
+to carry off her daughter.</p>
+<p>Thus caught between Pa and Ma, Lily&#8217;s situation was
+hard indeed. As for the audience, she never troubled
+about it, from custom, like a true professional, who
+gives her performance mechanically, without minding
+about the rest. The audience, to Lily, was, behind a
+streak of flame, in the semi-darkness, a confused mass
+of black and gray. All this had no existence for Lily or
+the apprentices. The audience didn&#8217;t pay them! The
+audience wouldn&#8217;t give her a whacking if the show went
+badly! Pa, in the wings, frightened her much more than
+all the audiences in the world; and Ma was worse still,
+when a gentleman smiled at her from a box. Then Lily
+would stare at her Ma with the terrified eye of a parrot
+contemplating Para&#8217;s whip. She even exaggerated,
+pinched her lips, like a school-girl applying herself to
+her book for fear of the ferule. Ma did not ask so much
+as that. Sometimes, when Lily, after a successful trick,
+threw out her chest to draw breath more easily and rode
+round the stage with a pretty smile on her lips, Ma saw
+no harm in it, even rejoiced within herself at her daughter&#8217;s
+beauty. Ma knew how to be just and not to be angry
+for nothing. But what she could not forgive, what exasperated
+her was, just that very evening, with her own
+eyes, to see Lily smile at some person unknown and shoot
+fiery glances at the front boxes, the little devil, who
+would bring them to the grave with shame!</p>
+<p>For Lily, it must be confessed, flung prudence to the
+winds that night. Her head was turned with all those
+love stories. They sang in her ears, they distended her
+nostrils. Oppressed on every side, she escaped in imagination
+toward that spacious house, toward the confused
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span>
+mass in which her lover sat hidden. And, in spite of Pa
+and in spite of Ma, who stood watching her in the wings,
+Lily searched the audience with her eyes. Was it really
+Trampy? Had he come back? She had not met him for
+some time. She wanted to know and he would surely
+reveal himself. Ma might say what she pleased. Even
+in the final pyramid, she looked, while, with one apprentice
+on her shoulders, another forked before her, another
+standing behind, two others on either side, she twice
+went round the stage, with flags waving, to the hurricane
+of the orchestra. And then ting! And darkness anew, the
+stage suddenly invaded by scene-shifters dragging heavy
+sets along; and Lily, passing out, was seized by her Ma,
+who said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who were you laughing at?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t laughing, Ma!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll teach you to make eyes at gentlemen, you baggage
+you! I saw you this time! I saw you!&#8221; grumbled
+Ma, who had the engagement ring still upon her mind.
+&#8220;You shall pay for this, Lily; we&#8217;ll see if I can drive the
+devil out of you or not!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Ma squeezed Lily&#8217;s arm as if she meant to break
+it, but all this noiselessly, in the shadow, behind the scenery,
+for fear of the stage manager. Besides, it was nobody&#8217;s
+business what a mother thought fit to say
+to her daughter, and Lily, when people passed, pluckily
+tried to smile, so as to put them off, not to let them know
+that she was being beaten, a big girl like her; but, as
+soon as they were gone, she resumed her rebellious face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t laughing, I wasn&#8217;t laughing, Ma!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s to teach you to lie!&#8221; said Ma, catching her a
+blow in the back of the neck.</p>
+<p>The door of the staircase had swung to behind them;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span>
+and, in the empty passage, the thumps continued all the
+way to the dressing-room, which the apprentices had not
+yet reached. Then, once inside, Ma pushed the bolt and
+made a rush at Lily. And Lily raised her elbow in vain:
+accompanied by a furious series of grunts&mdash;&#8220;Ugh! Ugh!
+Ugh!&#8221;&mdash;Ma&#8217;s diligent fist &#8220;signed a contract on her
+back&#8221;:</p>
+<p>&#8220;And don&#8217;t you dare to cry out, or I&#8217;ll give it you
+twice as hard!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily, bruised all over, felt inclined to scratch her
+mother, like a wildcat; but the apprentices were coming.
+So she cooled her head in a basin of cold water and
+dressed with all speed, assisted by Ma, who perhaps regretted
+having been so hasty; but you had to be, with
+devils like that! And Ma&#8217;s anger returned when, on
+reaching the stage again, she was herself, in accordance
+with Jimmy&#8217;s orders, handed a bouquet intended for
+Miss Lily. What, another! Lily, following her down the
+stairs with the New Zealanders, saw Ma take the bouquet
+and toss it through the open door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come along,&#8221; said Ma. &#8220;Give me your arm, Lily.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And the New Zealanders walked away from the
+brightly lit-up music-hall, plunged through the drifting
+crowd, crossed the eddy of cabs, motors, &#8217;buses and, on
+the pavements, through the windows, had visions of elegant
+couples at sumptuous tables. Then they all went
+through the dark streets; and Lily, escorted by Pa and
+Ma, followed the herd of girls. Her face was hard and,
+from an angry brow, she shot glances askance at flight.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Now Trampy&mdash;even if he had to marry her for it, by
+Jove!&mdash;had set his mind on having Lily, at any cost; and
+that not only because of her prettiness, but also that he
+might play Clifton a damned good trick and teach him
+that he must smart for treating a gentleman as he had
+treated him in Mexico. It would be paying him out with
+interest to take his Lily from him. Besides, think of the
+credit it would give Trampy in the profession to have for
+his wife the prettiest, the cleverest girl on the boards, each
+of whose shows, when she performed alone, would be
+worth at least three pounds, as much as a whole troupe!
+He suspected in her the ripe fruit that was bound to drop;
+and he shook the tree to hasten the fall. He considered
+his reputation at stake: he, the man with the thirty-six
+girls, as he was called at the music-hall. He got caught
+in his own toils and wanted Lily madly, out of revenge
+and pride ... and jealousy too, for he suspected
+that Jimmy was courting her; and the idea that he had
+a rival inflamed his ardor.</p>
+<p>In the evening, pen in hand, in his dressing-room, or
+else at a table in a café, after a second and a third glass
+of old port, he prepared his batteries: letters, post-cards,
+he excelled in everything, was careful about his phrases,
+with the vanity of an author whose writings are widely
+quoted. Lily was &#8220;fascinating&#8221; and &#8220;bewildering;&#8221; he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span>
+compared her to &#8220;those strange Indian poppies whose
+scent intoxicates a man and sometimes gives him death.&#8221;
+Gee, but that set Lily dreaming! Fancy having all that
+in her! Who on earth would have thought it? Never
+mind, it was very nice.</p>
+<p>And the way in which she received her correspondence
+amused her as much as the rest. Trampy, it goes without
+saying, did not write direct: a few pence to Tom, who
+hated Clifton, and Lily received the cards in secret, devoured
+them when she was alone and then quickly tore
+them into little pieces and sent them flying through the
+window.</p>
+<p>Her trouble was how to answer. She really did not
+know what to say:</p>
+<div class='blockquot'>
+<p>&#8220;Pa was so angry with the girls yesterday. I got a
+kick of the pedal on my shin. Otherwise I am quite
+well. Excuse more for the present. I must now conclude.</p>
+<div class='ra'>
+<p>&#8220;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Lily</span>.&#8221;</p>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+<p>By return of post, she received &#8220;a thousand kisses on
+her rosy cheeks, on her fair tresses, everywhere,&#8221; kisses
+without end.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s mad,&#8221; thought Lily.</p>
+<p>But she was greatly flattered by Trampy&#8217;s attentions.
+He treated her as a woman, not as a child, as Pa and Ma
+went out of their way to do. Her life, after all, would
+be more agreeable if she was Trampy&#8217;s wife; and he
+was delivering the attack in person, since his return from
+Lancashire, where he had traveled about with his property
+red-hot stove. He overwhelmed her with bouquets,
+even as a general bombards a bastion before the final assault,
+and he managed to meet her now. He dazzled Lily
+with his big gold watch-chain and the diamond in his tie.
+When he was able to whisper a word to her, it was always
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span>
+the same thing&mdash;&#8220;Motor-cars! Paris gowns! Jewels!
+Flowers!&#8221;&mdash;until Lily thought she saw all the shop-windows
+in Regent Street poured out at her feet.</p>
+<p>Jimmy made but a sorry lover, compared with Trampy.
+He never promised anything, silk dresses, diamonds or
+jewels. &#8220;The husband at work, the wife at home.&#8221; Gee,
+there were no ostrich-feathers in that! But he adored
+her all the same, as Lily was well able to see; and she had
+many occasions to talk to both of them. Not that Lily
+was less closely watched. She never went out alone, but it
+was not always Ma who was at her heels: it was sometimes
+Glass-Eye. With faithful Glass-Eye, things took
+their own course and the interviews with Trampy became
+easy. As for Jimmy, he saw her every day at practice
+and he took that opportunity to tell her of his ideas, his
+plans for the future.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall succeed, you will see, Lily,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I shall
+do something some day. I&#8217;m a bit of a mechanic, a bit
+of an electrician, that is to say, a bit of a wizard. Others
+have started lower down and climbed very high.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied Lily, &#8220;I know. It&#8217;s like Pa. He wasn&#8217;t
+much before he got me into shape; and look at him now!&#8221;</p>
+<p>This was said with an artless candor that enraptured
+Jimmy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a dear little girlie you are!&#8221; he said. &#8220;What
+an adorable kid!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s right,&#8221; retorted Lily. &#8220;Why not a baby, while
+you&#8217;re about it, a school-girl in the biking-class and so
+on? Some people treat me as a woman, Jimmy, and propose
+to marry me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What I say, Jimmy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And this man making up to you is worthy of you, I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span>
+suppose? And do you love him?&#8221; asked Jimmy, greatly
+upset.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pooh!&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;I&#8217;m not quite sure.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you wouldn&#8217;t marry him unless you loved him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should marry him to change my life.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A change, Lily,&#8221; said Jimmy, with feeling, &#8220;is not
+always a change for the better! And your life is a little
+pleasanter now, you told me so yourself. Your mother
+is sorry. You&#8217;re getting pocket-money; ten shillings a
+week, eh? Why, Lily, that&#8217;s splendid!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well; and I earn it, I suppose,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;And Ma
+isn&#8217;t a bit sorry. Pa said he wouldn&#8217;t have it, that&#8217;s all.
+They were afraid of my running away if it went on. I
+am no longer a child!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Jimmy, taking her hands, &#8220;an adorable girl;
+that&#8217;s what you are. Oh, a man whom you would love
+should do great things! He would love you with all his
+heart! And your life would be different then! No, you
+would not be a performing dog, as you call it; you would
+be a darling little wife. It&#8217;s all very well to rove about
+the world, from theater to theater, riding round and
+round on your bike....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I adore the stage, for all that!&#8221; interrupted Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But that can&#8217;t go on for ever,&#8221; continued Jimmy.
+&#8220;You&#8217;re entitled to have a nicer life: a home of your own,
+Lily; you have the making of a lady in you, if you were
+taught. In a year or two, Lily, you would be the equal of
+any lady in the land.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Learning, more learning, always learning! I&#8217;ve had
+enough of it in my life!&#8221; muttered Lily, affected, nevertheless,
+by Jimmy&#8217;s intense excitement, and lowering her
+eyes under his glance.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, yes, Lily, always learning, that&#8217;s life!&#8221; said
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span>
+Jimmy. &#8220;But the other chap, of course, promises you
+the earth! Some millionaire, I suppose: an admirer in
+the front boxes?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s an artiste,&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why,&#8221; said Jimmy, stepping back, without letting go
+of her. &#8220;But, no, it&#8217;s impossible; you&#8217;re not thinking of
+Trampy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221; said Lily angrily, trying to release herself
+from Jimmy&#8217;s passionate grasp.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, because ... because he&#8217;s a drunkard
+... a ... The other day I saw him at the bar
+of the Crown, as I was passing. He was blind-drunk.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s the good of talking?&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;He&#8217;s miserable.
+He worships me. He drinks to forget. He told
+me so himself!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But they say he&#8217;s married,&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;Why ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s mean and jealous of you to say that,&#8221; said Lily,
+suddenly withdrawing her hands. &#8220;You deserve a smacking!
+How can he be married, when he wants to marry
+me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And with that she left him and went up to the dressing-room.</p>
+<p>Jimmy was heartbroken.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a joke of Lily&#8217;s ... as in my shop, some
+months ago, when she pretended to have a sweetheart,
+though she hadn&#8217;t!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But, argue as he would, Jimmy thought with terror of
+Trampy&#8217;s habits of conquest, of his reputation in the profession
+as a Don Juan. He bitterly regretted waiting so
+long to speak to Lily. He had thought that he was pleasing
+her by keeping in the background, for fear of causing
+her annoyance at home: was his sole offense now that of
+coming too late?
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span></p>
+<p>Oh, if he had only had evidence to hand! But
+Trampy&#8217;s marriage was one of those vague rumors. One
+could say nothing for certain. However, the danger, no
+doubt, was not yet imminent. And Jimmy had a friend
+who was doing America in the theaters of the Eastern
+and Western Trust: he resolved to write to him; the
+friend would receive his letter at the Majestic, Houston,
+Texas, or at the Denver Orpheum. The thing had
+happened over there; they would probably remember it
+in the theaters he passed through; he could make inquiries,
+perhaps even obtain proofs. That exquisite Lily,
+that masterpiece of grace: what a darling wife she would
+make! And all for Trampy! Jimmy was determined to
+do everything to prevent it.</p>
+<p>He did not despair of supplying Lily, before long, with
+the proof that Trampy was married; he would give the
+name, the date; he would compel Trampy to admit it.
+But he was not sure enough yet to accuse him openly:
+Lily would have seen nothing in it but a ridiculous jealousy
+and would never have forgiven him.</p>
+<p>Then Jimmy was worried: people came to him for this,
+for that, for the thousand details of the stage.</p>
+<p>Lily, on her side, left the theater. That day, she was
+accompanied by Maud, who fixed her with her glass eye,
+while the other was engaged in watching the flies. Of
+course, Trampy was prowling round the theater to see her
+part of the way home; for he, too, had decided to carry
+things with a high hand. And he set to work at a quicker
+pace than ever.</p>
+<p>He had none of Jimmy&#8217;s scruples; he was not afraid of
+exaggerating: far from it. Lily always left him under
+the impression of a glimpse of paradise. This time, however,
+she failed to smile when Trampy vowed that she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span>
+was &#8220;the sweetest little thing that one could lay eyes on,
+by Jove!&#8221; For a long time, but especially since that
+morning, she had been burning to put a question to him.
+Possibly she had no intention of marrying him, but she
+wouldn&#8217;t allow him to make a fool of her; and she interrupted
+him in his compliments to ask if what they said
+was true.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who says so? It&#8217;s a lie!&#8221; Trampy hastened to answer.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I mean your marriage,&#8221; replied Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought as much,&#8221; said Trampy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tell me the truth,&#8221; persisted Lily innocently, looking
+him straight in the eyes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I was married, Lily, would I want to marry you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not,&#8221; said Lily, already shaken.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who&#8217;s been talking to you about that?&#8221; asked Trampy.
+&#8220;Your Pa, eh? And Jimmy: I&#8217;ll bet that Jimmy ...?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jimmy too.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I don&#8217;t box that fellow&#8217;s ears!&#8221; shouted Trampy.
+&#8220;Can&#8217;t you see that he&#8217;s jealous? Why? He didn&#8217;t even
+give you my bouquets! He handed them to your Ma!
+And so I&#8217;ve been married, eh? Whereabouts? In America,
+I&#8217;ll wager?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, somewhere on the Western Tour.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; said Trampy. &#8220;That&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve heard
+myself. Still, it seems to me that, if I had a wife, I
+ought to be the first to know it; don&#8217;t you think so, Lily?&#8221;</p>
+<p>This was proof positive. Lily could find nothing to
+answer.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come and have a drink, Lily?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re waiting for me at home,&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>Trampy went into the bar alone, in a desperate state of
+love which made him call for a port and another, by
+Jove! Then he sat down at a table in a corner, lit a cigar
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span>
+and examined his glass, as though truth lay at the bottom.
+For he could not tell for certain. Was he married or was
+he not? That&#8217;s what he himself would like to know!
+According to him, upon his soul and conscience, he was
+not a married man; he did himself that justice. Opportunities,
+certainly, had not been wanting ... with
+all the girls he had known ... enough to fill a
+dozen beauty-shows. Sometimes even he had had a narrow
+escape, as in that damned town in the West, in one
+of those states where you can&#8217;t so much as take a girl to
+supper without finding yourself married to her in the
+morning, all for entering yourself in the hotel book as
+&#8220;Mr. and Mrs. Trampy,&#8221; in other words, as man and
+wife. And yet he couldn&#8217;t ask the girl who adored him
+to sleep on the mat! Yes, a poor girl who had found
+glowing words in which to tell him her love, one night
+in Mexico, words which had set Trampy quivering with
+longing compassion: was he to be reproached with that?
+He had made her happy, after all; and, on the whole,
+this lark was one of his pleasantest memories; it hadn&#8217;t
+lasted too long: a matter of a few weeks at most. He
+had left Mexico, taking the girl with him, and played
+Trampy Wheel-Pad in the Western States, with any
+amount of success, by Jove! Encores, packets of tobacco,
+a new suit of clothes! And, by way of <i>entr&#8217;acte</i>, the girl&mdash;&#8220;Tramp
+Wheel-Pad&#8217;s Jumping Flea,&#8221; as she was called&mdash;turned
+somersaults and flip-flaps. But she would have
+killed him, this dark girl with great dark eyes,&mdash;this
+girl with a boy&#8217;s figure, all muscle and sinew, keeping
+him awake all night and talking of nothing but smackings,
+as though she had never learned anything else.
+And so much in love that she would bite and scratch:
+a very tigress. Any one but himself would have wearied
+of it. And then, one fine morning, for coupling their
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span>
+names in the visitors&#8217; book, they found themselves married,
+in the name of the law! And that was what people
+called a marriage! So little married were they, according
+to him, that he had given her the slip then and
+there, leaving her all the money he possessed, however:
+he was not the man to look at fifteen dollars, when honor
+demanded it. Trampy had had more stories of this kind
+in his life; they left as much impression on his mind as
+the recollection of a &#8220;schooner&#8221; swallowed at a bar on a
+summer night.</p>
+<p>It was dishonest, he considered, to pretend that he was
+married. Not that he was perfect: far from it! He did
+not set up as a model. He had had scandals in his life:
+he admitted it humbly; and, if some jealous person,
+some Jimmy, for instance, wanted to do him harm, all he
+had to do was to dig in the heap, instead of hawking
+round that story of an imaginary marriage.</p>
+<p>His differences with Poland, the Parisienne, for instance:
+a regular Mrs. Potiphar, that one. He had found
+it a hard job to get away from her. And ever and ever
+so many others! He couldn&#8217;t remember. People were always
+talking ill of him. There was more than that, however:
+he, too, was capable of manly ambition; he, too, had
+taken a breakneck risk. He had perfected and patented
+at Washington an invention of which he had seen a
+drawing, by accident, in a scientific journal&mdash;<i>Engineering</i>,
+or another&mdash;a purely theoretical invention. The inventor
+himself, a young London electrician, declared it
+to be unrealizable. Well, he, Trampy&mdash;Poland had
+helped him with her purse; she was very nice about it&mdash;he,
+Trampy, had had the thing made. He had deposited
+the models at the Patent Office; and the apparatus itself
+was now in a London storage. He would get it out, some
+day, and show them all what he was capable of.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span></p>
+<p>Now he was wrong, perhaps, in abandoning Poland,
+after accepting her services; but, after all, those were
+matters which concerned nobody but himself. It was not
+fair play to tell Lily about them: she, he felt, would always
+be the girl of his heart, the thirty-seventh and last,
+and it would take a better man than Jimmy to snatch her
+from him!</p>
+<p>Already, it was much to have pacified Lily on that incident
+of the marriage: Lily believed him. One thing,
+however, disquieted Trampy: bigamy, all the same, meant
+doing time. Now, if some jealous person produced the
+proof of that marriage, contracted under the Western
+law ... suppose it were valid ... really valid?
+H&#8217;m! Was he going to lose Lily for that? And his liberty
+into the bargain? That Lily who was worth her weight in
+gold, love and fortune in one!</p>
+<p>Trampy resolved to broach this delicate subject:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Suppose I was married,&#8221; he hinted, one day, &#8220;that
+wouldn&#8217;t matter. Couldn&#8217;t we ... live together ...
+eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I like your style!&#8221; said Lily, feeling slightly indignant
+at such a proposal. &#8220;What do you take me for?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was only joking,&#8221; Trampy hastened to say. &#8220;If
+you want to be married, I&#8217;m quite agreeable.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I insist upon it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;So then you prefer to take strangers into our confidence?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What strangers?&#8221; asked Lily, in surprise.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, the quill-drivers at Somerset House and those
+damned fire-escapes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily had enough religion to know that the fire-escape
+was the clergyman:</p>
+<p>&#8220;As for that,&#8221; she said, &#8220;we shall see later; but I want
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span>
+the registrar&#8217;s office. If I&#8217;m to be your little wife, I want
+to be so for good and all: marriage or nothing!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall be delighted, Lily!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I&#8217;m determined!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily was the more bent upon it, because marriage made
+her free: that was the essential point. If she were not
+married, her parents could make her come back, she
+thought ... keep her with them ... gee! It gave
+her cold shivers down the back! Once married, she was
+protected by law; Pa and Ma had nothing to say; and so
+she was very keen upon marriage.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a dear little wife she&#8217;ll make!&#8221; thought Trampy.
+&#8220;And how she loves me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>That, however, did not advance matters. It was all
+very well for him to put his arm round her waist, to talk
+softly to her, to whisper those words which had already
+won him so many conquests:&mdash;one day, even, he had kissed
+her on the lips,&mdash;Lily thought that very nice; it was all
+very well for him to cut a dash at the bar, to stand her a
+claret and a biscuit; it was all very well for him to sing
+his love-litany: all this did not help him; at the rate at
+which he was going, he wouldn&#8217;t get anywhere in six
+months.</p>
+<p>Lily, between those two jossers, amused herself immensely.
+How lucky she was! Two men, at her age!
+They irritated her, sometimes; when they went too far&mdash;Trampy,
+especially, who got excited at the game&mdash;anyhow,
+it was a homage paid to her beauty. Between
+that and going away with him there was all the difference
+in the world! To leave home was quite another
+matter. Why, goodness, if things went on as they were,
+she could do without marriage at all!</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lily, come down!&#8221; Pa&#8217;s voice thundered from below.</p>
+<p>Lily was out of bed in a bound. She could hardly tie
+her skirt-strings for trembling. Why was Pa in such a
+rage?</p>
+<p>The moment Lily entered her parents&#8217; room, she realized
+what it was. Pa was holding a letter in his hand and
+scowling at her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;These are nice stories I hear!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;You let men
+kiss you? You&#8217;ve got a love affair? Come, Lily, is this
+true?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s Jimmy&#8217;s doing,&#8221; thought Lily. &#8220;The mean cur!
+He&#8217;s given me away!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Pa went on hotly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you&#8217;re going to marry, are you? To marry
+Trampy? Here, read that!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily felt hopeless. She took the letter, but did not attempt
+to read it. White with fear, could she have sprung
+through the window and fled, she would have done so.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; Pa went on apace, growing more and more excited,
+&#8220;is all this true? All that they tell me: about your
+receiving letters, post-cards, jewelry ... and that
+ring! I&#8217;ve seen it! You&#8217;re going to marry Trampy, are
+you? Oh, the man who writes to me knows all about it,
+saw you with him at the corner of Oxford Street and
+Newman Street. Is that true, miss? What did you have
+to tell him, pray? Speak out!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily, terror-stricken, could only droop her head.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s true then that you want to get married, you baggage!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pa!&#8221; cried Lily.</p>
+<p>But he, with an &#8220;Ah!&#8221; of rage, sprang upon her,
+clutched her mass of hair, banged her head against the
+wall:</p>
+<p>&#8220;On your knees! Say, &#8216;I&mdash;beg&mdash;your&mdash;par&mdash;don&mdash;&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, Bang! Bang! Bang! The phrase was punctuated
+with thumps.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Clifton,&#8221; implored Ma, &#8220;stop! Not so hard!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Beg&mdash;par&mdash;don! Beg&mdash;par&mdash;don!&#8221; continued Pa,
+without relenting.</p>
+<p>Lily was half-stunned, the world throbbed before her
+eyes, and, delirious with wrath, she hissed:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I say, I say you shall not marry him! I&#8217;ll kill you
+first!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I will marry him, yes, yes, I will marry him!
+kill me, if you like! God is my witness that I had not
+thought of getting married, but, as you say so, I will!&#8221;</p>
+<p>His fist closed her mouth. She clasped her arms about
+her head, to protect herself as best she could, but soon
+sank to the floor, fainting....</p>
+<p>For three days she was in bed, broken, dazed&mdash;then,
+no sooner on her feet, than off to the theater, guarded
+by Pa and Ma. If they could, they would have padlocked
+a chain to her ankle and a collar about her neck.
+Ma chilled Lily with her scornful pity, or racked her with
+repeated insults:</p>
+<p>&#8220;A disgrace to the family! You&#8217;ll be the death of us!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She would shower cuffs upon Lily, throw books at
+her head, or whatever came readiest to hand. Lily hid
+the books, the umbrellas, shrank into corners, longing to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span>
+cry; but the tears refused to come. She was too angry.
+And, with head down, but eyes alert, she crouched like a
+dog rebelling under blows, with lips drawn back above
+her teeth, ready to bite.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going out, or I&#8217;ll kill her!&#8221; growled Pa, slamming
+the door behind him.</p>
+<p>Pa was thoroughly upset: for Lily to leave him! Just
+when Hauptmann was starting a fifth troupe; when Pawnee
+was drawing full houses with his three stars; when
+competition was increasing and threatening: it meant disaster,
+certain ruin, the disbanding of his troupe, his contracts
+canceled. He seethed with indignation; or else, in
+despair, felt like taking Lily in his arms, seating her on
+his knee, begging her to tell him that it was all a nightmare,
+that she would never marry, never marry that
+Trampy: his good little Lily ... whom her Pa
+would cover with diamonds! She should have all she
+wished, and everything, if only she would assure him that
+it was not true that Trampy, that ungrateful cur, whom
+he, Pa, had picked out of the gutter, was going to steal
+his Lily! That damned Jim Crow! Pa, in his fury,
+bought a revolver to scatter the footy rotter&#8217;s brains with,
+but Trampy received the tip from Tom and vanished,
+hey, presto, leaving no trace, allowing no sign of himself
+to crop up anywhere. Pa&#8217;s rage was vented on his
+daughter.</p>
+<p>Happily for her, Lily now was a model of conduct.
+She felt thoroughly calm. Peace seemed to reign in the
+house. Lily was such a gentle little thing! One day&mdash;the
+very day on which Tom passed her a note from Trampy
+and she made a package of her new dress and of her
+photographs, and souvenirs&mdash;that evening, as she kissed
+her father and mother, tears came to her eyes. Then,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span>
+instead of going to the kitchen, she fetched her bundle,
+stealthily opened the street-door and ran to the corner,
+where Trampy was waiting in a hansom, and hi, off for
+the holidays, the champagne, the long-dreamed-of Paradise!</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span>
+<h2>PLAYING &#8217;EM IN</h2>
+<h3>I</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>They were seated on the basket trunk marked, &#8220;Trampy
+Wheel-Pad,&#8221; in big black letters. The steamer had left
+Harwich and was making for Holland. The English
+coast was disappearing in the mist. On the deck, a heap
+of luggage and parcels made a sort of nest for them.
+Trampy, with his dear little wife by his side, was thinking
+of the future ... so many things which he had
+flashed before Lily&#8217;s eyes and which he could not give
+her ... not directly, at least ... but, pooh,
+she&#8217;d get used to it by degrees. The great thing, to
+Trampy, was that he had his Lily! He was going to
+stuff himself to the throat with love and, first of all, to
+seek a shelter for his sweet wife and himself. England
+was no place for them. Pa was prowling round and
+Jimmy, too. Once their anger was over and they found
+themselves face to face with the irreparable, everything
+would calm down; meantime, the wisest thing for Trampy
+and Lily was to be prudent and run away as fast as they
+could. Trampy had his plan, he had seen the agents:
+Holland and Belgium first; then a performance at Ludwig&#8217;s
+Concert House, in Hamburg, and a brilliant first
+appearance before a hall filled with managers. Already
+he saw himself in the famous little room of the Café
+Grüber, where so many contracts were signed during
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span>
+the few days that the hearing-season lasted, and then he
+would have the whole continent, from St. Petersburg to
+Lisbon, make heaps of money, treat Lily like the little
+peach she was and cover her with diamonds, by Jove!
+Trampy, meanwhile, was none too easy in his mind:
+funds were low; the two pounds paid at the registrar&#8217;s
+office had lightened his purse still more. Fortunately,
+the fire-escape had not had his seven-and-six-pence: that
+was so much saved.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A poor consolation,&#8221; thought Trampy. &#8220;The price of
+a dog-license.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But he was gay, nevertheless, in his wife&#8217;s company.
+He forgot his thirty-six girls. He told Lily stories,
+made her squirm with laughter, played with her, dazzled
+her with the champagne suppers ... which they
+would have later on. Or else, like the consummate mummer
+that he was, he put on the gloomy countenance of a
+man about to reveal the secret of his heart:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a wretch,&#8221; he muttered, while Lily, in her innocence&mdash;Lily,
+who had been living on tenter-hooks since
+her flight from home a few days before&mdash;turned her
+frightened eyes upon him. &#8220;A miserable wretch ...
+married. Yes, it&#8217;s true; I&#8217;m married, Lily.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s true what they said? You&#8217;re married?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I am.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I knew it!&#8221; said Lily, in despair. &#8220;But then
+... if you are ... I&#8217;m not!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You silly little thing!&#8221; said Trampy, kissing her and
+taking her on his knee. &#8220;Yes, I&#8217;m married; yes; and no
+one shall separate us. Haven&#8217;t I the prettiest little wife&mdash;here,
+on my knee&mdash;my little Lily?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, how you frightened me!&#8221; said Lily, nestling
+against him. &#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t ever let us part!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span></p>
+<p>With a wife like that, said Trampy to himself, a little
+discomfort more or less made no difference. As long as
+she had her dear husband, she would be happy. She
+would have eyes for nothing but him and would not care
+a fig for all the rest.</p>
+<p>Now she loved him: there was no doubt about that.
+She had left everything for him! He could even have
+had her without marriage, by Jove, and saved two
+pounds, if he had insisted! So he thought, at least, and
+he put a conquering arm round Lily&#8217;s waist, while she,
+with her head on his shoulder, dreamed and dreamed, her
+eyes fixed upon the horizon. She was married! She had
+dared! She would be, at last, the little lady she had
+always been by instinct! And Lily went on building her
+castles in Spain until, after the smooth crossing, arriving
+at the Hook of Holland, she would not have been surprised
+to find her own motor-car and servants waiting
+for her on the quay. But no, she had to carry her bag
+herself, under the fine drizzle, upon the slippery pavement,
+to the train ... and third-class to Rotterdam.
+It was all very well for Trampy to adopt a triumphant
+air, but Lily was greatly vexed at the idea of going with
+her husband to a little hotel frequented by artistes, bill-toppers
+though they were. She would have liked something
+different.</p>
+<p>Trampy observed that, with her Pa....</p>
+<p>&#8220;With Pa,&#8221; said Lily, &#8220;it was not the same thing ...
+and I&#8217;m not with Pa now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Trampy showed himself accommodating. That evening,
+Lily had the proud satisfaction of walking into a
+smart hotel, with waiters in the hall, as at the Horse
+Shoe. She carried her head high, conscious of being
+looked at. She would have liked always to shine like that&mdash;to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span>
+sit down to meals amid the rustling of silk dresses
+... but she felt uneasy in her modest attire. Trampy
+would be only too pleased to give her a new outfit,
+later on, yes; but as he explained to Lily, he had had
+so many expenses recently, wouldn&#8217;t it be better to take
+rooms somewhere, in a sort of place like Lisle Street, or
+St. Pauli, at Hamburg? Lily yielded to these arguments,
+she had to; but it was a bitter grief for her to leave that
+fine hotel, where everybody saw her as a lady ...
+perhaps because of her big hat, on which a bird, flat-spread,
+opened wide its wings and held in its beak a
+diamond the size of an egg.</p>
+<p>And, thenceforth, the mean life returned: Lily relapsed
+among the potatoes and the wash-hand-basin salads.
+There were occasional revolts, tart words, sudden
+disputes, which, at times, wrinkled her forehead with
+anger....</p>
+<p>Nevertheless, she had her good moments: she enjoyed
+the sensation of being a lady who does no work, of wearing
+gloves and a big hat and of looking at the time on her
+fine gold watch while her husband is on the stage. It
+seemed pleasant to her no longer to appear before the audience
+doing her performing-dog tricks, with Pa scrutinizing
+her from the wings. It was her turn now to make
+one of the small nation: pas, mas, profs, bosses, brothers,
+sisters, sons, daughters, all watching their bread-winners
+on the boards. She mingled with them, or else sat down
+prettily in a corner, talked to the artistes: other Martellos,
+other Nunkies; new faces every week, according to the
+theaters they were at: owners of troupes; sketch comedians,
+serio-comics; dancers of the Roofer class; laced-up,
+glittering &#8220;Mdlles.;&#8221; or else, from time to time, some
+josser, a friend of the manager&#8217;s or an agent, prowling
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span>
+around among the flesh-colored tights. Lily had seen all
+this a hundred times, a thousand times before, when she
+was with her parents; and the mere thought of Ma
+made her talk nicely, from bravado, to all of them, though
+she was married now. Lily bore Pa no malice, in spite
+of the buckled belt. Pa was a man, with hair on his
+chest and harsh like all of them ... no, not all
+... and not so bad, perhaps ... not always
+... no; however, a man.... But her Ma, a
+lady, ought to have stood up for her! If Ma could see
+her now, gee! Lily felt a lump in her throat at the notion.
+And it was their fault that she had run away! It served
+them right! She was much happier, now, when she was
+a lady in her turn. Her talent and her beauty received
+the homage due to them. Lily Clifton, the New Zealander,
+what ho! A famous name in the profession!
+She was one of those whom the stage people point out to
+one another:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gee!&#8221; she sometimes heard a voice say behind her.
+&#8220;Fancy owning a girl like that and not having the sense
+to keep her!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily was flattered to the core at hearing her parents
+blamed; she felt inclined to rise and say, &#8220;&#8217;K you,&#8221; with
+the great stage bow: her right hand on her heart, the
+other raising her dress, her body bent forward in a sweeping
+curtsey.</p>
+<p>She took part in the conversations: she knew a little
+Spanish, which she had learned in Mexico, and a little German,
+which she had picked up in America from the Three
+Graces; and besides they all jabbered English, they were
+all &#8220;families,&#8221; &#8220;misses,&#8221; &#8220;the&#8217;s,&#8221; with impossible accents,
+suggesting some of those cosmopolitan towns beyond the
+&#8220;Rockies.&#8221; In this medley, she was at her ease; but she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span>
+did not at all like being called Lily, now that she was a
+lady:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Call me Mrs. Trampy,&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>After the show, she would sit in the restaurant with
+Trampy. There, amid clouds of tobacco-smoke, they all
+supped in a crowd. There were separate tables, at which
+silent little parties gobbled down their cutlets and compote
+in ten minutes and then slipped away quietly. Sometimes,
+a whole band of girls would swoop down at once,
+like a flight of thrushes, or exchange funny remarks
+over other people&#8217;s heads and blow volleys of kisses in
+every direction.</p>
+<p>Trampy, always full of good stuff, amused the company.
+He lorded it in the select corner, the corner of
+the stage-manager and the pretty girls. After supper, he
+cocked a cigar between his teeth and told thick stories
+in the midst of an admiring throng. Lily followed with
+her lips, so as not to lose a word, but, when the final
+point was at hand, she blushed in advance, turned away
+her head, as though tired of listening without understanding,
+and talked to her neighbor, like a lady who
+respects herself. Or, sometimes, it was more than she
+could help and Lily would laugh and laugh:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear! Oh, my!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Then they would &#8220;talk shop&#8221; among pros, they passed
+one another the papers: <i>Der Artist, The Era, Das Program</i>,
+they discussed engagements, quoted personal anecdotes:
+the Ma who made her star go down to the kitchen,
+lest the landlady, when peeling the potatoes, should slip
+one into her pocket. Yes, her own daughter, a star who
+brought her in a hundred marks a day!</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s just like it!&#8221; thought Lily.</p>
+<p>They made fun of that prof who pinched his apprentices
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span>
+till the blood came, while pretending to smile, or
+clawed them like a monkey. And the company laughed
+and laughed, especially when Trampy put out his hand
+to Lily to show her how the monkeys ... Lily
+would jump back and the crowd roared with laughter.
+And the glasses of beer and Moselwein accumulated on
+the table; and round backs were bent over interminable
+games of cards....</p>
+<p>And then, gradually, the room emptied; the girls went
+away and Lily, waiting for her husband, sank into her
+chair and yawned as though her jaws would drop. As
+they left, she reproached Trampy for his coarseness:
+those horrid stories which made her blush before everybody&#8217;s
+eyes. Her Pa would never have permitted himself
+... She was not accustomed ...</p>
+<p>&#8220;That didn&#8217;t keep you from splitting your sides with
+laughter,&#8221; said Trampy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What an idea!&#8221; replied Lily, in a vexed tone. &#8220;Do
+you think I&#8217;m going to play the goody goody &#8216;lalerperlooser&#8217;?
+One has to do as others do and not make one&#8217;s
+self conspicuous.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite right!&#8221; said Trampy.</p>
+<p>But she turned crimson with rage when Trampy, some
+other night, forgot himself so far as to monkey-claw the
+girls. There were short violent scenes when they returned
+home, chairs upset, angry words. Trampy could
+not understand this jealousy. When he was confronted
+with these outbursts, he was greatly surprised, sought for
+a reason, muttered Jimmy&#8217;s name&mdash;that was his sensitive
+point: he thought of it in spite of himself&mdash;ironically
+inquired of Lily if it was Jimmy who had put all that
+nonsense into her head. Lily was sorry to see the conversation
+take this turn. She flung her arms round her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span>
+husband&#8217;s neck, loved him, kissed him prettily, the great
+silly: he knew better; he knew she never thought of
+Jimmy:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Kiss me, darling! I wish you would make me happy,&#8221;
+said Lily, moved to pity for herself. &#8220;I want to be a
+good little wife!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Thereupon they made it up. Lily did not feel, with her
+husband, that thrill which she had often noticed in other
+women: but she wanted to love him, stubbornly pursued
+the idea, fagged away at her love like a little school-girl
+only too anxious to learn. Trampy, on his side, could be
+amiable when he liked. He became the old Trampy again
+at times and treated Lily like a little playfellow. They
+would both run about in the <i>Biergarten</i>, in the morning,
+at practice-time, larking like children, hiding behind the
+tables, and their laughter enlivened the empty place, still
+soiled with the remnants of last night&#8217;s meal and littered
+with programs and cigar-stumps.</p>
+<p>And time passed like this for weeks ... it was
+months now ... an existence like another, with
+good in it and bad ... and monotonous and common....</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should have been better off, perhaps, at home,&#8221; she
+thought. &#8220;If this is marriage, it&#8217;s not much.&#8221;</p>
+<p>For, she saw it quite clearly, <i>that</i> wasn&#8217;t love; Trampy
+didn&#8217;t understand her. A &#8220;girl&#8221; and a wife were all the
+same to Trampy: a mere pastime, both of them. He spoke
+of it lightly, through the smoke of his cigar. She learned
+to know him, heard him boast of his prowess, caught
+passing words:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Girls, girls, my!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She would have laughed, she would even have felt
+flattered at being chosen among so many, if he had put
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span>
+an end to his conquests. But he continued to prowl
+round the stage-girls, as he used to do before he was
+married. If even he had shone upon the stage, she would
+have understood that he had got &#8220;swelled head,&#8221; that he
+was yielding to temptation; but his success was only
+middling. He had not made a hit at Hamburg. The
+manager of Ludwig&#8217;s had told him flatly that he would
+do well to practise and practise a great deal. Trampy
+posed as a victim of jealousy, spoke of showing them&mdash;all
+of them, if once he put his back to it!&mdash;a new turn,
+a discovery that would show what he was made of!
+Meanwhile he had a new idea, as a sketch comedian, with
+a make-up of his own invention, the face painted white
+on one side and red on the other, with wrinkles cunningly
+drawn&mdash;a laughing Johnny and a crying Johnny, two
+men in one. He pestered Lily with his plans, made her
+cut out dresses for him, came back from the old-clothes
+shop laden with uniforms in rags, into which Lily had
+to put patches. And shoes, in particular, ran in his head;
+shoes of which the soles and the uppers yawned like lips;
+talking shoes, which said, &#8220;Papa!&#8221; and &#8220;Mamma!&#8221; This
+last suggestion made Lily laugh.</p>
+<p>Trampy haunted the bazaars, bought children&#8217;s toys,
+took the stomachs out of the cardboard dogs and rabbits
+to make his quackers, sought about for his right note,
+pursued inspiration to the bottom of the glasses.</p>
+<p>Lily was sometimes driven to exasperation. This
+tramp-cyclist, this sketch-comedian was making her, Lily
+Clifton, patch up his dresses! And her husband rewarded
+her for it by making love to the girls, poor idiot!
+Oh, if Pa and Ma had not been so harsh with her! Lily
+always harked back to that, stiffened herself with the
+thought, remembered the Marjutti girl, in whom love of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span>
+art produced wonders and whose Pa and Ma were so
+gentle and kind.</p>
+<p>&#8220;They should have treated me like that,&#8221; she concluded,
+&#8220;and I should have been at home still!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She regretted her marriage. And there were some who
+pitied her for belonging to Trampy: they looked upon him
+as not worthy of her, blamed him for openly carrying on
+with girls. Others asked, as though it did not matter,
+was she really married or were they just &#8220;living together?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What? Am I married? Is that what they think
+about me?&#8221; she said, a little annoyed. &#8220;Of course I am!
+At the Kennington registry-office!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And yet a doubt entered her mind too. Was she really
+married, after all? Lily did not know much about it.
+Had the banns been published? And those two witnesses
+picked up in the street ... a ceremony that took
+just five minutes ... like a conjuring trick. If it
+was true that they were &#8220;living together&#8221; without her
+knowing it, she would not stay with him. She would
+go back home at once. Marriage, certainly, was never
+intended for her. This she realized now. When she
+thought of the Gilson girl, mad on her man, and of others
+whom she sometimes caught in the dressing-rooms and
+passages eating each other up with kisses, she was at a
+loss to understand. How could they make so much fuss
+about it?</p>
+<p>Poor little wife, with so little love for her husband and
+no admiration at all! As an artiste she thought him
+lamentable. Trampy, who had seemed so great to her
+in Mexico ... why, she had shot miles ahead of
+him since! She felt that he was getting second-rate. He
+himself was well aware of it, for that matter; blamed
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span>
+everybody: suspected a hoodoo somewhere: some son of
+a gun bringing him ill-luck. And he was always casting
+about for an easy means of success ... another
+new plan ... always something new ... a
+high-sounding title: &#8220;Rusty Bike,&#8221; an old jigger which,
+at each turn of the wheel, would grate like a cart,
+&#8220;Crrrra! Crrrra!&#8221; and bring the house down with laughter,
+while Lily, in the wings, was to sound an accompaniment
+on a grating rattle:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Crrrra! Crrrra!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All that set-out for nothing!&#8221; said Lily to herself.
+&#8220;It would be much simpler to have a little talent.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She felt herself overcome with contempt for her husband:
+what a sorry bread-winner he made! Why take a
+wife, when you had only that to keep her on? Lily did not
+know whether to laugh or to cry when she saw Trampy
+come down from his dressing-room, proud as a peacock,
+his chest swelling at the sight of so many girls at a time,
+a treat of which he never wearied. He was magnificent,
+was Trampy, against that background of shoulders, thighs
+and calves: in his element as a fish in water. Nor did
+he make any bones about smiling to them or monkey-clawing
+them as they came off the stage. The presence
+of his wife did not hinder him. He was sure of her
+love: he knew she must adore him, as all the others
+did. And, leaving Lily in a corner, in the shade of a pillar,
+with his eyes he devoured all that powdered flesh, all
+those coarse wigs.</p>
+<p>Lily hated him at such times. She could have boxed
+his ears. She had enough of it, at last. One evening, she
+caught hold of his arm to take him away, furious that a
+gentleman could find a pleasure in making his wife look
+so ridiculous! And Trampy, more or less flattered at
+what he considered a fond wife&#8217;s jealousy, was turning to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span>
+go, when a lady with plumes on her head and a woolly
+dog under her arm greeted him with:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, old boy! Glad to see you, Trampy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily&mdash;it was a distant memory, but no matter&mdash;recognized
+Poland, the Parisienne, with the painted face and
+the violent scent. Trampy took a step backward. He
+expected a scene, though he owed her nothing, after all;
+but she did not seem angry, no. On the contrary, she
+looked at him with a roguish eye. She knew of Trampy&#8217;s
+marriage, no doubt, as she knew of his conquests, having
+been his victim herself.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, old boy!&#8221; repeated Poland, sizing up Lily with
+an appraising glance and then fixing her eyes upon
+Trampy. &#8220;Still having your successes, old boy? Is this
+your number thirty? Thirty-six? Thirty-eight, eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; Lily broke in, astounded at these manners.
+&#8220;What number thirty-six, thirty-eight?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ugh! A number in a lottery,&#8221; said Trampy, looking
+quite vain between those two women in love with him.
+&#8220;Yes, a number ... with which I drew a prize!...
+Why, by Jove,&#8221; he continued, addressing Poland,
+&#8220;this is my wife!... Lily Clifton! ... the
+New Zealander on Wheels.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes,&#8221; said Poland to Lily. &#8220;I did hear that you
+ran away: tired of this, eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, tapping the back of her left hand with the palm
+of her right, she made the professional gesture that denotes
+a whipping.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I was a bit,&#8221; said Lily, feeling rather proud than
+otherwise. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been through the mill, I have!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve had your fair share, eh?&#8221; insisted Poland.
+&#8220;You&#8217;re not the first that has left her family to escape
+being whipped. You did quite right,&#8221; she concluded.</p>
+<p>Trampy was dumfounded and utterly floored by the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span>
+revelation. What! He! He! Lily had married him
+because of that! Because ... And people said it!
+And talked about it!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come along, Lily,&#8221; said Trampy. &#8220;Let&#8217;s go home.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, giving no further heed to Poland, who followed
+him with a mocking smile, he took Lily by the arm and
+went out with her.</p>
+<p>Lily felt her arm shake. Trampy was furious, evidently.
+She saw her mistake, too late. There would be
+a stormy scene when they got in. Well, who cared?
+She was resolved, under that obstinate forehead of hers,
+to face the facts. She had had enough of this husband.
+And she meant to know, that very moment, if she was
+married or not ... because with him one never
+knew. When she admitted that she had married him
+because of &#8220;that,&#8221; Trampy, in his humiliation would put
+her out of doors at once; if the marriage wasn&#8217;t valid,
+he would get rid of her. There was no doubt about it.</p>
+<p>And she did not have to wait, for Trampy, even before
+they were out of the theater, in the passage, among the
+trunks and properties, Trampy, unable to restrain himself
+any longer, seized her by the wrists and looked her
+straight in the face:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it true?&#8221; he asked, in a voice trembling with rage.</p>
+<p>Lily, without replying, lowered her eyes as though to
+say yes, like a good little wife, oh, <i>so</i> sorry to offend
+her husband!</p>
+<p>&#8220;And,&#8221; said Trampy, choking with shame, &#8220;you married
+me for &#8216;that:&#8217; me, Trampy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Lily confusedly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Damn you!&#8221; cried Trampy. &#8220;Oh, if we weren&#8217;t married
+for good, wouldn&#8217;t I just make you sleep out to-night!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Poor Lily! She was Trampy&#8217;s little wife, his little
+wife for ever! And life, monotonous and common, followed
+its usual course: a week here, a week there; and
+the theater every night at the fixed time, according to the
+scene-plot which they went and consulted on reaching the
+stage: &#8220;X, Corridor, 9.5; Z, Wood, 10.17; Y, Palace,
+11.10,&#8221; and so on. And for Trampy it was an everlasting
+grumbling at his ill-luck, a dull anger at &#8220;playing
+&#8217;em in,&#8221; so sure was he of seeing his name first, always&mdash;&#8220;Garden,
+8.30, Trampy Wheel-Pad&#8221;&mdash;he who had had
+such a success in England with his red-hot stove. It
+was no use his saying to himself that it wouldn&#8217;t last,
+that it would be better next week. It was just as though
+done on purpose. He played &#8217;em in, always, from Bremen
+to Brunswick, from Leipzig to Madgeburg:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish I knew the son of a gun who has his knife into
+me!&#8221; growled Trampy, persuaded that he was the victim
+of an agent&#8217;s jealousy, or else the stage-managers didn&#8217;t
+understand their business.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you had more talent,&#8221; thought Lily to herself, &#8220;that
+sort of thing wouldn&#8217;t happen. I&#8217;d like to see you with
+Pa: <i>he&#8217;d</i> show you, <i>he&#8217;d</i> make you stir your stumps, you
+rusty biker!&#8221;</p>
+<p>However, she was careful not to say so to him, for fear
+of blows; and Lily knew that, if ever she received them
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span>
+once, twice, without returning them, it was all up with
+her, she would lapse under the yoke again, it would become
+a habit: there would be nothing for it but to leave
+her husband, if she wished to avoid slaps, just as she had
+left her family, to avoid whippings.</p>
+<p>That would have been too grotesque. She did not want
+to give Pa and Ma the satisfaction of seeing her unhappily
+married. Lily armed herself with patience; and she
+needed it! Trampy was in a frightful temper, said that
+he would have been the ideal husband, if she had been
+the little wife he had dreamed of: but to think that she
+had married him for &#8220;that!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Now it was the constant allusion to &#8220;that&#8221; which made
+him die with shame. Everywhere, on the stages of the
+different music-halls, people had for Lily that sort of
+sympathetic pity which they feel for a performing dog:
+they approved of her running away; everybody seemed
+to know about it. Poland, it must be said, scored a fine
+revenge against Trampy, without counting the artistes
+who had seen Lily practising and who knew what harsh
+treatment meant, the Munich Roofers, among others, real
+ones, with their blows of the hat, gee!</p>
+<p>Among them, it became the fashion, when they saw
+Lily, to tap the back of their hands, and then to applaud
+with the tip of the nail, as though to approve her flight.
+Lily at first was annoyed at the reputation for cruelty
+which they were giving her Pa. He was right to hit her,
+she thought, sometimes. She was also annoyed on her
+own account. She was an artiste, damn it! It was not
+only a question of smackings! Why, if she hadn&#8217;t had
+it in her...! It was a gift! But, on the other
+hand, to excuse the folly of her marriage, she let them
+talk, without protesting, like a poor little thing who would
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span>
+still be with her Pa and Ma if she had been treated
+&#8220;fair.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And there were always angry disputes between her and
+Trampy. They were seen to disappear through the stage-entrance,
+Lily with an arrogant air, Trampy drooping
+his head, his lips distorted with stinging replies. Lily,
+though she was not performing at the theater, sometimes
+received a letter there. When there was one for her in
+the heap of envelopes, bearing the stamps of all countries,
+which had been round the world prior to &#8220;waiting arrival&#8221;
+in the doorkeeper&#8217;s pigeonholes, Trampy looked
+at her furiously, wanted to know. Lily refused. Forthwith,
+in the passages, or on the stage, endless disputes
+went on between them ... oh, not in the least tragic
+in appearance and interlarded with &#8220;Hullo, boys!&#8221; and
+&#8220;Hullo, girls!&#8221; to left and right, whenever they passed
+any acquaintances. And in a low voice, abruptly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Show it to me, you wench!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Shut up, you footy rotter!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Trampy could not forgive Lily for marrying him on
+that account. He, who had only to choose among the
+crowd that walks the boards or flutters about in muslin
+skirts, suffered from Lily&#8217;s scorn, looked upon himself
+as a sultan dethroned before the eyes of his harem. In
+order to infuriate Lily, though he did not feel in the
+least like laughing, he exaggerated his conquering ways.
+It ended by affecting his work. Only the night before,
+he had got drunk with two &#8220;sisters&#8221; out of ten: the
+fourth and seventh from the right. Result: he was still
+in bed when the matinée began. And his performance
+went so badly that they had to drop the curtain on him.
+That would pass for once: an illness was allowable; but it
+couldn&#8217;t go on at that rate. He was becoming worse
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span>
+than the head-balancer who tumbled off his perch, without
+having his excuse of sorrow, the loss of a beloved
+wife, seeing that he, Trampy, had a dear little wife and
+very much alive, this one!</p>
+<p>Lily, in her calmer moments, foresaw that they would
+soon have to face hard times, flat poverty. She felt her
+contempt for Trampy increase. Those sketch-comedians,
+those tramp cyclists, pooh, they were less than
+nothing, bluff, that&#8217;s all, as old Martello said!</p>
+<p>She saw her dreams flung to the ground. At first, it
+had been charming for her, so full of novelty, but, after
+all, she had only changed masters. She ended by considering
+herself more unhappy than she had been with Pa and
+Ma. To begin with, Pa always had money. She brought
+them in a lot. She lived much less comfortably with
+Trampy. She used to think that being a married woman
+would change everything, whereas&mdash;not a bit of it!&mdash;there
+was no change at all: potatoes, coal, all sorts of
+dirty, messy things; and no Maud to help her. And it
+was always as in the old days: damp sheets, dirty glasses,
+rickety tables, beds with worn-out mattresses; and the
+nights were dull as ditch-water. Trampy had hoped for
+something different, expected to find a whole harem in
+Lily, his thirty-six girls in one, including Ave Maria,
+with her body like a wildcat&#8217;s. Alas, it was far from
+that!</p>
+<p>Lily loathed those nights. Love, yes, but not that, not
+that! Sacred love, not profane love (Lily had seen paintings
+of it in museums and remembered the title). Love,
+that is to say, to lie ever so nicely on the breast of the dear
+one, yes, as with Glass-Eye, and dream of hats and diamonds.
+No doubt, it was ambitious to want so much. She,
+who had seen everything, had never come across that;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span>
+but it was what she wanted, what she had been promised,
+damn it! Things were going from bad to worse. Memories
+of her childhood moved her almost to tears, when
+she thought of it: those happy times in Africa, on the
+straw beside the horses, the stars seen through the tent
+and the smell of the elephants. When she was there, perhaps
+that had seemed less sweet to her: the hard ground,
+the noise of the chains; but everything was made more
+poetic by remembrance: it was the past, what! Nights
+sweet as milk, far from a man reeking of tobacco. And
+not only her early childhood, but her life of yesterday returned
+to her: touring with the troupe, the oatmeal porridge
+and the cakes she made&mdash;bricks!&mdash;but Pa laughed
+at them, took them good-humoredly, whereas Trampy
+lost his temper. In those days, it is true, she wasn&#8217;t a
+lady, she used to work; but they had good fun, all the
+same, in the dressing-rooms; they had tea at the theater,
+romps in the passages, or else did crochet-work, to pass
+the time; and all those practical jokes, intensified by distance:
+hustling Glass-Eye into the hamper; coaxing the
+black cat into the dressing-room, for luck; or making
+the pantomime lady speak her tag; or going in to the
+Roofers, on some pretext, and giving a whistle which
+made them all rush out, dressed or undressed or half-dressed,
+never mind, and spin round three times to ward
+off the ill omen: all those memories touched her till she
+felt inclined to cry. Oh, if she had been with her Pa
+now, she would have sat down on his knee and begged
+his pardon!</p>
+<p>At such times, if Trampy became affectionate and tried
+to kiss his little wife, Lily would simply turn her back
+on him. Poor Trampy! And he could not play the master!
+For, call on the agents as he might and write as many fine
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span>
+letters as he pleased&mdash;an art in which he excelled&mdash;work
+was becoming scarce. He no longer had any money. One
+pay-day, Trampy was obliged to confess that he had had
+his salary in advance and spent it; a money-lender held
+his contract and kept back three-quarters of his pay.
+Trampy, tormented by urgent needs, had let himself in
+with a Brixton &#8220;financier,&#8221; a specialist in &#8220;loans from five
+pounds upward, music-hall artistes treated with the
+strictest confidence,&#8221; who pocketed nearly the whole.
+Now Lily just happened to want a new dress, a new petticoat
+and a tiny mother-of-pearl lucky charm. Trampy
+had to own that he couldn&#8217;t afford these fancies and Lily
+had a fit of temper! But then why promise so many
+things to a poor little wife who deserved better than that?</p>
+<p>&#8220;A poor little wife,&#8221; said Trampy, &#8220;should marry her
+husband for love and not to escape whippings! There are
+ups and downs in the profession. It was your own lookout;
+you shouldn&#8217;t have married a star!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A star!&#8221; cried Lily, with a nervous laugh. &#8220;You a
+star! A damned comedian! A nice sort of star, indeed!
+A music-hall could have twenty black cats in it and you&#8217;d
+turn them into a white elephant!&#8221;</p>
+<p>In other words, Trampy, according to her, was a Jonah,
+good only for playing the people in, if that!</p>
+<p>&#8220;A wife has no right to speak to her husband as you
+do!&#8221; exclaimed Trampy, leaping up under the insult.
+&#8220;You deserve a good thrashing!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;None of that!&#8221; said Lily angrily, ready to fly at his
+throat.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A wife,&#8221; resumed Trampy, with great dignity, &#8220;helps
+her husband, instead of insulting him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re in for it, I suppose!&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, we&#8217;re in for it! I have no engagement now,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span>
+but that&#8217;s no reason why you shouldn&#8217;t find one. Look
+for one and work!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily was in for it, knee-deep, as she said. She was not
+excessively astonished: it was the inevitable end! Not
+that she disliked to work: her idleness, on the contrary,
+was beginning to pall upon her; but it was the humiliation
+of going back to it after putting on so much side and
+posing as the lady. She had worked for Pa; now she
+would work for Trampy; it was natural and proper.
+There were exceptions&mdash;the wife at home, as Jimmy said,
+that josser!&mdash;but they were rare.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Take up your bike again,&#8221; said Trampy, after a pause.
+&#8220;Be a good little wife, help me out of this. I have something
+in my mind, a scheme which will make us rich;
+you&#8217;ll see later on.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; said Lily, &#8220;I haven&#8217;t a stage bike, and yours is
+really too ugly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know of one for sale.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well, I&#8217;ll work,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;I&#8217;ll make them give
+me this tour which they promised you and didn&#8217;t sign for;
+and to-morrow you shall see!&#8221;</p>
+<p>At heart, Lily was not sorry to show her husband how
+people got out of a scrape, when they had talent; and, the
+next day, she went to an agent, accompanied by Trampy,
+looking very dignified. Her cheeky feather was made
+to dance attendance for a moment; and then she was
+shown into the office. Lily Clifton? The New Zealander
+on Wheels? Straight away a contract, signed in duplicate!
+A week in each town; later on, perhaps, a month
+in Berlin, at the Kolossal. Lily displayed wonderful tact,
+did not triumph too openly over Trampy. She acted to
+perfection the part of the little lady who takes up the
+bike again just for fun&mdash;as in the time of her &#8220;French
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span>
+governess&#8221;&mdash;or rather of a dear little thing wholly
+wrapped up now in her wifely duty: her poor husband
+ill, she herself needing exercise, just for fun, you know.</p>
+<p>On leaving the agent&#8217;s, she bought some material,
+then ran home, cut out stage dresses. In the evening,
+Lily was still hemming and stitching, indefatigably,
+seized once more with professional pride after her excursions
+into private life. And, all night, under the
+lamp, she contrived, cut out and sewed. Then came practice,
+without Pa. In an hour, in spite of the new machine,
+which put her out, she had picked up her &#8220;times&#8221;
+again. She felt as if she had been spinning round the
+night before, under Pa&#8217;s eye, so absolutely at her ease
+was she, with her head on the saddle or twirling on the
+back-wheel.</p>
+<p>And, on the following Monday, her first appearance, her
+name on the walls: &#8220;Miss Lily&#8221; in big letters, right at the
+top of the posters, &#8220;Miss Lily,&#8221; not &#8220;Mrs.&#8221; or &#8220;Madame.&#8221;
+Had she had ten children, two husbands and three divorces,
+she would still have been &#8220;Miss,&#8221; everywhere and
+always, as a further attraction for the swells in the front
+boxes and as a certificate of youth. Mighty few husbands,
+on the continent especially; not more men of any
+kind than could be helped, on the stage, except a few
+noted &#8220;profs,&#8221; standing by the perches of velvet and steel
+or under the trapezes, displaying, beside the pink-silk
+tights, against the &#8220;palace&#8221; back-drop, the faultless correctness
+of their full-dress suits. But, for the rest, people
+preferred to ignore husbands, brothers and &#8220;friends;&#8221;
+Lily had known some who never showed themselves at
+all, who remained squatting at home, so as not to stand
+in their wives&#8217; way.</p>
+<p>Trampy, for that matter, knew better than to parade
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span>
+himself with Lily. And he preferred it so. He could
+have wished one thing to the exclusion of all others: that
+people should not know of his marriage, that they should
+cease to speak of it. Unfortunately, this was not to be.
+The story of the whippings was enlivening Lisle Street,
+exaggerated, as usual. The Bill and Boom tour, the Harrasford
+tour were beginning to spread it on every stage in
+England; before six months were over, it would have
+made the round of the world from the Klondike to Calcutta.
+What a disgrace for Trampy! Yet no sooner had
+he put his New Zealander on her wheels again than
+Trampy blossomed out once more. After all, who cared
+if people were seen to smack the back of their hands?
+He wasn&#8217;t to be put out by a little thing like that:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just so,&#8221; he seemed to say. &#8220;We are married, whippings
+or no whippings, and I am the master; I have set
+her to work again; and there you are!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Trampy&#8217;s reputation, so far from suffering, increased;
+all his compeers now envied him from the bottom of their
+hearts; the bosses, the profs, the managers, the Pas, the
+Mas treated him, in their own minds, as a lucky dog, all
+the more inasmuch as Trampy was not uppish and gladly
+stood drinks, while his wife, &#8220;Miss Lily,&#8221; made money
+for him with her breakneck tricks. It was much smarter
+than doing it for one&#8217;s self: the great thing was to have
+a &#8220;girl&#8221; like that! Trampy was having his revenge: he
+had been laughed at; he now had the laugh on them! and
+Trampy knew glorious times, in the <i>Biergarten</i>, or lounging
+at street-corners, near the stage-door, chaffing the
+girls, hat cocked back, hands deep in his pockets, a cigar
+stuck between his teeth. He told the story of his life, not
+without pride; said that he must write it one day, sell it to
+<i>The New York Standard</i> for a thousand dollars. The
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span>
+girls <i>he&#8217;d</i> had: whew! His love adventures: all over the
+world, by Jove! And his marriage with Lily Clifton, the
+New Zealander on Wheels, a dear little wife, so gentle,
+so obedient. No, he had no reason to complain of his
+life. He would write it, mark his words! To say nothing
+of a scheme he had in mind:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just you wait and see! It&#8217;s a trick to make a millionaire
+of you or break your neck.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you make Miss Lily do it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll see, I&#8217;ll think it over,&#8221; said Trampy, in a lordly
+tone.</p>
+<p>The directors, the stage-managers took no notice of
+him; but, among the artistes, Trampy Wheel-Pad was
+some one, he enjoyed his leisure, recovered his self-assurance:
+if, in addition, he could have destroyed the legend
+of the whippings, he would have been perfectly happy.
+He would turn the conversation on the subject of smackings
+in the music-hall generally, in the hope of hearing
+them contradicted or made little of; but it was no use;
+every one believed in them: all, boys and girls, even the
+most spoiled, quoted facts: blows which they had received!
+my! blows hard enough to split the front of a
+music-hall from top to bottom! The nation with the
+painted faces, the blue-chins seemed to vie with one another
+as to who had been most through the mill.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re exaggerating,&#8221; said Trampy. &#8220;It may be true,
+to a certain extent, in your case. But, Miss Lily, for instance:
+do you mean to say you believe all she tells?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, quite!&#8221; said two Roofer girls who were there.</p>
+<p>They had seen Lily practising. And they knew what it
+meant. They had had their share, too: old Roofer, gee!
+And Lily had done quite right to run away from her
+whippings.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;There you go again!&#8221; said Trampy. &#8220;Can&#8217;t you see
+she&#8217;s humbugging you?&#8221;</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg135.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 204px; height: 521px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 204px;'>
+TRAMPY ENJOYED HIS LEISURE<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>But he pulled himself up suddenly,
+if Lily arrived, for, in
+spite of his big airs, he was all
+submission in her presence.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, really! Glass-Eye caught
+it instead of me, I suppose,&#8221; said
+Lily, drawing back her shoulder
+as though threatening to smack
+him, &#8220;when Pa went for me with
+his leather belt. And I have witnesses.
+I&#8217;ve been through the
+mill, if anybody has: that much
+I <i>can</i> say!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily, after this burst of pride,
+would lower her head, a trifle
+embarrassed, like a dear little
+thing, all wrapped up in her duties
+as a wife, a wife whom her
+husband would cause to break
+her back one of these days, perhaps.</p>
+<p>This created a circle of admirers
+around her: all, besides,
+agreed in saying that you had to
+have the business &#8220;rubbed into
+your skin&#8221; to be as clever as she
+was.</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;K you!&#8221; said Lily, with a
+stage bow.</p>
+<p>It was certain that she made
+a hit. They wanted her everywhere.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span>
+She was asked to appear in tights. The engagements
+grew better and better. &#8220;Miss Lily&#8221; was more
+and more talked about. It was no longer a Trampy
+Wheel-Pad on a rusty bike: it was grace, youth ...
+and stage-smiles fit to turn the heads in the front boxes.
+When Lily appeared on the stage, she transfixed every
+white shirt-front, every opera-glass. She took a real delight
+in it all. Her beauty captivated the audience. In
+her pink tights, Lily turned and turned and turned, to
+the hum of the orchestra, against the &#8220;wood&#8221; back-drop
+of purple and gold. Then she returned to the wings, all
+excited by her show, received bouquets, chatted freely
+with the comrades. She met old friends: the green-eyed
+female-impersonator, for instance, pressed her
+closely. He, too, was touring Germany: a week here, a
+week there. Chance brought them together again. He
+was enraptured by Lily: how lovely she had grown! He
+would have liked to adopt her.... Lily threw her
+head back, laughed and repelled him with a thump in the
+ribs when he tried to kiss her.</p>
+<p>Another time, she saw the Bambinis, who were playing,
+by a lucky accident, at matinées only and by special
+permission, because of their age. She larked with them
+like a child. Elsewhere, it was Nunkie Fuchs, on his way
+to Vienna, where he was going to see to the building of
+his pigeon-house, leaving the Three Graces for a few
+weeks on the Harrasford tour. He had seen Lily&#8217;s name
+on the posters and had come to say, &#8220;How do you do?&#8221;
+to her.</p>
+<p>And, amid the thunder of the band or the lull of the
+<i>entr&#8217;actes</i>, Lily received tidings of her Pa and Ma and
+details of what happened after her flight, as reported by
+Glass-Eye Maud. After Lily&#8217;s departure, they had hunted
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span>
+everywhere. Then Ma thought of looking in the trunk:
+the pretty dress was gone. Then they had rushed to the
+theater: no Lily. Then they had guessed: Lily had run
+away. Ma fell on her knees and cried and cried. Pa
+seized his revolver and spoke of going to shoot the man
+who had robbed him of his child! His little Lily gone!
+And the contracts had to be canceled and Pa did not go
+out for a week and the house remained still and silent
+for a month. Pa, thoroughly upset, cried whenever
+Lily&#8217;s name was mentioned and was near dying of shame
+when he felt himself blamed, even by those who used to
+congratulate him on his way of turning out an artiste.
+And Nunkie himself maintained that one must know how
+to handle young girls: gentleness above all.</p>
+<p>Lily bit her lips when she heard that. Her little nose
+tingled. She hardened her features, wrinkled her obstinate
+forehead, lest she also should cry:</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I had to do it again, I would!&#8221; she said quickly,
+just like that, without reflecting, in the way one says a
+thing to one&#8217;s self which one knows to be untrue.</p>
+<p>They also told her things that made her laugh. Glass-Eye
+Maud no longer left her hole, cried like a tap, so
+much so that one day, Ma, noticing an insipid taste in
+the porridge, threatened her with the sack if that sort of
+thing went on.</p>
+<p>As for business, people did not know exactly. Pa, they
+said, had written to a Hauptmann&#8217;s &#8220;fat freak&#8221; to take
+Lily&#8217;s place. The reply ran:</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, thanks, I&#8217;m all right where I am.</p>
+<div class='ra'>
+<p>&#8220;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Fat Freak</span>.&#8221;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The signature was underlined, for people had ended by
+knowing about Pa&#8217;s disrespectful remarks. Lily laughed
+when she heard this: my!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I will come ... when you take to wearing
+braces!&#8221; another had answered.</p>
+<p>This was an allusion to the blows with the belt; and
+Lily, with head thrown back, full-throated, her hand on
+her heart, laughed ... laughed ... laughed:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bravo, girls!&#8221; she said, applauding with her thumbnail.</p>
+<p>And Tom? Tom had had the boot, with a bang on the
+nose, for carrying letters to Lily. For Pa ended by learning
+all: some one had told him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jimmy, that son of a gun!&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>And Jimmy himself, what had become of that josser?
+Jimmy was no longer stage-manager. He had left everything
+after Lily&#8217;s flight. He, too, had flown into a terrible
+rage when he heard about it ... spoke of
+Trampy as a thief in the night ... would have
+killed him, if he had met him ... and he was going
+to star in his turn.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Singing?&#8221; asked Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, something to do with the bike.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a fool!&#8221; thought Lily. &#8220;Fancies himself an
+artiste because he used to mend my bike for me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Jimmy, it seemed, had hired a huge shed and there, all
+alone, fitted up some apparatus of a complicated kind.
+He never went out by day. He worked and worked. A
+trick to break your neck at, it appeared, or make your
+fortune.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Those jossers!&#8221; exclaimed Lily scornfully.</p>
+<p>And what was he going to do on his bike? Nobody
+knew. There was something published in the papers, they
+said. It was something on the back-wheel.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What rot!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily laughed open-mouthed, laughed with all her muscles,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span>
+twisting her hips, splitting her sides, smacking her
+thighs. What! Jimmy on the back-wheel! He! He!
+He cutting twirls, that josser!</p>
+<p>&#8220;And the troupe?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The troupe nobody knew about: dispersed, most likely;
+the troupe, after all, was Lily. When she went, everything
+was bound to fall to pieces. Pa didn&#8217;t care either;
+told any one who would listen to him that he was going
+to retire to Kennington, that he was well off now ...
+thousands of pounds in the bank ... made his fortune
+... meant to live on his dividends.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I knew it,&#8221; said Lily; &#8220;I knew I had made his fortune!
+Thousands of pounds, damn it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily, don&#8217;t swear like that!&#8221; said Nunkie Fuchs. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+not right!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily lowered her head, taken aback; excused herself,
+like a lady who knows her manners:</p>
+<p>&#8220;And yet,&#8221; she said to herself, &#8220;if he had had my troubles,
+that old rogue, perhaps he would have sworn, too!&#8221;</p>
+<p>For Trampy was becoming terrible: life was impossible
+with him. All the money which Lily earned went on
+champagne ... and on girls, probably; and the
+more she earned the greedier he grew. He wanted money,
+heaps of money; Lily had nothing left for herself. Trampy
+sought out new tricks, invented balancing-feats, made her
+practise them, in the morning, on the stage, with his
+sleeves turned back and his trousers turned up, absolutely
+like a Pa. Lily, accustomed to yield obedience, relapsed
+under the yoke. Bike in the morning, bike at the matinée,
+bike in the evening; and, with that, the cooking, the
+washing-up ... and not a farthing in her pocket,
+though she had made a fortune for her Pa, damn it! Pa
+living on his income at Kennington, while she continued
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span>
+her life of slavery! Wasn&#8217;t it enough to make her send
+everybody to the devil, and Nunkie, that old rogue, with
+the rest? A pack of nigger drivers, that&#8217;s what they
+were, every one of them! And what an idiot she was,
+to keep on barking her shins for other people! Would
+she go on doing it until she was fifty? And if she didn&#8217;t
+begin now to put money by, who would do it for her
+later? Not that worthless husband, surely! He, who,
+that very morning, had dared, the loafer, to tell her of a
+scheme&mdash;a sort of a risky trick which she was to perform,
+a thing calculated to break your head or make a
+millionaire of you&mdash;for him, of course, just as for Pa!
+It had come to this, that her turn wasn&#8217;t good enough,
+that it had to be more sensational; and she was expected
+to make it so for a man she didn&#8217;t love! Oh, she had
+put him nicely in his place! Rather! Thank you for
+nothing: none of that for her! In the evening Lily was
+still trembling, with her two elbows on the table, as she
+sat facing her glass in her dressing-room; angrily she
+crushed the grease-paint on to her cheeks, which were
+pale with rage.</p>
+<p>Ting! Straight on to the stage, turning round and
+round, fifty rounds from habit, mechanically, without any
+&#8220;go&#8221; in them: an indolent performance, which would have
+earned her a good smacking in Pa&#8217;s time.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You were shockingly bad!&#8221; said Trampy, who was
+waiting for her in the bar, after watching her from the
+front. &#8220;What&#8217;s the matter with you? Are you ill?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily did not even answer.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m speaking to you,&#8221; said Trampy crossly. &#8220;You
+did nothing right to-night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I know; that&#8217;ll do,&#8221; said Lily.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not a question of &#8216;Yes, I know,&#8217; but of doing better
+next time,&#8221; said Trampy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not taking any orders to-night,&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, darling, but there was an agent in the house. He
+must have thought you bad.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s none of your business!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And, if you don&#8217;t get engagements, what&#8217;s to become
+of us?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t care a hang,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;<i>I</i> can always manage.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You ... you ... and what about me? We&#8217;re
+married, aren&#8217;t we?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But the money I earn&#8217;s mine,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;I mean to
+buy dresses and whatever I want to, with <i>my</i> money.
+You&#8217;ll be wanting to come on the stage next, in evening-dress,
+to stand over me while I do my turn, and getting
+out your belt. Do you take me for your daughter, tell
+me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What I&#8217;m saying,&#8221; said Trampy, aghast, &#8220;is for your
+good, from the point of view of the business, the salary.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>My</i> business, <i>my</i> salary, damn it!&#8221; cried Lily. &#8220;<i>Mine,
+mine</i>, do you understand? And it concerns nobody but
+myself!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>It came as a smack in the jaw to Trampy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>My</i> pay, <i>my</i> work, <i>mine</i>!&#8221;</p>
+<p>It meant no more pocket-money with which to lord it at
+the bar. It meant a cheap cigarette instead of his glorious
+cigar. It was the end of a beautiful dream; and the
+awakening was a hard one. At first, he hoped to make
+Lily jealous by going about openly with the stage-girls;
+but she no longer paid any attention, seemed to suggest
+that he had better amuse himself on his side and she on
+hers:</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,&#8221;
+she said.</p>
+<p>Lily would no longer take his orders; and, because he
+felt his wife escape him, it was he, Trampy, who now
+became jealous. When, from a distance, among the tables,
+he saw Lily ride round the stage and all those heads
+raised toward her, those opera-glasses pointed at her,
+he followed her with an anxious eye. &#8220;Miss Lily!&#8221;
+&#8220;Miss Lily&#8221; was his wife, after all! Those rounded arms,
+that lissom figure, those twinkling legs were all his, every
+bit of them! He was the husband, by Jove! It was not
+a marriage for fun, as with Ave Maria: it was a marriage
+for good and all, which had cost him two pounds&mdash;&#8220;Yes,
+siree!&#8221;&mdash;at the Kennington registry-office. And it
+wasn&#8217;t only her flightiness, her smiles at the front boxes,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span>
+but &#8220;<i>my</i> work, <i>my</i> salary, <i>mine</i>&#8221; into the bargain! She
+was acting like a bad wife, forgetting her most sacred
+duties!</p>
+<p>Lily stood on no ceremony with him, took her title of
+&#8220;Miss&#8221; seriously: very flattering for him, very flattering,
+he must say! He no longer knew himself: he who, in the
+old days, used to answer: &#8220;My lord, rely on me!&#8221; when
+a half-tipsy swell invited him to come and drink champagne
+with some stage-girls, now became furious if men
+in the audience, not knowing who he was, sized up &#8220;Miss
+Lily&#8221; before him&mdash;her shoulders, arms and the rest&mdash;with
+reflections such as &#8220;I could do with a bit of that!&#8221;
+or, &#8220;A nice little supper ...&#8221; He felt inclined to
+shout in their faces that she was no &#8220;miss,&#8221; but his wife,
+by Jove!</p>
+<p>He became more and more jealous. The thought of
+Jimmy, especially, kept running in his head. He felt a
+twinge whenever he heard him mentioned. And Jimmy
+was often mentioned just at present, for he was said to be
+preparing a new turn, a turn which would make him famous,
+unless it killed him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If only it would!&#8221; Trampy hoped.</p>
+<p>Jimmy was Trampy&#8217;s bugbear. He had flattered himself
+that he had snatched Lily from Jimmy by sheer prowess;
+and not a bit of it! The recollection of that drove
+him mad, the sense of his powerlessness exasperated him,
+he had but one idea left: to show Lily ... and
+Jimmy ... the sort of man he was; to take his revenge.
+That great scheme of his, that discovery that
+would show what he was made of, the invention which
+he had patented in America with Poland&#8217;s money&mdash;oh,
+she had revenged herself finely, had that Parisienne!&mdash;well,
+the time to apply himself to that trick had come.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span>
+Lily had refused to do it. All right, he would do it himself!</p>
+<p>But, if he was to succeed, it was necessary that Lily
+should supply him with money, more money, lots of
+money. The apparatus was incomplete and had probably
+got damaged in the London warehouse; it would need repairs,
+improvements. Now Lily seemed intractable. She
+was vexed at having to earn money for two, pretended to
+have none too much for herself; it was her costumes
+now: six sets of tights, one for each evening, pink, green,
+red, blue, gray, white and assorted ornaments, silk ribbons....</p>
+<p>She didn&#8217;t want to kill herself with work for nothing,
+as she had been doing up to now:</p>
+<p>&#8220;A lady isn&#8217;t a performing dog!&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>Trampy swallowed his bitterness when he heard that.
+Lily was escaping him altogether. Sometimes, he would
+go on the stage, sit down in a corner and, from there, see
+Lily, a shawl over her shoulders, her throat wrapped in a
+scarf, walk up and down, behind the back-drop, like a
+passenger on the deck of a ship, at one time with a
+monkey-faced, red-whiskered sketch-comedian; at others,
+according to the chances of the week, with the female-impersonator,
+the boy with the green eyes. There was no
+harm in that: they were at home, among themselves, Lily
+was no damned lalerperlooser, he wouldn&#8217;t have had her
+so. And Trampy did not dare say anything, for fear of
+being made a laughing stock and also lest he should offend
+&#8220;Miss Lily.&#8221; But he was tormented with jealousy
+nevertheless, merely at seeing her talk pleasantly with
+her acquaintances. And yet it was innocent enough, a
+mere &#8220;Hullo, Lily!&#8221; &#8220;Hullo, old boy!&#8221; by way of keeping
+herself in touch with the news, for Lily hardly ever
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span>
+looked into <i>The Era</i> or <i>Das Program</i>; all those names,
+all that competition frightened her!</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg145.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 283px; height: 355px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 283px;'>
+THE BOY WITH THE GREEN EYES<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>She had learned nothing new about Pa, except that the
+troupe still existed, but in quite a small way, of course.
+Her Pa was in favor of soft treatment, now, so they said;
+he had changed his manner. &#8220;Too late!&#8221; murmured Lily
+thoughtfully; but she was much amused when she heard
+that Tom, in addition to keeping up his trade as a shoeblack,
+was learning boxing, with bulldog obstinacy, in
+order to give Pa back his blow on the nose and beat him
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span>
+in a square fight. And didn&#8217;t some one say that Tom
+was stage-struck, too? Tom, that dwarf, with his short
+arms, on the stage! Crazy! every one of them!</p>
+<p>And then they were always talking of Jimmy: Jimmy
+here, Jimmy there. It was becoming serious, Lily
+couldn&#8217;t get over it. She wondered what old Martello
+would say if he heard that: Jimmy an artiste! Pooh!
+Nonsense! And it was true, mind you! It was repeated
+from mouth to mouth, his fame was spreading, his fame,
+that is to say, in the bars, in the wings, among pros; you
+heard his name mentioned together with a hundred
+others; but that already was a great deal, that one could
+say, Butt Snyders, Laurence, Jimmy, Marjutti, all mixed
+up, as though he were their equal, he who had done nothing!
+But he would &#8220;do,&#8221; it was in the air: some stroke
+of luck, who could tell? And Lily knew him to be ambitious.
+Lady or no lady, she was an artiste first and
+foremost and hated competition. She had been whipped
+for her rivals, Lillian, Edith and Polly, had caught it for
+Laurence and for the fat freaks, too, and she depended on
+her work for her bread. When she saw a new troupe
+come to the front it made her anxious: even children
+&#8220;that high,&#8221; who played bike in between the pillars of
+the stage, she felt inclined to stamp upon; and if people
+ever asked her advice, she did not hesitate to tell them
+wrong. Men especially were disastrous competitors, even
+the ignorant ones. You never knew where you were
+with them, they dared do anything! She could not help
+getting mad when she thought of it. One more to take
+the bread out of her mouth! For it was all very well to
+treat him as a simpleton, to talk of his crotchets&mdash;he had
+views concerning a stage-apprentices&#8217; fund, a home of
+rest for superannuated artistes and so on&mdash;Lily considered
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span>
+him dangerous. He was not a silly Glass-Eye or a stage-struck
+Tom; he was an ambitious Jimmy. But all the
+same, how absurd! A hypocrite like that was fit to write
+to Pa and get a poor girl in trouble, but was not the man
+to risk his skin! She laughed, not a stage smile, no, a
+real laugh, head thrown back, full-throated. An artiste,
+O Lord! Yes, like a heap of bluffers who were to do this
+and that, all sorts of wonderful things! and who ended
+by making a laughing stock of themselves, the whole
+business was so childish, faked up with ropes and weights,
+nursery-toys, Punch-and-Judy rubbish. It would be just
+like that with Jimmy, sure: lots of noise and then ...
+nothing! And he would have lost his place as manager
+and he would starve, the josser: that would teach him
+to be spiteful! And where was Jimmy? He might
+be very clever, in his shed in London, swinging from his
+rope, like a monkey on a string, but to do that before an
+audience was different. There would be no Jimmy left!</p>
+<p>She liked to talk to herself like that. Miss Lily avoided
+thinking of a possible stroke of luck, she who had
+taken such pains to attain so little, just to become Mrs.
+Trampy, to have the honor of working for Trampy and
+feeding Trampy. Oh, she was tired of it, did all she could
+to find him work, to spur him on! She even wanted him
+to practise. And she mentioned Tom and Jimmy to him,
+all those beginners, all the others who were coming on.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She thinks more of him than of me,&#8221; he said to himself.</p>
+<p>And time passed and passed. It was now eight months
+that they had been traveling through Germany: and then,
+at last, came Berlin, the center of the agencies, like the
+plunge into Chicago, after the Western Tour, or New
+York, after the Eastern, or Paris, or London. Lily
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span>
+asked herself for what part of the world she would sign
+contracts. She would have liked Australia, South Africa,
+the States, so as to leave her husband in Europe,
+sitting up on his hind-quarters, like a trained dog, waiting
+for his &#8220;missis&#8221; to come back:</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I could have the Kolossal in the meantime,&#8221; Lily
+thought. &#8220;A month there would do me nicely! I&#8217;d like to
+beat the fat freaks in their own country and show Pa that
+I don&#8217;t need his old troupe to star with!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily had some hope: an agent had given her to understand
+that she would be engaged, without a doubt, at
+that famous music-hall. But no! She learned that the
+Kolossal was not wanting cyclists, it had an attraction for
+next month, something sensational, it was said. And, in
+fact, suddenly, in the space of a night, the walls of the
+capital were covered with huge posters&mdash;&#8220;Bridging the
+Abyss!&#8221;&mdash;at the Kolossal!</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s that?&#8221; Lily asked herself.</p>
+<p>And she was thunderstruck when she learned that this
+was Jimmy&#8217;s new trick! She had no doubt left when,
+looking into a bookseller&#8217;s window, she saw Jimmy&#8217;s portrait
+in <i>Die Illustrirte Zeitung</i>, the popular illustrated
+paper in Berlin.</p>
+<p>Her arms fell to her sides! What, she thought, already?
+All this advertisement for that Jimmy? She had lost
+the Kolossal because of him. Already Jimmy was taking
+the bread out of her mouth! She could have wrung his
+neck!</p>
+<p>Never had the New Zealanders, or the Hauptmanns,
+or the Pawnees, or any one, or anybody known such advertising
+as that, except the great breakneck performers,
+Laurence, the Loopers, the Motor Girl; and even then the
+girl was packed up in her machine like a sausage. But
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span>
+&#8220;Bridging the Abyss,&#8221; the papers said, required art:
+everything depended on the exact impetus, the faultless
+balance. The press was filled with clever puffs, biographies,
+descriptions of the apparatus, the cool daring which
+it needed to try that without a rope, to risk the performer&#8217;s
+life six times in six seconds. London and Paris were
+both said to have wanted the attraction; and Berlin was
+to have it first; and <i>hoch</i> for the Kolossal!</p>
+<p>Trampy also was flabbergasted, when he read about
+this:</p>
+<p>&#8220;But ... but ... but it&#8217;s my apparatus and
+nothing else! Why, I patented it in America! Do you
+understand now,&#8221; he asked, without, however, entering
+into technical explanations, &#8220;do you understand now,
+when I wanted you to help me? It wasn&#8217;t a question of
+the rusty bike! You&#8217;ve made me miss fame and fortune!
+And to think that I have an apparatus rotting away in
+London, in a warehouse, and that, if you&#8217;d listened to me,
+I should have been at the Kolossal now ... and
+covering you with diamonds!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I like your style!&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;You&#8217;d have made me
+break my back in your stead! I know you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, but I shan&#8217;t swallow that,&#8221; said Trampy, in his
+exasperation. &#8220;We shall see! I have my rights. I shall
+enforce them!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t make a fool of yourself,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;When a
+thing has to be done, it gets done without all that talk:
+look at Jimmy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hang your Jimmy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not a question of <i>my</i> Jimmy,&#8221; retorted Lily, &#8220;but
+of <i>my</i> money. I should simply have flung it away! You,
+do a thing like that! You risk your skin! Rot!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Trampy, in his rage, would have boxed Lily&#8217;s ears, had
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span>
+it not been for her nails, which she held ready to scratch
+his face, and he went out fuming. He ran off to the
+agents, but there was nothing for him. And yet Trampy
+knew or, at least, supposed that they must want an opposition
+show to &#8220;Bridging the Abyss.&#8221; They must, surely!
+Why, everywhere, in all the great centers, every music-hall
+had its rival opposite or beside it: everywhere, each
+establishment strove to inflict empty houses upon its rival
+by offering more sensational or more breakneck tricks.
+At the Kaiserin, the rival of the Kolossal, they were,
+without a doubt, looking for something to set against
+&#8220;Bridging the Abyss&#8221; and they had nothing, or else
+Trampy would have known it: among pros such matters
+were always known long beforehand. Oh, Trampy was
+prepared to do anything to escape his wife&#8217;s sarcasm!</p>
+<p>And, one evening, behold Trampy returning in triumph
+to the café where Lily awaited him:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I knew it!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;I knew it wouldn&#8217;t go like
+that!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, what?&#8221; asked Lily. &#8220;Have you got a number
+thirty-seven? Thirty-eight? A fresh conquest? Something
+quite out of the common?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Laugh away, Lily! That son of a gun shall hear me
+talked about yet, by Jove! And everybody else will, too.
+You must be prepared for anything, Lily, when you marry
+an artiste!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, what&#8217;s happened?&#8221; asked Lily, much surprised.</p>
+<p>This had happened: the two music-halls had fought.
+Jimmy, who was unable, it seemed, to get London or
+Paris, had offered his &#8220;Bridging the Abyss&#8221; to the Kaiserin,
+but his price was considered too high. From there
+he went to the Kolossal and made the same proposal.
+Now, times were hard for the music-halls, sucked dry by
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span>
+the enormous salaries that had to be paid. The managers
+were standing shoulder to shoulder, in the presence of
+the common enemy, the artiste and, more particularly, the
+originator of sensations, who is indispensable and who
+makes you an offer with a pistol at your head, like a
+highwayman demanding your money or your life.</p>
+<p>But a turn like that meant an assured success; and the
+Kolossal offered Jimmy five hundred marks a night, so as
+to spike the Kaiserin&#8217;s guns by getting hold of a unique
+turn and one not easy to replace; a piece of underhand
+work involving two months&#8217; empty houses at the Kaiserin,
+which, as it was, had only a second-rate troupe by
+way of &#8220;sisters,&#8221; while at the Kolossal they had Roofers
+engaged by the year, real ones, the complete dozen,
+words and music guaranteed. And now the Kolossal
+would make huge money with &#8220;Bridging the Abyss&#8221; and
+sink its rival; it was a master-stroke. But they knew
+everything at the Kaiserin. The Kaiserin also wanted
+a &#8220;Bridging the Abyss.&#8221; It would have one, a better
+one, with a finer title: &#8220;Arching the Gulf!&#8221; And they
+would get it for three hundred marks! And they must
+be ready, quick, quick, before the Kolossal, and it was
+just possible: they had twenty days yet; the apparatus
+would be made; they knew the plans, the dimensions;
+the house would be fixed up accordingly; they must succeed
+at all costs and not let themselves be strangled without
+defense! It was a struggle to the death! They
+would fight with corpses, if need be! Other people had
+broken their backs for them before now; there would
+be no difficulty in finding one more to risk his life six
+times in six seconds for three hundred marks a night.</p>
+<p>And it was at that moment that Trampy offered himself.
+They had heard his name:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Trampy Wheel-Pad, the tramp cyclist with the red-hot
+stove?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s me,&#8221; said Trampy.</p>
+<p>And, full of self-assurance, he explained the object of
+his visit:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was the first to construct it; I patented it myself at
+Washington; I will produce the documents!&#8221;</p>
+<p>It will be understood why Trampy wore his air of conquest
+when he returned home that day. He had his engagement
+in his pocket! He displayed it victoriously to
+Lily, passed it over her face, reveled in his revenge. At
+last he was going to show Lily whether he was able to
+keep a wife or not; and champagne suppers every evening,
+by Jove, with girls&mdash;no damned lalerperloosers&mdash;just
+to show her!</p>
+<p>That same evening, he left for London, with an advance
+from the management, and came back to Berlin
+with the apparatus, the whole set up and repaired in a
+week, a gang of men working night and day. Followed
+practice with the rope, on a movable pulley, from early
+dawn, like a man determined to accomplish his breakneck
+feat, alive or dead; for Trampy would have done,
+no matter what, for Lily to cease being &#8220;Miss&#8221; Lily, to
+admit herself married and married for love and not to
+escape whippings, to cease being ashamed of him, to
+show herself proud of him, on the contrary, especially before
+Jimmy!</p>
+<p>Trampy, in his less enthusiastic moments, felt a certain
+uneasiness: Jimmy&#8217;s proximity, his own patents far
+away, in America. But he assumed a bold face, declared
+himself the inventor, practised unrelentingly, with hatred
+of his rival in his heart. This hatred seemed to increase
+his powers of work. He practised, practised. He had a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span>
+lively intelligence, if his heart was a trifle flabby. And he
+was very skilful, besides, when he condescended to take
+the trouble. He was a quick worker: in less than twenty
+days everything was ready, and &#8220;Arching the Gulf&#8221;
+sprawled over the hoardings of Berlin, side by side with
+&#8220;Bridging the Abyss.&#8221; One saw nothing else; and the
+Kaiserin opened its doors forty-eight hours before Jimmy.
+It was a huge success. Trampy received an ovation
+when, after the release of the terrible springs which
+flung the bike from one pedestal to another, in five seconds
+he fell on the mattresses outspread to receive him,
+behind a cloth.</p>
+<p>It goes without saying that Jimmy was present at the
+show. He was smashed before he had even begun!
+There, before his eyes, was his own invention worked by
+another! He had expected competition, of course; it was
+impossible, he knew, to discover anything that wasn&#8217;t
+copied at once; snatchers of ideas, who prowl around
+artistes, plagiarists, pirates, swarmed as thick as any
+other sort of thieves. And, as ill luck would have it,
+though his turn was difficult to perform, the apparatus,
+at least, was simple to construct: four powerful springs,
+screwed down with a jack, which the weight of the leaping
+cyclist, as he fell upon each pedestal, released one
+after the other, causing him to take enormous jumps
+forward. It was an ideal breakneck machine, easy to carry
+about; only the calculations had been difficult. They had
+cost him a lot of trouble to establish; and now another
+was profiting by them! Perhaps some one had patented
+the invention before him! For he, too, before showing it
+in public, had patented it in England and Germany; and
+his anger knew no bounds, his energy was increased fourfold
+when he learned the name of the plagiarist: Trampy
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span>
+again! Trampy, who had stolen his love, who had stolen
+his Lily ... and who was now stealing his idea ...
+robbing him of the fruit of his labor! Jimmy, in spite of
+his fury, resolved to keep calm: the law first. He was
+protected by the law, unless&mdash;and that was impossible&mdash;unless
+Trampy had had the same idea as himself before
+him and taken out his patents before the publication in
+<i>Engineering</i>. Jimmy showed a prompt decision, a feverish
+activity. First of all, he must put the law in motion,
+bring an action against Trampy, telegraph to the patent
+office at Washington to ascertain the date. Meanwhile, he
+made his first appearance on the day fixed for it. His success
+was even greater than Trampy&#8217;s; his leaps were
+twice as wide, more in accordance with his courage.
+The way in which he &#8220;bridged the abyss,&#8221; in the huge
+hall where he gave his show, was enough to prove that
+he was the inventor, the creator, the great, typical, daring
+performer, who, disclaiming death, marches to glory and
+fortune even as heroes, flag in hand, rush to the assault
+under fire.</p>
+<p>It was a bolt from the blue for the Kaiserin when the
+little paper arrived, the injunction against &#8220;Arching the
+Gulf.&#8221; A steamer caught in a cyclone would undergo
+much the same disablement, under a sea sweeping her
+from stem to stern, swamping the saloons, drowning the
+very rats in the hold. Jimmy&#8217;s active inquiries had not
+taken long: telegram followed upon telegram; the British
+consul woke up. The law at Washington was formal
+and precise: nothing could be patented that had been
+known, or used, or published before the patent was
+applied for. Now the article in <i>Engineering</i>, of course,
+appeared prior to the step taken by Trampy. And in Germany,
+also, Jimmy won his case; the court found in favor
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span>
+of the absolute novelty of the invention. The Kaiserin
+could not give its performance short of paying five hundred
+marks a night to its rival, the Kolossal. This meant
+the wreck of &#8220;Arching the Gulf;&#8221; and Trampy came
+down with it. For a few days, he led a terrible life, a
+desperate struggle, made efforts in every direction; but,
+at last, worried, hustled, driven to bay, Trampy disappeared
+into the darkness, while Jimmy, freed from this
+enervating opposition and feeling sure of himself henceforward,
+gained fresh courage, added another arch to
+&#8220;Bridging the Abyss.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was done, he had made his start, he had a name, he
+was the man who draws crowds; he received brilliant
+proposals from all sides, from the Western Trust, among
+others. He felt himself somebody; and money also was
+coming in. He could at last realize what he had in his
+head ... in the absence of love there would be fame
+... oh, something a thousand times more sensational
+than &#8220;Bridging the Abyss,&#8221; more modern, more scientific,
+something which he confided to nobody, which he kept
+locked up in his brain, in his heart, like a love passion,
+a thing which would be his alone, this time, which no one
+could take from him! For it would not be a question of a
+spring and a click, only. The thing moved in his breast,
+lived in his brain. When he thought of it, his cheeks became
+hollow with ambition, his eyes lit up. He seemed
+to tower over immense perspectives; and, from that
+height, Trampy appeared to him so small, so small, so
+really small that he felt his anger decrease. And then
+there was Lily! To send Trampy to his wife with a black
+eye or a bloody nose, to turn the husband into an object
+of ridicule to his wife, that was impossible for him; it
+would have shown lack of respect for Lily, poor darling;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span>
+he would not humiliate her in her man! She loved him,
+perhaps, in the illusion of her seventeen years! Hurt
+<i>her</i>? Never! Jimmy wiped the episode from the slate;
+hard as it was, he forgave that highway robber, in the
+name of his dead love.</p>
+<p>Ah, if he could have seen Lily when Trampy was
+driven to confess his discomfiture to her! He would
+have been revenged offhand! Lily seethed with rage
+against her husband, that footy rotter! What! Was that
+his great scheme? Did he call that an idea? How often
+had not Jimmy spoken to her about it! It was pinned
+on the wall, it lay about in the Gresse Street workshop
+for months. She remembered seeing the plans, the diagrams,
+the drawings in the papers. Jimmy had explained
+everything to her at the time when he was still a josser.
+And Trampy had stolen it from him, stolen it, stolen it!
+Oh, he would make her die of shame!</p>
+<p>It was a terrible dispute, a real &#8220;playing humanity,&#8221;
+with threats, clenched fists, broken crockery strewing the
+floor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;To humiliate me like that before Jimmy!&#8221; said Lily,
+furious.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Drop that about Jimmy!&#8221; snarled Trampy, green with
+jealousy. &#8220;I won&#8217;t have you mention him!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall mention him if I like! Jimmy is a son of a
+gun! Very well! But he&#8217;s a man! He&#8217;s worth two of
+you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Trampy strode up to her with his fist raised.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you touch me,&#8221; cried Lily, seizing the lamp, &#8220;if
+you touch me, I&#8217;ll smash it over your head!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Trampy received the visit of the <i>Gerichtsdiener</i>,
+with the bill of costs to pay&mdash;for the Kolossal sued the
+Kaiserin for damages and the Kaiserin came down upon
+Trampy&mdash;when Trampy learned that, he became a
+limp rag. Already he saw himself dragged before the
+courts, his whole past laid bare: two wives on his hands,
+for all he knew; Lily crushing him with her scorn; Jimmy
+triumphant.</p>
+<p>Trampy had a moment of real despair. Lily preferred
+him like that, humbled at her feet. She seemed to understand
+her husband, a man spoiled by easy conquests,
+a boozer, a rake, who had taken too much upon himself
+when he wedded a wife. Trampy was certainly not made
+for marriage: having a wife was a different thing from
+having thirty-six girls. His heart, weakened with premature
+enjoyment, was no longer made for real love.
+All this he too now perceived; and, in spite of himself,
+realizing his unworthiness, he felt overcome by an ever-increasing
+jealousy.</p>
+<p>Those were melancholy weeks in the small room. He
+sat for hours brooding over his disgrace. Lily silently
+turned this time of rest to account and mended her costumes,
+sewed spangles on her bodices, beside the earthenware
+stove, on which the stew was bubbling; and then
+came the meal, on the table hastily cleared of the mass
+of ribbons, thread and needles, to make room for the
+plates. Trampy choked as he swallowed that dinner
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span>
+which he had not earned, sighed sadly for the good cheer
+of his dreams, the champagne suppers with girls. He
+gulped down his meagre fare in silence, he who had
+known the gay junketings, the noisy laughter and the
+&#8220;Roman nights!&#8221; To go from there and drown his sorrows
+in the bar next door was but a step. And Trampy
+had sorrows outside his recent defeat: sorrows which
+were even more bitter. He felt that, this time, he was
+losing Lily.</p>
+<p>Lily was surrounded with sympathy. When she went
+the round of the agencies, the pros courted her. They
+looked upon Lily in the light of a wife tired of her husband.
+They prowled round that possible prey. A Lily
+was worth the having, meant an assured income for
+whoever succeeded in winning her affections and managing
+her properly: not with brutality, no, rather not;
+home joys, like Mr. Fuchs! Who was destined one day
+to own those full-blown seventeen years, those twinkling
+legs, that lissom body, trained to spin round and round,
+unerring and exact? What lucky dog would have her
+for himself, would succeed in making her love him?
+They pitied Lily openly, to disgust her with her husband
+and hasten on the catastrophe. Trampy? He was no
+husband for her! They, ah, yes, now that was a different
+matter! And they talked of the dangers attendant upon
+Trampy&#8217;s mode of life; the impersonator told her of the
+terrible diseases brought on by constant tippling; they
+exaggerated it all on purpose, amused themselves by
+frightening her; until Lily, sometimes, would look upon
+herself as a pretty little gazelle chained to a mangy bear.</p>
+<p>Trampy suspected all this, having himself, in the old
+days, in the time of his glory, been one of those who
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span>
+hovered round wives ready for divorce, helping them, if
+need be. He could have smashed the face of that green-eyed
+impersonator. There was also that architect, that
+theater-builder, Harrasford&#8217;s friend: he was passing
+through Berlin and Lily had taken his fancy the other
+evening, at the café; he had patted her cheek gaily:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I knew you when you were &#8216;that high.&#8217; You used
+to sit on my knee. How beautiful you&#8217;ve grown!&#8221;</p>
+<p>There appeared to be an infinity of people who had
+known Lily when she was &#8220;that high.&#8221; They paid her
+more and more attention ... and then they believed
+her to be looked after by Jimmy. That again was a
+friendship dating back to her childhood, they said: Jimmy,
+the bill-topper. He, too, had known her when she was
+&#8220;that high.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The greater part of this talk reached Trampy&#8217;s ears.
+Oh, he could have killed that Jimmy! But he was obliged
+to hold his tongue. Jimmy had him under his heel, with
+that crushing lawsuit.</p>
+<p>They did not even dare speak of it, so painful was the
+subject. The little table by the earthenware stove separated
+them like a wall; and there was one thing always
+between them: Jimmy. Trampy never mentioned his
+name now. He would have had too much to say....
+And there were continual summonses, always; and lawyers,
+always; and costs, always. Money melted away,
+like butter in the sun. Lily was tired of it; and an agony
+overcame her at the thought of leading a life like that
+for the rest of her days:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; she said, &#8220;he&#8217;s taking the very bread from our
+mouths, with his lawsuit! And I haven&#8217;t a decent hat
+to wear.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;ll drive us to the workhouse,&#8221; grumbled Trampy,
+staring before him, with folded arms.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s your fault!&#8221; Lily began, but soon stopped: the
+subject led to a surfeit of quarreling.</p>
+<p>But, in her own mind:</p>
+<p>&#8220;That son of a gun of a Jimmy!&#8221; she thought. &#8220;All
+the same, who would ever have believed it of him? Can
+he guess that all of this falls upon me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Suppose you were to go and see him,&#8221; said Trampy,
+at his wits&#8217; end, one day when he had exhausted himself
+in stormy explanations with the manager of the Kaiserin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I go and see Jimmy?&#8221; exclaimed Lily. &#8220;What for?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;To try and arrange things,&#8221; replied Trampy, dropping
+his head. &#8220;No one but you could ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll think about it, I&#8217;ll see,&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>But she had to get used by degrees to the idea of going
+and seeing that Jimmy who was now ruining her. A
+strange curiosity, nevertheless, drove her toward that
+conqueror, once a bike-cleaning workman, who was now
+topping the bill at Berlin and making as much money by
+himself as a whole program put together. He would receive
+her kindly, she was sure of that. Oh and then she
+wanted to tell him that she had had nothing to do with
+that business of the patents ... that she did not
+approve of Trampy&#8217;s conduct ...! And then he
+could give her news of Pa and Ma, as he had come from
+London, where he must have seen them! And she was
+dying to know! The idea was increasing with her that
+life with Trampy had become impossible. And, in case
+she should leave him, she dreaded finding herself alone.
+Already there were all those offers being made to her,
+a married woman, driving her mad! She, Lily Clifton,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span>
+was treated like a &#8220;Parisienne&#8221;: she hated that sort!
+To walk about the stage, two by two, might pass; but
+it was possible to go too far, like the conductor of the
+orchestra, who, the other day, tried to kiss her in her
+dressing-room, married woman though she was! Then
+what would it be when she traveled alone! On the continent,
+too! Oh, she would have liked to be a good little
+wife! But, as that could not be, better go back to her Pa
+and Ma and have a home, a real one, with a servant in it.
+She was yearning for a home. But how would she be received
+in that case? Would they put the blame on her?
+Had they forgiven her? Had she a Pa and Ma still?
+That was what she wanted to know.</p>
+<p>Lily would have liked to look handsome and elegant
+on the day when she went to Jimmy, so as to show him
+that he was not the only one who made a lot of money;
+but she felt very small and terribly excited. The hotel
+itself, the great clock, the waiters, everything made an
+impression on her, so different from her boarding-house
+in the Akerstrasse. She felt like running away after
+knocking at his door; and Jimmy opened it with the preoccupied
+air of a man who is disturbed at an inconvenient
+moment. But suddenly he put out his hand in hearty
+greeting:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, Lily! Come in.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily entered a bright sitting-room, neatly furnished
+with a sofa and comfortable chairs; no bed; a room which
+served only for that. She at once felt more at her ease.
+Jimmy motioned her to a seat near a table covered with
+papers, full of marks and signs which she did not understand,
+and books, rulers and compasses. She tried to be
+simple and dignified; apologized for interrupting him:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Brain-work, I see,&#8221; she said, pointing to the papers.
+&#8220;That&#8217;s hard, too, I suppose,&#8221; she added, to say something,
+for a start, like talking about the weather.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A matter of habit, like the bike,&#8221; said Jimmy, in a
+tone of conviction. &#8220;Sit down, Lily, there in that big
+arm-chair; you&#8217;re not disturbing me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;K you,&#8221; said Lily, sitting down, feeling reassured
+by his cordial welcome and thinking that, at least, he was
+polite.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am glad to see you again, Lily,&#8221; Jimmy went on,
+taking a chair himself. &#8220;Always glad to see you. And
+how are you? Keeping well?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;K you,&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m very glad to hear it,&#8221; said Jimmy, scrutinizing Lily
+with great kindness and trying not to see her preoccupied
+expression. &#8220;I know what brings you here, Lily. You&#8217;re
+a dear little thing, a kid, eh? A real kid at heart, aren&#8217;t
+you? I bet you I guess. I&#8217;ve come from London. You
+want to hear the latest news of your Pa and Ma, eh?
+You&#8217;re not angry with them, I hope? Oh, it would be
+wrong of you to be angry with them still! They&#8217;re very
+fond of you, you know. They cried when you went away,
+Lily. Your ... going away,&#8221; Jimmy insisted, with
+a quaver in his voice, &#8220;was ... a great blow ...
+to them ... too.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do they get on without me?&#8221; asked Lily eagerly,
+not wishing to break down and cry before Jimmy. &#8220;Poor
+Pa! Yes, he was fond of me. He never let me fall on
+purpose. He did not force me to work when I was ill.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your Pa!&#8221; Jimmy broke in, glad of the chance to
+give a fresh turn to the conversation. &#8220;Why, there&#8217;s no
+harm in him! Your Pa&#8217;s an artiste in love with his
+art, that&#8217;s all! I shouldn&#8217;t be surprised if the troupe
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span>
+made a hit yet. It&#8217;s had a success of a sort already&mdash;in
+the small halls&mdash;at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells.
+Your Pa just does without you as well as he can. He
+runs after his pupils all day long, damn it!&#8221; said Jimmy,
+with a laugh. &#8220;Your cousin stars.&#8221;</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg163.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 271px; height: 365px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 271px;'>
+COUSIN DAISY<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Who</i> stars?&#8221; asked Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your cousin Daisy. She came as soon as you ...
+as you went away and offered to take your place. Pa
+Clifton sent her to the right-about, treated her like a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span>
+... like an I don&#8217;t know what, but she returned to
+the charge. She&#8217;s doing very well now. She tries to be
+like you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No! Impossible!&#8221; exclaimed Lily. &#8220;What, that fat
+freak?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And your Pa will succeed,&#8221; Jimmy hastened to add.
+&#8220;You&#8217;ll see. You ought to be proud of having a Pa like
+that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, in a sense,&#8221; said Lily, who felt a certain satisfaction
+at being the daughter of her Pa.</p>
+<p>He was a bit harsh at times; but a man like her Pa, or
+like Jimmy, was much better than her loafer of a tramp
+cyclist!</p>
+<p>&#8220;And ... Ma?&#8221; asked Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your Ma,&#8221; said Jimmy, in a lower voice, &#8220;cried ...
+oh, how she cried when she found that you had gone! No
+doubt, she exaggerated any wrong she had done you. It
+seems she fell upon her knees and prayed and asked for
+forgiveness.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Forgiveness? What for? Of whom?&#8221; Lily inquired.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why,&#8221; said Jimmy, in a serious tone, &#8220;of whom do
+you think people ask forgiveness, when they are alone,
+on their knees?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; said Lily, greatly touched, &#8220;I understand! So
+they didn&#8217;t put the blame on me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What blame?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;For my marriage,&#8221; said Lily, lowering her eyes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No ... if you had gone off to live with him
+... oh, not you, not you, I know!&#8221; protested Jimmy,
+seeing a gesture of Lily&#8217;s. &#8220;But marriage is different, I
+suppose. You had the right, you were old enough to go
+away with the man you loved.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span></p>
+<p>Jimmy turned pale as he said this; but Lily, hanging
+her head and red with shame, did not notice it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;You&#8217;re blushing! Do you regret
+it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily did not reply.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; continued Jimmy slowly, &#8220;what they said&mdash;I
+wouldn&#8217;t believe it, but you know they say a lot of
+things&mdash;is it true?&#8221;</p>
+<p>She nodded yes and raised her eyes to him with a sad,
+weary smile.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He doesn&#8217;t love you? And ... and ...
+you, Lily,&#8221; asked Jimmy, taking her hand in his, &#8220;don&#8217;t
+you love him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly not!&#8221; said Lily, with such an accent of conviction
+and such a look of disgust that Jimmy was, at one
+and the same time, delighted to the bottom of his heart
+and pained to the verge of tears.</p>
+<p>Poor Lily! He now noticed her pallor, the dark rims
+round her eyes, that exquisite face refined by inmost
+grief. Lily, upon whom, since her visit to the shop in
+Gresse Street, he had built his hopes of happiness! It
+seemed to him like yesterday and already it was the distant
+past. Was that what her rebellion, her bid for freedom
+had ended in? Was that the crowning point of her
+hard life? Lily, fashioned to be the companion of a loving
+heart, was the prey of a footy rotter! Oh, if Jimmy
+had not controlled himself, if he had not clenched his
+teeth, for fear of talking! If he had listened to his anger,
+let loose the storm that raged within him, shouted out
+what he felt! But what would be the good of telling her
+his love? Why add to Lily&#8217;s sorrows by letting her know
+what might have been and thus cause trouble in her
+household, when he wished for one thing only, Lily&#8217;s happiness?
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span>
+Suppose she did not love her husband: Trampy,
+alas, unworthy though he was, remained her husband,
+nevertheless! And there was no hope of breaking the
+chain. The letters from Denver and Houston were anything
+but encouraging. No proofs, no recollections of
+Trampy&#8217;s marriage over there. So there seemed no way
+out.</p>
+<p>Nor did he wish to incense Trampy&#8217;s jealousy. Lily
+would have had to bear the brunt of it ... as in the
+old days, with Ma&#8217;s temper. Oh, there was no doubt
+about it: Jimmy, to hold his tongue now, needed more
+courage than when risking his life six times in six seconds!
+But what was the use of fighting against fate?
+Better submit, when there was no remedy, and strive for
+peace!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Everything gets straight sooner or later,&#8221; Jimmy went
+on. &#8220;Many lives that once seemed spoiled have become
+quite endurable. Time is the great healer. Trampy, no
+doubt, will get over his faults. He will learn to appreciate
+you. Have patience. Don&#8217;t exaggerate your bothers,
+Lily. There are others unhappier than yourself.
+You have a claim to happiness. You will know it yet.
+Just think. You&#8217;re so young, you have all your life before
+you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The simpleton!&#8221; thought Lily. &#8220;It&#8217;s easy for him to
+talk. But then ... why was he so jealous? Why
+did he tell Pa about me? But for him, I should be at
+home now!&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was certain that, notwithstanding his kindly reception,
+Jimmy now seemed to be taking Trampy&#8217;s part,
+as formerly he had sided with Pa and Ma. And he was
+lalerperlooser enough to ask Lily if her husband knew
+that she had come to see him:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope he knows, Lily. We must have no secrets:
+did you tell him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He sent me,&#8221; she said, resolving to tell everything
+frankly, since that was what she had come for and not,
+after all, to talk about love ... money, only, and
+business ... it was a question of bread and butter
+to her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah! He did!&#8221; said Jimmy, a little surprised.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Lily, &#8220;it&#8217;s about that lawsuit.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Speak quite frankly, Lily. Tell me everything,&#8221; said
+Jimmy, very calm.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Lily, yielding before his air of candor,
+&#8220;Trampy is at the end of his tether; he has no money&#8221;&mdash;she
+colored up to the eyes&mdash;&#8220;no money, no work; the
+law-costs ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And whose fault is that?&#8221; interrupted Jimmy, rising
+and picking up a cigarette, so as to have something to
+fumble at with his fingers. &#8220;Whose fault is it, Lily, if
+not that ... well, if not Trampy&#8217;s? Isn&#8217;t it fair
+that he should pay for it? It would really become too
+easy, else, to steal other people&#8217;s ideas! You know quite
+well, Lily&mdash;you saw it at my place, on the wall&mdash;is it my
+invention or is it not? And here comes Trampy,&#8221; he continued,
+crunching up his cigarette with a nervous gesture,
+&#8220;and patents it ... as if it were his own. It&#8217;s a bit
+too much, you know!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jimmy,&#8221; cried Lily, starting up from her chair, &#8220;I
+swear to you that I had nothing to do with it! If I had
+known, Jimmy, I would have stopped it! I call it stealing,
+as you do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I&#8217;m quite sure of that, Lily! I never thought it
+was you! Calm yourself; sit down, do,&#8221; said Jimmy,
+relieved at the sight of Lily&#8217;s indignation, as she stood
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span>
+before him with blazing eyes and her face crimson with
+shame.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Important tricks like that!&#8221; went on Lily, sitting
+down again. &#8220;No, those have no right to be copied. It&#8217;s
+brain-work. You designed it yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, but about the present,&#8221; said Jimmy, with a serious
+air. &#8220;I can&#8217;t give in to Trampy. I&#8217;m bound to defend
+myself. You came to see me about my action,
+Lily. I can&#8217;t say anything on the subject. It&#8217;s ...
+Trampy&#8217;s business, I suppose! Why, what would you do
+in my place, Lily?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should do as you&#8217;re doing, Jimmy, you&#8217;re perfectly
+right,&#8221; said Lily, very low, without raising her head.
+&#8220;But couldn&#8217;t one come to terms ... avoid a lawsuit
+... and not waste all that money on jossers?
+What do you gain by it yourself? We can&#8217;t pay up,
+Jimmy: those costs are breaking us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean by &#8216;us&#8217;?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Trampy isn&#8217;t working,&#8221; continued Lily. &#8220;He hasn&#8217;t
+done anything for a long time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But then,&#8221; asked Jimmy, stopping in front of her,
+&#8220;how does he live?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I ... I&#8217;m earning money,&#8221; explained Lily,
+blushing, ashamed to own her distress.</p>
+<p>Oh, it was hard for her, Lily Clifton, to have no money
+and to confess it to Jimmy, that josser, who was making
+his five hundred marks a day! Jimmy saw her before
+him, huddled in her chair ... her faded hat, her
+mean gown. He took in everything at a glance. Poor
+Lily, who used to dream of dresses, to be reduced to that!
+Then he understood. Pity moved him at the sight of that
+poor Lily. It was all very well for him to say, just now,
+&#8220;Business is business,&#8221; and to ask, &#8220;What would you do
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span>
+in my place?&#8221; He knew what he would do. A lawsuit
+was not a question of sentiment, everybody knew that;
+but still, it was no longer between men....</p>
+<p>&#8220;Listen, Lily,&#8221; he said, putting his hand kindly on her
+shoulder, &#8220;if all this is to fall upon you, we must see how
+we can arrange matters. Sorry you didn&#8217;t come sooner;
+I don&#8217;t want to add to your burdens, Lily, heaven knows
+I don&#8217;t! I never thought of that. I ought to have suspected,
+perhaps. However, I will withdraw the case.
+I&#8217;ll manage. And the costs ... well, I&#8217;ll pay them
+myself, if necessary, for you, Lily, for you; because I
+knew you when you were &#8216;that high&#8217; ... no, not
+quite so small; how old were you? Thirteen ...
+and such a little thing, such a dear little wee thing. Do
+you remember when I made night and day in your cabin,
+by just touching my levers? And then it seems to me that
+I always knew you: in Mexico, in India, in South Africa,
+at the time of the elephants and the tiny birds. And then
+later, that other Lily, the London one: the one of only a
+few months ago. The one for whom ...&#8221; continued
+Jimmy, in a voice smothered with emotion. &#8220;The Lily of
+Rathbone Place. The Lily of Gresse Street. That little
+toque, which suited you so well and which you complained
+of ... you poor little Lily!... You poor
+silly little thing! There, go home now and make your
+mind easy, as far as I&#8217;m concerned, Lily. None of your
+troubles shall come from me. Besides, as they say, a bad
+settlement is better than the best lawsuit. I&#8217;m doing it
+for your sake. Well, is that all right?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, how kind you are!&#8221; she said, raising her eyes to
+him, with a tear in them. &#8220;Why, Jimmy, you&#8217;re not so
+bad, after all!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pooh!&#8221; said Jimmy, lighting a cigarette. &#8220;I&#8217;m no better
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span>
+than most, Lily, and no worse. Flesh and blood, like
+the rest. And, besides, for you, Lily ... If ever you
+need me, Lily, if I can be of any use to you ...&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>&#8220;For me,&#8221; thought Lily, as she returned home, &#8220;for
+me. Ah, if I had known! Ah, when I think that he,
+too, wanted to marry me, what a fool I was!&#8221; she said,
+with a sigh.</p>
+<p>She still felt in her own palm the gentle, manly pressure
+of Jimmy&#8217;s hand. She still heard the kind words
+with which he had comforted her on the threshold. Goodness,
+how happy she would have been with a man like
+him! Her ill-will disappeared. He was no longer a
+cur, that josser, but a gentleman, rather, a brother, a
+friend.... And she was proud, also, that Jimmy,
+who was so busy and making such a lot of money, had
+promised to come and applaud her, one of these evenings,
+at her theater, at Kleim&#8217;s Garden, before his own
+turn at the Kolossal. Oh, wouldn&#8217;t she work hard that
+night! She would do all her tricks! She was bent on
+pleasing him. And how vulgar and common Trampy
+appeared in comparison. However, there was no help
+for it now; and Lily hastened home to bring him the
+good news.... In any case, Trampy would be
+grateful to her for what she had done for him. As a
+matter of fact, it had cost her an effort to go and pay
+this visit.</p>
+<p>She happened to run up against Trampy coming out of
+the bar, where, according to his custom, he had been
+drowning his cares. He had a moment of delight on
+learning the result of the visit, but, mad with jealousy,
+at once adopted a lofty tone, so as not to have to thank
+her:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I knew he would knuckle under!&#8221; he said, without
+looking at Lily. &#8220;The braggart! He prefers a settlement,
+eh? And quite right too! He knows he&#8217;s in the wrong.
+He&#8217;s retreating, he&#8217;s afraid.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Afraid of what?&#8221; asked Lily, bewildered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Afraid of me. He knows it won&#8217;t pay to try my
+patience too far!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Afraid? Jimmy?&#8221; said Lily, indignant at all that
+foolery. &#8220;Do you think he&#8217;s done that because he&#8217;s
+afraid?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And for what other reason would he have given in so
+soon?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He did it to please me, he did it for <i>me</i>, damn it, for
+<i>me</i>!&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;You&#8217;re rid of your lawsuit: you ought
+to talk differently and thank me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And why should he do it to please you? What is
+there between you?&#8221; asked Trampy, looking her in the
+face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re drunk!&#8221; said Lily furiously, with her hand
+ready to scratch.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No scenes in the street!&#8221; said Trampy. &#8220;We&#8217;ll go
+into this at home ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I shan&#8217;t come in!&#8221; said Lily, abruptly turning
+her back on him. &#8220;I&#8217;m going to the theater!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She had nothing to do on the stage; only the idea of
+being alone in the room with Trampy seemed intolerable
+to her. At the least discussion, Lily felt it, she would
+have thrown the lamp at his head, so great was her indignation
+at his insolence!</p>
+<p>She was boiling over with anger when she reached the
+theater. There were people practising; it was the time
+for it. Lily went up to her dressing-room, shifted things
+in her trunk, anyhow, for something to do. The idea that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span>
+her husband thought her capable of anything wrong made
+her angry. Oh, to get a divorce, to part from him! As
+this could not go on for ever, it might as well be done at
+once; but it would be better if there were no fault on her
+part. A divorce, yes; but with the honors on her side; a
+divorce in her favor! Patience, the opportunity would
+come! It ought to be quite easy, with the girls whom
+Trampy beguiled, the love letters which he received, to
+catch him in the act, cover him with ridicule, get the best
+of him. Oh, if she only could! To be a poor little victim,
+how touching! A dear little outraged wife!</p>
+<p>&#8220;You fool, if I catch you!&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>Then another idea passed through her brain. Oh, if
+it were true! She would have danced for joy! Trampy&#8217;s
+marriage in America.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it true? Is it true? God above, grant that it be
+true!&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was possible. Already, a few days before, the Jim
+Crows who hovered round her had talked about it, in
+covert words, in the hope of making things worse. There
+must be some truth in it. There was so much news going
+from mouth to mouth: Lillian, Edith and Polly were
+the rage in Chicago.... That poor boy-violinist:
+at Budapest, the stuffed seat to his trousers had slipped
+from its place and allowed the dog&#8217;s teeth to reach the
+living flesh; he had had to spend a week in bed with poultices....
+Harrasford was contemplating a theatrical
+trust on the Continent, planning a model music-hall
+in Paris.... There were Jimmy&#8217;s successes, his
+ambitions.... Amid all this news, to which Lily
+listened, sometimes absent-mindedly, sometimes with interest,
+among these adventures dating from everywhere&mdash;names
+which she greeted like old acquaintances, with a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span>
+little nod: &#8220;Denver? Yes, I know; a big flat stage.
+Mexico? I remember!&#8221;&mdash;among all those tales, Lily
+pricked her ears when she heard the name of Ave Maria
+coupled with Trampy&#8217;s. She had a vague recollection of
+Ave Maria&#8217;s flight, after her departure from Mexico;
+was it with Trampy? Were they really married then?
+Oh, if it were only true! God above, grant that it were
+true!</p>
+<p>Lily, haunted by this idea of a divorce which would set
+her free, had rummaged in Trampy&#8217;s trunk, among his
+programs and posters. It was full of letters, photographs
+of girls in outrageous hats, in tucked-up skirts, in tights,
+with inscriptions. All this dated back to before the marriage,
+a collection of treasures which he had not had the
+courage to destroy. She had hoped to find some proof,
+some clue; but no, there was nothing serious in it. Lily
+did not give up, for all that; on the contrary. After the
+visit to Jimmy, which made Trampy so meanly jealous,
+she lost no opportunity of inquiring. But Martello himself,
+the father, never had news of his daughter. He
+hadn&#8217;t heard for ever so long; and it was to no avail that
+Lily asked about Ave Maria, the one who ran away with
+a man, a great artiste; she always received the same reply:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ave Maria? Don&#8217;t know the name. Ave Maria?
+Haven&#8217;t seen her since ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Jimmy, always; Jimmy here, Jimmy there; they
+talked about him all the time: his ideas; something new
+he had invented; something no one had ever seen: much
+cleverer than &#8220;Bridging the Abyss,&#8221; it seemed; but nobody
+knew what.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know!&#8221; said Lily, with a well-informed air and
+very proud of knowing Jimmy and of letting people
+think ...
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you know Jimmy?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ever since I was that high,&#8221; answered Lily. &#8220;He
+used to hold me on his knees.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what is his new trick?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not allowed to tell. He asked me not to say.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Everybody praised her for her discretion. The sympathy
+with which she was surrounded increased.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jimmy,&#8221; they hinted. &#8220;Now there&#8217;s a fellow you
+ought to have married, instead of your ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not a word against my husband,&#8221; she said, like a good
+and devoted little wife. &#8220;I won&#8217;t have him insulted.&#8221;</p>
+<p>That did not prevent her from laughing with her
+friends. She felt a need of forgetting, or she would have
+died of boredom, with a husband like that. She was
+heavy at heart, sometimes. She was a woman, not an
+icicle. She felt herself made for love. She was flesh
+and blood, like Jimmy. She would have liked some one
+to console her, to talk softly to her, as Glass-Eye Maud
+used to do. There were plenty willing to play the part
+of Glass-Eye Maud, no doubt: the female-impersonator,
+for instance, with the green eyes. Oh, she would have
+liked to be hugged, kissed full on the mouth, or else
+stroked and petted gently! No home, no happiness; marriage
+without love; that was her life henceforth. These
+stage friendships were a relief.</p>
+<p>The Bambinis romped with her. She loved their
+gaiety, liked to touch their sturdy little limbs. That
+evening, Lily, who was ready for her performance early,
+was having fun with them. Dressed in her pink tights,
+she looked like a blithe nymph playing with rollicking
+cupids.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a charming group!&#8221; said a voice behind her.
+&#8220;If I were a painter, Lily, I would do you like that!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span></p>
+<p>It was Jimmy, who had come to see her on the stage, as
+he had promised.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Am I spoiling your game?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;It&#8217;s so pretty!
+It makes me want to kiss the lot of you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, booby!&#8221; said Lily, all excited and laughing.
+&#8220;Why don&#8217;t you? You daren&#8217;t!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I daren&#8217;t! I&#8217;ll show you whether I dare ...
+and ... I&#8217;m stronger than I look!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And thereupon he caught hold of Lily and lifted her
+like a feather&mdash;Lily, all taken aback, had not time to say
+&#8220;Oof!&#8221; so great was her surprise&mdash;and Jimmy crossed
+the whole stage with Lily in his arms, shouting to the
+manager:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look what a dear little baby I&#8217;ve found! Isn&#8217;t she
+sweet, eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And then, in the wings, he gave her a good big kiss
+on the cheek before putting her down.</p>
+<p>The people around them laughed, applauded that stage
+joke:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jimmy, her old friend,&#8221; they said, &#8220;knew her when
+she was that high.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily was very proud of it. And, a few minutes after,
+when he had left her to take a seat in front, Lily jumped
+into the saddle and rode round and round, without a hitch,
+smiling to the audience, smiling to Jimmy in a front box,
+Jimmy to whom she was grateful for coming to see her:
+a famous bill-topper putting himself out for her ...
+before everybody! She was faultless that evening, did a
+dozen twirls on the back-wheel, made a record, was grand.</p>
+<p>Trampy, meanwhile, was waiting for Lily outside, in
+the passage leading to the stage-door. He had not seen
+Jimmy kiss Lily, but he saw him carry her across the
+stage, just as he was coming on himself, so he had turned
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span>
+and hurried out to avoid scandal ... giving
+way to his wife, who worked while he did not. He
+had gone out at once, time to run to the bar and drown
+two or three sorrows, and he was waiting for her now,
+without paying any attention to the girls passing. As
+soon as he saw Lily, he seized her by the arm:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve had enough of this,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I saw you, you
+and your Jimmy! You can&#8217;t deny it this time!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Trampy, don&#8217;t insult me like that!&#8221; protested
+Lily. &#8220;Why do you always say &#8216;my&#8217; Jimmy? One can
+have a laugh and a joke on the stage without meaning
+wrong, you know one can. Besides, if you didn&#8217;t like to
+see him carry me in his arms, you ought to have smashed
+his face, without so much talk.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t want to make a fuss.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You were afraid to. You&#8217;re afraid of him, that&#8217;s
+what you are!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop jeering at me!&#8221; said Trampy, shaking her violently.
+&#8220;You&#8217;re dragging me in the mud; it&#8217;s like those
+whippings of yours! I&#8217;m tired of the affronts you put
+upon me! You ought to have married your Jimmy and
+left me in peace.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t say,&#8221; sneered Lily, &#8220;that I remember running
+after you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That Jimmy!&#8221; repeated Trampy. &#8220;I&#8217;ll kill that fellow
+like a dog! If I don&#8217;t do it now, I will later, in a year, in
+a hundred years, if necessary. I&#8217;ll kill him like a dog!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily gave a little laugh as she went out, followed by
+Trampy. She did not wish, in that lobby, before the
+people passing, to look like a woman insulted by her husband.
+She laughed bravely, as she used to, on the stage,
+with Ma, in the days of the great smackings. To see her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span>
+laugh, one would have thought that Trampy was telling
+her a story; and he repeated:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll kill him like a dog, like a dog!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pooh!&#8221; said Lily, who knew Trampy. &#8220;You talk too
+much to act.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We shall see. Where&#8217;s your Jimmy hiding?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;d be nicely caught, if you met him,&#8221; said Lily,
+who had just noticed Jimmy leaving the music-hall to go
+to the Kolossal: &#8220;there he is, behind you.&#8221;...</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s that? Don&#8217;t you try to get at me!&#8221; said
+Trampy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I tell you, he&#8217;s behind you, damn it! Turn round and
+you&#8217;ll see ... if you have eyes to see with.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Trampy turned round, half-reluctantly: he didn&#8217;t like
+those jokes, but he didn&#8217;t wish to seem afraid.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where? Where do you see Jimmy?&#8221; he grumbled.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There, in front of you,&#8221; insisted Lily, pointing with
+her finger and pushing him by the shoulder. &#8220;Off you
+go!&#8221;</p>
+<p>There was no drawing back. He marched straight up
+to Jimmy, who did not even recognize him and who
+stopped politely. But Trampy had time for reflection, no
+doubt: a clearer perception of professional brotherhood.
+Better, after all, to remain friends ... among artistes.
+And, when he stood before him:</p>
+<p>&#8220;H&#8217;m, h&#8217;m. Have you got a light about you, Jimmy?
+Give us a match,&#8221; said Trampy, taking a cigar from his
+pocket.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It stifled Lily, for the moment. She would rather have
+received twenty &#8220;contracts&#8221; with the steel buckle than
+see that cowardice in her husband. She had her Pa&#8217;s
+blood in her, damn it!</p>
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; she thought. &#8220;He believes me to misconduct
+myself with Jimmy, and he is too much of a coward to
+object!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But there was nothing to be done. Trampy was as
+incapable of anger as of love. All those years of a low
+life had degraded him to that point. And Trampy had
+even lost the right to bear Jimmy a grudge, made as
+though he had forgotten everything, said that, after all,
+it was much better to be friends. And all this under Lily&#8217;s
+critical eye!</p>
+<p>Jimmy! To be obliged to look pleasant at Jimmy!
+It gave him a lump in his throat. Fortunately, he had
+the others, the crowd of assiduous pros who thronged
+round his wife. Against those he gave free scope to his
+jealousy, and showed himself as strict with the rest as
+he had been accommodating with Jimmy. He meant to
+keep an eye on his wife:</p>
+<p>&#8220;A married woman, on the stage, alone! I won&#8217;t have
+any more of that!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He hit upon a contrivance to be always with her: he
+would be her &#8220;comic.&#8221; It was a new system which had
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span>
+come into fashion: the most plastic performances spoiled
+by the juxtaposition of their caricatures; acrobats, Olympian
+gods, parodied by a merry-andrew in a ridiculous
+coat: just as though Nunkie Fuchs, for instance, had
+taken it into his head to appear with his Three Graces and
+mimic their tricks, kicking about at the end of a wire with
+his fat, fatherly paunch and his round, silly face.</p>
+<p>And Trampy, riding behind Lily, would simply give a
+parody of her tricks; it meant little work to him and was
+as good a way as another of going on the stage with
+her and establishing his title to <i>her</i> work and <i>her</i> salary....</p>
+<p>And off they went again, with the basket trunk, and the
+bikes; and on the stage, every night, Lily, looking like a
+goddess, and Trampy, dressed in rags, went through their
+tricks and smiled ... applause for her, always; none
+for him, ever. Lily wore a very sad look in consequence,
+when they returned to the wings: a poor little wife, so
+sorry for her husband; but she triumphed at the bottom
+of her heart, while Trampy turned green with spite. He
+was furious with Lily: tried to make her fall, pushed her
+in turning; but Lily was too clever and sat as firmly on
+her bike as Ave Maria walked her slack-wire, when the
+brother used to shake it on purpose, whip in hand and
+snarling as if to bite.</p>
+<p>Oh, if Lily had not made efforts to be a good little wife!
+Trampy was becoming unbearable. She posed as the poor
+little thing, despised, deceived and betrayed by her husband;
+she loved to hear people tell her so, called them to
+witness and continued, but without result, to make inquiries
+about Ave Maria.</p>
+<p>And there were everlasting scenes at home. Lily had
+enough of it, more than enough of it! She had even decided
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span>
+to go away, to return to London; but, worn out
+with worry, she had to take to her bed, with a high fever.
+It was the finishing stroke: no work,&mdash;all the savings
+gone....</p>
+<p>Trampy, fortunately, found an engagement:</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all right, the neighbors will look after you,&#8221; he
+said, as he took his leave. &#8220;A man&#8217;s duty is to see that
+his wife doesn&#8217;t starve, eh, darling? I&#8217;m going to make
+money, too, and I&#8217;ll bring you heaps when I come back;
+and I&#8217;ll send you some. That&#8217;s the sort of man I am.
+I don&#8217;t talk of &#8216;<i>my</i> money!&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>Lily was left alone in Berlin.</p>
+<p>Generally, she hated the hotels frequented by artistes,
+but she was very glad to be in one this time. She, poor
+little broken-down thing, was not left to the care of a
+common servant; she had nice, kind nurses.... And
+she had no lack of friends who took interest in her,
+very sincerely, for that matter, for she was a favorite
+with all of them, that pretty Miss Lily, who would soon
+be free....</p>
+<p>Lily let herself be coddled. Pending the arrival of
+the money which Trampy was to send, she wanted for
+nothing, especially in the way of luxuries: chocolates,
+sweets, flowers, they brought her everything. Her
+friends passing through Berlin, the impersonator, the
+Paras, many others, hearing that she was ill, came to see
+her, treated her as a lady, cried out how well she was
+looking, how pretty she was and how it suited her to be
+ill in bed.</p>
+<p>Lily thought that very nice, put on a languid air, like a
+poor little jaded thing that had got out of gear:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall die of overdoing it, I know I shall,&#8221; she said.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span>
+&#8220;I&#8217;ve been at the bike ever since I was that high&#8221;&mdash;raising
+her hand twelve inches above the bed&mdash;&#8220;and my heart&#8217;s
+worn out by the hard work. My knees, too. Sit down
+there on the basket trunk. You at the foot of the bed.
+Have a chocolate.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Then she turned over in her sheets, which molded her
+firm, plump shape, took a bag of sweets from the chair
+beside her and offered it round. Poor little martyr, she
+had been forbidden them by the doctor, because of a
+cough.... But she took them all the same, merely
+for the sake of taking them, with a graceful movement,
+her bare arm outstretched, her wrist making a supple
+curve, like a swan&#8217;s neck, as she dipped her pretty hand
+into the bag.</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>In addition to her regular friends, such as the impersonator
+or the Paras, others, the people staying in the
+hotel, would tap discreetly at the glass door between her
+room and the passage, come in on tip-toe, speak in a
+whisper.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What nonsense!&#8221; Lily would say. &#8220;I&#8217;m not dead yet,
+you know!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she laughed, and &#8220;Ugh! Ugh!&#8221; a cough or so,
+a matter of lifting her embroidered handkerchief to her
+mouth, a favorite gesture. And there were stories from
+all parts, the cackle of the profession. The Paras were
+living together now, as they explained to her. The parrots?
+No go; given them up; one had its neck wrung by
+a monkey in Chicago; another died of consumption at
+Stockholm; the rest of the troupe sold to the stage-doorkeepers
+of the different variety-theaters. His sight was
+beginning to fail. She wanted smartness; wasn&#8217;t&mdash;how
+should he put it? The husband looked for a word&mdash;wasn&#8217;t
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span>
+&#8220;Tottie&#8221; enough. However, they managed somehow,
+as &#8220;eccentric duetists.&#8221; Lily thought that very nice,
+those two talents combined, very original; but could they
+give her any news of Ave Maria ... a great artiste ... on
+the wire?...</p>
+<p>If ever Lily might have hoped to receive news of Ave
+Maria, it was during this illness, from the artistes who
+visited her, on their way from anywhere to God knows
+where. Lily had news of everybody: of Mirzah, the white
+elephant, who had to be pole-axed for killing his keeper;
+of Captain North&#8217;s seals; of the Three Graces, who were
+doing triumphantly in England; of Poland, the Parisienne,
+now starring at Bill and Boom&#8217;s. Tom was talked
+about: biceps like thighs, now: a hornpipe danced on
+the hands. She had news of the Pawnees, of the
+Hauptmanns. Roofer was sending out four new troupes,
+to Canada, Australia, India, Cape Colony: the Greater-England
+Girls. She had news of the New Zealanders
+and of her cousin Daisy, who seemed to find the star
+business jolly hard work:</p>
+<p>&#8220;The wind-bag!&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>They talked of Jimmy, of dogs, cats and monkeys and
+of Tom Grave and Butt Snyders, those great breakneck
+acrobats: they talked of one and all, but not a word of
+Ave Maria. They knew her by reputation, as one who
+had been through the mill, more than Lily had, as Lily
+modestly admitted.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Darling,&#8221; said the impersonator affectionately, &#8220;don&#8217;t
+bother about that Ave Maria of yours. I&#8217;m jealous. Be
+mine, darling! How well we two should get on together,
+eh, Lily?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hands off!&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;Be good ... there
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span>
+... like that ... down by your sides ...
+or you&#8217;ll get a smacking!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Concerts were got up for Lily&#8217;s amusement. Sketch-comedians
+pulled their faces: a musician twanged
+his banjo. At other times, by closing her eyes, Lily
+could have imagined herself in an aviary: the Whistling
+Wonder imitated the nightingale, the thrush, the
+lark. Another, an equilibrist, showed her how, when
+he was obliged to stay in bed with a broken leg and had
+nobody to wait on him, he used to wait on himself by
+going round the room on his hands ... like that.
+Lily was given, for nothing, a performance which was
+worth a whole music-hall program. To put everybody at
+their ease, Lily told them to smoke, took a puff or two at
+a cigarette herself&mdash;&#8220;Ugh! Ugh!&#8221;&mdash;almost choked....</p>
+<p>They amused themselves, among themselves, free from
+any constraint due to the presence of jossers. Lily joked
+with them as she used to do with the apprentices in the
+mornings, when they showed one another their bruises of
+the day before. She made them look at her pigeon&#8217;s egg,
+on the side of her foot, the little ball-shaped muscle special
+to her profession, like the triceps of the pugilist or
+the dancing-girls&#8217; calves. She was vain enough to put on
+a silk stocking, poked out her foot from under the bedclothes,
+let them feel &#8220;her egg,&#8221; made it jump under their
+fingers by a sudden contraction.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is that all you&#8217;ve got to show us, darling?&#8221; asked the
+impersonator.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t want much, I <i>don&#8217;t</i> think!&#8221; said Lily, pulling
+back her foot under the quilt.</p>
+<p>The incident was interrupted by new-comers who had
+also known Lily when she was that high. They brought
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span>
+fresh news from Lisle Street. They had had a drink with
+P. T. Clifton himself, had had a drink with an author who
+was writing a book on the business.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Another josser who&#8217;s sure to talk a lot of nonsense!&#8221;
+cried Lily. &#8220;If only they told the truth and described
+us as we are, a sight better than the society ladies, who
+come and wait for pros outside the stage-door!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And they went on. The healths they had drunk with
+this girl and that girl; and new turns: competitors who
+were cropping up ... names ... names ...
+Ave Maria? Dead, they said: somewhere in Ecuador or
+Peru.</p>
+<p>Then Lily stretched herself to her full length in the
+sheets, feeling weary, weary, crushed under all that talk.</p>
+<p>And Trampy just didn&#8217;t write, sent no money at all.
+She blushed for him ... in spite of her wish to
+catch him tripping, before witnesses. She was ashamed
+to be his wife, his only wife, his little wife for ever.</p>
+<p>On that day, as it happened, Jimmy came to pay her
+a visit. His engagement at the Kolossal was ending.
+He was to perform at the London Hippodrome, before
+going to the States. A certain air of respect surrounded
+him from the moment he entered the room, that Jimmy
+who already stood higher than any of them among
+the famous bill-toppers! And they gradually retired,
+as though Lily would prefer that. It was no use her
+saying, &#8220;Do stay!&#8221; They went all the same; and Lily
+was left alone with him, a little embarrassed and yet
+flattered at being thought on such good terms with
+Jimmy. As for him, he had just heard about Lily&#8217;s illness,
+Trampy&#8217;s absence, and hurried to see her, bringing
+her the good news that the lawsuit was over. Trampy
+would have nothing more to pay....
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span></p>
+<p>From that day, Jimmy was sometimes seen at Lily&#8217;s.
+He spoke little, sat down on the basket trunk, listened,
+thought of things. He was known to have his mind
+full of an invention superior to &#8220;Bridging the Abyss,&#8221;
+one could expect anything from him: a wonderful chap
+Jimmy, a bit cracked, though, with ideas of his own
+which went the round of the profession and were
+variously appreciated. A fund for stage-children; a
+reserve upon their earnings, to be banked and kept untouched
+till they came of age; a home of rest for the old
+and the sick; a weekly matinée for the benefit of the
+fund....</p>
+<p>Jimmy described the piteous lot of those who grow old
+in a profession intended for youth: but a few shillings a
+month paid into the fund, a benefit performance or two
+... and our home is established and endowed and
+we should see no more stars flung aside, to die in hopeless
+poverty, after amusing crowds of people for years
+and years.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m with you,&#8221; said Lily, laughing. &#8220;Put me down
+for a pension for my old age ... if ever I reach old
+age ... ugh, ugh!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she coughed, with the embroidered handkerchief
+at her lips.</p>
+<p>But Lily&#8217;s joke was left unechoed: everybody talked
+professional shop, quoted figures; the habit of signing contracts,
+of avoiding the traps laid by the agents had given
+them all a keen sense of business. And the frequent traveling,
+in the absence of education, had made them sharp
+at understanding, quick in the uptake. Their clean-shaven
+faces fell into wise folds, like lawyers&#8217;.</p>
+<p>Jimmy also explained his idea about the apprentices,
+the compulsory so much per cent., the inalienable deposit
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span>
+paid in by the Pas and Mas ... and, much more
+still, by the profs and managers....</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good!&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;I&#8217;m with you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>There was a general laugh. The Whistling Wonder
+interrupted the conversation by quacking like a duck at
+Jimmy and cooing like a pigeon at Lily. Jimmy got up
+and said good-by, pleased to see Lily making daily
+progress.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, Lily,&#8221; they said again, when he had gone, &#8220;that&#8217;s
+the one you ought to have married, not the other!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And thereupon they began to pursue their favorite
+theme and amuse themselves by describing the awful
+troubles which she would get into one day with &#8220;the
+other,&#8221; that drunkard;&mdash;the man with the thirty-six
+girls! And they laughed and they laughed, my! Lily
+herself held her sides with laughing.</p>
+<p>All this was stage effect, professional exaggeration.
+Lily dared not indulge in it before Jimmy. She was
+more sincere, always a little embarrassed, in the presence
+of that man toward whom everybody was driving her,
+as though they all saw farther into her life than she herself
+could. She was no longer ill, only tired, with an accumulation
+of past wearinesses that made her love to lie
+down flat. But she would get up to-morrow, instead of
+remaining in bed to see her friends; no humbug before
+Jimmy.</p>
+<p>The next day when he came, Lily was alone. So much
+the better, he had something to say to her. He had
+made up his mind that day. His own present prosperity
+formed too great a contrast with the poverty of Lily
+... that poor kiddie who had run away from home
+in pursuit of happiness and whom he now found here, in
+this squalid room.... It was all very well to theorize
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span>
+about children who have earned fortunes and who
+haven&#8217;t a farthing; but that was mere talk! Suppose he
+helped Lily a little in the meantime. He had prepared
+all sorts of good reasons; he had found a smart excuse,
+the great excuse of the music-hall, that he had been betting
+on horses and losing. He would ask Lily to keep
+his money for him, as a kindness, otherwise he simply
+couldn&#8217;t help it, his money burned a hole in his pocket.
+Then, on second thought, why all that fuss? Hadn&#8217;t he
+known her since she was that high? And, the moment
+he came in, he just handed Lily a thousand-mark note:</p>
+<p>&#8220;For the law-costs, Lily! And, anything over, for
+your expenses, till Trampy&#8217;s money comes. Only too
+pleased to be of any use. You can pay it back when it
+suits you. And good-by, Lily, ta-ta!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And he hurried out, leaving Lily with the thousand
+marks in her hand.</p>
+<p>Lily was stupefied and confused. She asked herself
+why? why? a real piece of brain-work, which made her
+head ache. Anyhow she would give back the money
+to-morrow! She wouldn&#8217;t keep it! Trampy would
+be sure to bring some; it was impossible that he should
+bring nothing; but, come what may, she would give
+back the money to-morrow! She took the great oath
+of the stage upon it: three fingers of her right hand uplifted;
+her left hand on the lucky charm. And then she
+went and shut the door, turned the key in the lock and
+lay down....</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>A noise woke her: some one was knocking outside;
+but, before she could get out of bed, one of the glass
+panes of the door broke into fragments. Somebody had
+smashed it with his elbow. A hand came through the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span>
+opening, turned back the key. The door opened and
+Trampy entered, raging, growling:</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a man here!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You won&#8217;t find him; you can kill me if you do!&#8221; cried
+Lily.</p>
+<p>She expected a terrible scene. Trampy, drunk, had the
+look which he wore on his bad days. He peered into the
+corners, turned a cunning eye on Lily.</p>
+<p>Trampy had spent the evening at the café and there
+heard of the visits which Lily received during his absence.
+The neighbors he didn&#8217;t mind about, but Jimmy.
+Jimmy again! The damned dog! Why should he poke
+his nose in? And, perhaps, at heart, Trampy was not
+sorry to have a scene with Lily, for he wasn&#8217;t bringing
+home a pfennig, having spent all his money on champagne
+with girls. He felt himself at fault. He would get
+out of it with violence.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a man here!&#8221; repeated Trampy, walking up
+to Lily like a madman.</p>
+<p>She was humiliated to the core when she saw Trampy,
+dazed with tobacco, heavy with beer, stoop and look under
+the bed. And, suddenly, seeing the banknote which
+Lily had laid on the table, Trampy shouted:</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t deny it this time. Tell me where the money
+comes from!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s from Jimmy,&#8221; said Lily, beside herself. &#8220;He
+thinks of me, Jimmy does, while you leave me here to
+starve. It&#8217;s ... it&#8217;s for the law-costs.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that&#8217;s another thing!&#8221; said Trampy, putting the
+note in his pocket.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let the money be!&#8221; cried Lily, leaping out of bed.
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t you touch it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Everything here belongs to me, I should think,&#8221; said
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span>
+Trampy, a little more calmly, already overcome with
+drunken drowsiness. &#8220;Everything, even a dear little
+wifie,&#8221; he continued, putting his snout under Lily&#8217;s disgusted
+nose.</p>
+<p>But she gave a movement of revulsion so spontaneous
+that Trampy turned pale under the insult:</p>
+<p>&#8220;W-what! N-no love?&#8221; he stammered. &#8220;I&#8217;m not used
+to that. I can get l-l-love for the asking ... at the
+ca-ca-café ... or the th-theater ... or anywhere.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Trampy, making a false step, caught hold of the
+curtain and drew it back.</p>
+<p>In the pitiless light of the morning, he appeared to Lily
+like a drowned man, with a puffed-out face, swollen eyes
+and wan cheeks. To think that she belonged to that! Lily
+spat at him in contempt. Oh, rather sleep with lizards
+and guinea-pigs than that; rather with a woolly dog, like
+Poland, that Parisienne! Oh, to get rid of him and be
+free again, thought Lily, never again to have Trampy
+before her eyes! And, suddenly, her mind was made up.
+She dressed herself hurriedly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where are you going?&#8221; asked Trampy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m off!&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;I&#8217;ve had enough of this!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s that?&#8221; said Trampy, dull-mouthed, flinging
+his body across the bed. &#8220;What&#8217;s that? Say it again!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say I hate the sight of you! I&#8217;m going back to my
+Pa and Ma!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You, you&#8217;re going back to ... well, good-by,
+darling, goo-good ... goo-good-by,&#8221; stammered
+Trampy, sprawling on the bed, among the disordered
+clothes....</p>
+<p>Lily moved freely round the room, without even troubling
+about him, like one who has made up her mind
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span>
+once and for all. She packed up her things in the basket
+trunk. She put her bike outside the door; and, just as
+she was going to look for a neighbor to help her down
+with her trunk, an idea entered her head. She stopped
+on the threshold, came back to Trampy, slipped her hand
+into his pocket and gingerly took out the banknote:</p>
+<p>&#8220;An insult like that!&#8221; she muttered. &#8220;I&#8217;d rather starve
+than not give Jimmy back the money!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lily!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She thought she heard herself called, in her dream,
+just because she was back in her room again, in London,
+among familiar objects. She felt as if her life was going
+on exactly as in the old days, as if nothing had happened
+in between. Her marriage? A nightmare. And her
+home-coming yesterday had been very nice: no questions
+asked, no whys and hows. Her parents knew, of course.
+They knew all about her troubles with Trampy. But no
+reproaches, nothing: kisses, everybody very happy, including
+herself. She snuggled under the bedclothes, in
+the hollow left by Glass-Eye, who had gone down-stairs.
+Lily felt sorry that she had left her trunk at the hotel,
+when she thought of the cordial welcome she had received
+at the hands of Pa and Ma.</p>
+<p>It was quite three weeks since she left her husband.
+She went over it all again in her head. Her departure
+from Berlin! She meant to go straight to Jimmy, first,
+and give him back that money; only, those Vienna hats,
+displayed in the shop-windows, those dresses, those boots,
+when she saw all that, Lily understood that she could not
+return to London, to her parents, with dingy-looking
+clothes, after her successes on the continent! Pa and Ma
+would have laughed in her face.</p>
+<p>Lily felt bound to say that she had been most reasonable:
+three hundred marks for that Vienna dress, which
+suited her so well; why, Jimmy himself would have approved.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s see!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She reckoned on her fingers: forty marks the hat,
+three hundred the dress; and the underthings, chemises,
+stays, a silk petticoat, boots ... that came to
+... came to ... a week at a hotel in Berlin
+... time lost at Hamburg ... the journey
+from Hamburg to Rotterdam, Harwich and London
+... the hotel on arriving, so as to be able to dress
+before going home: it left her just fifty shillings to
+play the lady with and buy presents for Pa and Ma.
+And Jimmy ... Jimmy, who was in London also,
+due to open at the Hippodrome! And she had sworn
+that she would give him back that money at once! To
+quiet her conscience, Lily, under her blankets, took the
+&#8220;counter-oath&#8221; of the stage, with her left hand behind her
+back, the fingers closed over the thumb, that she would
+repay him the money, most certainly, as soon as she began
+to earn any.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily! Can I come in, Lily?&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was Ma, bringing her breakfast and a paper, <i>The
+Era</i>. Lily gave a quick glance round the room: her skirt
+was hanging on the peg; the bodice lay, without a crease,
+over the back of a chair, the hat on top of it, the linen
+neatly folded: good! She did not look a scarecrow, at
+any rate! And, sitting up against the pillows, with a
+napkin on her knees, Lily breakfasted daintily, with her
+finger-tips:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pa, Where&#8217;s Pa?&#8221; asked Lily. &#8220;Tell him to come up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your Pa has gone out with the apprentices,&#8221; said Ma.
+&#8220;He wouldn&#8217;t wake you, you looked so tired last night.
+Here, Lily, some more coffee? Another slice of bread
+and butter?&#8221; continued Ma, spreading it for her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;K you!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span></p>
+<p>Lily accepted this as her due, like a lady accustomed
+to the manners of good society, to having her breakfast
+brought to her in bed by the maid.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Ma,&#8221; said Lily, as she sugared her coffee, &#8220;they
+do understand things on the continent! They know how
+to appreciate artistes there. I&#8217;ve had such successes!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you were angry with us for teaching you your
+profession,&#8221; said Ma. &#8220;You see now that it was for your
+good.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But it depends on how it&#8217;s done,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;If I
+had always been treated like this, I should never have left
+you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, you don&#8217;t bear your Pa and me a grudge, I
+suppose,&#8221; said Ma, &#8220;or you wouldn&#8217;t have come back.
+We knew you&#8217;d come back. This has always been your
+address; your Pa never took your name out of <i>The Era</i>.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You didn&#8217;t treat me fair,&#8221; said Lily, &#8220;but I&#8217;ve forgotten
+most of it. Oh, don&#8217;t let&#8217;s talk about it any more!
+Let&#8217;s talk of something else; let&#8217;s talk of you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily knew all about their struggles, their successes;
+had heard of it on the stage, in the cafés. But here, in
+her room, as described by Ma, she put her finger on it, so
+to speak, and realized more fully what a blank her flight
+had made, what a catastrophe it had been for them.</p>
+<p>And Ma gave details, tried to interest Lily in the fate
+of the troupe; told her that, for months, the troupe had
+been refused everywhere, because she wasn&#8217;t in it, and
+her Pa had to change apprentices.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was the troupe!&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, the trouble your Pa took running after his own
+fat freaks! I thought he would get heart-disease! And
+months of it, without earning a thing. Oh, if your Pa
+hadn&#8217;t had some money ...!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;But he had plenty!&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, not much, not so much as you think!&#8221; Ma hastened
+to say, thinking she saw a spiteful allusion in Lily&#8217;s
+remark.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, all right, I know,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;Never mind about
+that. It&#8217;s my turn to make money now, for myself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Still that independent spirit! We haven&#8217;t got her
+yet!&#8221; thought Ma.</p>
+<p>And she went on talking of the troupe, of the cousin
+who played the star.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pooh!&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;A nice sort of star!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not every one who can star in Berlin by herself,
+like you,&#8221; said Ma. &#8220;Do you know, Lily, you ought to stay
+with us: we should get on so well together. You would
+manage the troupe; and, one day&mdash;who knows?&mdash;you
+might make a nice marriage.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I am married, Ma! I didn&#8217;t live with him! Do
+you mean to say you think ...? Not I!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know you&#8217;re married, but you can get a divorce.
+Jimmy used to make love to you; now there&#8217;s a man
+who ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you used to say he was a drunkard, Ma!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never!&#8221; said Ma, rising to leave.</p>
+<p>Lily was flattered, at heart, to be received like that.
+She also felt proud that her Pa had not been ashamed of
+her and that he had kept her name in <i>The Era</i>. Well,
+they treated her as a lady, saw her value, gave her her
+due. And she lay for a while enjoying her triumph, while
+she turned the pages of <i>The Era</i> in an absent-minded
+way: Miss This, Miss That, Cape Town, Calcutta ...
+actors, singers ...</p>
+<p>&#8220;Those aren&#8217;t artistes, any of them!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Programs, plays, songs: &#8220;<i>Why I Love Women</i>!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I know, you footy rotter!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>Is Marriage a Failure</i>?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should think so!&#8221; thought Lily.</p>
+<p>And articles, biographies ...</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pack of lies!&#8221; thought Lily.</p>
+<p>And pages of &#8220;Wanted ... Wanted ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily ran her eye down the columns: artistes&#8217; boarding-houses,
+<i>costumiers</i>, scene-painters, dancing-schools, every
+town, every theater. Hullo!&mdash;she had turned the page&mdash;Tom,
+the dancer&mdash;Hullo! At Milan!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bravo, Tom!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Jimmy at the Hippodrome next week; private address,
+Whitcomb Mansions.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pooh, he&#8217;s well off! What&#8217;s fifty pounds to him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Hullo! Miss Lily&mdash;Berlin&mdash;Permanent address,
+Rathbone Place, London, W.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well done, Pa! Serve him right, the tramp cyclist!&#8221;
+said Lily, throwing down the paper and jumping out of
+bed.</p>
+<p>Quite a business, her toilet. She was two hours titivating
+herself. She wanted Pa and Ma to be proud of
+her, of her successes on the continent. And, when the
+apprentices came in from practice, you should have seen
+her walk into the dining-room. A little air of simplicity,
+her forehead put out for her delighted Pa to kiss, hands
+all round&mdash;&#8220;Hullo, girls! Hullo, Daisy!&#8221; And she sat
+down like a lady accustomed to smart restaurants, who
+does not despise dinner at home, however, with a boiled
+leg of mutton to recruit her inside after those champagne
+suppers, those truffled pheasants, that damned continental
+cooking! She accepted everything, and thought
+it all very nice, simple life, simple joys, the only ones!</p>
+<p>She set a good example to the new apprentices, who
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span>
+eyed her stealthily, instead of eating, for Miss Lily&#8217;s presence
+turned their heads entirely. My! A star like that, a
+real one! Lily Clifton, the New Zealander on Wheels!
+And dressed ... dressed like a lady in the front
+boxes! Cousin Daisy was green with jealousy. Lily talked
+of her travels, her successes and the crossing, gee! Waves
+&#8220;miles high,&#8221; the boat standing on end! Glass Eye
+Maud devoured her with her one eye, screwed up her
+fat red cheeks in a fixed and motionless laugh, scared
+before Lily, who came from over the sea, from countries
+where savages live. Glass-Eye, in her perturbation,
+served Lily first. Pa made no objection, asked Lily&#8217;s permission
+to light his pipe: was she sure she didn&#8217;t mind
+smoke? Lord, you never knew, with those ladies! He
+swelled with pride. If it had been Christmas-time, he
+would have ordered a pudding, my, a real wedding-cake
+three feet across! His ideas of grandeur returned, his
+triumphal tour round the world, the definite extermination
+of the fat freaks ... if Lily remained
+with him ...</p>
+<p>After dinner, the apprentices retired, to finish sewing
+some bloomers. Lily approved:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bloomers? Very nice ... for a troupe!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Presently, in the afternoon, the three of them went for
+a walk: Pa freshly shaven; Ma decked out in her jewelry:
+Lily did not wear any, &#8220;only in the evening when
+she went into society.&#8221; Tottenham Court Road, the Palace,
+the Hippodrome.... Pa would have liked to
+write up on his hat:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily has come back!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He looked to right and left, had the satisfaction of distributing
+nods and bows to some artistes, with Lily on his
+arm, as though to say:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You see it was wrong, all that people were saying,
+about those smackings! And the proof is, here she is,&mdash;on
+my arm, damn it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>As for Lily, she thought only of showing herself:</p>
+<p>&#8220;If Trampy could see me now!&#8221; she reflected. &#8220;And
+Jimmy, if he could see me, in my fine dress, while it&#8217;s still
+new!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Regent Street reminded Lily of Pa&#8217;s generosity. She
+would not be behindhand. Pa had to accept a red tie, a
+pair of gloves, a match-box, as a present; Ma, an embroidered
+handkerchief, a lucky charm. Lily had the satisfaction
+of paying with gold and receiving change.</p>
+<p>She was tired, in the evening, put on a languid air:
+gee, her mother would have shaken her for less in the old
+days! Lily put it on still more, to show them all that
+times were changed. But she did the troupe the honor
+of going to see their performance at the Castle. It was a
+great success for her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Made a bit, eh?&#8221; asked the manager, seeing her fine
+dress. &#8220;Coming back for good, to star with the New
+Zealanders?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know; I shall see.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily was quite ready to come back, in her own mind,
+but she wanted to return in triumph. It all depended on
+the price offered: to think that she had worked for them
+at ten shillings a week, when she was worth quite two
+pounds a night! She would see; she would make her own
+conditions: for instance, herself in tights, the others in
+bloomers ... a special tune for her entrance ...
+no star beside herself!</p>
+<p>Lily watched the New Zealanders&#8217; performance with
+the air of an expert:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not so bad; quite good ...&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span></p>
+<p>And she had various ideas: herself as a fine lady, undressing
+on the stage. Or rather, no, as a statue, on a
+pedestal in a park ... with Cousin Daisy at her feet,
+throwing flowers to her. Then she would come to life, as
+though waking from sleep, and step down prettily to a
+special tune. Hullo, what&#8217;s this? A bike! And then, gee,
+a blast of the trombone and she would show them what a
+star was, a real one! Yes ... she would see ... if
+Pa and Ma insisted ... perhaps ...</p>
+<p>But her real triumph was next day, at practice.
+Her Pa, excited by her presence, ran and ran, notwithstanding
+his palpitations of the heart. It was no use his
+trying to restrain himself: his enthusiasm mastered him as
+soon as he saw them all in the saddle, his little Woolly-legs!</p>
+<p>And no more Tom: he was all by himself now; and,
+when he sat down to take breath, he still ordered his little
+Woolly-legs about, shouted his cutting remarks at them.</p>
+<p>Lily raised her head proudly. She seemed to take the
+apprentices to witness. She had gone through that, much
+worse than that, for years! She was a gentle little lady,
+all the same. Besides, she was all for gentleness:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Leave her to me, Pa; you&#8217;re making poor Cousin
+Daisy quite nervous. She doesn&#8217;t know; I&#8217;ll show her!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, under her great waving feather, Lily, without
+even taking off her gloves:</p>
+<p>&#8220;There, put your foot there ... like that ...
+and like that ... firmly. No, not like that!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, suddenly, stimulated with professional zeal:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait, I&#8217;ll show you how it&#8217;s done!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, in an instant, to show them all how you&#8217;re got up
+when you&#8217;re a star and when you come back from the
+continent, Lily took off her bodice, pinned up her skirt
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span>
+amid the rustling of the silk and, bare-armed, in a lace-trimmed
+chemisette:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now then, I&#8217;ll show you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily, with all her little muscles alive, took a bike,
+jumped on it as she would on a stool and then&mdash;yoop!&mdash;the
+bike on its back-wheel, spinning round like a top.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Twirls are as easy as anything: you only have to
+know how to do them. Come on! Have a try!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And the other, encouraged by a friendly slap, tried in
+her turn and&mdash;yoop!&mdash;succeeded ... very nearly.</p>
+<p>Pa was enraptured at the mere sight of Lily&#8217;s little
+curled nostrils and her earnest look:</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a professor she would make!&#8221; he thought. &#8220;If
+ever she takes the belt, she&#8217;ll be simply grand. I can just
+fold my arms!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But he made her dress very quickly. That exhibition
+of dainty underwear, which flattered his pride as a father,
+would have driven girls used to sewing their own calico
+shifts quite crazy: there would have been no holding
+them; and, besides, artistes might come in at any moment.
+It would not do for Lily to be seen half-dressed like that;
+and she realized this herself, like a sensible little lady,
+who hates scandal.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stay with us, Lily,&#8221; said her Pa, at home, after dinner,
+when the apprentices had gone out. &#8220;Stay with us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s your duty,&#8221; said Ma.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you stay,&#8221; continued Pa, &#8220;I&#8217;ll make you a present
+of a brand-new banjo!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, no more banjo for me,&#8221; said Lily, laughing.
+&#8220;I&#8217;ve had my share.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right, no more banjo,&#8221; agreed Pa, &#8220;provided you
+stay with us: that&#8217;s all I ask. I shall be afraid of nobody
+then; I&#8217;ll show them what an artiste is!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span></p>
+<p>And, warming to his subject, Pa built up his plans:
+the great English tours; and Eastern and Western
+America, Australia, South Africa:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh, Lily? Wouldn&#8217;t you like to see it all again? Or
+else, for once, I&#8217;ll get up a troupe and take it round the
+world myself, with you in it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Pa,&#8221; said Lily, very coldly, &#8220;I have business arrangements
+of my own, more engagements than I want.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a business arrangement I&#8217;m proposing to you,&#8221;
+said Pa.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And shall I come on in tights?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In tights, if you like.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And no other star but me!&#8221; continued Lily, explaining
+her idea: undressing on the stage, or else the statue,
+her own scenery ...</p>
+<p>&#8220;Capital idea!&#8221; cried Pa.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And then there&#8217;s the money side of the question,&#8221; said
+Lily. &#8220;I make a lot of money now. I want to work for
+myself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what you make with us, won&#8217;t it be yours, one
+day?&#8221; suggested Ma.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stay with us,&#8221; said Pa, &#8220;and Trampy will burst with
+spite and you&#8217;ll be much happier here, with your Pa and
+Ma, instead of with that good-for-nothing!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Or instead of remaining alone, which is even worse,&#8221;
+Ma insisted. &#8220;You want us still, Lily ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you me! Let us talk business,&#8221; interrupted Lily,
+who would have liked a pencil and paper, to make her calculations
+with.</p>
+<p>Ma, in her heart of hearts, did not think it at all nice of
+a daughter to consider only her own interests; but Pa
+hurried up, thought Lily was quite right ... although
+he was greatly embarrassed in reality and asked himself
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span>
+how much he could well offer her, so as to make a profit
+for himself.</p>
+<p>Fortunately, he was relieved of his predicament by
+Glass-Eye, who came in with a telegram for Miss Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Give it here!&#8221; said Lily, who noticed, as she opened
+the envelope, that a chair had creaked and that the palm
+of her left hand was itching: a sign of money. &#8220;I&#8217;ll bet
+it&#8217;s about an engagement. I have offers from every side;
+you have no idea ... Well, I never!&#8221; she said. &#8220;A
+telegram from Jimmy, at the Horse Shoe! I thought he
+was at Whitcomb Mansions. What can he want with
+me? He asks me to call on him! Funny way of treating a
+lady. Why can&#8217;t he come himself?&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Pa and Ma thought differently: Jimmy was &#8220;somebody,&#8221;
+a man to be considered, right at the top of the
+profession; she&#8217;d have done better to marry him and not
+her Trampy Wheel-Pad!...</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must go,&#8221; insisted Ma. &#8220;Don&#8217;t you like going
+alone? Shall I come with you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that&#8217;s different,&#8221; said Lily, who had a certain
+pride and who felt sure that Jimmy would never mention
+that thousand marks before a witness.</p>
+<p>Her heart beat a little, as she went up the staircase of
+the Horse Shoe to the third floor, on the left, door 32.
+At first, she was surprised that he should be there, having
+read in <i>The Era</i> ... but he might have moved. On
+the whole, she was not sorry to show herself to Jimmy in
+her pretty frock, he having seen her last in her room in
+Berlin, looking ill, unkempt and frightfully ugly. She
+was not sorry, either, that Ma was with her:</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s in love, I suppose,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;Everybody makes
+love to me: why do they, Ma? I&#8217;m not a bit pretty, off
+the stage.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span></p>
+<p>And she took a mischievous pleasure in enlarging
+upon her successes and her flirtations, there, on the staircase
+of the Horse Shoe, with Ma beside her, and no
+smackings, gee, nor any fear of smackings in the future!
+What a change since her marriage!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; Lily went on, as she read the numbers on the
+doors&mdash;29&mdash;&#8220;Ma, you ought to see the flowers I get, the
+chocolates, the sweets&#8221;&mdash;31&mdash;&#8220;but all that does not prevent
+a lady from keeping straight&#8221;&mdash;32&mdash;</p>
+<p>Then she gave a stifled cry, her voice stuck in her
+throat: Trampy, Trampy himself stood in the doorway,
+his hands in his pockets, a cigar in his mouth, his hat
+cocked over one ear; and he looked at her with a bantering
+air:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sorry to disappoint you, Miss Lily. You hoped to
+find some one else, eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Ma, utterly flabbergasted, had dropped on to a bench
+in the passage, in the shadow. Trampy did not even see
+her. Lily was crimson with shame at being caught tripping
+by Trampy: she could not deny it. She wanted to
+run away, but, stupefied with surprise, remained where
+she stood, with dilated pupils, open-mouthed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can look at me till to-morrow morning and it
+won&#8217;t help you,&#8221; said Trampy quietly, with the air of a
+man who has prepared his speech. &#8220;I&#8217;ve got you this
+time! I sent the telegram; I knew you&#8217;d come, wherever
+he thought fit to meet you; you&#8217;d have come for less than
+Jimmy; you&#8217;d have come for the impersonator or any
+one else, never mind whom; any one in the rotten lot, any
+gentleman in the front boxes, eh? It&#8217;s &#8216;Whistle and I&#8217;ll
+come to you, my lad!&#8217; with you! But I thought Jimmy
+would do best, Jimmy your lover, whom you followed
+to London. Now my luck has brought me here, too ...
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span>
+for my work ... not like you! And, by the way, Miss
+Lily, have you brought me that thousand marks which you
+got from Jimmy and which I was going to give back to
+him, when you stole it out of my pocket? Or did you
+spend it on the way here? You hadn&#8217;t a rag to your back,
+when you left me, and I find you dressed up like a Tottie.
+My compliments, Miss Lily.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;O God, strike him dead!&#8221; prayed Lily. &#8220;Strike him,
+kill him, kill him!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily felt like fainting. She could not breathe, her ribs
+seemed to be crushing her lungs. At last she drew a long,
+slow breath:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she stammered, overcome with shame, &#8220;well,
+we can be divorced ... if you like.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll see,&#8221; said Trampy, hardening his voice and throwing
+away his cigar. &#8220;Go back to your Jimmy in the meantime.
+You may be sure I have no use for a traitress like
+you, an idler who refuses to work, a woman who lets
+every man make love to her!&#8221; And, suddenly, pointing
+to the stairs, &#8220;You can be sure that I&#8217;ve no further use for
+you! Get out of this, damn you! And you&#8217;re not going,
+mind you: I&#8217;m kicking you out!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And therewith Trampy went back into his room and
+slammed the door in her face.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Clifton and Lily remained glued where they were.
+At last, Ma, trembling all over, rose from the bench and
+led away her daughter, who shook her fist at the door,
+crying:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Liar!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why didn&#8217;t you speak just now, my poor Lily?&#8221; said
+Ma. &#8220;You ought to have answered back! So it&#8217;s true,
+all that? A nice thing! You, who pretended....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, let go, you&#8217;re crushing my sleeve!&#8221; retorted Lily
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span>
+angrily, pulling her arm away from the hand that
+clasped it.</p>
+<p>She went down the stairs, followed by Ma, without
+knowing what she was doing. She would have liked to
+find a train on the pavement, a motor, to jump into it, to
+make off and never see anybody again, after the humiliation
+which she had undergone before Ma.</p>
+<p>She flung herself into the first cab that came along,
+yelled a direction to the driver: Hyde Park, anywhere!
+Ma found herself by Lily&#8217;s side, without being asked to
+step in, and she repeated:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily, you ought to have ... Why did you let
+him treat you like that? Is it true?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;First of all,&#8221; said Lily, suddenly turning and facing
+her Ma; &#8220;first of all, it&#8217;s your fault ... yours
+... all that&#8217;s happened, damn it! If you had been
+less hard on me, I shouldn&#8217;t have gone off with that
+footy rotter!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve often been sorry since,&#8221; said Ma. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been sorry
+for it. Calm yourself, Lily. And then ... were we
+so very wrong? Look how your husband has just treated
+you before me, before your mother!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a liar! I swear it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And Jimmy&#8217;s thousand marks? What was that money
+for? Why didn&#8217;t you give it back?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a lie! It&#8217;s a lie!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You, who pretended you were making such a lot of
+money!&#8221; continued Ma. &#8220;There&#8217;s not a word of truth in
+what you said. You haven&#8217;t a penny. I can see it. Oh,
+you&#8217;re the same as ever, my poor Lily&mdash;extravagant
+habits, dresses&mdash;and here you are, penniless, left to yourself
+with your expensive tastes. You&#8217;ll die in poverty
+one day, without a Pa or Ma. Come back to us, Lily.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;To make nothing? No, thank you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who says so?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I know! Ten shillings a week, eh? Family life,
+as that old beast of a Fuchs says!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily,&#8221; said Ma severely, &#8220;don&#8217;t insult decent people!
+Have some respect, at any rate.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Lily had no respect left for anybody. Pas, Mas,
+Trampies, Nunkies, one and all, were so many slave-drivers!</p>
+<p>&#8220;And yet it&#8217;s quite true, I&#8217;m penniless,&#8221; thought Lily
+to herself. &#8220;I, who have earned a fortune for you!&#8221; she
+grumbled under her breath, stifling a sob.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re mad, my poor Lily! All that we have will be
+yours some day. You never think of the future; you
+spend your last penny.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I earn and I spend!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And suppose you fell ill, my poor Lily?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hospitals aren&#8217;t made for dogs! Besides, I have
+friends. And then, at least, I shall have had some fun
+for my money, while you, if you died to-morrow, Pa
+would marry another woman, who would spend all your
+savings, all the money I have earned for you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily,&#8221; cried Mrs. Clifton, &#8220;you&#8217;re insulting your father!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m telling you things as they are; and I won&#8217;t come
+back to you, because I can make more elsewhere! Every
+one for himself!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you don&#8217;t make a penny!&#8221; said Ma, gradually
+getting angry. &#8220;You heard Trampy, just now. He called
+you an idler. Your Pa, at least, used to make you work.
+You&#8217;re trying to bluff us with those stories of your successes.
+I dare say you&#8217;ll be glad, one day, of a crust of
+bread with us.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Ma!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your contracts,&#8221; said Ma, &#8220;you&#8217;re always talking of
+your contracts. I should like to see them and your programs
+too.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;I&#8217;ll show them to you: Munich,
+Berlin, Hamburg. I&#8217;ve had successes everywhere,
+engagements everywhere! I make more by myself than
+all Pa&#8217;s troupe put together!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, but how do you get your engagements?&#8221; said
+Ma, pale with anger, seeing that Lily was escaping them
+and, this time, for good. &#8220;Tell me how you get them?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, through my talent, I suppose.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your talent! Pooh! You&#8217;ve none left! You get
+them through your friends: through your Jimmy, your
+gentlemen friends....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a lie!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You get them ... by looking pretty and getting
+round the men ... you ... you ... you....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily drew back her shoulder, her arm stiff, ready to
+strike; but a sense of respect withheld her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop!&#8221; she cried to the cabman, in a hoarse voice.</p>
+<p>And, without even waiting for the cab to pull up beside
+the curb, Lily jumped out in the roadway, into the mud.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother,&#8221; she said to Mrs. Clifton, &#8220;mother, I shall
+never forget this!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, mechanically, in her haste to get away, she
+handed the man what money she had left, made a sign to
+him to go on and, without saying good-by, Lily
+saw the cab drive off. It was evening, in a quiet
+street: where was she? Lily did not know; her head
+was in a whirl. She recognized Old Compton Street:
+had they gone no farther? It seemed to her that she had
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span>
+been riding for an hour ... but no, barely a few
+minutes....</p>
+<p>Alone in London, without money, in the mud, in the
+dark, oh! she wished she could be swallowed up in the
+sewer. She felt like killing herself.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I walk toward the Thames,&#8221; she muttered, &#8220;I am
+done for!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she took a street on the left, leading in the direction
+of the embankment. The movement restored her to
+her self-consciousness.</p>
+<p>An idea came to her, a distant hope, a glimmer, very
+faint at first, which suddenly grew in dimensions within
+her and lit her up in every particle. Jimmy! He appeared
+to her, all at once, like a giant eight feet high, as
+on his posters. Ah, people seemed to associate her life
+with his, to presume all sorts of things ... though he
+had never even kissed her! Yes, he had ... on the
+stage ... in Berlin, but that was before everybody!
+And everything drove her toward him, she always found
+herself on his path: Jimmy was everywhere, always. And
+Jimmy was powerful and he was good-looking and he
+loved her! He loved her! To keep straight was no use.
+Why, all of them, all of them, including her husband, that
+footy rotter, who was jealous of Jimmy without reason:
+she&#8217;d give him cause for jealousy soon, if it killed him
+with rage, him and all the rotten lot. And she&#8217;d do it
+that very moment! At two minutes&#8217; walk from where
+she stood, in Whitcomb Mansions! She was not one of
+those women whom you can drive to despair with impunity:
+she had her vengeance ready....</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>Jimmy was alone in his room; his table was covered
+with books and papers. He was still at his great plan.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span></p>
+<p>Jimmy sat plunged in work, without the least thought
+of what was happening near him: in fact, he did not even
+know that Lily was in London. His installation of &#8220;Bridging
+the Abyss&#8221; at the Hippodrome had taken him the
+whole day. There was a scenic effect to contrive with the
+manager: a &#8220;hydrodrama&#8221; ... bridging the abyss
+over a torrent ... with a waterfall behind ...
+and the whole thing set and framed in a pantomine, which
+was ready for production, because Jimmy had been expected
+for a month; in short, it would go of itself.</p>
+<p>And under the peaceful light he resumed his compasses,
+or else flung himself back in his chair, lit a cigarette,
+followed the smoke with his eyes....</p>
+<p>Poor Lily, what was she doing, over there, in Berlin,
+thought Jimmy. She deserved something better than
+Trampy, that adorable Lily, to whom he, Jimmy, would
+gladly have devoted his life ... and whom he felt as
+it were swelling up inside him ... in his heart ...
+in his brain ... in spite of himself! That poor Lily!
+To think that he could do nothing for her, that he almost
+regretted having done her a service, after the short scene
+which he had had the day after with Trampy, blinded with
+jealousy, because he, Jimmy, had visited Lily during his
+absence; the reproaches which that simple action had
+earned for him:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here, you righter of wrongs, you who preach
+to others and go making love to their wives!&#8221;</p>
+<p>To have put himself in a position that he could be
+spoken to like that, in a position to have Lily suspected!
+What a shame! Oh, the worries it would cause her! Yes,
+he had been imprudent, perhaps: it was all his fault; another
+man&#8217;s wife....</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span>
+<img src='images/illus-pg209.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 410px; height: 623px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 410px;'>
+&#8220;Oh, you mean cur!&#8221; roared Lily.<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span></div>
+<p>A tap at the door. It was opened behind him, before he
+had time to say, &#8220;Come in,&#8221; and Lily walked up to Jimmy,
+who sat dumb with surprise: a strange Lily, feverish, distraught
+with passion. At any other time, she would have
+felt constrained, because of the thousand marks, or proud
+to show off her dress. Perhaps also she had prepared
+things to say. But all that was forgotten, gone, blown
+away, like a straw in the storm, for nothing came from
+her but this, in an anxious voice:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tell me, Jimmy, is it true that you love me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why,&#8221; said Jimmy, perceiving Lily&#8217;s agitation, without
+guessing the reason: oh, but for Lily to do a thing
+like that! How she would regret it later; it was terrible
+this time really. He saw all that at a glance; a great pity
+invaded him; and yet he was a man of flesh and blood and
+felt stirred to the marrow. &#8220;Why,&#8221; he began, in a voice
+which he strove to make friendly, no more, &#8220;why, Lily,
+who told you that? Why really ... I....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jimmy,&#8221; she cried, fixing her eyes, like two flaming
+swords upon him, &#8220;answer me! Do you love me or not?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Jimmy, turning as pale as a corpse, looked at her without
+flinching and shook his head in sign of no.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you mean cur!&#8221; roared Lily.</p>
+<p>And she struck him on the face with her clenched fist.</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>Then she went out without a word, ran down the
+stairs, out into the blaze of Leicester Square, made for the
+dark streets and plunged into the night....</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span>
+<h2>INTERMEZZO</h2>
+<h3>I</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The artistes&#8217; special left Euston at noon that Sunday.
+The Three Graces were the first to arrive; then the waiting-rooms,
+until lately deserted, began to fill with silent
+groups of five or six persons at a time, who had, no doubt,
+arranged the night before, at the theater, to travel together
+and avail themselves of the reduction allowed to
+members of the M. H. A. R. A.: a reduction of at least
+a third, provided there were five in the party. They now
+swarmed into the station from every side: pale faces, under
+huge feathers; wrists hooped round with bangles;
+breasts bristling with gollywogs and lucky charms. There
+were little girls with bows over their ears, dressed in
+plush and velvet and following their Pas and Mas.
+There were troupes of carpet acrobats, with low foreheads,
+broad shoulders and bow legs; and profs, bosses
+and managers, recognizable by the richness of their
+watch-chains, looked after the luggage. Theater-vans
+discharged immense basket trunks, marked with letters a
+foot high&mdash;&#8220;Brothers This ... Sisters That ...
+So-and-so Trio ... Miss Such-and-such&#8221;&mdash;and bearing
+on the handles, on the yellow labels of the M. H.
+A. R. A., addresses of Empires and Palaces and of
+Grand Opera-Houses and Grand Theaters, too, for
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span>
+there were not only &#8220;artistes,&#8221; but singers, actresses,
+&#8220;chicken-necks,&#8221; &#8220;woolly-legs,&#8221; who rubbed shoulders
+with the muscular acrobats. All of them crowded round
+the booking-office; they handed in professional cards,
+helped one another, among pros; those who were traveling
+alone borrowed tickets to enable them to get their
+over-weight luggage labeled: complicated pieces of apparatus,
+nickel-plated rods wrapped up in sacking, equilibrists&#8217;
+perches; the coaches, which were carried by assault,
+were encumbered with hand-luggage, bags, parcels,
+picture-frames containing photographs for the doors of
+the theaters, heaped up in the racks, under the seats, in
+the corridor; and there was a constant fire of &#8220;Hullo,
+girls! Hullo, boys!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The Three Graces, standing before the carriage-door,
+now that their things were settled, watched this tumult
+sadly, especially Thea. What was it? Nunkie&#8217;s absence?
+No, but poor Lily had been kicked out by her husband, so
+they heard, and turned out by her mother as well: was it
+possible? Lily was dead or vanished, they didn&#8217;t know
+which; they were told about it at the theater; a stagehand
+had met her near St. Martin&#8217;s Lane, in a small
+street, with her hair undone and her hat on the back of
+her head, crying, biting her handkerchief, drunk, apparently,
+and running in the direction of the Thames. And,
+since then, they had had no news of her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor Lily, what can she have done, what can have
+happened?&#8221; sighed Thea. &#8220;Poor Lily, she was always so
+nice!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Thea could have cried for sadness.</p>
+<p>The start caused a diversion. The collector punched
+the tickets:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Blackpool? Glasgow?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span></p>
+<p>The Three Graces stepped in, the engine whistled. But
+a porter rushed past, pushing before him, with a rumbling
+like thunder, a huge trunk on a barrow. Thea
+turned her head and a name in scarlet letters caught her
+eyes: &#8220;Miss Lily!&#8221; And, running after the trunk, magnificently
+bedecked, in a hat all feathers and gold tassels,
+who? What? Lily! Lily herself, red and out of breath,
+leading her bike with one hand, carrying an umbrella in
+the other, and Glass-Eye, her arms stretched wide with
+parcels, following in her train! Just time to throw her
+bike to the porter in the luggage-van and quick, quick,
+Lily came scudding back, hustled along by the train-master!
+She would have missed the start, were it not for
+Thea, who opened the door and, with her arms of steel,
+gripped her as she passed:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, Lily! That&#8217;s a good girl! Quick!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily leaped into the carriage with a bound. Glass-Eye,
+entangled in her parcels, had, amid general laughter, to
+be dragged by main force, through the narrow doorway,
+like a piece of luggage. Oof, just in time ... Off
+they were!</p>
+<p>In the railway-carriage was nothing but gaiety and
+handshaking and ingenuous questions:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Traveling by yourself? Where&#8217;s Trampy? And
+your Pa and Ma? So you&#8217;re not dead, eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly not,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;If they had come to annoy
+me at the station, I&#8217;d have shown them if I was alive or
+dead! I was ready for them!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she brandished her umbrella.</p>
+<p>Then she had to make herself comfortable, to find
+room for all her belongings as best she could. Lily
+pushed Glass-Eye about, like a fine lady used to being
+waited on:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Here, take my hat, Glass-Eye; hang it up. Take my
+wrist-bag. Wait, give me my handkerchief first!&#8221;</p>
+<p>To look at Lily, all fresh and rosy, one would never
+have suspected the trials she had passed through, but a
+few days ago. Still quite flustered with that hurried departure,
+she smiled as she watched the Three Graces, who,
+on their side, were carefully folding up their cloaks. And
+the train rushed on, rushed on through deep cuttings,
+dashed through deserted stations ... and then, suddenly,
+entered a tunnel. Lily, but for the noise of the
+wheels, would have seen herself as she had been that night.
+Oh, she would never forget it! It clutched at her heart.
+She clenched her fists with anger. Turned out by
+Trampy! Insulted by her Ma! Flouted by Jimmy, that
+mean cur! Oh, when she left his place, a few days ago,
+she felt like a madwoman! Her first idea was to disappear,
+to take a header into the black water! But, ugh, the mud,
+the cold! And then the hospital, with those people who
+cut you up! She must also show Pa and Ma whether it
+was through her gentlemen friends that she meant to earn
+more by herself alone than they and all their rotten troupe
+put together. Perhaps Pa and Ma would come to her, one
+day, to beg their bread! But Ma must first ask Lily&#8217;s pardon
+on her knees. On her knees, damn it! And, in despair,
+inwardly raging, her chest aching with grief and spite,
+Lily, penniless, but brave for all that and ready for the
+fray, returned to her hotel, where, to her great surprise,
+she found some one waiting for her, with a parcel in her
+hand.</p>
+<p>Lily recognized Glass-Eye.</p>
+<p>It was, indeed, poor Glass-Eye. When she heard what
+had happened and that Lily would starve in London and a
+jolly good thing too, that she could sleep in Leicester
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span>
+Square for all they cared: when she heard this behind
+the door, Glass-Eye almost fainted. Without a word
+to a soul, she had packed up her parcel and gone to join
+Lily; and Lily, in her misery, cried for joy when she saw
+the decent girl, who offered her her savings, twelve shillings
+in all, saying:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Take me with you, Miss Lily; I&#8217;ll wait on you for
+nothing. Take me, take me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Oh, not to feel alone, to have some one beside you who
+loves you: that had consoled Lily....</p>
+<p>The next day, accompanied by Glass-Eye, she called
+on the agents, in the Leicester Square quarter, at the
+risk of meeting Pa, or Trampy, or Jimmy; but who
+cared? With her umbrella in her hand, she feared nobody
+and did not give a fig for any of them.</p>
+<p>Nothing for her at Harrasford&#8217;s, where the Warwicks
+were starring. Very well, she&#8217;d come back again some
+other time! And straight on to Bill and Boom&#8217;s in Whitcomb
+Mansions, below Jimmy. As she climbed the
+stairs, Lily screwed up her eyes, like a short-sighted person,
+for fear of meeting Jimmy, prepared a haughty attitude;
+but she saw no one. She was not kept waiting,
+was shown in at once to Boom&#8217;s office. Lily Clifton?
+the New Zealander on Wheels? Straight away a
+contract! And Lily left with twenty music-halls
+in her pocket! Liverpool, Birmingham, Sheffield and
+so on: a week in each town, beginning on Monday next.
+And that was how she got engagements through her gentlemen
+friends!</p>
+<p>The next day, she borrowed some money on her contracts
+from the Brixton financier: &#8220;loans from five
+pounds upward, in the strictest confidence.&#8221; Then, proposed
+and seconded by two artistes, she joined the Variety
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span>
+Artistes&#8217; Federation and, in return for ten shillings, received
+the red card of membership. She paid another ten
+shillings and the same for Glass-Eye, her maid, to the M.
+H. A. R. A. and obtained the right, for one year, to travel
+at reduced fares, including an insurance against accidents:
+five hundred pounds to her heirs in case of death&mdash;her
+heirs!&mdash;and two hundred and fifty pounds if she lost a
+hand or foot in a railway accident; and one hundred and
+fifty for a serious injury. Then she bought a big gollywog,
+for her dressing-room, and a little lucky charm
+for her watch-chain&mdash;a closed black hand, with the
+thumb between the fingers, as a preservative against falls&mdash;and
+with that and her bike she would have set out for
+India and Australia as calmly as she might have taken the
+omnibus to Earl&#8217;s Court.</p>
+<p>Oh yes, she had done a deal in those few days and,
+above all, she had got out of her difficulties, thanks, to
+a certain extent, to Glass-Eye, who had comforted her.
+And besides, hang it, that was all over now! The worries
+were forgotten, and, as the train emerged from the
+tunnel, Lily, with her arm round Glass-Eye&#8217;s waist, was
+patting that decent girl and Glass-Eye lifted her one good
+eye to Lily, while the other, the glass one, gazing fixedly
+at the door, reflected the thinly scattered houses and the
+beginning of the country.</p>
+<p>Lily, when she had recovered a little from her mad
+rush, lay down at full length among her bags, parcels
+and bandboxes. She laughed with the Three Graces;
+and there was no one there to interfere with them;
+there they were, by themselves, among themselves, alone
+in the compartment, a regular, rollicking school-girls&#8217;
+picnic. Lily made them scream by telling them about
+her life since they had last seen her. She felt a need for
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span>
+a reaction of gaiety, after her sadness of the days just
+past. The Graces fixed their round eyes upon her, upon
+that Lily who was so thoroughly up in all sorts of things
+which they knew only by hearsay: men, love. A life fit
+to kill a horse; and a very nice girl, for all that: a kind of
+forbidden fruit, pink and fair-haired, soft to the touch;
+and no jealousy between them, friendship rather, a rare
+thing, in the &#8220;Profession&#8221;....</p>
+<p>Lily grew excited in talking, told of her successes, the
+receptions, the teas she used to give in her drawing-room,
+in Berlin, when she was ill. Jossers, according to her,
+would have paid any price to have been there! It would
+form a subject of conversation over there for many a
+long day to come. And then her journeys, her impressions
+of the continent&mdash;&#8220;Jam with your meat, my dear!&#8221;&mdash;and
+such clean dressing-rooms in Germany; very severe
+managers, though: gee, harder than Pas. But very
+good to her, all the same. The Battenberg at Leipzig:
+nothing but leading turns; and she had topped the bill at
+Leipzig! And to see all those people eating, during the
+show, when you were hungry yourself, had a very funny
+effect upon you. By the way, she didn&#8217;t like that system of
+being lodged and boarded by the management; it was
+all very well for those people; but none of that for her:
+give her a nice flat in town or a smart hotel! Once she
+was started, Lily never stopped, called Glass-Eye to witness,
+went on telling of her life in Berlin; how Jimmy
+had fallen in love with her when he saw her on the stage,
+and he had the cheek to want her to run away with him;
+but who got a box on the ear that day, eh? She perhaps:
+yes, rather, over the left! And Jimmy and Trampy had
+fought for her! So had all the pros, worse than dogs in
+September!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;What a rotten lot!&#8221; concluded Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My, how you&#8217;ve changed!&#8221; said Thea. &#8220;You used to
+be so fond of men.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I give it them where they deserve,&#8221; said Lily, slapping
+her firm, round hips.</p>
+<p>And they laughed noisily at Lily&#8217;s anger when, with
+her shoulder drawn back and her arm ready to strike, she
+spoke of breaking the jaws of those two scoundrels.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go it! Hit me!&#8221; said Thea, putting forward her
+deltoid muscle. &#8220;Hit away! You&#8217;ll only smash your
+wrist!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And then those Spartans calmed down, asked one another
+for news of absent friends, talked about different
+people they had known, all over the place, on the stage:
+their conversation always came round to the profession.
+Lily, with greater refinement, sometimes tried to discuss
+dress: tulle ruches were to be worn this year, she heard;
+feather boas. The Graces knew nothing about that, stuck
+to their &#8220;Did you ever know...? Do you remember...?&#8221;
+And every part of the world was mixed
+up in their talk: India, Tasmania, Mexico, South Wales,
+New South Wales, York, New York, Hampshire, New
+Hampshire.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you know Ave Maria?&#8221; asked Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But they mentioned other friends, like school-girls living
+in the same quarter; only, for them, the school, the quarter
+was San Francisco, Chicago, Berlin, and the schoolmates
+were the girl in a knot, who had sold her skeleton
+in advance to the Medical College: Marjutti, the double-knotted
+girl, to whom the South Kensington Museum
+offered five hundred pounds for a cast of her figure;
+the Pawnees, who had just won a treble beauty prize;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span>
+and the Laurence girl, whose cruelly daring performance
+was forbidden by the Manchester police; and heaps of
+others whom they had known and who, at that moment,
+were asleep at the antipodes, right under your feet, or
+waking up in the Far West, or going to bed in the Far
+East, or pitching on the ocean, or rolling in express trains
+toward the five corners of the earth. And their own traveling
+adventures, the Graces&#8217; and Lily&#8217;s: broken railway-bridges!
+ships on fire at sea! towns blazing up in the
+night! ropes breaking, falls head-first, my! One would
+have thought that these girls of seventeen to twenty were
+South Sea pirates, talking of hangings and tortures, or,
+rather, children playing at frightening one another. Lily,
+for instance, in India: two eyes glaring at her in the dark,
+gee! And, in New York, a fall into a mirror; all over
+blood; half dead. She grew excited, in her desire to outdo
+Laurence and Crack-o&#8217;-Whip: the steel-buckled belt, the
+kicks in the ribs! Stories of brutal treatment picked up on
+every side&mdash;from the Gilson girl, from Ave Maria, from
+all the boys and all the girls and all the monkeys who had
+been through the mill&mdash;she made every one of them her
+own, served them up hot and hot to the astounded Graces,
+talked of whole days spent in practising on rough, uneven
+boards&mdash;&#8220;And given no food, was I, Glass-Eye?&#8221;&mdash;so
+much so that she would sometimes get up in the night
+and go and pick up the crusts under the table, gee! Lily
+reveled in the pitying expressions of the Three Graces
+and her heart swelled with pride when Thea, greatly
+touched, remarked that, in such cases, it would have been
+better not to be born.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re quite right,&#8221; said Lily, with a drooping air;
+but she burst into a peal of fresh, young laughter when
+she saw Glass-Eye overcome with emotion. &#8220;What&#8217;s
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span>
+that?&#8221; asked Lily, giving her a thump in the ribs. &#8220;Crying?
+You silly cuckoo!&#8221;</p>
+<p>If it hadn&#8217;t been for her Ma&#8217;s insults and Jimmy&#8217;s and
+Trampy&#8217;s&mdash;when it all came back to her, it was like a
+needle stuck in her heart!&mdash;Lily would have been in the
+seventh heaven! No more Pa, no more Ma, no more anybody;
+no boss, no prof, no husband, nothing, all alone
+... with her maid! Certainly, there would be the
+worry of business, looking for her &#8220;digs,&#8221; seeing the
+agents, writing letters and so on; but she would know
+how to put herself forward, how to make the most of her
+work; and she smiled as she reflected how little all those
+worries meant, compared with her past life: and she
+would be free, free, free at last. She was going to earn
+money, to enjoy life.</p>
+<p>And the train rushed on, rushed on through the fields.
+Glass-Eye, with her nose glued to the window, was astonished
+to find everything so large outside of London: red
+villages decked the green country-side; and then came
+empty railway stations. Sometimes the train slowed down:&mdash;a
+large silent town lay spread in the valley, white smoke
+rose from the endless roofs; homes, more homes; the air
+of rest, the empty streets and the indistinct chimes of
+the church-bells proclaimed to the pale heavens the
+majesty of prayer. Lily listened with a dreamy air; it all
+reminded her of things:</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s like the American engines,&#8221; she said to the Three
+Graces, &#8220;that used to ring their bells when they passed
+through Syracuse.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But the train rushed on, rushed on.... And
+they again began to talk shop, as always: with, here
+and there, an excursion into the cost of food. The
+Graces, just then, were unpacking their lunch; and Lily
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span>
+fetched her traveling provisions from her bag in the corridor.
+There was a sound of clattering plates from end
+to end of the train, in a mist of tobacco-smoke. Lily
+rejoined the party very quickly, to avoid coming in contact
+with the pros, and, waited on by Glass-Eye, attacked
+her meal and broke her bread so heartily that the
+crusts flew to the ceiling. They drank out of the same
+cup, took their meat in their hands, Lily saying that fingers
+were made before forks. They chattered noisily,
+with the time-honored jokes about apples and bananas.
+They made Glass-Eye talk a lot of nonsense. Lily, flinging
+back her head, laughed full-throated, held her sides.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My!&#8221; said the Graces. &#8220;What a pity that we are
+separating! It would have been so nice to travel together;
+one&#8217;s never bored with you. What a tomboy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;K you!&#8221; said Lily, greatly flattered, with a stage
+curtsey.</p>
+<p>Unfortunately, they would have to part at Warrington.
+The Graces were going on to Glasgow, Lily was
+changing for Liverpool; a few moments more and it was
+good-by, until chance....</p>
+<p>At Lily&#8217;s request, the Graces gave her a few last words
+of advice, explained the system of the pass-book of the
+Artistes&#8217; Federation: the sixpenny stamp to be stuck in
+the little square every week; the extra stamp at each
+death of a member, for the benefit of the heirs. They
+talked to her of the Friday meetings at Manchester, at
+which every artiste can speak and see himself printed
+afterward in the London <i>Performer</i>.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good!&#8221; thought Lily. &#8220;I may have things to say.
+There will be news for somebody!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The Graces had a &#8220;three years&#8217; book,&#8221; the professional
+<i>agenda</i>, with nothing but Mondays marked on
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span>
+it for the weekly engagement: 8 January, 15 January
+and so on.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I know,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;Mine&#8217;s full for months
+ahead!&#8221;</p>
+<p>They showed her, on theirs, the last pages containing
+portrait advertisements of famous artistes: the Pawnees,
+Marjutti, Laurence.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, if I could get there one day!&#8221; thought Lily. &#8220;I&#8217;d
+post it to Pa; it would be the death of him!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And then followed the thousand and one details of the
+wandering life: your name on the red list, the list handed
+in at the station; the journeys at reduced fares; the music
+for twelve instruments, forty executants, sent on to the
+theater a fortnight in advance.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And matinées are paid for now. And you know, Lily,
+in the Federation you can get a solicitor free.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a good thing to know,&#8221; thought Lily, &#8220;for my
+divorce from that rusty biker!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Oh, how she hated pros, now! The sight of them in
+the corridor, looking at her with glistening eyes, made
+her want to put out her tongue at them! But she preferred
+not to see:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t like to seem stuck-up with them, it&#8217;s not
+polite,&#8221; she observed.</p>
+<p>Nevertheless, she shrugged her shoulders when one of
+them who, no doubt, had known her when she was &#8220;that
+high,&#8221; blew kisses to her from the tips of his fingers, with
+a gesture straight at her heart, through the window.</p>
+<p>And the train rushed on, rushed on. They were nearing
+Warrington. The slopes, on either side, bristled with
+chimneys and houses, houses, endless roofs ... a
+Lancashire rid of its black smoke, like an extinct and
+silent crater ... Warrington!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span></p>
+<p>A few minutes&#8217; wait. There was a general hustle, pros
+stretching their legs, running to the refreshment-room
+for a drink, some seeking seats in the train, others saying
+good-by:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Write to me, eh? Cathedral Hotel, Melbourne.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And a shake of the hand; so long; perhaps for ever.
+More basket trunks were being trundled down the platform.
+A wife was leaving her husband: six months,
+twelve months, without meeting; who could tell? Or else,
+perhaps, between two trains, as the luck of the tours
+would have it; and they seemed very fond of each other,
+too; Lily thought it very pretty. But she had other
+things to do than sentimentalize. She handed out her
+parcels to Glass-Eye and then, standing on the platform,
+said good-by to the Three Graces:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hope you&#8217;ll have a good journey! <i>Au revoir</i>! Send
+me some post-cards,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;Address them to the
+theater, I love that! Good-by! Ta-ta!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The train started. Lily waved her handkerchief to the
+Three Graces.</p>
+<p>One more separation; one more little rent: Lily had
+had so many in her life. As far back as she could remember
+there had been heads at the carriage-window,
+like that; ships standing out to sea; trains rushing into
+the night. But, this time, she was alone, with her maid.
+And she drew herself up proudly, like a lady who had a
+sense of her responsibilities. A new life was opening before
+Lily, as before a girl just coming out. Poor Lily,
+a girl still, in her way, yes, with, for her portion, a feather
+in her hat, a gollywog in her trunk, a pair of supple legs
+and nerves of steel, unerring and exact, trained to turn
+round and round....</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Liverpool! Come along, Glass-Eye!&#8221; said Lily, jogging
+her maid in the ribs.</p>
+<p>Glass-Eye, half asleep, clumsily gathered up her parcels,
+while Lily looked round for the baggage-man. On
+the platform was an avalanche of bags, boxes, picture-frames,
+as at the departure from Euston; the basket
+trunks were being piled up in the theater-vans. Lily
+pointed out her hamper and her bike to the boy from the
+theater, who had come to meet the &#8220;program&#8221; at the station.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you the bicyclist?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am,&#8221; replied Lily modestly.</p>
+<p>She gave her address: not the pros&#8217; boarding-house,
+but private &#8220;digs&#8221; which had been recommended to her
+in London, with a note of introduction. Then she walked
+out of the station, followed by Glass-Eye.</p>
+<p>Lily knew Liverpool, vaguely, as she knew all the
+towns of the United Kingdom and those of America, too,
+and Australia and India and Germany and Holland and
+elsewhere. They were all muddled up in her memory, she
+had seen so many, and made as it were one great city,
+but for occasional salient points, as in the towns which
+you came to in a boat, or those in which you had a circus
+parade, or others still, here and there: Glasgow, where
+she had fallen and broken a tooth; Blackpool with its
+ball-rooms, its tower and a &#8220;contract!&#8221; Sheffield, with
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span>
+its smoking chimneys; Washington, with a dome at the
+end; New York, with its sky-scrapers. The towns of her
+early childhood, leaning against mountains, buried under
+trees, were more remote, more like a dream. Elephants,
+monkeys, harnessed buffaloes; and then Mexico and Ave
+Maria, London and those footy rotters!</p>
+<p>Liverpool was Lime Street: Lily remembered a sort of
+round church; when you got to that, you turned to the
+left. She soon found the house and received from a huge,
+full-blown lady the friendly welcome which Lily&#8217;s artless
+air and fair curls always insured her. No gentleman
+with them? All alone by themselves? A room with a
+big double bed, a little parlor with a bow-window; sixteen
+shillings a week, including the use of the kitchen.
+Just then, the baggage-man arrived, took the trunk up
+to the room and went on with the bike to the pros&#8217; boarding-house
+and the theater. Lily, assisted by Glass-Eye,
+fixed herself up for the week: her dresses on the pegs,
+her linen safe under lock and key in the hamper. Then
+she made a special parcel of things for the stage: paper
+flowers, ostrich feathers, white laced boots.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There, wrap that up in my petticoat,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;And
+the music and the gollywog: you can bring all that to my
+dressing-room to-morrow morning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Next, Lily made herself look smart, freshened up her
+two bows, threw her green muslin scarf over her shoulders
+and went down to the parlor to pick out her favorite
+tune&mdash;<i>The Bluebells of Scotland</i>&mdash;with one finger on the
+piano. Meanwhile, the landlady spread the cloth: bread,
+marmalade, watercress, two eggs. Then, according to instructions
+received, Glass-Eye announced to Miss Lily
+that tea was ready. Lily affably invited Glass-Eye to sit
+down to table with her; and the two ate away like
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span>
+friends. Lily took the opportunity to settle her expenses;
+for instance&mdash;and this she insisted upon&mdash;if she, Lily,
+took a maid, she wouldn&#8217;t
+have her for nothing; she
+intended to pay her some
+small monthly wage.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And a good many little
+perquisites besides, you
+understand, Glass-Eye; my
+old frocks, my hats.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Glass-Eye did not ask
+that, would have given her
+other eye to serve Miss Lily.</p>
+<p>Lily was still asleep, at
+twelve o&#8217;clock the next
+morning, when Glass-Eye
+entered the room. She had
+lost her way, had walked
+miles, had been to the landing-stage
+of the music-hall....</p>
+<p>&#8220;At what time&#8217;s rehearsal?&#8221;
+asked Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;At one o&#8217;clock, Miss
+Lily.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you let me sleep
+till twelve, when I have so
+much to do!&#8221; said Lily.
+&#8220;Go and get breakfast
+ready ... or you&#8217;d
+better mind yourself!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily put out her
+hand to lay hold of a boot;
+but Glass-Eye was gone.</p>
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg225.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 259px; height: 540px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 259px;'>
+GLASS-EYE MAUD<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span></div>
+<p>Lily, while dressing, reflected upon her new responsibilities,
+upon the way in which servants should be treated.
+No familiarity; not too severe, either; and no smackings
+... that is to say ... however ...</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must dress her simply,&#8221; thought Lily. &#8220;My hats,
+but without the feathers; coarse thread gloves; and she
+must always carry a parcel.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily was eager to go to rehearsal, accompanied by her
+maid. There is no rehearsing at &#8220;rehearsal:&#8221; the &#8220;times,&#8221;
+the scenic effects are settled with the conductor of the
+band; there are no bare arms or bloomers practising
+on their carpets: a few dark groups, in ordinary walking
+dress; others, in their shirt sleeves, are opening boxes,
+and no mystery, no shifting lights: the stage and the
+house one wan hole, except the red and gold note of the
+curtain and the black mass of the musicians, with the
+gleaming brasses.</p>
+<p>The artistes went up to the conductor, one after the
+other, and explained their &#8220;turns:&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;When I come on, this tune, soft, six times, to begin
+with; then, once, loud. When I go off ... a roll
+of drums.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The band, each time, played two or three bars, mechanically,
+at sight; then it was understood and ...
+next, please.</p>
+<p>Lily had seen this before, but not under these conditions;
+not dressed as at present; not accompanied by a
+maid. She listened as hard as she could when she walked
+on to the stage, caught the remarks, enjoyed the impression
+which she produced. They seemed to ask:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who is it? A singer? A dancer?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, Lily; Miss Lily, you know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She guessed all that. Then:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;My score, Maud!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, leaning toward the orchestra, she explained, in
+her turn: pizzicati, mazurka, frog, swan, back-wheel, the
+waltz for the twirls, the march for the exit. And
+Lily withdrew with a half-curtsey and a pretty smile.
+Next, she put out her things in her dressing-room, on
+the table, before the looking-glass: brushes, pencils,
+grease-paints, strings of pearls for her hair. She
+hung a cord from the door to the window, to dry her
+tights on, when she washed a pair in the basin. She got
+out her little work-box, in case of anything tearing,
+threaded a needle, freshened up the knots of her ribbons,
+pinned photographs and p.-c.&#8217;s on the wall. And, over
+all, she hung her gollywog, a hairy doll, white-collared,
+red-waistcoated, with, in its black face, under the
+bristling hair, two shining tacks by way of eyes. It
+was the protecting idol. Not that Lily, ever faithful to the
+Church of England, believed much in gollywogs; but, like
+most music-hall people, she felt safer when she knew it
+was there. And her dressing-room, with the spangled
+skirts and the tights hanging down like flayed skins, suggested
+some strange, exotic chapel in which a fetish sat
+enthroned.</p>
+<p>After that, Lily had nothing left to do. She went out
+with Glass-Eye and walked round to the front to look at
+her lithos. She saw to her annoyance that a serio was
+topping the bill&mdash;and a comic singer middling it and
+a cinematograph bottoming it. But no matter, she had
+a good place, just under the bill-topper.</p>
+<p>Next came shopping, through the windows. She
+bought a pair of thread gloves for Glass-Eye at Lewis&#8217;s
+and then went in and lay on her bed, feeling ever
+so tired from getting up late that morning. She
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span>
+dreamed and dreamed, while Glass-Eye went marketing.
+As soon as Lily was alone, the thought pricked her
+like a pin: looking pretty, indeed! Her gentlemen friends!
+Jimmy, that traitor, and Trampy! Trampy would be
+sure to play her some dirty trick. Oh, if she could
+get a divorce from him, in spite of all! She had made
+inquiries in London. She would want a solicitor. She
+must have one, to set inquiries on foot.... She could
+have as many witnesses as she pleased: all those girls
+... and the stage hands ... and two artistes,
+on the day when Trampy, in his fury, had flung his bike
+at her on the stairs; the pedal had grazed her temple, yes,
+at Dresden. That wasn&#8217;t the way to treat a lady. Everything
+that had happened was his fault; and they&#8217;d see
+who won the day, he or she. Her forehead wrinkled
+up with anger when she thought of it. She bit her
+lips and clenched her fists and then ... and then
+... enough of that! She&#8217;d see to-morrow. And other
+cares came to bother her: the indispensable things which
+she would have to buy at the end of the week out of her
+salary; open-work stockings, an aigrette for the theater, a
+little black bog-oak pig to wear at her wrist. And Jimmy&#8217;s
+thousand marks ...</p>
+<p>&#8220;Damn it, let him wait!&#8221; And, with her hand on her
+lucky charm, Lily fell asleep.</p>
+<p>In the evening, at the theater, she forgot everything.
+She felt a longing, a fevered desire to appear. When her
+turn came, after the xylophones, who seemed, behind their
+tables laden with bottles, to be keeping a bar of musical
+sounds; when the light shining on the great back-drop
+threw up into dazzling relief the blue sea, the blue sky and
+the white colonnade and terraces; when, amid the flash of
+the lime-light and the thunder of the orchestra, she made
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span>
+her entrance on the stage, Lily had a smile of triumph.
+Life was beginning for her at last! She could have cried
+out for happiness to that human mass which, behind the
+flaming streak of the footlights, spread itself, bare-necked
+and bedizened, in the warm shadow of the front
+boxes. And she directed a scarlet smile, set off with a
+glint of gold, to the audience.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I believe I was grand to-night,&#8221; said Lily, as she went
+off, out of breath. &#8220;Oh, if there had been an agent in the
+house! But no such luck: they&#8217;re never there when they&#8217;re
+wanted! And those two fellows,&#8221; she thought to herself.
+&#8220;If they had been there, they&#8217;d have died of jealousy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Everybody spoiled her. She needed a strong head
+to resist the flatteries with which she was overwhelmed,
+both as artiste and woman. For instance, when a row
+of Roofers were puffing away on the stage, some manager,
+who had known her when she was &#8220;that high,&#8221; was
+sure to observe that her talent, her firm, round hips&mdash;&#8220;Eh,
+Lily, you&#8217;ve got plenty of that now!&#8221; ... Lily
+blushed under the compliment&mdash;would make more impression
+than a whole herd of Roofers:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh, Lily? I say, what are you doing to-night? Come
+and have some ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Glass-Eye, my handkerchief,&#8221; Lily broke in, suspecting
+an invitation to supper.</p>
+<p>Glass-Eye, in obedience to a gesture of Lily&#8217;s, opened
+the wrist-bag, gave Lily the lace handkerchief and Lily
+hid her mocking smile in a scented gesture. Then:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-by. Ta-ta!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And they shook hands, like good friends, nothing
+more.</p>
+<p>Glass-Eye frightened off the admirers with her fixed
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span>
+stare. And Lily had no lack of them. She loved flirting.
+She wanted adulation, wanted to be made much
+of. She had a revenge to take, arrears to make up; she
+and sympathy had, till then, been strangers. She now
+took her fill of it, got carried away, saw nothing but lovers
+around her, three or four at a time, as when the comic
+quartet, the Out-of-Tunes, used to grin kisses to her in
+the street. It was for her that they were there, every
+one of them, down to the acting managers, who did not
+disdain to come round from the front and take a turn on
+the stage. It might be a question of steam-pipes or electric
+wires; no matter, Lily took it all to herself, made
+herself amiable toward their dress-coats and white shirt-fronts,
+and said &#8220;&#8217;K you!&#8221; with the great stage bow, the
+body bent in a sweeping curtsey, when they complimented
+her on her firm, round hips. She stabbed them with
+smiles, to make sure of complimentary phrases in their
+weekly reports to the central boards. All of them;
+the electrician, the conductor of the band, she had them
+all at her feet. It became a need for Lily to see people
+all around her dying for love. It gave her a feeling of
+mingled pride and remorse.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can I help it, Glass-Eye?&#8221; she would ask, to quiet
+her conscience. &#8220;They&#8217;re mad. They would leave their
+wives and children for me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She had an autograph album filled with &#8220;thoughts&#8221;
+and declarations:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I love you! <i>Je vous aime! Ich liebe dich</i>!&#8221;</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span>
+<img src='images/illus-pg231.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 416px; height: 594px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 416px;'>
+In the pros&#8217; smoking-room.<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span></div>
+<p>Lily, now that the audience was good for invitations
+to supper, bouquets and sweets, occupied herself
+with that somber mass which, formerly, did not cause
+her so much uneasiness as the presence of her Pa. Lily,
+like a real stage-girl, who had beheld waves miles high
+between Harwich and the Hook of Holland, saw in a
+few flowers a bouquet large enough to fill a cab and the
+least little love letter grew, in her eyes, into an offer to
+present her with motor-cars and to abandon wife and
+child. If a gentleman, for once in a way, stood on the
+pavement waiting for her, she dreamed of an elopement.
+And there were pros, too, who prowled around her, in
+the half light of the wings, and came up to her with
+outstretched hand:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, Mrs. Trampy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Call me Miss Lily,&#8221; she said, in a vexed voice.
+&#8220;That&#8217;s the name I&#8217;m known by.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And many of them did know her, in fact, from having
+talked about her in Fourteenth Street in New York, or
+in State Street at Sidney, or in the theaters in South
+Africa, for that story of the whippings had traveled all
+around the world, under the folds of the Union Jack.
+Some proposed to take her with them in their show, or to
+go with her to clean her bike, instead of Glass-Eye:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it a bargain?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I <i>don&#8217;t</i> think!&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>Another, just off for Melbourne, told her that, in
+Australia, you could find fire-escapes to marry you for
+half-a-crown. They joked without constraint, in the
+pros&#8217; smoking-room, a small and dark corner between
+the house and the stage.... All of them, all the pros,
+she had them all at her feet; but she didn&#8217;t care for that
+sort and she sent them all to eat coke.</p>
+<p>The months all passed alike. She had finished the
+Bill and Boom tour. She continued in the private
+music-halls, from north to south, from east to west of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span>
+England. In spite of Glass-Eye&#8217;s impossible cooking and
+the everlasting ham sandwiches and pork-pies of the railway
+station refreshment rooms, Lily grew plumper and
+plumper, her nervous leanness filled out, with pigeon&#8217;s
+eggs and ostrich&#8217;s eggs everywhere, in front and behind.
+She did not kill herself with work. Once, in Glasgow, at
+a music-hall where, a few weeks earlier, Laurence had
+had a terrible fall, lying unconscious for two whole hours,
+the frightened manager said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;No dangerous tricks, mind! They only get us into
+trouble!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Another time, she was given only seven minutes,
+watch in hand, on the stage.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Couldn&#8217;t you cut that little trick? You know the one
+I mean,&#8221; said the manager.</p>
+<p>He called a little trick a performance which it had
+cost her eighteen months&#8217; hard practice and no end of
+bruises to learn. Lily did not wait to be asked twice.
+She cut as desired and thought it a jolly lot easier to trot
+round quietly, as though out for a ride, with pretty smiles
+to the audience. She ended by paying more attention to
+her dresses than to her work:</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not so much what one does,&#8221; she said, &#8220;as the way
+one does it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The sympathy with which she was surrounded unmanned
+the Spartan in her. She strove to please, no
+longer gave her performance for herself, like a machine,
+unerring and exact. Already in a few months, she was
+spoiled. She looked for adventitious successes. She said,
+&#8220;The audience is very cold at Birmingham,&#8221; because she
+was not asked out to supper, and, &#8220;They do like artistes
+at Sheffield, gee!&#8221; because a gentleman had sent her
+champagne and flowers in her dressing-room.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span></p>
+<p>In the towns where she played three times a day&mdash;a
+matinée and two night turns&mdash;she gave half of her performance,
+cut whatever was dangerous or tiring. She
+never practised now; just went down in the morning to
+fetch her letters at the theater, where she loved receiving
+them, post-cards especially, which any one could
+read. She said to the jossers:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Send me lots; talk about motor-cars and champagne
+suppers: that drives the pros wild.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She left them lying on the table, or else walked about
+on the stage, with her letters in her hand, like a lady
+overwhelmed with offers, with invitations. If, by any
+chance, she went to the practice at the end of the week,
+it was to display her hat, her new boots; and she
+laughed to herself when she saw the artistes, each on
+his carpet, fagging away like mad. She felt like a
+fine lady visiting a boarding-school, among those little
+girls practising their flip-flaps or gluing themselves
+to the wall to try their back-bendings. The pride of a
+Marjutti, who, they said, tortured her spinal column to
+achieve a double knot; the inordinate ambition of a
+Laurence, risking her life for the pleasure of risking it,
+were things which she did not understand. And then,
+all those accidents! Dolly Pawnee, the other day, had
+broken her arm at the New York Hippodrome; the Gilson
+girl had fallen on her head at Budapest. They
+were mad, thought Lily, to do all that without being
+obliged to! No, no; no more of that for her! The last
+thing she wanted was to spoil her face, seeing that she
+had nothing but her smile to keep her. And Lily grew
+timid, looked upon herself more and more as a very
+precious little thing. She gave herself terrible airs on rehearsal
+day; thought the stage too slippery, or too small.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span>
+Lily wanted a stage thirty feet wide, no less; she who,
+in the old days, at a gesture from Pa, would have performed
+her whole turn, including the head-on-the-saddle,
+on the top of a cab or on the Stoke Newington pavement.
+Formerly, she used to think everything good, did not
+know what fatigue meant; now, in the middle of her turn,
+she would say to herself, sometimes with a feeling of discouragement:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve only done half. I&#8217;ve still got this and that to do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And the audience itself seemed to act as her confederate.
+When she missed one of her tricks, Lily would lay
+her bike on the stage, step down to the footlights, bow
+with a confused air, beg pardon with a smile and receive
+a reassuring round of applause. Lily loved these refined
+audiences: <i>her</i> audiences, as she said; not the matinée
+audiences, with seats at reduced prices: to see your grocer
+or your butcher in the front boxes was rotten; and those
+people gave themselves such airs. A cheap way of doing
+the grand!</p>
+<p>And the landladies spoiled her, too; those worthy souls
+who treated her as their own daughter.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And a jolly sight better!&#8221; thought Lily.</p>
+<p>Others pitied her for the profession she followed,
+feared she would break something, one fine day. Lily
+thought that very sweet of them, would have liked to stay
+with them for ever; but there was the constant rent at
+parting, a bit of herself which Lily left behind her every
+week. And the bothers that Maud caused her! Her
+stupidity drove Lily mad: tickets lost, bags mislaid,
+disputes with the tradesmen, battles with the bike,
+scratches on the shins, on the hands, everywhere. Lily
+lost patience, threatened her with the leather belt,
+damn it!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span></p>
+<p>Sometimes, Lily became incensed with herself and
+everybody. Her divorce kept running in her head. And
+her three years&#8217; book, with its last pages unsoiled by
+engagements, also gave her cause for uneasiness; and
+yet the acting managers must have sung her praises, in
+their weekly reports,&mdash;the ones who came and made
+love to her on the stage!</p>
+<p>After different music-halls, she had done the Harrasford
+tour, but without any great success. People who
+had known her with the troupe thought that she had gone
+off. Lily was furious: if, on those evenings, she missed
+a trick, she would knock Glass-Eye about when she returned
+to the wings, storm at the stage&mdash;&#8220;Slippery as
+ice, damn it!&#8221;&mdash;fling her bike, which was not to blame,
+against the wall. Lily, in her pink tights, under the pendants
+of false pearls on her forehead, looked like an
+angry savage, ready to fly at your throat.</p>
+<p>That was her life. No adventures, really; theaters in
+which she caught on, theaters in which she didn&#8217;t go
+down so well; more or less prolonged applause; an encore
+or two; and, here and there, a bouquet large enough
+to fill a cab: those were the great events. And it was
+always the same show, on the same stage, from one end
+of England to the other; theaters and theaters; so many
+theaters that, in her memory, they ended, like the towns,
+by making only one. It was always herds of Roofers,
+swaying in unison, with flaxen wigs, scarlet legs, boyish
+voices; and &#8220;families,&#8221; &#8220;sisters,&#8221; &#8220;brothers,&#8221; all different,
+but all alike, going up the staircase to their dressing-rooms
+in wraps, like gouty people at a spa, and serios,
+serios, with choruses emphasized by dances. Sometimes,
+a new attraction, a Venus without tights, or a bare-breasted
+Salome, would draw whole groups, boys and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span>
+girls mixed, to the wings, with their necks stretched
+toward the stage. And there were exotic features, too:
+conjurers from Malabar; boomerang-throwing bush-men;
+the Light of Asia, a Chinese girl without arms,
+an artificial product, like those beggar-monsters whom
+they cultivate in pots in the mountains of Navarre. She
+saw the boy-violinist again. Since that bite in the seat
+of his trousers, at Budapest, he had abandoned all hope
+of fame and was looking for an engagement in the
+orchestra. She saw the female-impersonator with the
+green eyes. She saw numbers and numbers. She ended
+by seeing them all again, in the various greenrooms.
+She heard names mentioned. People were coming on
+all round: Tom, singing-girls, dancing-girls. She would
+have to do something, too, after all, to get herself
+talked about! She had received a shock on opening
+<i>The Era</i>: they had not taken out her name! There
+was still a Miss Lily at Rathbone Place: her cousin
+Daisy, it appeared, a stranger, was there in her stead,
+under her name! And they were stealing her idea!
+The New Zealanders were now called the New Trickers;
+no doubt the turn which she had described to Pa.
+Something new, something new was essential. She must
+manage to hit upon something! She turned it all over
+in her head. There were too many Lilies, Lilians, Lillians;
+you saw nothing but Lillians on the posters. But
+what about a Lilia Godiva, quite naked on her bike,
+like the other on her horse? She would mimic the
+scene, love and despair, and she would think of something
+to raise a laugh! Peeping Tom, for instance,
+stretching out his neck and stealing a kiss as she passed.
+Oh, she would find a way&mdash;trust her!&mdash;of showing
+them what she had in her! And Jimmy and Trampy
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span>
+pursued her incessantly with their hateful memory.
+Trampy, she was told, was still the darling of the fair.</p>
+<p>Lily was greatly astonished that he had not tried to
+obtain a divorce, on his side:</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s afraid,&#8221; she said to herself.</p>
+<p>More than ever, she busied herself with collecting her
+witnesses; she would soon be rid of her tramp cyclist.</p>
+<p>People also talked about Jimmy, whose reputation was
+still increasing. After a triumphant season at the Hippodrome,
+he had left for America. Jimmy was becoming
+a national champion. An article in <i>The Era</i> spoke
+of &#8220;our Jimmy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a friend of yours, Lily,&#8221; people said. &#8220;You
+ought to know all about him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily tossed her head, like one who could say a great
+deal if she would....</p>
+<p>Oh, how she longed for revenge when she thought
+of that! Oh, if she could only have served them out
+somehow! If she could get <i>The Performer Annual</i>
+to send her those questions to answer: &#8220;Q. Your
+favorite town? Your favorite audience? Your idea of
+marriage? Your pet aversion?&#8221; wouldn&#8217;t she give it
+them hot, just! She thought of having her biography
+written, the real one. She herself sometimes jotted down
+things she remembered, on bits of paper, on the backs of
+envelopes, in her dressing-room; arranged her picture
+post-cards in order; called that writing her memoirs. She
+would crush them with her successes, give names and
+dates: that lord who wanted to travel with her, the fifty-pound
+diamond brooch he had given her. And bouquets,
+chocolates, sweets ... by the cart-load! That stage-manager
+who cried when she went away! All, all in love
+with her: yes, those and ever so many more!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span></p>
+<p>She had so much to say that she did not know where
+to begin. She knocked up against too many people, men
+and women, without counting monkeys, parrots, dogs,
+cats, ponies, elephants; it all ended by getting mixed up
+in her head, like the theaters and the towns. She grew
+quite bewildered, among so many different things. She
+had seen everything and done everything. Once, during
+a week when she was &#8220;resting,&#8221; she had helped her landlady,
+who kept a public-house, to draw the beer and had
+waited on the customers, with her fifty-pound diamond
+brooch at her throat.</p>
+<p>At a benefit performance, one night, when they were
+drinking champagne on the stage, actors, singers, artistes,
+all together, her pink tights had excited the dress-coats.
+Lily had been &#8220;pressed in company,&#8221; that is to say, surrounded
+till she did not know which way to turn, while
+her time was pretty well taken up with saying, &#8220;Paws
+off!&#8221; before, behind, on every side. She had triumphed
+at galas, above a tumult of heads and parasols: at Roundhay
+Park, among other places, beneath the motto, &#8220;Let
+Leeds flourish!&#8221; Feeling anxious about her future, she
+had consulted a &#8220;Zanzig&#8221; at Earl&#8217;s Court. Each week
+brought its surprises, its fresh knowledge. Lily learned
+something every day: &#8220;If you see a lamb in the fields
+with its head turned toward you, that&#8217;s lucky; if you see
+its tail first, it&#8217;s a sign of bad luck,&#8221; and the way of
+holding your hands, of placing your fingers, of whispering
+certain words in certain circumstances.</p>
+<p>She collected halfpennies with holes in them. In
+Ireland, she had kissed the Blarney stone and picked
+shamrock in the ruins. She had lost her little mother-of-pearl
+hunchback in the labyrinth of underground passages
+at the Blackpool Tower Circus. The loss of this
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span>
+lucky charm had damped her spirits for a week. And
+her profits were small and her &#8220;exes&#8221; constantly increasing:
+tips to the call-boy, who cleaned her bike; tips to the
+stage-manager; half-crowns and five shillings in every
+direction. As soon as she had put a trifle by, a week without
+an engagement made her hard-up again. Though she
+traveled at reduced fares and contented herself with a
+ham sandwich or a slice of pork-pie on the road, she
+would never, never be able to repay Jimmy that money:
+she had not even paid Glass-Eye yet! Her dresses for on
+and off the stage swallowed up everything. And yet she
+couldn&#8217;t go about naked, like Lady Godiva!</p>
+<p>And time passed and passed. Lily was growing <i>old</i>:
+she was eighteen! There were girls of her age who were
+already beyond work, used up, like that girl contortionist
+who had just been cut open for a tumor; and
+Lily had as yet achieved nothing! Oh, she ought to have
+signed for America or Australia, or else for Russia, of
+which she had heard wonders&mdash;Poland, the Parisienne,
+had just returned from there covered with diamonds&mdash;theaters
+that played all night and did not close till dawn,
+to the clicking of champagne-glasses. Lily dreamed of
+it, ecstatically: England was no good to her now. The
+New Trickers, with their own cheap Lily, were working
+her idea on the Bill and Boom Tour! If only she could
+have the continent! They were talking of a new music-hall
+which Harrasford was to open in Paris. He meant
+to make a palace of it, they said, and he was also stretching
+out his arm toward Antwerp, Cologne, Lyons, Marseilles,
+a continental trust....</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what I ought to have,&#8221; thought Lily.</p>
+<p>Her present life seemed empty, notwithstanding its
+excitement: it was like the sound of a band; nothing remained
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_244' name='page_244'></a>244</span>
+of it. Departures, constant departures from one
+town to another, always leaving, never staying. But for
+Glass-Eye&#8217;s company she would have cried, sometimes,
+for sheer melancholy, as at the sight of those really loving
+couples in the boarding-houses, on the stage itself; those
+babies in the arms of their Mas; it made her heart ache;
+the thought of it pursued her like the call of distant bells,
+while the train rushed into the darkness.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;May joy and pleasure be your lot</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>As through this world you trot, trot, trot.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='text-align: right;'>&#8220;X.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;In the golden chain of friendship, regard me as a link.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='text-align: right;'>&#8220;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Loving Pal</span> (Palace, Sheffield).&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>There were pages and pages like this in Lily&#8217;s autograph
+book. The last entry was that of a couple of
+friends, the dark one and the fair one:</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;May success always follow you, and eventually a good</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>fellow collar you, is the sincere wish of the</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='text-align: right;'>&#8220;Sisters Arriett and Nancy&mdash;The ideal pair (of legs!)&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Since Miss Lily&#8217;s arrival in Paris, her collection had
+been increased by the addition of a fervent declaration
+from her friend, the architect. This had been her welcome
+in Paris, the good fellow, no doubt, prophesied by
+the ideal pair of legs; yes, she had hardly reached Paris
+and already there were people dying of love around her,
+already a man at her feet.</p>
+<p>Lily was delighted to meet this sincere friend again, a
+friend of her childhood, who, she said, had known her
+when she was &#8220;that high&#8221;: one poor devil the more
+ready to leave wife and children for her sake. The
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span>
+evening before, in her dressing-room, at the Bijou Theater,
+she had told him the story of her life since leaving her
+parents. It made her forget to ask about Harrasford
+and the new theater which he was to open: was it
+ready? The architect ought to know better than anybody.
+She would ask him to-night. And Lily lay turning
+this over, in the morning, in bed, notwithstanding
+her other cares, for she must get clear somehow, must
+see the agents that afternoon. She had plenty to do
+beside her turn. She had to busy herself with those thousand
+and one details.... She would never have
+believed that it was so hard to fill her three years&#8217; book.
+Lily felt half-dead with fatigue before she started:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let me sleep!&#8221; said Lily, stretching herself in the big
+double bed which Glass-Eye had just left; &#8220;clear out!
+Let me sleep!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Glass-Eye made a rush at Lily, tickled her in the
+neck, stifled her laughter under the pillow: it was a necessity
+for them in the morning, those few minutes of
+horse-play, of thumps and smacks, which rang out on
+every side. Lily, at last, full-throated, with fluttering
+nostrils, cried out for mercy. The maid went off, Lily,
+now quite awake, remained alone, and her worries returned:
+no more love, no more music, as at the theater,
+no more purple rays, nothing but gloomy hours, a long
+day stretching out before her like a gray corridor. It
+was real life now: letters to write, costumes to mend, last
+night&#8217;s tights to wash in the basin.... Lily, sitting
+on the edge of her bed, took her purse from where
+she had hidden it under the bolster&mdash;a habit she had
+acquired in marriage, because of Trampy&#8217;s nightly ferretings&mdash;and
+emptied it on the sheets: one blue banknote;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span>
+one, two, three gold coins. How much did that
+make in pounds, shillings and pence? Hardly seven
+pounds. It was all in vain for her to economize, like that
+Ma of a star, who counted the potatoes. It was all in
+vain for her to stint in every way, to keep back Glass-Eye&#8217;s
+wages for over a year, saying that she would
+pay her in a lump: she would have almost nothing left
+after the purchases which she had to make. It was true
+that, to-morrow, she would receive her fortnight&#8217;s pay;
+and she hoped for a renewal. She felt sure of it, if only
+because of the way in which the manager had taken her
+by the chin. Then a fortnight at the Brussels Alhambra&mdash;1
+November, Flora, Amsterdam&mdash;10 January, Copenhagen&mdash;and,
+for the rest, her three years&#8217; book was empty
+and each empty page represented months without work&mdash;all
+her profits would be swallowed up by her enforced
+idleness. She would never clear herself, never be able
+to pay Jimmy. Oh, she was furious with him because
+she could not discharge her debt to him once and for
+all, fling his money in his face, show him if people remained
+penniless long when they had her talent! That
+idea comforted Lily. And it was important that she
+should look nice to-day, to go the round of the agents.
+Lily dressed quickly, cunningly puffed out her bows, a
+trick she had learned as a child, and then, before putting
+on her dress, cooked the food with Glass-Eye, who had
+just come in with her parcels.</p>
+<p>Then a dash of scent on the handkerchief, a touch of
+rouge on the lips and, leaving the room all untidy, she
+went out, followed by Glass-Eye, rigged out in a pair
+of thread mittens and carrying the sunshade and the
+wrist-bag. Quick, quick! For Lily knew by experience
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_248' name='page_248'></a>248</span>
+that it is well to be the first at the agent&#8217;s or else there&#8217;s
+nothing for you.</p>
+<p>She did not dislike those walks through the Paris
+streets:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s have some fun,&#8221; she said to Glass-Eye.</p>
+<p>By this, Lily meant laughing at those &#8220;tiny Frenchies&#8221;;
+and, if they ventured to accost her, crushing them with
+a &#8220;<i>Vous hettes oun cochon</i>!&#8221; Although, among the people
+she mixed with, agents, artistes, stage-hands, everybody
+spoke English, Lily had not come to Paris without
+learning a few words, &#8220;<i>Oui</i> ... <i>Non</i> ... <i>Vous</i>
+<i>hettes oun cochon</i>!&#8221; and so on, which were indispensable,
+she thought, to a girl who wanted to make herself respected
+on the continent, a girl alone, especially. And
+she loved to snub those damned <i>parley-voos</i> who dared
+to accost ladies. It seemed to lighten those days of visits
+to the agents, the very prospect of which gave her a
+headache in advance, because one had to think of everything,
+lithos, photographs, programs; and, if the agent
+wasn&#8217;t in, ruin one&#8217;s self in correspondence; and puff
+one&#8217;s self in every way, rub it into them that one was the
+cleverest person on earth....</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you&#8217;re too modest,&#8221; said Lily, &#8220;they&#8217;ll take you at
+your word!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And the pay would drop, in consequence.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never tell your salary!&#8221; was another of Lily&#8217;s favorite
+maxims.</p>
+<p>She gave out that she made heaps, that a little star like
+her, the Marie Loyd of the bike, was only to be obtained
+for untold gold. But, at the agent&#8217;s, she had to cut her
+prices: there was no hiding anything from them; it was
+like going to the doctor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And, when you&#8217;re in work, everybody wants you;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span>
+and, when you&#8217;re out of work, they have nothing for
+you: it&#8217;s help yourself as best you may!&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>She had to help herself now; and it was delicate business
+dealing with people who have only one idea in their
+heads, to swindle you, in order to curry favor with the
+managers by getting them cheap turns. They would
+have skinned you alive:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Two pounds a week. Do you accept?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go to Halifax!&#8221; Lily would reply in such cases, looking
+them straight in the face. It took courage to do that:
+the agent might grow bigger, become an enemy. She
+didn&#8217;t care! She wasn&#8217;t going to lower her price for anybody!
+And the commission she had to pay them was a
+torment to Lily; calculating the percentage made her head
+split&mdash;not to speak of the complicated nature of the
+contracts, worse than insurance policies. The poor artiste
+was bound down on every side, at the mercy of the
+manager; everything was foreseen, down to the prohibition
+of black tights, which concealed one&#8217;s poverty. And
+it was bad enough in England; but in the Dago countries,
+on the continent, it was worse.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can you understand a word of it, Glass-Eye?&#8221; asked
+Lily, explaining to her maid the tricks which the artiste
+had to fight against. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how the small turns
+manage,&#8221; she concluded, in the tone of a woman who
+towers above all that.</p>
+<p>Lily&#8217;s prettiness made the people in the street turn
+round to look at her. They would gaze at her cheeky
+feather, whisper, &#8220;You pretty, pretty darling!&#8221; in her
+ear. Lily, secretly delighted, held herself ready to crush
+the saucy rascal with a &#8220;How dare you?&#8221; like a lady
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span>
+who knows how to appreciate a compliment, without permitting
+the least familiarity. And when she approached
+the agency, she insisted on Glass-Eye&#8217;s keeping by her
+side, asked for things: her wrist-bag, her embroidered
+handkerchief. And her way of walking in! Lily pretended
+to be short-sighted, so as to see no one in the
+rotten lot. She sent in her card, sat down in the waiting-room.
+It reminded her of the dentist&#8217;s, with those
+pale people sitting on benches; those serio-comics, all
+over-fat; loud-voiced topical singers, who took the place
+of the real artistes, just like the bioscopes and cinematographs!
+There were also little families&mdash;small turns that
+had struggled hard to learn a few tricks&mdash;nobody wanted
+them, because they had no &#8220;chic&#8221; costumes, sometimes,
+or no lithos....</p>
+<p>Those were received like dogs: a wretched couple was
+just coming out, a man and a woman, sad with a humility
+accustomed to rebuffs; and the agent drove them toward
+the door, with his voice:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eccentric mashers? No opening for you. Call again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily got a good reception, in the agent&#8217;s room; but
+there was nothing for her. And the agent saw her to
+the door, with a satisfied air and a knowing wink, as
+though to make the others believe ... Lily didn&#8217;t
+like that kind&mdash;her short-sightedness did not prevent her
+noticing it and blushing at it&mdash;but she was very pleased,
+all the same, to be seen to the door, before those small
+turns who were received like dogs....</p>
+<p>On the pavement outside, the wretched couple came up
+to her shyly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you know us, Miss Lily? The Para-Paras.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She had to listen to a pitiful tale. She heard nothing
+but that, when she went on her rounds of visits to the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span>
+agents. Oh, the distress which she beheld there! It
+made Lily feel quite ill at night. A little more and she
+would have said her prayers, before
+getting into bed, to thank
+God that she hadn&#8217;t come to
+that. Poor Paras! Starving,
+no doubt, remaining for weeks
+in their garret, pretending that
+they had been performing in the
+provinces ... abroad....
+Lily pictured them passing the
+stage-doorkeepers to whom they
+had sold their parrots and being
+greeted with a &#8220;What&#8217;s for
+breakfast, Polly?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Lily,&#8221; they confessed,
+in a whisper, &#8220;you know such a
+lot of people: if ever you hear
+of anything for us, never mind
+where ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor beggars!&#8221; thought
+Lily.</p>
+<p>And her Ma had prophesied
+to her that, one day, she
+would be worse off
+than they! No, she
+would never be half
+so badly off! Why,
+she could have had
+anything she wanted,
+motor-cars, Paris
+gowns, for the asking.</p>
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg247.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 196px; height: 557px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 196px;'>
+THE PARA-PARAS<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Glass-Eye, my
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span>
+bag!&#8221; And, handing a small gold coin to the wretched
+couple, &#8220;There ... between artistes, you know
+... give it back when you can; good-by. Did you
+notice, Glass-Eye,&#8221; asked Lily, as she walked away, &#8220;how
+flattered they were when I said, &#8216;Between artistes?&#8217; They
+looked quite touched.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But there was no time to waste in nonsense, on a day
+when she was calling on the agents. The thing was to
+get there first; and Lily consulted her addresses....</p>
+<p>She was exasperated at being obliged, with her talent,
+to climb all those stairs, to hang about in the waiting-room,
+she, Lily Clifton! And it reeked of vice, stunk
+with the trashy scent of the &#8220;not-up-to-muches:&#8221; merely
+to look at them suggested faces seen in Piccadilly at
+night or in the Burlington Arcade.</p>
+<p>Lily sent in her card, threw a short-sighted glance
+around her and remained standing, like a lady who is
+never kept waiting and who is sure to be received at once.
+And, with her head bent down and her chin in her gold-spotted
+tie, she turned over the pages of <i>Le Courrier des
+Cafés Concerts</i> on the table ... names which she
+didn&#8217;t know ... the small &#8220;numbers&#8221; of the continent
+... so much the better ... all the more
+chance for her. But the engagement which she dreamed
+of did not offer this time either. What the agent did
+propose to her, almost without lowering his voice, with
+the door open, before everybody, was the grated private
+boxes of South America ... the private rooms of
+Russia ... accompanied, at a startled movement on
+Lily&#8217;s part, by this concession:</p>
+<p>&#8220;You needn&#8217;t sleep there, you know!&#8221;</p>
+<p>To talk like that to a lady! Lily felt stifled. Was
+that what she had learned the bike for? To exhibit
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span>
+herself after the show, at the customers&#8217; disposal? Lily
+could have fainted on the stairs, as she went down.</p>
+<p>&#8220;One of those!&#8221; she said. &#8220;Not I!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she continued her weary pilgrimage of stairs,
+from agent to agent.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must have six months filled up in my book before to-night!&#8221;
+she said, determined to visit them all, small and
+large, rather than go back empty-handed.</p>
+<p>There were some who suggested to her that ten per
+cent. was really very little....</p>
+<p>&#8220;I like their style!&#8221; thought Lily. &#8220;They want an
+extra sop thrown to them: one might as well work for
+nothing!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She thanked them, nevertheless, so as not to make
+enemies of them&mdash;one never knows&mdash;and the agent
+doesn&#8217;t matter so much; but the assistant, who happens
+to have known you when you were &#8220;that high&#8221; ...
+better give him a tip, lest he should round on you.</p>
+<p>She also saw a former artiste, a friend of Pa&#8217;s, who
+had become an agent.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Lily? Lily Clifton? What are you doing now?
+Won&#8217;t you see my secretary? Leave your address with
+him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fellows whom Pa helped!&#8221; she grumbled angrily, as
+she went down the stairs. &#8220;They&#8217;re the worst of all!
+They make you pay for the humiliation of their own failure
+on the stage!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Presently, she came to an agent who practised almost
+in the street, in an arcade somewhat like the Burlington,
+an agent for everything ... circus, music-hall, theater
+... artistes formed in a week ... white
+flesh at famine salaries. There were all sorts of people
+there, a moving heap of frayed velvet and shabby plush.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span>
+Lily passed by with great dignity. Next, she came to
+the big agent, with offices in Berlin and London ...
+the ting-ting of telephones, the tick-tack of typewriters
+all day ... business pure and simple, an exchange
+for supple loins, swelling biceps, muslin skirts, pigeon&#8217;s
+eggs ... a sheaf of stars who, from there, radiated
+over Australia, America, England, the Eastern and
+Western Trusts, Bill and Boom, Harrasford, the continent.
+Lily felt a little ill at ease as she entered&mdash;she
+had a pain in the pit of her stomach, as when she used
+to expect a smacking&mdash;and again in the private office
+crammed with papers and registers, when alone with the
+agent, who looked at her card, he seated, she standing.
+Then, suddenly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily? Miss Lily? Your price is two hundred francs
+a week, I believe.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;With a bike and a maid?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s what you had at Maidstone, so I was told.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a lie!&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;Three hundred francs is the
+lowest I&#8217;ve ever had. I&#8217;ll show you my contracts.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t trouble,&#8221; said the agent. &#8220;I thought ...
+we can get plenty at that price, you know ... in
+your style....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In my style, perhaps ... but not me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pooh, the audience doesn&#8217;t know the difference.&#8221; And
+he started looking through a register, turning over the
+pages and repeating mechanically, like a refrain or a
+lullaby, &#8220;The audience doesn&#8217;t care a hang; it&#8217;s all the
+same to the audience.&#8221; And, suddenly, with his hand
+flat on the open book and the other ready to take up the
+pen, with a piercing eye fixed upon Lily, &#8220;I can give you
+a month at a thousand francs ... they want a girl
+in tights ... at Lisbon.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Lisbon?&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;That&#8217;s at the Colosseo. A
+thousand francs to go to the Colosseo, with one&#8217;s luggage
+and a maid?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221; broke in the agent. &#8220;And what do you want
+a maid for, you extravagant little beast? Why not your
+maid&#8217;s family while you&#8217;re about it? A thousand francs:
+will you take it? I&#8217;ve got some one who will, if you
+don&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily had to say yes or no quickly. Her forehead was
+wrinkled with the effort of turning the francs into shillings,
+the shillings into pounds. She consulted her book,
+like an artiste who doesn&#8217;t know, who may not be free,
+for a whole month. She lowered her chin in her tie, but
+without smiling ... had a cramp in her stomach,
+rather ... at a pinch, by leaving Glass-Eye in
+Paris.... After Lisbon, one generally had Madrid
+and Barcelona and returned by Marseilles and Lyons.
+Friends of hers had done well like that. But to accept
+a lower salary once meant accepting it always, in establishments
+of the same class; it meant reducing her price,
+for always, by two pounds a week, at least.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A thousand francs: will you have it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily:</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, it&#8217;s impossible! I can&#8217;t take less than twelve
+pounds a week.&#8221; And she began to sum up her proofs:
+&#8220;Look here, at the Hippodrome, Glasgow ... at the
+Palace, Leeds....&#8221;</p>
+<p>But the agent wouldn&#8217;t listen, shut up the register, was
+sorry:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can&#8217;t do it ... bad season ... cyclists to
+be had for the asking. Good-by.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-by.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily went out, went down the stairs, feeling half-inclined
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_256' name='page_256'></a>256</span>
+to go back and accept; but no! Lower her
+prices? Never! Oh, those cheap artistes, those black-legs
+deserved to be hanged! Great lazybones who learn
+a few baby tricks on the bike or the tight-rope, back-shop
+acrobats, slop-shop Lilies, who practise at a safe
+distance, by watching you on the stage, through an
+opera-glass. They cut your prices by half; they would
+work for a handful of rice, like a monkey. They deserved
+to have the iron curtain come down on them, and
+flatten them out like black-beetles, the wind-bags!</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say, Glass-Eye, perhaps it&#8217;s they who fell into the
+orchestra, was it, when I got my thighs full of lamp-glass
+from the footlights, eh? They copy you, think
+themselves artistes.... What! Yes? You say
+they are, Glass-Eye? Damn it, I&#8217;ll have your eye out!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily had a fit of laughing when she saw Glass-Eye,
+who hadn&#8217;t said a word, raise her elbow in affright
+to ward off the blow.</p>
+<p>Lily held the banister with one hand, leaned on Maud&#8217;s
+shoulder with the other and laughed and laughed, only
+to see her maid&#8217;s terrified face, a regular fat freak shrinking
+before the belt. My! She would have fallen with
+laughing, if Glass-Eye had not held her up; she plugged
+her lips with her scented handkerchief, slapped her thighs.
+She had never laughed so much in her life. She already
+felt consoled for all her bothers:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Watch me, Glass-Eye! This is the way to go down-stairs!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, nimbly as a bird, Lily hopped on the banister,
+with her back to the wall, and&mdash;w-w-w-w-whew!&mdash;slid
+down to the bottom, keeping her balance faultlessly,
+sprang to her feet on the last stair and, with a wave of the
+hand, as after a successful trick:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;There! What do you think of that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily was not given to long spells of sadness. Reaction
+always followed immediately upon her worries, made the
+thousand and one vexations of a day like this easier for
+her to bear. The compliments which caught her ear in
+the street comforted her too:</p>
+<p>&#8220;You pretty, pretty ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>But she had no time to listen. Six months in her book
+before night! As time passed, Lily would have been
+content with less. And trot, trot, trot: while she was at
+it; then she would end by seeing whether they would
+get her for a handful of rice.</p>
+<p>This idea amused her. Lily had confidence in her talent
+and continued her visits. She saw them all: other
+agents, former bosses or profs, who had sucked apprentices
+dry to the marrow and who continued their evil
+practices in their offices; this sort sized you up with
+the eye of a slave-dealer. There was also the lucky agent,
+who had started a sensational attraction, a Laurence or a
+Light of Asia. This agent had a touch of pride about him,
+with his eternal, &#8220;I gave her her first start!&#8221; as though
+to say:</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ll never find another like her, never! They don&#8217;t
+turn them out like that now!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And all this was a pretext for offering you ridiculous
+terms, because you were neither Light of Asia nor
+Laurence. It was no use Lily&#8217;s boasting of having declined
+Bill and Boom and Harrasford, pretending to be
+an artiste for whom the managers were competing
+against one another with sheaves of banknotes. There
+was nothing for her at this one&#8217;s ... nothing for
+her at the others&#8217;, either ... only a scrap of news
+of her family, through an artiste. The New Trickers
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_258' name='page_258'></a>258</span>
+were all the rage in Scotland, it seemed; an engagement
+in London, at the Palace, was waiting for them. When
+Lily heard that, she turned pale with envy: so it was
+on their account that she had been refused that tour in
+England, so that they might have it! Patience! Her</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg254.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 274px; height: 347px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 274px;'>
+LILY<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>day would come ... when she returned from the
+continent and, instead of Miss, called herself Mlle., like
+Adeline Genée and lots of others! Meanwhile, she had
+found nothing. Still, Lily knew that one sometimes
+had whole months of enforced idleness, without knowing
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_259' name='page_259'></a>259</span>
+the reason, and then, suddenly, one&#8217;s luck returned.
+One only has to wait a bit, thought Lily, making herself
+very short-sighted as she passed before the arcade,
+the haunt of the out-at-elbow pros and of the piffling
+little agents, the jackals of the profession, on the lookout
+for a bone to gnaw. And it was not a little vexing
+to hear her name pass from mouth to mouth&mdash;&#8220;Mrs.
+Trampy, Mrs. Trampy&#8221;&mdash;and who could be drawing attention
+to her in that rotten lot? Was Trampy there, by
+any chance, pointing his finger at her? She felt inclined
+to go back to them, to tell them in two words what she
+thought of them. Mrs. Trampy, indeed! It was not for
+long, in any case. Her divorce was not far off!</p>
+<p>In the evening, at the theater, she forgot her bothers,
+as usual. The day, for that matter, was quite an ordinary
+one: it was the typical day, the trot, trot, trot, of
+the star alone, in search of engagements. And, thoroughly
+tired, in her dressing-room, she related in her
+own way the adventures which she had had since the
+morning, the compliments on her beauty; and at the
+agents&#8217;, my! If she had liked, she could have filled up
+her three years&#8217; book! The architect came in her dressing-room
+for a moment: so interesting a Lily! so amusing,
+he thought, as funny, in her way, as Light of Asia,
+the Chinese girl without arms. Sitting on the big trunk,
+he admired by turns Lily and the disorderly dressing-table,
+its cracked looking-glass, scribbled over with
+names, and, under the glaring light, the grease-paints&mdash;red,
+white, black&mdash;the powder-puffs and hare&#8217;s feet,
+the biscuits in the tray among the hair-pins, a bottle
+and glasses beside the powder-box. From nails on the
+whitewashed walls, scratched all over with inscriptions,
+covered with penciled dates, hung rainbow skirts, bodices
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_260' name='page_260'></a>260</span>
+with metallic flowers. The bike shone in a corner, half-buried
+under Lily&#8217;s outdoor clothes. Tights hung beside
+it, like pink skins, gold spangles strewed the uncarpeted
+floor and scent hovered over everything.... Half-open
+doors admitted gusts of music from the orchestra;
+and Lily, opposite the glass, fumbled among her pots with
+the tip of her finger, stained her lips blood-red, fixed the
+rebellious curl to her forehead with a touch of gum. Outside,
+in the passage, was the row of doors, with spy-holes
+and visiting cards, half-sheets of paper, stuck down
+with wafers and bearing the names of the various occupants:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Prof. X. The Famous X. Family. Absolutely the
+best.&#8221;</p>
+<p>There were others &#8220;absolutely the best.&#8221;</p>
+<p>On Lily&#8217;s door, her card&mdash;&#8220;Miss Lily&#8221;&mdash;and, under
+that, modestly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;And maid.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily revived amid these surroundings; here she forgot
+her fatigue, blossomed out to her heart&#8217;s delight. With
+her rainbow dress, her feathers and her pearl pendants,
+combined with her elaborate gestures as she made up
+her face in front of the gollywog, she resembled the officiating
+priestess of a strange religion, pacifying some
+angry-eyed idol to the sound of distant choirs.</p>
+<p>While finishing her make-up, Lily continued her stories,
+talked of her successes in England and here and there
+and everywhere ... and the lord who wanted to
+marry her and rained down presents upon her: fifty-pound
+brooches, diamonds.... Everybody in love
+with her: to listen to her you could have followed her
+traces like the passage of a cyclone ... men gone
+mad ... others blinded through weeping ...
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_261' name='page_261'></a>261</span>
+millionaires ruined in chocolates and sweets ... and
+flowers, my!</p>
+<p>&#8220;You could fill the Colosseum with them, couldn&#8217;t you,
+Glass-Eye? I&#8217;ve been spoiled everywhere,&#8221; continued
+Lily, &#8220;and I&#8217;m known everywhere! Even in Paris, to-day,
+there were a lot of ladies and gentlemen under an
+arcade and you heard nothing but &#8216;Miss Lily, Miss Lily,&#8217;
+didn&#8217;t you, Glass-Eye?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Miss Lily.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But these social successes did not make Lily forget her
+business affairs. Harrasford&#8217;s new music-hall worried
+her: if she could only play there, only snatch it from the
+New Trickers! For they would certainly try to get there;
+and the architect, of course, knew ...</p>
+<p>But Lily was interrupted by the call-boy: time for her
+to go down to the stage!</p>
+<p>A hurricane came up from the orchestra, muffled, with
+beats of the big drum, like distant cannon. The curtain
+would go up soon; it was the time when Lily stretched her
+legs, before giving her performance, and took a breath of
+air in the painted forest. A click of the padlock and:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come along, Glass-Eye, the bike!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily, in spite of her brilliant successes in England, was
+dead tired of tipping the boys; it ran away with all her
+money. As she allowed herself the luxury of a maid, by
+Gollywog, she might as well make use of her; she wasn&#8217;t
+going to feed her to do nothing! And poor Glass-Eye
+attended to the bike, at the risk of putting out her other
+eye. Every day the struggle between Glass-Eye and the
+bike formed the joy and the delight of the passage.
+There were incredible swervings, scratchings of the wall,
+barkings of Glass-Eye&#8217;s shins. Lily followed behind,
+bursting with laughter, warning Glass-Eye to take care
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_262' name='page_262'></a>262</span>
+or she would put the bike out of gear by knocking it
+about with her legs:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, where&#8217;s my belt?&#8221; she cried, patting the back of
+her hand.</p>
+<p>The artistes, attracted by the noise, half-opened the
+doors; laughing eyes gleamed at the spy-holes; voices
+cried:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go it! Never say die!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Glass-Eye perspired like anything, pursed her eyebrows
+above her fat, red cheeks, grumbled, in her Whitechapel
+slang:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Kim up, you lousy moke! Igher up, Jerusalem, you
+pig-headed bag of tricks!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily lost patience, snatched the machine from her, ran
+it down the stairs, pushed the door of the &#8220;meat-tray,&#8221;
+and found herself behind the scenes, the drops rising and
+falling, the nightly spectacle since she had been &#8220;that
+high,&#8221; the land of the unreal lights. And the sudden glare
+from the reflectors set clusters of shoulders blazing with a
+silvery glow, brought up out of the shade the pale flesh
+of the dancing-girls, heaped up behind the pillars. It
+swarmed from every side, right and left&mdash;&#8220;Hi, there!
+Meat, meat!&#8221;&mdash;under the rush of the stage-hands shifting
+the wings. There were fleecy foams of fair wigs,
+smiles from kiss-me-quick lips, blinkings of made-up
+eyelids, a swarm of arms, thighs and necks, preparatory
+to a ballet, <i>Heures d&#8217;amour</i>, in which Poland, the Parisienne,
+triumphed with her costumes <i>Déshabillé gallant,
+Dessous diaphanes, Le tub, Volupté, Dodo</i>, eight pantomimic
+scenes in a sumptuous setting, with girls to impersonate
+the Hours, from pale-pink flirtation to scarlet
+desire.</p>
+<p>Lily watched this familiar sight with a wandering eye;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_263' name='page_263'></a>263</span>
+and suddenly she turned pale: what was that? Who was
+that? In the midst of it all, smiling to her from a distance,
+as though laughing at her, stood Trampy! My!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here, hold my bike, Glass-Eye!&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was close on her turn, but, before going on, she had
+a word to say to the stage-manager and, walking up to
+him:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you see that josser looking at me?&#8221; said Lily,
+pointing to Trampy. &#8220;If he stays here, I ... to
+begin with, I shan&#8217;t go on. I won&#8217;t be humbugged by any
+one!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who is it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My husband!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right, darling,&#8221; said the stage-manager and, suddenly,
+between the scene which was being hoisted up and
+the other let down on the silent, empty stage: &#8220;You
+there! Get out!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Trampy could not believe that the words were meant
+for him. He waited until the order had been twice repeated.
+He, an artiste, before those girls! He made a
+gesture as though to ask:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you mean me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, you! No jossers here,&#8221; said the stage-manager.
+&#8220;Sling your hook!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gee!&#8221; thought Lily, when he had gone. &#8220;This time
+you&#8217;ve been paid back in your own coin! So you kicked
+me out at the Horse Shoe, did you? It&#8217;s my turn now,
+you damned tramp!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She exulted with delight, as she went through her performance.
+It was her first revenge! the other&#8217;s turn
+would come next.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t forgive and I don&#8217;t forget,&#8221; she muttered to
+herself. &#8220;Every dog has his day.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_264' name='page_264'></a>264</span></p>
+<p>Oh, how happy she was! She was magnificent on the
+stage, under the flashing lights, and the dull sounds in
+the orchestra were to her as the throbbing of a riotous
+heart.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Trampy, you got soaked to-night, to-night,&#8221;
+thought Lily, as she might have said, &#8220;One, two!&#8221; to
+mark her times. &#8220;To-night, to-night. And, if you don&#8217;t
+like it&mdash;one, two&mdash;you&#8217;ve only got to lump it! Divorce
+was made for men and women, not for dogs!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily was triumphant, laughed, winked her eye, as she
+rode past, at the stage-manager, who threw her a kiss
+and grinned. Immediately after her turn, she ran to
+her dressing-room, poured water on her steaming skin,
+while the make-up trickled in pink streaks down her face,
+and devoted an hour to the dainty care of her person,
+like a cat licking itself. And then Lily, without paint
+or powder&mdash;awfully ugly, not in the least pretty off the
+stage, as she said, smiling in her muslin tie with the gold
+spots&mdash;Lily went out by the front, to avoid the pros&#8217; corridor.</p>
+<p>The moment she was in the lobby, she assumed the air
+of a lady accompanied by her maid. She cast an indifferent
+eye at the string of carriages, like one who changes
+her mind and prefers to walk, a smile to the gentlemen
+at the <i>contrôle</i>, a nod to the Roofers going out, two by
+two, always, a dark one and a fair one. Lily stopped for
+a second, to look round....</p>
+<p>Then: &#8220;Let&#8217;s go home, Glass-Eye!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She took a few steps along the street, but a jolly voice
+behind her cried:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gee, what a spanking walk!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She turned round; it was Trampy again!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, this time,&#8221; thought Lily, &#8220;I shall have witnesses!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_265' name='page_265'></a>265</span></p>
+<p>She expected blows! She would have given anything
+to be struck: her divorce, at last, would be hastened on!
+Cruelty, public insults! But no:</p>
+<p>&#8220;How&#8217;s my dear little wife?&#8221; asked Trampy, with outstretched
+hand.</p>
+<p>Lily was so greatly surprised that it took her some
+seconds to recover her presence of mind; and then, without
+turning her head:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come away, Glass-Eye,&#8221; she said. &#8220;There are drunkards
+about.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t let us quarrel, little wifie. Aren&#8217;t you my dear
+little wifie? Well, then....&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Trampy took her by the arm.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let me go, or I&#8217;ll break your jaw,&#8221; muttered Lily,
+under her breath.</p>
+<p>Trampy seemed in a jovial mood, with his cigar in his
+mouth, his cheeks flushed with insolence, his eyes moist
+with libations.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s make peace,&#8221; said Trampy. &#8220;Peace in the home:
+that&#8217;s my motto!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Divorce!&#8221; cried Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Peace in the home for me!&#8221; rejoined Trampy, who
+grew the more radiant as Lily grew more and more incensed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let me tell you,&#8221; he continued, puffing luxuriously
+at his cigar, &#8220;that divorce&mdash;why, how can you think of
+it?&mdash;means a public scandal, my name dragged in the
+mud....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Footy rotter!&#8221; roared Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dragged in the mud; and my dear little wife left to
+her own resources, marrying again, as she feels inclined,
+marrying some one unworthy of her, perhaps. I won&#8217;t
+have it! I&#8217;m responsible for you! I&#8217;m your natural
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_266' name='page_266'></a>266</span>
+protector! You&#8217;re not Miss Lily, you&#8217;re Mrs. Trampy.
+You&#8217;ve been in the wrong, certainly; you had me turned
+off the stage, me, your husband; but I forgive you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I ... take that!&#8221; Lily broke in, spitting in
+his face. &#8220;That&#8217;s how <i>I</i> forgive <i>you</i>! Take that! And
+that!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Trampy reveled with delight:</p>
+<p>&#8220;You <i>are</i> my dear little wifie, aren&#8217;t you? And you&#8217;ll
+remain so ... and you&#8217;ll never belong to any one
+else, do you hear? I am a faithful husband. You&#8217;re trying
+for a divorce, I know, but you won&#8217;t get it. The
+wrong is on your side and I&#8217;m not going to law, and
+you&#8217;re Mrs. Trampy and Mrs. Trampy you&#8217;ll remain!
+Will you come and have a drink, Mrs. Trampy?&#8221; he continued,
+lighting a fresh cigar. &#8220;Won&#8217;t you? Very well.
+Good night, wifie!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Trampy, turning his back to her, disappeared in a
+cloud of smoke.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_267' name='page_267'></a>267</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Lily came home and went straight to bed, without
+even waiting for supper, so great was her hurry to forget.
+It seemed to her that things had happened, things
+without end; that this day had been as long as a year.
+She simply could not understand Trampy. She could
+have imagined anything, except that! She racked her
+brain to conjecture how, why; and sleep quieted her till
+the next morning; and she woke up with teeth clenched
+and eyebrows set and ... why? Why? And again
+why? Did he still want to keep her?&mdash;after realizing in
+a hundred different ways that she did not love him, that
+she loathed him, that she had married him only to escape
+her whippings and that she had but one idea in her head:
+to divorce him!</p>
+<p>Now&mdash;only Lily could not know this&mdash;it was because
+of that very reason that Trampy clung to her, like a
+faithful husband: Jimmy, Jimmy was his bugbear. He
+believed Jimmy to be in love with his wife. Once Lily
+was divorced, Jimmy could marry her; and Trampy
+would see him further first! The greater Jimmy became,
+the more jealous Trampy grew. He knew the
+steps Lily had taken to obtain a divorce, the witnesses
+she had tried to secure. She was very keen on a divorce,
+was she? All the more reason for not gratifying
+her; and she wasn&#8217;t going to get it. The witnesses,
+Trampy had just heard, declined to give evidence.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_268' name='page_268'></a>268</span>
+They had seen nothing, heard nothing. A bike at her
+head? Maybe. They didn&#8217;t know. A bit of a fuss between
+artistes, such as you see every day, and none of
+their damned business. Outside that, Lily had nothing
+to go upon; on the contrary. She had abandoned the
+conjugal home; all the wrong, apparently, was on her
+side. He, Trampy, alone was entitled to file a petition;
+but that never! He considered that Jimmy and Lily had
+trifled with him sufficiently. He could not swallow the
+idea that they were only waiting for the divorce to get
+married; the idea that Lily would be Mrs. Jimmy, of her
+own free choice, after marrying him, Trampy, to escape
+her whippings; no, he couldn&#8217;t swallow that! Now it
+rested entirely with him to prevent that marriage. He
+had only to keep his dear little wife for himself. In that
+case, Jimmy, if he wanted her, would be obliged to do
+without her or else to &#8220;live with her&#8221; and set a bad example,
+lavish bestower of good advice that he was, the
+dirty hypocrite, preaching morality to others! That was
+what Trampy had determined to do. As for Lily,
+Trampy, who was incapable, at bottom, of either hatred
+or love, didn&#8217;t care one way or the other. He was always
+sure to want for nothing, so long as there were girls on
+the boards and whisky in the bars.</p>
+<p>There was another reason still that urged him to let
+matters rest, without going further. To embark on a
+divorce-case, to have his name in the papers and his story
+hawked round the four quarters of the globe&mdash;&#8220;Trampy,
+you know. You knew Trampy, didn&#8217;t you? The husband
+of Lily?&#8221; and so on&mdash;was what he didn&#8217;t want at any
+price, for a reason known to himself. He had made inquiries,
+quite privately, at the beginning, when he thought
+of petitioning for a divorce; and what he had learned
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_269' name='page_269'></a>269</span>
+had made him prudent: his marriage in America was
+valid beyond a doubt. He was well and duly married,
+whether he liked it or not. By the common law, two
+wives meant bigamy; and bigamy meant prison, which
+was the last thing he wanted, as he himself said. But,
+so long as there was no scandal, he ran no great risk.
+He had lived on tenter-hooks at first, in Germany.
+Chance might have brought him face to face with Ave
+Maria, on the stage of a music-hall. This danger was
+not to be feared now, so far as he knew. Ave Maria
+and her brother Martello were no longer fit stars for
+Europe, nor for North America. He was too well known
+to the agencies; his brutality had produced too many
+complaints, too many denunciations to the police; it discredited
+any theater employing him. He might have
+come to Europe&mdash;who knew?&mdash;to try to get hold of the
+Bambinis, now that the old man had not much longer to
+live. But that was not very likely, either. An artiste,
+come across by accident, had seen the pair at Iquique, in
+a wretched circus that was doing the coast of Chili. He
+gave Trampy details: poor Ave Maria had grown very
+ugly; a body all skin and bone and nerves; no hips, no
+chest; nothing of the woman about her; in the last stages
+of consumption; and finished, as an artiste, done for;
+no spring left in her overworked thighs, no suppleness
+in her loins: even her brother, that brute, could get
+nothing out of her now. And Trampy, who knew Chili,
+followed them, in his mind, on their tour along the coast,
+from Iquique to Copiapó, to Valdivia: a trying climate,
+biting winds which would kill her on the spot, unless
+she went and perished in the fever-stricken plains of the
+Argentine.... When people had fallen so low as that,
+they did not rise again: there was nothing to fear from
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_270' name='page_270'></a>270</span>
+that side. But her presence was not necessary; the
+danger still existed. There were documents, in black
+and white. Their names were bracketed on a register
+somewhere or other: he knew where. It was better,
+therefore, in every way, not to call attention to himself.
+Meanwhile, he was playing a nice trick on Lily and her
+Jimmy. And Lily was Mrs. Trampy and Mrs. Trampy
+she would remain; and that was all there was about it.</p>
+<p>But it was no use for Lily to give herself a headache
+trying to make out why and how. She did not guess
+Trampy&#8217;s secret thoughts, any more than he suspected
+the actual nature of her relations with Jimmy. For her,
+too, one thing was certain: Mrs. Trampy she was and
+Mrs. Trampy she would remain! She would never be
+free; she would always be chained to that tramp cyclist!
+And, if a match should happen to turn up for her among
+her admirers, the architect, for instance&mdash;you can never
+tell: plenty of others had already proposed for her hand in
+marriage, in England&mdash;she would be obliged to refuse!
+And, if some gentleman were to pay her his addresses,
+treat her like a lady, take her to choose a hat or a silk
+petticoat in a smart shop, there was somebody who would
+have the right to say to her, as she passed:</p>
+<p>&#8220;How&#8217;s my little wife getting on?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Oh, those two Jim Crows round her, spoiling her
+future! Jimmy and Trampy! They would end by being
+the death of her. Oh, if she had had Thea&#8217;s arm, what a
+blow in the jaw for one or both of them! And Lily, when
+she thought of it, wore the face which was hers on her
+bad days, teeth clenched, stubborn forehead. Glass-Eye
+shook in her boots when she saw it, for sometimes Lily
+vented her anger upon the poor girl with a smack, considering
+herself quits if she begged pardon after!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_271' name='page_271'></a>271</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;If it&#8217;s one of those footy rotters,&#8221; growled Lily, hearing
+a knock at the door, &#8220;smash a bottle over his head!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But no, it was simply her letters, sent on from the
+theater. Nothing of importance this morning; prospectuses,
+mostly: a wig-maker, special theatrical department;
+a manufacturer of traveling-hampers, for South
+Africa, Australia....</p>
+<p>&#8220;No use for them,&#8221; thought Lily, with a sigh.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg267.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 250px; height: 330px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 250px;'>
+A ROOFER GIRL<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>And, on opening <i>The Era</i>, she received that discouraging
+sensation: always so many names, and so many tricks,
+and all &#8220;the best;&#8221; new ideas and troupes, troupes,
+troupes; another new troupe of fat freaks, a very flood of
+them; and Roofers, Roofers; &#8220;Greater-Greater England
+Girls,&#8221; words and music guaranteed, with scarlet legs and
+muslin skirts, complete; page upon page of pink tights;
+and national troupes and colonial troupes; and one had to
+earn a livelihood and shine among all that! Lily was half
+crushed; and everybody she
+knew was triumphing: the
+Pawnees,&mdash;one hundred
+and thirty music-halls, the
+whole of the Eastern and
+Western Trusts, the great
+two-years&#8217; tour! The Three
+Graces also were continuing
+their triumphs. Lily,
+who felt herself the equal
+of any of them, held her
+breath as she read the
+news. Laurence had won
+her terrible bet that she
+would ride straight across
+Manchester and Salford on
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_272' name='page_272'></a>272</span>
+her bike, hands tied together, feet fastened to the pedals.
+At the Art Institute in Chicago, Marjutti had given a
+lecture on the art of contortion.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Some josser of a journalist wrote it for her,&#8221; thought
+Lily.</p>
+<p>And <i>The Performer Annual</i> had sent Marjutti its set
+of questions to answer, she had been published in print!
+And Lily was still waiting! And Tom? Tom was in
+England now, in the De Frece circuit; had had a triumph
+at the Portsmouth Hippodrome, as &#8220;Topsy Turvy Tommy,&#8221;
+dancing a sailor&#8217;s hornpipe on his hands. All, all
+were successful, including others even who were not so
+good as she was: one who obtained engagements because
+she had a nigger in her show; another because of a
+monkey.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I&#8217;ve done nothing yet!&#8221; grumbled Lily.</p>
+<p>Oh, to be talked about in her turn, to achieve something,
+to become &#8220;our Lily!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s twelve o&#8217;clock and I&#8217;m still in bed!&#8221; she cried.
+&#8220;I ought to be practising!&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was just a flash of pride, mixed with remorse.
+She knew it well enough; often and often, she had reproached
+herself for her idleness, for her habit of sleeping
+till the middle of the day, of taking her meals before
+the performance; but she would make up for it to-morrow!
+It is the usual refrain of stars who have become
+detached from their troupes, far removed from regimental
+discipline, so to speak: without a Pa, without a
+boss, you can do nothing. You must have some one to
+force you.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A month on the three years&#8217; book before to-night!&#8221;
+prayed Lily, touching her lucky charm.</p>
+<p>And she studied the omens with an expert air, gave
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_273' name='page_273'></a>273</span>
+an ear to passing sounds, tried to catch the meaning of
+them, for she had visits to pay, letters to write, business,
+damn it!</p>
+<p>That was what Pa used to say before her. And it
+was not so easy to turn a letter prettily: that was Trampy&#8217;s
+forte. She knew something about it. Lily, in her
+night-dress, with her elbows on the table, bit her pen,
+reflected, in a mental effort that gave her a headache.
+And that note-paper wasn&#8217;t nice, either, without a heading;
+true, it only rested with herself; every day she was
+approached with offers of artistic photographs, even of
+tricks which she did not do: standing with one foot on
+the saddle, the other in the air and her arms stretched
+out before her, like a flying genius; or as Cupid, with
+his dart in his hand: impossible things which neither the
+Pawnees nor Laurence would have dared to attempt!
+But it would look well, with her name in red letters:
+&#8220;Miss Lily,&#8221; or &#8220;La Belle Lily.&#8221; Or else a photograph
+showing her strolling in a great park, with a palace in the
+background, taken from nature, followed by her maid,
+or by a footman, hired by the hour, for the occasion.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think I shall select the governess,&#8221; said Lily to
+herself, &#8220;because of my biography; it will be nicer, truer.
+Or I might be taken riding on the back-wheel, like a lady
+just leaving the house and doing that to amuse herself?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily, still undecided, took up the pen again: one foot
+on the saddle; six pairs of tights; three dresses; the
+theaters at which she had appeared....</p>
+<p>What a pack of jossers! She couldn&#8217;t forgive the
+agents for her present want of success. She was exasperated.
+She felt inclined to go and see the managers
+themselves, those who had made love to her on the stage,
+and to send in her card to them&mdash;&#8220;Miss Lily&#8221;&mdash;just to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_274' name='page_274'></a>274</span>
+teach those jossers of agents! Her independent ways
+had already made enemies for her: she knew that; but
+how could she help being angry? The tricks they played
+you, down to making you miss a marriage, as had happened
+in London, the other day, to the Three Graces, to
+one of them, who had been courted, during Mr. Fuchs&#8217;
+absence, by the boy-violinist. Their agent had launched
+into slanders and even insults to prevent the marriage,
+which would have split up the troupe and broken the
+contract....</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a pack of nigger-drivers!&#8221; thought Lily. &#8220;As
+long as they get their ten per cent., the rest can go hang,
+for all they care!&#8221;</p>
+<p>There was no doubt that Lily had got out of bed on
+the wrong side, at the thought of having to climb all
+those staircases again and to dance attendance with the
+rotten lot in the waiting-rooms. But, by Jove, she could
+have boxed the ears of the first agent she visited that
+afternoon! He had the impudence to offer her a magnificent
+engagement in the Indian show at Earl&#8217;s Court,
+she to stain her skin brown, dye her hair black, with
+rings in her nose, at the wrists, at her ankles; a costume
+like Miss Ruth&#8217;s, all in gauze; the nautch-girl on the
+bicycle; six times a day, in the open air, to the sound of
+tomtoms. Play the negress; that&#8217;s what he offered her!
+She could not help laughing, in spite of her anger. But
+she became quite intractable and snubbed another agent
+who suggested a one day&#8217;s billet in a tiny music-hall at a
+ridiculous price.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t give my performance under five pounds, or
+on a stage of less than thirty feet!&#8221; cried Lily.</p>
+<p>At last, luck seemed to turn; she settled for Spain and
+Portugal, and that same evening, at the Bijou Theater,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_275' name='page_275'></a>275</span>
+she was offered another engagement, for three months
+hence. This contract would procure her others, after
+her spell of ill luck. Lily at once took courage again:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, if I had the Astrarium!&#8221; she thought.</p>
+<p>Everywhere, at the theater, at the agents, people were
+talking of the new music-hall. It even became a current
+joke. They said, &#8220;So-and-So&#8217;s performing at the Astrarium,&#8221;
+as though to say, &#8220;He&#8217;s not performing! He&#8217;s
+living in a castle in the air!&#8221; Every one was talking of
+the great music-hall which was to open in a few months
+and which was not to be seen building anywhere. Some
+said that it was serious; they quoted engagements: Tom;
+the Three Graces; the impersonator; nothing but turns
+quite unknown to Paris; novelties, nothing but novelties:
+Marjutti; Laurence, perhaps; or the New Trickers. Lily
+shivered when she heard that!... She opened wide
+eyes, like Alice in Wonderland. Oh, to appear there!
+But she had performed in Paris. Then she would change
+her name; bike mixed with dancing; and her whole trick
+done backward, as Pa had once advised Trampy to do in
+Mexico! Oh, if she could have that! Lily Godiva, undressed
+on the bike! She&#8217;d show them she was a lady,
+not a performing dog! The Astrarium, that was certain,
+would open in Paris in a few months. Harrasford had
+said so himself. There was no doubt about it. They
+even told the name of the stage-manager, Joe Brooks, the
+cleverest of all. Lily felt herself carried away with ambition.
+Oh! to open there! Oh, if it were true! God
+grant that it might come true! Oh, if Daisy, their star,
+could only break a leg! The few days which Lily was
+still to remain in Paris, before leaving for Spain, she
+employed in obtaining further information. She learned
+the most exact particulars. Incredible though it seemed,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_276' name='page_276'></a>276</span>
+the Astrarium was to open quite shortly! The blue-chins
+discussed the thing, amid clouds of tobacco smoke, in the
+bars, after the show. To allude to it now was not like
+talking of castles in the air; on the contrary. To tease a
+pal, one said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re opening at the Astrarium, aren&#8217;t you? I <i>don&#8217;t</i>
+think!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Which was another way of saying:</p>
+<p>&#8220;The Astrarium&#8217;s no place for you! They&#8217;re taking
+nothing but bill-toppers there!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The new music-hall, even before it came into existence,
+was beginning to spread, like the story of the whippings;
+it would be talked about, all round the world, as something
+stunning, a more complete show than the Tivoli at Sidney
+or the New York Hippodrome. Harrasford was credited
+with designs for a palace in onyx and marble. He
+had bought or was going to buy a theater with the object
+of transforming it; names and prices were given. Everybody
+was interested in it. Just now, especially, when
+the bioscopes and the gramophones and the singers were
+taking the bread out of the &#8220;artistes&#8217;&#8221; mouths, it meant
+twenty turns more to receive princely salaries there;
+and, every month, that galaxy of stars, which Harrasford
+would send shooting to Paris, was to disperse
+toward Brussels, Antwerp, Marseilles, Hamburg: the
+European Trust, the Moss and Stoll tour of the continent,
+managed by Harrasford, the great English manager.</p>
+<p>To open at the Astrarium meant having work insured
+and your three years&#8217; book filled for ever so long; meant
+appearing in public, later, wearing on your chest the
+medal which they meant to distribute in memory of the
+opening. Gee, Lily had a pain in her side at the thought
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_277' name='page_277'></a>277</span>
+of it! The Three Graces, it was said, were on the program.
+Lily would have consulted them&mdash;there was no
+jealousy about the Graces&mdash;but they were not yet in Paris.
+Oh, Lily was longing and dying to be settled! Who was
+Harrasford&#8217;s agent? If she had to go to London to see
+him, she would go.</p>
+<p>Why, damn it, she would go to Heaven itself to get
+the Astrarium! Anything, anything to open there! That
+dream of greatness made her endure her present vexations.
+Mrs. Trampy ... Mrs. Trampy ... She
+was addressed as Mrs. Trampy everywhere. Trampy
+must be telling the story, taking his revenge for the whippings,
+making little of her in his turn. One night even,
+the night before her departure for Spain, when the architect
+was to wait for her at the door of the theater, Lily,
+who had dressed herself in her best, once more had the
+humiliation of being accosted by Trampy in front of
+everybody.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, wifie! How are you, darling? All right?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily bristled with rage as she left Paris. Even when
+she was far away, she still felt that she was dragging
+a chain which lengthened out endlessly without breaking.
+Never, oh, nothing could ever get her out of that! Yes,
+a brilliant triumph. Then, at least, she could crush him
+from the height of her success, that footy rotter with his
+red-hot stove! Oh, what a grudge she bore him! Jimmy
+was different: that was a wound of her own and nobody
+would ever know; but Trampy, who laughed at her everywhere
+and called himself her husband! He would make
+her lose all her friends. To say nothing of the fact that
+those tales perhaps counted for much in her failure: they
+were repeated from mouth to mouth. Oh, her profession
+disgusted her at times! And to think that she, an English
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_278' name='page_278'></a>278</span>
+girl, was going to earn her bread among the Dagoes,
+instead of starring in England!</p>
+<p>Her wandering life continued; her journeys from town
+to town, in the Spanish provinces, her arrival in the chill
+of the morning, her anxiety about her salary, the hustle
+and bustle of departure and&mdash;trot, trot, trot!&mdash;lugged
+about in the railway-carriage, like a performing dog in
+his box.</p>
+<p>And what theaters! It was worse than Germany or
+even Paris. In England, on the Harrasford tour or the
+Bill and Boom, they had nice dressing-rooms, with a carpet,
+water hot and cold, quick attendance, stairs swept
+every day. Here, old plaster and those idiots who looked
+as if they understood nothing&mdash;it took three of them to
+shift a scene&mdash;Dagoes who asked her straight out, in
+Pidgin-English, if she was alone:</p>
+<p>&#8220;No man viz you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>It touched her on the raw. Lily lost all her cheerfulness:
+to begin with, that engagement was not a particularly
+brilliant one; it was not at all calculated to prompt
+her to do better, to introduce novelties into her turn.
+Besides, on stages not yet overrun with Roofers or fat
+freaks, an artiste performing by herself made an impression.
+Her old tricks sufficed; sometimes she topped the
+bill:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Theaters are the same everywhere; artistes the same
+everywhere, from New York to Bilbao. Topping the
+bill in one means topping the bill in the others ...
+doesn&#8217;t it, Glass-Eye?&#8221;</p>
+<p>But she knew quite well that it didn&#8217;t; and, besides,
+that satisfaction of her vanity put no money in her pocket.
+The amount she owed, my! She thought of the past, of
+what she had earned for &#8220;them&#8221; since Mexico. If she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_279' name='page_279'></a>279</span>
+had only had half of it, a quarter, a quarter of a quarter,
+damn it!</p>
+<p>Meantime, she had to make herself respected. In those
+countries, where people used gestures when they spoke to
+you, a lady could not be too careful. Why, the men
+treated an English girl just as they treated their own
+women. She could have flung her bike at their heads!
+And they kept it up all night, as in Russia, all except the
+jewels; you had to stay till morning and were expected to
+accept invitations for supper, so as to keep the customer
+there and push business! A little more and she would
+have had to sleep there! She had threatened to tear up
+her contract, to complain to the consul. And what annoyed
+her also was being in the same dressing-room with
+singers who undressed without shame, while receiving
+their friends, and made eyes at Lily worse than the impersonator.</p>
+<p>And she had to have her food at the theater, no dessert,
+nothing but a biscuit or an apple; and, if she asked
+for a pear, it caused a terrible to-do. Rather than stand
+that, Lily went to the hotel, which put her to double expense,
+for the board at the theater was compulsory. She
+had to pay in any case; so that she went away without a
+farthing, thinking herself very lucky if the manager did
+not try to kiss her in his office. Oh, the things she saw,
+the things she rubbed shoulders with, the vice, the promiscuity,
+the rushes of girls in the passages before the
+onslaughts of footy rotters, direct propositions, with eyes
+looking straight into eyes, brief wooings on the stairs,
+behind the properties, between people just about to take
+the train, one east, the other west, and in a hurry to have
+done with it; a silent embrace in the dressing-room, a
+neigh, a kiss; and <i>au revoir</i>, ta-ta!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_280' name='page_280'></a>280</span></p>
+<p>And the conversations between the stage-girls, who
+were always surrounded by legends of the white slave-trade;
+stories of disappearances; of &#8220;engagements for
+Caracas&#8221; and finding one&#8217;s self over there without resources,
+stranded in a bad house: like that poor girl, a
+Roofer, who had received a letter and some sweets in her
+slipper, which she had sent flying into the audience with a
+high kick&mdash;Lily remembered&mdash;well, she had disappeared
+in South America, somewhere; one or two despairing letters
+and then silence. And that other one, at Alexandria,
+who had called out for help, behind her green blinds;
+and ever and ever so many others, whom she had known
+slightly. Lily shivered: brrrrrr!</p>
+<p>She was sick to death of it. She had had enough of it,
+was fed up with it. She aspired to better things. Lily
+had hoped that her engagement in Spain would have
+marked the end of her bad luck; but no, nothing offered.
+She was sour, bitter, fierce; a wild bull, a stallion, as Ma
+used to say. And she became especially terrible now, when
+her energy was spent in neither work nor love, so much
+so that there was a cross against her name in the agents&#8217;
+books.</p>
+<p>Oh, she had often felt inclined to send them all to the
+devil: the made-up eyes, the kiss-me-quick lips, the tow
+wigs, the low jokes, the monkey-claws! There were some
+who had merit, no doubt, like that boy who was all over
+scratches, from head to foot, through training cats; but
+the rest, almost all of them, were a pack of good-for-nothings
+who copied their betters: amateurs, jossers all;
+and they had more work than she, who had taken such
+pains and who had made a fortune for her Pa. Oh, if
+that wasn&#8217;t enough to make her chuck everything and see
+life, in her turn. She had only to choose ...
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_281' name='page_281'></a>281</span></p>
+<p>These reflections came to her more particularly when
+she returned to Paris, after Brussels and Copenhagen, and
+was again performing at the Bijou Theater, where she
+had already appeared.</p>
+<p>&#8220;To make all that money,&#8221; thought Lily, when she saw
+Poland again, &#8220;and never to have been through the mill!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She admired Poland for that, envied her good manners,
+her grace, the way she slipped on her dressing-wrap
+in the living picture, <i>The Bath</i>. She turned green
+with jealousy at the sight of Poland&#8217;s motor-car, her thousand-pound
+ear-rings, her sable furs. It was not that Lily
+lacked admirers or sympathizers. She even had a little
+triumph at the Bijou Theater, one day when she passed
+round the hat for old Martello, who was ill in bed and
+penniless. Lily topped the bill in her own fashion, by
+putting her name at the head of the list, and the collection
+was a success, everybody contributed ... including
+the architect, who was still prowling round her, in
+the passages, on the stage, everywhere. Lily was decidedly
+courted: the rich bookmaker who ran the theater
+as his private harem, he, too, patted her cheek in a funny
+way, complimented her on her firm, round hips before
+the group of dancing-girls packed like poultry, in the
+shadow of the pillars. Gee, it only rested with herself
+to have as much of that as Poland! And everything
+reeked with love, amid the cannonade of the big drums
+and the clash of the cymbals, while the sudden flashes
+of the reflectors, moonlight-blue on one side, bright-red
+on the other, lit up all around her the herd of the languid
+Hours. But her heart swelled and puffed with pride.
+No, no, not that! She would succeed by her talent,
+damn it, not by getting round men! She, an English
+girl; she, Pa&#8217;s daughter; she, who had gone through the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_282' name='page_282'></a>282</span>
+mill, to sell herself like cat&#8217;s meat! Never! And her
+Ma should beg her pardon on her knees, on her knees,
+damn it! The thought infuriated her.</p>
+<p>She was quite sincere with herself. It was all her fault.
+She ought to have worked and practised, practised every
+day, improved and improved her turn; but she would do
+so now, to-morrow. It was her last chance. She had
+hardly any money left; her three years&#8217; book was virgin
+once again, unsoiled by contracts; but she had a stage to
+practise on and she was going to practise to-morrow even
+if she had to pay somebody to run after her, with the belt,
+if need be! Lily had nothing but that in her head now:
+to get out of her present life, to get out of the mud, to
+reach the summit at a bound. Was it possible? She
+consulted the Zanzigs; she spent a fortune in penny-in-the-slot
+machines to learn the future, but always received
+the same reply:</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will marry the man who loves you. You will be
+very happy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She smiled with pity when she read that nonsense; to
+prophesy her marriage: how silly! She was only too much
+married! That was not what she wanted to know; but
+the Astrarium! the Astrarium! Would she be there or
+would she not? The New Trickers were plotting to
+get there, with a turn which she had given them, goose
+that she was; and Cousin Daisy, that farthing dip, would
+triumph and not she, a star, a real one! Lily was rather
+in the position of Pa, when he arrived in London from
+New York ... with this difference, that Pa had
+money and Lily had none. But there was the same display
+of energy, once her pride was aroused. Lily also had run
+round Paris like a mad thing: not to the agents!&mdash;with
+them it was: &#8220;Lily? Lily Clifton? nothing your way
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_283' name='page_283'></a>283</span>
+to-day!&#8221;&mdash;but to her friends and acquaintances, to find
+out about the Astrarium. Lily grew crazy at the idea
+that she might perform there, be there at the opening,
+ride over all of them, treat the New Trickers like so
+many fat freaks!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, God, if it were true!&#8221; she cried, with her hand
+on her lucky charm. &#8220;God above grant that it may come
+true!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She was at the end of her tether. Nothing short of the
+Astrarium could set her on her legs again. She had no
+choice; it was either that or an absolute come-down: the
+nautch-girl on the bike, at Earl&#8217;s Court, or else nights of
+dissipation, champagne and diamonds, like Poland; and
+Lily, like her Pa in the old days, clenched her fists and
+gnawed her lip as she went off to the Three Graces, who
+had their engagement and who would be able to give her
+some hints.</p>
+<p>Lily knew their hotel by reputation. Nothing but pros;
+a rallying-point of troupes, an hotel where nobody&#8217;s skin
+was free from bruises and where, from morning until
+night, you heard the clatter of the clog-dancers&#8217; heels.
+It reeked of potatoes, of sleepers three in a bed; chests,
+strange-shaped packing-cases, ticketed with distant
+labels, made the yard look like the stage-entrance of a
+music-hall. Lily did not care for that sort of place: no
+matter; besides, the Bambinis were there and their mad
+rushes, their yells of mirth filled the gloomy house with
+gaiety. And Lily did not mind walking in with her gold-tasseled
+hat on. All those heads at the windows: it was
+just like a fine lady visiting the poor. And yet she was
+not proud now. Formerly, she would have laughed on
+learning the kind of life led by the Three Graces, those
+three girls who remained good so as not to break up the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_284' name='page_284'></a>284</span>
+troupe and annoy Nunkie and who were said to spend
+their spare time in sewing and cooking and doing Sandow
+exercises and measuring one another round the
+biceps and the chest: simple joys, the only true ones.</p>
+<p>&#8220;They may be right, after all,&#8221; thought Lily, who envied
+them from the bottom of her heart for having the
+Astrarium. &#8220;If I had only practised too! Practising is
+certainly better
+than attaching
+all that importance
+to dresses
+or sending those
+puff photographs
+to the agents!&#8221;</p>
+<p>A surprise
+awaited Lily
+when she entered
+the hotel; pros
+were talking with
+a mysterious air.
+There was muttering
+in the corners,
+a piece of
+news was going
+round: the Bijou
+Theater had
+closed, that very
+day; the treasury
+was empty, bankrupt; everything sealed up; just on the
+eve of pay-day too!</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg280.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 239px; height: 308px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 239px;'>
+THE BAMBINIS<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;My! Is it possible?&#8221; thought Lily, distracted and
+forgetting the Astrarium and the Three Graces. &#8220;And
+what am I to do for food to-morrow? Come, quick,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_285' name='page_285'></a>285</span>
+Glass-Eye!&#8221; she whispered, catching her a thump in the
+ribs. &#8220;To the theater, quick!&#8221;</p>
+<p>For Lily knew by experience that it was a good thing
+to be first. Her Pa had saved his salary once, in a similar
+case, at Perth, in Australia; but one must arrive in time.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_286' name='page_286'></a>286</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>There was a crowd in front of the Bijou when she arrived.
+They were commenting on a notice pasted on the
+door:</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>Fermé</i>.&#8221;</p>
+<p>What could that mean? Lily had not provided for this
+in her vocabulary of the French language; but the theater
+was closed until new arrangements could be made.
+It meant complete ruin, enforced idleness....</p>
+<p>&#8220;The rotten lot!&#8221; growled Lily. &#8220;Money, damn it,
+money! Pay up, you pack of thieves!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Lily soon recovered herself, when she saw that
+there was nothing to be done. She had been through
+worse than that, when the iron curtain all but smashed her
+to a jelly, at Milwaukee, and when she tumbled into the
+orchestra, at Glasgow! Notwithstanding the anguish that
+wrung her inside and heralded the coming hunger, Lily
+put a good face on the matter before all those people,
+like a lady who is above that sort of thing: a disappointment,
+that was all.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But how will those small artistes manage?&#8221; she
+seemed to say. &#8220;Those families with babies?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily declared that it was very sad, called Glass-Eye to
+witness, as usual; but poor Glass-Eye remained dumb,
+reflected that she would never, never be paid, if this went
+on. Lily owed her eighteen months&#8217; wages now! True,
+she got enough to eat, or nearly; she traveled with Lily;
+and she wore her old hats.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_287' name='page_287'></a>287</span></p>
+<p>Meanwhile, the door opened; the artistes were allowed
+to take away the implements of their work, before the
+final closing. The move began: they fetched out basket
+trunks, hoisted packing-cases on to cabs. It was a heartrending
+sight, all those things, made for the glitter of the
+footlights, now displayed in the street. And everybody
+made such haste as he could, under the eyes of the inquisitive
+passers-by, for fear of a general execution, with
+every door sealed up and days to wait before one could
+recover one&#8217;s property. Fellow-artistes from other theaters
+came to look on. Some were indignant that the
+Artistes&#8217; Federation could not take up the matter and
+hurl the experience of its lawyers at the heads of the
+proprietor or syndicate responsible, to say nothing of
+the moral weight of its five thousand members, who had
+already made the English music-halls come to terms by
+means of a wholesale strike. Others observed that it
+was a private theater, one of those theaters run, for the
+fun of it, by some prosperous gambler or lucky bookmaker;
+a sort of harem theater, with almost empty
+houses, but with swells on the stage, among the swarm
+of half-naked women; and no one responsible, the old boy
+ruined, the treasury empty, bankruptcy; couldn&#8217;t be
+helped; take in your belt a peg, that&#8217;s all!</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you think of this, eh, Lily?&#8221; asked a voice.
+&#8220;Only yesterday we were passing the hat for others!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily still had the list; and the money was locked up in
+one of the dressing-rooms. Then it passed from mouth
+to mouth, like a watchword: they would give back the
+collection; but not in the street, not before everybody,
+for the honor of the profession. Lily, quite excited, entered
+the passage and there, in the dim light, assisted by
+two one-legged artistes, who called out the amounts and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_288' name='page_288'></a>288</span>
+ticked off the names, she handed back the collection of
+the previous day. Some received their share with an air
+of furious determination; others looked shy and blushed;
+others, again, refused, Lily among them; and it was decided
+to go to the &#8220;Pros&#8217; Corner,&#8221; or artistes&#8217; bar, near
+the stage entrance, to drink up what remained: the ups
+and downs of life, damn it! Your turn to-day, mine to-morrow;
+jolly lucky not to break a leg, after all! And
+their gaiety returned, amid the smoke and the glasses,
+through a need of reaction; and, after the first drink or
+two, came jokes, after-dinner stories, impromptus which
+had traveled ten times round the world and brought tears
+of laughter to the eyes of the audiences in thousands of
+music-halls, not to speak of the second-class cabins of
+every ship of every line and the smoking-carriages of
+every train, from the G. I. P. R. of Bombay to the S. F.
+of Buenos Ayres.</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;Owen Moore went West one day,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Owing more than he could pay.</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Owen Moore came back to-day&mdash;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Owing more!&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>And they joined in the chorus and they sang, &#8220;We all
+came into this world with nothing!&#8221; and the one-legged
+artistes beat time with their crutches, my! the pink Hour
+and the scarlet Hour, who were there, got a stitch in
+their sides. Lily, with her head flung back, full-throated,
+laughed nervously. Besides, as she said, artistes did as
+they pleased and didn&#8217;t care a hang for anybody! All
+made plans for the morrow, all had been through that
+sort of thing before and much worse, too: six stories
+cleared at a bound, to escape from a theater in flames!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_289' name='page_289'></a>289</span>
+Falls of seventy feet on one&#8217;s head! And wrecks! And
+waves miles high! Already they began to talk of going
+away, of traveling; traced the route with their finger
+on the table: Cape Town, Australia, the States. To
+listen to them, those everlasting wanderers seemed to
+have pretty nearly the whole world under their hands.
+They spoke of taking a rest at their permanent addresses:
+good old London; good old Manchester; there was nothing
+like good old England, after all, eh? They&#8217;d had
+enough of the Dago countries!</p>
+<p>But enthusiasm broke out when the great news arrived,
+brought by some one straight from the agencies: Harrasford&mdash;&#8220;Guess,
+boys!&#8221;&mdash;Harrasford had bought the
+Bijou Theater! It was all signed and sealed. He was
+carrying out his program: and he wanted to open at once.
+For three months, it appeared, there had been a silent
+struggle between him and the unlucky bookmaker, who
+did not want to sell; and Harrasford had got it almost
+for nothing; he had practically won it, yesterday, at the
+races,&mdash;with Dare Devil, his wonderful horse. Dare
+Devil had beaten Cataplasm, his rival&#8217;s colt, and the
+smash had followed at once: the Bijou closed; a forced
+sale; Harrasford had bagged it; and that was one, with
+more to come!</p>
+<p>The artistes were carried away by this daring stroke!
+Harrasford, a son of a gun, who could put them all in
+his pocket! The one-legged artistes fought a mock duel
+between France and England, the victor to marry Lily:
+what did they think of that? Hurrah!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Say, boys, which is the quickest way of dropping
+money?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fast women!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, slow horses!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_290' name='page_290'></a>290</span></p>
+<p>It was grand. They drank to everybody&#8217;s health. They
+drank to Harrasford; they drank to the Astrarium! They
+counted the money on the bar-counter; the amount of
+the collection had been greatly exceeded and somebody
+suggested that it was a nice thing, upon my word, yes,
+a very nice thing, what they were doing: having a good
+time, while the Bambinis, perhaps, were going to bed
+without any supper! The whiskies and sodas had warmed
+their hearts: my turn to-day, yours to-morrow, damn it!
+It might happen to any of them, to hop the twig and
+leave Bambinis behind him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily, the hat!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily handed round the hat again and collected
+more than on the day before, even among those who had
+had their money back.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Take that to the Bambinis,&#8221; they said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve been
+behaving like Dagoes, damn it! Artistes ought not to act
+as such!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;K you! &#8217;K you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily Clifton walked off, very proudly, with her
+maid, to hand the money to Nunkie, who was acting as
+treasurer.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And, meantime, one&#8217;s got to live,&#8221; said Lily to herself,
+when she was outside.</p>
+<p>After the spurious gaiety of the moment, she seemed to
+be returning to her distress, with no work, no money, the
+Bijou closed, Harrasford taking possession of the theater.
+She revolved all this in her head, without succeeding in
+connecting the whole: rags of ideas hung in her brain,
+like the strips of scenery at the back of the stage.
+She had not even the courage to go and take her bike
+... to-morrow ... to-morrow. The Hours, the
+pink one and the scarlet one, who came out of the bar
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_291' name='page_291'></a>291</span>
+also, resigned themselves gaily. Their salary mattered so
+little. As they explained to Lily, you&#8217;re always well paid,
+when you have rich friends, and, if you haven&#8217;t, all you
+have to do is to look out for them:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Like Poland, what! A fat lot she cares the old boy&#8217;s
+ruined! All she will do is to find another, change her
+owner!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily had knocked up against everything, seen everything,
+heard everything, in her adventurous life; but this
+way of getting out of a difficulty always made her blush
+to her eyes. No, a triumph at the Astrarium: that was the
+only solution for her, Lily Clifton! She was eager also
+to hand the money to Nunkie. The Bambinis&#8217; money was
+a different matter from Jimmy&#8217;s: they were hungry children.
+Nunkie must be at the theater now, with his Three
+Graces, quite close, and they were going to perform at the
+Astrarium. So it was not essential never to have appeared
+in Paris! That meant one more chance for her!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come along, Glass-Eye!&#8221;</p>
+<p>They now passed into the noisy quarters. The Olympia
+opened its furnace of light before them. The Three
+Graces stood displayed in life-size on posters, with others
+beside them, names which Lily knew vaguely, as she
+knew them all, from seeing them somewhere,&mdash;as she
+knew the stage-entrance of the Olympia, by instinct, in
+the dark street, at the side: the mouth by which the monster
+nightly swallowed and rejected its fill of meat. A
+courtyard ... three steps up ... turn to the
+right ... Lily was at home again, amid rainbow
+lights.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, Lily!&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was Nunkie greeting her on the stage, while his dear
+girls were dressing in their room. He took the money for
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_292' name='page_292'></a>292</span>
+the Bambinis, congratulated Lily on the result of her collection,
+thanked her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what about the Astrarium?&#8221; asked Lily. &#8220;Do
+you know...?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Of course, Nunkie
+knew. His dear
+girls were engaged
+to perform there.
+And he had seen
+some one on his way
+to the theater: the
+opening would take
+place in a month
+... in six weeks
+at the latest....</p>
+<p>The architect&mdash;&#8220;You
+know, Lily?&#8221;
+said Nunkie&mdash;the architect
+who used to
+hang about on the
+stage, in the passages,
+on some pretext or
+other&mdash;to make love
+to girls, apparently&mdash;was
+minding everything
+for Harrasford!
+He was taking
+measurements, drawing out plans:</p>
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg288.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 267px; height: 368px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 267px;'>
+THE ARCHITECT<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Everything is ready in advance, everything&#8217;s ordered;
+they&#8217;ve only got to put things in their places; the workmen
+will start to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;So that&#8217;s what he came for!&#8221; thought Lily angrily.
+&#8220;The damned <i>parley-voo</i>!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_293' name='page_293'></a>293</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;And your Pa, you know,&#8221; continued Nunkie, &#8220;will be
+there too, with his New Trickers: it would have been
+easy for you to get there first,&#8221; he added, with a meaning
+smile.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The New Trickers! Daisy Woolly-legs!&#8221; stammered
+Lily, turning pale. &#8220;Who told you so?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sure of it, I had it from Jimmy himself,&#8221; replied
+Nunkie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jimmy told you? And what has Jimmy to do with
+it?&#8221; asked Lily, anguish-stricken.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What has he to do with it? Why, he&#8217;s simply going
+to top the bill,&#8221; said Nunkie. &#8220;And, besides, Harrasford
+has left it to him to make out the program. Why, didn&#8217;t
+you know?... Your friend Jimmy...?&#8221;</p>
+<p>She was in the street once more, feeling weak-kneed
+and light-headed. She leaned on Glass-Eye&#8217;s arm; she
+had a pain in her side from the emotion. She felt inclined
+to enter a café, to get drunk on champagne, to forget.</p>
+<p>The next day an awful headache made her keep her
+room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;To-morrow,&#8221; she said to Glass-Eye, &#8220;to-morrow I
+will fetch my bike.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She dared not go out; she felt as if it was written on
+her forehead:</p>
+<p>&#8220;The New Trickers at the Astrarium! Daisy Woolly-legs
+at the Astrarium and not you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, &#8220;to-morrow,&#8221; again she spent the day stretched
+on her bed. And the next day, well, as she had to ...
+as her bike was her bread-winner, after all ... her
+only bread-winner, whatever happened!...</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on, Glass-Eye! Let&#8217;s go for the bike! I don&#8217;t
+care if I do play the darky at Earl&#8217;s Court!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But, on reaching the Bijou, she could not restrain a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_294' name='page_294'></a>294</span>
+cry. Nunkie had spoken the truth; they were at work
+everywhere, unloading joists, running up scaffoldings, attacking
+the theater from every side. Her friend, the
+architect, passed, looking very busy, greeted her with a
+&#8220;Hullo, Lily!&#8221; But Lily did not even see him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope our things are still in the dressing-room.
+Hurry up, Glass-Eye!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily ran along the passage, where already sacks
+of plaster had taken the place of the velvet and nickel
+properties. She crossed the stage, which was still untouched,
+took the dressing-room corridor and there, almost
+before her door, met Jimmy! She felt like turning
+her back on him, after spitting on the floor, as a mark
+of contempt; but, after all, no! The coward! They&#8217;d
+see which of them should lower eyes first! And she
+planted hers straight in his face, like a blow of the fist!</p>
+<p>Jimmy, who was coming toward her, had a moment of
+hesitation ... but it did not last. He soon recovered
+himself. It would have been obvious to any one seeing that
+masterful face that here was a man cured of his love, a
+strong man and sure of himself, a man whom a kid like
+Lily&mdash;Lily had always remained a kid to him, and not
+Mrs. Trampy, not the wife of Trampy, that thief in the
+night!&mdash;a man whom a kid like Lily could not have at
+her beck and call. And he held out his hand, like a good
+friend, simply, among artistes:</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you do, Lily? Delighted to see you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Glass-Eye,&#8221; said Lily, opening the door of her dressing-room,
+&#8220;Glass-Eye, my bag ... the key of my
+trunk ... get out the bike first. One can&#8217;t turn in
+this rotten hole,&#8221; she added, as she entered.</p>
+<p>And, as Glass-Eye seemed all day releasing the bike
+from the hooked-up skirts and tights hanging from the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_295' name='page_295'></a>295</span>
+wall, to say nothing of the kicks which she received from
+the pedals, Lily, grumbling, snatched it out of her hands,
+and ordered her maid to go and wait for her in the street,
+great good-for-nothing that she was!</p>
+<p>&#8220;So you refuse to speak to me?&#8221; asked Jimmy.</p>
+<p>Lily lowered her head, took no more notice of him than
+if he had not been there, collected her clothes, pulled the
+gollywog from the wall without the slightest regard,
+heaped up everything promiscuously in the trunk, thumping
+it down with her fists, as though eager to have done
+with it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, Lily, are you still angry with me?&#8221; asked
+Jimmy, quite at a loss. &#8220;When you took me by surprise
+that day, at Whitcomb Mansions ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A lot I care for your love!&#8221; growled Lily contemptuously.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But my friendship, Lily ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your friendship,&#8221; said Lily, &#8220;your friendship ...
+a rag! I&#8217;ll show you how I value your friendship!&#8221; she
+said, flinging a dirty towel on the floor and stamping on it
+in her rage.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And that Daisy Woolly-legs!&#8221; resumed Lily, with an
+unspeakable expression of scorn on her face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean?&#8221; asked Jimmy, who did not understand.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Giving that shop to the New Trickers!&#8221; she continued
+violently. &#8220;You who always used to talk of my talent!
+Giving a shop like that to those New Trickers, who
+haven&#8217;t as much talent among the six of them as I have
+in my little finger!... You! To treat me like that!...
+When I think,&#8221; cried Lily, beside herself, &#8220;when
+I think that Pa and Ma will be here ... with tricks
+stolen from me! footy rotter that you are!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_296' name='page_296'></a>296</span></p>
+<p>Jimmy understood that the engagement of the New
+Trickers exasperated Lily: a question of outraged pride,
+of professional jealousy. He tried to explain: she had
+already performed in Paris and Harrasford insisted on
+that. He, Jimmy, wasn&#8217;t altogether the master. The New
+Trickers were very clever, very original, very new ...</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I&#8217;m only fit to throw to the dogs, eh?&#8221; cried Lily
+furiously. &#8220;And that rot about having performed in
+Paris. The Graces have performed in Paris and they&#8217;re
+to be at the Astrarium and why not I? Because you&#8217;re
+my friend, perhaps. Such a friend! When it would
+have been so easy for you to give me that pleasure. But
+no one will ever do anything to please me! Yes, strangers,
+gentlemen in the front boxes; but not friends like
+you! You always bore me a grudge for marrying
+Trampy.... And who knows what people say of
+me behind my back!... that I cut my turn ...
+that I do less than I might. You know what I can do,
+damn it! But it&#8217;s work I want, do you hear, work! I&#8217;m
+not what you think!... One of those ... not
+I! I&#8217;d rather chew glass than take any of that!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily spoke with nervous movements of the shoulder
+and fiery glances and she forced Jimmy to lower his
+eyes and she told him what she thought of him straight
+out, told him all her heaped-up, rankling spite, told him
+all she had at heart, in words round and solid enough to
+build a tower of Babel on!</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I would have given my life, yes, given my life
+to perform here! However, it&#8217;s done now, isn&#8217;t it? And
+it can&#8217;t be undone,&#8221; said Lily, more calmly, and two
+tears sprang to her eyelids.... Then, while Jimmy,
+plunged in his own thoughts, watched her without speaking
+and listened to her like a judge, &#8220;You&#8217;ve nothing
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_297' name='page_297'></a>297</span>
+to say to me, eh?&#8221; she continued, closing her trunk with
+a thump of the fist. &#8220;Nor I either. Then help me to
+carry down my hamper: you haven&#8217;t helped me to get
+into the Astrarium; at least you can help me to get out
+of it. No? You refuse? And you so generous!&#8221; she
+said, with a scornful laugh. &#8220;Well, then, help me take
+it on my shoulders. No? Not even that? Then I must
+try by myself ... and never mind if I do get crushed!
+<i>That&#8217;s</i> all I care for my life now!&#8221; added Lily, snapping
+her fingers.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Lily,&#8221; said Jimmy, taking up the hamper.
+&#8220;You&#8217;re going out of your sense; you know that ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>Jimmy could find nothing to say. He was pained to the
+bottom of his heart ... for the grief which he was
+causing her. The tone of feverish banter which Lily was
+adopting upset him more than her anger had done. He
+felt himself filled with pity for that poor little creature
+standing at bay.</p>
+<p>With a turn of the hip, Jimmy jerked to his shoulder
+the great basket trunk which contained all Lily&#8217;s fortune.
+It was not very heavy: tights, spangled skirts, faded
+flowers. And, in the passage down-stairs, the astounded
+stage-doorkeeper saw the famous bill-topper submissively
+carrying the trunk of the bicyclist, who walked in
+front of him, wheeling her machine beside her.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_298' name='page_298'></a>298</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The fortnight that followed upon this meeting was
+such a strenuous one for Jimmy, with eighteen hours out
+of the twenty-four spent at the Astrarium, among the
+day and night gangs; his life was such a slavery that he
+had hardly time to think of Lily. But he did think of her,
+for all that. He seemed to hear her still. Yes, he confessed
+to himself, he had, perhaps, believed ... he
+had, in fact, been told that Lily was Lily no longer ...
+But he had just been admiring her magnificent anger.
+He had seen her eaten up with ambition, quivering from
+head to foot, and that brave face lifted up to his. Twenty
+times over he was on the point of saying something to
+her; but he must see first ... Would she herself be
+willing? Even though she had seemed resolved to do anything?</p>
+<p>&#8220;Meanwhile,&#8221; thought Jimmy, as on the former occasion,
+when she was ill, in Berlin, &#8220;how are we to help
+her out of this ... how?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And he was caught in the whirlwind again: it was
+Jimmy here, Jimmy there. He had to be in ten places at
+once. Not that he was manager or stage-manager: his
+was a special case. Since his return from America, Jimmy
+possessed an even more thorough knowledge of all the
+machinery of the theater. He had his memorandum-books
+filled with notes, his head crammed with new ideas. He
+had a smattering of everything, a vast amount of experience
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_299' name='page_299'></a>299</span>
+picked up in rushing about the world. After
+his triumphs with &#8220;Bridging the Abyss,&#8221; the managers,
+knowing that he had prepared something different, something
+strange and terrible, without knowing exactly what,
+the managers had bombarded him with offers: Chicago,
+Berlin, London. A conversation with Harrasford, whom
+the Astrarium held body and soul, had determined the
+matter otherwise: he would open the Astrarium with
+Jimmy and remodel the theater from top to bottom in
+view of the new trick, the most sensational that had ever
+been seen. And Jimmy should make the necessary alterations,
+he should have a free hand.</p>
+<p>Jimmy accepted. To open in a theater made for himself
+seemed preferable to Jimmy to launching his new
+invention in a closed hall, such as the London Hippodrome,
+for instance, which did not provide the aperture
+in the roof, the door opening on to the stars, which he
+required to obtain his effect upon the crowd. And that
+was why, in the work at the Astrarium, everything
+turned upon Jimmy. He was responsible to both Harrasford
+and himself. For that matter, he was fully equal
+to the interests at stake. Harrasford, a great judge of
+men, intrusted everything to Jimmy, the sensational bill-topper,
+removed above all jealousy; and he left it to his
+experience to construct the program. Harrasford himself,
+the chief and master, rarely left London; he managed
+all his theaters from his office, with the &#8217;phone at
+his ear, or else flew like the wind in every direction, buying
+a theater here, picking up a star there, on the wing.
+It was not until the third week that he came to see for
+himself how the work was doing and to discuss the
+accounts. His broad back was seen, followed by Jimmy,
+to plunge down the plastery corridors, to pass under the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_300' name='page_300'></a>300</span></p>
+<p>scaffoldings. He looked like a conqueror, tracing with
+his finger the plan of the palace that was to rise upon the
+ruins of the destroyed city; or else he would point out
+things with a jerk of the chin:</p>
+<p>&#8220;The proscenium pushed forward to here, eh, Jimmy?
+A cluster of electric lights here. Another there. And
+what about your trick, Jimmy?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must imagine the house in darkness,&#8221; said
+Jimmy, &#8220;and blue and green rays falling on the stage
+from above. Through the blue, we send a great dazzling
+beam, from over there, lighting up every inch of the
+house, a terrific light, the light of the Last Judgment....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good!&#8221; said Harrasford. &#8220;We want two or three fits
+of hysterics at the opening, real ones, not hired at two
+bob a night,&#8221; he added, with a wink. &#8220;They&#8217;re working,
+up there,&#8221; he continued, a piece of old plastering falling
+on his shoulder, as they crossed the floor of the house,
+denuded of its seats.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the opening in the roof,&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;I should
+have liked to show you ... the staircase is blocked
+with scaffoldings ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Harrasford, at the risk of breaking his neck, had
+already grasped the rungs of a provisional ladder, made
+of spokes stuck through one of the four beams which
+rose from the floor to the ceiling and supported it, while
+the whole of the space between them was being opened.
+The architect was there when Harrasford came out on
+the roof. He showed him four piers of strong masonry
+which were being built against the outer walls, explained
+that two T irons of considerable strength would rest with
+their ends on the piers and run across the roofing from
+wall to wall. Two other irons, also parallel, but running
+lengthwise, would be bolted to the first two. This arrangement
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_301' name='page_301'></a>301</span>
+would make a horizontal frame of twenty by
+thirty feet. They would then remove the beams which
+supported the roof during the operations. When the
+plastering was finished and the gilding applied, this
+would form, as seen from below, a handsome frame to
+the sky. The architect also explained how the truncated
+roof would be secured to the frame, forming a whole
+as firm as a rock, and how a light iron sash, completely
+glazed, could be drawn along the two transverse T irons,
+thus opening or closing the hall as desired.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The whole thing&#8217;s worked from below by electricity,&#8221;
+said Jimmy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How long will it take?&#8221; asked Harrasford.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all ready. It&#8217;s only got to be fixed up,&#8221; said the
+architect.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And how much? Give me the detailed account to-night,
+at the station. I&#8217;ll study it on my way to Berlin.&#8221;
+And, turning to the workmen, &#8220;<i>Faites vite! Dépêchez</i>!&#8221;</p>
+<p>They were the only words of French he knew, a vocabulary
+no more extensive than Lily&#8217;s, but of a different
+kind.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And the lights?&#8221; asked Harrasford, before he went
+down again.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here, there,&#8221; said Jimmy, &#8220;on steel rods, connected
+by electric wires.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;ll dish the Berlin Winter Garden, with its stars
+set in black velvet,&#8221; said Harrasford.</p>
+<p>And he followed Jimmy toward the stage wall, which
+stood out above the roof of the auditorium. Here some
+other workmen were cutting a doorway.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s go and see the floor now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Harrasford plunged through the door, followed
+by Jimmy. They crossed the fly-galleries and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_302' name='page_302'></a>302</span></p>
+<p>made for the blocked staircases. Before they went down,
+Jimmy called his attention to a pulley which was being
+fixed to the ceiling and which was to carry a rope with a
+stirrup for the performer&#8217;s foot, to enable him to reach
+the stage in a few seconds, after doing the trick.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very good,&#8221; said Harrasford.</p>
+<p>In half an hour, he had visited everything: the roof,
+the flies, the cellar, the auditorium, the front entrance.
+Workmen were hurrying everywhere. Harrasford encouraged
+them with a slap on the shoulder:</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>Dépêchez! Faites vite</i>!&#8221;</p>
+<p>They were working at everything at once, from the
+new installation of electric light and the steam-heating
+apparatus, in the basement, to the emergency exits and
+the main lobby. Upholsterers were taking measurements
+in the front boxes. The sound of the hammer rang
+out from top to bottom, amid a cloud of dust; men
+climbed the scaffoldings, hoisted up things; and the sight
+of all this activity gave the impression of a plan thought
+out in advance, executed with great certainty, but incomprehensible
+to any one not in the secret. There could be
+no doubt but that the spectacle which was being prepared
+would be of a sensational character: even the back-wall
+of the stage, which was empty at that moment, had been
+altered. By clearing away a few dressing-rooms, they
+had raised the floor and ceiling of the huge property-entrance.
+It had been closed up at the back and fitted with
+a sliding door in front.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The bird&#8217;s cage,&#8221; said Jimmy, with a smile.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And how does he get out?&#8221; asked Harrasford.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Windlasses here ... a rope up above ...
+hooks,&#8221; said Jimmy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And when will it be fixed?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_303' name='page_303'></a>303</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Finished next week, everything&#8217;s ready, the trials
+have been made. It will only need a little practice, here,
+on the spot, calculating the effort, getting used to the
+distance.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;House packed for six months!&#8221; said the manager.
+&#8220;Here&#8217;s a cigar to your success, Jimmy! Come and let&#8217;s
+have a drink at the bar; we&#8217;ll settle the program over
+there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A moment later, the two entered the bar where, a fortnight
+earlier, Lily had handed round the hat a second
+time for old Martello and his Bambinis and where the
+artistes, who had already dispersed toward the four corners
+of Europe, had raised their glasses to the success of
+the Astrarium. And there, in the little back room, which
+was deserted by the artistes, now that the theater was
+closed, but which would soon again be the intersecting
+point of so many vagabond existences ... where
+the nigger cake-walker from Chicago would play poker
+with the equilibrist from Japan ... where the profs
+and the bosses would exchange complaints about the
+strictness of the regulations concerning the work of apprentices
+... where little girls, worth their weight
+in gold, would come, coyly, encompassed by Pas and Mas,
+but with glances askance at flight; in that corner where
+funny men would swallow mixed drinks and talk through
+their noses; there, under the frames containing row upon
+row of signed photographs of artistes: human pyramids,
+girls in a knot, foaming muslins, Apollos and Venuses
+all muscles; there, in Pros&#8217; Corner, Harrasford, the man
+for whom all those people toiled and moiled, head down
+or feet in the air, the man from whom one thousand persons
+drew salaries night after night, Harrasford lit
+his cigar and sat down at a table with Jimmy, over a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_304' name='page_304'></a>304</span></p>
+<p>bottle of beer, and, forthwith, pencil and note-book in
+hand:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s see the program.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Jimmy, on his side, took a written list from his pocket
+and laid it on the table.</p>
+<p>It goes without saying that the select turns which they
+were about to discuss had long been engaged for Harrasford&#8217;s
+different music-halls, some of them two or three
+years ahead, as often happens in the case of the great
+bill-toppers, and the question was to choose among the
+best, so as to insure the triumph of the opening night.
+For Harrasford, who had as yet appointed no one as
+manager or stage-manager, the thing was to settle a program
+which would discourage any attempt at competition,
+to have none appearing except stars, without counting
+those whom he held in reserve for the following
+month, before distributing them over his variety-theaters
+in England, or, later, to any part of Europe, in the &#8220;Great
+Powers Tour&#8221; which he proposed to create and of which
+the Astrarium would be a sort of &#8220;commodore&#8221; music-hall,
+or headquarters. Jimmy only gave his opinion, after
+which Harrasford would decide.</p>
+<p>Harrasford&#8217;s dream was a model music-hall, something,
+in its own way, like the Grand Opéra in Paris: a palatial
+edifice, in a new style of architecture, with friezes displaying
+bodies in contortion, caryatids, cast from life,
+supporting the springers of the arches, mixed groups
+of loins and chests with swelling muscles, under the
+electric lights, and, in the lobbies, a lavish display of
+African onyx, Scotch granite and Russian porphyry. The
+crowd would pass in between Venus and Apollo, holding
+flowers and lights; and there would be music everywhere;
+gaiety, noise, red and gold everywhere; all cares would
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_305' name='page_305'></a>305</span>
+be laid aside and forgotten on entering; it would be a
+hall containing every modern convenience, like the Iroquois
+at Buffalo or a &#8217;Frisco sky-scraper: newspapers,
+café, bars, smoking-room, barbers&#8217; saloon, telegraph-office,
+telephone-office, messenger-boys, ticket-office, private
+rooms in which phonographs would shout out the latest
+news illustrated with telesteriography, from eight o&#8217;clock
+till midnight. The idea was to create, thirty years ahead
+of its time, the great popular music-hall, with its ball-rooms,
+as at Blackpool, its side-shows, a palm-garden,
+a roof-garden; to draw to the theater those who, on
+getting up from dinner, go to the café and stay there; to
+give them an atmosphere of mirth and jollity, of comforting
+lights, a sort of night forum, of People&#8217;s Palace, with,
+in the middle, in the sumptuous hall, facing the furnace
+that was the stage, a long thrill of three hours&#8217; duration.</p>
+<p>And he would realize it next year, but he was in a
+hurry to open now, to plant his flag of victory:</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>Faites vite! Dépêchez</i>!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Dare Devil had won the place for him and Jimmy was
+bringing him the sensational attraction, the inspired godsend
+which would pack the Astrarium for six months
+and fill its till and spread its name far and wide over
+Europe.</p>
+<p>Harrasford thought of this with a puff at his cigar,
+after glancing at the photographs on the wall, and then,
+suddenly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s see the program.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing but bill-toppers,&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;Picked
+turns from the first to the last ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Which will be you,&#8221; Harrasford broke in.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes ... I ... or somebody else ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean, somebody else?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_306' name='page_306'></a>306</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps,&#8221; said Jimmy, &#8220;to heighten the effect of my
+turn ... for reasons which I&#8217;ll explain to you ...
+perhaps it would be better to have a woman ... better
+for the success of the attraction!&#8221; he hastened to add,
+at an astonished gesture of Harrasford&#8217;s.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And ... are you sure?&#8221; asked the other.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think so,&#8221; said Jimmy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The program first,&#8221; said Harrasford, returning to his
+notes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We open with a gallery in marble and gold, something
+showy and quaint, in the Potsdam style, with a
+negress inside.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know. Light of Asia, eh? The armless Chinese
+girl whom I discovered at Poplar.... Music of
+cymbals and triangles, eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;I have something better ...
+more æsthetic, less cruel ... a Soudanese woman
+from Chicago. She walks on to the stage in a low-necked
+dress ... a magnificent woman ... a creamy
+complexion, with a touch of pink ... and golden
+hair ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You said a negress,&#8221; interrupted Harrasford.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait ... a splendid voice ... classical
+music ... then a wild African melody....
+She feels a flutter of homesickness; the perspiration
+streams down her face; she presses the sponge soaked
+in water, hidden beneath her wig,&mdash;and the enamel, the
+white of the shoulders, the pink cheeks all trickle away
+and, finally she appears black as ebony, and, to the growl
+of the kettle-drums, does a disheveled dance, kicking up
+her legs like a puppet on a string ... Patti-Patty
+... talent and absurdity mixed ... a crazy
+toy ... movement and noise, while the hall fills.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_307' name='page_307'></a>307</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Next?&#8221; asked Harrasford.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Next, without any interval,&#8221; continued Jimmy, &#8220;directly
+after that performance by the court fool before his
+majesty the audience, the curtain rises upon a park ...
+and the New Trickers chasing one another among the
+trees.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The New Trickers!&#8221; said Harrasford. &#8220;Bicyclists:
+that&#8217;s very stale. And, besides, what about you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Has one ever,&#8221; asked Jimmy, &#8220;seen a music-hall give
+two similar special turns, two bicycle turns, for instance,
+in the same show?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Absurd!&#8221; said Harrasford. &#8220;Explain yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s to differentiate between my invention and trick-riding
+from the very first,&#8221; replied Jimmy, &#8220;to show, once
+and for all, that mine has nothing in common with the
+ordinary turns you see on the stage: &#8216;Bridging the Abyss&#8217;
+or &#8216;Looping the Loop.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You may be right,&#8221; said Harrasford, &#8220;it will prevent
+confusion; yours is purely scientific. And the New
+Trickers: tights? Bloomers?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Skirts, all in white, Warwick style,&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;A
+school-girls&#8217; spree: see-saw on the bike ... somersaults
+over the benches ... waltzes, lively tunes: an
+impression of gaiety and happiness. The star is a statue on
+a pedestal in the park. The others throw flowers to her.
+She wakes; steps down: &#8216;Hullo, a bike!&#8217; And then a special
+tune for the star and a waltz on the back-wheel, amid
+the admiring circle of school-girls.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Harrasford. &#8220;And what&#8217;s the price
+of the New Trickers?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;So much.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And he jotted it down in his note-book, near the prices
+of Dare Devil and Cataplasm.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_308' name='page_308'></a>308</span></p>
+<p>Jimmy also took notes, mentioned the names of the
+great serio, the great comic singer, with their figures:</p>
+<p>&#8220;So much.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;They earn their money pretty easily, those two!&#8221;
+grunted Harrasford. &#8220;But I&#8217;ve got to submit to it, I
+suppose. Next?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Jimmy only described the spectacular turns. Harrasford
+listened, saw it in his head: a corner of untamed nature,
+a valley in the mountains, blue distances, sunshine
+in the foreground. The Three Graces arrive all out of
+breath.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You understand,&#8221; said Jimmy, &#8220;they are supposed to
+have been chasing the deer or hunting butterflies. As a
+matter of fact, Mr. Fuchs will have made them do their
+Sandow, before going on, to bring the blood to their
+cheeks; he&#8217;s full of ideas, is Mr. Fuchs. On arriving,
+a moment&#8217;s rest, an adorable group in all the splendor
+of the nude ... sweet, solemn music ... and
+then a glorious performance, a sort of human cluster
+hanging from the trapezes, something healthy and robust.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Harrasford, putting a cross in his
+note-book opposite the Three Graces. &#8220;And next?&#8221;</p>
+<p>With Harrasford it was always &#8220;And next?&#8221; like a
+man who never has more than just so many minutes to
+spare, because his train&#8217;s waiting.</p>
+<p>It was a curious sight to see the two talking together
+in low voices, with an occasional glance at the door
+when some indiscreet person looked in. They might have
+been taken for a pair of conspirators plotting a move;
+no one would ever have suspected that they were composing
+a performance, unique of its sort, which would be
+famous to-morrow. Everything was provided for:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_309' name='page_309'></a>309</span>
+scenery, music, the color of the dresses, effects of light,
+the alternate doses of laughter or grace or terror to be
+served up to the audience; everything was discussed then
+and there, in all its details, down to those two sketch-comedians,
+with faces streaked red and white, against a
+back-drop representing an old English street, two drunken
+sports, with hats mashed in, coats turned inside out, ten
+minutes of mad tricks and inhuman cries; for the audience
+must have its pittance of the grotesque as well.</p>
+<p>There was a herd of comic elephants, five enormous
+animals in a Hindoo setting; and no master on the stage,
+no boss, no prof: they all obeyed a whistle blown in the
+wings. And, conducting the orchestra with an air of unspeakable
+gravity, a monkey, Mozart II., a caricature of
+an infant prodigy, made the huge brutes perform their
+evolutions, to the Soldiers&#8217; Chorus from <i>Faust</i>. Then,
+in his enthusiasm, Mozart sent his desk flying into the
+air, followed by his coat, his shoes, his conductor&#8217;s baton,
+and ended by seizing his tail in his hand and beating
+time with that.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That dishes Orpheus and Mad-darewski,&#8221; said Harrasford.
+&#8220;And next?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The <i>entr&#8217;acte</i> came next, with portraits and biographies
+of the artistes distributed among the audience.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes,&#8221; said Harrasford, laughing. &#8220;Old English
+families ... clergymen&#8217;s daughters....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Learned all that with their governesses, as a surprise
+for their Pa and Ma!&#8221; continued Jimmy. &#8220;Mozart II., a
+favorite of the king of Lahore; Patti-Patty, a descendant
+of the Queen of Sheba: we&#8217;ve got to do it. There&#8217;s no
+getting away from it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We must hide the bruises,&#8221; said Harrasford. &#8220;And
+next?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_310' name='page_310'></a>310</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Next, I hope to have the Bambinis: ten minutes of
+rosy mirth; real biographical babies, born with that in
+their blood, brother and sister, two marvels. I shall obtain
+permission for them to appear, though they&#8217;re under
+the age; the old father is dying, the famous Martello.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We must engage them for my tour,&#8221; said Harrasford.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If the old man doesn&#8217;t die first; in that case, there&#8217;s
+a brother who will come and claim them, it seems.
+They&#8217;re a fortune, the two Bambinis, to whomever secures
+them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;One dress-coat more on the stage,&#8221; said Harrasford.
+&#8220;And next?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Topsy Turvy Tom.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, I know!&#8221; said Harrasford, laughing. &#8220;The
+fellow who used to wear leaden armlets to harden his
+muscles and smash Clifton&#8217;s jaw.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the one,&#8221; said Jimmy, laughing in his turn. &#8220;A
+threat of Clifton&#8217;s, who said that he would &#8216;make him
+dance the hornpipe on his hands, damn it!&#8217; suggested the
+idea of a turn to him, so they say. He set to work with
+superhuman energy&mdash;and now he is a bill-topper....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well done!&#8221; cried Harrasford, banging his fist on
+the table. &#8220;There&#8217;s no country but old England can turn
+out bulldogs like that, lads who jump from the gutter
+to the top of the bill! That&#8217;s what I call a man! And
+what&#8217;s his turn like?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A scene of his own: the front of a palace. A pink
+marble figure, naked down to the waist, supports a huge
+cornice. A thunder of big drums, a flash of lime-light
+and the palace splits from top to bottom. The figure
+staggers, falls on its hands and gives a stupendous acrobatic
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_311' name='page_311'></a>311</span>
+performance: somersaults on the hands; waltzing;
+treading the ball: the &#8216;hornpipe, damn it!&#8217; And then
+Tom stands on his feet, all in shadow. A powerful ray
+of light is thrown upon him, and you see the muscles of
+the abdomen slowly moving, the pectoral muscles quivering,
+the deltoids leaping and starting, the biceps swelling;
+and, when he turns round, the rhomboids hollowing out,
+the muscles of the back rolling: the triumph of the human
+machine ... and of Tom.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And of will,&#8221; said Harrasford. &#8220;How much?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;So much.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s worth it. And next?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Roofers, high-kickers: the Merry Wives. We begin
+with dancing and end with dancing. The puppets make
+their bow to the public before being put away in their
+boxes ... the curtain falls ... and good night!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And then you come!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I come,&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;Or she.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your invention,&#8221; said Harrasford seriously, &#8220;is not a
+music-hall entertainment. It is, undoubtedly, the greatest
+of all scientific toys, a marvel of modern ingenuity. Do
+you really want a pair of tights on the top of that? And,
+first of all, where will you find the woman who will dare?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the question, obviously,&#8221; admitted Jimmy.</p>
+<p>Not that Jimmy must have been in love with Lily, to
+think of her! It had first just passed through his head,
+no more. But, on reflecting, it had appeared to him that,
+in the theater, the beauty of a Lily would add greatly to
+the success of his attraction. To work his invention in
+public was different from experimenting with it in his
+shed in London. It was leaving the laboratory to take
+its place in life; and it would be a triumph to see the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_312' name='page_312'></a>312</span>
+daring trick succeed, every day, at the fixed hour, within
+a restricted compass; to see it go through the opening
+above; to see that machine worked by a young girl in
+whom one would have suspected neither the strength
+nor the nerve: it would make the public infer the excellence
+of the engine. Now Jimmy was possessed, above
+all, of scientific enthusiasm. His machine before everything;
+not his personal triumph, his machine. He
+dreamed of giving that added grace to his diagrams;
+and he considered that there was no disadvantage in
+allowing science to be introduced by youth and beauty.
+Moreover, Jimmy was a little heavy for an apparatus in
+which he had even suppressed the motor, in order to
+make it more easily manageable ... a lighter body
+would perhaps be better ... Lily, Lily was the
+ideal operator; but was she capable of it? Jimmy had
+confidence in her. Jimmy, certainly, did not allow sentiment
+to mix in his affairs; there was the weight of his
+responsibility to consider. But then there was also his
+meeting with Lily in the dressing-room passage. And he
+had understood her mental agony. He had seen the
+gleam in her eyes and so great a display of energy in her
+face that Jimmy had resolved to try her; and he would
+judge her much better by the way in which she should
+face death.</p>
+<p>That is what Jimmy explained to the manager, leaving
+a good deal untold, of course, and Harrasford retired behind
+the smoke of his cigar, listened, approved.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s your affair, when all is said and done. All you
+want is success, I suppose? And will you arrange with
+her ... with your ... what did you say her
+name was?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_313' name='page_313'></a>313</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There are so many Lilies; and, if somebody has to
+break his or her back, I had rather it was a Lily, one out
+of the bunch, than you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily, meanwhile, was loitering outside. Harrasford
+and Jimmy had no notion that the girl about whom they
+were talking was quite close to them, thinking of them.
+Lily had heard an artiste say that Harrasford was visiting
+the Astrarium. She had come in all haste, impelled
+by some vague hope. Chance would have it that
+she was still in Paris. Everything, besides, seemed to
+be keeping her there: an agent, the day after her interview
+with Jimmy, had advised her to stay a few days
+longer; there might be something important for her.
+Lily could not understand in what way; however, she
+had stayed, though she was almost without means of
+support. She began by trying to sell her jewels, the
+fifty-pound diamond, among others, which that lord had
+given her in England: the jeweler handed it back to her,
+saying that it might be worth eight francs! That meant
+destitution. And yet hope always returned to her in one
+way or another. She had even received three blue banknotes,
+three hundred francs, in an envelope! Her fortnight
+at the Bijou! No doubt about it, they were paying the
+artistes&#8217; salaries; perhaps the Federation had taken the
+matter up? Three hundred francs; not enough to pay
+Glass-Eye or to give to Jimmy, but just sufficient to settle
+her small debts, buy some new dresses and go to London
+to play the darky at Earl&#8217;s Court. Oh, what a ridiculous
+come-down! And so, when she learned that Harrasford
+was at the Astrarium, she took her courage in both hands:
+she would see Harrasford. She would try the fascination
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_314' name='page_314'></a>314</span>
+of her smile upon him. She would be settled at
+once and for ever.... When she thought of the
+New Trickers, her blood seemed to stand still in her
+veins: the New Trickers at the Astrarium! And Jimmy,
+the mean cur, not to have got her that shop, when she
+had such a splendid idea: Lady Godiva on a bike! And
+a scene of her own: the front of Peeping Tom&#8217;s club,
+with all the boys at the windows!</p>
+<p>Just then, Harrasford came out of the bar. She hurried
+up to him and introduced herself:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Lily.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Which one?&#8221; said Harrasford. &#8220;Excuse me; no time
+now. See Jimmy, will you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And he plunged into a cab and shouted an address to
+his driver.</p>
+<p>Lily stood stupefied, as she watched the cab disappear.
+This time it was finished, quite finished.... She
+gave a last glance at the Astrarium and sighed....</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily!&#8221; It was Jimmy coming out and crossing the
+street. &#8220;Hullo, Lily!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She did not reply.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Listen, Lily,&#8221; said Jimmy, gently and gravely. &#8220;You
+wanted to get there the other day, didn&#8217;t you? You told
+me you would do anything for that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;To take the place of the New Trickers, yes!&#8221; exclaimed
+Lily. &#8220;I&#8217;d have risked my life!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The New Trickers are there,&#8221; said Jimmy, &#8220;and are
+going to remain. Listen to me, what I have to propose
+to you is very serious: it&#8217;s something else.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What else? You know that&#8217;s all I&#8217;m good for ...
+to go round and round ... you know it quite well!&#8221;
+cried Lily, her face drawn with impotent anger.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_315' name='page_315'></a>315</span>
+&#8220;I know what you can do. Look here: would you like
+to be above the New Trickers? Would you like to top
+the bill? Are you ready to do everything for that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;May God forgive you for mocking at me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you top the bill?&#8221; asked Jimmy again, in an accent
+that sent a thrill down her back. &#8220;Answer me: yes
+or no?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; cried Lily. &#8220;My life, everything, damn it!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_316' name='page_316'></a>316</span></p>
+<div class='ce' style=' font-size:1.2em;'>
+<p>AMONG THE STARS</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p>I</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Jimmy was greatly excited when Lily had given him
+her answer and he led her to the Astrarium. To understand
+his feelings fully, one would have to know his life
+since the evening when, at Whitcomb Mansions, he had
+looked Lily in the face and told her no. He realized
+then, from the emotion which he experienced, how great
+a place Lily had filled in his heart, the little passenger
+from New York to Liverpool; the girl who came to see
+him in his shop in Gresse Street; the Lily whom he
+dreamed of &#8220;helping out of that&#8221; when he saw her
+on the stage, from up in the fly-galleries; the one whom
+he had tried to take away from Trampy; the poor sick
+girl in Berlin; those Lilies whom he felt moving inside
+him, around him, like a breath of April; all those
+Lilies, he had broken with them all! Oh, it was hard!
+Lily should never, never know what courage he had
+needed to keep silent, he, the man she thought so cold,
+nor what a tempest ... oh, if she could only have
+seen into him! And then ... he had not met her
+again....</p>
+<p>He, after his engagement at the Hippodrome, went off
+to America; Lily traveled on her part. Also, he was a
+prey to his fixed idea, his great project, always: his ambition
+increased, the same longing for success which, formerly,
+in Gresse Street, had made him spend nights in
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_317' name='page_317'></a>317</span>
+study after days of toil, at the time when, under Lily&#8217;s influence,
+his roaming thoughts built castles in the air, when
+he felt awakening within himself his racial instinct as an
+heroic seeker after profitable adventures.</p>
+<p>And his ambition took great strides forward, was not
+limited, as in Clifton&#8217;s case, to upsetting the fat freaks
+or training New Zealanders to spin round and round.
+He dreamed of a useful life, based upon his own efforts.
+He wished to found his future upon a discovery of his
+own, which had long haunted him and which had
+ripened in Berlin, between his flights in &#8220;Bridging the
+Abyss,&#8221; a thing at which he worked incessantly in Whitcomb
+Mansions; and, this time, the stage prowlers,
+should not steal his idea. To begin with, apart from
+a few pieces of technical advice which he received from
+a friend of his, an engineer, nobody knew about it;
+and Jimmy felt sure that, even when the apparatus was
+at work, he would not fall a victim to the confraternity
+who, ever on the watch for new tricks, study them,
+judge of the weak points, copy whatever suits them,
+including scenery and music, and, sometimes, succeed
+in earning more money than the inventor himself; he
+would have nothing to fear from the Trampies, the pirates,
+the plagiarists, those plagues of the profession.
+Certainly, there were great bill-toppers, creators of sensations
+who discovered new things&mdash;terrifying feats of
+gyroscopic balancing, or flights through space, based
+upon principles of ballistics, assisted by the spiral spring&mdash;daring
+risk-alls, nerve-shakers, purveyors of thrills,
+turning to intelligent account the seductive power which
+dangerous feats exercise upon the public. Jimmy knew
+all about that. He was not the only one; but, this time,
+it was a question of a scientific application which would,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_318' name='page_318'></a>318</span>
+beyond a doubt, place him at the head of that pick of the
+music-hall. It would be pure science and patient calculation:
+an algebraical hippogriff, with pluck in the saddle.</p>
+<p>Jimmy&#8217;s plans resulted from intuition rather than real
+knowledge; but learning has nothing to do with the creative
+spirit. Now Jimmy, although he was unaware of
+it, possessed the genius that invents; and his comparative
+ignorance did him no great harm: his imagination,
+unhampered by theories, was all the freer for it. Jimmy
+had the higher instinct of the born machinist, who is content
+to use a bit of string where a school-bred engineer
+will cram every manner of gear, chains, pulleys and windlasses.
+It is true that he was assisted in his research by
+many experiments already tried elsewhere; but he
+dreamed of something different and, in the calm of Whitcomb
+Mansions, had studied without respite.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pooh!&#8221; he reflected. &#8220;All those sails, all that weight!
+Boxes heaped one on the top of the other&mdash;cubes to catch
+the air&mdash;a man sitting inert in a basket, with his hand
+on a lever and a crank: it&#8217;s as though one tried to make
+a stuffed bird fly! And what becomes of the man in all
+that: the back push, the daring stroke? The man has got
+to be the backbone of the machine, with his quick balancings,
+his bendings, which are worth more than any
+wheelwork.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, always, his inventive imagination built on without
+respite, pulled down, built up again.</p>
+<p>His daily success at the Hippodrome did not divert
+him from the end he had in view. &#8220;Bridging the Abyss,&#8221;
+for him, was but a means of making money, to enable
+him to climb higher. He thought of nothing but that:
+getting on, climbing higher; and this obsession of the
+future made him scorn or rather overlook the temptations
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_319' name='page_319'></a>319</span>
+of the stage. He would only have had to choose among
+the lot. All, down to the great Parisienne, would have
+jumped at a champagne supper with Jimmy, the famous
+bill-topper, the man who looked like the swells in the
+front boxes and who made such a &#8220;pile.&#8221; But Jimmy
+knew all about that: he left the theater in the quietest
+way, took a glass of ale with the boys or girls at the
+Crown, had a light supper and went home. And sometimes
+a frenzy for work made him rush to his table, as
+though the band of the Hippodrome were shaking his
+nerves:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get to work,&#8221; he would growl, &#8220;get to work, cheesy
+brain!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Pa, I can&#8217;t!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;ve got to, my little siree!&#8221; he insisted, with
+a flickering smile.</p>
+<p>And he read treatises, made diagrams; took up his compasses
+again ... or else stayed as he was, with his
+chin in his hand, plunged in his thoughts, his mind soaring
+above London.... He seemed to fly over the
+huge city, whose distant rumbling rose up to him, similar
+to the roar of the sea.... Oh, he would succeed,
+he knew he would! And he felt within himself an
+increasing will of so tenacious a character that he could
+have swung it, so it seemed to him, like a battering-ram
+against the obstacle to be overcome and then:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Damn it!&#8221; he would growl, banging his fist on the
+table. &#8220;That thief in the night! What a sweet wife he
+got hold of! Poor Lily, to fall into such hands! Ah, yes,
+she would have done better to stay at home!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Jimmy got to work again, to forget Lily; and he
+kept on thinking of her:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Damn that girl!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_320' name='page_320'></a>320</span></p>
+<p>What on earth did he think of her for ... when he
+didn&#8217;t love her, after all?</p>
+<p>Even during his triumphal tour of the Eastern and
+Western Trust, that Lily, whom he did not love, haunted
+his memory. At first, he hoped to forget her in his life
+of excessive activity. And he saw so many theaters, as
+many as Lily did in England: so many artistes, on so
+many stages ... faces whom he had already met in
+England: fair wigs, scarlet legs, boyish voices; &#8220;Roofers,&#8221;
+&#8220;brothers&#8221; and &#8220;sisters,&#8221; returning from London, Manchester,
+or Glasgow. He would have ended by seeing
+them all again in time. There were other Lilies shooting
+up, Lilies &#8220;that high,&#8221; elbowed by every vice, petted by
+every hand, kissed by every pair of lips. His sympathy
+went out to them all; and Lily had lived amid all
+that; it was just her life. He found something to remind
+him of her at every turn, on those stages on which
+she had performed. He seemed to see her near him, with
+her light walk, in her little black dress, looking so nice
+in her &#8220;performing-dog&#8221; toque: the poor little silly thing,
+running away with that thief in the night and left alone
+now, quite alone, it appeared, among the &#8220;rotten lot.&#8221;
+The thought drove him mad:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Damn that girl!&#8221; he said to himself. &#8220;I don&#8217;t love
+her. Then why am I always thinking about her?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And he rushed into work, into danger, when he
+thought of that; risked terrible leaps in &#8220;Bridging the
+Abyss.&#8221; He sometimes felt as though he were rushing
+toward oblivion, into the jaws of death! And his great
+project also nearly outweighed Lily&#8217;s influence:</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are the leaps in &#8216;Bridging the Abyss,&#8217;&#8221; he
+thought, &#8220;if not a fractional flight? If I had two flat
+surfaces, one on either side, and a motor behind me, it
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_321' name='page_321'></a>321</span>
+seems to me that I should continue to go upward; and
+the best rudder would be the man riding it, with his
+flexible body, his springy back: a live weight is less
+heavy than a dead weight. How many hundred volts
+does pluck stand for ... or skill ... or hatred
+... or love?&#8221;</p>
+<p>By dint of composing his machine in his head and
+studying it on paper, Jimmy grew calmer. He thought
+less about Lily, or, at least, thought about her only in her
+interest, not his. For instance, in that little town in the
+West which was not on his tour, but in which Trampy
+had appeared, Jimmy tried to obtain information. He
+went out of his way in order to make inquiries. A marriage
+with Trampy Wheel-Pad? It was impossible to
+discover anything; and he would not be able to make Lily
+the magnificent present which he had dreamed of: her
+divorce from Trampy!</p>
+<p>And &#8220;Miss Lily,&#8221; Miss Lily, always; he was not satisfied
+with thinking of her, he heard her name mentioned.
+Boys and girls who had seen Lily in England and whom
+the chances of travel brought across his path in America
+told him with many amplifications, of her outrageous
+adventures, her passion for flirting. She no longer did
+all her turn. She paid more attention to her dresses
+than to her performance. She was extravagant, traveled
+with her maid, put up at the big hotels. She received
+bouquets, my, as big as cabs, and invitations to supper
+and post-cards covered with x x x x! She had an autograph-book
+full of declarations of love. Motor-cars, furnished
+houses: she was offered everything. The son of a
+lord had ruined himself in jewelry for her, the impersonator
+was nearly off his head for love of her, gee, she
+did have a good time! She spent her life receiving chocolates
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_322' name='page_322'></a>322</span>
+and sweets and distributing her photograph as Lady
+Godiva, with her signature. Lily, according to them, laid
+waste every heart; men had left wife and children for her
+sake; her love affairs were going the round of the world,
+like her whippings. Lily was the thing; and game and
+mustard for Jim Crow.</p>
+<p>These tales left Jimmy very sad. He made allowances
+for professional exaggeration in matters of love as of
+smackings, but, nevertheless, there must be some truth
+in what they said, for it reached him from various sides.
+Oh, he pitied that dear little Lily from the bottom of his
+heart! The harm was done, the theater had spoiled the
+woman. This time, he felt that it was finished, between
+her and him.... He, no doubt&mdash;who could tell?&mdash;would
+continue his forward progress, and, one day, he
+would have a wife of his own, a woman without a past,
+and he would take his stand firmly on the earth, with a
+home and love; and Lily, soon, would be little more than a
+dead memory....</p>
+<p>Meanwhile, his brain, redoubling in vigor amid those
+stormy squalls, took in everything, seized everything in
+a wide sense, became steeped in life, rejected bitterness
+and retained enthusiasm. He heaped up personal observations
+which he noted every evening, enough to
+build the ideal music-hall one day. Harrasford, he
+knew, was cherishing that plan. Perhaps they would
+realize it together? And the retreat for the aged and
+the home of rest for the sick, and, in each capital or
+large town, a local artistes&#8217; home&mdash;like the Sailors&#8217;
+Home&mdash;a little corner of England, providing comfort
+for the man and protection for the girl. And his scheme,
+his scheme was ripe now, the bold stroke which would
+enable him to realize all the rest later. He felt the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_323' name='page_323'></a>323</span>
+strength within him, if not to succeed, at least to
+dare everything: &#8220;Brass Heart,&#8221; as he had been christened
+at &#8217;Frisco. He had served an apprenticeship to
+will-power: he had bruised his ribs with a vengeance in
+a fall at the Columbia Theater at Cincinnati; he had
+nearly split his skull at the Milwaukee Majestic; he had
+shed his blood at the Washington Orpheum; and he was
+going to risk more with his new invention. No matter,
+he had now but one idea, to return to England, in spite
+of magnificent offers from Australia.</p>
+<p>The moment he reached London, he set to work. And
+he fixed up the whole apparatus at his leisure, in the
+shed which he had kept, notwithstanding the expense:
+a sort of large hall in which he had already rehearsed
+his &#8220;Bridging the Abyss.&#8221; Here, with a couple
+of confidential assistants who had traveled with him in
+America, he worked from morning till night, correcting,
+revising, improving, in the midst of stretched cords and
+nets. And then came his interview with Harrasford, his
+engagement at the Astrarium, his meeting with Lily, in
+the dressing-room passage....</p>
+<p>And it was untrue! What they had said about her was
+a lie! Lily had not fallen! Jimmy, merely at that moment&#8217;s
+sight of her, would have sworn it in the face of
+the whole world: the tales about Lily, due probably to
+professional boasting on her own part,&mdash;were false! He
+knew it, because he had seen her magnificent anger and
+the flash from her chaste eyes. And he would give Lily
+that joy&mdash;he owed at least as much as that to his dead
+love&mdash;and he would see that it was all right. It would
+not be a question of:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pa, I can&#8217;t!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;ve got to, my little lady!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_324' name='page_324'></a>324</span></p>
+<p>She would have to dare of her own accord, with a will
+of adamant, and Lily would do it, Jimmy was sure of
+that. He had found the partner wanted for his success
+and he rejoiced to the bottom of his heart as he led Lily
+to the stage of the Astrarium.</p>
+<p>Lily, on the other hand, felt an anxiety which made her
+sides ache and her heart beat:</p>
+<p>&#8220;What on earth can it be?&#8221; she asked herself.</p>
+<p>But, whatever it was, she would do it if it cost her her
+skin! And Lily did not even take the stage oath, so sincere
+and spontaneous was her resolve.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll show you, Lily,&#8221; said Jimmy, seeing her look at
+the hall and the opening in the ceiling as she passed. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+a new trick.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Lily, &#8220;new: it&#8217;ll be like the last, they&#8217;ll take
+it from you as soon as it&#8217;s out. It&#8217;s like me, the tricks
+which Pa invented and which the fat freaks cribbed from
+me. Tricks are always copied, you know they are,&#8221; continued
+Lily, who trembled at the thought of seeing others
+beside herself topping the bill with that.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You needn&#8217;t be afraid,&#8221; said Jimmy, &#8220;they won&#8217;t take
+this one from me; and yet I hope, in a few years&#8217; time,
+to see it all over the place.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You hope to have it taken from you in a few years
+only, eh? But why?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;For all the world to profit by it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All the world on the back-wheel!&#8221; protested Lily, who
+was always thinking bikes. &#8220;Then what will become of
+the artistes?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In a few years, Lily, people won&#8217;t go about on wheels,&#8221;
+said Jimmy jokingly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What will they do then?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ll fly!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_325' name='page_325'></a>325</span></p>
+<p>Lily would have burst out laughing, in other circumstances;
+but they had now reached the stage. The iron
+curtain was down. She looked round with scared eyes
+for something out of the common. Jimmy, after making
+sure that they were quite alone, walked up to the monster&#8217;s
+cage, slid back the door ...</p>
+<p>The aerobike, with wings wide open, seemed to loom
+out of the darkness.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My!&#8221; cried Lily. &#8220;It&#8217;s a bird! So that was your brain-work
+in Berlin and in ... What is it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was, in any case, a strange creature, with two inclined
+planes, one on either side, that looked like wings;
+and, at the back, it showed a screw-propeller sticking up
+in the air, like a tail. The whole thing rested on two
+wheels.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And it&#8217;s a bike, too! I knew it!&#8221; cried Lily, clapping
+her hands. &#8220;Well done, Jimmy! And do you want me
+to get up on it? Come along! Just wait till I take my
+hat off,&#8221; she went on, drawing out the hat-pins from
+under her big feathers.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not so fast!&#8221; said Jimmy, laughing. &#8220;Keep calm!
+We&#8217;ll start next week. There are a good many little
+things to make sure of first; and then I must put up a
+cable in case of a fall.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t care a hang for a fall,&#8221; cried Lily, immensely
+excited. &#8220;You&#8217;ll soon see if I&#8217;m afraid!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Be serious, Lily. Listen to me,&#8221; replied Jimmy. &#8220;Yes,
+you will have to stand on the back-wheel, but not to ride
+round the stage. You will have to start up at full speed
+and then go up and up, straight up, into space and then
+shoot out through a hole which they are making in the
+roof.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Lily, &#8220;I saw. . . . My, that makes a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_326' name='page_326'></a>326</span>
+good distance! And, when I&#8217;m through the hole, what do
+I do up there? Go on...!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll explain all that to you,&#8221; said Jimmy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dive into the street, eh?&#8221; asked Lily, in her Spartan
+voice. &#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t care! Anything! I&#8217;ll do anything!
+And I&#8217;ll show them,&#8221; she added, to herself, &#8220;if you can
+do <i>that</i> through your gentlemen friends!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But she calmed herself: after all, she was going to top
+the bill; have her name in all the papers, with her portrait;
+see the walls covered with her posters. What a revenge
+for her! That was enough, for the moment. She
+did not want to appear surprised before Jimmy. The
+right thing was to take it as something very natural, like
+a lady who is used to the best.</p>
+<p>Jimmy, meanwhile, was explaining his trick:</p>
+<p>&#8220;We shan&#8217;t fly at once,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We shall practise
+on the stand to learn how the handles work. Oh, you&#8217;ll
+have to think of everything during the few seconds that
+the flight lasts! The machine isn&#8217;t perfect, it&#8217;s a first attempt,
+it can only be ridden by a professional and a very
+clever one. Look here,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;it&#8217;s the principle of
+the back-wheel; you&#8217;ll have to keep your side-balance and
+front and back, but you&#8217;ll do it, I&#8217;m sure. <i>I&#8217;ve</i> done it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What you can do, a man,&#8221; Lily interrupted, &#8220;I can do
+too. One can do anything on the bike!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The machine which Jimmy explained to Lily in detail
+was a bike just like another, with a few differences in its
+general construction, bearing upon the services which it
+was expected to perform. The saddle, for instance, was
+made to slide backward and forward, so that the center
+of equilibrium could be shifted with a push of the rider&#8217;s
+back. The stability of the apparatus did not depend upon
+that alone. The ascensional rudder or screw-propeller,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_327' name='page_327'></a>327</span>
+which was able to impart a speed of thirty miles an hour
+to the machine, was in the extension of the horizontal
+bar of the frame. It was fitted to a long piece of
+bent steel, pinned below the saddle, which, running beside
+the frame, ended by forming a pedal, so that, with
+a pressure of the foot, the rider could move it downward,
+at will, within an arc of some ten degrees. This
+propeller, which was small in dimensions, but endowed
+with enormous speed, was, in its normal position, perpendicular
+to the frame. The pressure of the foot raised
+it to its highest point. In this position, the propeller
+turned at full speed and therefore tended to descend and,
+consequently, to point the front of the aerobike upward.
+When brought still lower, its ascensional force increased
+and the front of the aerobike pitched downward. These
+two extremes would obviously serve only in sudden movements.
+In reality, the rider&#8217;s skill would consist in moving
+the propeller only very slightly, in order to maintain
+a horizontal flight. As for the machine itself, Jimmy had
+rejected the cumbersome system of cells, which he compared
+to boxes:</p>
+<p>&#8220;The shape of a fish for the ship, the shape of a bird
+for the flying-machine,&#8221; he said.</p>
+<p>He stuck to that principle and therefore he had added
+two enormous wings, one on each side. He had first experimented
+with reduced models, shaped like a bird,
+sending them up anyhow, to see, and he had ended by constructing
+one which preserved its stability when gliding
+over the atmospheric layers. He had thus been led to construct
+wings with a slightly rounded surface whose coefficient
+of yield was nearly double that of wings with flat
+surfaces. The width of these wings was about five feet
+and their length about sixteen. They tapered a little,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_328' name='page_328'></a>328</span>
+were drawn out in front and widened at the opposite end,
+so as to get a more powerful hold of the air. They were
+made of double-milled canvas, stretched on curved ash
+and fastened to the sections by aluminum stays riveted
+with copper and clenched. They were as light as they
+were stiff. These two wings pointed slightly upward in
+front, parallel to the machine, and were fastened to it in
+the middle by means of an axis below the saddle-pillar,
+which brought their axis to the center of gravity. Other
+ingenious and quite individual arrangements made the
+apparatus very manageable. The resistance of the air,
+combined with the propelling power of the screw, exercised
+all its force in vain: the wings remained stationary.
+Their lines were carefully studied to facilitate the flow
+of the air, on the principle of Langley&#8217;s kite: and the two
+of them presented a carrying surface of forty-nine square
+feet.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not much,&#8221; Jimmy explained to Lily, who listened
+attentively. &#8220;If I carried my motor,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I should
+have a bigger surface. The machine ought then, theoretically
+speaking, to rise when it is going at a rate
+of thirty miles an hour; with a good back push the
+front-wheel would leave the ground and continue its
+course upward. But, on the stage, we have no room to
+acquire speed: we shall get it from an inclined plane, as
+at the start of &#8216;Looping the Loop.&#8217; As for the side steering,
+the front wheel has spokes fitted with canvas and
+offers resistance to the air: it will steer the aerobike to
+left or right at a touch of the handle-bar, as in ordinary
+riding, and there you are, Lily.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My!&#8221; said Lily, bewildered by all this complicated apparatus.
+&#8220;Did you work it all out on paper? It&#8217;s enough
+to drive one mad!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_329' name='page_329'></a>329</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;When you&#8217;re on it, Lily,&#8221; said Jimmy, smiling, &#8220;you&#8217;ll
+have to work also, <i>I</i> promise you. But, with your talent,
+... you&#8217;ll manage better than I should. And to-morrow,&#8221;
+he added, &#8220;I will give you something on
+account of your salary.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I have money,&#8221; said Lily, very proudly and fearing
+lest she should wear out her luck by adding that to
+it, by being paid for doing nothing....</p>
+<p>Lily spent the whole week in a fever of expectation;
+she did not know where she was for joy. But she stifled
+that within herself. And it was owing to her talent, all
+owing to her talent! When people wanted a difficult trick
+done, they did not go to Daisy or the fat freaks, no, they
+came to little Lily! And it was settled, she wanted no
+more familiarity, now that she was going to top the
+bill at the Astrarium! A lady should be more reserved
+in her friendships: she would make herself very short-sighted,
+so short-sighted as to be almost blind, when she
+met the rotten lot! Resolved, that she would give up saying,
+&#8220;Damn it!&#8221; give up talking of smackings and using
+vulgar expressions:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you hear, Glass-Eye?&#8221; she said, calling her maid
+to witness. &#8220;You&#8217;re to box my ears if you catch me at it
+again!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The thought of having to handle that delicate machine
+increased Lily&#8217;s importance in her own eyes. She had
+noticed that Poland, apart from an inordinate love of
+champagne suppers, had very nice manners: Lily would
+profit by her example and become more refined; she would
+show Pa and Ma the kind of Lily they had lost and she
+would crush them with the amount of her salary! She
+would earn more by herself than the whole troupe. She
+would let them know it, even if she had to do the trick
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_330' name='page_330'></a>330</span>
+for nothing, for glory, to see her Ma beg her pardon on
+her knees! She had recovered all the pride of her eighteen
+years, all her freshness, in a day: the touch of bitterness
+about her lips had changed into a smile. It would have
+taken very little more to make her dance for joy. But she
+restrained herself, dared not believe in her happiness;
+and she was quite decided not to accept anything from
+Jimmy before earning it. It was bad enough to owe him
+that thousand marks. She made herself a nice practising
+dress and spent the morning in bed reading a novel of
+fashionable life, of which the heroine was called Lily, like
+herself! And she, too, would become a society-girl, just
+to show them, damn it! But, suddenly, catching herself
+at fault, she laughed and asked Glass-Eye for a box on
+the ear; and a desperate pillow-fight ensued, in which
+they indulged whole-heartedly, like two regular tom-boys
+who loved to wrestle and punch each other. And it put
+her in a good humor for the rest of the day. She went
+shopping through the windows, only bought herself a
+spray of roses to fasten to her bodice. She went to the
+Astrarium, walked in as though the place belonged to
+her, followed by her maid. She examined the works
+with the eye of an expert. Three days, three days more
+and she would begin to rehearse! Her legs were itching
+to commence!</p>
+<p>The alterations to the stage especially interested her.
+The door of the cage remained closed and Lily looked at
+the auditorium:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it possible, after all?&#8221; she thought.</p>
+<p>And she measured the distance with her eye. It seemed
+enormous to her, but never mind, she&#8217;d do it! And she
+grew wildly enthusiastic in the midst of all that activity,
+of a theater which was being rearranged for her:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_331' name='page_331'></a>331</span>
+&#8220;For me, Glass-Eye! All of it for me! From here,&#8221;
+she said, stamping her foot on the stage, &#8220;from here to
+right up there!&#8221; And she pointed to the hole in the sky.
+&#8220;All that on the bike! A somersault miles high!&#8221;</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg327.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 258px; height: 332px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 258px;'>
+OLD MARTELLO<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Glass-Eye opened two terrified eyes, wondered if Lily
+was going mad....</p>
+<p>Glass-Eye had become dulled through constant obedience,
+had lost her memory, mixed up her yeses and noes,
+like those actors who forget their parts through playing
+them too frequently; her recent life had excited her too
+much, and never a sou in her pocket, only barely enough
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_332' name='page_332'></a>332</span>
+to eat ... it was ten times worse than in Rathbone
+Place.... And then that new crotchet of Lily&#8217;s.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can I fly, Glass-Eye, or can&#8217;t I? Am I a bird or am
+I not?&#8221; It was enough to make Glass-Eye lose her
+head....</p>
+<p>Glass-Eye was obliged to answer yes ... and that
+very quickly. But she kept on trotting behind Lily, who,
+realizing that she would soon be taken up with her rehearsals,
+took advantage of her last days of liberty to pay
+visits and show herself a little, accompanied by her maid,
+like the fine lady that she was. She went and took the
+Bambinis some candies. Poor kids! Their games and
+laughter no longer filled the hotel with mirth and gaiety:
+old Martello was getting worse and worse and was now
+not able to leave his room at all. Lily found a kind word
+for everybody and was grieved at not having any money,
+which would have allowed her to be generous. That
+would come later. She worked out a scheme for occupying
+herself with the children when the old man was gone,
+for having them always with her, like two dear little lucky
+charms. It was impossible, of course: never mind, it was
+the idea of a lady, which she would not have had in the
+old days, and Lily was pleased with herself for having
+entertained it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will speak about you to Jimmy,&#8221; she said to the
+Bambinis. &#8220;I&#8217;ll get you engaged at the Astrarium, eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And the old man trembled with delight, stammered out
+his thanks, tried to accompany her to the door, like a
+princess; and the little boy, to thank her, promised to
+teach her a way of standing on your head which he had
+learned all by himself!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor darlings!&#8221; thought Lily, as she left them. &#8220;If
+ever they fall into their brother&#8217;s hands! They would be
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_333' name='page_333'></a>333</span>
+better dead! Luckily for them, he has disappeared for
+good; and his Ave Maria with him, unluckily for me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>For Lily understood how badly her position as a lady
+went with that name of Mrs. Trampy. It was like dragging
+a tin kettle at her skirts, to make the people in the
+street turn round and look at her.</p>
+<p>And, more than ever before, Trampy posed as a faithful
+husband. Nothing sufficed to take down his arrogance.
+Always the same old Trampy: great, by Jove!
+And, with his red lips, his glittering eye and the cigar
+stuck in the corner of his mouth, he made love to second-rate
+&#8220;sisters,&#8221; inferior Roofers in red calico skirts. His
+glamorous title as the bill-topper&#8217;s husband still won him
+a few conquests. And Trampy, especially since Jimmy&#8217;s
+return, plumed himself more and more on the fact that
+he was the husband of his dear little wife!</p>
+<p>Lily knew all this and it made her fume with rage at
+heart; but she showed nothing, pretended, on the contrary,
+to treat it as a little matter of no account. For
+instance, after her visit to the Bambinis, as she passed an
+artistes&#8217; bar, quite close, there stood Trampy, lording it
+on the pavement, among a lot of unemployed pros. Lily
+made herself short-sighted to the point of absolute blindness.
+Trampy caught her, as she passed, with a:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, Lily! Hullo, my dear little wife!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Lily behaved like a real fine lady who knows how
+to put people in their place without calling them names:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, Mr. Trampy!&#8221; she replied, in a sarcastic tone.
+&#8220;Still got your red-hot stove, Mr. Trampy? Still a success
+with the girls? Kind regards, Mr. Trampy!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_334' name='page_334'></a>334</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>But Lily was grandest of all at the rehearsals. She was
+now no longer a lady: she once more became the Spartan,
+bare-necked, her hair undone, her body streaming with
+perspiration, and to work, to work, to make up for lost
+time! In the mornings, alone on the deserted stage, she
+practised and practised....</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on!&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;And mind you do your
+work properly,&#8221; he added, with a laugh, &#8220;or else, you
+know ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>And he patted the back of his hand.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t care!&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You may break your head, you know,&#8221; continued
+Jimmy, to try her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s none of your damned business if I do! Show me
+your tricks. To work!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Jimmy showed her a movement to execute on her
+bike, which she had brought with her: balancings, as in
+&#8220;Bridging the Abyss,&#8221; an excellent training for the aerobike.
+And Lily went about it clear-eyed, hard-cheeked,
+with all the little muscles contracted on her stubborn forehead,
+ready to butt at the obstacle. A few falls to begin
+with, but she jumped up again nimbly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s all right!&#8221; she said. &#8220;It&#8217;s part of the game!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But stop, stop,&#8221; insisted Jimmy. &#8220;Be careful!&#8221;</p>
+<p>They were sometimes on the stage for hours at a time,
+but to Lily, all wrapped in her work, it seemed so many
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_335' name='page_335'></a>335</span>
+minutes. She understood the jerk which she was to give
+at the moment when, after rolling along the inclined
+plane, she should shoot out into space for the soaring
+flight of fifty yards:</p>
+<p>&#8220;The start, that&#8217;s the great thing with the back-wheel,&#8221;
+she observed. &#8220;The rest goes of itself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t cry till you&#8217;re out of the wood!&#8221; said Jimmy.
+&#8220;It&#8217;ll be different when you&#8217;re riding the aerobike.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily was longing to begin that famous practice! And,
+a few days later, she at last had that delight, took that
+further step toward triumph. Jimmy removed the bird
+from the cage, fixed it on a stand. When Lily sat in the
+saddle, she was crimson with pleasure, prouder than a
+princess sitting on a throne for the first time:</p>
+<p>&#8220;There,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Here I am! And what next?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Jimmy explained the complicated touches&mdash;&#8220;Press
+your left foot, there, like that, to make it point upward&#8221;&mdash;and
+showed how, explained why; then he passed to the
+working of the handle-bar&mdash;&#8220;There, like that, to turn it,
+there&#8221;&mdash;and how and why the saddle slipped backward
+and forward.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And then?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s all?&#8221; repeated Lily. &#8220;That won&#8217;t want any
+smackings! Let&#8217;s see, like this, eh? Then that. Suppose
+I&#8217;m coming down at full speed. I throw myself
+backward, a back push, there, like that. A kick, gently,
+there, that&#8217;s it. I&#8217;ll do it as soon as you like! This minute,
+if necessary!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Jimmy, without replying to these sallies, proceeded
+methodically. He made her practise again, standing still,
+with the motor going at half-speed. This was a different
+impulse: the displacement of the air raised a stormy wind,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_336' name='page_336'></a>336</span>
+the dust flew, the scenery hanging from the flies waved
+to and fro and Lily shook in her saddle under the vibration
+of the propeller.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Lily?&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;That shakes you up, eh?
+That complicates matters?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pooh!&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;And what about the boards?
+There are some of them that are pretty rough, too! At
+Pittsburg, you know, it&#8217;s like riding over cobblestones.
+I prefer that to a stage that&#8217;s too smooth: it&#8217;s less treacherous.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A few days later, Jimmy ran up a steel cable from the
+stage to the opening in the ceiling, which was now finished
+and covered with a tarpaulin; and Lily was to try
+the flying. At the time for practice, there was no one in
+the theater, from which the scaffoldings had been removed.
+There were no seats on the floor or in the boxes:
+everything was being made outside, and would be put in
+place in a day or two. In the afternoon, when there was
+no practice, the house was filled with workmen, painters,
+upholsterers, carpenters, whose places were taken by others
+at night, working by electric light. Ten days more
+and they would have the triumphal opening; already Paris
+was covered with picture placards: you saw Tom, as a
+caryatid, supporting the weight of a palace; the Three
+Graces entwined in their radiant nudity; the impersonator
+standing, like a Don Juan, surrounded by a bevy of
+women: the ballet-girl, the shop-girl, the fine lady; then,
+besides those, the New Trickers&mdash;&#8220;My idea!&#8221; thought
+Lily, but she didn&#8217;t care a jot now&mdash;the New Trickers
+fluttered round Daisy. You saw the elephants; the monkey;
+Patti-Patty, the white negress; all, all, down to the
+Bambinis, whom Lily had &#8220;got&#8221; engaged. The whole
+program was reverberated on the walls and hoardings,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_337' name='page_337'></a>337</span>
+like a thousand-voiced echo. An even larger poster than
+the others, all blue, strewn with stars, displayed the aerobike
+in full flight in the sky; and a human figure, seated
+upon it, lifted a hand filled with rays.</p>
+<p>The mere sight of the posters was enough to stimulate
+Lily to the maddest feats of daring. She felt herself
+firmer than steel, when she thought of the New Trickers
+and of Pa and Ma, who were coming with Daisy, their
+farthing dip!</p>
+<p>When everything was ready, Jimmy hung the aerobike
+to the steel cable by two ropes, ten feet long, ending in
+pulleys which ran along the cable. Each of these two
+ropes was looped up and the loop secured with thin twine:
+this was an infallible way of ascertaining if the aerobike
+weighed down upon them or if it was supporting itself
+in the air; the two cords acted as a spring balance registering
+the tension in the rope. Should the twine break,
+because the aerobike rested on the ropes, then the ropes
+would unloop and the machine remain hanging without
+any danger for Lily. This was the way in which Jimmy
+had worked when learning &#8220;his trade as a bird,&#8221; as he
+called it; and Lily, he had no doubt, would succeed even
+better than he did, being more supple, lighter and quite
+as plucky.</p>
+<p>Oh, the rapture with which Lily bestrode the aerobike
+for the first flight!</p>
+<p>Jimmy and two confidential assistants hauled up the
+machine to the top of the inclined plane that gave it its
+impetus. Jimmy spent an endless time in verifying
+and testing everything. The electric wire that set the
+propeller in motion also caused him uneasiness. It had
+to unroll behind and follow the aerobike without weighing
+upon it, without retarding its flight; for the machine,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_338' name='page_338'></a>338</span>
+which was necessarily a small one, to be able to move
+within a confined space, did not carry the additional
+load of a motor, but only a wire, as wireless transmission
+of power was not yet available. At last, when everything
+was provided for, Jimmy allowed Lily to make her
+trial. He trembled; not that she ran any danger, for
+a fall was impossible: the machine was stopped, up above,
+automatically, by a cable stretched crosswise and fastened
+to a strong spring, which slowed and stayed the flight
+within the space of a few yards. But if the two pieces of
+twine broke suddenly and if this happened several times
+in succession, the shocks might come to frighten Lily,
+for all her self-control.</p>
+<p>And Jimmy went on explaining.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;I quite understand. It&#8217;s like
+this, like this, yes, I know. It&#8217;s only a matter of trying!
+It&#8217;s a trick I&#8217;ve got to do and that&#8217;s all about it! Daisy
+would kill herself on it and so would the fat freaks, but
+I shan&#8217;t! I shall succeed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, steady!&#8221; cried Jimmy, and his voice rang
+through the empty theater. &#8220;Go!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The machine ran down with a swoop, the propeller
+whirred, Lily gave a magnificent back push, when she
+reached the bottom of the inclined plane; then she went
+straight up and the two pieces of twine snapped in two.
+Lily found herself hanging fifty feet in the air, the two
+pulleys glided slowly backward toward the stage. Jimmy
+stopped the machine.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s wrong!&#8221; cried Lily. &#8220;Let&#8217;s try again. I see
+what it was: I forgot to push down my foot to point the
+machine up. It was a slip.&#8221;</p>
+<p>However, at the next attempt, it went better. The
+twine broke each time, but Lily rectified her movements:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_339' name='page_339'></a>339</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s my back push! It&#8217;s the propeller! It&#8217;s the front-wheel!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, in fact, that was what it was. Jimmy and his assistants,
+who followed her with their eyes, had noted the
+fault and Lily, too, had observed it, in spite of the giddy
+flight. She was extraordinarily plucky and cool, her
+eight stone of flesh and bone, unerring and exact, seemed
+made for the aerobike.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bravo, Lily! Hurrah!&#8221; cried Jimmy.</p>
+<p>She could have screamed for joy in the street, as she
+went out.</p>
+<p>Her unparalleled stroke of luck in being chosen tickled
+her heart. She felt her sense of responsibility increase and
+also her wish to do well; no sooner had she left off practising
+than she was seized with but one idea, to begin
+again:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eight days more!&#8221; she thought.</p>
+<p>At night, she dreamed of backward jerks, of turning
+the handle-bar, pushing the pedal. Poor Glass-Eye, cowering
+in a corner of the bed, had terrible nightmares, and,
+in the morning, after Lily&#8217;s kicks, she rose with her ribs
+smarting and her shins all black and blue. That was all
+her profit, for Lily had hardly any money left and was not
+yet drawing a salary.</p>
+<p>Lily submitted to all sorts of privation with a proud
+dignity. She would be beholden to nobody. Soon her
+whole fortune would consist of her box of lucky halfpence
+and a franc which she had won by turning a cartwheel,
+for a bet, among artistes, in the country, to
+stagger the jossers. And so their little evening meal
+was a scanty one. A sausage, a little fruit, a cup of tea
+... and then to bed. That was better than listening
+to the owner of the Hours and all those men who propose
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_340' name='page_340'></a>340</span>
+things to you. Never, never! Her work, her work! Lord,
+after what she had seen of Poland and the Hours, it was
+much simpler to work, to be self-reliant. At night, sometimes,
+Lily would lie awake and think ... where did
+that three hundred francs of the Bijou come from? Not
+from the Bijou: Cataplasm&#8217;s defeat had swallowed up everything
+and the theater had long been without a penny;
+they used to fill the house with paper distributed among
+the staff, with orders to get rid of it anyhow. They were
+not far short of inviting soldiers from the barracks.
+There had never been more than two hundred seats paid
+for of an evening; it meant flat bankruptcy. And she was
+the only one who had received anything: why? How?
+Then it must have been some admirer, but who? Not the
+architect, surely, that josser! Who then? And why
+had Jimmy engaged the Bambinis, when she asked him
+to? He did everything to please her. He was letting her
+top the bill: why? She made a heap of guesses, without
+getting at the exact truth ... Jimmy ...
+Jimmy ... that man, with his coldness, interested
+her. While so many others were prowling around her,
+he alone seemed indifferent. She would have liked to see
+him in love with her ... to make him suffer a little
+in his turn! All the beauty-shows which Lily had
+seen, all the exhibitions of painted Hours had not spoiled
+her good taste: Jimmy pleased her, with that strong face
+of his. What an endless pity that she had married
+Trampy! She gave a scornful pout when she thought of
+it: she married to Trampy! Married to that soaker:
+she, a woman made for a man, a creature of flesh
+and blood, who admired fine muscles, rough sport and
+virile smackings! Gee, if she had been a man, it seemed
+to her that she would have enjoyed spoiling a little Lily:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_341' name='page_341'></a>341</span>
+outside working hours, of course! And, if a little Lily
+had asked her, &#8220;Do you love me, yes or no?&#8221; she would
+never have answered no. To-day, she would have bitten
+off her own tongue rather than put that question to
+Jimmy! And yet Jimmy had a dignity about him that
+pleased her. She could see into the game of the others.
+The architect, for instance, would give her just a smile in
+passing, a pleasant word, as one performs a social duty,
+between two pieces of business. A little amusement, no
+more: that was all she was to him ... and to all of
+them. Jimmy seemed different. But, still, if he loved
+her, why hadn&#8217;t he the courage to tell her so? And,
+besides, when all was said, she was sick and tired of men!
+Some of them ran after you like dogs; others, damn it,
+were icicles! A girl could have Marjutti&#8217;s figure, Thea&#8217;s
+arms, Nancy&#8217;s legs, Lillian&#8217;s or Laurence&#8217;s face ...
+and still they would not be satisfied! And thereupon
+Lily pursed her brows, asked herself how and why and
+went to sleep like a baby.</p>
+<p>And the rehearsals continued every day, without respite.
+Lily became terrible the nearer she drew to success:
+her indomitable spirit mounted to her heart. Jimmy had
+difficulty in holding her in. She made twenty flights,
+thirty flights ... and the twine no longer broke.
+From that moment, she was sure of succeeding, always.
+When you have once succeeded, even if it be but once,
+you have no right ever to fail again. She had been
+brought up in those principles, had had them rubbed into
+her skin. She could not fail now, it was impossible!
+Even in her flight to the opening up above! She had
+learned her &#8220;times,&#8221; she knew how to aim exactly at the
+right spot. Jimmy hastened to have the roof arranged
+for the final exit, when the aerobike would disappear before
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_342' name='page_342'></a>342</span>
+the eyes of the audience, in the star-strewn sky. All
+that remained was to get everything ready for the final
+rehearsal: the complete show, with all lights lit, as for
+a gala night. Lily seemed to see it all beforehand. On
+the day when she realized that no accident was possible,
+that it was a trick of which she was certain, she stifled
+a cry of triumph in her throat. She was afraid to believe
+in it herself, so greatly did it surpass her dreams. She
+would have stayed for days on the aerobike to experience
+the delight of the leap into space. It seemed to
+her as though she were becoming a bird and about to
+hover in mid-air and leave them all behind her, in the
+crowd below ... all, all ... and be a little
+Lily, flying away on the back-wheel before their noses.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll make yourself ill,&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;Take a rest;
+there&#8217;s no need to tire yourself; you do it as well as I.&#8221;</p>
+<p>For Jimmy, of course, had done the thing too, if only
+to show Lily; besides, it was easy for him, who had
+had so much practice in London and who knew his
+machine from end to end. And he appreciated the difficulty
+all the more. He admired Lily&#8217;s incredible pluck,
+her all-devouring ambition and that splendid determination
+to get out of her scrape, to be a little Lily earning
+her bread as she knew how, by her work, even if she had
+to break her neck in the doing of it! And proud to her
+finger-tips, in spite of the dog&#8217;s life she had led.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I had not procured her this delight,&#8221; thought Jimmy,
+&#8220;I should never have forgiven myself to the end of
+my days.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, from working with her for hours and hours, from
+holding her by the waist at the first trials, from feeling
+that little body quiver under his hand, from seeing Lily
+rush at danger, Jimmy became madly in love with her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_343' name='page_343'></a>343</span>
+again ... if he had ever ceased to be so! Ah, if
+Trampy...! But Lily was married ... the
+divorce depended on the husband ... and the husband
+wouldn&#8217;t have it ... at any price: not for a
+million, he said, by Jove, would he be separated from a
+little wife whom he adored!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor Lily!&#8221; thought Jimmy sadly. &#8220;Will she always
+be doomed to drag that dead weight about with her?&#8221;</p>
+<p>During the intervals for rest, while Lily wiped the perspiration
+from her forehead, Jimmy talked to her ...
+at first, of insignificant things ... the name &#8220;Astrarium,&#8221;
+for instance ... a place devoted to planets,
+to stars: as a palmarium is to palms. Stars ...
+that was to say, bill-toppers: the Three Graces; the
+Laurences; the Lillians; the Marjuttis; the Lilies ...
+yes, the Lilies! Then he pitied her for belonging to
+Trampy; and what a good little Lily she would have been
+if she had remained with her family!</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I <i>am</i> a good little Lily!&#8221; she said, with a display
+of childish vehemence. &#8220;What more do you want? We
+artistes do what we jolly well please, and we don&#8217;t care a
+damn for the rest!&#8221; And she had half a mind to tell him
+that it was all his fault! &#8220;I had to do a silly thing and I
+did it,&#8221; she continued, with an expression of regret on her
+face. &#8220;I married without love, but lovers, my! I&#8217;ve had,
+I may say, as many as I wanted ... from the son of
+a lord down.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily, to excite him, told him the long array of her
+love affairs, as it was told everywhere, on the Bill and
+Boom Tour, on the Harrasford, on the Eastern and Western
+Tours, like the whippings and the rest.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I know,&#8221; replied Jimmy, very coldly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What, you don&#8217;t believe me!&#8221; exclaimed Lily. &#8220;There
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_344' name='page_344'></a>344</span>
+were men who would have left wife and child for me!
+... heaps of lovers, tons of them!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My poor Lily, having so many is the same as having
+none at all,&#8221; added Jimmy dreamily.</p>
+<p>But still he did not declare his love: besides, he had
+constantly to leave her, to go and give orders, or climb up
+on the roof, or look at the heating-apparatus, below.</p>
+<p>Lily watched him go, followed him with a sphinx-like
+glance, while a vague smile flickered about her lips....</p>
+<p>But she hardly had time to think of all this: the assistants
+replaced the bird in its cage, locked the door, opened
+that leading to the dressing-room passage and the artistes
+arrived and took up their places on their carpets.</p>
+<p>Lily had seen it a hundred times, a thousand times,
+&#8220;millions of times!&#8221; She never wearied of it. She spent
+the day there, among the groups of bloomers: the Three
+Graces, bare-armed, went to work, practised the human
+cluster; Nunkie kept an eye on his dear nieces and rehearsed
+the Bambinis, now that old Martello was keeping
+his room for good. Lily, who was almost reduced to eating
+dry bread, but who remained the fine lady nevertheless,
+brought them bags of sweets. Calmed by her work,
+she sat down in a corner, laughed, her head thrown back,
+full-throated, applauded the others with her thumbnail,
+shook hands with new-comers, made herself liked by all.
+And it was:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, girls! Hullo, boys! Dear old Blackpool!
+What&#8217;s the news at the Palace? Who&#8217;s topping the bill
+at the Hippodrome?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily, on her rickety chair, made as it were a little center
+at which the news was exchanged; to think that, instead
+of being there, at the top of the profession, she might
+have been at Glasgow, some twopenny theater, where
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_345' name='page_345'></a>345</span>
+ladies are admitted without shoes or stockings, or playing
+the darky at Earl&#8217;s Court! Yes, but for Jimmy, that&#8217;s
+where she would have been! Or else the Parisienne, in
+Russia! She, an English girl, my! And Lily fervently
+touched her lucky charm: oh, work, work, thank goodness
+for it! And Lily rendered homage to work and
+sprang from her chair to shake hands with Tom, who
+had come to see his palace unpacked:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good morning, Tom! Welcome!&#8221;</p>
+<p>This Tom, who now topped the bill everywhere and
+had a permanent address and his own scenery: wasn&#8217;t it
+wonderful? He was no longer her Pa&#8217;s old servant:
+genius removes all distances; a man is what he makes
+himself! And they shook hands warmly, like equals.</p>
+<p>Lily, as a sensational bill-topper and a friend of Jimmy&#8217;s,
+was always in great request. She talked nicely,
+without pose of any kind, like a woman who is sure of
+herself and knows things. The Astrarium ... the
+Astrarium ... what did that mean? They asked
+Lily:</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s like ... a palmarium,&#8221; she explained, &#8220;with
+sunflowers in it, all sorts of things ... girls ...
+stars ...&#8221;</p>
+<p>She described her journeys, storms, gee! Weren&#8217;t there,
+Glass-Eye? People who had never been outside Europe
+and the States had no idea! Lily talked of India, Africa,
+Australia; talked of lions, which stand on their hind-legs
+when they&#8217;re angry, and tigers, which lie down flat; mentioned
+stage friendships between elephants and camels
+and herself in the midst of it all: &#8220;That high!&#8221; lowering
+her hand to six inches from the floor; talked of animal-training:
+dogs, cats, sea-lions and that &#8220;great, big,
+wicked Australian rabbit&#8221; which boxed like a man. She
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_346' name='page_346'></a>346</span>
+was a well-informed person, was Lily. And a providence
+for her family also, to listen to her. When any one
+brought news of her Pa and the New Trickers, with
+Daisy as a statue on her pedestal, one of the successes of
+the year:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; Lily replied, in a patronizing tone, &#8220;I know.
+It was my idea. I gave it to them!&#8221;</p>
+<p>They thought it very nice of her. She listened with
+great dignity to what they said about the New Trickers.
+They would not be at the Astrarium on the opening night.
+They were finishing an engagement on the Bill and Boom
+that same evening. They would be in Paris the next day.
+Mr. Clifton was reckoning on this appearance for the final
+triumph of his troupe ... and he deserved it. What
+a man, Mr. Clifton, what a man! &#8220;Not easy to please, eh,
+Lily?&#8221; And the inevitable gesture followed. But Lily
+would have none of that now, she would not hear her Pa
+spoken of as a brute! Did they take her for a performing
+dog? One was born with the gift or else one remained
+all one&#8217;s life a Daisy or a fat freak! She was proud to
+have a Pa like hers. She wasn&#8217;t a mountebank picked
+up on the road! Lily had a Pa and a Ma: a Ma of her
+own, a Ma whom she was certain about. She bore a well-known
+name. She belonged to the &#8220;father and son&#8221;
+aristocracy of the music-hall. She had never needed
+&#8220;that&#8221; to make her practice, she an artiste, brought up
+like a lady:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wasn&#8217;t I, Glass-Eye? Tom, wasn&#8217;t I?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And the jewelry and the sweets her Pa bought her,
+my! Tons of it! Of course, he would stand no nonsense
+about behavior; and Lily made them all laugh till
+the tears came about that footy rotter who made love to
+her in London, before the time when drink made him
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_347' name='page_347'></a>347</span>
+look so disgusting, and, when she loitered in the street
+with him, Pa, the moment she reached the door, caught
+her such a blow that she took all the steps to the basement
+at one jump; and there found her Ma waiting for
+her ... gee!</p>
+<p>&#8220;And they were quite right, too! And ... do
+they know that I&#8217;m going to top the bill at the Astrarium?&#8221;
+she asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, they think you&#8217;re in Spain or somewhere.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Somewhere!&#8221; said Lily to herself, with a thrill at her
+heart. &#8220;I&#8217;ll show them!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She choked with joy at the idea of the startled look
+on the faces of Pa and Ma when they saw her on the
+aerobike. An exuberant gladness filled her heart. And
+that feverish work, those laborers everywhere, the opening
+in the roof, the terrace up above, those posters all
+over Paris and there, behind the iron door, in the dark,
+the bird! It was all for her: a theater for herself! And
+she felt a need to leap, to laugh, to spread gaiety all
+around her; and she rushed about madly with the Bambinis,
+romped with them behind the pillars, rolled with
+them on the floor of her dressing-room, became once again
+the Lily who had played truant all around the world, inventing
+practical jokes in India and climbing apple-trees
+in Honolulu. She crossed the combs and tooth-brushes
+on the Roofer girls&#8217; tables, rushed into their room when
+they were undressed, drove the trembling herd of them
+distracted, talked of the thousand dangers that awaited
+them if they didn&#8217;t mend their ways, made them fly to
+their lucky charms to ward off ill-luck, when she offered
+them a yellow flower, with great pomp, or some broken
+glass in a jewel-box. Then she talked to the Three
+Graces, those big girls who always astonished her with
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_348' name='page_348'></a>348</span>
+their cloistered existence&mdash;Nunkie before everything&mdash;and
+who amused themselves by measuring one another
+round the biceps, round the chest, or else, with their
+elbows on the table, played at who should first bend back
+the other&#8217;s wrist. Lily sat down for a moment with
+them, then stopped,
+breathless with larking
+and talking, and
+went back to her
+dressing-room:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall have
+months to spend in
+here!&#8221; she thought.</p>
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg344.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 203px; height: 274px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 203px;'>
+LILY&#8217;S GOLLYWOG<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>And, assisted by
+Glass-Eye, she pinned
+up bits of stuff, tied a
+silk bow to the back of
+the chair, put up nails
+for her costumes, laid
+out on her table long
+rows of post-cards,
+photographs of
+friends, all dispersed
+to the four quarters of the globe, some dead, others done
+for, all the poor witnesses of her life. Then she took her
+black gollywog from her trunk and kissed it passionately&mdash;&#8220;Darling!
+Darling! Darling!&#8221;&mdash;before hanging it up
+on the wall. And along the dressing-room passage and
+through the window came the sound of voices ...
+snatches of homesick tunes: <i>From Rangoon to Mandalay</i>
+or <i>Way down upon the Suwanee River</i> ...
+and &#8220;Hullo, Lily! Hullo, old boy!&#8221;... The female-impersonator
+walked into her room as though it
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_349' name='page_349'></a>349</span>
+were his own, sat down on the basket trunk, plunging his
+green eyes into hers.</p>
+<p>And sometimes Jimmy passed, always at a run: something
+had gone wrong somewhere, the heating apparatus,
+the electric light....</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, Lily!&#8221; And he stopped for a moment, frowned
+at the sight of the impersonator. &#8220;Always busy?&#8221; he
+asked, seeing Lily, bare-armed, washing something in
+her basin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have to be,&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;I always wash my little
+blouses; we do everything ourselves, don&#8217;t we, Glass-Eye?
+And, when I&#8217;m performing, I have two pairs of
+tights to wash a day!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Two pairs of tights!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, of course, matinée and night! You have no
+idea, Jimmy ... the nickel ... when I sit on
+the handle-bar, it makes a great mark ... just here,
+look!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she laughed at Jimmy over her shoulder while
+she pointed to the place ... and then blushed, like
+a frolicsome child that has been found out and is, oh, so
+sorry!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Every one&#8217;s got to keep to his own dressing-room!&#8221;
+said Jimmy, feeling very uncomfortable, to the man with
+the green eyes. &#8220;You can&#8217;t stay here; it&#8217;s against the
+rules!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re doing no harm, please, Mr. Jimmy,&#8221; retorted
+Lily, sitting down beside the impersonator and slipping
+her arm round his waist.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor Jimmy!&#8221; said the impersonator, when the other
+had left the room in a rage. &#8220;He&#8217;s jealous, isn&#8217;t he,
+darling?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He jealous? Then why doesn&#8217;t he say so? One
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_350' name='page_350'></a>350</span>
+can&#8217;t guess a thing like that! When you&#8217;re a man,
+you speak out!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And the architect appeared in his turn, he, too, running
+from one end of the theater to the other. He wore
+a bandage over one eye:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Knocked up against a beam ... a little accident.
+Have you seen Jimmy?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s over there, I think,&#8221; replied Lily, without troubling
+to look at him.</p>
+<p>There was no jealousy about the architect. He stayed
+for a moment, sniffed at the scent-bottle, smiled at the
+photographs on the wall. A green-eyed impersonator, a
+blue-eyed impersonator: the room could have been full of
+impersonators, for all he cared. Dark girls, yellow girls,
+fair girls, so many playthings to distract him from his
+rules and compasses. He was bored at once; turned to
+another at once; and it was all so amusing! He was the
+typical lover of the woman of the stage, with his little
+surface passions. And very amiable withal, knowing
+them all, and friendly with them, a great purveyor of
+anecdotes:</p>
+<p>&#8220;The Para-Paras, you know, Lily, committed suicide
+in their room ... awful poverty. The wife wasn&#8217;t
+... Tottie enough ... and the husband was
+teaching the English accent to continental clowns! Poland?
+A magnificent engagement in Russia. Old Martello
+hasn&#8217;t three days to live. Oh ... and
+Nunkie! There&#8217;s news among the Three Graces! The
+troupe&#8217;s done for this time!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And he told how, last night, poor Thea, while mending
+her uncle&#8217;s overcoat, found in the lining an old letter
+from America ... from some swain she had had
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_351' name='page_351'></a>351</span>
+over there ... a letter glowing with love and regret.
+Yes, Nunkie knew how to hold his nieces, the architect
+explained, laughing ... watched them like a Spanish
+duenna, confiscated the letters that came for them, if
+necessary, the old rogue, and calmed their ardors with a
+few drops of bromide in a glass of water, every evening,
+on the pretense of keeping them from catching cold in the
+drafts. Oh, the old rogue! And Thea had almost fainted
+with grief in her dressing-room when she read the letter.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite a business, Lily! A scandal in their little home!
+Very funny, eh?&#8221; he added, as he ogled Lily&#8217;s pigeon&#8217;s
+eggs and rolled a cigarette.</p>
+<p>Lily, who had seen poor Thea cry before and who
+knew to what extent her lover&#8217;s treachery had humiliated
+her, was secretly furious to hear that josser talk carelessly
+of things like that: did he imagine, the idiot, that they
+weren&#8217;t built like other people, in the profession, that they
+had no feelings? What need had the public to know
+about their lives? It was among themselves, quite among
+themselves, all that!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get out of my sight, you damned josser!&#8221; said Lily.
+&#8220;Go and eat coke!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But the other, greatly amused, described his latest
+discovery, a pearl, in an out-of-the-way neighborhood
+... at Vaugirard fair ... an extraordinary girl,
+showing off on a couple of trestles in front of a canvas
+booth, in which her man lifted weights to the light of the
+Argand burners:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Picture this girl, Lily,&#8221; said the enthusiastic josser,
+&#8220;picture this girl on her trestles, doing weights, balancings,
+all sorts of things. A body like a boy&#8217;s, all muscle,
+and thin: whew! Not <i>that</i> much fat on her, no hips,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_352' name='page_352'></a>352</span>
+arms and shoulders, like Michael Angelo&#8217;s flayed model.
+And I talked to her afterward! And her man gave me
+a queer look you know ... I got a blow....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well done!&#8221; cried Lily, clapping her hands. &#8220;The
+beam, eh? That&#8217;ll teach you to meddle in other people&#8217;s
+business! Oh, you don&#8217;t know those tenters! One of
+these days you&#8217;ll be picked up with your face smashed in,
+or shot through the chest with a revolver.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say, though,&#8221; the architect interrupted, &#8220;that girl
+... I don&#8217;t know how we came to speak of you
+... she knows you, Lily!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s right! Now I have mountebanks among my
+acquaintances!&#8221; said Lily, with an air of disgust. &#8220;Get
+out of this, I say!... You wanted Jimmy; there
+he is, look!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily, furious, jerked her head toward the passage.</p>
+<p>When Lily went home again she did not even think of
+what she had just heard. The death of the Paras; the
+Graces ... Nunkie, that old rogue!... She
+forgot all about it.... She saw only that: the
+theater, the aerobike, the theater! Ah! she had it in
+her blood, in spite of those ugly stories! Even outside,
+when, upon Jimmy&#8217;s advice, she went to take the air in
+the parks, under the great blue sky, she regretted the dark
+stage, the canvas landscapes of the back-drops; the open-air
+scenery appeared paltry to her, beside it. Between
+her and nature there was always the aerobike! In a few
+days ... was it possible? She clenched her little
+hands over an imaginary handle-bar, hardened her pigeon&#8217;s
+eggs, made pedaling movements, in spite of herself,
+on the floor of the tram-car which she very soon took to
+get back to the theater again! It was her life, her joy,
+her suffering, her good and evil ... it was her field,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_353' name='page_353'></a>353</span>
+her very own field, the field which she had sown with
+sweat that she might reap fame and glory.</p>
+<p>And, when she returned, she reveled in that smell of
+hot glue and tar and scent; oh, it was much nicer than
+the country! And more interesting, too: all the little
+drama that was being enacted among the Graces, for instance;
+Nunkie had lost his wonderful reputation, he was
+surrounded with less reverence; the story of the confiscated
+letters was beginning its round of the world. It
+was all very well for him to spoil his dear girls, to double
+his attentions, to treble the doses of bromide; there was
+no doubt about it, the troupe&#8217;s days were numbered. The
+boy-violinist and others were making love to the Three
+Graces, fresh troupes were being formed, three more,
+any number! And they all talked freely, turned their
+backs without hesitation upon Nunkie, who was prowling
+round:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;What&#8217;s the mystery?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We were discussing marriage, Nunkie,&#8221; the Graces
+answered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s right, my children,&#8221; he replied, with a sigh.</p>
+<p>Lily, in all these plots and counter-plots, knew how to
+remain neuter and to be very nice to everybody; she had
+been trained from childhood to keep her opinions to herself;
+none of her damned business, all that; something
+that might have been foreseen and expected ... like
+the death of old Martello, which Jimmy told her of....
+Yes, the old man had flickered out in his bed just
+like that....</p>
+<p>But she needed all her composure, indeed, when Jimmy
+told her that those dear little Bambinis ... ah, there
+was bad news for them, the poor loves!</p>
+<p>&#8220;What? What?&#8221; asked Lily.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_354' name='page_354'></a>354</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, we are going to lose them; they&#8217;ve been claimed
+by their brother, it seems.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; cried Lily. &#8220;Their brother? The ...
+the Mexican one?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I think so,&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;He&#8217;s come back from
+South America. He is in Paris now ... somewhere
+in a penny show, in the suburbs ... I don&#8217;t know
+where ... with a girl.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;With a girl!&#8221; thought Lily.</p>
+<p>Everything returned to her in a flash! The girl with
+the bruised skin ... that boy&#8217;s body all muscle
+... Ave Maria! Ave Maria! Not dead! She felt
+inclined to run up to Trampy, to fly at his throat, to bellow
+in his face that Ave Maria was here, just to see the
+effect! But she restrained herself. Suppose it were
+not true? Oh, she would soon know! That footy rotter,
+if it were true! O God, grant that it might be true!</p>
+<p>All this passed through her brain in less than a second.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why!&#8221; said Jimmy, seeing her turn pale. &#8220;Does that
+affect you so much ... the loss of your little
+friends, the Bambinis? For you&#8217;re going to lose
+them....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, Jimmy!&#8221; she replied indignantly. &#8220;You shall not
+give up the Bambinis to their brother, a cruel, cowardly
+brute like that, right at the bottom of the profession. I
+know ... I&#8217;ve seen.... You shan&#8217;t do it,
+Jimmy, and, look here, I forbid you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Lily, Lily, I&#8217;ll do what I can, to please you, you
+know; I&#8217;ll try; I&#8217;ll see the police; you must give your
+evidence, if you have anything to say. Do you know,
+Lily, you are as good as gold. You&#8217;re a good little Lily:
+hard upon herself and kind to others.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But he was interrupted ... Jimmy here, Jimmy
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_355' name='page_355'></a>355</span>
+there ... he was wanted ... for the flies, for
+the roof.... Jimmy flew to the stage, bothered on
+every side, worried by the Astrarium ... and Lily.
+Lily! He could not escape her now, do what he might!
+He had her in his heart, in his brain, everywhere. She
+lived and existed in his breast, shot up there like a flame!
+Whatever he had been told about her he no longer knew,
+did not want to know. And, besides, even if it had been
+true, oh, he would have forgiven everything! He would
+have passed over everything! He would have plunged
+into the abyss to get Lily out of it, whatever she had
+done; yes! In spite of everything! in spite of everybody!
+In spite of Trampy, husband or not!</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_356' name='page_356'></a>356</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>To-morrow was to be the great day, the opening of the
+Astrarium, the first night; and Jimmy, more bustled than
+ever, forgot Lily ... almost ... on that evening,
+especially, the evening of the dress-rehearsal: not an
+ordinary rehearsal, with the band-parts handed to the
+conductor across the footlights&mdash;&#8220;A march here, please,
+a waltz there. &#8217;K you&#8221;&mdash;no, the whole show, with
+orchestra and all complete; the stage flooded with light;
+each turn in its own setting: corridor, wood, room,
+palace. Jimmy multiplied himself in the final fever.
+The theater, arranged according to his ideas, was still encumbered
+with ladders and scaffoldings; but gangs of
+laborers were hard at work on every side. The obstructions
+all disappeared like magic, were juggled away.
+Jimmy had made sure that the roof was ready; he had run
+from the landing-point, out of sight of the audience,
+through the door contrived in the wall of the stage,
+crossed the fly-galleries, come down by the pulley-rope;
+the whole thing, from roof to stage, had taken him, watch
+in hand, thirty seconds. And Lily had done it also. It
+formed part of the turn, a sensational addition to the aerobike.
+All would be ready, all would go well, provided
+that Lily was not nervous that evening ... and to-morrow
+especially! Those confounded crazy little girls!
+Crazy every one of them: Laurence herself, the bravest of
+the lot, had just had an awful fall, at Boston, in her excitement
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_357' name='page_357'></a>357</span>
+at losing her lucky charm. It was the event in
+the profession, the accident of the day. Lily might be
+frightened by it. Now it was essential that she should
+succeed and succeed at the first attempt. His fortune and
+hers, his future, the success of the Astrarium depended
+on it. And Jimmy, obsessed by his labors, had hardly
+time to think of Trampy, in the formidable effort of the
+eleventh hour. And yet, sometimes, he felt a pain at his
+heart. That adorable Lily! Would he succeed in making
+her love him? And now there was that impersonator!
+Oh, to work, to work! And he went at it, hammer and
+tongs, to make sure of the aerobike&#8217;s success. To make
+them talk of him ... to achieve fame ...
+which was as sweet as love! And he was wanted from
+one end of the theater to the other. Oh, he might well
+look upon the Astrarium as his creation! Already, a few
+days before, rumors of a strike were current. The managers
+were boycotted by the artistes, in England....
+Jimmy feared lest the Astrarium should feel the consequences,
+under the pressure of the Performers&#8217; Association,
+but he had arranged everything, seen each artiste separately,
+explained his plans: gala matinées, creation of an
+asylum, a home of rest ... a glory to help in such a
+task ... who could tell but that they were working for
+themselves by adding their stone to the edifice? He
+quoted the Para-Paras and their wretched end; old Martello,
+dead without leaving a penny; the Bambinis, homeless;
+Ave Maria, unprotected. The men listened, with
+serious faces. As for the girls, his words came straight
+from the heart. Those decent girls, who earned their
+living as they knew how and the living of others besides,
+they understood him at once; and Lily no longer laughed;
+on the contrary:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_358' name='page_358'></a>358</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Me? Whatever you like! For nothing, if you like;
+rely on me, Jimmy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And now the hour had come; they were to appear under
+the critical eye of Harrasford. The acting-manager
+had arrived from England that same day with the stage-manager,
+who was &#8220;behind.&#8221; It made a strange impression,
+that huge red-and-gold house, glittering with
+light and sounding curiously empty to the thunder of
+the band. Everybody was at his post: the tall flunkeys
+stood motionless at the entrance-doors, in the promenades,
+as if the audience had been there, whereas there was
+practically nobody except Harrasford and the manager.
+And on the stage, which had been cleared of every superfluous
+piece of property, splendid order reigned: the
+scene-shifters, up above, had their hands on the windlasses;
+the two electricians, on their perches, turned the
+lime-light where it was to fall; the drops rose and fell
+without a hitch; the scenes slipped into their places,
+shifted, in the English fashion, by one man. For each
+turn on the stage, the next was ready to come on, no
+more; all the rest were in the dressing-rooms. But there,
+behind the iron curtain, one could picture staircases
+crowded with people running up and down, passages
+full of light, a flurried ant-hill, and feel that a ring of
+bells would be enough to bring tumbling on to the stage
+a whole glittering, grotesque or radiant world of people,
+from the monkey-faced comedian to Lily, in her pink
+tights, an image of Venus. There was electricity in the
+air of that empty house, in which all felt the presence
+of the powerful master, harder to please than a crowd!
+And rays of light ran along the stage, the back-drop
+seemed a cloud ready to split in the crash of the thunder,
+under the storm of the raging brasses. On the stage,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_359' name='page_359'></a>359</span>
+the turns defiled in their order, under the shimmering
+lights: the Bambinis, brother and sister, supple grace
+and strength combined, filled the huge space with the
+free play of their rosy bodies and the brightness of their
+genuine gaiety. The Three Graces formed the human
+cluster, a hanging group of faces, figures, shoulders and
+glorious lines. The program poured out laughter, harmony,
+beauty, till, against the blue forest, came the scarlet
+step-dances of the Roofers. And then silence: the
+feature of the evening, the aerobike! There was a moment&#8217;s
+anxiety. A net was stretched above the stalls,
+from the footlights to the opening in the roof. For the
+audience, at any rate, all danger was removed, even in
+case of a fall. Then the glass dome above opened, and
+the curtain rose on the Elysian glimmer of a scene
+studded with stars; and everything was empty, stage and
+auditorium. The distance seemed immense: &#8220;miles and
+miles!&#8221; The machine was to start out suddenly, rush
+through space, disappear up above, like a meteor that
+shoots out from infinity and returns to it.</p>
+<p>A few seconds passed, during which Jimmy gave Lily
+her last instructions:</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re not afraid, Lily? Would you like me to do it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Afraid! She turned her calm face to him. Oh, she
+could have accomplished impossible and cruel things,
+braved torture, walked on burning coals! She felt herself
+made of supple steel, unerring and exact:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Up, quick, quick! Ready, Jimmy?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ready!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then ... GO!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The aerobike flashed like an arrow from the bow,
+raised itself with a magnificent jerk; the propeller
+hummed like a thunder-bolt, the wings rustled in flight,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_360' name='page_360'></a>360</span>
+pointed toward the opening, went up ... up ...
+up ... disappeared in the star-strewn sky....
+It was done! The band struck up the triumphal march,
+Harrasford, the manager, the few who were present all
+burst into cheers; and, suddenly, over the house plunged
+in darkness, from the back of the stage, came a burst of
+light. Lily, after running over the roof and sliding
+down the pulley, was descending against the blue back-drop,
+bringing with her the star! First, one saw the
+light breaking, then swelling and increasing in brilliancy,
+and Lily appeared, a starry Eve, holding, in her upraised
+hand, a dazzling luminary, a crystal globe, which an invisible
+wire from behind filled with an intensity of light.
+And powerful rays shot to every side, end-of-the-world
+coruscations, above the crater of the orchestra.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Splendid!&#8221; cried Harrasford. &#8220;That dishes the waterspouts
+at the Hippodrome, the avalanches, everything!&#8221;
+And, as Jimmy came up, &#8220;Good boy, Jimmy!&#8221; he said,
+catching him a great smack on the shoulder by way of a
+compliment. &#8220;And your girl ... your ...
+Maggy ... your ... what&#8217;s her name? Lily
+... glorious! Very good indeed! Couldn&#8217;t be better!
+Capital idea!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He gave a quick glance at his watch, a few words to
+Jimmy, to the manager, over his shoulder, on the wing:</p>
+<p>&#8220;All the boxes booked three weeks ahead? All the
+stalls? That&#8217;s right! Good-by, good luck!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Already his broad back was disappearing through the
+door; had to catch the midnight train for Cologne; presence
+indispensable.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Telephone to-morrow; let me know how things go.
+Ta-ta!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Harrasford was far away.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_361' name='page_361'></a>361</span></p>
+<p>And Lily? Lily was in her dressing-room, stupefied
+with delight. How soon it was done! How simple it
+was! Jimmy, after all, with his scrawls and his scribbles,
+with his brain-work: what a discovery he had made!
+She would have liked it to last for ever, the flight on the
+aerobike; she still seemed to be rushing up to the stars,
+to feel the coolness of the night on her face. How funny
+it was, going up, up, up and out through that hole. She
+was still laughing at it, with little convulsive movements
+of the shoulders, and stammering out things.</p>
+<p>When she was dressed, she received Jimmy&#8217;s congratulations
+and everybody&#8217;s. They gave her a bouquet:</p>
+<p>&#8220;To our little favorite!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She answered, without knowing what she said; went
+home. Everything seemed to be turning round and
+round. She ate a few mouthfuls, washed down with a
+glass of milk; and then, suddenly, made a rush for Glass-Eye!
+A pillow fight followed:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here, take that! Take that! And that! And that!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Ten minutes of an epic struggle, on the bed thrown
+into confusion and disorder, as after a murder; huge
+slaps on the firm, rounded forms; virile smackings; and
+Glass-Eye, breathlessly, had to own herself beaten, to beg
+for mercy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;ll teach them!&#8221; cried Lily, falling on the bed,
+panting, drunk with joy, drunk with joy! Trampy,
+Mexico, Ma&#8217;s insults, the jealousies, the grudges, Daisy,
+the fat freaks: pooh, none of that existed for her! Nothing
+remained but herself, drunk with an immense joy!
+She was almost delirious, in the excess of her great happiness:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll smash up their damned troupes, do you hear,
+Glass-Eye? There! Like that!&#8221; And she tried to renew
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_362' name='page_362'></a>362</span>
+the fight, but her strength failed her. &#8220;Dished and
+done for, their damned troupes!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she laughed, she burst with laughing, when she
+thought of their eighteen feet of stage:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stages as big as my hand, Glass-Eye, is what they&#8217;ve
+got to turn in!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Whereas, she went straight up in the air, up to the
+stars, miles high, up above everything! Bang! A smack
+for Glass-Eye, who was just taking off her skirt!</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I say, Glass-Eye! Ma, who said that I ...
+you know what she said! But wait till they see me in my
+grand dresses! I&#8217;ll order them to-morrow; and my hats
+too. And I&#8217;ll invite Pa and Ma to the hotel! And we&#8217;ll
+drink champagne and I&#8217;ll have fifty francs&#8217; worth of
+flowers on the table, just to show them! &#8216;Our Lily,&#8217; that&#8217;s
+what I&#8217;m going to be, &#8216;our own Lily,&#8217; damn it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily, when she was in bed, turned things over and
+over in her brain. Yes, her Pa was quite right. It was
+for her good, for her own good! Big salaries, which
+would all belong to her! And no more performing-dog
+toques, but big hats and feathers and motor-cars
+and furs, but no goggles! No, she must find something
+that wouldn&#8217;t hide her face, so that people would recognize
+her and say:</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s Lily!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And the road behind her motor would be strewn with
+the bodies of pros who had died of jealousy!</p>
+<p>And she would consult Pa and Ma on the color of her
+liveries, on her crest: a wheel, with wings to it! And
+Lily dropped off into a sleep interrupted by awful nightmares,
+in which Ma was dead&mdash;poor Ma!&mdash;before witnessing
+her triumph&mdash;and in which elephants trumpeted
+in her honor and sea-lions applauded her with their finny
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_363' name='page_363'></a>363</span>
+fore-paws, all along a queer sort of Tottenham Court
+Road, paved with fat freaks, at the end of which a Horse
+Shoe, as big as the Marble Arch, opened out upon the
+stars.</p>
+<p>Poor Glass-Eye, on her side, had the most outlandish
+dreams. Her brain was turned from living in the midst
+of all that. She dreamed that she was flying, too; that
+she was Lily in her turn; that she was soaring over
+Whitechapel; but, from time to time, a nervous kick from
+Lily recalled her to the realities of life.</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>&#8220;Glass-Eye! There&#8217;s a knock at the door, I think. Or
+else I&#8217;m dreaming. What&#8217;s the time? Ten o&#8217;clock. Get
+up, Glass-Eye! If it&#8217;s the landlady, tell her I&#8217;ll pay her
+next week!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Glass-Eye, who had gone to the door, shut it suddenly
+and came back to Lily, looking quite startled:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Lily, there&#8217;s some one, all in black, on the stairs;
+a ghost!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you&#8217;re trying to frighten me,&#8221; cried Lily, jumping
+out of bed, &#8220;I&#8217;ll knock your other eye out! Take care!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She was choking with excitement. Lily was afraid of
+nothing. But those confounded ghosts: poor Ma, perhaps!
+And she quickly separated two fingers wide behind
+her back, so as to be on the safe side and ward off
+ill-luck:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come with me, Glass-Eye; you go first!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily, in her night-dress, half-opened the door,
+looked out.</p>
+<p>A thin woman, all in black, stood motionless. It was
+not Ma. Lily breathed more freely:</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you want?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to speak to Miss Lily,&#8221; said the woman in
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_364' name='page_364'></a>364</span>
+black. &#8220;I went to the theater and they gave me your
+address. I came.... I suppose you don&#8217;t remember
+me, it&#8217;s so long ago. Ave Maria, on the wire in
+Mexico?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ave Maria! Come in,&#8221; said Lily.</p>
+<p>Ave Maria, whom she had sought for so long. She
+would know at last! Oh, if it were true! God grant
+that it might be true! Lily, hardly recovered from her
+fright, quivered at the thought. And she devoured Ave
+Maria with her eyes. She recognized her, now that she
+knew: it was she indeed, but grown old before her time,
+looking wretched, thin, hollow-eyed, a face all skin and
+bone. And the two stood contemplating each other in
+silence.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How pretty you&#8217;ve grown!&#8221; whispered Ave Maria
+timidly. &#8220;No one would take you for a professional.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But a sudden fit of coughing brought scarlet patches
+to her pale cheeks.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It catches me here,&#8221; she said, pressing her hand to
+her chest. &#8220;It&#8217;s damp, sometimes, in the tent. And then
+half-naked on those trestles. The work warms one, it&#8217;s
+true. The other night I saw some one who knew you,
+a gentleman. I should have liked to ask him more, but
+my brother struck him in the face. I got my turn after.
+However, I wanted to see you. I went to the Astrarium.
+I asked them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go on,&#8221; said Lily, who was burning to know, but did
+not want to show it. &#8220;Glass-Eye, give me my dressing-gown.
+Go on, please!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know that I dare,&#8221; said Ave Maria, &#8220;now that
+I have seen you. You are so much better-looking than
+I am. Are you still living with him?&#8221; she asked, in a
+low voice, fixing two fiery eyes on Lily.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_365' name='page_365'></a>365</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Lily, &#8220;I am living with nobody!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But they told me. I heard at Buenos Ayres ...
+the story of the whippings, your running away with
+him....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What whippings? And I&#8217;m living with nobody!&#8221; retorted
+Lily, very haughtily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you have lived with him ... in Germany
+... Trampy, you know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Lily, &#8220;I was married, wasn&#8217;t I, Glass-Eye?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But <i>I&#8217;m</i> married to him!&#8221; Ave Maria broke in, more
+aggressively than before.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, if it were true!&#8221; thought Lily. &#8220;Oh, if it were
+true!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She dared not believe it, it would have been too beautiful,
+beautiful beyond dreams. And, with her nerves
+stretching to breaking-point:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Prove it!&#8221; she said coldly, to Ave Maria.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I have my proofs,&#8221; replied Ave Maria, shaken
+with a furious cough. &#8220;And I&#8217;ll show them! Trampy
+belongs to me, not to you! He&#8217;s in Paris, they tell
+me.... And I mean to have him, do you hear?
+I&#8217;ve suffered enough and to spare. I&#8217;ve done everything
+since he left me. Look here, at Caracas people
+used to offer me twopence to let them black my eye,
+sometimes, when my brother was locked up at the police-station.
+And there were the one-horse circuses where we
+slept in a heap on the straw, in Chili or some such country.
+And, sometimes, I lost my balance on the wire, because
+of my cough. And my brother: you know him!
+And the cattle-men, when they&#8217;re drunk! One of them
+stabbed me here, with a knife, there, here, in the breast;
+they had to cut it off&mdash;the breast&mdash;later, at Montevideo,
+because of the gangrene. Yes, he stabbed me with a knife,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_366' name='page_366'></a>366</span>
+because I wouldn&#8217;t say, &#8216;I love you,&#8217; to him! Fancy my
+saying, &#8216;I love you,&#8217; to any one but Trampy! Never! I
+would have let them jump on my chest with their hobnailed
+boots first! And, now that Trampy&#8217;s here, I want
+him! He belongs to me and I mean to have him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, take him, if he belongs to you!&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;I
+don&#8217;t care a hang for your Trampy; I&#8217;ve turned him out
+long ago!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;So ... it&#8217;s true? If he&#8217;s no longer with you, I
+can have him again. I shall have him! I&#8217;ll have my
+brother locked up, if necessary, to be free! I have only
+to say a word, not because of the story of that nose which
+he bit off at Rio: no, the other day, at Vaugirard, he
+used the knife. I&#8217;ll tell everything, to have my Trampy
+back.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And her rough voice became gentle now, in her Anglo-Italian
+jargon, with a dash of Spanish in it; everything
+became clear, everything yielded before the violence of
+that fierce love. Lily was astounded to hear it:</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what I call love!&#8221; she thought. &#8220;I had no
+idea, my! And all for Trampy! It&#8217;s worse than in the
+novels.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she was touched, in spite of herself, and, when
+Ave Maria cried, &#8220;Oh, how happy you must be, if he
+loves you!&#8221; Lily dared not protest that she didn&#8217;t care
+a hang for that soaker, for fear of hurting the poor
+martyr. She replied, on the contrary, that Trampy was
+very nice, but that he was hers no longer, that he belonged
+to Ave Maria, since Ave Maria had the proofs
+... <i>if</i> she had the proofs.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have them here, Miss Lily, my marriage-lines. I
+was able to get them, after he went. I had the certificate
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_367' name='page_367'></a>367</span>
+witnessed. My brother, when he came to fetch me, never
+knew about it. I sewed it into the lining of a portmanteau;
+no chance of losing it: here it is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she produced a yellow document from her bodice
+and laid it on the table.</p>
+<p>Lily seized upon it ... read it at a glance ... it
+was quite regular! Oh, the footy rotter! Two wives!
+To say nothing of his thirty-six girls! And what a fine
+trick she would play him! At last, she was about to
+get rid of her festering sore! She could not breathe for
+happiness. And, as Ave Maria was watching her movements,
+lest she should keep the paper, Lily handed it back
+to her, certain that it was in good hands, that it would not
+be lost.</p>
+<p>Then and there an idea came to her. Trampy would
+be at the theater that afternoon with Tom, who, knowing
+little about all these stories, interested only in the condition
+of those biceps of his, had taken Trampy as his assistant
+and had told Lily so. And Lily had said nothing,
+reserving to herself the right to have him turned off the
+stage by Jimmy, with a smack in the eye, before everybody:
+the footy rotter, coming there to defy her! Well,
+there would be no smack in the eye; she would simply
+hand him over to Ave Maria, as one flings a lump of
+carrion to a tigress!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait a bit, you faithful husband!&#8221; she growled.
+&#8220;You&#8217;ll see, presently!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And, first of all, when Ave Maria rose to go, Lily forbade
+her to do anything of the kind, for fear that the
+brother, who must be out looking for her, might drag her
+back to the booth at the fair and then take the first train
+to some other place, after getting hold of the Bambinis.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_368' name='page_368'></a>368</span>
+And Lily meant none of all this to take place; she would
+rather go to the police and have the brute arrested!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stay here, Ave Maria,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I&#8217;ll give you back
+your Trampy this afternoon.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Oh, if she had been alone, how she would have flown
+at Glass-Eye, to work off her superabundant joy! It
+would have been a merciless fight, with slaps in the
+Mexican style! But a lady receiving her friends must
+set a good example. She contented herself with hustling
+Glass-Eye by word and gesture:</p>
+<p>&#8220;My new dress! My big hat!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Ave Maria, quite taken up with the excitement of seeing
+Trampy again, of having him back again, left herself
+in Lily&#8217;s hands. She felt as if she were looking at
+a princess, when Lily made Glass-Eye spin round the
+room. She could not even help smiling when she saw
+Glass-Eye catch her foot in the dresses spread out on
+the floor, so much so that Lily asked her angrily if she
+meant to go on hopping about like that for ever, if she
+really wanted to have a candle lit in her glass eye to make
+her see that bodice, there, right in front of her nose,
+damn it! And Glass-Eye&#8217;s fright, when she heard that
+... though Glass-Eye was never surprised at anything
+that Lily said or did!</p>
+<p>Going to the Astrarium, Lily, followed by Glass-Eye,
+walked along the street with her cheeky feather waving
+like a flag in battle. Ave Maria, by her side, kept close
+to the wall, with frightened glances to right and left; Lily
+did not call her attention to the Astrarium posters for fear
+of humiliating her: she would have had to explain that
+she was topping the bill and poor Ave Maria, who
+was starring at the fair, would never have understood.
+A professional abyss separated the two of them. Lily
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_369' name='page_369'></a>369</span>
+saw this and had too kind a heart to let the other feel it.
+What a difference between them! Merely in the way in
+which Lily entered the theater and smiled to the stage-doorkeeper!
+Ave Maria followed very timidly, like a
+beggar-woman stealing into a palace. She felt out of her
+element in those big theaters, where she had not appeared
+for ever so long, having come down to the level of one-horse
+circuses, patched canvas tents, acrobatic performances
+in the open air, on the slack-wire stretched from
+tree to tree. Lily looked a princess beside her, really. Ave
+Maria was even surprised to see her address a gentleman
+who was there: it was the architect, with a bandage
+over his eye. Ave Maria recognized him; and he, rendered
+prudent by the blow which he had received from
+&#8220;her man,&#8221; stepped back instinctively at the sight of her.
+But Lily caught him by the lapel of his coat:</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve been fooling me ... with your measurements,&#8221;
+she said, &#8220;and there are certain things that jossers
+oughtn&#8217;t to meddle with; and it serves you right, that
+black eye of yours; but I forgive you, because of the immense
+service you&#8217;re doing me ... without knowing
+it ... you lover of second-rate goods!&#8221; she
+muttered, as she watched him slink off, taking her forgiveness
+with him.</p>
+<p>The stage was almost empty. Tom had come, not
+Trampy; so much the better, there would be all the more
+there presently, for the great scene!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait for me a minute,&#8221; she said to Ave Maria. &#8220;Sit
+down over there, in the corner.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Lily went up to her dressing-room; she wanted
+to look her best, to bedizen herself ... a little red
+on her lips, a little blue on her eyelids ... to make
+Trampy regret the more what he was going to lose. And,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_370' name='page_370'></a>370</span>
+when she was ready, Jimmy passed and, icicle though he
+was, could not help paying her a compliment on her good
+looks. He appeared quite disconcerted:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just imagine, Lily. What do you think happened to
+me, in the impersonator&#8217;s dressing-room? I had something
+to say to him ... I walk in ... see the
+impersonator half undressed ... and it&#8217;s a woman,
+Lily, a magnificent woman! You never told me, you
+kiddie!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hush!&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;Don&#8217;t give her away; it&#8217;s a secret,
+it&#8217;s her living, Jimmy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid, Lily, I won&#8217;t prevent any one from
+earning her living, as long as she does all right on the
+stage. But I don&#8217;t know where I am now. That woman
+who came in with you, for instance,&#8221; continued Jimmy
+jestingly, &#8220;she looks just like a man; there&#8217;s no knowing;
+nothing would surprise me after that!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s a woman, Jimmy, a married woman! You&#8217;ll
+see presently. We&#8217;ll have a good laugh; mind you&#8217;re
+there! I want everybody to be there! It&#8217;s a surprise,
+Jimmy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>What a kiddie she was, thought Jimmy, as he went
+down the stairs. The architect, the impersonator: the
+two scandals of her life. That impersonator whom she
+kissed in front of him, a story that had gone round the
+world, Lily&#8217;s love affairs, one more ready to leave wife
+and children for her sake: the exaggeration of the stage,
+always; professional boasting. Like the story of the
+whippings, like those girls whom she had described to
+him, and herself, with all over her skin&mdash;&#8220;Here, here,
+damn it!&#8221;&mdash;wounds that you could put your finger into.
+Or like those who were said to be done for, or burned
+alive, or drowned in shipwrecks, with waves miles high,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_371' name='page_371'></a>371</span>
+all for the honor of the profession; when, perhaps, it
+was simply as good a way as another of retiring from
+the stage, to get married, with a flourish of trumpets!
+It wasn&#8217;t true, all that, or their parade of vice either, all
+humbug, from end to end, their amorous conquests, their
+orgies, their escapades, like their ostrich-feathers, that
+long, or their sham diamonds, that big, and bouquets
+large enough to fill a cab. But they were decent-hearted
+girls, all the same: that Lily, what a kiddie, thought
+Jimmy, feeling quite comforted, quite glad on her account.</p>
+<p>And just then, as luck would have it, he met Tom, to
+whom Glass-Eye had brought Miss Lily&#8217;s album, with a
+request for his autograph. Tom, whose formidable
+muscles were hardly capable of wielding a pen, especially
+to write &#8220;thoughts,&#8221; was holding the album with a sheepish
+look, turning it round and round:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say,&#8221; he said, as Jimmy passed, &#8220;write something;
+for me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right!&#8221; said Jimmy.</p>
+<p>And he lightly turned the pages of the album, the famous
+album, said to be crammed with passionate declarations.
+Not a bit of it! Nothing but foolery and childish
+nonsense:</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;May joy and pleasure be your lot</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>. . . trot, trot, trot!&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;... Regard me as a link.</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Loving Pal</span>.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Un afetuoso saludo y un augurio de feliz viaje le
+desea Pedro y Paolo</i>.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_372' name='page_372'></a>372</span></p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;Hoping we shall meet again, if not here, there.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#8220;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Joe Brooks</span>.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Puedo decir que nunca he visto yoo ... tan cuida y
+bella</i>....&#8221;</p>
+<p>There was page upon page, in this style, with, here and
+there, a rough sketch: a heart pierced by an arrow, signed,
+&#8220;Castaigne;&#8221; a dried shamrock: &#8220;Blarney Castle;&#8221; a bit
+of seaweed: &#8220;Dundee.&#8221; Jimmy smiled to himself and
+especially at what he heard beside him, where Glass-Eye,
+while gazing wide-eyed at Tom&#8217;s immense arms, was telling
+him all her troubles: quite mad, Miss Lily, ought to
+be locked up! And <i>she</i> ought to know: never left her
+side since she began traveling by herself, day or night.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re a lucky one, you are!&#8221; Tom broke in.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should like to see you try it, just!&#8221; Glass-Eye retorted.
+&#8220;And meantime I get more smacks than halfpence.
+Oh, I know she&#8217;ll pay me all in a lump, when she gets it!
+She&#8217;s very generous, really. And her Pa and Ma ...
+yes ... do you know what she means to do? She&#8217;s
+not angry with them any longer. She&#8217;s going to stuff
+them with turkey and pudding at the hotel and stand
+them fifty francs&#8217; worth of flowers. She&#8217;s forgiven
+them!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s more than I have!&#8221; replied Tom. &#8220;Her Pa
+will know what I am made of to-morrow, the brute!
+He&#8217;ll have one on the mug, for boxing my ears and kicking
+me out ... you know ... because of the
+letters from Trampy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you do that, Tom, you&#8217;ll have Miss Lily to reckon
+with! What! You&#8217;re laughing!&#8221; cried Glass-Eye angrily.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_373' name='page_373'></a>373</span>
+&#8220;You don&#8217;t know how it hurts ... on one&#8217;s
+bones! And those pillow-fights: I&#8217;ve had my nose
+smashed in one of them before now! Nothing surprises
+me that Miss Lily says or does. Why, this very morning,
+she wanted to put a lighted candle in my glass eye!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh, what? A light in your eye?&#8221; exclaimed Tom
+suddenly. &#8220;I wonder if one really could ... I say,
+Jimmy, could one?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Jimmy, greatly amused, &#8220;with an invisible
+wire under the dress....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hurrah!&#8221; cried Tom. &#8220;Would you like two shillings
+a day, Glass-Eye? And your food and clothes? You
+shall travel with me; you shall appear on the stage. Come
+along to the café, we&#8217;ll sign the engagement!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what will Miss Lily say?&#8221; objected Glass-Eye,
+trembling at the idea of announcing her departure to her
+terrible mistress.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Tom, &#8220;I&#8217;ll be nice to her Pa, if she&#8217;s nice
+to you. Come along!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I don&#8217;t know how to sign my name.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can make your mark, before two witnesses.
+Come along!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Glass-Eye, dazzled and beglamored, followed Tom.
+She, an artiste! On the stage! At last! Going round
+the world with Tom ... living with him ...
+married ... almost!</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s come in the nick of time!&#8221; said Jimmy, as he
+watched her go off the stage. &#8220;Lily, perhaps ... in
+her new position ... will want a real maid, not a
+Glass-Eye! Lily ... why, she&#8217;s perfection! To
+think of the abysses she has walked along without falling!
+There&#8217;s more merit than one thinks in that kind of life.
+And how I should like to get hold of the people who
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_374' name='page_374'></a>374</span>
+talk ill of her. And that ... that ... oh,
+that one!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Jimmy clenched his fists, at the thought of
+Trampy, and his heart burst forth: all his patient, brave,
+manly heart, now well nigh exhausted.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_375' name='page_375'></a>375</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Poor Ave Maria, indifferent to what was going on before
+her, was still waiting on the stage. For that matter,
+it was but a few minutes since Lily brought her there.
+Ave Maria felt inclined to go
+and meet Trampy on the
+pavement, to throw her arms
+round his neck as soon as he
+appeared. But Lily had earnestly
+recommended her not
+to move, whatever happened.
+So she remained in her corner
+and, under the pale light,
+with her back to the forest
+scene, in the shadow, Ave
+Maria looked like a lurking
+she-wolf, ready to leap out at
+any moment.</p>
+<div class='figright'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg371.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 195px; height: 279px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 195px;'>
+AVE MARIA<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>As for Lily, she tripped
+down the stairs to the stage,
+for a few seconds contemplated
+all those bill-toppers at
+her feet, so to speak; but she took the last stairs at a
+bound: Trampy had just entered! Ave Maria, in her corner,
+behind the pillars and the confused heap of scenery,
+could not see him. Lily preferred that. She would
+manage everything her own way and get rid of him
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_376' name='page_376'></a>376</span>
+once and for all ... get rid of that footy rotter
+who had come there to jeer at her. He stepped along,
+with his hat on one side and a dead cigar between his
+teeth. Trampy, broken, diseased, done for, was jubilant
+for all that; turned his broad smile from girl to girl,
+winked his eye gaily at the Roofers, who drew back in
+disgust, and, with outstretched hand:</p>
+<p>&#8220;How d&#8217;you do, Lily? How&#8217;s my dear little wife?&#8221;</p>
+<p>He enjoyed the humiliation which he was inflicting
+upon her, would have liked his clothes to be still shabbier,
+his shoes more down at heel, so that he might thoroughly
+disgrace his dear little wife&mdash;that great bill-topper,
+who was leaving the pink of husbands in such a state
+of destitution. And he threw out his chest, increased his
+familiarities, and even pretended to kiss her, pushed his
+blotched and pimpled mug close to that charming face.
+Jimmy gave a bound: Trampy! On the stage! Lily&#8217;s
+tormentor! Jimmy, pale with fury, walked up to him,
+stiff-armed, ready to break the jaw of that thief in the
+night and chuck him into the street, without more words!
+But Lily stopped him with a quick gesture:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, Jimmy,&#8221; she said, &#8220;would you keep a man from
+earning his living? Do you find fault with a husband
+for loving his little wife? I am your little wife, am I
+not?&#8221; she continued, tantalizing Trampy with her peach-like
+cheek, tickling his nose with her fair curls. &#8220;Don&#8217;t
+you deserve a dear little wife?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, of course I do!&#8221; Trampy agreed, surprised,
+all the same, at this loving reception from his dear little
+wife.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There!&#8221; cried Lily, unable to restrain herself any
+longer and giving him a box on the ears. &#8220;That&#8217;ll teach
+you to call me your little wife, you damned tramp cyclist!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_377' name='page_377'></a>377</span>
+I&#8217;ve never been your little wife. I&#8217;ll show you your little
+wife, the real one. Come along, Ave Maria! Here&#8217;s
+Trampy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh, what?&#8221; said Trampy, turning color. &#8220;Ave Maria?
+I don&#8217;t know any Ave Maria.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But already Ave Maria was upon him, pressing him in
+her arms: her Trampy! And her cough brought pink-red
+patches to her hectic cheeks.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s this mean? I don&#8217;t know you,&#8221; he stammered,
+gazing horror-stricken at this old, lean woman,
+who was taking possession of him before everybody, taking
+possession of him who cared only for plump little
+things, sultan that he was. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know her, I don&#8217;t
+know her!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here!&#8221; cried Lily, snatching the paper from Ave
+Maria&#8217;s bodice. &#8220;Do you know that? Can you read?
+Now will you deny that she&#8217;s your wife ... your
+wife ... your wife?&#8221; she repeated, rejoicing in being
+able to hurl the word to Trampy, who turned pale
+with fright.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll try and arrange it,&#8221; whispered Jimmy, still
+hardly recovered from his surprise. &#8220;A divorce in Lily&#8217;s
+favor first! She&#8217;ll dictate your answer for you; you&#8217;ve
+only got to say yes to everything. And then you can be
+off somewhere; to West Australia. I&#8217;ll pay your expenses.
+And don&#8217;t you ever dare to show your face
+again! Never! Do you understand?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And that&#8217;ll teach you to make little of people!&#8221; cried
+Lily. &#8220;Let&#8217;s drink to the health of Trampy, the faithful
+husband! I&#8217;ll stand champagne all round to the health
+of good old Trampy and his dear little wife!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But, without waiting for the champagne, already Ave
+Maria was dragging Trampy to the door and the Roofer
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_378' name='page_378'></a>378</span>
+girls gave him a triumphal exit. They sent him to Halifax,
+they sent him to Coventry. They flourished things at
+his head, amid an uproar of jolly hootings, and took aim
+at him&mdash;&#8220;Ping! Ping!&#8221;&mdash;and pinched him, as the Merry
+Wives did Falstaff in Windsor Forest. And they slipped
+off their shoes in honor of his wedding, by Jove! And
+Trampy fled under a shower of boots and slippers, fled
+like mad, as though the devil were after him.</p>
+<p>Jimmy did not know if he was on his head or his heels
+for joy:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll stand the champagne!&#8221; he said. &#8220;To Miss Lily&#8217;s
+health!&#8221;</p>
+<p>So much had happened in those few minutes: Lily
+free again ... and no scandal ... the divorce
+assured ... Trampy admitting his misdeeds, inventing
+them, if necessary, confessing anything they
+asked him to, as long as they did not mention bigamy....
+Jimmy, had it been possible, would have offered
+a general picnic to the whole company. He, usually so
+calm, felt inclined to sing, to laugh. Never would he
+have dared to hope.... And it had all come so
+simply, like the things that are bound to happen. Lily
+was free!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bring the bottles up here,&#8221; he said to the call-boy,
+&#8220;and biscuits and cakes. We&#8217;ll drink it here! We&#8217;ll
+christen the stage, as if we were launching a ship ...
+in champagne, here, by ourselves! among ourselves!
+Here&#8217;s to the stage-manager! Here&#8217;s to all of us!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily, happy as happy could be, shook everybody by
+the hand, distributed a &#8220;&#8217;K you&#8221; here and a &#8220;&#8217;K you&#8221;
+there. She would have liked to have Glass-Eye by her
+side, to keep her in countenance, open her bag, give her
+her handkerchief ... liked to be a little lady who
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_379' name='page_379'></a>379</span>
+can&#8217;t do without her maid ... but, damn it, where
+was Glass-Eye? And Lily clenched her fist when she saw
+her return with cakes in her hands, escorted by Tom, who
+helped to carry the champagne.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where have you been, Glass-Eye?&#8221; asked Lily severely.
+&#8220;What have you been doing with Tom? Give
+me my handkerchief, Glass-Eye.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here&#8217;s your bag, Miss Lily,&#8221; said Glass-Eye excitedly.
+&#8220;I&#8217;m going to leave you, Miss Lily.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What for?&#8221; said Lily, feeling vexed. &#8220;Because I
+owe you a few little things?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no, not that! I&#8217;m going to be a star, too; on my
+hands: Demon Maud, the lady with the flaming eye; a
+candle in my glass eye ... before two witnesses
+... I made my mark at the bottom.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s drunk!&#8221; cried Lily, utterly dumfounded. &#8220;Or
+else she&#8217;s going mad. Jimmy! Tom! Glass-Eye&#8217;s going
+mad!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But, when Tom had explained, Lily approved. Glass-Eye
+wasn&#8217;t stupid, really; very intelligent, though you&#8217;d
+never think it. Glad to see her engaged.... And
+she shook her by the hand, like an old friend and comrade,
+glad to hear of the success of others ... among artistes....</p>
+<p>And, suddenly, with head thrown back, full-throated,
+her feather nodding hysterically on her head, Lily
+laughed ... laughed ... laughed!</p>
+<p>Maud an artiste! On her hands! A candle in her
+eye! One fat freak the more on the stage! Gee, they
+must drink to Glass-Eye&#8217;s health: Glass-Eye, the bill-topper!</p>
+<p>They were all laughing now, filling their glasses at a
+table in the middle of the stage, eating cakes, amusing
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_380' name='page_380'></a>380</span>
+themselves with the corks, which went pop, like toy
+guns, and applauding with their thumb-nails. To the
+Astrarium! And long live jollity! That night, they
+would one and all risk their skins. They were like soldiers
+drinking to their sweethearts, in the trenches, before
+the battle. And everything promised well; already
+a legend was forming among the painted faces: the booking
+office besieged; ladies and gentlemen in motors;
+motors in a row, miles and miles of motors; the street
+bursting with people who had come to book seats! And
+champagne on the stage, cakes, my, for the asking! An
+orgy which would start its trip around the world to-morrow,
+with those few bottles transformed into a Niagara of
+champagne, enough to flood every greenroom from the
+Klondike to Calcutta!</p>
+<p>They all enjoyed themselves and let themselves go.
+And the Roofers, who worshiped Lily, in spite of
+her abominable tricks, raised their glasses to her
+health, crowded round her, smiled merrily at her with
+their white teeth, congratulated her for sending that footy
+rotter packing:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here&#8217;s to Miss Lily! And a round on the thumbnail
+in honor of Miss Lily!&#8221;</p>
+<p>This christening of the Astrarium was turning into a
+triumph for her; and there was the evening to come
+... the evening! It made her forget Trampy,
+Jimmy, Glass-Eye, everybody. And ... the next
+day ... her Pa, her Ma, the New Trickers would
+be at her feet! Oh, she would give ten years of her life
+if to-morrow could be there now!</p>
+<p>And the evening came. Lily did not leave the theater.
+She walked nervously from her dressing-room to the
+stage, inspected the final operations, interested herself in
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_381' name='page_381'></a>381</span>
+everything, stopped the boy-violinist, who was crossing
+the stage with the other members of the band, congratulated
+him on his approaching marriage with one of the
+Graces. She talked to the artistes going up to their
+dressing-rooms, bestowed a smile upon Jimmy, another
+on the stage-manager, joked with the limelight-men
+working their apparatus on either side of the stage. The
+footlights lit up with a row of flames, the storm approached.
+There was a ringing of electric bells&mdash;&#8220;Ting!
+Ting! Ting!&#8221;&mdash;as in the machine-room of a ship before
+the tempest; the orchestra roared; and, as though at a
+thunder-clap, the velvet curtain split asunder: Patti-Patty
+was revealed on the stage, while the band played
+as if possessed. Lily, in the shadow of the wings, put
+her hand to her heart; her veins were ablaze. And that
+audience, at which she peeped through a crack in the
+scenery; that audience was hers, with its rustling silks,
+its bare shoulders, its diamonds, its flowers! She would
+have liked to step forward, to say:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here I am!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She felt herself excited by a curious feeling; an aggressive
+mood, which, no doubt, came from all the healths
+she had drunk: to the Astrarium, to this one, to that one,
+to all of us! Gee, what fun it had been: champagne, cakes,
+my, tons of cakes! And Lily, who had long been unused
+to any such excess, felt her head splitting. A fever
+seemed also to reign all over the dressing-rooms and
+passages. They talked of front boxes reserved at a thousand
+francs by the Aero Club; stalls at fifty francs; every
+seat in the house filled; and the best people, nothing but
+the best! Lily, in her exalted condition, took it that they
+had all come for her; and she had to dazzle them all!
+And soar above them all! To a hurricane of applause
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_382' name='page_382'></a>382</span>
+from &#8220;her favorite audience,&#8221; the Astrarium audience,
+on a first night!</p>
+<p>And she felt so gay that she was not angry when Glass-Eye
+asked her, now that <i>she</i> was an artiste, too, to teach
+her her stage-smile.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, of course, Glass-Eye! I owe you that, to say
+nothing of the rest! But you won&#8217;t lose by waiting!
+Take my word for it: among friends, you know!...&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she kissed her maid, felt inclined to cry, became
+quite sentimental at her going....</p>
+<p>She was less amiable to Nunkie, who was prowling
+around near her. Oh, how angry she felt with that old
+rogue! Because of Thea, first of all; and then it was he
+who gave her away, not Jimmy! Tom had told her.
+Nunkie mumbled something to her: his dear girls; ungrateful
+creatures who were leaving him! His poor
+life shattered! His pigeons, he had his pigeons left; yes,
+and his home; but what was that compared with loving
+hearts? And, as she was on such good terms with Jimmy
+and everybody, couldn&#8217;t she use her influence? Oh, if he
+could have the Bambinis, be appointed their guardian!
+&#8220;He would bring together such a nice little family troupe:
+all the joys of home!</p>
+<p>&#8220;You old wretch!&#8221; cried Lily, in a threatening voice.
+&#8220;Just go and look, at the corner of Oxford Street and
+Newman Street, if you can see me! You old snaky!
+You old bromide merchant! Hiding letters, too, you
+nigger-driving humbug! Oh, you&#8217;re sure to get the Bambinis,
+I <i>don&#8217;t</i> think!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>Ver-r-rdammt</i>!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Nunkie turned on his heel, shaking the passage with
+tremendous oaths.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought,&#8221; Lily shot at him from behind sarcastically,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_383' name='page_383'></a>383</span>
+&#8220;I thought one ought never to swear! It&#8217;s wicked
+to swear, Mr. Fuchs!&#8221;</p>
+<p>In her dressing-room, she went on laughing at Nunkie
+and his &#8220;<i>Donner-r-r-wetter-r-r</i>!&#8221; and his &#8220;<i>S-s-satan</i>!
+<i>S-s-satan</i>!&#8221; It made her comb her hair all awry and
+apply the grease-paint to her cheeks with a trembling
+hand. She felt a buzzing in her head: that confounded
+music which seemed to come from everywhere and hissed
+in her ears! But, when her turn came, she&#8217;d show them!
+Never had she felt so light. She was sure of herself,
+strangely sure. It seemed to her that, if need be, she&#8217;d
+have shot up to the stars, damn it!</p>
+<p>As soon as she was ready, she went down to the stage.
+She didn&#8217;t know why. It was her wish to be everywhere,
+her craving for movement. The aerobike had been taken
+from its cage, behind the back-drop; the stage-manager,
+Jimmy and Jimmy&#8217;s assistants were standing round it.
+Jimmy was testing everything, for the last time, making
+sure that there would be no hitch:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hullo, Lily!&#8221; he said, when he saw her. &#8220;Are you
+ready?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ready?&#8221; said Lily. &#8220;Look!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And she flung back her wrap with her two bare arms
+and stood, a figure all charm and grace, with youth, joy
+and courage sparkling in her eyes. In the mysterious
+half-light, amid the endless sounds from the band, Lily
+seemed to shed rays. Jimmy, dazzled, looked at that
+dainty form, that delicate breast, those rounded shoulders,
+that splendid body fashioned by years of Spartan life,
+each muscle of which was quivering with enthusiasm.
+And she laughed ... laughed ... head thrown
+back, full-throated; told the story of Nunkie, with furious
+gestures, as though she were strangling the old beast.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_384' name='page_384'></a>384</span>
+And then came sudden displays of feeling, for the Three
+Graces and the Bambinis.</p>
+<p>Jimmy had never seen her like that. The stage-manager
+also thought her queer, for he looked at Jimmy as
+though to ask what on earth was the matter with her.
+And, going up to him, he said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look how she&#8217;s trembling! One would think she had
+a fever.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s quite true,&#8221; said Jimmy.</p>
+<p>And the two stared at each other in consternation
+when Lily, stooping to pick up her cloak, was nearly
+losing her balance and coming to the ground. They exchanged
+a few words in a whisper. Then the stage-manager
+said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go up to your dressing-room, Miss Lily. You mustn&#8217;t
+stay here, you know. We&#8217;ll send for you when the time
+comes. Go and put your hair straight.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was only a pretext; but the same thought had passed
+through both their minds: it was the champagne! Lily,
+who was accustomed to drink nothing but water, was
+... if not exactly drunk ... well ...</p>
+<p>Thereupon, in an instant, Jimmy made up his mind: it
+was finished and settled, irrevocably, as though he had
+spent hours in reflecting. The newspapers had expressed
+doubts; there had been suggestions of trickery.
+An immediate, brilliant success was essential, to carry the
+thing off: a hitch and all was lost and the luck of the
+Astrarium and his own fame vanished in smoke! Lily
+was out of the question that night: she was bubbling
+over at every pore with unnatural excitement ...
+she was not Lily,&mdash;was not herself ... it meant
+certain death to her, the aerobike smashed to pieces, the
+end of all things! Lily would do it to-morrow, the next
+night; but not to-night.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_385' name='page_385'></a>385</span></p>
+<p>He had just time to go to his dressing-room and put
+on his white sweater, black breeches, black stockings:
+an athletic costume which he always kept at the theater
+in case of need. And quick, in the saddle: the moment
+had come! He must succeed, now or never! And
+Jimmy, calm and sure of himself, took his seat on the
+aerobike. A great silence followed....</p>
+<p>Lily, at that very minute, anxious at not being sent for
+in her dressing-room, was going back to the stage, but
+she was stopped at the top of the stairs by the stage-manager,
+who said that he had received an order by telephone
+from Cologne, from Harrasford: Lily not to perform
+that night....</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let me pass,&#8221; cried Lily, laughing in spite of everything.
+&#8220;That&#8217;s enough of a joke. It&#8217;s time for me to go
+on, I say! Are you mad? I tell you, it&#8217;s my turn!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But she ceased, as though struck by thunder. The
+aerobike, with wings wide open, was taking flight toward
+the stars, in a tempestuous wind.</p>
+<p>It was done! The thing had shot past her very nose!
+She thought that she would fall, so great was the pain at
+her heart.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No! No!&#8221; she gasped, with dilated eyes.</p>
+<p>And, suddenly, she understood and uttered a cry of
+rage!</p>
+<p>But she could have shouted, &#8220;Murder!&#8221; and it would
+have sounded as the buzzing of a bee amid that explosion
+of cheers. And the orchestra grew like a flame and the
+light appeared, increased and shone all over the house.</p>
+<p>Lily flung herself back, closed her eyes so as not to
+see, fled to her dressing-room with a shriek like a
+wounded beast&#8217;s....</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_386' name='page_386'></a>386</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+<h3></h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>She dropped into her chair, stopped up her ears; but
+the cheers never ceased, kept on increasing, filled the
+theater with a roar as of thunder! Oh, it seemed to
+her that her chest was on fire, that they were pounding
+her heart; that some one was taking her by the hair and
+banging her head against the walls! And that storm of
+applause kept on and kept on ... but it wasn&#8217;t
+for her! It was for Jimmy all the time: they had tried
+it with her, that was all! To see if it worked! And she,
+she, she who, only just now, was giving herself airs with
+the others: a poor rag, yes, that was all she was, less than
+anybody; less than Tom, her old servant, less than Glass-Eye,
+that idiot, less than Ave Maria, less than a performing
+dog, less than anything, worse than anything, perhaps!
+Mad with rage she jumped at her gollywog,
+pulled down the white-eyed idol&mdash;the traitor!&mdash;spat on
+it, crushed it on the floor with her heel, furious, beside
+herself; and then dropped into her chair again, with her
+two arms flat on the table, her head between her arms,
+among the grease-paints, the powder, the overturned box
+of spangles, which rolled about everywhere and strewed
+the floor. She felt inclined to bite into her flesh to relieve
+herself, she clenched her fists and dug her nails into her
+skin. Oh, she would have liked to die, to die! It was so
+fierce a longing, so desperate a cry that the force of her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_387' name='page_387'></a>387</span>
+prayer ought to have struck her dead where she sat. And
+suddenly the tears began to flow and she cried and cried,
+all convulsed with sobs, floored, shipwrecked, done for.
+She cried and cried, as though stupefied, saw nothing save
+through a thick veil of water, like a person drowning,
+sinking. It seemed to her as if the tears would groove
+her face, for always. Oh, what would she give to be at
+home, in bed! Never, never again would she have the
+strength to do a thing. She was done for, buried alive.
+And that coward of a Jimmy, to obey Harrasford&#8217;s order!
+Oh, the harm he had done her! She would rather have
+died smashed to a jelly on the stage: she would have
+suffered less! Oh, to behave like that: to flash so much
+before her eyes; and then to fling her to the ground! Oh,
+when she had thought that he loved her and that she loved
+him also, perhaps! And Lily cried and cried....</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>Meanwhile, in front, the aerobike was receiving endless
+applause. The disappearance through the opening, the
+plunge into space, the star snatched from up above, that
+piece of theatrical symbolism filled the audience with enthusiasm.
+The aerobike brought down the house, its success
+surpassed all expectation, and the Astrarium was
+opening with a victorious clamor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, but at what a cost!&#8221; said Jimmy to himself, in
+spite of the cheers.</p>
+<p>And, as soon as he was able to escape, putting off for
+a few minutes his replies to the cards that poured in&mdash;the
+chairman of the Aero Club, journalists begging for interviews&mdash;Jimmy
+had but one idea, to console Lily for her
+disappointment of that evening: poor Lily!</p>
+<p>His heart was beating very loudly as he went to her
+dressing-room. Jimmy was no longer the fellow who
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_388' name='page_388'></a>388</span>
+knew no fear. To fly away on the aerobike, to risk his
+skin was easy, for him at least; but to face Lily ...
+to explain to her ... with all those things seething
+within him ... and, oh, the pain he was causing
+her! How could he approach her after that? And could
+he ever get her to love him? Ah, perhaps it would have
+been better if he had gone and broken his neck in the
+street, on the pavement! Jimmy was trembling like a
+child; in his perturbation, he even forgot to knock at the
+door ... turned the knob ... entered....</p>
+<p>Lily heard nothing, seemed crushed into her chair,
+with her face buried in her right arm folded on the table,
+while the left hung lifeless by her side. Her whole attitude
+expressed abject misery, profound despair; she
+seemed extinguished in a terrifying calmness.</p>
+<p>Jimmy, to attract her attention, closed the door noisily.
+Lily stirred no more than a wax figure: one might have
+thought her dead.</p>
+<p>He shivered; and, stepping forward, leaning over to
+her, anxiously, he placed his hand on her shoulder.</p>
+<p>It was like a spring that is suddenly released! Lily
+threw up her sorrow-stricken face, down which the tears,
+mingling with the red paint, flowed like blood, looked at
+him for a few seconds with a wandering air and then
+leaped at him, as though she meant to bite him in the face;
+but her lips shriveled up in silence, nothing came from
+them; and she crushed Jimmy with an unspeakable look
+of terror and contempt.</p>
+<p>Jimmy did not flinch:</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must not be angry with me,&#8221; he said gently. &#8220;I
+was bound to do it, Lily; I had to save the theater.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And get rid of me!&#8221; cried Lily, wild-haired, hard-eyed,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_389' name='page_389'></a>389</span>
+hoarse-throated, with the tears drying on her red-hot
+cheeks.</p>
+<p>Jimmy was pale as death. Ah, all his dreams, too,
+were fading away!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lily,&#8221; he said, in a voice which he strove to make firm,
+but which trembled with emotion. &#8220;I have done my duty
+to everybody, yourself included! But for me, you would
+be lying dead at this minute and the Astrarium would be
+ruined. You were not in a state to appear in public
+... this evening ... believe me, Lily. The
+stage-manager himself....&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily lowered her head under his calm gaze....</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;ll do it to-morrow,&#8221; continued Jimmy, very
+quickly, &#8220;before Pa and Ma! To-morrow and the following
+days ... and always! Your name will be right
+at the top of the bill! Do you hear? To-morrow ...
+and always!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what...? Why...?&#8221; asked Lily, as
+though stupefied.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor Lily,&#8221; he replied, gently raising that face all
+distorted with grief. &#8220;Poor little Lily! I have caused
+you a heap of pain.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lily, for her sole answer, gave a convulsive sob; a tear
+leaped to her eyelids.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t cry,&#8221; whispered Jimmy, &#8220;don&#8217;t cry any more.
+It will be your turn to-morrow, before the New Trickers.
+To-morrow! Every night!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Every night?&#8221; asked Lily, still incredulous and yet
+transfigured with hope. &#8220;You&#8217;re saying that, Jimmy;
+but....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you doubt my word, Lily?&#8221; he replied, pressing
+her gently to him. &#8220;What, I, your best friend, your only
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_390' name='page_390'></a>390</span>
+friend ... I who ... haven&#8217;t I always loved
+you, Lily? Do you think I&#8217;ve changed?... I love
+you more than ever I did! I will explain everything later.
+And you doubt me ... who would give my life
+for you; yes, life without you means nothing to me,&#8221;
+continued Jimmy, in a stifled voice and clasping Lily in
+his arms.</p>
+<p>Lily quivered in his embrace, hid her blushing features
+on his breast, where she heard great dull throbs. She
+trembled from head to foot. Her quickened senses
+seemed to perceive everything now; the passing indisposition
+from which she had suffered, without knowing it,
+the light fumes of the champagne: all that had suddenly
+gone, was far away; she had never felt more lucid; she
+saw, she understood and was overcome with delight,
+overcome with a delight beside which her enthusiasm of
+the previous day seemed dark and dreary. The ardor of
+her eighteen years swelled her breast. Success, in any
+case! To-morrow! And that man was hers, that heart
+was hers! It was a dream, an enchantment! Her head
+rolled back, a smile drew up her lips, her eyes, through
+her tangled curls, seemed all ablaze. Jimmy bent his
+glowing face over her. Lily, on the point of swooning,
+raised her lips to his.</p>
+<p>Vanished around them the low ceiling, the scratched
+walls, the shabby rags. Standing on the wretched spangles
+that strewed the dusty floor, Lily, drunk with joy
+... Jimmy, distraught with pride ... seemed
+like youth and love, in mid-sky, among the stars!</p>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p>CURTAIN</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-pg386.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 415px; height: 640px;' /><br />
+<p class='captionc' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 415px;'>
+Lily quivered in his embrace.<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='full' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.3em;'>Popular Copyright Books</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.1em;'>AT MODERATE PRICES</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p>Any of the following titles can be bought of your</p>
+<p>bookseller at the price you paid for this volume</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>Marcaria</b>. By Augusta J. Evans.</p>
+<p><b>Mam&#8217; Linda</b>. By Will N. Harben.</p>
+<p><b>Maids of Paradise</b>, The. By Robert W. Chambers.</p>
+<p><b>Man in the Corner, The</b>. By Baroness Orczy.</p>
+<p><b>Marriage A La Mode</b>. By Mrs. Humphry Ward.</p>
+<p><b>Master Mummer, The</b>. By E. Phillips Oppenheim.</p>
+<p><b>Much Ado About Peter</b>. By Jean Webster.</p>
+<p><b>Old, Old Story, The</b>. By Rosa N. Carey.</p>
+<p><b>Pardners</b>. By Rex Beach.</p>
+<p><b>Patience of John Moreland, The</b>. By Mary Dillon.</p>
+<p><b>Paul Anthony, Christian</b>. By Hiram W. Hays.</p>
+<p><b>Prince of Sinners, A</b>. By E. Phillips Oppenheim.</p>
+<p><b>Prodigious Hickey, The</b>. By Owen Johnson.</p>
+<p><b>Red Mouse, The</b>. By William Hamilton Osborne.</p>
+<p><b>Refugees, The</b>. By A. Conan Doyle.</p>
+<p><b>Round the Corner in Gay Street</b>. Grace S. Richmond.</p>
+<p><b>Rue: With a Difference</b>. By Rosa N. Carey.</p>
+<p><b>Set in Silver</b>. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.</p>
+<p><b>St. Elmo</b>. By Augusta J. Evans.</p>
+<p><b>Silver Blade, The</b>. By Charles E. Walk.</p>
+<p><b>Spirit in Prison, A</b>. By Robert Hichens.</p>
+<p><b>Strawberry Handkerchief, The</b>. By Amelia E. Barr.</p>
+<p><b>Tess of the D&#8217;Urbervilles</b>. By Thomas Hardy.</p>
+<p><b>Uncle William</b>. By Jennette Lee.</p>
+<p><b>Way of a Man, The</b>. By Emerson Hough.</p>
+<p><b>Whirl, The</b>. By Foxcroft Davis.</p>
+<p><b>With Juliet in England</b>. By Grace S. Richmond.</p>
+<p><b>Yellow Circle, The</b>. By Charles E. Walk.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.3em;'>Popular Copyright Books</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.1em;'>AT MODERATE PRICES</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p>Any of the following titles can be bought of your</p>
+<p>bookseller at the price you paid for this volume</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>Purple Parasol, The</b>. By George Barr McCutcheon.</p>
+<p><b>Princess Dehra, The</b>. By John Reed Scott.</p>
+<p><b>Making of Bobby Burnit, The</b>. By George Randolph Chester.</p>
+<p><b>Last Voyage of the Donna Isabel, The</b>. By Randall Parrish.</p>
+<p><b>Bronze Bell, The</b>. By Louis Joseph Vance.</p>
+<p><b>Pole Baker</b>. By Will N. Harben.</p>
+<p><b>Four Million, The</b>. By O. Henry.</p>
+<p><b>Idols</b>. By William J. Locke.</p>
+<p><b>Wayfarers, The</b>. By Mary Stewart Cutting.</p>
+<p><b>Held for Orders</b>. By Frank H. Spearman.</p>
+<p><b>Story of the Outlaw, The</b>. By Emerson Hough.</p>
+<p><b>Mistress of Brae Farm, The</b>. By Rosa N. Carey.</p>
+<p><b>Explorer, The</b>. By William Somerset Maugham.</p>
+<p><b>Abbess of Vlaye, The</b>. By Stanley Weyman.</p>
+<p><b>Alton of Somasco</b>. By Harold Bindloss.</p>
+<p><b>Ancient Law, The</b>. By Ellen Glasgow.</p>
+<p><b>Barrier, The</b>. By Rex Beach.</p>
+<p><b>Bar 20</b>. By Clarence E. Mulford.</p>
+<p><b>Beloved Vagabond, The</b>. By William J. Locke.</p>
+<p><b>Beulah</b>. (Illustrated Edition.) By Augusta J. Evans.</p>
+<p><b>Chaperon, The</b>. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.</p>
+<p><b>Colonel Greatheart</b>. By H. C. Bailey.</p>
+<p><b>Dissolving Circle, The</b>. By Will Lillibridge.</p>
+<p><b>Elusive Isabel</b>. By Jacques Futrelle.</p>
+<p><b>Fair Moon of Bath, The</b>. By Elizabeth Ellis.</p>
+<p><b>54-40 or Fight</b>. By Emerson Hough.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.3em;'>Popular Copyright Books</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.1em;'>AT MODERATE PRICES</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p>Any of the following titles can be bought of your</p>
+<p>bookseller at the price you paid for this volume</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>Anna the Adventuress</b>. By E. Phillips Oppenheim.</p>
+<p><b>Ann Boyd</b>. By Will N. Harben.</p>
+<p><b>At The Moorings</b>. By Rosa N. Carey.</p>
+<p><b>By Right of Purchase</b>. By Harold Bindloss.</p>
+<p><b>Carlton Case, The</b>. By Ellery H. Clark.</p>
+<p><b>Chase of the Golden Plate</b>. By Jacques Futrelle.</p>
+<p><b>Cash Intrigue, The</b>. By George Randolph Chester.</p>
+<p><b>Delafield Affair, The</b>. By Florence Finch Kelly.</p>
+<p><b>Dominant Dollar, The</b>. By Will Lillibridge.</p>
+<p><b>Elusive Pimpernel, The</b>. By Baroness Orczy.</p>
+<p><b>Ganton &amp; Co</b>. By Arthur J. Eddy.</p>
+<p><b>Gilbert Neal</b>. By Will N. Harben.</p>
+<p><b>Girl and the Bill, The</b>. By Bannister Merwin.</p>
+<p><b>Girl from His Town, The</b>. By Marie Van Vorst.</p>
+<p><b>Glass House, The</b>. By Florence Morse Kingsley.</p>
+<p><b>Highway of Fate, The</b>. By Rosa N. Carey.</p>
+<p><b>Homesteaders, The</b>. By Kate and Virgil D. Boyles.</p>
+<p><b>Husbands of Edith, The</b>. George Barr McCutcheon.</p>
+<p><b>Inez</b>. (Illustrated Ed.) By Augusta J. Evans.</p>
+<p><b>Into the Primitive</b>. By Robert Ames Bennet.</p>
+<p><b>Jack Spurlock, Prodigal</b>. By Horace Lorimer.</p>
+<p><b>Jude the Obscure</b>. By Thomas Hardy.</p>
+<p><b>King Spruce</b>. By Holman Day.</p>
+<p><b>Kingsmead</b>. By Bettina Von Hutten.</p>
+<p><b>Ladder of Swords, A</b>. By Gilbert Parker.</p>
+<p><b>Lorimer of the Northwest</b>. By Harold Bindloss.</p>
+<p><b>Lorraine</b>. By Robert W. Chambers.</p>
+<p><b>Loves of Miss Anne, The</b>. By S. R. Crockett.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.3em;'>Popular Copyright Books</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.1em;'>AT MODERATE PRICES</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p>Any of the following titles can be bought of your</p>
+<p>bookseller at the price you paid for this volume</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>Spirit of the Border, The</b>. By Zane Grey.</p>
+<p><b>Spoilers, The</b>. By Rex Beach.</p>
+<p><b>Squire Phin</b>. By Holman F. Day.</p>
+<p><b>Stooping Lady, The</b>. By Maurice Hewlett.</p>
+<p><b>Subjection of Isabel Carnaby</b>. By Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler.</p>
+<p><b>Sunset Trail, The</b>. By Alfred Henry Lewis.</p>
+<p><b>Sword of the Old Frontier, A</b>. By Randall Parrish.</p>
+<p><b>Tales of Sherlock Holmes</b>. By A. Conan Doyle.</p>
+<p><b>That Printer of Udell&#8217;s</b>. By Harold Bell Wright.</p>
+<p><b>Throwback, The</b>. By Alfred Henry Lewis.</p>
+<p><b>Trail of the Sword, The</b>. By Gilbert Parker.</p>
+<p><b>Treasure of Heaven, The</b>. By Marie Corelli.</p>
+<p><b>Two Vanrevels, The</b>. By Booth Tarkington.</p>
+<p><b>Up From Slavery</b>. By Booker T. Washington.</p>
+<p><b>Vashti</b>. By Augusta Evans Wilson.</p>
+<p><b>Viper of Milan, The</b> (original edition). By Marjorie Bowen.</p>
+<p><b>Voice of the People, The</b>. By Ellen Glasgow.</p>
+<p><b>Wheel of Life, The</b>. By Ellen Glasgow.</p>
+<p><b>When Wilderness Was King</b>. By Randall Parrish.</p>
+<p><b>Where the Trail Divides</b>. By Will Lillibridge.</p>
+<p><b>Woman in Grey, A</b>. By Mrs. C. N. Williamson.</p>
+<p><b>Woman in the Alcove, The</b>. By Anna Katharine Green.</p>
+<p><b>Younger Set, The</b>. By Robert W. Chambers.</p>
+<p><b>The Weavers</b>. By Gilbert Parker.</p>
+<p><b>The Little Brown Jug at Kildare</b>. By Meredith Nicholson.</p>
+<p><b>The Prisoners of Chance</b>. By Randall Parrish.</p>
+<p><b>My Lady of Cleve</b>. By Percy J. Hartley.</p>
+<p><b>Loaded Dice</b>. By Ellery H. Clark.</p>
+<p><b>Get Rich Quick Wallingford</b>. By George Randolph Chester.</p>
+<p><b>The Orphan</b>. By Clarence Mulford.</p>
+<p><b>A Gentleman of France</b>. By Stanley J. Weyman.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.3em;'>Popular Copyright Books</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.1em;'>AT MODERATE PRICES</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p>Any of the following titles can be bought of your</p>
+<p>bookseller at the price you paid for this volume</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>The Shepherd of the Hills</b>. By Harold Bell Wright.</p>
+<p><b>Jane Cable</b>. By George Barr McCutcheon.</p>
+<p><b>Abner Daniel</b>. By Will N. Harben.</p>
+<p><b>The Far Horizon</b>. By Lucas Malet.</p>
+<p><b>The Halo</b>. By Bettina von Hutten.</p>
+<p><b>Jerry Junior</b>. By Jean Webster.</p>
+<p><b>The Powers and Maxine</b>. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.</p>
+<p><b>The Balance of Power</b>. By Arthur Goodrich.</p>
+<p><b>Adventures of Captain Kettle</b>. By Cutcliffe Hyne.</p>
+<p><b>Adventures of Gerard</b>. By A. Conan Doyle.</p>
+<p><b>Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</b>. By A. Conan Doyle.</p>
+<p><b>Arms and the Woman</b>. By Harold MacGrath.</p>
+<p><b>Artemus Ward&#8217;s Works</b> (extra illustrated).</p>
+<p><b>At the Mercy of Tiberius</b>. By Augusta Evans Wilson.</p>
+<p><b>Awakening of Helena Richie</b>. By Margaret Deland.</p>
+<p><b>Battle Ground, The</b>. By Ellen Glasgow.</p>
+<p><b>Belle of Bowling Green, The</b>. By Amelia E. Barr.</p>
+<p><b>Ben Blair</b>. By Will Lillibridge.</p>
+<p><b>Best Man, The</b>. By Harold MacGrath.</p>
+<p><b>Beth Norvell</b>. By Randall Parrish.</p>
+<p><b>Bob Hampton of Placer</b>. By Randall Parrish.</p>
+<p><b>Bob, Son of Battle</b>. By Alfred Ollivant.</p>
+<p><b>Brass Bowl, The</b>. By Louis Joseph Vance.</p>
+<p><b>Brethren, The</b>. By H. Rider Haggard.</p>
+<p><b>Broken Lance, The</b>. By Herbert Quick.</p>
+<p><b>By Wit of Women</b>. By Arthur W. Marchmont.</p>
+<p><b>Call of the Blood, The</b>. By Robert Hitchens.</p>
+<p><b>Cap&#8217;n Eri</b>. By Joseph C. Lincoln.</p>
+<p><b>Cardigan</b>. By Robert W. Chambers.</p>
+<p><b>Car of Destiny, The</b>. By C. N. and A. N. Williamson.</p>
+<p><b>Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine</b>. By Frank R. Stockton.</p>
+<p><b>Cecilia&#8217;s Lovers</b>. By Amelia E. Barr.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.3em;'>Popular Copyright Books</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.1em;'>AT MODERATE PRICES</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p>Any of the following titles can be bought of your</p>
+<p>bookseller at the price you paid for this volume</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>Circle, The</b>. By Katherine Cecil Thurston</p>
+<p style=' margin-left:2em;'>(author of &#8220;The Masquerader,&#8221; &#8220;The Gambler&#8221;).</p>
+<p><b>Colonial Free Lance, A</b>. By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss.</p>
+<p><b>Conquest of Canaan, The</b>. By Booth Tarkington.</p>
+<p><b>Courier of Fortune, A</b>. By Arthur W. Marchmont.</p>
+<p><b>Darrow Enigma, The</b>. By Melvin Severy.</p>
+<p><b>Deliverance, The</b>. By Ellen Glasgow.</p>
+<p><b>Divine Fire, The</b>. By May Sinclair.</p>
+<p><b>Empire Builders</b>. By Francis Lynde.</p>
+<p><b>Exploits of Brigadier Gerard</b>. By A. Conan Doyle.</p>
+<p><b>Fighting Chance, The</b>. By Robert W. Chambers.</p>
+<p><b>For a Maiden Brave</b>. By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss.</p>
+<p><b>Fugitive Blacksmith, The</b>. By Chas. D. Stewart.</p>
+<p><b>God&#8217;s Good Man</b>. By Marie Corelli.</p>
+<p><b>Heart&#8217;s Highway, The</b>. By Mary E. Wilkins.</p>
+<p><b>Holladay Case, The</b>. By Burton Egbert Stevenson.</p>
+<p><b>Hurricane Island</b>. By H. B. Marriott Watson.</p>
+<p><b>In Defiance of the King</b>. By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss.</p>
+<p><b>Indifference of Juliet, The</b>. By Grace S. Richmond.</p>
+<p><b>Infelice</b>. By Augusta Evans Wilson.</p>
+<p><b>Lady Betty Across the Water</b>. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.</p>
+<p><b>Lady of the Mount, The</b>. By Frederic S. Isham.</p>
+<p><b>Lane That Had No Turning, The</b>. By Gilbert Parker.</p>
+<p><b>Langford of the Three Bars</b>. By Kate and Virgil D. Boyles.</p>
+<p><b>Last Trail, The</b>. By Zane Grey.</p>
+<p><b>Leavenworth Case, The</b>. By Anna Katharine Green.</p>
+<p><b>Lilac Sunbonnet, The</b>. By S. R. Crockett.</p>
+<p><b>Lin McLean</b>. By Owen Wister.</p>
+<p><b>Long Night, The</b>. By Stanley J. Weyman.</p>
+<p><b>Maid at Arms, The</b>. By Robert W. Chambers.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.3em;'>Popular Copyright Books</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.1em;'>AT MODERATE PRICES</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p>Any of the following titles can be bought of your</p>
+<p>bookseller at the price you paid for this volume</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>Man from Red Keg, The</b>. By Eugene Thwing.</p>
+<p><b>Marthon Mystery, The</b>. By Burton Egbert Stevenson.</p>
+<p><b>Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes</b>. By A. Conan Doyle.</p>
+<p><b>Millionaire Baby, The</b>. By Anna Katharine Green.</p>
+<p><b>Missourian, The</b>. By Eugene P. Lyle, Jr.</p>
+<p><b>Mr. Barnes, American</b>. By A. C. Gunter.</p>
+<p><b>Mr. Pratt</b>. By Joseph C. Lincoln.</p>
+<p><b>My Friend the Chauffeur</b>. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.</p>
+<p><b>My Lady of the North</b>. By Randall Parrish.</p>
+<p><b>Mystery of June 13th</b>. By Melvin L. Severy.</p>
+<p><b>Mystery Tales</b>. By Edgar Allan Poe.</p>
+<p><b>Nancy Stair</b>. By Elinor Macartney Lane.</p>
+<p><b>Order No. 11</b>. By Caroline Abbot Stanley.</p>
+<p><b>Pam</b>. By Bettina von Hutten.</p>
+<p><b>Pam Decides</b>. By Bettina von Hutten.</p>
+<p><b>Partners of the Tide</b>. By Joseph C. Lincoln.</p>
+<p><b>Phra the Phoenician</b>. By Edwin Lester Arnold.</p>
+<p><b>President, The</b>. By Alfred Henry Lewis.</p>
+<p><b>Princess Passes, The</b>. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.</p>
+<p><b>Princess Virginia, The</b>. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.</p>
+<p><b>Prisoners</b>. By Mary Cholmondeley.</p>
+<p><b>Private War, The</b>. By Louis Joseph Vance.</p>
+<p><b>Prodigal Son, The</b>. By Hall Caine.</p>
+<p><b>Quickening, The</b>. By Francis Lynde.</p>
+<p><b>Richard the Brazen</b>. By Cyrus T. Brady and Edw. Peple.</p>
+<p><b>Rose of the World</b>. By Agnes and Egerton Castle.</p>
+<p><b>Running Water</b>. By A. E. W. Mason.</p>
+<p><b>Sarita the Carlist</b>. By Arthur W. Marchmont.</p>
+<p><b>Seats of the Mighty, The</b>. By Gilbert Parker.</p>
+<p><b>Sir Nigel</b>. By A. Conan Doyle.</p>
+<p><b>Sir Richard Calmady</b>. By Lucas Malet.</p>
+<p><b>Speckled Bird, A</b>. By Augusta Evans Wilson.</p>
+</div>
+
+<!-- generated by ppgen.rb version: 2.18 -->
+<!-- timestamp: Sat Aug 09 05:01:45 -0600 2008 -->
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bill-Toppers, by Andre Castaigne
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@@ -0,0 +1,12270 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bill-Toppers, by Andre Castaigne
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Bill-Toppers
+
+Author: Andre Castaigne
+
+Release Date: August 9, 2008 [EBook #26242]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BILL-TOPPERS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Poland, the Parisienne. Page 123. Frontispiece.]
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+THE BILL-TOPPERS
+
+By
+ANDRE CASTAIGNE
+
+With Illustrations
+BY THE AUTHOR
+
+A. L. BURT COMPANY
+Publishers--New York
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Copyright, 1909
+The Bobbs-Merrill Company
+
+August
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+TO MY LITTLE FRIENDS
+THE STARS!
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+THE BILL-TOPPERS
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+THE BILL-TOPPERS
+
+OVERTURE
+
+All around stretched the great blue sky and the blue sea of the Gulf of
+Bengal.
+
+Mrs. Clifton lay dozing at full length on a pillowed bench and her husband
+sat near her and followed his Lily, his daughter, with his eyes: his Lily,
+eight years old, "that high," waving among the passengers the white coral
+necklace which Pa had bought her on leaving Australia; his Lily, his star,
+his New Zealander on Wheels! His Lily who had had such successes at
+Melbourne, at Sidney: bouquets, tons and cart-loads of bouquets! And the
+past would be nothing compared with the future, with the astounding tricks
+which he was inventing for his Lily. The mere sight of her raised his
+enthusiasm to boiling-point. And he was going to show them, in Calcutta
+and elsewhere, if they knew how to make stars in New Zealand or if they
+were only fit for raising mutton.
+
+Clifton was an artist, an "artiste," a born artiste: starting as a mere
+clerk in an office, he had become an amateur cyclist and then a
+professional on the track. He married an Englishwoman at Wellington and,
+at Lily's birth, decided upon a career: the stage, with Lily for a star
+later on! And he set to work, with vim and vigor, learned a few tricks on
+his bike, taught his wife the business in less than no time; and Lily's
+first memories as a four-year-old were:
+
+"I was sitting on Ma's shoulders, Ma on Pa's and Pa on the bike."
+
+And Lily zigzagged through New Zealand, from east to west and north to
+south, and Australia after, where she received plenty of applause for her
+tricks, childish in themselves, but well presented. Her triumphant path
+wound among tinseled bottles containing paper flowers, with a faultless
+standstill for the climax, one hand on the handle-bar, the other blowing
+kisses to the audience. This procured Pa an engagement for India. He
+ordered a beautiful colored poster, "The Clifton Family, Trick Cyclists,"
+with a portrait in the corner of his own strong face and bristling
+mustache--"P. T. Clifton, Manager"--one more rung in the ladder of life
+mounted, thanks to his Lily.
+
+And Pa smiled to his daughter and, as she ran past him, lifted her on his
+knee and stroked her fair curls; and the child cuddled up to her Pa,
+opened her lips to ask questions, but was silent, with her eyes lost in
+space, puckering her little forehead, in which were heaped so many mingled
+memories of the stage and the great world outside: the Boxing Kangaroo;
+tall cliffs; green islands; the bike; Batavia among the trees; Singapore,
+with its noise and dust. And Lily, wearily, dreamed and murmured things,
+while the steamer sped on, thud, thud, thud, flat as a stage in its blue
+"set."
+
+Lily's impressions of India were months of jolting and bumping, stops in
+the dead of night while the tent was pitched, rains, strong smells,
+oppressive heats--months and months of it, Ma on Pa, Pa on the wheel and
+she on top, waving flags. Yellow faces on the benches, red flowers and,
+somewhere, on a river-bank, two eyes glittering in the dark: a tiger,
+somebody said! And every night the artistes, carrying lanterns, walked in
+file between the circus and the hotel, with the ladies in the center and
+Lily clinging to Ma's skirt.
+
+She did more now, in addition to the bike: a song-and-dance turn. In a
+piping falsetto, she quavered:
+
+"Star light! Star bright!"
+
+She was spoiled by the ladies, the wives of the officers stationed in
+those out-of-the-way holes. She played with smart children, was taken for
+drives, had her social successes! Chocolates, sweets, kisses. And a lady
+gave her such a pretty dress: his Lily! Pa burst with delighted pride to
+see her treated like that; and Ma scolded her a bit, for the little flirt
+that she was, while fondly tying the two satin bows over her ears.
+
+Lily was a regular tomboy, with pranks invented by herself, from ideas
+which she picked up in traveling: for instance, she would choose her
+moment and chuck a piece of bacon among the Mohammedans sitting under her
+window; and she would revel in her own fright at those furious faces
+suddenly glaring up at her from below! And she would stand with drooping
+head, one finger in her mouth:
+
+"Oh, _so_ sorry!"
+
+What fun! And as an artiste she was spoiled and petted everywhere. Goa,
+Bangalore, Tanjore and then Colombo, and a ship with elephants, tigers,
+camels, children, men, women, wagons, one great mix-up, a circus and
+menagerie in one, steaming toward South Africa; and Miss Lily of the
+Clifton Troupe paraded her well-brushed, neatly-parted curls in the midst
+of it all, gazed open-mouthed at the blue expanse of water until, her eyes
+drunk and dazed with light, she went and lay in her cabin.... And more and
+more blue water. And thud, thud, thud. And Cape Town in the mountains.
+Africa behind it: a country all yellow, where the trains wound in and out
+of the rocks; villages, up, up, up, or else right low down, on the yellow
+veldt; and, at night, on the benches, crowds and crowds. Immediately after
+the show came sleep, troubled by the jolting of the train; and the circus
+was always there next day, on the right or on the left, with its Chinamen
+and its niggers driving stakes or tugging at ropes. A bell for dinner, a
+whistle for the show; and, as soon as the show was over, to bed,--and off
+again.
+
+Pa made her practice harder now, wanted to make a great artiste of her.
+And there was a class, too, kept by a "marm" who traveled with the circus
+and taught spelling and arithmetic and the art of letter-writing, from
+"Yours to hand with thanks" down to "Believe me to be." Lily would have
+been bored to death but for the accidents of travel: sometimes the engine
+broke down, bringing the train to a dead stop amid the great African
+silence, near a field of Indian corn, in which the children played
+hide-and-seek. Or else there were locusts, locusts "that thick," right
+inside the carriages. Lily would tie them by the leg and:
+
+"Flip! Flap! Lively now! Jump!"
+
+But funniest of all was the caravan--she couldn't remember where, in Natal
+or thereabouts--wagons with ten yoke of oxen. They climbed up endless
+winding roads. The men shot at birds and prospected for diamonds along the
+wayside; and at night they took the hay from the mattresses to give to the
+cattle. Lolling indolence was in the air and plenty in the larder: big
+fruits, strange game, which they cooked in a makeshift oven consisting of
+a few stones. Then they rolled themselves up in a blanket, near the
+elephants tugging at their chains, and slept under the tent in the cool,
+bright, starry night.
+
+[Illustration: LILY IN INDIA]
+
+Months and months passed. Lily was becoming very clever: the New Zealander
+on Wheels! She was cleverer than Pa, who no longer performed, nor Ma
+either. On their return to Australia, Lily appeared by herself in the
+music-halls, and P. T. Clifton, Manager, watched her from the wings, in
+growing admiration: his Lily was a star now, too good for a circus! And
+Australia, pooh! Sidney, Melbourne, pooh! What Lily wanted was New York,
+London, the Hippodromes, the Palaces! He'd show them a star that was a
+star! And Clifton clenched his fists and pretended not to see when Lily
+made a blunder on the stage: his Lily missing a trick! Disgracing her Pa
+like that! He blushed to the eyes at the thought of it! And, when she
+returned to the wings, he twitted her proudly:
+
+"What next, Lily! An artiste like you!"
+
+And Ma adopted a sarcastic air and congratulated "mademoiselle" as she
+threw the white wrapper over "mademoiselle's" shoulders.
+
+Ma detested the stage. She did not think it a nice place for herself; but
+for a brat like Lily, Lord, it was quite different! And she ought to have
+tried to please her Pa and Ma. Mrs. Clifton, though she never voiced the
+wish, had visions of a trip to London, to stagger some relations, a
+sister-in-law she had there, and sneer at the old country, in the usual
+colonial fashion, and show them what the new countries can do, countries
+where you make a fortune in less than no time! And, little by little,
+smitten with Mr. Clifton's enthusiasm, she came to believe that, in Lily,
+they really possessed the infant prodigy, the treasure-child upon whom
+their fortune depended. And Ma, too, was vexed when Lily missed a trick on
+the stage.
+
+Lily laughed at their anger. Ma had never raised a hand to her; and, as
+for Pa, when he scolded, Lily had such a way of looking at him, with
+lowered head--"Oh, _so_ sorry!"--that Pa simmered down again at once.
+Lily, a regular "tenter," shot up freely, grew up a real tomboy, went a
+bit too far, in fact, Ma said: at Honolulu, for instance, on the road to
+'Frisco and New York, where Pa had resolved to go, at all costs, come what
+might--it was one step nearer London!--at Honolulu--ten days there and
+such a success!--the child played truant in the gardens teeming with birds
+and fruit, climbed apple-trees, was caught one day and scampered off at
+full speed, pursued by Ma, who threatened to give her a sound smacking
+this time, the little thief! But Pa thought it ridiculous, for the sake of
+an apple....
+
+"And suppose Lily had broken her leg with her nonsense?" asked Ma
+indignantly. "Where would your New York be?"
+
+Pa felt himself a conquering hero when they steamed through the Golden
+Gate: the States at last! And no sooner was his foot on the wharf at
+'Frisco than off to the agents at once, with his photographs, his
+contracts, his posters! But it was her birth-certificate they asked to
+see. And no babes and sucklings allowed on the stage here. It was all
+right down yonder, but the law prevented it here.
+
+"Damn your laws!" snapped Pa furiously. "Do you think we make stars to
+hide them under bushels?"
+
+And whoosh! Off for Mexico, where children are allowed to perform.
+
+Now, in Arizona, near Phoenix, where the train stopped for some hours,
+owing to an accident to the Rio Gila bridge, Pa happened upon a
+merrymaking which reminded him of West Australia. Cow-boys, galloping
+horses, a pretense at fighting, lassoing, revolvers, a track for amateur
+cyclists and--yes, there, in the desert!--on a platform, right in the
+middle, what should Pa see but an amazing artiste, riding on the
+back-wheel, with the other in the air! And such twirls! And the boys
+shouted to him:
+
+"Hullo, Trampy! Have a drink, Trampy!"
+
+And Trampy accepted:
+
+"With you, my lord! As soon as I've done, my lord!"
+
+And off he wheeled, head on the saddle, feet in the air, whistling _Yankee
+Doodle_!
+
+It was impossible! Pa rubbed his eyes: what! Was this what they did in the
+States in the desert? And he who had hoped, with Lily ... why, damn it,
+Lily knew nothing! He himself, her manager, knew less than nothing! He,
+who thought he had formed a star! Pa was red with shame. And, suddenly, he
+had a happy thought: he, too, offered Trampy a drink, something to propose
+to him....
+
+"All right."
+
+They shook hands, went to the bar, lit a cigar, like men, by Jove! Clifton
+loved to talk business, to pull out notebooks, quick, and jot things down
+with a knowing air. Trampy, a mere boy, easy-going, genial, without a red
+cent for the time being, didn't care a hang about business and was soon
+telling Clifton the story of his life: drummer, reporter, racer; his
+descent,--"Two whiskies, boy!"--what was he saying? Oh, yes, his descent
+of a staircase on the bike, yes, siree, with a red-hot stove under his
+arm--a stove painted to look red-hot--pursued by a policeman, leaping over
+obstacles on the bike; great success at Duluth and Denver as a tramp
+cyclist: hence his name of Trampy Wheel-Pad. But those girls, by Jove!
+Well, he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day. Still, a
+rolling stone doesn't climb hills. Here he was, stranded. Go to Mexico? So
+much a week? Such and such a turn? Teach the child? Cert!
+
+Lily never alluded to Mexico afterward without shaking with anger. My, to
+listen to her, how badly they treated her in Mexico! Worse than a Dago! To
+tell the truth, it was hot; and Lily, already tired by those long journeys
+in varying climates, Lily would have preferred to do nothing and to
+continue to lead her careless life as a playful filly. But no, poor Lily
+was caught by the hind-leg in Mexico! Ambition had seized upon Pa, body
+and soul, and life became a more serious matter for the child.
+
+"Look here!" said Pa, pointing to Trampy. "What he, a man, does, you can
+do! I'll see to that!"
+
+Pa arranged for a place in which to practise at their ease. In the
+evening, on the stage, he watched and studied Trampy's tricks and, in the
+morning, quick, out of bed, look alive, the bike! Pa no longer had his
+open-mouthed admiration for Lily, as in South Africa and Asia: his Lily
+knew nothing at all! But in three months, six months, if necessary, if it
+cost him every penny he possessed. And it was:
+
+"Come along, Lily ... to work! Show what you can do!"
+
+Trampy, in this country of _manolas_--"Grand, by Jove!"--came round about
+eleven; and Pa, all out of breath, passed Lily on to him:
+
+"You have a go at her, Trampy! I give up, she won't do what I say!"
+
+And Trampy put down his cigar, took off his collar and cuffs and it was,
+"Come along, Lily!" till lunch-time. The child, her eyes blinking with
+fatigue, fell fast asleep before the end of the meal.
+
+Pa was delighted.
+
+And he confided her to Trampy more and more, with orders not to spare
+smackings in case of need:
+
+"Eh, Lily? Eh?"
+
+As for him, he had business to do, letters to write, great schemes in his
+head! for instance, he must try to get permission for Lily to appear in
+the States.
+
+"Time for a cigar, I guess," said Trampy, as soon as Clifton was gone.
+
+Work stopped abruptly; a tumbler's carpet rolled up in a corner formed an
+inviting lounge; and Lily, panting from her practice, would stretch
+herself beside him and enjoy a few happy moments, the only really happy
+moments of the day; for there were matinees in the afternoon and the
+evening performance at night, till she was ready to drop with weariness.
+Trampy treated Lily nicely, like a grown-up person, called her by the name
+of a fruit, or a flower, or a bird, jollied her, called her "little
+wifie:" it was all one to her. He made her laugh with his funny stories,
+his fairy tales about himself, his terrible struggle with a snake in the
+streets of 'Frisco, after a champagne supper: girls, by Jove! He toned
+down his anecdotes and dished them up for Lily's entertainment; told her
+absurd yarns enlivened with mimicry, in which he excelled, like the real
+mummer that he was, and Lily shrieked with laughter, head thrown back,
+full-throated.
+
+And there was a spice of fear in it all: was that Pa coming back? No, a
+carpenter or scene-shifter, perhaps, or else the Martellos, brother and
+sister, going to practise slack-wire, head and hand balancing. Their
+father, old Martello, a famous name, lived in London, it appeared, alone
+with his Bambinis, mere babes still. His other children and his
+apprentices had all run away, to escape his horsewhip, and the brother in
+Mexico was continuing the tradition. His brutality, in fact, got him into
+trouble wherever he went, so much so that the big music-halls were closed
+to him, for fear of scandal. And he terrorized his sister, Ave Maria, a
+girl of sixteen, a dark girl with great dark eyes. Ave Maria never spoke
+to anybody; when she passed through the room where Lily was having fun
+with Trampy, she fixed a fiery glance upon them, even ventured on a smile,
+for Trampy in particular, whose lively stories reached her through the
+partition behind which she dressed. Oh, how she envied Lily! But she
+passed very quickly, because of her brother.
+
+And this time it was Pa! Lily jumped on to the saddle like mad, played her
+part to perfection, puffed and panted, as if the last drop of strength
+were oozing out of her, and Trampy joined in the little comedy of fibbing
+and dissembling:
+
+"There, like that, Lily, or I'll smack you!"
+
+"That's right," said Pa. "Make her work!"
+
+And, just to show Lily what work meant and that her Pa was not so unkind
+after all--"It's for your good, Lily! You'll thank me one of these
+days!"--he took her to the stage, where Ave Maria was practising. Now, of
+course, in the circuses, Lily, occasionally, had seen children knocked and
+cut about with blows and trained to say, "It was the cat," when any one
+asked them about the marks. They were ordinary children; she had rolled
+about in the sawdust with them, played hide-and-seek with them in the
+fields of Indian corn; they were children who romped and ran about and
+laughed. Ave Maria was different. The brother, a savage, scowling brute,
+was always after her, harrying her with muttered threats. She was in a
+constant, visible tremble of fear; and, if she slipped on her wire, the
+fellow snarled as if to bite her in the foot, pinched her black and blue,
+restored her balance with a blow of the belt, shook the supports to make
+her fall just to see!...
+
+"Oh, Pa, he'll kill her!" whispered Lily, when she saw Ave Maria
+practising.
+
+"It's none of our damned business," replied Pa curtly.
+
+Martello's evil example ended by catching hold of Pa: that's how artistes
+were formed, damn it! And, at the thought of the time wasted, he clenched
+his fists. To have a Lily of his own, all his own, and to have made
+nothing out of her yet! Still, it was not Lily's fault. Yes, though, it
+was her fault, she was so stubborn, so wilful! When he told her to do a
+thing, why not do it? Instead of bleating:
+
+"Pa, I can't! Pa, I can't!"
+
+A brief struggle, in a way, followed between Lily and her Pa. Lily was not
+built for passive obedience, wasn't used to it. She no longer knew her Pa.
+When he came at her with his hand lifted to strike, when he spoke of
+unbuckling his belt--"Damn those blasted brats!"--Lily eyed him with a
+look of anguish:
+
+"But Pa, I'm not Ave Maria!" she said. "I'm not a Dago."
+
+And she raised her little rebellious face to him. He humbled her with a
+smack on the cheek:
+
+"On the saddle! Up! Quick!"
+
+The child, mastered by her Pa's strength and energy, ceased to be the
+spoiled child, became an artiste.... Head on the saddle, back-wheel: just
+like Trampy! Pooh, Trampy, after a few months of this life, was nowhere,
+Clifton admired him less and less, Lily was doing all that he did, more
+than he did; and without a fault, without a hitch, unerring and exact! Pa
+swelled with pride at the mere sight of his Lily, his four stone ten of
+flesh and bones fitted to the machine, his Lily, the Lily of his dreams!
+
+"I'll dress you in velvet and satin!" he said, in his enthusiasm. "I'll
+cover you with diamonds."
+
+Pa, thanks to his indomitable energy, had made something of his Lily, a
+real artiste, at last! And business was moving, too! He had a contract in
+his pocket for the States, where Lily would no doubt get permission to do
+her "childish tricks," seeing that she was traveling with her Pa and Ma.
+As for Trampy, Pa had no use for Trampy, made no bones about sacking him
+on some pretext or other:
+
+"Run away and play with your girls, by Jove! Or whatever you please!
+Good-by! Ta-ta!"
+
+And off for Denver, whence they were to continue the journey up to
+Chicago.
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was the dive for good and all into the stuffy atmosphere behind the
+scenes, which Lily was never again to leave, brick walls, where she waited
+her turn on the elaborate program of the "continuous performances," amid
+the thunder of the orchestra and the lightning of the reflectors. No time
+to go out, meals consumed in your dressing-room on the top of the basket
+trunk. In the mornings, new tricks to practise on the stage, in the midst
+of a herd of girls whom gentlemen in their shirtsleeves were training to
+sing in chorus and to keep step to the strum of the piano. And ever and
+ever so many new faces, a tumult of tongues which Lily heard on the stage,
+in the dressing-room, and even in her room at the hotel, through the thin
+partition walls: a lingo made up of coarse remarks and thick stories,
+punctuated with spitting and oaths strong enough to carry a tower of
+Babel. Lily opened her eyes and ears, heaping it all up, storing it all
+away behind her stubborn forehead....
+
+And new people, new people: "families," "brothers," "sisters," troupes,
+troupes, troupes! Or else stars by themselves, "bests," "uniques:" a
+female-impersonator, a green-eyed boy who wagged his hips like the very
+devil and took off the girls; Poland, a Warsaw Jewess, a redheaded,
+overscented beauty, who did the "Parisienne," and ever and ever so many
+others. And Lily, so slender and frail, was the pet of them all. They
+called her their pretty baby, their _petit cheri_, and, with their painted
+mugs, kissed her full on the lips.
+
+Pa detested this "rotten lot" and Pa was not always in a good temper. Lily
+"under age,"--again! Why, there were even managers who informed the
+police, so as to be on the safe side; "traveling with her parents;
+childish tricks; nothing difficult."... Ma's indignation knew no bounds:
+what nonsense to prevent a great big girl of fifteen from earning her
+living! For she aged Lily as much as she could, to obtain the permission,
+when no papers were asked for; and she had trained Lily to reply to the
+indiscreet questions of the officials: was her trick hard? Was she forced
+into doing it? Lily answered mechanically that she liked the bike very
+much. And then they allowed her to perform.
+
+As for practising, permission or none, that was nobody's damned business.
+And if some old sheep took to bleating--"Poor child, you'll be the death
+of her!"--Pa sent the old sheep to eat coke; and it was:
+
+"Up, Lily! Get on your bike! Look alive!"
+
+And the bloomers that Lily wore out! Ma was kept busy in the dressing-room
+mending the rents at the knees and patching the seats:
+
+"What a tomboy!" Ma cried.
+
+And this went on for months and months. And then came Chicago; a visit of
+Pa's to the agents; and a contract with the New York Olympians, a
+variety-show coming from the West and returning to New York by Columbus
+and Pittsburg. And new people, new people; stars of every kind: the Para
+woman, a rheumatic juggler, who was obliged to change her turn and become
+an exhibitor of performing parrots, a ragged, molting troupe, picked up
+cheap at second-hand; an infant prodigy who topped the bill, a
+boy-violinist, leading an orchestra, too, at fourteen, a pretentious
+little humbug trained to make a few movements, while others did the work.
+Lily thought him so good-looking she simply couldn't take her eyes off
+him. And then she had some big girl-friends who had had love affairs! They
+were the Three Graces, gymnasts endowed with bodies like so many Apollos,
+honest German faces and a bewildering amount of strength, pluck and
+precision....
+
+"What smackings that must have taken!" thought Pa.
+
+But no, their uncle and manager, Mr. Fuchs--a name as famous in its way as
+Martello's--was known for his gentleness and adored and coddled and
+pampered by the Three Graces, who, at a sign from "Nunkie," as they called
+him, joyously rushed to practice, taking a pride in pleasing their dear
+Nunkie.
+
+"The old rogue!" said Pa enviously. "He has an easy time of it; whereas I,
+with my skinny kitten, damn it ...!"
+
+Well, well, he mustn't complain, as he himself admitted: one more rung
+which he had mounted, thanks to his Lily, that engagement with the best
+variety-show in the States; nothing but big theaters: Orpheums! Dominions!
+And New York next! And then London! Things were moving, moving! And Pa
+looked lovingly at his Lily, as she played at being grown up with the
+Three Graces, in the train on Sunday, traveling from town to town, while
+Ma was knitting things for her tomboy. He talked to Mr. Fuchs as between
+equals, as between man and man, as between the manager of a star and the
+owner of a troupe; and the train rushed on, rushed on, with an indistinct
+sound of the engine-bell, now and again, when they crossed a street. Mr.
+Fuchs, heavy-jawed, slow of speech, said that he had had enough of
+traveling, at his age, if it were not for his dear nieces. He would like
+to retire to the country, to his little home, and grow his roses, as soon
+as he had married off his dear nieces, which would not be long, no doubt.
+As it was, one of them, Thea, the one who did five pullings-up with her
+left hand, had his permission to receive letters from her sweetheart, a
+young man at St. Louis, quite well-off. The idyl made good Mr. Fuchs
+blossom into a genial smile: family life! Simple joys! The only true ones!
+Worth more than the stage! And Nunkie talked and talked: the Parisienne, a
+perpetual scandal! And wait a bit: what was that he heard at an agent's
+the other day? Yes, the daughter of his old friend Martello, Ave Maria her
+name was, had left her brother, and run away from Mexico with a man! Tut,
+tut, the things one saw nowadays!
+
+Pa hardly listened to the old crock, preferred to dream of New York and
+the success his Lily would achieve there! And Lily, sitting close by,
+listened with all her ears, puckered her little forehead: love, love....
+And Ave Maria, who had run away with a man.... Why with a man? And she
+squeezed up against Thea, the Grace who was in love ... put question after
+question.... She talked of her boy-violinist, of Trampy. And they all
+laughed boisterously, with heads thrown back, full-throated, and Nunkie,
+very paternally, congratulated Mr. Clifton on his daughter's niceness.
+
+"For goodness' sake, don't go putting it into her head that she's pretty,
+the little devil!" protested Ma. "That would be the last straw!"
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+The arrival in New York was a disappointment to Pa. The authorities
+insisted on seeing the papers this time. Lily was under age; just as at
+'Frisco. What! Why? Because of former scandals, it appeared: Martello and
+Ave Maria. What had he, a British subject, to do with those Dagoes who
+spoil the profession? growled Pa. He ended by rebelling against the
+injustice of it, thought of the Three Graces hard at work rehearsing under
+Nunkie's eye, while he, Clifton, had not even the right to set foot on a
+stage and let Lily practise there. To work, to work, damn it! And he
+locked her up all day in her room doing her balancings, the boomerang on
+the front wheel, the standstill on the back-wheel, or the bike upside
+down, with Lily standing on the pedals, like a convict on the tread-mill.
+The pack of fools! Because a Dago had whipped his sister, wasn't a Pa to
+have the right to bring his own daughter up? To work, to work! And he kept
+her at it for hours and hours, watched and knit his brows, like a sage
+pondering for hours over the solution of a problem.
+
+Lily, breathless, would turn a look of entreaty upon her Ma, but Mrs.
+Clifton, with her nose bent over her work, pretended not to see,
+obstinately went on cutting out, patching, sewing her tomboy's bloomers.
+Lily longed for Trampy....
+
+At night, Pa ran from theater to theater: from Fourteenth Street, where
+they lodged, to Twenty-third Street; took the elevated to Fifty-eighth
+Street, to Hundred and-twenty-fifth Street! All theaters at which Lily
+would have triumphed but for those dirty Dagoes! And the things that were
+served up to the public, pooh! Clifton laughed with scorn. Troupes of
+English dancing-girls--the famous Roofers--with movements like stuffed
+dolls; and cyclists, pooh! Hauptmanns, fat freaks turned out in Berlin: if
+that was the best they could do, pooh! Oh, if he had only had the right to
+send his New Zealander on Wheels scooting in among their legs, just to
+show the public what a star really was! And all the morning he ran about
+the town talking of "childish tricks--a big girl" to the police and
+"wonderful tricks--the only girl of her age who can do them" to the agents
+in the St. James' Building. Oh, if he could have London! He longed to
+measure his strength against all those famous names--Marjutti, Laurence,
+the Pawnees--just to show them his Lily!
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now it was the last stage. All around stretched the dark sea; and the
+liner sped--thud, thud, thud--through a gloomy set. Three days more and
+then Liverpool; and London at last! Pa was about to realize his dream. He
+had signed, at last, for the Castle, in London! It was all right, it was
+all right! Prospects fine! And Harrasford was on board; it seemed a sign
+of good luck! He was traveling with his architect. Harrasford, the great
+English manager--Pa knew them all by name--Harrasford, the man for whom a
+whole nation of "artistes" toiled and moiled nightly. Pa had caught a
+glimpse of him.... He would have liked to introduce his Lily to him; no
+matter, he would know her one day, when she was starring in his halls! And
+on the Bill and Boom Tour! And elsewhere! She would soon be famous.
+
+Ma, who remained lying in her bunk sucking lemons, would have liked to
+have her Lily by her, within call, to keep her mother company, that great
+big girl spoiled by her Pa, even when she was not performing, as in New
+York; ... a new cloak and boots and gewgaws ... a couple of fools
+together, that's what Ma called them! And she needed watching, that
+tomboy, who would break her leg one of these days, tumbling up and down
+the companion-way. But Lily preferred to enjoy herself and expended on
+running about the energies which she no longer had to devote to her
+practising. Her accumulated weariness disappeared under the influence of
+the sleep and the good meals, which she had not the boredom of having to
+get ready, as in Fourteenth Street, where Lily, big girl that she was, had
+to help her Ma.
+
+She flitted all over the deck, munching candies, showed everybody her new
+boots and her red cloak, held her head high, was very proud of being
+looked at. Lily dreamed of the Three Graces; of the boy-violinist; of
+Trampy. She made conquest upon conquest, down to the electrician of the
+ship, quite a young lad, who looked as cold as ice.
+
+She sometimes stopped at his door, watched him handling levers, pressing
+buttons. It was like the switchboard of a theater. She pointed to this and
+to that. The lad smiled, told the New Zealander on Wheels all about his
+little world....
+
+As for Lily, she was going to star in London, where her Pa would cover her
+with diamonds! And she went on to tell him stories, like a little
+school-girl who has read a book or two: India, two eyes glittering in the
+dark, gee! And elephants she had known, little birds which she had kept in
+a cage in Natal, and kangaroos. The lion, who stands up on his hind legs
+when he's angry; and the tiger, who lies down flat. And parrots. And
+starry nights in Africa: stars "that big." And storms: waves "miles high!"
+And successes at Gangpur; and in Chicago, where she shared a dressing-room
+with three girls who, when they were undressed, were all over muscles,
+just like men. She liked the bike well enough, but those falls: oh, damn
+it!
+
+"That little monkey has seen everything in her time," thought Jimmy, the
+electrician.
+
+And he mused upon the numberless things which she had seen, the countries,
+the cities, and all that she would yet see, in her life as a wandering
+star, while he would remain walled up in his cabin, with his nose to the
+switchboard.
+
+And the steamer sped--thud, thud, thud--over the dark sea, where the noise
+of the waves sounded like the roar of multitudes of men. Huge clouds in
+the east were tinged with red, as though London were about to loom above
+the horizon in all its glory, filling the vast expanse with its rumors and
+its lights....
+
+
+
+
+CURTAIN RISES
+
+I
+
+
+"Lily ... who's Lily? A New Zealander: really? Ah well, we will look into
+the matter; it will be settled later on ..."
+
+Clifton, when he returned home that evening, gnawed his mustache and
+clenched his fists with rage. Ah, he would not soon forget his arrival in
+London! To get there and be chucked! Was that what he had come from New
+York for? To see Lily's place at the Castle filled by another troupe of
+the Hauptmanns--the Hauptmanns again, those fat freaks!--and nothing to be
+said or done?
+
+"Engagement not valid. Ought at least to have waited for the London
+agency's signed contract before leaving!"
+
+Intent upon his vexations of the moment, he described his day to Mrs.
+Clifton. What had staggered him, done for him, was his visit to the agent,
+where they hadn't seemed to know Lily!
+
+He had rushed at once to others, just to show them who Miss Lily was! But
+he got the same reply wherever he went:
+
+"Lily? Who's Lily? A Maori? Let's see the photograph."
+
+And would Mrs. Clifton ever believe, asked the indignant Pa, what they
+said when they handed him back the photograph? Yes, to him, the father, to
+his face, they said:
+
+"She's too thin, that Lily of yours!" "If that's the way they welcome
+British subjects returning to the mother-country, it's jolly encouraging,
+on my word it is!" concluded Clifton.
+
+Ma, among the open boxes, listened and said nothing; she was exasperated.
+Their entry into the metropolis struck her, too, as anything but
+triumphal. For all her dislike of those breakneck trades, for all her
+contempt for the bike, she displayed even more anxiety than Pa. With those
+fat freaks at the Castle and if engagements continued scarce, how would
+they manage, later on, lost in that huge London, with no money, and a
+child to feed? Her vanity was wounded as well. She had dreamed of dazzling
+her sister-in-law, making them all burst with jealousy over the splendid
+engagement at the Castle; and now everything was slipping from their
+hands, on the very day of their arrival, and there was nothing for them
+but to sit at home and keep quiet.
+
+But Pa, the next day, tore through London like one possessed, grinding his
+teeth and clenching his fists, railing at everybody, himself included. He
+thought of Lily, who had lost a week on the voyage and who was now messing
+about in the house, instead of practising her bike. This idea pursued him,
+clung to him; but his perseverance was indomitable, his courage ready to
+face anything or anybody. Lily should perform at the Castle! She had come
+to perform there and perform there she should! There were more visits to
+the agents, to this one and that one, to one and all, indefatigable
+visits. Clifton insisted on his Lily's merits, pulled out his pocket-book,
+bursting with press-cuttings, offered to prove his statements. The agent,
+on his side, had made inquiries. Lily was very clever for her age: a
+little thin, it was true, but very graceful; and the New Zealander on
+Wheels ought to get on. Clifton would work up her turn, no doubt. And, at
+last, Pa obtained a promise in writing--and signed--of an engagement in
+eight months' time ... at the Castle, damn it!
+
+An engagement in eight months was better than nothing; but what to do in
+the meanwhile? It wasn't the money question that bothered him; Pa had
+money; but Lily worried him: he wanted work for Lily, bike all the time
+and hard at it. Now, London was closed to him; he couldn't let her perform
+in London before appearing at the Castle; that was in the contract; and
+there was nothing for the provinces.
+
+His tenacity continued to do him good service. He got a few offers, in the
+London suburbs; that could do him no harm, he knew, though his Lily did
+appear at Dulwich, Deptford or West Ham: who would think of going there to
+discover that shrimp?... damn their impudence! And meantime the shrimp
+would work and her day would come, you pack of fat freaks, you!
+
+Pa, on the whole, was satisfied. To show Lily, that was all he asked for!
+He was quieter, now that she could practise. And Lily, also, was delighted
+and relieved. At first it was jolly, doing nothing; but to be always at
+home with Ma had its drawbacks; only the other day, because she had asked
+for a tam-o'-shanter with a feather in it, like those she saw the little
+girls wear in the street, she had nearly had a box on the ear, the
+extravagant little beast, who would bring them all to the workhouse!
+
+Better biking with Pa, from morning till night, and only coming home after
+the show. Besides, away from the work, Pa was nice to her: a packet of
+sweets here, a bunch of violets there; and then there were the train
+journeys out of London and back, over the roofs: all those little yellow
+houses, with white curtains, and those little back yards, no bigger than
+that--real dolls' houses, all alike--and such lots of little chimneys,
+such lots and lots of little chimneys; and those gorgeous posters:
+Hippodrome, Olympia, Bovril, mustard, elephants, the Hauptmanns. Pa
+wouldn't look at them, those fat freaks; but, oh, if he had them here--and
+a whip--just for five minutes ... and the chance of saying a word or two!
+To think that they were working at the Castle, while he was puffing out to
+the suburbs! And he racked his brain, as he traveled over the town--that
+town which he had to conquer and which was veiled from him between-whiles
+by the curtain of posters in the railway-stations, on the hoardings,
+everywhere--again, again; and imperial troupes and royal troupes, endless
+troupes, arrays of pink tights, lines of legs uplifted amid a flight of
+scarlet skirts, alternating with Sunlight and Van Houten and national and
+colonial troupes, loud as a trumpet-blare and with nothing behind them, he
+dared say....
+
+Those "troupes," those "families"--he turned it all over in his mind--yes,
+they judged talent by weight; the public wanted a lot for its money: well,
+why shouldn't he have a troupe? Why not? Lily--he had noticed it in the
+few shows she had given--Lily didn't cut much of a figure in London: five
+stone of flesh and bones, a mite, a minnow, a nothing. Well, if Lily
+wasn't enough by herself, he'd give them more: a whole troupe, if need be!
+Why, he'd set about it at once!
+
+With his customary determination, yielding to a fixed idea, he devoted
+himself to it. And, in the halls, at the agents', in the bars, at the
+Internationale Artisten-Klause in Lisle Street, that universal
+meeting-place, Pa, ever on the watch, strove to make people talk, listened
+with all his ears, took notes. It was very difficult to get at the real
+facts; one had to ferret them out; the owners of the troupes jealously
+concealed their methods, endeavored to put you off, talked of apprentices
+at five or six shillings a day, plus food and expenses. Pa saw through
+these tricks and, to arrive at the truth, discounted the six shillings
+down to sixpence. Lily, her Pa's own daughter, easily obtained information
+from the apprentices themselves which she afterward repeated to him. He
+studied _The Era_, the paper of the Profession, got the names by heart:
+the managers, the "Pas", the "bosses", the "profs." He got acquainted with
+some of them personally. Old Martello, for instance, the father of Ave
+Maria and the "Bambinis." Martello could have given Pa hints; but he no
+longer interested himself in anything except his Bambinis, whom the poor
+man, grown calm with age and overwork, was now spoiling. The rest left him
+indifferent; he hardly listened, spoke in short sentences, like a man too
+old to care:
+
+"Train apprentices? What's the good? Run a troupe? Pooh, madness!"
+
+Pa thought this exclusive admiration very touching, but it wasn't what he
+wanted and, madness or not, damn it, he was resolved to carry out his idea
+to the end!
+
+There were imperial and royal troupes, "Risleys," carpet acrobats,
+pyramids of tumblers, some of them undergoing an apprenticeship of cuffs
+and thumps. Pa was not interested in these methods, did not approve of
+them; he had never knocked Lily about, never let her fall on
+purpose--"Have I, Lily?"--whereas in the imperial and royal they sent the
+apprentice sprawling on his back, just to teach him, when he started
+wrong.
+
+Still, all these were boys; and it was the little girls that interested
+him, for he meant to have only girls among his apprentices. The rest
+wasn't his damned business; but the different troupes of Roofer girls, for
+instance, affected him directly: where did old Roofer fish those girls
+out? That's what Pa wanted to know. He had even, in order to visit the
+school, pretended to bring Lily as a pupil. He had seen the place in Broad
+Street, where they turned out "sisters" by the gross; had watched the
+squads in knickerbockers, scattered over the immense room, like recruits
+drilling in a barrack-yard: groups engaged in club-swinging, juggling,
+clog-dancing, all together, a tangle of different movements timed "one,
+two, three!" Roofer chose among the heap, sorted out the sizes, called
+this lot the Merry Wives, that lot the Crazy Things, christened them after
+an insect or a flower, packed them up in lots of ten or twelve girls, with
+snub-noses or Greek profiles, as preferred, despatched them,
+carriage-paid, C. O. D., with words, music and muslin skirts complete, and
+received every day a detailed account of his Honeysuckles and Bees,
+scattered all over the world, from the Klondike to Calcutta.
+
+This superlative organization produced upon Pa the effect of a state
+affair; it was something beyond him, above him; it interested him
+especially from the recruiting point of view; and what stimulated him
+above all was the troupes of trick cyclists. He had seen plenty of them in
+America, but then, wholly occupied as he was with his Lily, they did not
+interest him, whereas now he was seeking to fathom their lives, so that he
+might know. Some of them, who went cheap, slept three in a bed, niggers
+and whites all mixed; others, who were well paid, lived easily and
+comfortably and put themselves forward with less work and for more money
+than Lily, Lily who possessed artistic talent, and who had toiled harder
+than all the rest of them put together! Patience, his turn would come ...
+when she was a bit less thin. And he would have the troupe of troupes,
+he'd show them, jolly soon!
+
+Mrs. Clifton was terrified at her husband's boldness, but dared not
+protest; however, she observed that it was a big undertaking.
+
+"We shall have five apprentices," interrupted Clifton, "six including
+Lily. We must find lodgings."
+
+"But, dear...!"
+
+"Don't you think...?"
+
+"Yes, dear."
+
+As for the apprentices, he would see to that to-morrow. Ma suggested that
+her sister-in-law's daughter might do, but Pa wouldn't have relatives at
+any price--blubbering for a smacking bestowed upon their daughters--he
+knew all about them, thank you. Let such sheep bleat elsewhere. No, give
+him strangers. He could be freer with them and get as many as he wished.
+An advertisement in _The Daily Mail_--"Wanted, young girls for trick
+cycling," followed by the address--fetched them the same day. The pavement
+before the house was blocked with white aprons, sailor-hats and
+tam-o'-shanters. There were consumptive-looking girls, long hanks of
+girls, chunky girls, all crowding outside the door, until the landlady
+drove them away with her broom and threatened to do as much for Pa and Ma
+if all the street-arabs of London were to go on soiling her nice white
+steps.
+
+Pa, for that matter, found nothing in the bunch, not one in twenty that
+was any good; or else they made exhorbitant demands--two shillings a day
+those guttersnipes expected--as though shillings were to be had for the
+asking! But why look so far? There were girls, sometimes, at the back
+entrances of the theaters: stage-struck kids who devoured Lily with their
+eyes and looked at Pa as though to say, "Take me, take me!" That's what he
+wanted, damn it, girls who had the business in their blood and who
+wouldn't go whining over a professional slap or two, which he dared say
+he'd have to distribute to make up for lost time.
+
+[Illustration: "TAKE ME, TAKE ME!"]
+
+The first girl whom he engaged he had already seen gazing ecstatically at
+Lily, as they left the theater, far away down the Mile End Road, and he
+saw her again, one morning, in front of his house in the very heart of
+London! He could not believe his eyes. She must have followed his scent,
+slept on the threshold like a lost dog. Her Pa? Gone away. Her Ma? Dead.
+Her name? Maud. Her age? Didn't know. Born somewhere in the immensity of
+Whitechapel, towheaded, round-faced. Nothing to eat for two days. She'd
+do! He would go to the police-court, get the license later; meantime, he
+netted her and that was one!
+
+As regards the others, he had to make a selection. He chose them by
+preference in families which were overstocked with brats, so that one more
+or less, in the heap, made no difference. He got one this way; that made
+two! Next, a "local girl," seized with ambition, came and offered herself.
+Three! He found two others: a little Beak Street shop-girl and a
+Shoreditch Jewess. That made five. It did not take him long to judge the
+girls. He gave them a few days' trial before signing a contract; and what
+an anxiety for them, Mr. Clifton's final decision! If one trembled too
+much, was caught holding Pa's shoulder for no reason, for fear of falling,
+or blubbered because of a scratch on the skin, her fate was settled.
+
+"Pack up, my lady," Pa would say quite calmly.
+
+There was no getting out of it: off she had to go, before dinner, and home
+she went, through the gloomy streets, after a brief glimpse of paradise.
+
+He had to replace some of them: they were slack; or else, independent at
+times, they looked at him for the least push, as if they would fly at his
+throat. He asked himself whether he wouldn't be compelled to get some over
+from Germany or else to pick up on the highroads, in the Gipsies'
+caravans, children with skins tanned like donkeys', a troupe of
+blackamoors on wheels, who, perched up on the handle-bars of the bikes,
+would have looked like cockroaches mounted as brooches, damn it!
+
+However, by dint of selection, he ended by having only good ones left; and
+then he made a contract in due form with the parents for three years, or
+even five, such was his faith in the future. A few pence a week to the
+family, a few pence to the baggage herself: he to dress, lodge and board
+her and engage to make an artiste of her. Everything was provided for:
+during the training, just the board and the rest; when she began to work,
+a shilling a day in addition. Over and above, she would be looked after by
+a lady, Mrs. Clifton. Was that all right? Both parties signed; the girl
+was an artiste, became a New Zealander.
+
+They brought their little wardrobe: one spare chemise, on the average, one
+pair of stockings; their only protection against the weather was the dress
+they had on, a factory-girl's ulster and a tam-o'-shanter. Later on, when
+performing, they would be entitled to a celluloid collar, satinette
+knickers and pumps.
+
+Pa, though at first he took one extra room and then two in the same house
+and though he also made his apprentices sleep three in a bed, Pa soon
+found himself cramped. It would have been nice to have a little house
+somewhere in good air, next door to the country. But there was one thing
+which made Pa decide to remain in the West Central district. Jimmy, the
+young electrician with whom Lily used to chat on shipboard, had given up
+traveling. Harrasford and his architect had noticed him on board and the
+great man had engaged him to manage the electric installation of his
+theaters. Jimmy had taken possession of a lodging in Gresse Street,
+Tottenham Court Road. He slept over the shop, which, for the rest, served
+him rather as a place in which to keep the tools for his outside work. Pa
+often ran upon him in the neighborhood and had a nodding acquaintance with
+him which turned out to be useful, as Jimmy, being in Harrasford's
+employment, was more or less at home in the variety-theaters and nothing
+was easier than for him to obtain leave for Clifton to practise on the
+stage. This it was that persuaded Clifton to settle in the west end. In
+any case, it would be cheaper than dragging the six girls and himself
+daily from one end of London to the other. The house in which he took up
+his quarters, in Rathbone Place, quite close to Jimmy, was small and dark,
+but not dear. The upper story was occupied by people who were out all day
+and the basement served as a lumber room. They would feel quite at home
+here ... with no old sheep to listen at the keyholes.
+
+[Illustration: TOM, THE SHOEBLACK]
+
+And then he would have slept in the parks, if necessary, anywhere, rather
+than waste more precious time! His Lily, his troupe, before everything.
+What he had to do was to get a move on. He went so far as to engage a boy,
+a shoeblack at the corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road for
+the rest of the time, to attend to the bikes and the girls at practice.
+
+Pa gave his mind to the gear, the expenses, the general business. Ma saw
+to good order, to domestic discipline. It was no longer the quiet life of
+a Pa and Ma trotting round the world in the company of their one and only
+bread-winning star. As for Lily, the daughter of the boss and manager, she
+owed a good example to one and all. In the morning, with Maud, she went
+down to the kitchen, lit the stove, made the coffee. Next, she carried up
+the breakfast to Pa and Ma in bed, then distributed their rations to the
+famished girls. And off they went, all six of them, with Pa following at
+their heels.
+
+The stage-door gave the apprentices a thrill the first day they entered.
+The passage, gently sloping, tall and wide, because of the scenery,
+smelt of elephants and cheap scent. It was blocked with properties, with
+queer-shaped cases, flat as a slab or round as a ball. There were long,
+narrow boxes, for the horizontal bars; sometimes a row of wicker
+coffins, with a ventriloquist's figures inside. And labels from
+everywhere--Melbourne, Chicago, Berlin, Lisbon--and "Rlys." and "S. S."
+that made you feel in the hold of a liner, off to foreign ports.
+
+At the end, beyond an iron door, was the stage, very dark, pricked here
+and there with electric lamps. There were things that glittered with
+spangles. To the girls it seemed like the Kingdom of Puss-in-Boots or
+Blue-Beard; but to Lily it was an old story. She was a little like the
+school-girl in the good days long past, for whom the master was always
+waiting, cane in hand. The rest she didn't care about.
+
+Nevertheless, huge as the stage was, there was not always room to
+practise: ponies or elephants would monopolize it for hours at a time. Or
+else, when Roofer was supplying a ballet, he took up the whole stage, all
+day long: Lily, secretly delighted, sat down modestly in a corner, so as
+to be in no one's way. Roofer made his collection of calves and ankles
+flutter about, followed the new dances with an expert eye, throwing his
+hat back on his head, mopping his forehead, grumbling, finding fault:
+
+"Don't eat chocolates while you're dancing, you, Eva! Hi, you,
+Gwendolen!"
+
+And, to emphasize his remarks, he threw his felt hat at them.
+
+"Silly old ass!" thought Pa, with a grin. "To think you can train artistes
+like that. You'll use up fifty hats, you old fool, while my belt remains
+as good as new!"
+
+For that was now Pa's system, the strap--"a la Mexico!"--not that he used
+it often nor very hard; but he terrorized Lily with it and the other girls
+were afraid of it, too, though they never got more than the threat, seeing
+that they were apprentices, who might have run away if he had struck out.
+
+All this did not prevent them from working with a will--trot, trot,
+trot--when there was no Roofer on the stage and no elephants or ponies:
+yoop, on to the bikes and the fun began! The sight of Pa training his star
+made the apprentices shake in their knickers. Lily was to do everything
+and to do it very well: Pa ran after her, in a never-ending circle, and,
+from the corner of his eye, watched Tom, who held the girls and made them
+work, upon his instructions; and when they got off their bikes to wipe
+their foreheads:
+
+"Bravo, Miss Woolly-legs!" said Pa sarcastically. "Tired, eh? Dead, eh?
+Suppose you tried to get up again ... and be quick about it! And as for
+you, Tom, don't let them fall, or I'll catch you one on the side of the
+head!"
+
+For Pa already knew by experience that their little ladyships shirked
+work; that they shook with fright; that they lost confidence after a bad
+fall; and that then it was finished, nothing to be done with them: they'd
+let themselves be killed sooner.
+
+Maud, for instance, that Jonah, ever after one day she had seen her blood
+flow, trembled before her bike like a sheep that scents the
+slaughter-house. It was no use Pa's threatening her with his belt: she
+wouldn't let herself go, on the contrary, held on to everything, no matter
+what, for fear of falling. He ought to have sent her away long ago; he
+would pack her off that very night ... and made no bones about telling her
+so, that Jonah!
+
+Then Pa, giving Lily a rest, occupied himself with the girls: taught them
+the principle of the standstill, of side-riding, of the "swan," of the
+"frog." And,--quickly!--the indefatigable Pa went back to Lily, made her
+begin a trick ten times, twenty times over, so great was his rage at the
+lost time, the elephants, the Hauptmanns, Roofer. He pulled faces,
+clenched his fists:
+
+"Why don't you do as I say when I tell you, damn it!"
+
+"But, Pa, I can't!" protested Lily.
+
+"You can, if you like," said Pa, exasperated this time and unbuckling his
+belt.
+
+Crash! A heap behind him, a medley of limbs and steel fittings! Maud, who
+was still trying, on her bike, startled by Pa's threatening movement, had
+fallen flat down.
+
+"Maud again! That damned Jonah!" cried Pa, going up to her. "Well, Miss
+Woolly-legs, do you mean to stay there all night?"
+
+But she did not move; and, when they had disentangled her from the bike,
+Pa saw an eye that was quite red and a little stream of blood trickling
+down her cheek.
+
+"Let's look!" said Pa anxiously.
+
+A spoke sprung from the felly had scratched her eye.
+
+It was a serious accident. Sprained wrists, barked shins didn't count; but
+a spoke in the eye.... Luckily, Maud had no relations; there was no claim
+to be feared: not a vestige of old sheep on the mother's side. Pa said all
+this to himself as he ran to the chemist, and Lily consoled poor Maud as
+best she could, said that, after all, it was part of the game: she'd know
+better another time, eh? She'd be a great star yet, eh, Maud?
+
+The poor maimed thing lifted her face to Lily, stammered through her tears
+that it was nothing ... all right again now ... Pa's fault, with his
+belt.
+
+"For a little thing like that!" said Lily, laughing. "Fancy falling from
+your bike for that! Why, I'd rather have twenty 'contracts on the back'
+than lose an eye."
+
+For that was what it amounted to. Pa realized it, after he had dressed the
+wound. Clifton's mind was not at ease: a glass eye was not a very
+difficult matter ... but, who knows, some callous person might inform
+Harrasford, who stood no nonsense on that subject. Fortunately the
+artistes present had not paid much attention ... had hardly noticed
+anything, in the dim light of the stage....
+
+And soon after the New Zealanders were walking back to Rathbone place with
+Maud in their midst, her head a roll of bandages, leaning on Lily's arm.
+
+It was a pathetic home-coming. Ma had told them what would happen! That
+would teach them to take in vagabonds from the streets. Mrs. Clifton
+thought that, in a respectable house....
+
+"That'll do," said Pa, dropping into the easy-chair in the dining-room.
+"I'm worn out. If you'd been like me, Mrs. Clifton, running after those
+Woolly-legs all the morning"--and he pointed to the apprentices standing
+round the table--"gee, you wouldn't talk so much! I'll take Maud to the
+hospital this afternoon; it's only a trifle. Is dinner ready?"
+
+"Yes, dear."
+
+"Come along, then, all of you Woolly-legs," said Pa jovially.
+
+Pa was sorry for poor Maud, as a rule, but he felt a need to shed a little
+gaiety, to extenuate the accident as far as possible, to turn it into a
+joke, so as to prevent his girls from being panic-stricken. He talked of
+heads smashed to a jelly, of legs in smithereens, of a bicyclist who had
+had not one, but both eyes caught in the chain. As for himself, when he
+was a small boy--that was in the time when they brought up artistes, real
+ones, mind you; not, as nowadays, on sugar and sweets; no, real ones, on
+the whip and the stick, damn it!--why, the accidents which he'd seen! Yes,
+he himself, to go no farther, he could have shown them, here, there,
+there, here, damn it, all over his body, scars deep enough to put your
+finger in!
+
+"Eh? Frightens you, does it? Never fear," added Pa, in a good-humored
+voice, "that sort of thing won't happen to any of you Woolley-legs; a good
+Irish stew is better than a kick of the pedal, eh?"
+
+And Pa, after a last cup of strong tea, dismissed the girls, lit his pipe,
+threw himself into the easy-chair, with his legs long out in front of him;
+but soon:
+
+"Well, Maud, what is it? What are you crying for now? I tell you, I'll buy
+you a glass one," said Pa, at the sight of Maud, who blubbered silently
+and sat glued to her chair instead of getting up to go.
+
+Poor lost dog! Clifton, at the theater, had threatened to send her away.
+She knew what that meant: leaving Miss Lily, losing those good meals....
+
+Maud faltered something about packing up; pain in her eye; not her fault.
+
+"So what you want is to stay with us?" asked Pa.
+
+"Oh!" gasped Maud.
+
+"Well, then, stay! But no more bike; you shall be Lily's lady's maid,"
+said Pa, puffing at his pipe.
+
+It went down so well, as an effort of dry humor, that Ma could not help
+laughing. But Mr. Clifton was talking seriously. Then Ma, amazed,
+protested: what, a servant in her house! A lady's maid for Lily! He would
+end by giving her the moon! And what would Lily do all day? She'd sit
+twiddling her thumbs! Had Mr. Clifton thought of that?
+
+Yes, Mr. Clifton had thought of it. He was too tired to explain his
+reasons; but take it from him, it was best like that. Pa, in fact, feared
+lest that smashed eye might prove a worry to him: the papers weren't in
+order. He had made no declaration to the police; there was the Workmen's
+Compensation Act.... Much better keep Maud safe in the house, for a while
+...
+
+"Lily won't sit twiddling her thumbs for all that, will you, Lily?"
+continued Pa, smiling to his star.
+
+A touch of the brush and comb, a stroll through the streets with the
+girls, by leave of Pa, who wished Lily to take the air, then home again,
+more housework.... The apprentices, who did not yet perform in public,
+were sent to bed early, while Lily, escorted by Pa, went off to East,
+West, South or North London. An hour to get there; then undress, dress,
+appear on the stage under Pa's eye, undress and dress again; another hour
+to get back; a morsel of cold Irish stew, a cup of tea; and drowsily up to
+her room and bed....
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+"Lily!"
+
+Ma's voice woke her with a start in the morning. Lily dressed quickly and
+quickly ran down-stairs to the kitchen, where Maud had gone before her;
+and it was the same thing every day, except on tour, when discipline was
+less strict. It had gone on for months and months, for two years, ever
+since they came to London. Pa, with his iron will, had overcome
+everything. He felt at home in the old country, at last. After his
+engagements in the London suburbs, he had obtained a triumph at the
+Castle, a Bill and Boom tour of forty weeks, a season at Blackpool, the
+Harrasford tour now, successes everywhere. Before his boyish little girls,
+before his own particular troupe, the fat freaks trembled in their
+knickers! For Clifton, the new-comer, but yesterday unknown, it was an
+unhoped-for success and fame and fortune.
+
+Ma nearly always remained in London with Maud. Lily was not big enough yet
+to need the supervision of a Ma. Therefore, on tour,--when she was not
+practising with her Pa,--Lily did the catering, saw to the porridge and
+the Irish stew; Pa was not hard to please. Provided Lily was "great" on
+the stage, he asked for nothing more. Dishes burned for want of butter,
+salad mixed in the wash-hand basin: he swallowed everything with an
+appetite, ate standing, with his plate on the trunk, or else seated with
+the girls round a little table hardly large enough for three. This
+Bohemian life pleased him. He loved youth, gaiety and good fellowship. He
+was fond of a laugh, took Lily on his knee after dinner, played with her,
+praised her home-made cakes, her tough chops, and then began talking bike
+to Lily ... who hated bikes, and who got something different from a hat
+flung at her, when she missed a trick.
+
+No matter, hard as it was, she preferred touring to staying in London. The
+work was the same, but, at least, it was a change. She was spoiled by
+every one, down to that landlady who cried when she left.... After all
+there were many worse off than she, everlastingly set about by "profs,"
+confined to their rooms all day to practise their balancing; she had had a
+taste of it in New York; no, thank you! She preferred having good times
+with the girls, practical jokes, boxing-matches even, scrimmages,
+pillow-fights. In the boarding-houses, they flirted with the boys; they
+kept pet pigeons, white mice, a lizard; they exchanged secrets, stories of
+every country, professionals all! Sometimes, they consoled one another;
+promised to send kisses--x x x--on post-cards. And then there were new
+faces, always; a week in each town, no longer; a real life of adventure
+from one end of England to the other. Now it wasn't like that in London;
+she felt less free there. Ma was particular and hard to please; there were
+no pillow-fights, no romps; Ma hated those ways. The stage, yes, she put
+up with that because it was Lily's profession; but one came in contact
+with all sorts there; and that little devil of a Lily was wicked enough
+already! It took all the home influence to thwart the bad examples which
+she received outside; and it was Ma's business to see to it.
+
+The house in Rathbone Place had been smartened up. There was a dining-room
+which was used only for meals and which never had a bed put into it at
+night. There were things on what-nots: little photograph-frames, loose
+photographs, lucky charms, china cups; all shining and bright, thanks to
+the adjunction of a lady's maid, as Pa called Maud, in his funny way. At
+first, after the accident, it was terrible. Her natural awkwardness was
+made worse by a glass eye; she could not tell one side from the other,
+spilt the tea on the cloth, broke the crockery. Maud did the heavy work,
+washed and scrubbed all day long. When the girls were in London, she went
+with them to the theater, as dresser. Maud stood in the wings and admired
+the New Zealanders whirling about in the light. She stretched out her face
+in ecstasy toward Lily: that Lily who had traveled everywhere, who was
+born so far away, in a land full of monkeys and parrots. She followed Lily
+to her dressing-room, trotted after her like a dog, worshiped her
+open-mouthed.
+
+Lily had ripened out, was becoming more beautiful, more of a woman daily,
+despite the fact that her Pa still treated her like a kid. She no longer
+looked at things from the point of view of the child-girl who had been
+delighted with a satin hair-ribbon in India; now her pride was not
+appeased with such trifles. Ma, according to Lily, seemed ashamed of her,
+dressed her badly: an odd skirt here, an odd frock there, of a cheap make.
+That was not what Lily wanted. She was an artiste: she wanted a hat with
+big feathers and a gown with gold braid to it; but, when she showed Ma a
+dress which she liked in the shop windows, Ma would exclaim:
+
+"What do you want with that? My poor Lily, you must be mad! That's for
+rich little girls, girls who have time to be pretty; it wouldn't suit you
+at all. Why, if we listened to you, we'd soon be in the workhouse!"
+
+[Illustration: P.T. CLIFTON, MANAGER]
+
+Ma always said no, pretending that she had no money; whereas Lily knew to
+the contrary. She knew that the troupe earned a great deal and that the
+troupe was herself. The other day, at the theater, she had heard her aunt,
+who felt bitter that Mr. Clifton had not accepted her daughter Daisy--who
+could have learned the business and later on have starred by herself!--she
+had heard that "old sheep" say, speaking of her:
+
+"What a shame to dress her like that! A girl who brings them in capital to
+invest!"
+
+So Pa was investing capital. She didn't exactly know what investing
+capital meant; no doubt it meant making a lot of money. She asked for none
+of it! Children belong to their parents! But she would have liked to be
+treated with more consideration, to be spoiled; to get presents, nice
+things. She had plenty from her Pa, true enough: presents, my! But they
+were cheap gifts, for all that.... She was always having promises made her
+of more important things; and the promises were never kept: that big gold
+watch, for instance. She had a thirsting for luxury. It seemed to her that
+she was being treated like a performing dog, not a bit better. Ma, without
+exactly knowing, but with an infallible instinct, saw all this budding
+under that obstinate brow. Mr. Clifton might see nothing in it; but it was
+not so easy to take in a mother! Was there a love affair beneath it all,
+Ma asked herself. No, not yet; it might come later on, as with that
+apprentice who had run away, or that other one whom she had had to send
+packing for being too free with men. But Lily would not leave them like
+that.
+
+She did not let her go out. "Glass-eye Maud" ran the errands and Lily
+stayed at home, like a good little girl of whom her mother wished to make
+a lady. When she did happen to go out, she must not be long, or else it
+was, "Where have you been? Tell me at once!" At the theater, when Pa lost
+his temper, she could reckon on a mighty fillip, and then it was over: Pa
+was sorry, rather than otherwise. Ma, on the contrary, would nag for
+hours; muttered inarticulate phrases about "devil," "wild bull," and
+"taming her;" there was no end to it. Lily champed the bit! A star,
+indeed! Was that being a star? She thought differently! She had seen
+others drive up to the theater in their motors, accompanied by gentlemen
+carrying flowers, like that famous "M'dlle" at the Palace. Yes, those were
+stars: they dined at the Horse Shoe and did not spend their time in
+useless housework. Oh, she was quite sick and tired of that life! She'd
+had enough of it. Meanwhile, the days passed and the weeks and it was
+always the same thing: housework and stage-work; work, work, work....
+
+It was late that morning; they were not practising. Pa had run down on the
+previous day to see a troupe of cyclists, the famous Pawnees, who were
+back from the Continent, on their way to New York, and performing that
+week at the Brighton Hippodrome. Lily was in her room later than usual, as
+Ma was not awake. Maud had gone down to the kitchen. The apprentices were
+getting up, joking with one another, like tom-boys used to sharing the
+same bed at home, the same room at the theater, to dressing, undressing,
+splashing about naked in the same bath-tub.
+
+"Get up, Lily," said one of them, laughing and raising her sturdy little
+hand. "Get up, or...."
+
+"No," said Lily, "let me alone, I'm dead."
+
+As it happened, on the day before there had been a general tumble, six in
+a row, on the back-wheel; one of them, losing her balance, had dragged the
+others with her and the lot had fallen flat in a tangle of steel and
+flesh. Bucking Horse, Old Jigger, Street Donkey--the nicknames they gave
+their bikes--had kicked them to the raw. They showed one another the
+bruises on their limbs: "Oh, don't it hurt, just!" "What about mine?"
+"Look here!" like young recruits bragging of their wounds after the
+skirmish.
+
+"Lily!"
+
+"Yes, Ma!"
+
+And Lily washed quickly, put on her frock and ran down-stairs to prepare
+the coffee, but her Ma stopped her on her way.
+
+"Lily, you light the fire."
+
+"What about Maud?" said Lily. "Why can't Maud do it?"
+
+"You young impudence," ... said Ma; "Maud has gone to Jimmy's to take the
+bike which Tom couldn't get to him yesterday; he was shut. It's the bike
+you spoiled, you little bedlamite!"
+
+Lily had to laugh at the thought of Maud struggling with Old Jigger: Maud,
+who couldn't lead the machine by the handle-bar, or even walk beside it,
+without barking her shins.
+
+"Why!" cried Lily. "She'll explain everything wrong to Jimmy, and the bike
+will be no use!"
+
+"Well, then, go yourself," said Ma, after a pause. "And mind you, come
+back quickly; don't go loitering in the street; and don't stay long with
+that drunkard."
+
+"Yes, Ma."
+
+Gresse Street, where Jimmy lived, was quite as dreary as Rathbone Place:
+here and there, a few posters on the walls; some low-fronted shops,
+displaying sweets and candies, or else a dazzling case of oranges on the
+muddy pavement; alleys, stables, cab-yards....
+
+It was here that Jimmy had his workshop, or rather his tool-store, for he
+did not do much work there. The time which his occupation at the theater
+left him he devoted to improving himself. Electricity and its manifold
+uses held his interest. There was no doubt that, had he given all his time
+to it, he would have become very clever, for he had an inventor's brain
+and, moreover, possessed an astonishing manual skill for altering and
+perfecting things. He worked in copper and steel, was glad to make and
+repair bikes for a few customers, the New Zealanders, among others. While
+working, he brewed all manner of plans in his brain. They all revealed a
+practical intelligence. Saddle-supports which reduced the shaking on a
+bike, improved carriage-springs and so on; and, on the stage, inventions
+to dispense with men in the flies and wings; to work everything--scenery,
+curtain, lime-light--by means of the switchboard; and ever so many other
+things....
+
+Since joining the theater, Jimmy had naturally undergone the influence of
+the stage. It had affected his ideas, with all its new-fangled "turns,"
+which owed their success to a maximum of daring--or bluff--coupled with a
+minimum of scientific knowledge: illusionists basing their effects upon
+the reflections of invisible mirrors and the cunning use of combined
+lights; "looping the loop," "circles of death," in which sheer weight did
+the cyclist's work for him, his arrival at a given point depending upon
+his accelerated and calculated speed. From seeing so many of this sort
+scouring the world--erstwhile acrobats, former laboratory-students, who
+now, venturing all and risking all, topped the bills at the
+music-halls--Jimmy, greatly interested in this scientific side, had
+himself made researches in that direction. _Engineering_ and other
+journals had printed some of his schemes, including that of an apparatus
+based upon the notion of exterior ballistics: the resistance of the air
+proportional to the square of the velocity and, according to this
+velocity, the exact proportion of the angle of incidence to the angle of
+projection. Theoretically, it was perfect; in reality there might be some
+unexpected hitch. It was a question for the venturesome performer, who
+allowed himself to be projected by a series of powerful springs, to fall
+accurately from pedestal to pedestal, preserving a faultless balance; in a
+word, to risk his life six times in as many seconds. The daring of a
+Laurence and the agility of a Lily combined would not have been enough for
+the task; and so Jimmy had prudently contented himself with pinning his
+diagrams on the walls of the workshop and dismissing the idea from his
+mind. Not that he was afraid, rather not; but simply because it appeared
+impossible to him.
+
+Other plans had interested him, besides; flying machines, for instance,
+etc. He was a real enthusiast about flying machines! One day, perhaps,
+when he knew more ... to say nothing of the theater, which did not leave
+him much leisure; yet he managed, somehow, for he took but little sleep
+and the rest of the time he devoted to study.
+
+This was the Jimmy of whom Ma made a bugbear to Lily--in Lily's
+interest--for he was one of the few men whom she saw often; and you can
+never tell ... with those devils of the stage....
+
+Meanwhile, Lily, as soon as she had turned the corner of the street, drew
+herself up and, with a light step, went down Percy Street and Tottenham
+Court Road, instead of keeping straight on. It took her only five minutes
+longer and it suggested luxury, fine shops, handsome furniture,
+patent-leather shoes. She adored shopping, even if it was only with the
+eyes, through the plate-glass windows.
+
+She loved to pass in front of the Horse Shoe, where stars lived, real
+ones, not performing dogs. And then, round a piece of waste land, there
+was a hoarding covered with advertisements that interested her: the
+Hippodrome, the Kingdom, the Castle were displayed between extract of beef
+and mustard; and there were always new programs; always new names; and
+elephants, horses, lions; and tights....
+
+Lily looked at this for a few seconds. And, suddenly, she felt a thrill;
+on a scarlet poster, dazzling as the sun, she read:
+
+"Great success! Trampy Wheel-Pad!! At the Kingdom!!!" Trampy in London!
+
+Not that Lily was astonished: it seemed to her quite simple that he should
+be there, as simple as for her to be in Chicago, Bombay or Capetown;
+people do sometimes meet on tour, it all depends: you can be separated for
+years and then perform at the same theater for months. No, she was not in
+the least astonished: a little excited, that was all, without exactly
+knowing why....
+
+"But, if I should meet him," she thought, "what shall I say to him? What
+will he say to me? Will he think me grown prettier or uglier?"
+
+Lily came to herself again and continued on her errand; crossed Tottenham
+Court Road, plunged into a labyrinth of blocked alleys, of dark courts,
+and, suddenly, was at Jimmy's.
+
+Lily did not like him much; she considered him good-looking, for a man,
+but too shy. He never paid her a compliment. He seemed to think her ugly,
+whereas many others admired her and made no bones about telling her so,
+especially since the last few months; but he was ashamed of himself, no
+doubt: a drunkard, as Ma said.
+
+Poor Lily had no luck. She would have been so happy to be courted, to
+relieve her boredom. But nothing disgusted her so much as drink. And yet
+it didn't show in Jimmy. He always walked straight, never fell, like that
+head-balancer who, the other night, had come tumbling down from his perch.
+Besides, that one had an excuse; he drank because he was crossed in love;
+to forget, they said. Lily forgave everything the moment there was love in
+it; but an icicle like Jimmy, who loved nobody and who drank for the sake
+of drinking ... ugh!
+
+Jimmy was at work when Lily entered. The small, dark shop, crammed with
+things in steel, with loose wheels, queer-shaped objects, reminded Lily of
+a property store, only it was dirtier. There were tools everywhere;
+designs for machinery pinned on the walls; it was all very ugly.
+
+And Jimmy's greeting was none too engaging either. A curt smile--"Glad to
+see you, Miss Lily"--and, as for the bike, he hadn't understood a word of
+what the one-eyed creature who had just left had tried to say.
+
+"I thought as much," said Lily, laughing. "That's why I came."
+
+And, in a few words, she explained what she wanted. First, repair the
+twisted frame; next, a slight alteration for a new trick; a step here,
+another there.
+
+"Always fresh tricks, Lily?"
+
+"Always, Jimmy. No end of bruises, I tell you!"
+
+"It's part of the game," said Jimmy.
+
+"I should like to see you try it," retorted Lily contemptuously,
+"squeezing through the frame while it's going, with that pedal barking
+your back," and she rubbed herself as she spoke. "Only yesterday I got a
+kick; gee! It's like those new tricks in which I don't feel safe: riding
+with one foot on the saddle and the other on the bar and playing a banjo;
+it makes me shiver as I go past the footlights; and Pa watching me, you
+know; and, if I lose my balance, I get black and blue somewhere."
+
+"Pooh!" said Jimmy. "One can't expect a white skin at the game."
+
+Lily didn't care for this. If she couldn't be courted, at least she liked
+to be pitied: that flattered her pride.... It was all very well for Pa to
+say, "It's part of the game, my little lady." But that josser of a Jimmy,
+talking like that at his ease!
+
+"I'm glad I'm not your daughter!" she said. "My! You'd be harder than
+Pa."
+
+"Your Pa is hard, sometimes; but he's very fond of you, for all that."
+
+"Of course," said Lily, "he wouldn't like me to break my neck; I bring him
+in too much for that, eh?"
+
+"Come," interrupted Jimmy, "don't talk nonsense. It's not right to speak
+as you're doing. You'll be sorry for it, I'm sure. Tell me, rather: you
+were saying you wanted a step here, another there; do you mean like
+this?"
+
+And he rummaged among his tools, looked for loose pieces, showed them to
+Lily, while thinking of other things:
+
+"Look here," he went on, "do you think you're the only one that's got to
+work? Suppose you were shut up all day in a factory? Have you ever been to
+a factory? Do you know the life of a metal-buffer girl at Sheffield,
+standing in front of her wheel, from morning till night, and work, work,
+work?"
+
+"But I'm not a work-girl, you great silly! You know I'm an artiste! And,
+now, shall I tell you what I think of you, Jimmy?" said Lily, pouting.
+"You're a bad man, that's what you are!"
+
+And thereupon she put out her tongue, turned her back on him and began to
+look at the walls, the diagrams, the drawings, an illustration out of
+_Engineering_.
+
+There was a pause.
+
+Jimmy, while handling the bike, gazed at Lily. There was no sentimentality
+about Jimmy, but his lively imagination made him see things through and
+through; and, whatever he might be, Jimmy was not bad. That little Lily:
+to think that, among all the girls of her own age, she was the only one to
+do that trick! He pitied her and all child prodigies. To his mind, there
+was something unsportsmanlike about it; something like a race won by a
+one-year-old, with jockey, whip and spurs. He did not believe all he
+heard, of course. He knew, he lived with them, he was one of them. He knew
+the peculiar mania of the music-hall, the instinctive lie, uttered as if
+to discourage competition by giving it a fright at the start. To listen to
+them, it meant the horsewhip, the belt, all day long; going "through the
+mill," all the time. Among the people with the painted faces, it was a
+shot at martyrdom, a chance for professional boasting. The most
+commonplace, the most coddled lives were made more interesting by means of
+imaginary wounds and scars, like those explorers, in the books, who cross
+Africa without food or drink, barefooted, with a crocodile snapping at
+their heels.
+
+He took good care not to exaggerate. Life in the halls was no worse than
+anywhere else, thank God! It had its good side and its bad side and its
+professional risks. The "pros," taking them all round, were as good as the
+"jossers." He wanted to be just. He had seen many who were very happy; one
+could get anything done by firm kindness. He could also understand, in the
+terrible struggle for bread, that a man went on toiling hard in the trade
+in which he was born. A pro could not make a blue-stocking of his
+daughter; some were born duchesses, on satin; others artistes on the
+boards. One trade was as good as another; but dangerous practicings,
+bruised flesh, seamed skins: no, he didn't approve of that. He had seen
+the Laurences, mad with ambition, beginning all over again, in spite of
+falls calculated to stave in the stage; had seen girls who "do knots"
+lying in the dressing-rooms, gasping, exhausted. Even when professional
+vanity alone prompted such excesses, Jimmy protested within himself; and
+then there were so many abuses.... Besides, the stage so often spoiled a
+woman: every branch of the stage, from the highest to the lowest. All that
+coaxing familiarity! What he said was, if Lily had been his daughter, she
+should not be on the stage; but there she was and he couldn't help it;
+and, as it was her natural place to be there, he would not be guilty of
+the meanness of disgusting a poor girl with the profession which she had
+been at pains to learn. He preferred to let her call him "a bad man." And
+that required a certain courage; for it was no longer a child talking to
+him, but an exquisitely pretty girl. Jimmy could not believe his eyes.
+What a change! Was it possible? Having been away from London, on
+Harrasford's service, he had not seen her for many months, except the day
+before, just in time to shake hands behind the scenes, in the dusk; but
+here, in his shop, he hardly recognized her, he could not exactly say why.
+One thing was certain: he had left her a child and he now found her a
+beautiful girl.
+
+"Tush!" he said to himself. "She's a child for all that. Only, if she
+keeps on like this, what a handsome woman she will be!"
+
+That familiarity on the stage: he reproached himself for thinking of it;
+it seemed to him an insult to Lily. And he began to talk to her of
+different things, kindly and pleasantly, changing from subject to subject.
+He explained his drawings on the wall, his ideas: exterior ballistics; the
+resistance of the air; risking his life six times in as many seconds....
+
+"He's drunk," thought Lily.
+
+And, to stop this flow of words, as though talking to herself, Lily said
+she did not complain; no, she would quite like the bike, if she hadn't got
+to practise so hard; she only complained that they didn't treat her "fair"
+at home:
+
+"And look how I'm dressed! I've had the same toque two years. And what do
+you think of this frock? The material cost four-three a yard. I look like
+a tenter in it."
+
+Jimmy did not share Lily's indignation. He thought her neatly and nicely
+dressed, in spite of her performing-dog's toque, as she said. It all
+suited her so well. But, on examining that clear-cut little face, lifted
+toward him with a rebellious air, he felt that the fatigue, even the blows
+didn't count; that the hardest thing, for Lily, was to be "badly dressed;"
+that she would never swallow that.
+
+"But, look here," said Jimmy, "all this isn't worth making a fuss for; you
+get cross about nothing at all; when you came, you were all smiles; and
+now ..."
+
+"That's because," Lily began, with a sly laugh--oh, she was exasperated
+with Jimmy's coldness! She'd show him, the icicle, and have a bit of fun
+with him--"on my way here, Jimmy, I met ... now you won't give me away,
+Jimmy? ... I met my ... sweetheart."
+
+"A sweetheart? You? Lily?"
+
+"Yes, yes, yes," said Lily, nodding her head and looking at him archly,
+for she could see, by Jimmy's expression, that he was caught.
+
+"And your father and mother know nothing about it?" insisted Jimmy,
+nonplussed.
+
+"No, no; it doesn't concern them: at my age, a girl earns a living for her
+Pa and Ma; I have as much right to a sweetheart as any one else, I
+suppose."
+
+And, greatly amused, she fixed Jimmy with her mocking eyes.
+
+Jimmy stared at her in amazement.
+
+Then she understood that it was not a thing to joke about and that what
+she had just said was terrible. And, suddenly:
+
+"No, it's not true, Jimmy! I was only laughing! Oh, Jimmy, you're going to
+give me away!" cried Lily, squeezing Jimmy's arm with a convulsive little
+hand. "Oh, Jimmy, don't tell Ma, please, please, Jimmy!"
+
+And there was something so sincere in her voice that Jimmy saw that she
+was speaking the truth, that it was only the jest of a flapper used to the
+manners of the stage.
+
+"No," he said briskly, "I shan't tell; don't be afraid, Lily; only ..."
+
+"Ah, that's nice of you," said Lily, much relieved. "Marriage! If you only
+knew! And what would become of the troupe? I shall never marry. I
+think...."
+
+"Still, some day, it's bound to come," said Jimmy, interrupting her. "You
+won't spend all your life on a bike. You are sure to marry some day...."
+
+"Don't talk to me about marriage! No, not that. Gee!"
+
+"But--"
+
+"Love stories! With men! I! And you believed it," said Lily, drawing back
+her shoulder and raising her hand. "I could smack you, you great silly!"
+And, all of a sudden, "I must go," she cried, "I've stayed too long; Ma
+will be waiting for me with her broom!"
+
+And Lily rushed outside, without giving Jimmy time to answer. He could
+just see her turn the corner of the street.
+
+Jimmy went back to his work, silently, wrapped up in his thoughts. That
+nice little Lily! She could be easy in her mind. No, he would never be a
+cause of worry to her....
+
+Meanwhile, Lily ran home as fast as she could and, on entering, saw that
+it was no use; her Ma was waiting for her, furious.
+
+"Where have you been?"
+
+"Why, I've come straight from Jimmy's, Ma."
+
+"That's a lie! The butcher's boy, who has just left, saw you outside the
+Horse Shoe. Who were you waiting for?"
+
+"I wasn't waiting for any one!" cried Lily, her eyes blazing with anger.
+
+"You devil!" said Ma, looking round for a stick, an umbrella....
+
+And, when she saw nothing within reach, her anger increased. Then she
+stiffened her arm and made for Lily, who sprang behind the table....
+
+But Ma, tripping on the carpet, fell at full length, dragging down with
+her the table-cloth and two cups that were on it.
+
+"My two china cups! You viper!" she yelled.
+
+At that moment, the door opened; Clifton entered. He seemed preoccupied;
+looked at his watch:
+
+"Nine o'clock. We ought to be at the theater! Where are the girls? And
+what ... what's all this?" he asked, on seeing the disorder, Mrs. Clifton
+scrambling up from the floor, Lily scowling in a corner.
+
+Ma grunted an explanation. Two cups broken, Lily a gadabout who would
+bring them to the grave with shame!
+
+"But, Pa, I was only looking at the posters."
+
+"Posters?" repeated Clifton. "Which posters? What's all this nonsense?"
+
+And, when Ma had told him, interrupted by despairing "But, Pas," and "No,
+Pas," from Lily, he very calmly asked, was he going to have peace in his
+own house, or was he not? All this fuss about two broken cups; beating
+Lily for nothing!
+
+Never, in any circumstances, would Clifton have snubbed Mrs. Clifton like
+this before Lily. He would have waited until she had gone. But to come
+upon all this rot when there were so many serious things to discuss! The
+sisters Pawnee whom he had seen last night: Polly, Edith, Lillian. Yes,
+that Lillian, damn it, a winged rose! And the things they did on their
+bike without seeming to touch it!
+
+"My poor Lily," Pa went on, going up to his daughter and stroking her
+hair. "I'm not saying it to vex you; but you're not in it with the
+Pawnees! Come on! Beg your Ma's pardon; and let's be off to the theater.
+I'm in form this morning. We shall have a great practice."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+A few minutes later, Pa was hustling his herd before him:
+
+"Quicker, my Woolly-legs! No time to lose!"
+
+He thought of the tricks which he had jotted down the evening before in
+his note-book. Lily would learn them quick enough: she was as clever as
+the Pawnees, when all was said, only less graceful. She had the balancing
+power all right; but grace, grace, damn it, to do a thing like that as
+though it were child's play: that's what she hadn't got! You saw the
+effort. And the apprentices had no precision in their groupings. Now the
+fat freaks had. To combine German discipline with English gracefulness,
+that was the question; to have the troupe of troupes; to have a Lily who
+would be worth more by herself than Polly, Edith and Lillian put together.
+But that meant work and going through the mill! This last made Pa think of
+the old sheep and their bleatings. He gave a nervous little laugh and his
+hand had a convulsive movement, as though to strangle those pests.
+
+Pa had recovered his good humor and was grinning by the time they reached
+the theater. Merely by his way of taking the key of his dressing-room from
+the stage-doorkeeper one recognized the owner of a troupe, the man with a
+"permanent address," the manager, the boss, the prof, the Pa. On entering
+the lobby, he, with his six girls, took possession of the theater. He
+nodded to the staff; growled a "Lazybones!" as the Roofers passed out two
+by two, always two by two: a fair one with made-up eyes, a dark one with
+kiss-me-quick lips; sniffed their cheap perfumes amid the tarry smell of
+the packages marked Sidney, New York, Paris....
+
+[Illustration: "QUICKER, MY WOOLLY-LEGS!"]
+
+On reaching the stage, Pa first gave a glance to make sure that there were
+no elephants, or ponies, or Merry Wives, that they could practise at their
+ease, without having to burrow in a corner, like rats. The stage was
+almost empty. After the live street, it was a pallid light, in which
+ghosts moved. The New Zealanders, it need not be said, no longer fancied
+themselves in the cavern of Bluebeard or Puss-in-Boots; they had seen too
+many stages during the past two years. The slant of the floor, the
+roughness or smoothness of the boards was what interested them, for fear
+of falls and barked shins. Pa hurried them to their dressing-room to get
+into their knickers, while he took off his jacket and turned up his
+trousers, so as to run better. No more time to lose, with his Lily! He was
+still in a fever from seeing those Pawnees last night. As for the stage
+and the boards, a lot he cared, slanting or straight, rough or smooth! To
+work! to work! And he got ready the bikes, which Tom had brought down,
+without a glance around him.
+
+To a poet, to a painter, that glance would have been worth the taking. The
+iron curtain was raised, the house loomed vaguely; the balconies, covered
+with cloth, stood out like cliffs; the pit, with its seats under a gray
+drugget, because of the dust, lifted toward the stage its rows of
+motionless waves. The stage itself was strange: a sort of huge cave, with
+strips of scenery hanging like stalactites; near the wall, a metal
+pedestal, with a red velvet platform, looked like a blood-stained
+scaffold; one suspected the presence of properties: wheels, iron
+implements, tangled ropes, like so many instruments of torture. At the New
+Zealanders' feet, half-naked bodies, suggesting the souls of the damned,
+were tumbling, practising falls; a woman in a white wrap hovered round;
+and, near the proscenium, a pack of trained seals, lying in their moist
+boxes, raised their frightened heads, as who should say corpses cast up on
+the shores of hell by the silent waves of the pit.
+
+But three slender forms, spinning on their trapeze almost above Pa's head,
+sprang lightly to the stage, near an old fellow in spectacles.
+
+"Why, Mr. Fuchs and the Three Graces! Here's a surprise!" said Pa, who had
+not seen them since the New York Olympians. "When did you get here?
+Yesterday?"
+
+There was a general shaking of hands. Fuchs congratulated Pa on his
+success, said he had followed his progress in the papers. Pa owned a
+troupe now and had a name.
+
+"So this is your Lily," said Fuchs, tapping her on the cheek as she joined
+the group. "A real lady! And good, eh?"
+
+The Three Graces also congratulated Pa ... kissed Lily:
+
+"How sweet you've grown! Why, Lily, how pretty you are!"
+
+Lily was so surprised, so pleased; and her Pa was very proud. He thanked
+Mr. Fuchs, complimented the Three Graces in his turn, to their delight:
+
+"What arms! What muscles!" Then, "Excuse us, eh? Lily must get ready. We
+shall meet again presently, after practice."
+
+The Graces had gone back to it already. Pa tested the bikes; took a
+hurried turn at the pumps; and, when the apprentices and Lily returned:
+
+"Yoop, up with you!"
+
+The round began. Tom looked to the girls, constantly; ran after them; kept
+an eye on their falls. Pa, constantly, hung on to Lily. Nothing else
+existed when he was handling his star. His wish to do well, his love of
+art for art's sake worked him up, stimulated him, made him hit out but not
+in anger: it was the spark of enthusiasm, of which the apprentices caught
+the reflection.
+
+"Hi, you there, Mary! I'll pull your ear! Birdie, if I take my belt to
+you!"
+
+But his Lily above all; his Lily! his seven stone of flesh and bones! Pa
+was an artiste; he had thought of a thousand things since his trip to
+Brighton. New and astounding tricks; and easy at that ... if Lily only
+would! Oh, he'd soon make her graceful! But, for that, she would have to
+obey, to let go the handle-bar at a sign, instead of endlessly seeking her
+balance. For instance, Pa held her rein to prevent falls--there was
+nothing spiteful about Pa, he never let you fall on purpose--and
+Lily--"One! Two!--Count together, Lily!"--put one foot on the saddle, the
+other on the handle-bar: "Three!" That's where she had to let go her
+hands, smartly, and stand erect as she rode. The machine slipped under
+her. Lily, shaking with fear, stooped to seize the handle-bar.
+
+"Stand up, Lily! Show pluck, Lily!" said Pa.
+
+Lily, accustomed to obeying blindly, drew herself up again. But,
+sometimes, crash! The whole came tumbling down. Notwithstanding the rein,
+Lily fell to the ground; and the bike, in addition, caught her a kick in
+passing.
+
+"Nothing broken? A tiny scratch; it's nothing. Tom, the white stuff!"
+
+Tom left his Woolley-legs, brought a bottle of embrocation; a few drops of
+that on the skin, a bit of sticking-plaster; there, that was all right.
+
+"You see, Lily, you're not dead yet! Nothing to be frightened about. Come,
+try again!"
+
+The great thing was to hustle. Pa displayed so much enthusiasm--"Those
+Pawnees, damn it!"--that Lily, for all her fears, was smitten in her turn,
+ended by becoming exasperated against those Pawnees, felt a longing to
+wring their necks!
+
+She obeyed her Pa like an automaton, in her anxiety to do well.
+
+"More graceful! That's it! Not so stiff!" said Pa.
+
+"But, Pa, I can't!" protested Lily, soaked in perspiration.
+
+"But you've got to, my little lady!"
+
+They passed from one practice to another, almost without resting. Lily was
+worn out, Pa seemed indefatigable.
+
+Sometimes, practising was marked by interruptions. Maud's gouged eye
+remained the typical accident. Another time, a girl lay fainting for ten
+minutes after falling on her head; or else the stage was invaded by a
+ballet. There was no end to it. On this particular day, they had a visit
+from Harrasford himself, Harrasford the chief and master, who came along
+with Jimmy; a visit which was the more sensational for being quite rare.
+Pa, now that he was the owner of a troupe and sure of his position, would
+not have been sorry to be noticed by Harrasford, just to impress Mr. Fuchs
+and show him what they thought of Lily in London.
+
+"Do your best, my Lily," said Pa. "He's watching us."
+
+But bill-toppers, New Zealanders though they might be, were nobodies to
+"him;" Lily--one of a thousand, among all those of both sexes who
+performed in his theaters. There might have been ten cycling rhinoceroses
+on the boards; he might have seen Lily swallow her bike, and change into a
+butterfly: he would have paid no attention. Those were details that
+concerned the stage-manager. He hurried across the stage to the
+fly-ladder, made Jimmy explain things, took notes as he went, wanted to
+see for himself, pointed to the first batten, to the electric switches.
+
+"How much for so many lamps? And that? What does that come to, roughly?"
+
+And he stopped for a second in his course, his ear stretched toward Jimmy
+to catch his answer flying; then both of them went on again, quickly.
+
+Jimmy was now following Harrasford along the bridges, with the whole stage
+below him, in the ruddy semi-darkness; at one side, the half-naked bodies
+fell with a heavy thud after their somersaults; or else it was the sharp
+sound of a bike skidding; and distant voices rose up to him:
+
+"But, Pa, I can't!"
+
+"But you've got to, my little lady!"
+
+"Poor little thing!" thought Jimmy, disappearing in the flies, toward the
+side-rails, at Harrasford's heels. And Lily went on riding and Pa running
+after her, round and round and round. She seemed to be fleeing madly,
+pursued by a devil. Suddenly, Pa stopped, having exhausted his strength,
+and Lily fell rather than sat upon a hamper by the wall.
+
+"Here, Lily, put this over your shoulders," said Pa, giving her his
+jacket. "You'll catch cold, darling. Oof, let's take breath a bit!"
+
+But a glad voice burst through the silence: it came from the Three Graces,
+who always worked on stubbornly, even during the absence of Nunkie, who
+had been out for a smoke. Thea greeted his return with a cry of triumph:
+
+"Ten pullings-up with one arm, Nunkie! Ten without stopping!"
+
+"Well done! I'm very pleased with you," said Mr. Fuchs; and he crowned
+their excitement by declaring that, as a reward, he would that very day
+buy Thea the sleeve-links which he had promised her ever since last year.
+
+"Dear Nunkie!"
+
+A spasm of vanity made them rush back to their work; and soon the three of
+them formed, in mid-air, an involved group of ropes, bars and hardened
+limbs.
+
+Lily, in spite of her fatigue, was amused at those mad girls. To take all
+that trouble for the sake of a pair of sleeve-links! Her shoulders shook
+with nervous laughter, in spite of Pa's presence. He quieted her with a
+gesture, scolded her under his breath, kindly:
+
+"Shut up, Lily!... Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Lily?"
+
+And he looked at Nunkie with an air of saying:
+
+"You old rogue!"
+
+As for the Three Graces, it was a pleasure to watch them: their pluck was
+infectious.
+
+"To work!" said Pa. "Let's have a somersault, eh?"
+
+And, at a sign from him, two of the apprentices, assisted by Tom, fixed a
+little steel-legged table in the middle of the stage, bore down upon it
+with all their weight. The bike, set at full speed, stopped short as it
+struck the table; and Lily, carried on by the impulse, continued her
+whirl, full on her back, and, carrying the machine with her, came to the
+ground on the other side of the table and went on riding. But that shook
+her, in her stomach, her heart, everywhere. Each time, she was nearly
+succeeding, but it wasn't quite right.
+
+"I can see," said Pa, "you want to make me lose my temper!"
+
+"But, Pa, it hurts!"
+
+"Oh, those blasted little brats!" shouted Pa angrily. "Rickety machines,
+every one of them: no more energy than a sparrow and lazy into the
+bargain!"
+
+Then, suddenly, Lily succeeded magnificently.
+
+"You see you can do it when you like, you obstinate little wretch!" said
+Pa. "Now try not to miss it again, next time! That will do for to-day," he
+added, seeing Lily out of breath. "Go and get dressed, my Lily."
+
+The Three Graces were finishing also. Good old Nunkie wiped the
+perspiration from their foreheads with his big checked handkerchief,
+invited Clifton to come with Lily and choose the sleeve-links and
+suggested that they could have a chat at the restaurant.
+
+"Would you like to, Lily?" asked Pa.
+
+"Yes, Pa."
+
+"Very well, then."
+
+The girls would go back alone. Tom, having carried up the bikes, was told
+to run home and fetch Miss Lily's new dress and boots, Mrs. Clifton's
+brooch and big hat. And, half an hour later, Lily, who had crawled up to
+her dressing-room stiff-legged, exhausted, feeling sixty, came tripping
+down the stairs all freshly dressed, wearing the great hat of her mother,
+and a pair of creaking boots. She soon recovered when she was dressed out.
+She drew up her dainty figure, so as to be level with the imposing group
+of Pa, Nunkie and the Three Graces.
+
+Lily, very proud of herself, spun out the pleasure of drawing on her
+gloves to go shopping with those big girls, who had had love stories. Then
+they discussed what restaurant.... Nunkie, long ago--"Zaeo's year at the
+Aquarium:--that doesn't make me any younger, eh?"--had discovered a little
+German place....
+
+Lily would have liked to propose the Horse Shoe, to walk in there with her
+big hat and creaking boots as though the place belonged to her. But they
+decided upon a "Lyons" in Wardour Street. At the table, it was touching to
+watch the attentions which the Three Graces lavished upon their Nunkie,
+the respect they showed him. Pa was not sorry that Lily should see that,
+but Lily took no notice at all: she just removed her gloves, held her
+knife and fork with the tips of her fingers, let Pa help her, thanked him
+with a pretty "'K you." From the corner of her eye, she watched other
+groups, to pick up good manners. She seemed to have frequented smart
+restaurants all her life: beside her, Nunkie and the Three Graces, who cut
+their bread with their knives and made a noise when eating, looked like a
+family of small farmers on a visit to London town. Pa was greatly amused,
+enjoyed his daughter's aristocratic ways, admired her refined air. When
+they went out, in obedience to a look from Lily, he bought her a bunch of
+violets, which he pinned to her bodice himself:
+
+"Well, Lily, are you happy? Do you love your Pa? Tell me you love your
+Pa," and he looked at her gently as if in regret at having been so harsh
+at practice.
+
+"It's for your good, my Lily, you'll thank me one of these days. I'll give
+you lovely dresses, I'll cover you with diamonds!"
+
+"Why not to-day?" asked Lily, with a comic pout.
+
+Then both of them laughed and Lily forgot everything, even the blow with
+the fist, at being treated so like a lady.
+
+"If I was married," she said to the Three Graces, "I should like to go
+shopping all day long and have fine dresses, a gold watch and no bike!"
+
+The Three Graces, with their heroic strength, had no thought of such
+luxuries. Thea told Lily of her successes in America:
+
+"Five pullings-up with one arm at Boston. Six at 'Frisco. Eight when we
+got back to New York! Eight, Lily! And to-day...."
+
+"And your lover in America, tell me about your lover ..." interrupted
+Lily, pressing Thea's arm.
+
+"Talk low," said Thea, looking back at Nunkie, who was walking behind with
+Pa. "Nunkie is furious with him. If he ever meets him! He says it's
+disgraceful, not writing to me, after asking leave to. It's an insult that
+ought to disgust me with men for good and all, Nunkie says."
+
+She told Lily everything, her unhappiness at first, for she loved him.
+Lily, with her little nose in the air, sniffed those love stories, gulped
+them down, so to speak, with an instinctive movement of the lips.
+
+"And did you write to him?"
+
+"I wrote to him, but he never answered. Oh, if Nunkie knew! He forbids us
+to write, because writing, you know, Lily, puts out the muscles of the
+arms, interferes with the pullings-up, Nunkie says...."
+
+[Illustration: NUNKIE]
+
+But they turned into Regent Street: to Lily it was the entrance to the
+paradise of shops. The huge curve displayed its window fronts; and ladies
+and gentlemen and little girls: not dressed in their Ma's leavings, these
+last, but a superior branch of mankind, similar to that in the front
+boxes.
+
+Nunkie blinked his eyes behind his spectacles: all this luxury terrified
+him; he had almost forgotten the sleeve-links, talking with Clifton of
+people they had known:
+
+"The boy-violinist? Not up to much. Ave Maria? A disgrace: married,
+deserted, I don't know what. Poland, the Parisienne? A scandal!" As for
+him, he had but one wish, after getting his girls married: to retire to
+his home, grow his roses, look after his pigeons; simple joys, the only
+ones....
+
+"Look, Thea!" Lily broke in, pointing through the plate-glass to a heap of
+imitation jewelry, lying, among watches, on red and black velvet.
+
+"Come on!" said Mr. Fuchs.
+
+But, when Thea saw the prices--ten shillings, twelve shilling's--she
+refused to go in, saying she could have it just as pretty in Wardour
+Street and ever so much cheaper.
+
+"Just as you please, my darling. I'll do whatever you like. I don't know
+anything about it!"
+
+Clifton felt something rise in revolt within him, he was unable to resist
+it; a case of showing that old curmudgeon what a Pa was and that his
+little girl, too, did pullings-up in her way and that he knew how to treat
+her as a Pa should:
+
+"Your watch, Lily," he said, opening the door and pushing her in. "Now's
+the chance to get it. Come, choose for yourself!"
+
+"Oh, Pa! Do you really mean it, Pa?" she said incredulously.
+
+"Now look here, I'll smack you, Lily! When your Pa tells you a thing!"
+
+Lily seemed a princess, with her way of saying, "'K you," of touching the
+ornaments, the watches, like a little creature thirsting for luxury and
+yielding to her inclination at the first opportunity. There was so great a
+look of happiness in her eyes; and Clifton was so proud of his Lily, that
+he offered her a chain as well, to go with the watch. Lily refused at
+first, for form's sake, and then took courage--like a poor little martyr
+who did not like to disoblige her Pa--and chose a very pretty watch-chain,
+to the great wonderment of the Three Graces and of Nunkie, who thought, as
+they left the shop, that the children of to-day ... upon his word ... the
+parents of to-day ... it was all very different in his time....
+
+Clifton laughed to himself at that old curmudgeon as he left him to go
+home, with his star. Lily hung heavily on her father's arm, passed the
+draper's shops with a serious air.
+
+"No, another time!" said Pa, who felt what she was after.
+
+And he hurried his daughter off, for he might have yielded, she was so
+nice.
+
+Lily set her watch in Piccadilly, as they passed; then at the Cafe de
+l'Europe, by the big clock at the back; and again, twenty steps farther,
+at the bar of the Crown. Lily looked at the time and Pa showed his Lily
+off. He was proud to be seen with her in the neighborhood of Lisle Street,
+where everybody knew him. True, he seemed to have the name of being hard
+with Lily. But, come, was he hard? Did she look like a martyr? It was
+preposterous, all those stories. And he redoubled his attentions to his
+daughter, who talked a heap of nonsense, asked funny questions:
+
+"Why should writing a letter interfere with the trapeze, when a girl has
+arms harder than a horse's hocks?"
+
+"What? What?" asked Pa, taken aback, and when he understood, he would have
+held his sides for laughing, if he had been at home:
+
+"Oh, the old rogue!" he said admiringly. "He loves his dear girls, does
+Nunkie!"
+
+He was still laughing when they reached Tottenham Court Road; and, as they
+passed the Horse Shoe, a voice, which Lily seemed to remember, called to
+them from behind:
+
+"Hullo, Clifton!"
+
+Pa turned his head in surprise:
+
+"Hullo, Trampy!"
+
+For he recognized him at once, though he was much changed. Besides, he
+knew him to be in London. But it was a prosperous and gorgeous Trampy,
+quite unlike the old days; and forthwith Trampy explained: a champagne
+supper last night, just come from the bar; glass of Vichy water, you know.
+Huge success in London. Girls, by Jove! And then, pretending not to know
+Lily:
+
+"I congratulate you, Clifton; what a dear little wife!"
+
+Pa, greatly amused, protested: not his wife, no, his Lily! Then Trampy
+went into ecstasies: how pretty she had grown, one of the handsomest girls
+in London, sure! And in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland!
+And in all the British dominions beyond the seas, by Jove! And what a
+change since Mexico! She was a woman now, a peach, a regular peach!
+
+Lily seemed fascinated by Trampy, examined him, his shiny hat, his gold
+rings, his patent-leather shoes. A swell, Trampy, a toff, a gentleman like
+those in the front boxes.
+
+"Yes, Lily," said Trampy, guessing her thoughts, "yes, that's the way it
+is; one's not always hard up. I've struck oil since leaving America. Heaps
+of money! Eh, what!" he continued, offering Clifton an expensive cigar.
+"You wouldn't have thought it, would you, when you left me stranded in
+Mexico? That was a nice dirty trick you played me! Come and have a drain,
+old man, to drink Miss Lily's health and show there's no ill feeling!"
+
+"No, another time," said Clifton, vexed at this recollection of Mexico,
+now that he was the established owner of a troupe, a man whose word was as
+good as gold. "I'm in a hurry to get home: a very nice home, Trampy, a
+real good one. Come and see us some day. _Au revoir_."
+
+But Trampy was so pleased at meeting them, he never stopped shaking them
+by the hand. Lily had to accept a bag of cakes to share with the troupe
+when they had their tea. Then, at last:
+
+"_Au revoir_, old man; _au revoir_, my love, my little peach!"
+
+Lily's head was quite turned by this jolly day: it made her forget six
+months of worries. To think that, for some people, every day was like
+that! However, she mustn't complain: a watch, a chain as well, the
+somersault pulled off, compliments from Trampy....
+
+Ma's reception of them, when they got home, was icy. Pa looked a little
+like a school-boy caught at fault; and Lily, none too easy in her mind,
+put the cakes on the sideboard, and hastened to take off her mother's big
+hat. Ma grumbled, under her breath: it was nothing but going out, now. Old
+Cinderella could stay at home, bareheaded, while my lady went shopping! A
+fine thing, my word, for a great sensible girl to abuse her Pa's weakness!
+There was nothing to do at home, of course! Well, if it pleased Mr.
+Clifton, she had no more to say!... And, while she grumbled, Ma prepared
+the tea and shot glances at Lily, a Lily with red cheeks and bright eyes
+and looking so pretty that Ma, full of mixed pride and anxiety, felt
+sudden longings to eat her up with kisses, "ugly" that she was!
+
+Pa did his best to calm Mrs. Clifton, tried to amuse her with the story of
+the sleeve-links, of the horse's hocks, and Pa laughed, my!
+
+"He laughs best who laughs last," growled Ma.
+
+"Just think, Ma," said Lily, taking courage from Pa's merriment. "That old
+rogue forbids his daughter to write, he pretends that...."
+
+"And quite right too!" said Ma. "What do girls want with writing? And who
+do you mean? What old rogue? You don't mean Mr. Fuchs, I suppose?"
+
+"Why, yes, Ma, old Fuchs."
+
+"Old Fuchs! You chit, to talk like that of respectable people! Go to your
+room, impudence! Dry bread for you!"
+
+"But, Ma...!" said Lily rebelliously.
+
+"That's what comes of it," said Mrs. Clifton, addressing her husband,
+"when a mother no longer has the right to correct her daughter."
+
+And she pointed to Lily, who persisted in remaining, who was even
+beginning an explanation:
+
+"But, Pa ... but...."
+
+"Obey your mother first," said Clifton.
+
+"Yes, Pa."
+
+And Lily went out, very anxious at the turn which things had taken.
+
+Clifton realized that he had perhaps been wrong that morning to blame Mrs.
+Clifton in Lily's presence. He was wrong also to laugh at old Fuchs before
+Lily. But, all the same, that old rogue ... and they had believed it,
+those Graces! That wouldn't go down with Lily!
+
+"It's an example you ought to follow, instead of laughing at it, Mr.
+Clifton!"
+
+"Upon my word, I'm very proud of my Lily; she works well, she really
+does," said Pa, stretching himself in the easy-chair. "I'm pleased with
+her; you know as well as I do, a girl is not a boy. She can do with a
+little spoiling. And only just now I made Lily a present of a gold watch
+and chain."
+
+"Then I give up!" said Ma, in a voice of exasperation. "Then I give up!
+Why should I take all this trouble bringing up your daughter? A little
+spendthrift who will bring us all to the workhouse! And a good thing when
+she does!"
+
+But Pa wanted peace in his own house. That was enough of it! Peace was
+what he wanted, damn it, and not a monkey-and-parrot life!
+
+And, jumping up from his chair, he opened the door and shouted up the
+staircase:
+
+"Come down, my Lily! Your Ma says you may! The cakes are on the table."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Pa would have covered his Lily with diamonds, if he had the money ... and
+if Ma had allowed it! But, on this special point, she ventured to oppose
+him. She had been Lily's age herself, had Ma, and she enlarged upon the
+necessity of keeping a tight rein on Lily.
+
+Ma enumerated the fugitives: Ave Maria, and this one, and that one, and
+ever so many others who had bolted; and troupes ruined by the flight,--or
+the marriage,--of the star....
+
+"Lily has changed a good deal lately, dear, are you sure she hasn't a man
+in her mind?"
+
+"There we are again!" said Pa. "Always the same old story! But just tell
+me, who does she see? Who does she know? Jimmy? You don't mean him, I
+suppose? Very well! Trampy, then? A married man, divorced, married again,
+goodness knows what! and then ... and then ... Oh, well, let's have peace
+at home, at any rate! Damn it, Lily may be a bit of a flirt: why shouldn't
+she be, a pretty girl like that? Beauty, in the profession, is half the
+battle."
+
+And Pa entered into details, comforted Ma with good news: a fresh contract
+signed with Bill and Boom, after that, the Harrasford tour: big salaries
+now....
+
+"No, dear, this isn't the time to worry Lily about trifles. And I don't
+want her to be bothered with useless work, either."
+
+"Call home work useless! A woman's greatest charm!" exclaimed Ma.
+
+Lily was a subject of friendly discussion to them. Both adored her
+equally: both were proud of her at heart. For Lily was growing very
+beautiful; everybody said so at the theater: the stage-manager; the acting
+manager, down to Jimmy, who stammered things. It was an endless series of
+compliments; Harrasford's friend, the architect, who had not seen her for
+a long time, fell into raptures when he met her on the stage:
+
+"Magneeficent!" he exclaimed, in his Franco-Belgian accent. "How old is
+she: sixteen? seventeen?"
+
+"Fourteen," said Ma, with a mincing air, for to that damned "parley-voo"
+she was as anxious to make Lily out a child now, in order to keep a firmer
+hold of her, as she had been to increase her age in America, so as to make
+her work.
+
+"What, fourteen, Ma!" protested Lily.
+
+"Yes, fourteen, of course; do you think you know better than your mother,
+you little fool? Can't you see everybody's laughing at you?"
+
+Ma dreaded those irresponsible jossers, who filled Lily's head with a pack
+of false notions, and kept a good watch, in her growing anxiety.
+
+Ma, in the early days of their arrival in London, had been terribly
+obsessed by the dread of being left without means in the huge city. Lily
+had got them out of that difficulty. And now she was earning such a lot of
+money: one day, who knows, they would have made enough to assure their
+independence for good and all! When she thought of this possibility, Ma's
+eyes lit up with yellow gleams; she felt like catching hold of Lily and
+locking her up in a safe.
+
+Pa was less eager for gain, less ant-like in his economies; he was an
+artiste, above all; he knew how to make allowances; there was a time for
+work and a time for play. He often treated himself to the pleasure of
+taking Lily out; and, each time, as usual, she got a nice little
+present--he liked to pass for a Pa who spoiled his daughter, loved to hear
+himself so described, and took a wicked delight in repeating it all to
+Mrs. Clifton.
+
+Lily was the gainer by the difference in opinion; she felt herself a
+little freer. When she went out in the morning, she considered herself at
+liberty to walk less fast, and no longer trembled on returning. She loved
+to loiter in the Tottenham Court Road; her little person assumed an air of
+importance; if, after practice, some artiste passed her in the street and
+gave her a smile, she believed that he was waiting for her; a "comic
+quartet," the Out-of-Tune Musicals, happening to come out of a bar and
+blow a kiss to her, were there on her account, she thought--four lovers at
+a swoop!
+
+It was almost impossible that she should not meet Trampy, who was always
+prowling about from bar to bar, between Oxford Street and Leicester
+Square. She did meet him, in fact. Trampy, that day, wore a felt hat, a
+blue suit, a red tie, with a sixpenny Murias cocked in the corner of his
+mouth, and he greeted her with a triumphant "Hullo, peach!" as she passed.
+Lily was quite excited, stopped just long enough to refuse a drink and
+then left him very quickly. She was afraid it showed on her face, when she
+got home, and his words still rang in her ears, that she was awfully
+pretty, the prettiest girl on the stage, a peach, a duck, a pearl, a
+daisy, a bird.
+
+All that she had seen and heard in her jostled existence, now came back to
+her, grew and sprouted in her ... now that Lily was being made love to by
+gentlemen, not the monkey-faces or the blue-chins, but men like Trampy,
+her craving for admiration oozed out of her at every pore....
+
+Trampy! Lily did not care for Trampy; but she thought him amiable, polite
+with the girls.... She was grateful to him for being there to say pretty
+things to her when she passed. She preferred that type to men like Jimmy,
+for instance, savages who always seemed on the point of speaking and never
+opened their mouths; with them, she thought, a wife would be bored to
+death. Besides, Jimmy, pooh, a common workman, a josser! While Trampy was
+an artiste, a bill-topper and rich, no doubt. You had only to listen to
+Trampy to see that he was very well off! Chocolates, sweets, jewelry,
+ostrich-feathers, patent-leather boots, everything! He would have loaded
+her with presents, if she had let him, but she had never accepted anything
+except a little gold ring, which she hid in her pocket when she came in,
+for, if Ma had caught sight of it, gee, what a smacking!
+
+Trampy often met her; he seemed almost to do so on purpose; he found
+pretty speeches, compliments which he had already uttered a score of times
+to ever so many girls, on ever so many stages, like a real Don Juan who
+had been all over the world and everywhere picked up love-speeches and
+jokes to "fetch" the ladies with. He tickled her vanity, told her that a
+dear little girl like her was cut out for dress, that a big hat with
+ostrich feathers would go well with her fair hair and that men, by Jove,
+ought to go on their knees whenever they spoke to her!
+
+All this hummed and buzzed in her head. At night, when she fell asleep in
+Maud's arms, she dreamed of big hats and fine dresses and referred to it
+during the day. Pa hardly knew what to think; if she did as well as last
+night--three encores--Lily could have half a sovereign, to buy a new hat
+in the Tottenham Court Road with, said Pa.
+
+"Oh, Pa, I shall do all right, you'll see. Will you be very nice? Then get
+me that one at two guineas, you know, in Regent Street."
+
+"But you're mad, Lily!" said Pa, without attaching too much importance to
+it, for he had other cares: agents to see, letters to write, business,
+damn it!
+
+That took down Lily's cheek a bit; but her luxurious ideas returned,
+nevertheless. For instance, from admiring the Three Graces or the Gilson
+girl, who looked like Venuses in their silk tights and whose entrance on
+the stage caused every opera-glass to glint upon them, the wish to appear
+in tights began to grow on Lily. Oh, not the plain tights of living
+statues; no, but with flowers and leaves embroidered here and there and
+jet braid laced about the right arm. She was tired of bloomers and told Pa
+so, straight out, when the apprentices had left the room and Pa, stretched
+in his easy-chair, seemed in a good temper. Pa thought this notion about
+tights, silly:
+
+"They're very nice, those bloomers; those little shirts. Ask your
+mother."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Ma sarcastically, "but bloomers are made at home, in the
+afternoon; you have to stitch them yourself, dear. Tights, which you buy
+ready-made and which cost just ten times as much and last only half as
+long, are much more convenient, aren't they, Lily? To say nothing of the
+absurdity of an ugly girl like you showing yourself in tights!"
+
+"And the troupe," said Pa. "What would the troupe look like? Might as well
+not have a troupe; there'd be no one but you!"
+
+"Well, what harm would that do? I _am_ the troupe!" said Lily, tossing her
+obstinate forehead. "And all the money you give them you could give me!"
+
+"Lily," said Pa, alarmed, "you deserve to be smacked for that!"
+
+"Oh, Pa, what an idea!" said Lily, who was just arranging her fringe
+before the glass. "A Pa to beat his Lily for a little thing like that,
+away from work!" And, darting a bright smile at Pa, "You never would, Pa,
+would you?" she ventured.
+
+Clifton, taken aback, looked at his Lily, as if to say that she was right,
+damn it! But Ma, in her fury, cried:
+
+"Wait a bit! You shall see if _I_ would!"
+
+Bang! A box on the ears, followed by an order to go to her room, on dry
+bread and water, impudence! And practise her banjo till the evening!
+
+The blow itself was nothing, but what an humiliation for Lily, who, only
+yesterday, had been told that she had the sweetest nose in the world,
+cheeks to cover with kisses, eyes, lovely eyes: there wasn't a girl in a
+hundred with eyes like that, by Jove! And those lovely eyes were only fit
+to cry with! And those pretty cheeks Ma had covered with smacks! When she
+thought of it, she felt inclined to kick over the traces. Did they think
+her such a kid, then, her Pa and Ma? She'd show Ma if she was fourteen!
+She'd be off like the others. Lily, at this idea, felt her heart come into
+her mouth: no, no; she would never dare; she never would. She swore it to
+herself; took the great oath of the stage: three fingers of her right hand
+uplifted, the left hand on her lucky charm. And yet, one day, she would
+marry. She didn't lack chances, if she wanted them. And a gentleman, too!
+And her Pa and Ma, to disgust her, of course, pretended that he was
+married! They must take her for an idiot: how could Trampy be married,
+considering that he had suggested ... suggested different things to
+her?...
+
+Lily brooded like this, reviewing the tiny events of which her life was
+made up. Then a gleam of sunshine came to change her thoughts. She amused
+herself by breathing on the window-pane, making a circle ... wrote a name
+with her finger and quickly licked it out with her tongue ... and Lily
+brooded ... brooded....
+
+But Ma's voice made her jump:
+
+"What are you doing there, you good-for-nothing? I told you to take your
+banjo!"
+
+"Yes, Ma," Lily replied mechanically, with her nose glued to the window.
+
+"Do you hear, Mr. Clifton?" said Ma furiously. "That's the way she
+obeys!"
+
+Mrs. Clifton had no doubt whatever that there was a man at the bottom of
+it ... a flirtation ... something or other. It was useless for Ma to
+provide for everything, to do her best to oppose Mr. Clifton's weakness.
+There was Lily now, taking up an independent attitude. She thought herself
+pretty, no doubt; some booby must have been stuffing her up, making love
+to her, to laugh at her later on! If she, Mrs. Clifton, had been a man,
+she would certainly never look at that ill-mannered baggage; but the
+London jossers liked that brazen type! And to think that time was passing
+... passing!... Oh, Ma would have liked to get hold of the man who
+invented the law about girls coming of age ... and love ... and marriage!
+A fierce jealousy seized upon her at the thought. Lily would have
+bouquets, champagne suppers; Lily would be loved by gentlemen! Tell Lily
+that she was pretty and, in less than six months the little hussy would
+think herself a fine lady! And, on that day, Mrs. Clifton would wash her
+hands of her!
+
+These continued attacks ended by shaking Pa. He didn't quite know what to
+say; there was a certain amount of truth in it:
+
+"But," he persisted, "why should she go? She has everything she wants
+here?"
+
+But he was more and more annoyed; yes, he admitted, he was wrong to laugh
+at Mr. Fuchs: you must never set children a bad example. And, from that
+moment, once his attention had been called to the matter, he daily
+discovered fresh causes for uneasiness: where the devil did she get that
+love of dress from? And who sent her that bouquet behind the scenes the
+other night? Why, Lily wanted to have it handed to her across the
+footlights, like a singer!
+
+And Pa and Ma watched Lily like a bag of money on which one keeps one's
+hand, for fear of pickpockets. Ma doubled her precautions.
+
+The gentlemen in the front boxes, especially, alarmed her, even more than
+the Jim Crows: creatures apart, devilish creatures, the gentlemen in the
+front boxes! She fancied she saw a reflection of hell in the eye-glass of
+every one of them. If ever Lily dared to smile to them, she knew what
+awaited her! Ma would get angry for nothing at all; she even scolded Lily
+for allowing herself to be approached on the stage by a contributor to
+_The Piccadilly Magazine_, which was publishing articles on _The Little
+Favorites of the Public_.
+
+"I am sure you only told him a lot of nonsense," said Ma. "A girl should
+call her mother in a case like that. What have you to do with the public?
+Aren't you ashamed?"
+
+No, Lily was not ashamed. She was exasperated rather. And she had not told
+the journalist any lies: just the plain truth, in her own little way.
+Sweat and blood! Broken legs! Broken arms! And here, there, there, all
+over her body, scars deep enough to put your finger in! That would revenge
+her a bit for the way in which she was treated. She knew that, when the
+article appeared, she would catch it at Pa's hands; but never mind! She
+had told everything, everything, in revenge; just as she might have flung
+her bike at their heads in a fit of anger!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+There had been a terrible scene at home that day. Ma had searched Lily's
+trunk and had not, it is true, discovered the love letters which she
+believed to be hidden there, but she had found a ring! It was Trampy's
+ring, which Lily, who usually concealed it about her person, had left by
+accident in the trunk among her things. Ma's face was a sight, when she
+came down to the dining-room. She was so upset that Pa asked her:
+
+"Are you ill, dear?"
+
+Ma, without answering the question, pushed the ring under his nose and
+screamed that she had told him so:
+
+"An engagement ring, dear; an engagement ring! Perhaps you'll believe me
+now!"
+
+Pa and Ma, when they had recovered from their surprise, had time to lay
+their heads together and replace the ring, pretending to know nothing, to
+be watching more closely than ever ... and then Pa had gone out; for, if
+Lily, who was walking with the apprentices, had come home just then, he
+could not have resisted the temptation to smack her face. It was better to
+go out and postpone the explanation until later. He had, indeed, resolved
+never to beat his daughter again ... but still! And he clenched his fists
+and ground his teeth when he reached the theater.
+
+On the stage, he looked round for Tom, who should have been there to mend
+a tire. He saw nothing at first: only a few electric lamps studding the
+darkness; a faint glimmer lighting up a number of properties; farther on,
+the dull gleam of stacked-up bikes; and, lastly, Tom, with his cap cocked
+back and trousers turned up, trying--brrr!--to do a clog-dance!
+
+"Bravo, Tom!" shouted Clifton, the moment he saw him. "Just you wait a
+bit. I'll teach you to dance: with the clogs on your hands and your head
+downwards, damn it! Here, take this to go on with!" continued Pa, fetching
+him a clout on the shoulder. "And get to the bikes and hurry up, or I'll
+smash your jaw in!"
+
+Meanwhile, Jimmy had also come, unseen by Pa. And the great batten lit up:
+the stage came to life again. Right up above, in the galleries from which
+the ropes were worked, mysterious forms moved to and fro. The iron curtain
+rose ... there was a clash of orchestra ... Jimmy, with his back against
+the drop-scene and his face to the stage, gave sharp orders....
+
+Pa watched the scene vaguely from the wings. He gnawed his mustache: the
+apprentices would be there soon, with his Lily. And he had something to
+say to the stage-manager; something of a delicate character.
+
+But Clifton was surprised to see Jimmy instead of the usual
+stage-manager:
+
+"Hullo! So it's you now," he couldn't help saying.
+
+"Why, yes, Mr. Clifton; since this morning. The other chap's ill, you
+know. Harrasford asked me to take his place ... for a few days, I suppose
+... or perhaps longer. Do you want to speak to me, Mr. Clifton?" added
+Jimmy, observing Pa's look of embarrassment. "Just a minute and I am
+yours."
+
+Two tall footmen, caparisoned in velvet and gold, disappeared behind the
+curtain with the number of the next turn. They came back in a few seconds.
+Jimmy pressed a button. The stage filled with light and noise, the turn
+marked on the program entered and, suddenly, under the dazzling light, it
+was a series of somersaults, of flights from shoulder to shoulder, and the
+muffled fall of feet on the thick carpet.
+
+"There will be eight minutes of this," said Jimmy, taking out his watch.
+"What have you to say to me, Mr. Clifton?"
+
+Oh, what he had to say was very simple; he wouldn't have mentioned it
+himself, but Mrs. Clifton had asked him to. To cut a long story short,
+wasn't it a shame that gentlemen should throw bouquets on the stage when
+Lily was giving her show? Like last night, for instance: why, it was
+making game of a child, putting ideas into her head! Lily, of course, paid
+no attention to it. However, was it or was it not allowed to throw or send
+bouquets on the stage?
+
+"Why, you know it is!" said Jimmy. "How would you have me prevent it?"
+
+If he could have prevented it, he would. To begin with, Jimmy realized the
+bothers which it brought down upon Lily. Moreover, Jimmy, who was vaguely
+uneasy himself, wondered who that ardent admirer could be. Some of
+Roofer's girls thought they had recognized Trampy, from the stage, in the
+front seats. What Jimmy had heard of Trampy did not inspire him with
+confidence. And Trampy, it appeared, was making love to Lily. Mr. Fuchs
+had met them at the corner of Oxford Street and Newman Street. The story
+was quite definite.
+
+Jimmy was astonished at the audacity of a Trampy: what could he say to
+her? he asked himself, what could he propose to her? Marriage? He was
+married, they said, in America. To run away with him? His scandalous life,
+his habit of easy conquest made this very likely. Jimmy had seen plenty of
+others, big ones who topped the bill and who did not despise a girl's
+companionship--on the contrary--and six months later, a year, two years
+later, left the girl in a hole, stranded, undone; mustard and game for Jim
+Crow. And he grew more and more anxious on Lily's behalf: not that Lily
+would come to that! Yet he had seen plenty of them, since he had
+frequented the stage, plenty of Lilies who had taken to flight for
+injuries often less serious than hers. He could have mentioned names: his
+head was full of those who let their anger, or their folly, get the better
+of them and escaped at random, and who went back to every-day
+life--through the door of scandal--sometimes to meet with worse: martyrdom
+of the heart, base exploitation in the name of love. Oh, he pitied them
+from the bottom of his soul! No, Lily shouldn't run away: it was
+impossible! But what a pity, all the same, that he could think of it! And
+what chance, what meeting would settle her fate and make her--who could
+say?--the companion of a loving heart, or a prey to some footy rotter? Oh,
+how he would have liked to go for Trampy, to break his jaw for him, to
+teach him to mind his business and leave Lily alone! And what Jimmy wanted
+to do he was never far from doing! And, then, oh, if he could procure a
+good position for Clifton, as an equivalent for his star and make Lily
+love him, marry him: that would be better still!
+
+This idea, perhaps, without his knowing it, dominated his present life,
+doubled his power of work: to invent something! To get himself talked
+about! To make money, plenty of money, become somebody! Others before him
+had risen from nothing. Harrasford, to go no farther ... a chap who had
+climbed every rung of the ladder: a small music-hall first; then two; then
+a big one; then two; then ten. And a whole army now toiling and moiling
+for him every night, for him the chief and master.
+
+"Oh!" thought Jimmy. "If I could only climb the ladder too!"
+
+First of all, he must choose his line, for his efforts to tell. And, since
+chance had given him a start at the theater, why not go on? Here his
+scientific luggage would be of use to him. It was only a question of
+adding pluck to it. He was the man to do so and now more than ever. Things
+which used to seem impossible to him, such as his invention published in
+_Engineering_, appeared quite feasible, now that he had watched Lily do
+her wonderful feats of balancing on the stage. It was only a question of
+courage and hard practice. Another line suggested itself: to find capital
+and start a theater. As regards the stage itself, by this time he
+understood the management of it from grid to cellar. He seemed to take in
+at a glance that huge entirety, from the flies with their windlasses,
+their bridges, the labyrinth of stairs, the maze of passages, down to the
+dressing-rooms and the painted faces that filled them: here, a Lily;
+there, a buck nigger; farther on, a living-picture girl. He felt all this
+rustle round him, carried it all in his head: he knew it all, from the
+porter's box at the stage-door to the glittering front of the house, with
+its palm-trees and its liveried chuckers-out. Jimmy knew what to think of
+the enchantments of the stage, those luminous visions which the audience
+admired to the tune of the orchestra: jealousies, vanities, hatreds to
+knock up against and calm down; recruits to put through their paces; and
+the whole day of it--and the whole night, too--for a few pounds a week,
+including the tips received from the artistes, twenty-five to forty
+shillings a month.
+
+But Jimmy had his idea: he was determined to obtain a thorough grasp of
+the business; he had already taken possession of the stage-manager's room
+and of his desk with the many compartments: photographs, programs,
+contracts, electric light, staff, scenery. A whole small people depended
+upon him, and asked his advice, bragged of its successes or told him of
+its misfortunes. And here again was Clifton continuing his jeremiads: they
+would drive his daughter silly by making game of her, pretending to be in
+love with her, at her age! Jimmy listened attentively, with one eye on the
+stage and the other on his watch:
+
+"Tut!" he said, trying to arrange things. "There's no great harm in
+receiving bouquets on the stage. However, as you object, if any more of
+them come, they shall be handed to you, to dispose of as you please.
+That's all that I can do."
+
+It was gradually filling up behind Clifton and Jimmy; the iron door was
+constantly slamming upon the passage; knowing-looking Roofer girls passed,
+two by two, always two by two, joked for a moment with the scene shifters,
+shook hands here and there, disappeared up the dressing-room staircase.
+There was life, swarming life, everywhere, in the corners, behind the
+back-cloth. The New Zealanders arrived, with Lily and her Ma, for Ma never
+left her now, for fear of the gentlemen who prowled around like famished
+hyenas: villains who did not hesitate to throw bouquets on the stage to
+make ugly girls think they were pretty!
+
+Lily seemed sad. She stopped for a moment. A haunting serenade droned
+across the stage, a Spanish melody sung by soft tremolo voices, with
+tapping of tambourines. It reminded her of Mexico: everything reminded her
+of that time now. She compared herself with Ave Maria. Oh, she would have
+liked to tell the whole world how she was treated, just the plain
+truth!--in her own little way. But no one cared, not even that rotten
+josser of a journalist, with his article published in _The Piccadilly
+Magazine_. It made her out a spoiled child, who had learned to ride in the
+country-lanes, with her French governess, and who had surprised her father
+and mother by coming home one day with her head on the saddle of her
+bicycle and her feet in the air, thereby causing an unparalleled scandal
+in that old Yorkshire family. Since then, they had been obliged to yield
+to her fancies and allow her to go on the stage with her little troupe of
+friends. Her salary? Ten pounds a night. Her recreation? The banjo....
+
+"Rotten josser of a journalist!" thought Lily.
+
+Nevertheless, she was flattered at heart because of the ten pounds a night
+and the governess.
+
+But things happened to distract her thoughts: the Three Graces entered in
+their turn, followed by Nunkie; they stood talking for a few moments,
+while the apprentices went and dressed; and Lily soon followed them, after
+a last glance at a little woman and her "partner," who were getting things
+ready for their performance---some little hoops, two cardboard bottles,
+gilt balls--and then waited humbly in the shadow.
+
+Lily recognized Para, who used to exhibit a troupe of parrots; somebody
+had put her "in his show," no doubt, the Para-Paras, a new turn.
+
+"How poor she looks!" Lily could not help whispering to Ma.
+
+"You'll be worse off yourself, some day," said Ma, "if you go on as you're
+doing! Don't laugh at other people."
+
+Lily had dressed quickly and had come down to the stage with the Three
+Graces and they had ten minutes of joking behind the scenes, while Ma was
+still up-stairs, busy with the girls. Thea walked on tip-toe to restore
+the circulation to her legs; Kala practised back-bendings: Lily applauded
+with the tip of her thumbnail, flung back her head and laughed and, from
+time to time, looked round over her shoulder to see if Ma was coming
+down.
+
+She amused herself also by feeling Thea's arms, all those little muscles
+which stood out, man's arms: she would have liked to nestle in them, to
+feel herself squeezed till she cried out. And everything around them
+savored of love: there were lots of Roofers; little intrigues were
+embarked upon; there were stifled fits of laughter and cries of "Hands
+off!" and "Stop!" Amorous speeches and stories of romantic adventures were
+exchanged in whispers; the flight of the Gilson girl, the other day, at
+Liverpool, was told in full detail; a Roofer, it seemed, giving a high
+kick the day before, had sent her slipper flying into the audience; it was
+returned to her filled with chocolate creams; and to-day there was a
+boquet with a letter in it.
+
+Ting! The curtain, the light; and, on the stage, the Roofers were
+glittering with gold and silver and their boyish voices came in gusts,
+punctuated by the jerky flights of their short skirts.
+
+"Your old sweetheart, eh, Lily?" said Thea, pointing to the boy-violinist,
+who had just arrived.
+
+Lily had only a careless glance for the boy-violinist, who was wiping his
+eye-glasses and pulling at his cuffs, while a call-boy was adjusting the
+false seat into which two bulldogs would presently dig their teeth. All
+the fascination was gone for Lily: it was no longer the child prodigy; a
+grotesque Orpheus, in a laurel and parsley crown, he now introduced his
+music-hating dogs, who interrupted his performance with plaintive and
+angry howls and ended by leaping at the seat of his trousers in a mad rush
+across the stage.
+
+Lily, who had "gone through the mill," looked upon him as a mere josser,
+had for him the instinctive contempt entertained by the real artiste for
+those fiddlers, those singers, those dancers and other drones brought up
+with blows of the hat.
+
+"Pooh! I have some one better than that," exclaimed Lily, excited by the
+proximity of the Roofers.
+
+"If you have any one better than that and he loves you," said Thea, in a
+dreamy voice, "love him, Lily, keep him; as for me, I no longer risk
+having to do with men."
+
+"I do!" Lily whispered, with a frightened glance around her. "As much as I
+can! I love talking to men! Why, Thea, and don't you like love letters and
+p.-c.'s?"
+
+Ting! Ting! Orpheus left the stage, with his bulldogs hanging to him.
+
+Ting! It was dark again; ropes, plated rings were let down from the flies;
+the Three Graces, like quivering marble statues, took one another by the
+hand to make their entrance.
+
+Ting! From their perches on either side, two electricians sent the
+lime-light beating down on an involved group of ropes, bars and hardened
+limbs.
+
+Ting! A crescendo in the orchestra and, bowing to the audience across the
+footlights, the Three Graces made their exit, their smiles suddenly
+hollowed out into tired wrinkles, but cheerful nevertheless. And Nunkie
+wiped their foreheads with his checked handkerchief, helped them on with
+their big cloaks; and the three goddesses were now just a wrapped-up
+group, limping off to the staircase, like gouty patients at a spa.
+
+Ting! A forest scene is let down, the wings are shifted. A click of
+chains, a flash of steel. The bikes in the shadow, the apprentices
+mounted, Lily leading.
+
+"And try to do your best, my Lily."
+
+"Yes, Pa."
+
+"And try to behave."
+
+"Yes, Ma."
+
+Ting!
+
+Lily gave a nervous smile. She always felt a little thrill before going
+on. Then, quick, in Indian file, two and two, three and three, the New
+Zealanders whirled round in the light, to the roar of a triumphal air.
+
+Pa ground his teeth and clenched his fists the moment he heard his music:
+at the mere sight of his Lily, his seven stone of flesh and bones adapted
+to the machine, unerring and exact, an immense intoxication exalted his
+pride, gladness dilated his heart. At last! He was there now: German
+discipline! English gracefulness! Everything! He, too, would have his
+London home, with a lawn behind the house and a plot of rose-trees. He
+would learn the meaning of family joys, as Nunkie understood them, with
+texts along the staircase: "Welcome!" and "God bless our home!" And, more
+and more excited, he built up his dream; his imagination gave itself scope
+amid the unreal scenery, the forest depths, the green and gold sky and his
+Lily, his faultless Lily, haloed in light! Every hope was permissible when
+he looked at his Lily, his joy, his handiwork! His New Zealander on
+Wheels! That india-rubber suppleness, those little nerves of iron, his
+Lily, his glory, his star, his own star! He romanced about her, dreamed of
+an imperial tour, a steamer of his own, a floating Barnum's show, with
+Roofers, elephants, rhinoceroses, Ave Marias, dogs, monkeys, the whole
+boiling; and Lily starring on her bike, stopping in every port, from
+Liverpool to Suez, from Suez to Yokohama: down to the desert, damn it, to
+show the whole world what an artiste he, Clifton, he, the father, had made
+of his Lily! And he looked at her with loving eyes, applauded her with a
+smile, restored her self-possession with a twitch of the eyebrow and
+counted her twirls on the back-wheel--O pride unspeakable!--a dozen!
+
+[Illustration: SHE NEVER LOST SIGHT OF LILY]
+
+Ma, standing by him, interested herself less in the show and, neglecting
+the artiste, watched the daughter and the faces she made at the gentlemen:
+the brazen flapper, whose sole attraction lay in the wickedness in her
+blood! She never lost sight of Lily and watched her closely, for Ma seemed
+always to catch her throwing an appealing glance to the seducers in the
+front boxes, to some St. George in full dress who would dart across the
+footlights to carry off her daughter.
+
+Thus caught between Pa and Ma, Lily's situation was hard indeed. As for
+the audience, she never troubled about it, from custom, like a true
+professional, who gives her performance mechanically, without minding
+about the rest. The audience, to Lily, was, behind a streak of flame, in
+the semi-darkness, a confused mass of black and gray. All this had no
+existence for Lily or the apprentices. The audience didn't pay them! The
+audience wouldn't give her a whacking if the show went badly! Pa, in the
+wings, frightened her much more than all the audiences in the world; and
+Ma was worse still, when a gentleman smiled at her from a box. Then Lily
+would stare at her Ma with the terrified eye of a parrot contemplating
+Para's whip. She even exaggerated, pinched her lips, like a school-girl
+applying herself to her book for fear of the ferule. Ma did not ask so
+much as that. Sometimes, when Lily, after a successful trick, threw out
+her chest to draw breath more easily and rode round the stage with a
+pretty smile on her lips, Ma saw no harm in it, even rejoiced within
+herself at her daughter's beauty. Ma knew how to be just and not to be
+angry for nothing. But what she could not forgive, what exasperated her
+was, just that very evening, with her own eyes, to see Lily smile at some
+person unknown and shoot fiery glances at the front boxes, the little
+devil, who would bring them to the grave with shame!
+
+For Lily, it must be confessed, flung prudence to the winds that night.
+Her head was turned with all those love stories. They sang in her ears,
+they distended her nostrils. Oppressed on every side, she escaped in
+imagination toward that spacious house, toward the confused mass in which
+her lover sat hidden. And, in spite of Pa and in spite of Ma, who stood
+watching her in the wings, Lily searched the audience with her eyes. Was
+it really Trampy? Had he come back? She had not met him for some time. She
+wanted to know and he would surely reveal himself. Ma might say what she
+pleased. Even in the final pyramid, she looked, while, with one apprentice
+on her shoulders, another forked before her, another standing behind, two
+others on either side, she twice went round the stage, with flags waving,
+to the hurricane of the orchestra. And then ting! And darkness anew, the
+stage suddenly invaded by scene-shifters dragging heavy sets along; and
+Lily, passing out, was seized by her Ma, who said:
+
+"Who were you laughing at?"
+
+"I wasn't laughing, Ma!"
+
+"I'll teach you to make eyes at gentlemen, you baggage you! I saw you this
+time! I saw you!" grumbled Ma, who had the engagement ring still upon her
+mind. "You shall pay for this, Lily; we'll see if I can drive the devil
+out of you or not!"
+
+And Ma squeezed Lily's arm as if she meant to break it, but all this
+noiselessly, in the shadow, behind the scenery, for fear of the stage
+manager. Besides, it was nobody's business what a mother thought fit to
+say to her daughter, and Lily, when people passed, pluckily tried to
+smile, so as to put them off, not to let them know that she was being
+beaten, a big girl like her; but, as soon as they were gone, she resumed
+her rebellious face.
+
+"I wasn't laughing, I wasn't laughing, Ma!"
+
+"That's to teach you to lie!" said Ma, catching her a blow in the back of
+the neck.
+
+The door of the staircase had swung to behind them; and, in the empty
+passage, the thumps continued all the way to the dressing-room, which the
+apprentices had not yet reached. Then, once inside, Ma pushed the bolt and
+made a rush at Lily. And Lily raised her elbow in vain: accompanied by a
+furious series of grunts--"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!"--Ma's diligent fist "signed a
+contract on her back":
+
+"And don't you dare to cry out, or I'll give it you twice as hard!"
+
+Lily, bruised all over, felt inclined to scratch her mother, like a
+wildcat; but the apprentices were coming. So she cooled her head in a
+basin of cold water and dressed with all speed, assisted by Ma, who
+perhaps regretted having been so hasty; but you had to be, with devils
+like that! And Ma's anger returned when, on reaching the stage again, she
+was herself, in accordance with Jimmy's orders, handed a bouquet intended
+for Miss Lily. What, another! Lily, following her down the stairs with the
+New Zealanders, saw Ma take the bouquet and toss it through the open
+door.
+
+"Come along," said Ma. "Give me your arm, Lily."
+
+And the New Zealanders walked away from the brightly lit-up music-hall,
+plunged through the drifting crowd, crossed the eddy of cabs, motors,
+'buses and, on the pavements, through the windows, had visions of elegant
+couples at sumptuous tables. Then they all went through the dark streets;
+and Lily, escorted by Pa and Ma, followed the herd of girls. Her face was
+hard and, from an angry brow, she shot glances askance at flight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+Now Trampy--even if he had to marry her for it, by Jove!--had set his mind
+on having Lily, at any cost; and that not only because of her prettiness,
+but also that he might play Clifton a damned good trick and teach him that
+he must smart for treating a gentleman as he had treated him in Mexico. It
+would be paying him out with interest to take his Lily from him. Besides,
+think of the credit it would give Trampy in the profession to have for his
+wife the prettiest, the cleverest girl on the boards, each of whose shows,
+when she performed alone, would be worth at least three pounds, as much as
+a whole troupe! He suspected in her the ripe fruit that was bound to drop;
+and he shook the tree to hasten the fall. He considered his reputation at
+stake: he, the man with the thirty-six girls, as he was called at the
+music-hall. He got caught in his own toils and wanted Lily madly, out of
+revenge and pride ... and jealousy too, for he suspected that Jimmy was
+courting her; and the idea that he had a rival inflamed his ardor.
+
+In the evening, pen in hand, in his dressing-room, or else at a table in a
+cafe, after a second and a third glass of old port, he prepared his
+batteries: letters, post-cards, he excelled in everything, was careful
+about his phrases, with the vanity of an author whose writings are widely
+quoted. Lily was "fascinating" and "bewildering;" he compared her to
+"those strange Indian poppies whose scent intoxicates a man and sometimes
+gives him death." Gee, but that set Lily dreaming! Fancy having all that
+in her! Who on earth would have thought it? Never mind, it was very nice.
+
+And the way in which she received her correspondence amused her as much as
+the rest. Trampy, it goes without saying, did not write direct: a few
+pence to Tom, who hated Clifton, and Lily received the cards in secret,
+devoured them when she was alone and then quickly tore them into little
+pieces and sent them flying through the window.
+
+Her trouble was how to answer. She really did not know what to say:
+
+  "Pa was so angry with the girls yesterday. I got a kick of the pedal
+  on my shin. Otherwise I am quite well. Excuse more for the present. I
+  must now conclude.
+
+                                                              "Lily."
+
+By return of post, she received "a thousand kisses on her rosy cheeks, on
+her fair tresses, everywhere," kisses without end.
+
+"He's mad," thought Lily.
+
+But she was greatly flattered by Trampy's attentions. He treated her as a
+woman, not as a child, as Pa and Ma went out of their way to do. Her life,
+after all, would be more agreeable if she was Trampy's wife; and he was
+delivering the attack in person, since his return from Lancashire, where
+he had traveled about with his property red-hot stove. He overwhelmed her
+with bouquets, even as a general bombards a bastion before the final
+assault, and he managed to meet her now. He dazzled Lily with his big gold
+watch-chain and the diamond in his tie. When he was able to whisper a word
+to her, it was always the same thing--"Motor-cars! Paris gowns! Jewels!
+Flowers!"--until Lily thought she saw all the shop-windows in Regent
+Street poured out at her feet.
+
+Jimmy made but a sorry lover, compared with Trampy. He never promised
+anything, silk dresses, diamonds or jewels. "The husband at work, the wife
+at home." Gee, there were no ostrich-feathers in that! But he adored her
+all the same, as Lily was well able to see; and she had many occasions to
+talk to both of them. Not that Lily was less closely watched. She never
+went out alone, but it was not always Ma who was at her heels: it was
+sometimes Glass-Eye. With faithful Glass-Eye, things took their own course
+and the interviews with Trampy became easy. As for Jimmy, he saw her every
+day at practice and he took that opportunity to tell her of his ideas, his
+plans for the future.
+
+"I shall succeed, you will see, Lily," he said. "I shall do something some
+day. I'm a bit of a mechanic, a bit of an electrician, that is to say, a
+bit of a wizard. Others have started lower down and climbed very high."
+
+"Yes," replied Lily, "I know. It's like Pa. He wasn't much before he got
+me into shape; and look at him now!"
+
+This was said with an artless candor that enraptured Jimmy.
+
+"What a dear little girlie you are!" he said. "What an adorable kid!"
+
+"That's right," retorted Lily. "Why not a baby, while you're about it, a
+school-girl in the biking-class and so on? Some people treat me as a
+woman, Jimmy, and propose to marry me!"
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"What I say, Jimmy."
+
+"And this man making up to you is worthy of you, I suppose? And do you
+love him?" asked Jimmy, greatly upset.
+
+"Pooh!" said Lily. "I'm not quite sure."
+
+"But you wouldn't marry him unless you loved him?"
+
+"I should marry him to change my life."
+
+"A change, Lily," said Jimmy, with feeling, "is not always a change for
+the better! And your life is a little pleasanter now, you told me so
+yourself. Your mother is sorry. You're getting pocket-money; ten shillings
+a week, eh? Why, Lily, that's splendid!"
+
+"Well; and I earn it, I suppose," said Lily. "And Ma isn't a bit sorry. Pa
+said he wouldn't have it, that's all. They were afraid of my running away
+if it went on. I am no longer a child!"
+
+"No," said Jimmy, taking her hands, "an adorable girl; that's what you
+are. Oh, a man whom you would love should do great things! He would love
+you with all his heart! And your life would be different then! No, you
+would not be a performing dog, as you call it; you would be a darling
+little wife. It's all very well to rove about the world, from theater to
+theater, riding round and round on your bike...."
+
+"I adore the stage, for all that!" interrupted Lily.
+
+"But that can't go on for ever," continued Jimmy. "You're entitled to have
+a nicer life: a home of your own, Lily; you have the making of a lady in
+you, if you were taught. In a year or two, Lily, you would be the equal of
+any lady in the land."
+
+"Learning, more learning, always learning! I've had enough of it in my
+life!" muttered Lily, affected, nevertheless, by Jimmy's intense
+excitement, and lowering her eyes under his glance.
+
+"Why, yes, Lily, always learning, that's life!" said Jimmy. "But the other
+chap, of course, promises you the earth! Some millionaire, I suppose: an
+admirer in the front boxes?"
+
+"He's an artiste," said Lily.
+
+"Why," said Jimmy, stepping back, without letting go of her. "But, no,
+it's impossible; you're not thinking of Trampy!"
+
+"Why not?" said Lily angrily, trying to release herself from Jimmy's
+passionate grasp.
+
+"Why, because ... because he's a drunkard ... a ... The other day I saw
+him at the bar of the Crown, as I was passing. He was blind-drunk."
+
+"What's the good of talking?" said Lily. "He's miserable. He worships me.
+He drinks to forget. He told me so himself!"
+
+"But they say he's married," said Jimmy. "Why ..."
+
+"It's mean and jealous of you to say that," said Lily, suddenly
+withdrawing her hands. "You deserve a smacking! How can he be married,
+when he wants to marry me?"
+
+And with that she left him and went up to the dressing-room.
+
+Jimmy was heartbroken.
+
+"It's a joke of Lily's ... as in my shop, some months ago, when she
+pretended to have a sweetheart, though she hadn't!"
+
+But, argue as he would, Jimmy thought with terror of Trampy's habits of
+conquest, of his reputation in the profession as a Don Juan. He bitterly
+regretted waiting so long to speak to Lily. He had thought that he was
+pleasing her by keeping in the background, for fear of causing her
+annoyance at home: was his sole offense now that of coming too late?
+
+Oh, if he had only had evidence to hand! But Trampy's marriage was one of
+those vague rumors. One could say nothing for certain. However, the
+danger, no doubt, was not yet imminent. And Jimmy had a friend who was
+doing America in the theaters of the Eastern and Western Trust: he
+resolved to write to him; the friend would receive his letter at the
+Majestic, Houston, Texas, or at the Denver Orpheum. The thing had happened
+over there; they would probably remember it in the theaters he passed
+through; he could make inquiries, perhaps even obtain proofs. That
+exquisite Lily, that masterpiece of grace: what a darling wife she would
+make! And all for Trampy! Jimmy was determined to do everything to prevent
+it.
+
+He did not despair of supplying Lily, before long, with the proof that
+Trampy was married; he would give the name, the date; he would compel
+Trampy to admit it. But he was not sure enough yet to accuse him openly:
+Lily would have seen nothing in it but a ridiculous jealousy and would
+never have forgiven him.
+
+Then Jimmy was worried: people came to him for this, for that, for the
+thousand details of the stage.
+
+Lily, on her side, left the theater. That day, she was accompanied by
+Maud, who fixed her with her glass eye, while the other was engaged in
+watching the flies. Of course, Trampy was prowling round the theater to
+see her part of the way home; for he, too, had decided to carry things
+with a high hand. And he set to work at a quicker pace than ever.
+
+He had none of Jimmy's scruples; he was not afraid of exaggerating: far
+from it. Lily always left him under the impression of a glimpse of
+paradise. This time, however, she failed to smile when Trampy vowed that
+she was "the sweetest little thing that one could lay eyes on, by Jove!"
+For a long time, but especially since that morning, she had been burning
+to put a question to him. Possibly she had no intention of marrying him,
+but she wouldn't allow him to make a fool of her; and she interrupted him
+in his compliments to ask if what they said was true.
+
+"Who says so? It's a lie!" Trampy hastened to answer.
+
+"I mean your marriage," replied Lily.
+
+"I thought as much," said Trampy.
+
+"Tell me the truth," persisted Lily innocently, looking him straight in
+the eyes.
+
+"If I was married, Lily, would I want to marry you?"
+
+"Of course not," said Lily, already shaken.
+
+"Who's been talking to you about that?" asked Trampy. "Your Pa, eh? And
+Jimmy: I'll bet that Jimmy ...?"
+
+"Jimmy too."
+
+"If I don't box that fellow's ears!" shouted Trampy. "Can't you see that
+he's jealous? Why? He didn't even give you my bouquets! He handed them to
+your Ma! And so I've been married, eh? Whereabouts? In America, I'll
+wager?"
+
+"Yes, somewhere on the Western Tour."
+
+"Of course," said Trampy. "That's what I've heard myself. Still, it seems
+to me that, if I had a wife, I ought to be the first to know it; don't you
+think so, Lily?"
+
+This was proof positive. Lily could find nothing to answer.
+
+"Come and have a drink, Lily?"
+
+"They're waiting for me at home," said Lily.
+
+Trampy went into the bar alone, in a desperate state of love which made
+him call for a port and another, by Jove! Then he sat down at a table in a
+corner, lit a cigar and examined his glass, as though truth lay at the
+bottom. For he could not tell for certain. Was he married or was he not?
+That's what he himself would like to know! According to him, upon his soul
+and conscience, he was not a married man; he did himself that justice.
+Opportunities, certainly, had not been wanting ... with all the girls he
+had known ... enough to fill a dozen beauty-shows. Sometimes even he had
+had a narrow escape, as in that damned town in the West, in one of those
+states where you can't so much as take a girl to supper without finding
+yourself married to her in the morning, all for entering yourself in the
+hotel book as "Mr. and Mrs. Trampy," in other words, as man and wife. And
+yet he couldn't ask the girl who adored him to sleep on the mat! Yes, a
+poor girl who had found glowing words in which to tell him her love, one
+night in Mexico, words which had set Trampy quivering with longing
+compassion: was he to be reproached with that? He had made her happy,
+after all; and, on the whole, this lark was one of his pleasantest
+memories; it hadn't lasted too long: a matter of a few weeks at most. He
+had left Mexico, taking the girl with him, and played Trampy Wheel-Pad in
+the Western States, with any amount of success, by Jove! Encores, packets
+of tobacco, a new suit of clothes! And, by way of _entr'acte_, the
+girl--"Tramp Wheel-Pad's Jumping Flea," as she was called--turned
+somersaults and flip-flaps. But she would have killed him, this dark girl
+with great dark eyes,--this girl with a boy's figure, all muscle and
+sinew, keeping him awake all night and talking of nothing but smackings,
+as though she had never learned anything else. And so much in love that
+she would bite and scratch: a very tigress. Any one but himself would have
+wearied of it. And then, one fine morning, for coupling their names in the
+visitors' book, they found themselves married, in the name of the law! And
+that was what people called a marriage! So little married were they,
+according to him, that he had given her the slip then and there, leaving
+her all the money he possessed, however: he was not the man to look at
+fifteen dollars, when honor demanded it. Trampy had had more stories of
+this kind in his life; they left as much impression on his mind as the
+recollection of a "schooner" swallowed at a bar on a summer night.
+
+It was dishonest, he considered, to pretend that he was married. Not that
+he was perfect: far from it! He did not set up as a model. He had had
+scandals in his life: he admitted it humbly; and, if some jealous person,
+some Jimmy, for instance, wanted to do him harm, all he had to do was to
+dig in the heap, instead of hawking round that story of an imaginary
+marriage.
+
+His differences with Poland, the Parisienne, for instance: a regular Mrs.
+Potiphar, that one. He had found it a hard job to get away from her. And
+ever and ever so many others! He couldn't remember. People were always
+talking ill of him. There was more than that, however: he, too, was
+capable of manly ambition; he, too, had taken a breakneck risk. He had
+perfected and patented at Washington an invention of which he had seen a
+drawing, by accident, in a scientific journal--_Engineering_, or
+another--a purely theoretical invention. The inventor himself, a young
+London electrician, declared it to be unrealizable. Well, he,
+Trampy--Poland had helped him with her purse; she was very nice about
+it--he, Trampy, had had the thing made. He had deposited the models at the
+Patent Office; and the apparatus itself was now in a London storage. He
+would get it out, some day, and show them all what he was capable of.
+
+Now he was wrong, perhaps, in abandoning Poland, after accepting her
+services; but, after all, those were matters which concerned nobody but
+himself. It was not fair play to tell Lily about them: she, he felt, would
+always be the girl of his heart, the thirty-seventh and last, and it would
+take a better man than Jimmy to snatch her from him!
+
+Already, it was much to have pacified Lily on that incident of the
+marriage: Lily believed him. One thing, however, disquieted Trampy:
+bigamy, all the same, meant doing time. Now, if some jealous person
+produced the proof of that marriage, contracted under the Western law ...
+suppose it were valid ... really valid? H'm! Was he going to lose Lily for
+that? And his liberty into the bargain? That Lily who was worth her weight
+in gold, love and fortune in one!
+
+Trampy resolved to broach this delicate subject:
+
+"Suppose I was married," he hinted, one day, "that wouldn't matter.
+Couldn't we ... live together ... eh?"
+
+"I like your style!" said Lily, feeling slightly indignant at such a
+proposal. "What do you take me for?"
+
+"I was only joking," Trampy hastened to say. "If you want to be married,
+I'm quite agreeable."
+
+"I insist upon it!"
+
+"So then you prefer to take strangers into our confidence?"
+
+"What strangers?" asked Lily, in surprise.
+
+"Why, the quill-drivers at Somerset House and those damned fire-escapes."
+
+Lily had enough religion to know that the fire-escape was the clergyman:
+
+"As for that," she said, "we shall see later; but I want the registrar's
+office. If I'm to be your little wife, I want to be so for good and all:
+marriage or nothing!"
+
+"I shall be delighted, Lily!"
+
+"And I'm determined!"
+
+Lily was the more bent upon it, because marriage made her free: that was
+the essential point. If she were not married, her parents could make her
+come back, she thought ... keep her with them ... gee! It gave her cold
+shivers down the back! Once married, she was protected by law; Pa and Ma
+had nothing to say; and so she was very keen upon marriage.
+
+"What a dear little wife she'll make!" thought Trampy. "And how she loves
+me!"
+
+That, however, did not advance matters. It was all very well for him to
+put his arm round her waist, to talk softly to her, to whisper those words
+which had already won him so many conquests:--one day, even, he had kissed
+her on the lips,--Lily thought that very nice; it was all very well for
+him to cut a dash at the bar, to stand her a claret and a biscuit; it was
+all very well for him to sing his love-litany: all this did not help him;
+at the rate at which he was going, he wouldn't get anywhere in six
+months.
+
+Lily, between those two jossers, amused herself immensely. How lucky she
+was! Two men, at her age! They irritated her, sometimes; when they went
+too far--Trampy, especially, who got excited at the game--anyhow, it was a
+homage paid to her beauty. Between that and going away with him there was
+all the difference in the world! To leave home was quite another matter.
+Why, goodness, if things went on as they were, she could do without
+marriage at all!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+"Lily, come down!" Pa's voice thundered from below.
+
+Lily was out of bed in a bound. She could hardly tie her skirt-strings for
+trembling. Why was Pa in such a rage?
+
+The moment Lily entered her parents' room, she realized what it was. Pa
+was holding a letter in his hand and scowling at her.
+
+"These are nice stories I hear!" he cried. "You let men kiss you? You've
+got a love affair? Come, Lily, is this true?"
+
+"It's Jimmy's doing," thought Lily. "The mean cur! He's given me away!"
+
+Pa went on hotly:
+
+"And you're going to marry, are you? To marry Trampy? Here, read that!"
+
+Lily felt hopeless. She took the letter, but did not attempt to read it.
+White with fear, could she have sprung through the window and fled, she
+would have done so.
+
+"Well," Pa went on apace, growing more and more excited, "is all this
+true? All that they tell me: about your receiving letters, post-cards,
+jewelry ... and that ring! I've seen it! You're going to marry Trampy, are
+you? Oh, the man who writes to me knows all about it, saw you with him at
+the corner of Oxford Street and Newman Street. Is that true, miss? What
+did you have to tell him, pray? Speak out!"
+
+Lily, terror-stricken, could only droop her head.
+
+"It's true then that you want to get married, you baggage!"
+
+"Pa!" cried Lily.
+
+But he, with an "Ah!" of rage, sprang upon her, clutched her mass of hair,
+banged her head against the wall:
+
+"On your knees! Say, 'I--beg--your--par--don--'"
+
+And, Bang! Bang! Bang! The phrase was punctuated with thumps.
+
+"Oh, Clifton," implored Ma, "stop! Not so hard!"
+
+"Beg--par--don! Beg--par--don!" continued Pa, without relenting.
+
+Lily was half-stunned, the world throbbed before her eyes, and, delirious
+with wrath, she hissed:
+
+"Never!"
+
+"But I say, I say you shall not marry him! I'll kill you first!"
+
+"Yes, I will marry him, yes, yes, I will marry him! kill me, if you like!
+God is my witness that I had not thought of getting married, but, as you
+say so, I will!"
+
+His fist closed her mouth. She clasped her arms about her head, to protect
+herself as best she could, but soon sank to the floor, fainting....
+
+For three days she was in bed, broken, dazed--then, no sooner on her feet,
+than off to the theater, guarded by Pa and Ma. If they could, they would
+have padlocked a chain to her ankle and a collar about her neck. Ma
+chilled Lily with her scornful pity, or racked her with repeated insults:
+
+"A disgrace to the family! You'll be the death of us!"
+
+She would shower cuffs upon Lily, throw books at her head, or whatever
+came readiest to hand. Lily hid the books, the umbrellas, shrank into
+corners, longing to cry; but the tears refused to come. She was too angry.
+And, with head down, but eyes alert, she crouched like a dog rebelling
+under blows, with lips drawn back above her teeth, ready to bite.
+
+"I'm going out, or I'll kill her!" growled Pa, slamming the door behind
+him.
+
+Pa was thoroughly upset: for Lily to leave him! Just when Hauptmann was
+starting a fifth troupe; when Pawnee was drawing full houses with his
+three stars; when competition was increasing and threatening: it meant
+disaster, certain ruin, the disbanding of his troupe, his contracts
+canceled. He seethed with indignation; or else, in despair, felt like
+taking Lily in his arms, seating her on his knee, begging her to tell him
+that it was all a nightmare, that she would never marry, never marry that
+Trampy: his good little Lily ... whom her Pa would cover with diamonds!
+She should have all she wished, and everything, if only she would assure
+him that it was not true that Trampy, that ungrateful cur, whom he, Pa,
+had picked out of the gutter, was going to steal his Lily! That damned Jim
+Crow! Pa, in his fury, bought a revolver to scatter the footy rotter's
+brains with, but Trampy received the tip from Tom and vanished, hey,
+presto, leaving no trace, allowing no sign of himself to crop up anywhere.
+Pa's rage was vented on his daughter.
+
+Happily for her, Lily now was a model of conduct. She felt thoroughly
+calm. Peace seemed to reign in the house. Lily was such a gentle little
+thing! One day--the very day on which Tom passed her a note from Trampy
+and she made a package of her new dress and of her photographs, and
+souvenirs--that evening, as she kissed her father and mother, tears came
+to her eyes. Then, instead of going to the kitchen, she fetched her
+bundle, stealthily opened the street-door and ran to the corner, where
+Trampy was waiting in a hansom, and hi, off for the holidays, the
+champagne, the long-dreamed-of Paradise!
+
+
+
+
+PLAYING 'EM IN
+
+I
+
+
+They were seated on the basket trunk marked, "Trampy Wheel-Pad," in big
+black letters. The steamer had left Harwich and was making for Holland.
+The English coast was disappearing in the mist. On the deck, a heap of
+luggage and parcels made a sort of nest for them. Trampy, with his dear
+little wife by his side, was thinking of the future ... so many things
+which he had flashed before Lily's eyes and which he could not give her
+... not directly, at least ... but, pooh, she'd get used to it by degrees.
+The great thing, to Trampy, was that he had his Lily! He was going to
+stuff himself to the throat with love and, first of all, to seek a shelter
+for his sweet wife and himself. England was no place for them. Pa was
+prowling round and Jimmy, too. Once their anger was over and they found
+themselves face to face with the irreparable, everything would calm down;
+meantime, the wisest thing for Trampy and Lily was to be prudent and run
+away as fast as they could. Trampy had his plan, he had seen the agents:
+Holland and Belgium first; then a performance at Ludwig's Concert House,
+in Hamburg, and a brilliant first appearance before a hall filled with
+managers. Already he saw himself in the famous little room of the Cafe
+Grueber, where so many contracts were signed during the few days that the
+hearing-season lasted, and then he would have the whole continent, from
+St. Petersburg to Lisbon, make heaps of money, treat Lily like the little
+peach she was and cover her with diamonds, by Jove! Trampy, meanwhile, was
+none too easy in his mind: funds were low; the two pounds paid at the
+registrar's office had lightened his purse still more. Fortunately, the
+fire-escape had not had his seven-and-six-pence: that was so much saved.
+
+"A poor consolation," thought Trampy. "The price of a dog-license."
+
+But he was gay, nevertheless, in his wife's company. He forgot his
+thirty-six girls. He told Lily stories, made her squirm with laughter,
+played with her, dazzled her with the champagne suppers ... which they
+would have later on. Or else, like the consummate mummer that he was, he
+put on the gloomy countenance of a man about to reveal the secret of his
+heart:
+
+"I'm a wretch," he muttered, while Lily, in her innocence--Lily, who had
+been living on tenter-hooks since her flight from home a few days
+before--turned her frightened eyes upon him. "A miserable wretch ...
+married. Yes, it's true; I'm married, Lily."
+
+"It's true what they said? You're married?"
+
+"Yes, I am."
+
+"Oh, I knew it!" said Lily, in despair. "But then ... if you are ... I'm
+not!"
+
+"You silly little thing!" said Trampy, kissing her and taking her on his
+knee. "Yes, I'm married; yes; and no one shall separate us. Haven't I the
+prettiest little wife--here, on my knee--my little Lily?"
+
+"Oh, how you frightened me!" said Lily, nestling against him. "Oh, don't
+ever let us part!"
+
+With a wife like that, said Trampy to himself, a little discomfort more or
+less made no difference. As long as she had her dear husband, she would be
+happy. She would have eyes for nothing but him and would not care a fig
+for all the rest.
+
+Now she loved him: there was no doubt about that. She had left everything
+for him! He could even have had her without marriage, by Jove, and saved
+two pounds, if he had insisted! So he thought, at least, and he put a
+conquering arm round Lily's waist, while she, with her head on his
+shoulder, dreamed and dreamed, her eyes fixed upon the horizon. She was
+married! She had dared! She would be, at last, the little lady she had
+always been by instinct! And Lily went on building her castles in Spain
+until, after the smooth crossing, arriving at the Hook of Holland, she
+would not have been surprised to find her own motor-car and servants
+waiting for her on the quay. But no, she had to carry her bag herself,
+under the fine drizzle, upon the slippery pavement, to the train ... and
+third-class to Rotterdam. It was all very well for Trampy to adopt a
+triumphant air, but Lily was greatly vexed at the idea of going with her
+husband to a little hotel frequented by artistes, bill-toppers though they
+were. She would have liked something different.
+
+Trampy observed that, with her Pa....
+
+"With Pa," said Lily, "it was not the same thing ... and I'm not with Pa
+now."
+
+Trampy showed himself accommodating. That evening, Lily had the proud
+satisfaction of walking into a smart hotel, with waiters in the hall, as
+at the Horse Shoe. She carried her head high, conscious of being looked
+at. She would have liked always to shine like that--to sit down to meals
+amid the rustling of silk dresses ... but she felt uneasy in her modest
+attire. Trampy would be only too pleased to give her a new outfit, later
+on, yes; but as he explained to Lily, he had had so many expenses
+recently, wouldn't it be better to take rooms somewhere, in a sort of
+place like Lisle Street, or St. Pauli, at Hamburg? Lily yielded to these
+arguments, she had to; but it was a bitter grief for her to leave that
+fine hotel, where everybody saw her as a lady ... perhaps because of her
+big hat, on which a bird, flat-spread, opened wide its wings and held in
+its beak a diamond the size of an egg.
+
+And, thenceforth, the mean life returned: Lily relapsed among the potatoes
+and the wash-hand-basin salads. There were occasional revolts, tart words,
+sudden disputes, which, at times, wrinkled her forehead with anger....
+
+Nevertheless, she had her good moments: she enjoyed the sensation of being
+a lady who does no work, of wearing gloves and a big hat and of looking at
+the time on her fine gold watch while her husband is on the stage. It
+seemed pleasant to her no longer to appear before the audience doing her
+performing-dog tricks, with Pa scrutinizing her from the wings. It was her
+turn now to make one of the small nation: pas, mas, profs, bosses,
+brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, all watching their bread-winners on
+the boards. She mingled with them, or else sat down prettily in a corner,
+talked to the artistes: other Martellos, other Nunkies; new faces every
+week, according to the theaters they were at: owners of troupes; sketch
+comedians, serio-comics; dancers of the Roofer class; laced-up, glittering
+"Mdlles.;" or else, from time to time, some josser, a friend of the
+manager's or an agent, prowling around among the flesh-colored tights.
+Lily had seen all this a hundred times, a thousand times before, when she
+was with her parents; and the mere thought of Ma made her talk nicely,
+from bravado, to all of them, though she was married now. Lily bore Pa no
+malice, in spite of the buckled belt. Pa was a man, with hair on his chest
+and harsh like all of them ... no, not all ... and not so bad, perhaps ...
+not always ... no; however, a man.... But her Ma, a lady, ought to have
+stood up for her! If Ma could see her now, gee! Lily felt a lump in her
+throat at the notion. And it was their fault that she had run away! It
+served them right! She was much happier, now, when she was a lady in her
+turn. Her talent and her beauty received the homage due to them. Lily
+Clifton, the New Zealander, what ho! A famous name in the profession! She
+was one of those whom the stage people point out to one another:
+
+"Gee!" she sometimes heard a voice say behind her. "Fancy owning a girl
+like that and not having the sense to keep her!"
+
+Lily was flattered to the core at hearing her parents blamed; she felt
+inclined to rise and say, "'K you," with the great stage bow: her right
+hand on her heart, the other raising her dress, her body bent forward in a
+sweeping curtsey.
+
+She took part in the conversations: she knew a little Spanish, which she
+had learned in Mexico, and a little German, which she had picked up in
+America from the Three Graces; and besides they all jabbered English, they
+were all "families," "misses," "the's," with impossible accents,
+suggesting some of those cosmopolitan towns beyond the "Rockies." In this
+medley, she was at her ease; but she did not at all like being called
+Lily, now that she was a lady:
+
+"Call me Mrs. Trampy," she said.
+
+After the show, she would sit in the restaurant with Trampy. There, amid
+clouds of tobacco-smoke, they all supped in a crowd. There were separate
+tables, at which silent little parties gobbled down their cutlets and
+compote in ten minutes and then slipped away quietly. Sometimes, a whole
+band of girls would swoop down at once, like a flight of thrushes, or
+exchange funny remarks over other people's heads and blow volleys of
+kisses in every direction.
+
+Trampy, always full of good stuff, amused the company. He lorded it in the
+select corner, the corner of the stage-manager and the pretty girls. After
+supper, he cocked a cigar between his teeth and told thick stories in the
+midst of an admiring throng. Lily followed with her lips, so as not to
+lose a word, but, when the final point was at hand, she blushed in
+advance, turned away her head, as though tired of listening without
+understanding, and talked to her neighbor, like a lady who respects
+herself. Or, sometimes, it was more than she could help and Lily would
+laugh and laugh:
+
+"Oh, dear! Oh, my!"
+
+Then they would "talk shop" among pros, they passed one another the
+papers: _Der Artist, The Era, Das Program_, they discussed engagements,
+quoted personal anecdotes: the Ma who made her star go down to the
+kitchen, lest the landlady, when peeling the potatoes, should slip one
+into her pocket. Yes, her own daughter, a star who brought her in a
+hundred marks a day!
+
+"That's just like it!" thought Lily.
+
+They made fun of that prof who pinched his apprentices till the blood
+came, while pretending to smile, or clawed them like a monkey. And the
+company laughed and laughed, especially when Trampy put out his hand to
+Lily to show her how the monkeys ... Lily would jump back and the crowd
+roared with laughter. And the glasses of beer and Moselwein accumulated on
+the table; and round backs were bent over interminable games of cards....
+
+And then, gradually, the room emptied; the girls went away and Lily,
+waiting for her husband, sank into her chair and yawned as though her jaws
+would drop. As they left, she reproached Trampy for his coarseness: those
+horrid stories which made her blush before everybody's eyes. Her Pa would
+never have permitted himself ... She was not accustomed ...
+
+"That didn't keep you from splitting your sides with laughter," said
+Trampy.
+
+"What an idea!" replied Lily, in a vexed tone. "Do you think I'm going to
+play the goody goody 'lalerperlooser'? One has to do as others do and not
+make one's self conspicuous."
+
+"Quite right!" said Trampy.
+
+But she turned crimson with rage when Trampy, some other night, forgot
+himself so far as to monkey-claw the girls. There were short violent
+scenes when they returned home, chairs upset, angry words. Trampy could
+not understand this jealousy. When he was confronted with these outbursts,
+he was greatly surprised, sought for a reason, muttered Jimmy's name--that
+was his sensitive point: he thought of it in spite of himself--ironically
+inquired of Lily if it was Jimmy who had put all that nonsense into her
+head. Lily was sorry to see the conversation take this turn. She flung her
+arms round her husband's neck, loved him, kissed him prettily, the great
+silly: he knew better; he knew she never thought of Jimmy:
+
+"Kiss me, darling! I wish you would make me happy," said Lily, moved to
+pity for herself. "I want to be a good little wife!"
+
+Thereupon they made it up. Lily did not feel, with her husband, that
+thrill which she had often noticed in other women: but she wanted to love
+him, stubbornly pursued the idea, fagged away at her love like a little
+school-girl only too anxious to learn. Trampy, on his side, could be
+amiable when he liked. He became the old Trampy again at times and treated
+Lily like a little playfellow. They would both run about in the
+_Biergarten_, in the morning, at practice-time, larking like children,
+hiding behind the tables, and their laughter enlivened the empty place,
+still soiled with the remnants of last night's meal and littered with
+programs and cigar-stumps.
+
+And time passed like this for weeks ... it was months now ... an existence
+like another, with good in it and bad ... and monotonous and common....
+
+"I should have been better off, perhaps, at home," she thought. "If this
+is marriage, it's not much."
+
+For, she saw it quite clearly, _that_ wasn't love; Trampy didn't
+understand her. A "girl" and a wife were all the same to Trampy: a mere
+pastime, both of them. He spoke of it lightly, through the smoke of his
+cigar. She learned to know him, heard him boast of his prowess, caught
+passing words:
+
+"Girls, girls, my!"
+
+She would have laughed, she would even have felt flattered at being chosen
+among so many, if he had put an end to his conquests. But he continued to
+prowl round the stage-girls, as he used to do before he was married. If
+even he had shone upon the stage, she would have understood that he had
+got "swelled head," that he was yielding to temptation; but his success
+was only middling. He had not made a hit at Hamburg. The manager of
+Ludwig's had told him flatly that he would do well to practise and
+practise a great deal. Trampy posed as a victim of jealousy, spoke of
+showing them--all of them, if once he put his back to it!--a new turn, a
+discovery that would show what he was made of! Meanwhile he had a new
+idea, as a sketch comedian, with a make-up of his own invention, the face
+painted white on one side and red on the other, with wrinkles cunningly
+drawn--a laughing Johnny and a crying Johnny, two men in one. He pestered
+Lily with his plans, made her cut out dresses for him, came back from the
+old-clothes shop laden with uniforms in rags, into which Lily had to put
+patches. And shoes, in particular, ran in his head; shoes of which the
+soles and the uppers yawned like lips; talking shoes, which said, "Papa!"
+and "Mamma!" This last suggestion made Lily laugh.
+
+Trampy haunted the bazaars, bought children's toys, took the stomachs out
+of the cardboard dogs and rabbits to make his quackers, sought about for
+his right note, pursued inspiration to the bottom of the glasses.
+
+Lily was sometimes driven to exasperation. This tramp-cyclist, this
+sketch-comedian was making her, Lily Clifton, patch up his dresses! And
+her husband rewarded her for it by making love to the girls, poor idiot!
+Oh, if Pa and Ma had not been so harsh with her! Lily always harked back
+to that, stiffened herself with the thought, remembered the Marjutti girl,
+in whom love of art produced wonders and whose Pa and Ma were so gentle
+and kind.
+
+"They should have treated me like that," she concluded, "and I should have
+been at home still!"
+
+She regretted her marriage. And there were some who pitied her for
+belonging to Trampy: they looked upon him as not worthy of her, blamed him
+for openly carrying on with girls. Others asked, as though it did not
+matter, was she really married or were they just "living together?"
+
+"What? Am I married? Is that what they think about me?" she said, a little
+annoyed. "Of course I am! At the Kennington registry-office!"
+
+And yet a doubt entered her mind too. Was she really married, after all?
+Lily did not know much about it. Had the banns been published? And those
+two witnesses picked up in the street ... a ceremony that took just five
+minutes ... like a conjuring trick. If it was true that they were "living
+together" without her knowing it, she would not stay with him. She would
+go back home at once. Marriage, certainly, was never intended for her.
+This she realized now. When she thought of the Gilson girl, mad on her
+man, and of others whom she sometimes caught in the dressing-rooms and
+passages eating each other up with kisses, she was at a loss to
+understand. How could they make so much fuss about it?
+
+Poor little wife, with so little love for her husband and no admiration at
+all! As an artiste she thought him lamentable. Trampy, who had seemed so
+great to her in Mexico ... why, she had shot miles ahead of him since! She
+felt that he was getting second-rate. He himself was well aware of it, for
+that matter; blamed everybody: suspected a hoodoo somewhere: some son of a
+gun bringing him ill-luck. And he was always casting about for an easy
+means of success ... another new plan ... always something new ... a
+high-sounding title: "Rusty Bike," an old jigger which, at each turn of
+the wheel, would grate like a cart, "Crrrra! Crrrra!" and bring the house
+down with laughter, while Lily, in the wings, was to sound an
+accompaniment on a grating rattle:
+
+"Crrrra! Crrrra!"
+
+"All that set-out for nothing!" said Lily to herself. "It would be much
+simpler to have a little talent."
+
+She felt herself overcome with contempt for her husband: what a sorry
+bread-winner he made! Why take a wife, when you had only that to keep her
+on? Lily did not know whether to laugh or to cry when she saw Trampy come
+down from his dressing-room, proud as a peacock, his chest swelling at the
+sight of so many girls at a time, a treat of which he never wearied. He
+was magnificent, was Trampy, against that background of shoulders, thighs
+and calves: in his element as a fish in water. Nor did he make any bones
+about smiling to them or monkey-clawing them as they came off the stage.
+The presence of his wife did not hinder him. He was sure of her love: he
+knew she must adore him, as all the others did. And, leaving Lily in a
+corner, in the shade of a pillar, with his eyes he devoured all that
+powdered flesh, all those coarse wigs.
+
+Lily hated him at such times. She could have boxed his ears. She had
+enough of it, at last. One evening, she caught hold of his arm to take him
+away, furious that a gentleman could find a pleasure in making his wife
+look so ridiculous! And Trampy, more or less flattered at what he
+considered a fond wife's jealousy, was turning to go, when a lady with
+plumes on her head and a woolly dog under her arm greeted him with:
+
+"Hullo, old boy! Glad to see you, Trampy!"
+
+Lily--it was a distant memory, but no matter--recognized Poland, the
+Parisienne, with the painted face and the violent scent. Trampy took a
+step backward. He expected a scene, though he owed her nothing, after all;
+but she did not seem angry, no. On the contrary, she looked at him with a
+roguish eye. She knew of Trampy's marriage, no doubt, as she knew of his
+conquests, having been his victim herself.
+
+"Hullo, old boy!" repeated Poland, sizing up Lily with an appraising
+glance and then fixing her eyes upon Trampy. "Still having your successes,
+old boy? Is this your number thirty? Thirty-six? Thirty-eight, eh?"
+
+"What!" Lily broke in, astounded at these manners. "What number
+thirty-six, thirty-eight?"
+
+"Ugh! A number in a lottery," said Trampy, looking quite vain between
+those two women in love with him. "Yes, a number ... with which I drew a
+prize!... Why, by Jove," he continued, addressing Poland, "this is my
+wife!... Lily Clifton! ... the New Zealander on Wheels."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Poland to Lily. "I did hear that you ran away: tired of
+this, eh?"
+
+And, tapping the back of her left hand with the palm of her right, she
+made the professional gesture that denotes a whipping.
+
+"Yes, I was a bit," said Lily, feeling rather proud than otherwise. "I've
+been through the mill, I have!"
+
+"You've had your fair share, eh?" insisted Poland. "You're not the first
+that has left her family to escape being whipped. You did quite right,"
+she concluded.
+
+Trampy was dumfounded and utterly floored by the revelation. What! He! He!
+Lily had married him because of that! Because ... And people said it! And
+talked about it!
+
+"Come along, Lily," said Trampy. "Let's go home."
+
+And, giving no further heed to Poland, who followed him with a mocking
+smile, he took Lily by the arm and went out with her.
+
+Lily felt her arm shake. Trampy was furious, evidently. She saw her
+mistake, too late. There would be a stormy scene when they got in. Well,
+who cared? She was resolved, under that obstinate forehead of hers, to
+face the facts. She had had enough of this husband. And she meant to know,
+that very moment, if she was married or not ... because with him one never
+knew. When she admitted that she had married him because of "that,"
+Trampy, in his humiliation would put her out of doors at once; if the
+marriage wasn't valid, he would get rid of her. There was no doubt about
+it.
+
+And she did not have to wait, for Trampy, even before they were out of the
+theater, in the passage, among the trunks and properties, Trampy, unable
+to restrain himself any longer, seized her by the wrists and looked her
+straight in the face:
+
+"Is it true?" he asked, in a voice trembling with rage.
+
+Lily, without replying, lowered her eyes as though to say yes, like a good
+little wife, oh, _so_ sorry to offend her husband!
+
+"And," said Trampy, choking with shame, "you married me for 'that:' me,
+Trampy!"
+
+"Yes," said Lily confusedly.
+
+"Damn you!" cried Trampy. "Oh, if we weren't married for good, wouldn't I
+just make you sleep out to-night!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+Poor Lily! She was Trampy's little wife, his little wife for ever! And
+life, monotonous and common, followed its usual course: a week here, a
+week there; and the theater every night at the fixed time, according
+to the scene-plot which they went and consulted on reaching the stage:
+"X, Corridor, 9.5; Z, Wood, 10.17; Y, Palace, 11.10," and so on. And
+for Trampy it was an everlasting grumbling at his ill-luck, a dull anger
+at "playing 'em in," so sure was he of seeing his name first,
+always--"Garden, 8.30, Trampy Wheel-Pad"--he who had had such a success
+in England with his red-hot stove. It was no use his saying to himself
+that it wouldn't last, that it would be better next week. It was just as
+though done on purpose. He played 'em in, always, from Bremen to
+Brunswick, from Leipzig to Madgeburg:
+
+"I wish I knew the son of a gun who has his knife into me!" growled
+Trampy, persuaded that he was the victim of an agent's jealousy, or else
+the stage-managers didn't understand their business.
+
+"If you had more talent," thought Lily to herself, "that sort of thing
+wouldn't happen. I'd like to see you with Pa: _he'd_ show you, _he'd_ make
+you stir your stumps, you rusty biker!"
+
+However, she was careful not to say so to him, for fear of blows; and Lily
+knew that, if ever she received them once, twice, without returning them,
+it was all up with her, she would lapse under the yoke again, it would
+become a habit: there would be nothing for it but to leave her husband, if
+she wished to avoid slaps, just as she had left her family, to avoid
+whippings.
+
+That would have been too grotesque. She did not want to give Pa and Ma the
+satisfaction of seeing her unhappily married. Lily armed herself with
+patience; and she needed it! Trampy was in a frightful temper, said that
+he would have been the ideal husband, if she had been the little wife he
+had dreamed of: but to think that she had married him for "that!"
+
+Now it was the constant allusion to "that" which made him die with shame.
+Everywhere, on the stages of the different music-halls, people had for
+Lily that sort of sympathetic pity which they feel for a performing dog:
+they approved of her running away; everybody seemed to know about it.
+Poland, it must be said, scored a fine revenge against Trampy, without
+counting the artistes who had seen Lily practising and who knew what harsh
+treatment meant, the Munich Roofers, among others, real ones, with their
+blows of the hat, gee!
+
+Among them, it became the fashion, when they saw Lily, to tap the back of
+their hands, and then to applaud with the tip of the nail, as though to
+approve her flight. Lily at first was annoyed at the reputation for
+cruelty which they were giving her Pa. He was right to hit her, she
+thought, sometimes. She was also annoyed on her own account. She was an
+artiste, damn it! It was not only a question of smackings! Why, if she
+hadn't had it in her...! It was a gift! But, on the other hand, to excuse
+the folly of her marriage, she let them talk, without protesting, like a
+poor little thing who would still be with her Pa and Ma if she had been
+treated "fair."
+
+And there were always angry disputes between her and Trampy. They were
+seen to disappear through the stage-entrance, Lily with an arrogant air,
+Trampy drooping his head, his lips distorted with stinging replies. Lily,
+though she was not performing at the theater, sometimes received a letter
+there. When there was one for her in the heap of envelopes, bearing the
+stamps of all countries, which had been round the world prior to "waiting
+arrival" in the doorkeeper's pigeonholes, Trampy looked at her furiously,
+wanted to know. Lily refused. Forthwith, in the passages, or on the stage,
+endless disputes went on between them ... oh, not in the least tragic in
+appearance and interlarded with "Hullo, boys!" and "Hullo, girls!" to left
+and right, whenever they passed any acquaintances. And in a low voice,
+abruptly:
+
+"Show it to me, you wench!"
+
+"Shut up, you footy rotter!"
+
+Trampy could not forgive Lily for marrying him on that account. He, who
+had only to choose among the crowd that walks the boards or flutters about
+in muslin skirts, suffered from Lily's scorn, looked upon himself as a
+sultan dethroned before the eyes of his harem. In order to infuriate Lily,
+though he did not feel in the least like laughing, he exaggerated his
+conquering ways. It ended by affecting his work. Only the night before, he
+had got drunk with two "sisters" out of ten: the fourth and seventh from
+the right. Result: he was still in bed when the matinee began. And his
+performance went so badly that they had to drop the curtain on him. That
+would pass for once: an illness was allowable; but it couldn't go on at
+that rate. He was becoming worse than the head-balancer who tumbled off
+his perch, without having his excuse of sorrow, the loss of a beloved
+wife, seeing that he, Trampy, had a dear little wife and very much alive,
+this one!
+
+Lily, in her calmer moments, foresaw that they would soon have to face
+hard times, flat poverty. She felt her contempt for Trampy increase. Those
+sketch-comedians, those tramp cyclists, pooh, they were less than nothing,
+bluff, that's all, as old Martello said!
+
+She saw her dreams flung to the ground. At first, it had been charming for
+her, so full of novelty, but, after all, she had only changed masters. She
+ended by considering herself more unhappy than she had been with Pa and
+Ma. To begin with, Pa always had money. She brought them in a lot. She
+lived much less comfortably with Trampy. She used to think that being a
+married woman would change everything, whereas--not a bit of it!--there
+was no change at all: potatoes, coal, all sorts of dirty, messy things;
+and no Maud to help her. And it was always as in the old days: damp
+sheets, dirty glasses, rickety tables, beds with worn-out mattresses; and
+the nights were dull as ditch-water. Trampy had hoped for something
+different, expected to find a whole harem in Lily, his thirty-six girls in
+one, including Ave Maria, with her body like a wildcat's. Alas, it was far
+from that!
+
+Lily loathed those nights. Love, yes, but not that, not that! Sacred love,
+not profane love (Lily had seen paintings of it in museums and remembered
+the title). Love, that is to say, to lie ever so nicely on the breast of
+the dear one, yes, as with Glass-Eye, and dream of hats and diamonds. No
+doubt, it was ambitious to want so much. She, who had seen everything, had
+never come across that; but it was what she wanted, what she had been
+promised, damn it! Things were going from bad to worse. Memories of her
+childhood moved her almost to tears, when she thought of it: those happy
+times in Africa, on the straw beside the horses, the stars seen through
+the tent and the smell of the elephants. When she was there, perhaps that
+had seemed less sweet to her: the hard ground, the noise of the chains;
+but everything was made more poetic by remembrance: it was the past, what!
+Nights sweet as milk, far from a man reeking of tobacco. And not only her
+early childhood, but her life of yesterday returned to her: touring with
+the troupe, the oatmeal porridge and the cakes she made--bricks!--but Pa
+laughed at them, took them good-humoredly, whereas Trampy lost his temper.
+In those days, it is true, she wasn't a lady, she used to work; but they
+had good fun, all the same, in the dressing-rooms; they had tea at the
+theater, romps in the passages, or else did crochet-work, to pass the
+time; and all those practical jokes, intensified by distance: hustling
+Glass-Eye into the hamper; coaxing the black cat into the dressing-room,
+for luck; or making the pantomime lady speak her tag; or going in to the
+Roofers, on some pretext, and giving a whistle which made them all rush
+out, dressed or undressed or half-dressed, never mind, and spin round
+three times to ward off the ill omen: all those memories touched her till
+she felt inclined to cry. Oh, if she had been with her Pa now, she would
+have sat down on his knee and begged his pardon!
+
+At such times, if Trampy became affectionate and tried to kiss his little
+wife, Lily would simply turn her back on him. Poor Trampy! And he could
+not play the master! For, call on the agents as he might and write as many
+fine letters as he pleased--an art in which he excelled--work was becoming
+scarce. He no longer had any money. One pay-day, Trampy was obliged to
+confess that he had had his salary in advance and spent it; a money-lender
+held his contract and kept back three-quarters of his pay. Trampy,
+tormented by urgent needs, had let himself in with a Brixton "financier,"
+a specialist in "loans from five pounds upward, music-hall artistes
+treated with the strictest confidence," who pocketed nearly the whole. Now
+Lily just happened to want a new dress, a new petticoat and a tiny
+mother-of-pearl lucky charm. Trampy had to own that he couldn't afford
+these fancies and Lily had a fit of temper! But then why promise so many
+things to a poor little wife who deserved better than that?
+
+"A poor little wife," said Trampy, "should marry her husband for love and
+not to escape whippings! There are ups and downs in the profession. It was
+your own lookout; you shouldn't have married a star!"
+
+"A star!" cried Lily, with a nervous laugh. "You a star! A damned
+comedian! A nice sort of star, indeed! A music-hall could have twenty
+black cats in it and you'd turn them into a white elephant!"
+
+In other words, Trampy, according to her, was a Jonah, good only for
+playing the people in, if that!
+
+"A wife has no right to speak to her husband as you do!" exclaimed Trampy,
+leaping up under the insult. "You deserve a good thrashing!"
+
+"None of that!" said Lily angrily, ready to fly at his throat.
+
+"A wife," resumed Trampy, with great dignity, "helps her husband, instead
+of insulting him."
+
+"We're in for it, I suppose!" said Lily.
+
+"Certainly, we're in for it! I have no engagement now, but that's no
+reason why you shouldn't find one. Look for one and work!"
+
+Lily was in for it, knee-deep, as she said. She was not excessively
+astonished: it was the inevitable end! Not that she disliked to work: her
+idleness, on the contrary, was beginning to pall upon her; but it was the
+humiliation of going back to it after putting on so much side and posing
+as the lady. She had worked for Pa; now she would work for Trampy; it was
+natural and proper. There were exceptions--the wife at home, as Jimmy
+said, that josser!--but they were rare.
+
+"Take up your bike again," said Trampy, after a pause. "Be a good little
+wife, help me out of this. I have something in my mind, a scheme which
+will make us rich; you'll see later on."
+
+"But," said Lily, "I haven't a stage bike, and yours is really too ugly."
+
+"I know of one for sale."
+
+"Very well, I'll work," said Lily. "I'll make them give me this tour which
+they promised you and didn't sign for; and to-morrow you shall see!"
+
+At heart, Lily was not sorry to show her husband how people got out of a
+scrape, when they had talent; and, the next day, she went to an agent,
+accompanied by Trampy, looking very dignified. Her cheeky feather was made
+to dance attendance for a moment; and then she was shown into the office.
+Lily Clifton? The New Zealander on Wheels? Straight away a contract,
+signed in duplicate! A week in each town; later on, perhaps, a month in
+Berlin, at the Kolossal. Lily displayed wonderful tact, did not triumph
+too openly over Trampy. She acted to perfection the part of the little
+lady who takes up the bike again just for fun--as in the time of her
+"French governess"--or rather of a dear little thing wholly wrapped up now
+in her wifely duty: her poor husband ill, she herself needing exercise,
+just for fun, you know.
+
+On leaving the agent's, she bought some material, then ran home, cut out
+stage dresses. In the evening, Lily was still hemming and stitching,
+indefatigably, seized once more with professional pride after her
+excursions into private life. And, all night, under the lamp, she
+contrived, cut out and sewed. Then came practice, without Pa. In an hour,
+in spite of the new machine, which put her out, she had picked up her
+"times" again. She felt as if she had been spinning round the night
+before, under Pa's eye, so absolutely at her ease was she, with her head
+on the saddle or twirling on the back-wheel.
+
+And, on the following Monday, her first appearance, her name on the walls:
+"Miss Lily" in big letters, right at the top of the posters, "Miss Lily,"
+not "Mrs." or "Madame." Had she had ten children, two husbands and three
+divorces, she would still have been "Miss," everywhere and always, as a
+further attraction for the swells in the front boxes and as a certificate
+of youth. Mighty few husbands, on the continent especially; not more men
+of any kind than could be helped, on the stage, except a few noted
+"profs," standing by the perches of velvet and steel or under the
+trapezes, displaying, beside the pink-silk tights, against the "palace"
+back-drop, the faultless correctness of their full-dress suits. But, for
+the rest, people preferred to ignore husbands, brothers and "friends;"
+Lily had known some who never showed themselves at all, who remained
+squatting at home, so as not to stand in their wives' way.
+
+Trampy, for that matter, knew better than to parade himself with Lily. And
+he preferred it so. He could have wished one thing to the exclusion of all
+others: that people should not know of his marriage, that they should
+cease to speak of it. Unfortunately, this was not to be. The story of the
+whippings was enlivening Lisle Street, exaggerated, as usual. The Bill and
+Boom tour, the Harrasford tour were beginning to spread it on every stage
+in England; before six months were over, it would have made the round of
+the world from the Klondike to Calcutta. What a disgrace for Trampy! Yet
+no sooner had he put his New Zealander on her wheels again than Trampy
+blossomed out once more. After all, who cared if people were seen to smack
+the back of their hands? He wasn't to be put out by a little thing like
+that:
+
+"Just so," he seemed to say. "We are married, whippings or no whippings,
+and I am the master; I have set her to work again; and there you are!"
+
+Trampy's reputation, so far from suffering, increased; all his compeers
+now envied him from the bottom of their hearts; the bosses, the profs, the
+managers, the Pas, the Mas treated him, in their own minds, as a lucky
+dog, all the more inasmuch as Trampy was not uppish and gladly stood
+drinks, while his wife, "Miss Lily," made money for him with her breakneck
+tricks. It was much smarter than doing it for one's self: the great thing
+was to have a "girl" like that! Trampy was having his revenge: he had been
+laughed at; he now had the laugh on them! and Trampy knew glorious times,
+in the _Biergarten_, or lounging at street-corners, near the stage-door,
+chaffing the girls, hat cocked back, hands deep in his pockets, a cigar
+stuck between his teeth. He told the story of his life, not without pride;
+said that he must write it one day, sell it to _The New York Standard_ for
+a thousand dollars. The girls _he'd_ had: whew! His love adventures: all
+over the world, by Jove! And his marriage with Lily Clifton, the New
+Zealander on Wheels, a dear little wife, so gentle, so obedient. No, he
+had no reason to complain of his life. He would write it, mark his words!
+To say nothing of a scheme he had in mind:
+
+"Just you wait and see! It's a trick to make a millionaire of you or break
+your neck."
+
+"Will you make Miss Lily do it?"
+
+"I'll see, I'll think it over," said Trampy, in a lordly tone.
+
+The directors, the stage-managers took no notice of him; but, among the
+artistes, Trampy Wheel-Pad was some one, he enjoyed his leisure, recovered
+his self-assurance: if, in addition, he could have destroyed the legend of
+the whippings, he would have been perfectly happy. He would turn the
+conversation on the subject of smackings in the music-hall generally, in
+the hope of hearing them contradicted or made little of; but it was no
+use; every one believed in them: all, boys and girls, even the most
+spoiled, quoted facts: blows which they had received! my! blows hard
+enough to split the front of a music-hall from top to bottom! The nation
+with the painted faces, the blue-chins seemed to vie with one another as
+to who had been most through the mill.
+
+"You're exaggerating," said Trampy. "It may be true, to a certain extent,
+in your case. But, Miss Lily, for instance: do you mean to say you believe
+all she tells?"
+
+"Oh, quite!" said two Roofer girls who were there.
+
+They had seen Lily practising. And they knew what it meant. They had had
+their share, too: old Roofer, gee! And Lily had done quite right to run
+away from her whippings.
+
+"There you go again!" said Trampy. "Can't you see she's humbugging you?"
+
+[Illustration: TRAMPY ENJOYED HIS LEISURE]
+
+But he pulled himself up suddenly, if Lily arrived, for, in spite of his
+big airs, he was all submission in her presence.
+
+"Oh, really! Glass-Eye caught it instead of me, I suppose," said Lily,
+drawing back her shoulder as though threatening to smack him, "when Pa
+went for me with his leather belt. And I have witnesses. I've been through
+the mill, if anybody has: that much I _can_ say!"
+
+Lily, after this burst of pride, would lower her head, a trifle
+embarrassed, like a dear little thing, all wrapped up in her duties as a
+wife, a wife whom her husband would cause to break her back one of these
+days, perhaps.
+
+This created a circle of admirers around her: all, besides, agreed in
+saying that you had to have the business "rubbed into your skin" to be as
+clever as she was.
+
+"'K you!" said Lily, with a stage bow.
+
+It was certain that she made a hit. They wanted her everywhere. She was
+asked to appear in tights. The engagements grew better and better. "Miss
+Lily" was more and more talked about. It was no longer a Trampy Wheel-Pad
+on a rusty bike: it was grace, youth ... and stage-smiles fit to turn the
+heads in the front boxes. When Lily appeared on the stage, she transfixed
+every white shirt-front, every opera-glass. She took a real delight in it
+all. Her beauty captivated the audience. In her pink tights, Lily turned
+and turned and turned, to the hum of the orchestra, against the "wood"
+back-drop of purple and gold. Then she returned to the wings, all excited
+by her show, received bouquets, chatted freely with the comrades. She met
+old friends: the green-eyed female-impersonator, for instance, pressed her
+closely. He, too, was touring Germany: a week here, a week there. Chance
+brought them together again. He was enraptured by Lily: how lovely she had
+grown! He would have liked to adopt her.... Lily threw her head back,
+laughed and repelled him with a thump in the ribs when he tried to kiss
+her.
+
+Another time, she saw the Bambinis, who were playing, by a lucky accident,
+at matinees only and by special permission, because of their age. She
+larked with them like a child. Elsewhere, it was Nunkie Fuchs, on his way
+to Vienna, where he was going to see to the building of his pigeon-house,
+leaving the Three Graces for a few weeks on the Harrasford tour. He had
+seen Lily's name on the posters and had come to say, "How do you do?" to
+her.
+
+And, amid the thunder of the band or the lull of the _entr'actes_, Lily
+received tidings of her Pa and Ma and details of what happened after her
+flight, as reported by Glass-Eye Maud. After Lily's departure, they had
+hunted everywhere. Then Ma thought of looking in the trunk: the pretty
+dress was gone. Then they had rushed to the theater: no Lily. Then they
+had guessed: Lily had run away. Ma fell on her knees and cried and cried.
+Pa seized his revolver and spoke of going to shoot the man who had robbed
+him of his child! His little Lily gone! And the contracts had to be
+canceled and Pa did not go out for a week and the house remained still and
+silent for a month. Pa, thoroughly upset, cried whenever Lily's name was
+mentioned and was near dying of shame when he felt himself blamed, even by
+those who used to congratulate him on his way of turning out an artiste.
+And Nunkie himself maintained that one must know how to handle young
+girls: gentleness above all.
+
+Lily bit her lips when she heard that. Her little nose tingled. She
+hardened her features, wrinkled her obstinate forehead, lest she also
+should cry:
+
+"If I had to do it again, I would!" she said quickly, just like that,
+without reflecting, in the way one says a thing to one's self which one
+knows to be untrue.
+
+They also told her things that made her laugh. Glass-Eye Maud no longer
+left her hole, cried like a tap, so much so that one day, Ma, noticing an
+insipid taste in the porridge, threatened her with the sack if that sort
+of thing went on.
+
+As for business, people did not know exactly. Pa, they said, had written
+to a Hauptmann's "fat freak" to take Lily's place. The reply ran:
+
+"No, thanks, I'm all right where I am.
+
+                                                             "Fat Freak."
+
+The signature was underlined, for people had ended by knowing about Pa's
+disrespectful remarks. Lily laughed when she heard this: my!
+
+"I will come ... when you take to wearing braces!" another had answered.
+
+This was an allusion to the blows with the belt; and Lily, with head
+thrown back, full-throated, her hand on her heart, laughed ... laughed ...
+laughed:
+
+"Bravo, girls!" she said, applauding with her thumbnail.
+
+And Tom? Tom had had the boot, with a bang on the nose, for carrying
+letters to Lily. For Pa ended by learning all: some one had told him.
+
+"Jimmy, that son of a gun!" said Lily.
+
+And Jimmy himself, what had become of that josser? Jimmy was no longer
+stage-manager. He had left everything after Lily's flight. He, too, had
+flown into a terrible rage when he heard about it ... spoke of Trampy as a
+thief in the night ... would have killed him, if he had met him ... and he
+was going to star in his turn.
+
+"Singing?" asked Lily.
+
+"No, something to do with the bike."
+
+"What a fool!" thought Lily. "Fancies himself an artiste because he used
+to mend my bike for me!"
+
+Jimmy, it seemed, had hired a huge shed and there, all alone, fitted up
+some apparatus of a complicated kind. He never went out by day. He worked
+and worked. A trick to break your neck at, it appeared, or make your
+fortune.
+
+"Those jossers!" exclaimed Lily scornfully.
+
+And what was he going to do on his bike? Nobody knew. There was something
+published in the papers, they said. It was something on the back-wheel.
+
+"What rot!"
+
+Lily laughed open-mouthed, laughed with all her muscles, twisting her
+hips, splitting her sides, smacking her thighs. What! Jimmy on the
+back-wheel! He! He! He cutting twirls, that josser!
+
+"And the troupe?"
+
+The troupe nobody knew about: dispersed, most likely; the troupe, after
+all, was Lily. When she went, everything was bound to fall to pieces. Pa
+didn't care either; told any one who would listen to him that he was going
+to retire to Kennington, that he was well off now ... thousands of pounds
+in the bank ... made his fortune ... meant to live on his dividends.
+
+"I knew it," said Lily; "I knew I had made his fortune! Thousands of
+pounds, damn it!"
+
+"Lily, don't swear like that!" said Nunkie Fuchs. "It's not right!"
+
+Lily lowered her head, taken aback; excused herself, like a lady who knows
+her manners:
+
+"And yet," she said to herself, "if he had had my troubles, that old
+rogue, perhaps he would have sworn, too!"
+
+For Trampy was becoming terrible: life was impossible with him. All the
+money which Lily earned went on champagne ... and on girls, probably; and
+the more she earned the greedier he grew. He wanted money, heaps of money;
+Lily had nothing left for herself. Trampy sought out new tricks, invented
+balancing-feats, made her practise them, in the morning, on the stage,
+with his sleeves turned back and his trousers turned up, absolutely like a
+Pa. Lily, accustomed to yield obedience, relapsed under the yoke. Bike in
+the morning, bike at the matinee, bike in the evening; and, with that, the
+cooking, the washing-up ... and not a farthing in her pocket, though she
+had made a fortune for her Pa, damn it! Pa living on his income at
+Kennington, while she continued her life of slavery! Wasn't it enough to
+make her send everybody to the devil, and Nunkie, that old rogue, with the
+rest? A pack of nigger drivers, that's what they were, every one of them!
+And what an idiot she was, to keep on barking her shins for other people!
+Would she go on doing it until she was fifty? And if she didn't begin now
+to put money by, who would do it for her later? Not that worthless
+husband, surely! He, who, that very morning, had dared, the loafer, to
+tell her of a scheme--a sort of a risky trick which she was to perform, a
+thing calculated to break your head or make a millionaire of you--for him,
+of course, just as for Pa! It had come to this, that her turn wasn't good
+enough, that it had to be more sensational; and she was expected to make
+it so for a man she didn't love! Oh, she had put him nicely in his place!
+Rather! Thank you for nothing: none of that for her! In the evening Lily
+was still trembling, with her two elbows on the table, as she sat facing
+her glass in her dressing-room; angrily she crushed the grease-paint on to
+her cheeks, which were pale with rage.
+
+Ting! Straight on to the stage, turning round and round, fifty rounds from
+habit, mechanically, without any "go" in them: an indolent performance,
+which would have earned her a good smacking in Pa's time.
+
+"You were shockingly bad!" said Trampy, who was waiting for her in the
+bar, after watching her from the front. "What's the matter with you? Are
+you ill?"
+
+Lily did not even answer.
+
+"I'm speaking to you," said Trampy crossly. "You did nothing right
+to-night."
+
+"Yes, I know; that'll do," said Lily.
+
+"It's not a question of 'Yes, I know,' but of doing better next time,"
+said Trampy.
+
+"I'm not taking any orders to-night," said Lily.
+
+"No, darling, but there was an agent in the house. He must have thought
+you bad."
+
+"That's none of your business!"
+
+"And, if you don't get engagements, what's to become of us?"
+
+"I don't care a hang," said Lily. "_I_ can always manage."
+
+"You ... you ... and what about me? We're married, aren't we?"
+
+"But the money I earn's mine," said Lily. "I mean to buy dresses and
+whatever I want to, with _my_ money. You'll be wanting to come on the
+stage next, in evening-dress, to stand over me while I do my turn, and
+getting out your belt. Do you take me for your daughter, tell me?"
+
+"What I'm saying," said Trampy, aghast, "is for your good, from the point
+of view of the business, the salary."
+
+"_My_ business, _my_ salary, damn it!" cried Lily. "_Mine, mine_, do you
+understand? And it concerns nobody but myself!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+It came as a smack in the jaw to Trampy.
+
+"_My_ pay, _my_ work, _mine_!"
+
+It meant no more pocket-money with which to lord it at the bar. It meant a
+cheap cigarette instead of his glorious cigar. It was the end of a
+beautiful dream; and the awakening was a hard one. At first, he hoped to
+make Lily jealous by going about openly with the stage-girls; but she no
+longer paid any attention, seemed to suggest that he had better amuse
+himself on his side and she on hers:
+
+"What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander," she said.
+
+Lily would no longer take his orders; and, because he felt his wife escape
+him, it was he, Trampy, who now became jealous. When, from a distance,
+among the tables, he saw Lily ride round the stage and all those heads
+raised toward her, those opera-glasses pointed at her, he followed her
+with an anxious eye. "Miss Lily!" "Miss Lily" was his wife, after all!
+Those rounded arms, that lissom figure, those twinkling legs were all his,
+every bit of them! He was the husband, by Jove! It was not a marriage for
+fun, as with Ave Maria: it was a marriage for good and all, which had cost
+him two pounds--"Yes, siree!"--at the Kennington registry-office. And it
+wasn't only her flightiness, her smiles at the front boxes, but "_my_
+work, _my_ salary, _mine_" into the bargain! She was acting like a bad
+wife, forgetting her most sacred duties!
+
+Lily stood on no ceremony with him, took her title of "Miss" seriously:
+very flattering for him, very flattering, he must say! He no longer knew
+himself: he who, in the old days, used to answer: "My lord, rely on me!"
+when a half-tipsy swell invited him to come and drink champagne with some
+stage-girls, now became furious if men in the audience, not knowing who he
+was, sized up "Miss Lily" before him--her shoulders, arms and the
+rest--with reflections such as "I could do with a bit of that!" or, "A
+nice little supper ..." He felt inclined to shout in their faces that she
+was no "miss," but his wife, by Jove!
+
+He became more and more jealous. The thought of Jimmy, especially, kept
+running in his head. He felt a twinge whenever he heard him mentioned. And
+Jimmy was often mentioned just at present, for he was said to be preparing
+a new turn, a turn which would make him famous, unless it killed him.
+
+"If only it would!" Trampy hoped.
+
+Jimmy was Trampy's bugbear. He had flattered himself that he had snatched
+Lily from Jimmy by sheer prowess; and not a bit of it! The recollection of
+that drove him mad, the sense of his powerlessness exasperated him, he had
+but one idea left: to show Lily ... and Jimmy ... the sort of man he was;
+to take his revenge. That great scheme of his, that discovery that would
+show what he was made of, the invention which he had patented in America
+with Poland's money--oh, she had revenged herself finely, had that
+Parisienne!--well, the time to apply himself to that trick had come. Lily
+had refused to do it. All right, he would do it himself!
+
+But, if he was to succeed, it was necessary that Lily should supply him
+with money, more money, lots of money. The apparatus was incomplete and
+had probably got damaged in the London warehouse; it would need repairs,
+improvements. Now Lily seemed intractable. She was vexed at having to earn
+money for two, pretended to have none too much for herself; it was her
+costumes now: six sets of tights, one for each evening, pink, green, red,
+blue, gray, white and assorted ornaments, silk ribbons....
+
+She didn't want to kill herself with work for nothing, as she had been
+doing up to now:
+
+"A lady isn't a performing dog!" she said.
+
+Trampy swallowed his bitterness when he heard that. Lily was escaping him
+altogether. Sometimes, he would go on the stage, sit down in a corner and,
+from there, see Lily, a shawl over her shoulders, her throat wrapped in a
+scarf, walk up and down, behind the back-drop, like a passenger on the
+deck of a ship, at one time with a monkey-faced, red-whiskered
+sketch-comedian; at others, according to the chances of the week, with the
+female-impersonator, the boy with the green eyes. There was no harm in
+that: they were at home, among themselves, Lily was no damned
+lalerperlooser, he wouldn't have had her so. And Trampy did not dare say
+anything, for fear of being made a laughing stock and also lest he should
+offend "Miss Lily." But he was tormented with jealousy nevertheless,
+merely at seeing her talk pleasantly with her acquaintances. And yet it
+was innocent enough, a mere "Hullo, Lily!" "Hullo, old boy!" by way of
+keeping herself in touch with the news, for Lily hardly ever looked into
+_The Era_ or _Das Program_; all those names, all that competition
+frightened her!
+
+[Illustration: THE BOY WITH THE GREEN EYES]
+
+She had learned nothing new about Pa, except that the troupe still
+existed, but in quite a small way, of course. Her Pa was in favor of soft
+treatment, now, so they said; he had changed his manner. "Too late!"
+murmured Lily thoughtfully; but she was much amused when she heard that
+Tom, in addition to keeping up his trade as a shoeblack, was learning
+boxing, with bulldog obstinacy, in order to give Pa back his blow on the
+nose and beat him in a square fight. And didn't some one say that Tom was
+stage-struck, too? Tom, that dwarf, with his short arms, on the stage!
+Crazy! every one of them!
+
+And then they were always talking of Jimmy: Jimmy here, Jimmy there. It
+was becoming serious, Lily couldn't get over it. She wondered what old
+Martello would say if he heard that: Jimmy an artiste! Pooh! Nonsense! And
+it was true, mind you! It was repeated from mouth to mouth, his fame was
+spreading, his fame, that is to say, in the bars, in the wings, among
+pros; you heard his name mentioned together with a hundred others; but
+that already was a great deal, that one could say, Butt Snyders, Laurence,
+Jimmy, Marjutti, all mixed up, as though he were their equal, he who had
+done nothing! But he would "do," it was in the air: some stroke of luck,
+who could tell? And Lily knew him to be ambitious. Lady or no lady, she
+was an artiste first and foremost and hated competition. She had been
+whipped for her rivals, Lillian, Edith and Polly, had caught it for
+Laurence and for the fat freaks, too, and she depended on her work for her
+bread. When she saw a new troupe come to the front it made her anxious:
+even children "that high," who played bike in between the pillars of the
+stage, she felt inclined to stamp upon; and if people ever asked her
+advice, she did not hesitate to tell them wrong. Men especially were
+disastrous competitors, even the ignorant ones. You never knew where you
+were with them, they dared do anything! She could not help getting mad
+when she thought of it. One more to take the bread out of her mouth! For
+it was all very well to treat him as a simpleton, to talk of his
+crotchets--he had views concerning a stage-apprentices' fund, a home of
+rest for superannuated artistes and so on--Lily considered him dangerous.
+He was not a silly Glass-Eye or a stage-struck Tom; he was an ambitious
+Jimmy. But all the same, how absurd! A hypocrite like that was fit to
+write to Pa and get a poor girl in trouble, but was not the man to risk
+his skin! She laughed, not a stage smile, no, a real laugh, head thrown
+back, full-throated. An artiste, O Lord! Yes, like a heap of bluffers who
+were to do this and that, all sorts of wonderful things! and who ended by
+making a laughing stock of themselves, the whole business was so childish,
+faked up with ropes and weights, nursery-toys, Punch-and-Judy rubbish. It
+would be just like that with Jimmy, sure: lots of noise and then ...
+nothing! And he would have lost his place as manager and he would starve,
+the josser: that would teach him to be spiteful! And where was Jimmy? He
+might be very clever, in his shed in London, swinging from his rope, like
+a monkey on a string, but to do that before an audience was different.
+There would be no Jimmy left!
+
+She liked to talk to herself like that. Miss Lily avoided thinking of a
+possible stroke of luck, she who had taken such pains to attain so little,
+just to become Mrs. Trampy, to have the honor of working for Trampy and
+feeding Trampy. Oh, she was tired of it, did all she could to find him
+work, to spur him on! She even wanted him to practise. And she mentioned
+Tom and Jimmy to him, all those beginners, all the others who were coming
+on.
+
+"She thinks more of him than of me," he said to himself.
+
+And time passed and passed. It was now eight months that they had been
+traveling through Germany: and then, at last, came Berlin, the center of
+the agencies, like the plunge into Chicago, after the Western Tour, or New
+York, after the Eastern, or Paris, or London. Lily asked herself for what
+part of the world she would sign contracts. She would have liked
+Australia, South Africa, the States, so as to leave her husband in Europe,
+sitting up on his hind-quarters, like a trained dog, waiting for his
+"missis" to come back:
+
+"If I could have the Kolossal in the meantime," Lily thought. "A month
+there would do me nicely! I'd like to beat the fat freaks in their own
+country and show Pa that I don't need his old troupe to star with!"
+
+And Lily had some hope: an agent had given her to understand that she
+would be engaged, without a doubt, at that famous music-hall. But no! She
+learned that the Kolossal was not wanting cyclists, it had an attraction
+for next month, something sensational, it was said. And, in fact,
+suddenly, in the space of a night, the walls of the capital were covered
+with huge posters--"Bridging the Abyss!"--at the Kolossal!
+
+"What's that?" Lily asked herself.
+
+And she was thunderstruck when she learned that this was Jimmy's new
+trick! She had no doubt left when, looking into a bookseller's window, she
+saw Jimmy's portrait in _Die Illustrirte Zeitung_, the popular illustrated
+paper in Berlin.
+
+Her arms fell to her sides! What, she thought, already? All this
+advertisement for that Jimmy? She had lost the Kolossal because of him.
+Already Jimmy was taking the bread out of her mouth! She could have wrung
+his neck!
+
+Never had the New Zealanders, or the Hauptmanns, or the Pawnees, or any
+one, or anybody known such advertising as that, except the great breakneck
+performers, Laurence, the Loopers, the Motor Girl; and even then the girl
+was packed up in her machine like a sausage. But "Bridging the Abyss," the
+papers said, required art: everything depended on the exact impetus, the
+faultless balance. The press was filled with clever puffs, biographies,
+descriptions of the apparatus, the cool daring which it needed to try that
+without a rope, to risk the performer's life six times in six seconds.
+London and Paris were both said to have wanted the attraction; and Berlin
+was to have it first; and _hoch_ for the Kolossal!
+
+Trampy also was flabbergasted, when he read about this:
+
+"But ... but ... but it's my apparatus and nothing else! Why, I patented
+it in America! Do you understand now," he asked, without, however,
+entering into technical explanations, "do you understand now, when I
+wanted you to help me? It wasn't a question of the rusty bike! You've made
+me miss fame and fortune! And to think that I have an apparatus rotting
+away in London, in a warehouse, and that, if you'd listened to me, I
+should have been at the Kolossal now ... and covering you with diamonds!"
+
+"I like your style!" said Lily. "You'd have made me break my back in your
+stead! I know you!"
+
+"Oh, but I shan't swallow that," said Trampy, in his exasperation. "We
+shall see! I have my rights. I shall enforce them!"
+
+"Don't make a fool of yourself," said Lily. "When a thing has to be done,
+it gets done without all that talk: look at Jimmy!"
+
+"Hang your Jimmy!"
+
+"It's not a question of _my_ Jimmy," retorted Lily, "but of _my_ money. I
+should simply have flung it away! You, do a thing like that! You risk your
+skin! Rot!"
+
+Trampy, in his rage, would have boxed Lily's ears, had it not been for her
+nails, which she held ready to scratch his face, and he went out fuming.
+He ran off to the agents, but there was nothing for him. And yet Trampy
+knew or, at least, supposed that they must want an opposition show to
+"Bridging the Abyss." They must, surely! Why, everywhere, in all the great
+centers, every music-hall had its rival opposite or beside it: everywhere,
+each establishment strove to inflict empty houses upon its rival by
+offering more sensational or more breakneck tricks. At the Kaiserin, the
+rival of the Kolossal, they were, without a doubt, looking for something
+to set against "Bridging the Abyss" and they had nothing, or else Trampy
+would have known it: among pros such matters were always known long
+beforehand. Oh, Trampy was prepared to do anything to escape his wife's
+sarcasm!
+
+And, one evening, behold Trampy returning in triumph to the cafe where
+Lily awaited him:
+
+"I knew it!" he cried. "I knew it wouldn't go like that!"
+
+"Well, what?" asked Lily. "Have you got a number thirty-seven?
+Thirty-eight? A fresh conquest? Something quite out of the common?"
+
+"Laugh away, Lily! That son of a gun shall hear me talked about yet, by
+Jove! And everybody else will, too. You must be prepared for anything,
+Lily, when you marry an artiste!"
+
+"Why, what's happened?" asked Lily, much surprised.
+
+This had happened: the two music-halls had fought. Jimmy, who was unable,
+it seemed, to get London or Paris, had offered his "Bridging the Abyss" to
+the Kaiserin, but his price was considered too high. From there he went to
+the Kolossal and made the same proposal. Now, times were hard for the
+music-halls, sucked dry by the enormous salaries that had to be paid. The
+managers were standing shoulder to shoulder, in the presence of the common
+enemy, the artiste and, more particularly, the originator of sensations,
+who is indispensable and who makes you an offer with a pistol at your
+head, like a highwayman demanding your money or your life.
+
+But a turn like that meant an assured success; and the Kolossal offered
+Jimmy five hundred marks a night, so as to spike the Kaiserin's guns by
+getting hold of a unique turn and one not easy to replace; a piece of
+underhand work involving two months' empty houses at the Kaiserin, which,
+as it was, had only a second-rate troupe by way of "sisters," while at the
+Kolossal they had Roofers engaged by the year, real ones, the complete
+dozen, words and music guaranteed. And now the Kolossal would make huge
+money with "Bridging the Abyss" and sink its rival; it was a
+master-stroke. But they knew everything at the Kaiserin. The Kaiserin also
+wanted a "Bridging the Abyss." It would have one, a better one, with a
+finer title: "Arching the Gulf!" And they would get it for three hundred
+marks! And they must be ready, quick, quick, before the Kolossal, and it
+was just possible: they had twenty days yet; the apparatus would be made;
+they knew the plans, the dimensions; the house would be fixed up
+accordingly; they must succeed at all costs and not let themselves be
+strangled without defense! It was a struggle to the death! They would
+fight with corpses, if need be! Other people had broken their backs for
+them before now; there would be no difficulty in finding one more to risk
+his life six times in six seconds for three hundred marks a night.
+
+And it was at that moment that Trampy offered himself. They had heard his
+name:
+
+"Trampy Wheel-Pad, the tramp cyclist with the red-hot stove?"
+
+"That's me," said Trampy.
+
+And, full of self-assurance, he explained the object of his visit:
+
+"I was the first to construct it; I patented it myself at Washington; I
+will produce the documents!"
+
+It will be understood why Trampy wore his air of conquest when he returned
+home that day. He had his engagement in his pocket! He displayed it
+victoriously to Lily, passed it over her face, reveled in his revenge. At
+last he was going to show Lily whether he was able to keep a wife or not;
+and champagne suppers every evening, by Jove, with girls--no damned
+lalerperloosers--just to show her!
+
+That same evening, he left for London, with an advance from the
+management, and came back to Berlin with the apparatus, the whole set up
+and repaired in a week, a gang of men working night and day. Followed
+practice with the rope, on a movable pulley, from early dawn, like a man
+determined to accomplish his breakneck feat, alive or dead; for Trampy
+would have done, no matter what, for Lily to cease being "Miss" Lily, to
+admit herself married and married for love and not to escape whippings, to
+cease being ashamed of him, to show herself proud of him, on the contrary,
+especially before Jimmy!
+
+Trampy, in his less enthusiastic moments, felt a certain uneasiness:
+Jimmy's proximity, his own patents far away, in America. But he assumed a
+bold face, declared himself the inventor, practised unrelentingly, with
+hatred of his rival in his heart. This hatred seemed to increase his
+powers of work. He practised, practised. He had a lively intelligence, if
+his heart was a trifle flabby. And he was very skilful, besides, when he
+condescended to take the trouble. He was a quick worker: in less than
+twenty days everything was ready, and "Arching the Gulf" sprawled over the
+hoardings of Berlin, side by side with "Bridging the Abyss." One saw
+nothing else; and the Kaiserin opened its doors forty-eight hours before
+Jimmy. It was a huge success. Trampy received an ovation when, after the
+release of the terrible springs which flung the bike from one pedestal to
+another, in five seconds he fell on the mattresses outspread to receive
+him, behind a cloth.
+
+It goes without saying that Jimmy was present at the show. He was smashed
+before he had even begun! There, before his eyes, was his own invention
+worked by another! He had expected competition, of course; it was
+impossible, he knew, to discover anything that wasn't copied at once;
+snatchers of ideas, who prowl around artistes, plagiarists, pirates,
+swarmed as thick as any other sort of thieves. And, as ill luck would have
+it, though his turn was difficult to perform, the apparatus, at least, was
+simple to construct: four powerful springs, screwed down with a jack,
+which the weight of the leaping cyclist, as he fell upon each pedestal,
+released one after the other, causing him to take enormous jumps forward.
+It was an ideal breakneck machine, easy to carry about; only the
+calculations had been difficult. They had cost him a lot of trouble to
+establish; and now another was profiting by them! Perhaps some one had
+patented the invention before him! For he, too, before showing it in
+public, had patented it in England and Germany; and his anger knew no
+bounds, his energy was increased fourfold when he learned the name of the
+plagiarist: Trampy again! Trampy, who had stolen his love, who had stolen
+his Lily ... and who was now stealing his idea ... robbing him of the
+fruit of his labor! Jimmy, in spite of his fury, resolved to keep calm:
+the law first. He was protected by the law, unless--and that was
+impossible--unless Trampy had had the same idea as himself before him and
+taken out his patents before the publication in _Engineering_. Jimmy
+showed a prompt decision, a feverish activity. First of all, he must put
+the law in motion, bring an action against Trampy, telegraph to the patent
+office at Washington to ascertain the date. Meanwhile, he made his first
+appearance on the day fixed for it. His success was even greater than
+Trampy's; his leaps were twice as wide, more in accordance with his
+courage. The way in which he "bridged the abyss," in the huge hall where
+he gave his show, was enough to prove that he was the inventor, the
+creator, the great, typical, daring performer, who, disclaiming death,
+marches to glory and fortune even as heroes, flag in hand, rush to the
+assault under fire.
+
+It was a bolt from the blue for the Kaiserin when the little paper
+arrived, the injunction against "Arching the Gulf." A steamer caught in a
+cyclone would undergo much the same disablement, under a sea sweeping her
+from stem to stern, swamping the saloons, drowning the very rats in the
+hold. Jimmy's active inquiries had not taken long: telegram followed upon
+telegram; the British consul woke up. The law at Washington was formal and
+precise: nothing could be patented that had been known, or used, or
+published before the patent was applied for. Now the article in
+_Engineering_, of course, appeared prior to the step taken by Trampy. And
+in Germany, also, Jimmy won his case; the court found in favor of the
+absolute novelty of the invention. The Kaiserin could not give its
+performance short of paying five hundred marks a night to its rival, the
+Kolossal. This meant the wreck of "Arching the Gulf;" and Trampy came down
+with it. For a few days, he led a terrible life, a desperate struggle,
+made efforts in every direction; but, at last, worried, hustled, driven to
+bay, Trampy disappeared into the darkness, while Jimmy, freed from this
+enervating opposition and feeling sure of himself henceforward, gained
+fresh courage, added another arch to "Bridging the Abyss."
+
+It was done, he had made his start, he had a name, he was the man who
+draws crowds; he received brilliant proposals from all sides, from the
+Western Trust, among others. He felt himself somebody; and money also was
+coming in. He could at last realize what he had in his head ... in the
+absence of love there would be fame ... oh, something a thousand times
+more sensational than "Bridging the Abyss," more modern, more scientific,
+something which he confided to nobody, which he kept locked up in his
+brain, in his heart, like a love passion, a thing which would be his
+alone, this time, which no one could take from him! For it would not be a
+question of a spring and a click, only. The thing moved in his breast,
+lived in his brain. When he thought of it, his cheeks became hollow with
+ambition, his eyes lit up. He seemed to tower over immense perspectives;
+and, from that height, Trampy appeared to him so small, so small, so
+really small that he felt his anger decrease. And then there was Lily! To
+send Trampy to his wife with a black eye or a bloody nose, to turn the
+husband into an object of ridicule to his wife, that was impossible for
+him; it would have shown lack of respect for Lily, poor darling; he would
+not humiliate her in her man! She loved him, perhaps, in the illusion of
+her seventeen years! Hurt _her_? Never! Jimmy wiped the episode from the
+slate; hard as it was, he forgave that highway robber, in the name of his
+dead love.
+
+Ah, if he could have seen Lily when Trampy was driven to confess his
+discomfiture to her! He would have been revenged offhand! Lily seethed
+with rage against her husband, that footy rotter! What! Was that his great
+scheme? Did he call that an idea? How often had not Jimmy spoken to her
+about it! It was pinned on the wall, it lay about in the Gresse Street
+workshop for months. She remembered seeing the plans, the diagrams, the
+drawings in the papers. Jimmy had explained everything to her at the time
+when he was still a josser. And Trampy had stolen it from him, stolen it,
+stolen it! Oh, he would make her die of shame!
+
+It was a terrible dispute, a real "playing humanity," with threats,
+clenched fists, broken crockery strewing the floor.
+
+"To humiliate me like that before Jimmy!" said Lily, furious.
+
+"Drop that about Jimmy!" snarled Trampy, green with jealousy. "I won't
+have you mention him!"
+
+"I shall mention him if I like! Jimmy is a son of a gun! Very well! But
+he's a man! He's worth two of you."
+
+Trampy strode up to her with his fist raised.
+
+"If you touch me," cried Lily, seizing the lamp, "if you touch me, I'll
+smash it over your head!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+When Trampy received the visit of the _Gerichtsdiener_, with the bill of
+costs to pay--for the Kolossal sued the Kaiserin for damages and the
+Kaiserin came down upon Trampy--when Trampy learned that, he became a limp
+rag. Already he saw himself dragged before the courts, his whole past laid
+bare: two wives on his hands, for all he knew; Lily crushing him with her
+scorn; Jimmy triumphant.
+
+Trampy had a moment of real despair. Lily preferred him like that, humbled
+at her feet. She seemed to understand her husband, a man spoiled by easy
+conquests, a boozer, a rake, who had taken too much upon himself when he
+wedded a wife. Trampy was certainly not made for marriage: having a wife
+was a different thing from having thirty-six girls. His heart, weakened
+with premature enjoyment, was no longer made for real love. All this he
+too now perceived; and, in spite of himself, realizing his unworthiness,
+he felt overcome by an ever-increasing jealousy.
+
+Those were melancholy weeks in the small room. He sat for hours brooding
+over his disgrace. Lily silently turned this time of rest to account and
+mended her costumes, sewed spangles on her bodices, beside the earthenware
+stove, on which the stew was bubbling; and then came the meal, on the
+table hastily cleared of the mass of ribbons, thread and needles, to make
+room for the plates. Trampy choked as he swallowed that dinner which he
+had not earned, sighed sadly for the good cheer of his dreams, the
+champagne suppers with girls. He gulped down his meagre fare in silence,
+he who had known the gay junketings, the noisy laughter and the "Roman
+nights!" To go from there and drown his sorrows in the bar next door was
+but a step. And Trampy had sorrows outside his recent defeat: sorrows
+which were even more bitter. He felt that, this time, he was losing Lily.
+
+Lily was surrounded with sympathy. When she went the round of the
+agencies, the pros courted her. They looked upon Lily in the light of a
+wife tired of her husband. They prowled round that possible prey. A Lily
+was worth the having, meant an assured income for whoever succeeded in
+winning her affections and managing her properly: not with brutality, no,
+rather not; home joys, like Mr. Fuchs! Who was destined one day to own
+those full-blown seventeen years, those twinkling legs, that lissom body,
+trained to spin round and round, unerring and exact? What lucky dog would
+have her for himself, would succeed in making her love him? They pitied
+Lily openly, to disgust her with her husband and hasten on the
+catastrophe. Trampy? He was no husband for her! They, ah, yes, now that
+was a different matter! And they talked of the dangers attendant upon
+Trampy's mode of life; the impersonator told her of the terrible diseases
+brought on by constant tippling; they exaggerated it all on purpose,
+amused themselves by frightening her; until Lily, sometimes, would look
+upon herself as a pretty little gazelle chained to a mangy bear.
+
+Trampy suspected all this, having himself, in the old days, in the time of
+his glory, been one of those who hovered round wives ready for divorce,
+helping them, if need be. He could have smashed the face of that
+green-eyed impersonator. There was also that architect, that
+theater-builder, Harrasford's friend: he was passing through Berlin and
+Lily had taken his fancy the other evening, at the cafe; he had patted her
+cheek gaily:
+
+"I knew you when you were 'that high.' You used to sit on my knee. How
+beautiful you've grown!"
+
+There appeared to be an infinity of people who had known Lily when she was
+"that high." They paid her more and more attention ... and then they
+believed her to be looked after by Jimmy. That again was a friendship
+dating back to her childhood, they said: Jimmy, the bill-topper. He, too,
+had known her when she was "that high."
+
+The greater part of this talk reached Trampy's ears. Oh, he could have
+killed that Jimmy! But he was obliged to hold his tongue. Jimmy had him
+under his heel, with that crushing lawsuit.
+
+They did not even dare speak of it, so painful was the subject. The little
+table by the earthenware stove separated them like a wall; and there was
+one thing always between them: Jimmy. Trampy never mentioned his name now.
+He would have had too much to say.... And there were continual summonses,
+always; and lawyers, always; and costs, always. Money melted away, like
+butter in the sun. Lily was tired of it; and an agony overcame her at the
+thought of leading a life like that for the rest of her days:
+
+"Oh," she said, "he's taking the very bread from our mouths, with his
+lawsuit! And I haven't a decent hat to wear."
+
+"He'll drive us to the workhouse," grumbled Trampy, staring before him,
+with folded arms.
+
+"It's your fault!" Lily began, but soon stopped: the subject led to a
+surfeit of quarreling.
+
+But, in her own mind:
+
+"That son of a gun of a Jimmy!" she thought. "All the same, who would ever
+have believed it of him? Can he guess that all of this falls upon me?"
+
+"Suppose you were to go and see him," said Trampy, at his wits' end, one
+day when he had exhausted himself in stormy explanations with the manager
+of the Kaiserin.
+
+"I go and see Jimmy?" exclaimed Lily. "What for?"
+
+"To try and arrange things," replied Trampy, dropping his head. "No one
+but you could ..."
+
+"I'll think about it, I'll see," said Lily.
+
+But she had to get used by degrees to the idea of going and seeing that
+Jimmy who was now ruining her. A strange curiosity, nevertheless, drove
+her toward that conqueror, once a bike-cleaning workman, who was now
+topping the bill at Berlin and making as much money by himself as a whole
+program put together. He would receive her kindly, she was sure of that.
+Oh and then she wanted to tell him that she had had nothing to do with
+that business of the patents ... that she did not approve of Trampy's
+conduct ...! And then he could give her news of Pa and Ma, as he had come
+from London, where he must have seen them! And she was dying to know! The
+idea was increasing with her that life with Trampy had become impossible.
+And, in case she should leave him, she dreaded finding herself alone.
+Already there were all those offers being made to her, a married woman,
+driving her mad! She, Lily Clifton, was treated like a "Parisienne": she
+hated that sort! To walk about the stage, two by two, might pass; but it
+was possible to go too far, like the conductor of the orchestra, who, the
+other day, tried to kiss her in her dressing-room, married woman though
+she was! Then what would it be when she traveled alone! On the continent,
+too! Oh, she would have liked to be a good little wife! But, as that could
+not be, better go back to her Pa and Ma and have a home, a real one, with
+a servant in it. She was yearning for a home. But how would she be
+received in that case? Would they put the blame on her? Had they forgiven
+her? Had she a Pa and Ma still? That was what she wanted to know.
+
+Lily would have liked to look handsome and elegant on the day when she
+went to Jimmy, so as to show him that he was not the only one who made a
+lot of money; but she felt very small and terribly excited. The hotel
+itself, the great clock, the waiters, everything made an impression on
+her, so different from her boarding-house in the Akerstrasse. She felt
+like running away after knocking at his door; and Jimmy opened it with the
+preoccupied air of a man who is disturbed at an inconvenient moment. But
+suddenly he put out his hand in hearty greeting:
+
+"Hullo, Lily! Come in."
+
+Lily entered a bright sitting-room, neatly furnished with a sofa and
+comfortable chairs; no bed; a room which served only for that. She at once
+felt more at her ease. Jimmy motioned her to a seat near a table covered
+with papers, full of marks and signs which she did not understand, and
+books, rulers and compasses. She tried to be simple and dignified;
+apologized for interrupting him:
+
+"Brain-work, I see," she said, pointing to the papers. "That's hard, too,
+I suppose," she added, to say something, for a start, like talking about
+the weather.
+
+"A matter of habit, like the bike," said Jimmy, in a tone of conviction.
+"Sit down, Lily, there in that big arm-chair; you're not disturbing me."
+
+"'K you," said Lily, sitting down, feeling reassured by his cordial
+welcome and thinking that, at least, he was polite.
+
+"I am glad to see you again, Lily," Jimmy went on, taking a chair himself.
+"Always glad to see you. And how are you? Keeping well?"
+
+"'K you," said Lily.
+
+"I'm very glad to hear it," said Jimmy, scrutinizing Lily with great
+kindness and trying not to see her preoccupied expression. "I know what
+brings you here, Lily. You're a dear little thing, a kid, eh? A real kid
+at heart, aren't you? I bet you I guess. I've come from London. You want
+to hear the latest news of your Pa and Ma, eh? You're not angry with them,
+I hope? Oh, it would be wrong of you to be angry with them still! They're
+very fond of you, you know. They cried when you went away, Lily. Your ...
+going away," Jimmy insisted, with a quaver in his voice, "was ... a great
+blow ... to them ... too."
+
+"How do they get on without me?" asked Lily eagerly, not wishing to break
+down and cry before Jimmy. "Poor Pa! Yes, he was fond of me. He never let
+me fall on purpose. He did not force me to work when I was ill."
+
+"Your Pa!" Jimmy broke in, glad of the chance to give a fresh turn to the
+conversation. "Why, there's no harm in him! Your Pa's an artiste in love
+with his art, that's all! I shouldn't be surprised if the troupe made a
+hit yet. It's had a success of a sort already--in the small halls--at
+Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells. Your Pa just does without you as well as he
+can. He runs after his pupils all day long, damn it!" said Jimmy, with a
+laugh. "Your cousin stars."
+
+[Illustration: COUSIN DAISY]
+
+"_Who_ stars?" asked Lily.
+
+"Your cousin Daisy. She came as soon as you ... as you went away and
+offered to take your place. Pa Clifton sent her to the right-about,
+treated her like a ... like an I don't know what, but she returned to the
+charge. She's doing very well now. She tries to be like you."
+
+"No! Impossible!" exclaimed Lily. "What, that fat freak?"
+
+"And your Pa will succeed," Jimmy hastened to add. "You'll see. You ought
+to be proud of having a Pa like that."
+
+"Yes, in a sense," said Lily, who felt a certain satisfaction at being the
+daughter of her Pa.
+
+He was a bit harsh at times; but a man like her Pa, or like Jimmy, was
+much better than her loafer of a tramp cyclist!
+
+"And ... Ma?" asked Lily.
+
+"Your Ma," said Jimmy, in a lower voice, "cried ... oh, how she cried when
+she found that you had gone! No doubt, she exaggerated any wrong she had
+done you. It seems she fell upon her knees and prayed and asked for
+forgiveness."
+
+"Forgiveness? What for? Of whom?" Lily inquired.
+
+"Why," said Jimmy, in a serious tone, "of whom do you think people ask
+forgiveness, when they are alone, on their knees?"
+
+"Oh," said Lily, greatly touched, "I understand! So they didn't put the
+blame on me?"
+
+"What blame?"
+
+"For my marriage," said Lily, lowering her eyes.
+
+"No ... if you had gone off to live with him ... oh, not you, not you, I
+know!" protested Jimmy, seeing a gesture of Lily's. "But marriage is
+different, I suppose. You had the right, you were old enough to go away
+with the man you loved."
+
+Jimmy turned pale as he said this; but Lily, hanging her head and red with
+shame, did not notice it.
+
+"What!" said Jimmy. "You're blushing! Do you regret it?"
+
+Lily did not reply.
+
+"Then," continued Jimmy slowly, "what they said--I wouldn't believe it,
+but you know they say a lot of things--is it true?"
+
+She nodded yes and raised her eyes to him with a sad, weary smile.
+
+"He doesn't love you? And ... and ... you, Lily," asked Jimmy, taking her
+hand in his, "don't you love him?"
+
+"Certainly not!" said Lily, with such an accent of conviction and such a
+look of disgust that Jimmy was, at one and the same time, delighted to the
+bottom of his heart and pained to the verge of tears.
+
+Poor Lily! He now noticed her pallor, the dark rims round her eyes, that
+exquisite face refined by inmost grief. Lily, upon whom, since her visit
+to the shop in Gresse Street, he had built his hopes of happiness! It
+seemed to him like yesterday and already it was the distant past. Was that
+what her rebellion, her bid for freedom had ended in? Was that the
+crowning point of her hard life? Lily, fashioned to be the companion of a
+loving heart, was the prey of a footy rotter! Oh, if Jimmy had not
+controlled himself, if he had not clenched his teeth, for fear of talking!
+If he had listened to his anger, let loose the storm that raged within
+him, shouted out what he felt! But what would be the good of telling her
+his love? Why add to Lily's sorrows by letting her know what might have
+been and thus cause trouble in her household, when he wished for one thing
+only, Lily's happiness? Suppose she did not love her husband: Trampy,
+alas, unworthy though he was, remained her husband, nevertheless! And
+there was no hope of breaking the chain. The letters from Denver and
+Houston were anything but encouraging. No proofs, no recollections of
+Trampy's marriage over there. So there seemed no way out.
+
+Nor did he wish to incense Trampy's jealousy. Lily would have had to bear
+the brunt of it ... as in the old days, with Ma's temper. Oh, there was no
+doubt about it: Jimmy, to hold his tongue now, needed more courage than
+when risking his life six times in six seconds! But what was the use of
+fighting against fate? Better submit, when there was no remedy, and strive
+for peace!
+
+"Everything gets straight sooner or later," Jimmy went on. "Many lives
+that once seemed spoiled have become quite endurable. Time is the great
+healer. Trampy, no doubt, will get over his faults. He will learn to
+appreciate you. Have patience. Don't exaggerate your bothers, Lily. There
+are others unhappier than yourself. You have a claim to happiness. You
+will know it yet. Just think. You're so young, you have all your life
+before you."
+
+"The simpleton!" thought Lily. "It's easy for him to talk. But then ...
+why was he so jealous? Why did he tell Pa about me? But for him, I should
+be at home now!"
+
+It was certain that, notwithstanding his kindly reception, Jimmy now
+seemed to be taking Trampy's part, as formerly he had sided with Pa and
+Ma. And he was lalerperlooser enough to ask Lily if her husband knew that
+she had come to see him:
+
+"I hope he knows, Lily. We must have no secrets: did you tell him?"
+
+"He sent me," she said, resolving to tell everything frankly, since that
+was what she had come for and not, after all, to talk about love ...
+money, only, and business ... it was a question of bread and butter to
+her.
+
+"Ah! He did!" said Jimmy, a little surprised.
+
+"Yes," said Lily, "it's about that lawsuit."
+
+"Speak quite frankly, Lily. Tell me everything," said Jimmy, very calm.
+
+"Well," said Lily, yielding before his air of candor, "Trampy is at the
+end of his tether; he has no money"--she colored up to the eyes--"no
+money, no work; the law-costs ..."
+
+"And whose fault is that?" interrupted Jimmy, rising and picking up a
+cigarette, so as to have something to fumble at with his fingers. "Whose
+fault is it, Lily, if not that ... well, if not Trampy's? Isn't it fair
+that he should pay for it? It would really become too easy, else, to steal
+other people's ideas! You know quite well, Lily--you saw it at my place,
+on the wall--is it my invention or is it not? And here comes Trampy," he
+continued, crunching up his cigarette with a nervous gesture, "and patents
+it ... as if it were his own. It's a bit too much, you know!"
+
+"Jimmy," cried Lily, starting up from her chair, "I swear to you that I
+had nothing to do with it! If I had known, Jimmy, I would have stopped it!
+I call it stealing, as you do."
+
+"Oh, I'm quite sure of that, Lily! I never thought it was you! Calm
+yourself; sit down, do," said Jimmy, relieved at the sight of Lily's
+indignation, as she stood before him with blazing eyes and her face
+crimson with shame.
+
+"Important tricks like that!" went on Lily, sitting down again. "No, those
+have no right to be copied. It's brain-work. You designed it yourself."
+
+"Yes, but about the present," said Jimmy, with a serious air. "I can't
+give in to Trampy. I'm bound to defend myself. You came to see me about my
+action, Lily. I can't say anything on the subject. It's ... Trampy's
+business, I suppose! Why, what would you do in my place, Lily?"
+
+"I should do as you're doing, Jimmy, you're perfectly right," said Lily,
+very low, without raising her head. "But couldn't one come to terms ...
+avoid a lawsuit ... and not waste all that money on jossers? What do you
+gain by it yourself? We can't pay up, Jimmy: those costs are breaking
+us."
+
+"What do you mean by 'us'?"
+
+"Trampy isn't working," continued Lily. "He hasn't done anything for a
+long time."
+
+"But then," asked Jimmy, stopping in front of her, "how does he live?"
+
+"I ... I'm earning money," explained Lily, blushing, ashamed to own her
+distress.
+
+Oh, it was hard for her, Lily Clifton, to have no money and to confess it
+to Jimmy, that josser, who was making his five hundred marks a day! Jimmy
+saw her before him, huddled in her chair ... her faded hat, her mean gown.
+He took in everything at a glance. Poor Lily, who used to dream of
+dresses, to be reduced to that! Then he understood. Pity moved him at the
+sight of that poor Lily. It was all very well for him to say, just now,
+"Business is business," and to ask, "What would you do in my place?" He
+knew what he would do. A lawsuit was not a question of sentiment,
+everybody knew that; but still, it was no longer between men....
+
+"Listen, Lily," he said, putting his hand kindly on her shoulder, "if all
+this is to fall upon you, we must see how we can arrange matters. Sorry
+you didn't come sooner; I don't want to add to your burdens, Lily, heaven
+knows I don't! I never thought of that. I ought to have suspected,
+perhaps. However, I will withdraw the case. I'll manage. And the costs ...
+well, I'll pay them myself, if necessary, for you, Lily, for you; because
+I knew you when you were 'that high' ... no, not quite so small; how old
+were you? Thirteen ... and such a little thing, such a dear little wee
+thing. Do you remember when I made night and day in your cabin, by just
+touching my levers? And then it seems to me that I always knew you: in
+Mexico, in India, in South Africa, at the time of the elephants and the
+tiny birds. And then later, that other Lily, the London one: the one of
+only a few months ago. The one for whom ..." continued Jimmy, in a voice
+smothered with emotion. "The Lily of Rathbone Place. The Lily of Gresse
+Street. That little toque, which suited you so well and which you
+complained of ... you poor little Lily!... You poor silly little thing!
+There, go home now and make your mind easy, as far as I'm concerned, Lily.
+None of your troubles shall come from me. Besides, as they say, a bad
+settlement is better than the best lawsuit. I'm doing it for your sake.
+Well, is that all right?"
+
+"Oh, how kind you are!" she said, raising her eyes to him, with a tear in
+them. "Why, Jimmy, you're not so bad, after all!"
+
+"Pooh!" said Jimmy, lighting a cigarette. "I'm no better than most, Lily,
+and no worse. Flesh and blood, like the rest. And, besides, for you, Lily
+... If ever you need me, Lily, if I can be of any use to you ..."
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+"For me," thought Lily, as she returned home, "for me. Ah, if I had known!
+Ah, when I think that he, too, wanted to marry me, what a fool I was!" she
+said, with a sigh.
+
+She still felt in her own palm the gentle, manly pressure of Jimmy's hand.
+She still heard the kind words with which he had comforted her on the
+threshold. Goodness, how happy she would have been with a man like him!
+Her ill-will disappeared. He was no longer a cur, that josser, but a
+gentleman, rather, a brother, a friend.... And she was proud, also, that
+Jimmy, who was so busy and making such a lot of money, had promised to
+come and applaud her, one of these evenings, at her theater, at Kleim's
+Garden, before his own turn at the Kolossal. Oh, wouldn't she work hard
+that night! She would do all her tricks! She was bent on pleasing him. And
+how vulgar and common Trampy appeared in comparison. However, there was no
+help for it now; and Lily hastened home to bring him the good news.... In
+any case, Trampy would be grateful to her for what she had done for him.
+As a matter of fact, it had cost her an effort to go and pay this visit.
+
+She happened to run up against Trampy coming out of the bar, where,
+according to his custom, he had been drowning his cares. He had a moment
+of delight on learning the result of the visit, but, mad with jealousy, at
+once adopted a lofty tone, so as not to have to thank her:
+
+"I knew he would knuckle under!" he said, without looking at Lily. "The
+braggart! He prefers a settlement, eh? And quite right too! He knows he's
+in the wrong. He's retreating, he's afraid."
+
+"Afraid of what?" asked Lily, bewildered.
+
+"Afraid of me. He knows it won't pay to try my patience too far!"
+
+"Afraid? Jimmy?" said Lily, indignant at all that foolery. "Do you think
+he's done that because he's afraid?"
+
+"And for what other reason would he have given in so soon?"
+
+"He did it to please me, he did it for _me_, damn it, for _me_!" said
+Lily. "You're rid of your lawsuit: you ought to talk differently and thank
+me!"
+
+"And why should he do it to please you? What is there between you?" asked
+Trampy, looking her in the face.
+
+"You're drunk!" said Lily furiously, with her hand ready to scratch.
+
+"No scenes in the street!" said Trampy. "We'll go into this at home ..."
+
+"Then I shan't come in!" said Lily, abruptly turning her back on him. "I'm
+going to the theater!"
+
+She had nothing to do on the stage; only the idea of being alone in the
+room with Trampy seemed intolerable to her. At the least discussion, Lily
+felt it, she would have thrown the lamp at his head, so great was her
+indignation at his insolence!
+
+She was boiling over with anger when she reached the theater. There were
+people practising; it was the time for it. Lily went up to her
+dressing-room, shifted things in her trunk, anyhow, for something to do.
+The idea that her husband thought her capable of anything wrong made her
+angry. Oh, to get a divorce, to part from him! As this could not go on for
+ever, it might as well be done at once; but it would be better if there
+were no fault on her part. A divorce, yes; but with the honors on her
+side; a divorce in her favor! Patience, the opportunity would come! It
+ought to be quite easy, with the girls whom Trampy beguiled, the love
+letters which he received, to catch him in the act, cover him with
+ridicule, get the best of him. Oh, if she only could! To be a poor little
+victim, how touching! A dear little outraged wife!
+
+"You fool, if I catch you!" she said.
+
+Then another idea passed through her brain. Oh, if it were true! She would
+have danced for joy! Trampy's marriage in America.
+
+"Is it true? Is it true? God above, grant that it be true!"
+
+It was possible. Already, a few days before, the Jim Crows who hovered
+round her had talked about it, in covert words, in the hope of making
+things worse. There must be some truth in it. There was so much news going
+from mouth to mouth: Lillian, Edith and Polly were the rage in Chicago....
+That poor boy-violinist: at Budapest, the stuffed seat to his trousers had
+slipped from its place and allowed the dog's teeth to reach the living
+flesh; he had had to spend a week in bed with poultices.... Harrasford was
+contemplating a theatrical trust on the Continent, planning a model
+music-hall in Paris.... There were Jimmy's successes, his ambitions....
+Amid all this news, to which Lily listened, sometimes absent-mindedly,
+sometimes with interest, among these adventures dating from
+everywhere--names which she greeted like old acquaintances, with a little
+nod: "Denver? Yes, I know; a big flat stage. Mexico? I remember!"--among
+all those tales, Lily pricked her ears when she heard the name of Ave
+Maria coupled with Trampy's. She had a vague recollection of Ave Maria's
+flight, after her departure from Mexico; was it with Trampy? Were they
+really married then? Oh, if it were only true! God above, grant that it
+were true!
+
+Lily, haunted by this idea of a divorce which would set her free, had
+rummaged in Trampy's trunk, among his programs and posters. It was full of
+letters, photographs of girls in outrageous hats, in tucked-up skirts, in
+tights, with inscriptions. All this dated back to before the marriage, a
+collection of treasures which he had not had the courage to destroy. She
+had hoped to find some proof, some clue; but no, there was nothing serious
+in it. Lily did not give up, for all that; on the contrary. After the
+visit to Jimmy, which made Trampy so meanly jealous, she lost no
+opportunity of inquiring. But Martello himself, the father, never had news
+of his daughter. He hadn't heard for ever so long; and it was to no avail
+that Lily asked about Ave Maria, the one who ran away with a man, a great
+artiste; she always received the same reply:
+
+"Ave Maria? Don't know the name. Ave Maria? Haven't seen her since ..."
+
+But Jimmy, always; Jimmy here, Jimmy there; they talked about him all the
+time: his ideas; something new he had invented; something no one had ever
+seen: much cleverer than "Bridging the Abyss," it seemed; but nobody knew
+what.
+
+"I know!" said Lily, with a well-informed air and very proud of knowing
+Jimmy and of letting people think ...
+
+"Do you know Jimmy?"
+
+"Ever since I was that high," answered Lily. "He used to hold me on his
+knees."
+
+"And what is his new trick?"
+
+"I'm not allowed to tell. He asked me not to say."
+
+Everybody praised her for her discretion. The sympathy with which she was
+surrounded increased.
+
+"Jimmy," they hinted. "Now there's a fellow you ought to have married,
+instead of your ..."
+
+"Not a word against my husband," she said, like a good and devoted little
+wife. "I won't have him insulted."
+
+That did not prevent her from laughing with her friends. She felt a need
+of forgetting, or she would have died of boredom, with a husband like
+that. She was heavy at heart, sometimes. She was a woman, not an icicle.
+She felt herself made for love. She was flesh and blood, like Jimmy. She
+would have liked some one to console her, to talk softly to her, as
+Glass-Eye Maud used to do. There were plenty willing to play the part of
+Glass-Eye Maud, no doubt: the female-impersonator, for instance, with the
+green eyes. Oh, she would have liked to be hugged, kissed full on the
+mouth, or else stroked and petted gently! No home, no happiness; marriage
+without love; that was her life henceforth. These stage friendships were a
+relief.
+
+The Bambinis romped with her. She loved their gaiety, liked to touch their
+sturdy little limbs. That evening, Lily, who was ready for her performance
+early, was having fun with them. Dressed in her pink tights, she looked
+like a blithe nymph playing with rollicking cupids.
+
+"What a charming group!" said a voice behind her. "If I were a painter,
+Lily, I would do you like that!"
+
+It was Jimmy, who had come to see her on the stage, as he had promised.
+
+"Am I spoiling your game?" he asked. "It's so pretty! It makes me want to
+kiss the lot of you!"
+
+"Well, booby!" said Lily, all excited and laughing. "Why don't you? You
+daren't!"
+
+"I daren't! I'll show you whether I dare ... and ... I'm stronger than I
+look!"
+
+And thereupon he caught hold of Lily and lifted her like a feather--Lily,
+all taken aback, had not time to say "Oof!" so great was her surprise--and
+Jimmy crossed the whole stage with Lily in his arms, shouting to the
+manager:
+
+"Look what a dear little baby I've found! Isn't she sweet, eh?"
+
+And then, in the wings, he gave her a good big kiss on the cheek before
+putting her down.
+
+The people around them laughed, applauded that stage joke:
+
+"Jimmy, her old friend," they said, "knew her when she was that high."
+
+Lily was very proud of it. And, a few minutes after, when he had left her
+to take a seat in front, Lily jumped into the saddle and rode round and
+round, without a hitch, smiling to the audience, smiling to Jimmy in a
+front box, Jimmy to whom she was grateful for coming to see her: a famous
+bill-topper putting himself out for her ... before everybody! She was
+faultless that evening, did a dozen twirls on the back-wheel, made a
+record, was grand.
+
+Trampy, meanwhile, was waiting for Lily outside, in the passage leading to
+the stage-door. He had not seen Jimmy kiss Lily, but he saw him carry her
+across the stage, just as he was coming on himself, so he had turned and
+hurried out to avoid scandal ... giving way to his wife, who worked while
+he did not. He had gone out at once, time to run to the bar and drown two
+or three sorrows, and he was waiting for her now, without paying any
+attention to the girls passing. As soon as he saw Lily, he seized her by
+the arm:
+
+"I've had enough of this," he said. "I saw you, you and your Jimmy! You
+can't deny it this time!"
+
+"Oh, Trampy, don't insult me like that!" protested Lily. "Why do you
+always say 'my' Jimmy? One can have a laugh and a joke on the stage
+without meaning wrong, you know one can. Besides, if you didn't like to
+see him carry me in his arms, you ought to have smashed his face, without
+so much talk."
+
+"I didn't want to make a fuss."
+
+"You were afraid to. You're afraid of him, that's what you are!"
+
+"Stop jeering at me!" said Trampy, shaking her violently. "You're dragging
+me in the mud; it's like those whippings of yours! I'm tired of the
+affronts you put upon me! You ought to have married your Jimmy and left me
+in peace."
+
+"I can't say," sneered Lily, "that I remember running after you!"
+
+"That Jimmy!" repeated Trampy. "I'll kill that fellow like a dog! If I
+don't do it now, I will later, in a year, in a hundred years, if
+necessary. I'll kill him like a dog!"
+
+Lily gave a little laugh as she went out, followed by Trampy. She did not
+wish, in that lobby, before the people passing, to look like a woman
+insulted by her husband. She laughed bravely, as she used to, on the
+stage, with Ma, in the days of the great smackings. To see her laugh, one
+would have thought that Trampy was telling her a story; and he repeated:
+
+"I'll kill him like a dog, like a dog!"
+
+"Pooh!" said Lily, who knew Trampy. "You talk too much to act."
+
+"We shall see. Where's your Jimmy hiding?"
+
+"You'd be nicely caught, if you met him," said Lily, who had just noticed
+Jimmy leaving the music-hall to go to the Kolossal: "there he is, behind
+you."...
+
+"What's that? Don't you try to get at me!" said Trampy.
+
+"I tell you, he's behind you, damn it! Turn round and you'll see ... if
+you have eyes to see with."
+
+Trampy turned round, half-reluctantly: he didn't like those jokes, but he
+didn't wish to seem afraid.
+
+"Where? Where do you see Jimmy?" he grumbled.
+
+"There, in front of you," insisted Lily, pointing with her finger and
+pushing him by the shoulder. "Off you go!"
+
+There was no drawing back. He marched straight up to Jimmy, who did not
+even recognize him and who stopped politely. But Trampy had time for
+reflection, no doubt: a clearer perception of professional brotherhood.
+Better, after all, to remain friends ... among artistes. And, when he
+stood before him:
+
+"H'm, h'm. Have you got a light about you, Jimmy? Give us a match," said
+Trampy, taking a cigar from his pocket.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+It stifled Lily, for the moment. She would rather have received twenty
+"contracts" with the steel buckle than see that cowardice in her husband.
+She had her Pa's blood in her, damn it!
+
+"What!" she thought. "He believes me to misconduct myself with Jimmy, and
+he is too much of a coward to object!"
+
+But there was nothing to be done. Trampy was as incapable of anger as of
+love. All those years of a low life had degraded him to that point. And
+Trampy had even lost the right to bear Jimmy a grudge, made as though he
+had forgotten everything, said that, after all, it was much better to be
+friends. And all this under Lily's critical eye!
+
+Jimmy! To be obliged to look pleasant at Jimmy! It gave him a lump in his
+throat. Fortunately, he had the others, the crowd of assiduous pros who
+thronged round his wife. Against those he gave free scope to his jealousy,
+and showed himself as strict with the rest as he had been accommodating
+with Jimmy. He meant to keep an eye on his wife:
+
+"A married woman, on the stage, alone! I won't have any more of that!"
+
+He hit upon a contrivance to be always with her: he would be her "comic."
+It was a new system which had come into fashion: the most plastic
+performances spoiled by the juxtaposition of their caricatures; acrobats,
+Olympian gods, parodied by a merry-andrew in a ridiculous coat: just as
+though Nunkie Fuchs, for instance, had taken it into his head to appear
+with his Three Graces and mimic their tricks, kicking about at the end of
+a wire with his fat, fatherly paunch and his round, silly face.
+
+And Trampy, riding behind Lily, would simply give a parody of her tricks;
+it meant little work to him and was as good a way as another of going on
+the stage with her and establishing his title to _her_ work and _her_
+salary....
+
+And off they went again, with the basket trunk, and the bikes; and on the
+stage, every night, Lily, looking like a goddess, and Trampy, dressed in
+rags, went through their tricks and smiled ... applause for her, always;
+none for him, ever. Lily wore a very sad look in consequence, when they
+returned to the wings: a poor little wife, so sorry for her husband; but
+she triumphed at the bottom of her heart, while Trampy turned green with
+spite. He was furious with Lily: tried to make her fall, pushed her in
+turning; but Lily was too clever and sat as firmly on her bike as Ave
+Maria walked her slack-wire, when the brother used to shake it on purpose,
+whip in hand and snarling as if to bite.
+
+Oh, if Lily had not made efforts to be a good little wife! Trampy was
+becoming unbearable. She posed as the poor little thing, despised,
+deceived and betrayed by her husband; she loved to hear people tell her
+so, called them to witness and continued, but without result, to make
+inquiries about Ave Maria.
+
+And there were everlasting scenes at home. Lily had enough of it, more
+than enough of it! She had even decided to go away, to return to London;
+but, worn out with worry, she had to take to her bed, with a high fever.
+It was the finishing stroke: no work,--all the savings gone....
+
+Trampy, fortunately, found an engagement:
+
+"It's all right, the neighbors will look after you," he said, as he took
+his leave. "A man's duty is to see that his wife doesn't starve, eh,
+darling? I'm going to make money, too, and I'll bring you heaps when I
+come back; and I'll send you some. That's the sort of man I am. I don't
+talk of '_my_ money!'"
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+Lily was left alone in Berlin.
+
+Generally, she hated the hotels frequented by artistes, but she was very
+glad to be in one this time. She, poor little broken-down thing, was not
+left to the care of a common servant; she had nice, kind nurses.... And
+she had no lack of friends who took interest in her, very sincerely, for
+that matter, for she was a favorite with all of them, that pretty Miss
+Lily, who would soon be free....
+
+Lily let herself be coddled. Pending the arrival of the money which Trampy
+was to send, she wanted for nothing, especially in the way of luxuries:
+chocolates, sweets, flowers, they brought her everything. Her friends
+passing through Berlin, the impersonator, the Paras, many others, hearing
+that she was ill, came to see her, treated her as a lady, cried out how
+well she was looking, how pretty she was and how it suited her to be ill
+in bed.
+
+Lily thought that very nice, put on a languid air, like a poor little
+jaded thing that had got out of gear:
+
+"I shall die of overdoing it, I know I shall," she said. "I've been at the
+bike ever since I was that high"--raising her hand twelve inches above the
+bed--"and my heart's worn out by the hard work. My knees, too. Sit down
+there on the basket trunk. You at the foot of the bed. Have a chocolate."
+
+Then she turned over in her sheets, which molded her firm, plump shape,
+took a bag of sweets from the chair beside her and offered it round. Poor
+little martyr, she had been forbidden them by the doctor, because of a
+cough.... But she took them all the same, merely for the sake of taking
+them, with a graceful movement, her bare arm outstretched, her wrist
+making a supple curve, like a swan's neck, as she dipped her pretty hand
+into the bag.
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+In addition to her regular friends, such as the impersonator or the Paras,
+others, the people staying in the hotel, would tap discreetly at the glass
+door between her room and the passage, come in on tip-toe, speak in a
+whisper.
+
+"What nonsense!" Lily would say. "I'm not dead yet, you know!"
+
+And she laughed, and "Ugh! Ugh!" a cough or so, a matter of lifting her
+embroidered handkerchief to her mouth, a favorite gesture. And there were
+stories from all parts, the cackle of the profession. The Paras were
+living together now, as they explained to her. The parrots? No go; given
+them up; one had its neck wrung by a monkey in Chicago; another died of
+consumption at Stockholm; the rest of the troupe sold to the
+stage-doorkeepers of the different variety-theaters. His sight was
+beginning to fail. She wanted smartness; wasn't--how should he put it? The
+husband looked for a word--wasn't "Tottie" enough. However, they managed
+somehow, as "eccentric duetists." Lily thought that very nice, those two
+talents combined, very original; but could they give her any news of Ave
+Maria ... a great artiste ... on the wire?...
+
+If ever Lily might have hoped to receive news of Ave Maria, it was during
+this illness, from the artistes who visited her, on their way from
+anywhere to God knows where. Lily had news of everybody: of Mirzah, the
+white elephant, who had to be pole-axed for killing his keeper; of Captain
+North's seals; of the Three Graces, who were doing triumphantly in
+England; of Poland, the Parisienne, now starring at Bill and Boom's. Tom
+was talked about: biceps like thighs, now: a hornpipe danced on the hands.
+She had news of the Pawnees, of the Hauptmanns. Roofer was sending out
+four new troupes, to Canada, Australia, India, Cape Colony: the
+Greater-England Girls. She had news of the New Zealanders and of her
+cousin Daisy, who seemed to find the star business jolly hard work:
+
+"The wind-bag!" said Lily.
+
+They talked of Jimmy, of dogs, cats and monkeys and of Tom Grave and Butt
+Snyders, those great breakneck acrobats: they talked of one and all, but
+not a word of Ave Maria. They knew her by reputation, as one who had been
+through the mill, more than Lily had, as Lily modestly admitted.
+
+"Darling," said the impersonator affectionately, "don't bother about that
+Ave Maria of yours. I'm jealous. Be mine, darling! How well we two should
+get on together, eh, Lily?"
+
+"Hands off!" said Lily. "Be good ... there ... like that ... down by your
+sides ... or you'll get a smacking!"
+
+Concerts were got up for Lily's amusement. Sketch-comedians pulled their
+faces: a musician twanged his banjo. At other times, by closing her eyes,
+Lily could have imagined herself in an aviary: the Whistling Wonder
+imitated the nightingale, the thrush, the lark. Another, an equilibrist,
+showed her how, when he was obliged to stay in bed with a broken leg and
+had nobody to wait on him, he used to wait on himself by going round the
+room on his hands ... like that. Lily was given, for nothing, a
+performance which was worth a whole music-hall program. To put everybody
+at their ease, Lily told them to smoke, took a puff or two at a cigarette
+herself--"Ugh! Ugh!"--almost choked....
+
+They amused themselves, among themselves, free from any constraint due to
+the presence of jossers. Lily joked with them as she used to do with the
+apprentices in the mornings, when they showed one another their bruises of
+the day before. She made them look at her pigeon's egg, on the side of her
+foot, the little ball-shaped muscle special to her profession, like the
+triceps of the pugilist or the dancing-girls' calves. She was vain enough
+to put on a silk stocking, poked out her foot from under the bedclothes,
+let them feel "her egg," made it jump under their fingers by a sudden
+contraction.
+
+"Is that all you've got to show us, darling?" asked the impersonator.
+
+"You don't want much, I _don't_ think!" said Lily, pulling back her foot
+under the quilt.
+
+The incident was interrupted by new-comers who had also known Lily when
+she was that high. They brought fresh news from Lisle Street. They had had
+a drink with P. T. Clifton himself, had had a drink with an author who was
+writing a book on the business.
+
+"Another josser who's sure to talk a lot of nonsense!" cried Lily. "If
+only they told the truth and described us as we are, a sight better than
+the society ladies, who come and wait for pros outside the stage-door!"
+
+And they went on. The healths they had drunk with this girl and that girl;
+and new turns: competitors who were cropping up ... names ... names ...
+Ave Maria? Dead, they said: somewhere in Ecuador or Peru.
+
+Then Lily stretched herself to her full length in the sheets, feeling
+weary, weary, crushed under all that talk.
+
+And Trampy just didn't write, sent no money at all. She blushed for him
+... in spite of her wish to catch him tripping, before witnesses. She was
+ashamed to be his wife, his only wife, his little wife for ever.
+
+On that day, as it happened, Jimmy came to pay her a visit. His engagement
+at the Kolossal was ending. He was to perform at the London Hippodrome,
+before going to the States. A certain air of respect surrounded him from
+the moment he entered the room, that Jimmy who already stood higher than
+any of them among the famous bill-toppers! And they gradually retired, as
+though Lily would prefer that. It was no use her saying, "Do stay!" They
+went all the same; and Lily was left alone with him, a little embarrassed
+and yet flattered at being thought on such good terms with Jimmy. As for
+him, he had just heard about Lily's illness, Trampy's absence, and hurried
+to see her, bringing her the good news that the lawsuit was over. Trampy
+would have nothing more to pay....
+
+From that day, Jimmy was sometimes seen at Lily's. He spoke little, sat
+down on the basket trunk, listened, thought of things. He was known to
+have his mind full of an invention superior to "Bridging the Abyss," one
+could expect anything from him: a wonderful chap Jimmy, a bit cracked,
+though, with ideas of his own which went the round of the profession and
+were variously appreciated. A fund for stage-children; a reserve upon
+their earnings, to be banked and kept untouched till they came of age; a
+home of rest for the old and the sick; a weekly matinee for the benefit of
+the fund....
+
+Jimmy described the piteous lot of those who grow old in a profession
+intended for youth: but a few shillings a month paid into the fund, a
+benefit performance or two ... and our home is established and endowed and
+we should see no more stars flung aside, to die in hopeless poverty, after
+amusing crowds of people for years and years.
+
+"I'm with you," said Lily, laughing. "Put me down for a pension for my old
+age ... if ever I reach old age ... ugh, ugh!"
+
+And she coughed, with the embroidered handkerchief at her lips.
+
+But Lily's joke was left unechoed: everybody talked professional shop,
+quoted figures; the habit of signing contracts, of avoiding the traps laid
+by the agents had given them all a keen sense of business. And the
+frequent traveling, in the absence of education, had made them sharp at
+understanding, quick in the uptake. Their clean-shaven faces fell into
+wise folds, like lawyers'.
+
+Jimmy also explained his idea about the apprentices, the compulsory so
+much per cent., the inalienable deposit paid in by the Pas and Mas ...
+and, much more still, by the profs and managers....
+
+"Good!" said Lily. "I'm with you!"
+
+There was a general laugh. The Whistling Wonder interrupted the
+conversation by quacking like a duck at Jimmy and cooing like a pigeon at
+Lily. Jimmy got up and said good-by, pleased to see Lily making daily
+progress.
+
+"Ah, Lily," they said again, when he had gone, "that's the one you ought
+to have married, not the other!"
+
+And thereupon they began to pursue their favorite theme and amuse
+themselves by describing the awful troubles which she would get into one
+day with "the other," that drunkard;--the man with the thirty-six girls!
+And they laughed and they laughed, my! Lily herself held her sides with
+laughing.
+
+All this was stage effect, professional exaggeration. Lily dared not
+indulge in it before Jimmy. She was more sincere, always a little
+embarrassed, in the presence of that man toward whom everybody was driving
+her, as though they all saw farther into her life than she herself could.
+She was no longer ill, only tired, with an accumulation of past
+wearinesses that made her love to lie down flat. But she would get up
+to-morrow, instead of remaining in bed to see her friends; no humbug
+before Jimmy.
+
+The next day when he came, Lily was alone. So much the better, he had
+something to say to her. He had made up his mind that day. His own present
+prosperity formed too great a contrast with the poverty of Lily ... that
+poor kiddie who had run away from home in pursuit of happiness and whom he
+now found here, in this squalid room.... It was all very well to theorize
+about children who have earned fortunes and who haven't a farthing; but
+that was mere talk! Suppose he helped Lily a little in the meantime. He
+had prepared all sorts of good reasons; he had found a smart excuse, the
+great excuse of the music-hall, that he had been betting on horses and
+losing. He would ask Lily to keep his money for him, as a kindness,
+otherwise he simply couldn't help it, his money burned a hole in his
+pocket. Then, on second thought, why all that fuss? Hadn't he known her
+since she was that high? And, the moment he came in, he just handed Lily a
+thousand-mark note:
+
+"For the law-costs, Lily! And, anything over, for your expenses, till
+Trampy's money comes. Only too pleased to be of any use. You can pay it
+back when it suits you. And good-by, Lily, ta-ta!"
+
+And he hurried out, leaving Lily with the thousand marks in her hand.
+
+Lily was stupefied and confused. She asked herself why? why? a real piece
+of brain-work, which made her head ache. Anyhow she would give back the
+money to-morrow! She wouldn't keep it! Trampy would be sure to bring some;
+it was impossible that he should bring nothing; but, come what may, she
+would give back the money to-morrow! She took the great oath of the stage
+upon it: three fingers of her right hand uplifted; her left hand on the
+lucky charm. And then she went and shut the door, turned the key in the
+lock and lay down....
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+A noise woke her: some one was knocking outside; but, before she could get
+out of bed, one of the glass panes of the door broke into fragments.
+Somebody had smashed it with his elbow. A hand came through the opening,
+turned back the key. The door opened and Trampy entered, raging,
+growling:
+
+"There's a man here!"
+
+"You won't find him; you can kill me if you do!" cried Lily.
+
+She expected a terrible scene. Trampy, drunk, had the look which he wore
+on his bad days. He peered into the corners, turned a cunning eye on
+Lily.
+
+Trampy had spent the evening at the cafe and there heard of the visits
+which Lily received during his absence. The neighbors he didn't mind
+about, but Jimmy. Jimmy again! The damned dog! Why should he poke his nose
+in? And, perhaps, at heart, Trampy was not sorry to have a scene with
+Lily, for he wasn't bringing home a pfennig, having spent all his money on
+champagne with girls. He felt himself at fault. He would get out of it
+with violence.
+
+"There's a man here!" repeated Trampy, walking up to Lily like a madman.
+
+She was humiliated to the core when she saw Trampy, dazed with tobacco,
+heavy with beer, stoop and look under the bed. And, suddenly, seeing the
+banknote which Lily had laid on the table, Trampy shouted:
+
+"You can't deny it this time. Tell me where the money comes from!"
+
+"It's from Jimmy," said Lily, beside herself. "He thinks of me, Jimmy
+does, while you leave me here to starve. It's ... it's for the
+law-costs."
+
+"Oh, that's another thing!" said Trampy, putting the note in his pocket.
+
+"Let the money be!" cried Lily, leaping out of bed. "Don't you touch it!"
+
+"Everything here belongs to me, I should think," said Trampy, a little
+more calmly, already overcome with drunken drowsiness. "Everything, even a
+dear little wifie," he continued, putting his snout under Lily's disgusted
+nose.
+
+But she gave a movement of revulsion so spontaneous that Trampy turned
+pale under the insult:
+
+"W-what! N-no love?" he stammered. "I'm not used to that. I can get
+l-l-love for the asking ... at the ca-ca-cafe ... or the th-theater ... or
+anywhere."
+
+And Trampy, making a false step, caught hold of the curtain and drew it
+back.
+
+In the pitiless light of the morning, he appeared to Lily like a drowned
+man, with a puffed-out face, swollen eyes and wan cheeks. To think that
+she belonged to that! Lily spat at him in contempt. Oh, rather sleep with
+lizards and guinea-pigs than that; rather with a woolly dog, like Poland,
+that Parisienne! Oh, to get rid of him and be free again, thought Lily,
+never again to have Trampy before her eyes! And, suddenly, her mind was
+made up. She dressed herself hurriedly.
+
+"Where are you going?" asked Trampy.
+
+"I'm off!" said Lily. "I've had enough of this!"
+
+"What's that?" said Trampy, dull-mouthed, flinging his body across the
+bed. "What's that? Say it again!"
+
+"I say I hate the sight of you! I'm going back to my Pa and Ma!"
+
+"You, you're going back to ... well, good-by, darling, goo-good ...
+goo-good-by," stammered Trampy, sprawling on the bed, among the disordered
+clothes....
+
+Lily moved freely round the room, without even troubling about him, like
+one who has made up her mind once and for all. She packed up her things in
+the basket trunk. She put her bike outside the door; and, just as she was
+going to look for a neighbor to help her down with her trunk, an idea
+entered her head. She stopped on the threshold, came back to Trampy,
+slipped her hand into his pocket and gingerly took out the banknote:
+
+"An insult like that!" she muttered. "I'd rather starve than not give
+Jimmy back the money!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+"Lily!"
+
+She thought she heard herself called, in her dream, just because she was
+back in her room again, in London, among familiar objects. She felt as if
+her life was going on exactly as in the old days, as if nothing had
+happened in between. Her marriage? A nightmare. And her home-coming
+yesterday had been very nice: no questions asked, no whys and hows. Her
+parents knew, of course. They knew all about her troubles with Trampy. But
+no reproaches, nothing: kisses, everybody very happy, including herself.
+She snuggled under the bedclothes, in the hollow left by Glass-Eye, who
+had gone down-stairs. Lily felt sorry that she had left her trunk at the
+hotel, when she thought of the cordial welcome she had received at the
+hands of Pa and Ma.
+
+It was quite three weeks since she left her husband. She went over it all
+again in her head. Her departure from Berlin! She meant to go straight to
+Jimmy, first, and give him back that money; only, those Vienna hats,
+displayed in the shop-windows, those dresses, those boots, when she saw
+all that, Lily understood that she could not return to London, to her
+parents, with dingy-looking clothes, after her successes on the continent!
+Pa and Ma would have laughed in her face.
+
+Lily felt bound to say that she had been most reasonable: three hundred
+marks for that Vienna dress, which suited her so well; why, Jimmy himself
+would have approved.
+
+"Let's see!"
+
+She reckoned on her fingers: forty marks the hat, three hundred the dress;
+and the underthings, chemises, stays, a silk petticoat, boots ... that
+came to ... came to ... a week at a hotel in Berlin ... time lost at
+Hamburg ... the journey from Hamburg to Rotterdam, Harwich and London ...
+the hotel on arriving, so as to be able to dress before going home: it
+left her just fifty shillings to play the lady with and buy presents for
+Pa and Ma. And Jimmy ... Jimmy, who was in London also, due to open at the
+Hippodrome! And she had sworn that she would give him back that money at
+once! To quiet her conscience, Lily, under her blankets, took the
+"counter-oath" of the stage, with her left hand behind her back, the
+fingers closed over the thumb, that she would repay him the money, most
+certainly, as soon as she began to earn any.
+
+"Lily! Can I come in, Lily?"
+
+It was Ma, bringing her breakfast and a paper, _The Era_. Lily gave a
+quick glance round the room: her skirt was hanging on the peg; the bodice
+lay, without a crease, over the back of a chair, the hat on top of it, the
+linen neatly folded: good! She did not look a scarecrow, at any rate! And,
+sitting up against the pillows, with a napkin on her knees, Lily
+breakfasted daintily, with her finger-tips:
+
+"Pa, Where's Pa?" asked Lily. "Tell him to come up."
+
+"Your Pa has gone out with the apprentices," said Ma. "He wouldn't wake
+you, you looked so tired last night. Here, Lily, some more coffee? Another
+slice of bread and butter?" continued Ma, spreading it for her.
+
+"'K you!"
+
+Lily accepted this as her due, like a lady accustomed to the manners of
+good society, to having her breakfast brought to her in bed by the maid.
+
+"Oh, Ma," said Lily, as she sugared her coffee, "they do understand things
+on the continent! They know how to appreciate artistes there. I've had
+such successes!"
+
+"And you were angry with us for teaching you your profession," said Ma.
+"You see now that it was for your good."
+
+"But it depends on how it's done," said Lily. "If I had always been
+treated like this, I should never have left you."
+
+"Well, you don't bear your Pa and me a grudge, I suppose," said Ma, "or
+you wouldn't have come back. We knew you'd come back. This has always been
+your address; your Pa never took your name out of _The Era_."
+
+"You didn't treat me fair," said Lily, "but I've forgotten most of it. Oh,
+don't let's talk about it any more! Let's talk of something else; let's
+talk of you."
+
+Lily knew all about their struggles, their successes; had heard of it on
+the stage, in the cafes. But here, in her room, as described by Ma, she
+put her finger on it, so to speak, and realized more fully what a blank
+her flight had made, what a catastrophe it had been for them.
+
+And Ma gave details, tried to interest Lily in the fate of the troupe;
+told her that, for months, the troupe had been refused everywhere, because
+she wasn't in it, and her Pa had to change apprentices.
+
+"I was the troupe!" said Lily.
+
+"Oh, the trouble your Pa took running after his own fat freaks! I thought
+he would get heart-disease! And months of it, without earning a thing. Oh,
+if your Pa hadn't had some money ...!"
+
+"But he had plenty!" said Lily.
+
+"Oh, not much, not so much as you think!" Ma hastened to say, thinking she
+saw a spiteful allusion in Lily's remark.
+
+"Yes, all right, I know," said Lily. "Never mind about that. It's my turn
+to make money now, for myself."
+
+"Still that independent spirit! We haven't got her yet!" thought Ma.
+
+And she went on talking of the troupe, of the cousin who played the star.
+
+"Pooh!" said Lily. "A nice sort of star!"
+
+"It's not every one who can star in Berlin by herself, like you," said Ma.
+"Do you know, Lily, you ought to stay with us: we should get on so well
+together. You would manage the troupe; and, one day--who knows?--you might
+make a nice marriage."
+
+"But I am married, Ma! I didn't live with him! Do you mean to say you
+think ...? Not I!"
+
+"I know you're married, but you can get a divorce. Jimmy used to make love
+to you; now there's a man who ..."
+
+"And you used to say he was a drunkard, Ma!"
+
+"Never!" said Ma, rising to leave.
+
+Lily was flattered, at heart, to be received like that. She also felt
+proud that her Pa had not been ashamed of her and that he had kept her
+name in _The Era_. Well, they treated her as a lady, saw her value, gave
+her her due. And she lay for a while enjoying her triumph, while she
+turned the pages of _The Era_ in an absent-minded way: Miss This, Miss
+That, Cape Town, Calcutta ... actors, singers ...
+
+"Those aren't artistes, any of them!"
+
+Programs, plays, songs: "_Why I Love Women_!"
+
+"I know, you footy rotter!"
+
+"_Is Marriage a Failure_?"
+
+"I should think so!" thought Lily.
+
+And articles, biographies ...
+
+"Pack of lies!" thought Lily.
+
+And pages of "Wanted ... Wanted ..."
+
+Lily ran her eye down the columns: artistes' boarding-houses,
+_costumiers_, scene-painters, dancing-schools, every town, every theater.
+Hullo!--she had turned the page--Tom, the dancer--Hullo! At Milan!
+
+"Bravo, Tom!"
+
+Jimmy at the Hippodrome next week; private address, Whitcomb Mansions.
+
+"Pooh, he's well off! What's fifty pounds to him?"
+
+Hullo! Miss Lily--Berlin--Permanent address, Rathbone Place, London, W.
+
+"Well done, Pa! Serve him right, the tramp cyclist!" said Lily, throwing
+down the paper and jumping out of bed.
+
+Quite a business, her toilet. She was two hours titivating herself. She
+wanted Pa and Ma to be proud of her, of her successes on the continent.
+And, when the apprentices came in from practice, you should have seen her
+walk into the dining-room. A little air of simplicity, her forehead put
+out for her delighted Pa to kiss, hands all round--"Hullo, girls! Hullo,
+Daisy!" And she sat down like a lady accustomed to smart restaurants, who
+does not despise dinner at home, however, with a boiled leg of mutton to
+recruit her inside after those champagne suppers, those truffled
+pheasants, that damned continental cooking! She accepted everything, and
+thought it all very nice, simple life, simple joys, the only ones!
+
+She set a good example to the new apprentices, who eyed her stealthily,
+instead of eating, for Miss Lily's presence turned their heads entirely.
+My! A star like that, a real one! Lily Clifton, the New Zealander on
+Wheels! And dressed ... dressed like a lady in the front boxes! Cousin
+Daisy was green with jealousy. Lily talked of her travels, her successes
+and the crossing, gee! Waves "miles high," the boat standing on end! Glass
+Eye Maud devoured her with her one eye, screwed up her fat red cheeks in a
+fixed and motionless laugh, scared before Lily, who came from over the
+sea, from countries where savages live. Glass-Eye, in her perturbation,
+served Lily first. Pa made no objection, asked Lily's permission to light
+his pipe: was she sure she didn't mind smoke? Lord, you never knew, with
+those ladies! He swelled with pride. If it had been Christmas-time, he
+would have ordered a pudding, my, a real wedding-cake three feet across!
+His ideas of grandeur returned, his triumphal tour round the world, the
+definite extermination of the fat freaks ... if Lily remained with him
+...
+
+After dinner, the apprentices retired, to finish sewing some bloomers.
+Lily approved:
+
+"Bloomers? Very nice ... for a troupe!"
+
+Presently, in the afternoon, the three of them went for a walk: Pa freshly
+shaven; Ma decked out in her jewelry: Lily did not wear any, "only in the
+evening when she went into society." Tottenham Court Road, the Palace, the
+Hippodrome.... Pa would have liked to write up on his hat:
+
+"Lily has come back!"
+
+He looked to right and left, had the satisfaction of distributing nods and
+bows to some artistes, with Lily on his arm, as though to say:
+
+"You see it was wrong, all that people were saying, about those smackings!
+And the proof is, here she is,--on my arm, damn it!"
+
+As for Lily, she thought only of showing herself:
+
+"If Trampy could see me now!" she reflected. "And Jimmy, if he could see
+me, in my fine dress, while it's still new!"
+
+Regent Street reminded Lily of Pa's generosity. She would not be
+behindhand. Pa had to accept a red tie, a pair of gloves, a match-box, as
+a present; Ma, an embroidered handkerchief, a lucky charm. Lily had the
+satisfaction of paying with gold and receiving change.
+
+She was tired, in the evening, put on a languid air: gee, her mother would
+have shaken her for less in the old days! Lily put it on still more, to
+show them all that times were changed. But she did the troupe the honor of
+going to see their performance at the Castle. It was a great success for
+her.
+
+"Made a bit, eh?" asked the manager, seeing her fine dress. "Coming back
+for good, to star with the New Zealanders?"
+
+"I don't know; I shall see."
+
+Lily was quite ready to come back, in her own mind, but she wanted to
+return in triumph. It all depended on the price offered: to think that she
+had worked for them at ten shillings a week, when she was worth quite two
+pounds a night! She would see; she would make her own conditions: for
+instance, herself in tights, the others in bloomers ... a special tune for
+her entrance ... no star beside herself!
+
+Lily watched the New Zealanders' performance with the air of an expert:
+
+"Not so bad; quite good ..."
+
+And she had various ideas: herself as a fine lady, undressing on the
+stage. Or rather, no, as a statue, on a pedestal in a park ... with Cousin
+Daisy at her feet, throwing flowers to her. Then she would come to life,
+as though waking from sleep, and step down prettily to a special tune.
+Hullo, what's this? A bike! And then, gee, a blast of the trombone and she
+would show them what a star was, a real one! Yes ... she would see ... if
+Pa and Ma insisted ... perhaps ...
+
+But her real triumph was next day, at practice. Her Pa, excited by her
+presence, ran and ran, notwithstanding his palpitations of the heart. It
+was no use his trying to restrain himself: his enthusiasm mastered him as
+soon as he saw them all in the saddle, his little Woolly-legs!
+
+And no more Tom: he was all by himself now; and, when he sat down to take
+breath, he still ordered his little Woolly-legs about, shouted his cutting
+remarks at them.
+
+Lily raised her head proudly. She seemed to take the apprentices to
+witness. She had gone through that, much worse than that, for years! She
+was a gentle little lady, all the same. Besides, she was all for
+gentleness:
+
+"Leave her to me, Pa; you're making poor Cousin Daisy quite nervous. She
+doesn't know; I'll show her!"
+
+And, under her great waving feather, Lily, without even taking off her
+gloves:
+
+"There, put your foot there ... like that ... and like that ... firmly.
+No, not like that!"
+
+And, suddenly, stimulated with professional zeal:
+
+"Wait, I'll show you how it's done!"
+
+And, in an instant, to show them all how you're got up when you're a star
+and when you come back from the continent, Lily took off her bodice,
+pinned up her skirt amid the rustling of the silk and, bare-armed, in a
+lace-trimmed chemisette:
+
+"Now then, I'll show you!"
+
+And Lily, with all her little muscles alive, took a bike, jumped on it as
+she would on a stool and then--yoop!--the bike on its back-wheel, spinning
+round like a top.
+
+"Twirls are as easy as anything: you only have to know how to do them.
+Come on! Have a try!"
+
+And the other, encouraged by a friendly slap, tried in her turn
+and--yoop!--succeeded ... very nearly.
+
+Pa was enraptured at the mere sight of Lily's little curled nostrils and
+her earnest look:
+
+"What a professor she would make!" he thought. "If ever she takes the
+belt, she'll be simply grand. I can just fold my arms!"
+
+But he made her dress very quickly. That exhibition of dainty underwear,
+which flattered his pride as a father, would have driven girls used to
+sewing their own calico shifts quite crazy: there would have been no
+holding them; and, besides, artistes might come in at any moment. It would
+not do for Lily to be seen half-dressed like that; and she realized this
+herself, like a sensible little lady, who hates scandal.
+
+"Stay with us, Lily," said her Pa, at home, after dinner, when the
+apprentices had gone out. "Stay with us."
+
+"It's your duty," said Ma.
+
+"If you stay," continued Pa, "I'll make you a present of a brand-new
+banjo!"
+
+"Thank you, no more banjo for me," said Lily, laughing. "I've had my
+share."
+
+"All right, no more banjo," agreed Pa, "provided you stay with us: that's
+all I ask. I shall be afraid of nobody then; I'll show them what an
+artiste is!"
+
+And, warming to his subject, Pa built up his plans: the great English
+tours; and Eastern and Western America, Australia, South Africa:
+
+"Eh, Lily? Wouldn't you like to see it all again? Or else, for once, I'll
+get up a troupe and take it round the world myself, with you in it!"
+
+"But, Pa," said Lily, very coldly, "I have business arrangements of my
+own, more engagements than I want."
+
+"It's a business arrangement I'm proposing to you," said Pa.
+
+"And shall I come on in tights?"
+
+"In tights, if you like."
+
+"And no other star but me!" continued Lily, explaining her idea:
+undressing on the stage, or else the statue, her own scenery ...
+
+"Capital idea!" cried Pa.
+
+"And then there's the money side of the question," said Lily. "I make a
+lot of money now. I want to work for myself."
+
+"And what you make with us, won't it be yours, one day?" suggested Ma.
+
+"Stay with us," said Pa, "and Trampy will burst with spite and you'll be
+much happier here, with your Pa and Ma, instead of with that
+good-for-nothing!"
+
+"Or instead of remaining alone, which is even worse," Ma insisted. "You
+want us still, Lily ..."
+
+"And you me! Let us talk business," interrupted Lily, who would have liked
+a pencil and paper, to make her calculations with.
+
+Ma, in her heart of hearts, did not think it at all nice of a daughter to
+consider only her own interests; but Pa hurried up, thought Lily was quite
+right ... although he was greatly embarrassed in reality and asked himself
+how much he could well offer her, so as to make a profit for himself.
+
+Fortunately, he was relieved of his predicament by Glass-Eye, who came in
+with a telegram for Miss Lily.
+
+"Give it here!" said Lily, who noticed, as she opened the envelope, that a
+chair had creaked and that the palm of her left hand was itching: a sign
+of money. "I'll bet it's about an engagement. I have offers from every
+side; you have no idea ... Well, I never!" she said. "A telegram from
+Jimmy, at the Horse Shoe! I thought he was at Whitcomb Mansions. What can
+he want with me? He asks me to call on him! Funny way of treating a lady.
+Why can't he come himself?"
+
+But Pa and Ma thought differently: Jimmy was "somebody," a man to be
+considered, right at the top of the profession; she'd have done better to
+marry him and not her Trampy Wheel-Pad!...
+
+"You must go," insisted Ma. "Don't you like going alone? Shall I come with
+you?"
+
+"Yes, that's different," said Lily, who had a certain pride and who felt
+sure that Jimmy would never mention that thousand marks before a witness.
+
+Her heart beat a little, as she went up the staircase of the Horse Shoe to
+the third floor, on the left, door 32. At first, she was surprised that he
+should be there, having read in _The Era_ ... but he might have moved. On
+the whole, she was not sorry to show herself to Jimmy in her pretty frock,
+he having seen her last in her room in Berlin, looking ill, unkempt and
+frightfully ugly. She was not sorry, either, that Ma was with her:
+
+"He's in love, I suppose," said Lily. "Everybody makes love to me: why do
+they, Ma? I'm not a bit pretty, off the stage."
+
+And she took a mischievous pleasure in enlarging upon her successes and
+her flirtations, there, on the staircase of the Horse Shoe, with Ma beside
+her, and no smackings, gee, nor any fear of smackings in the future! What
+a change since her marriage!
+
+"Yes," Lily went on, as she read the numbers on the doors--29--"Ma, you
+ought to see the flowers I get, the chocolates, the sweets"--31--"but all
+that does not prevent a lady from keeping straight"--32--
+
+Then she gave a stifled cry, her voice stuck in her throat: Trampy, Trampy
+himself stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, a cigar in his
+mouth, his hat cocked over one ear; and he looked at her with a bantering
+air:
+
+"Sorry to disappoint you, Miss Lily. You hoped to find some one else,
+eh?"
+
+Ma, utterly flabbergasted, had dropped on to a bench in the passage, in
+the shadow. Trampy did not even see her. Lily was crimson with shame at
+being caught tripping by Trampy: she could not deny it. She wanted to run
+away, but, stupefied with surprise, remained where she stood, with dilated
+pupils, open-mouthed.
+
+"You can look at me till to-morrow morning and it won't help you," said
+Trampy quietly, with the air of a man who has prepared his speech. "I've
+got you this time! I sent the telegram; I knew you'd come, wherever he
+thought fit to meet you; you'd have come for less than Jimmy; you'd have
+come for the impersonator or any one else, never mind whom; any one in the
+rotten lot, any gentleman in the front boxes, eh? It's 'Whistle and I'll
+come to you, my lad!' with you! But I thought Jimmy would do best, Jimmy
+your lover, whom you followed to London. Now my luck has brought me here,
+too ... for my work ... not like you! And, by the way, Miss Lily, have you
+brought me that thousand marks which you got from Jimmy and which I was
+going to give back to him, when you stole it out of my pocket? Or did you
+spend it on the way here? You hadn't a rag to your back, when you left me,
+and I find you dressed up like a Tottie. My compliments, Miss Lily."
+
+"O God, strike him dead!" prayed Lily. "Strike him, kill him, kill him!"
+
+Lily felt like fainting. She could not breathe, her ribs seemed to be
+crushing her lungs. At last she drew a long, slow breath:
+
+"Well," she stammered, overcome with shame, "well, we can be divorced ...
+if you like."
+
+"I'll see," said Trampy, hardening his voice and throwing away his cigar.
+"Go back to your Jimmy in the meantime. You may be sure I have no use for
+a traitress like you, an idler who refuses to work, a woman who lets every
+man make love to her!" And, suddenly, pointing to the stairs, "You can be
+sure that I've no further use for you! Get out of this, damn you! And
+you're not going, mind you: I'm kicking you out!"
+
+And therewith Trampy went back into his room and slammed the door in her
+face.
+
+Mrs. Clifton and Lily remained glued where they were. At last, Ma,
+trembling all over, rose from the bench and led away her daughter, who
+shook her fist at the door, crying:
+
+"Liar!"
+
+"Why didn't you speak just now, my poor Lily?" said Ma. "You ought to have
+answered back! So it's true, all that? A nice thing! You, who
+pretended...."
+
+"Oh, let go, you're crushing my sleeve!" retorted Lily angrily, pulling
+her arm away from the hand that clasped it.
+
+She went down the stairs, followed by Ma, without knowing what she was
+doing. She would have liked to find a train on the pavement, a motor, to
+jump into it, to make off and never see anybody again, after the
+humiliation which she had undergone before Ma.
+
+She flung herself into the first cab that came along, yelled a direction
+to the driver: Hyde Park, anywhere! Ma found herself by Lily's side,
+without being asked to step in, and she repeated:
+
+"Lily, you ought to have ... Why did you let him treat you like that? Is
+it true?"
+
+"First of all," said Lily, suddenly turning and facing her Ma; "first of
+all, it's your fault ... yours ... all that's happened, damn it! If you
+had been less hard on me, I shouldn't have gone off with that footy
+rotter!"
+
+"I've often been sorry since," said Ma. "I've been sorry for it. Calm
+yourself, Lily. And then ... were we so very wrong? Look how your husband
+has just treated you before me, before your mother!"
+
+"He's a liar! I swear it!"
+
+"And Jimmy's thousand marks? What was that money for? Why didn't you give
+it back?"
+
+"It's a lie! It's a lie!"
+
+"You, who pretended you were making such a lot of money!" continued Ma.
+"There's not a word of truth in what you said. You haven't a penny. I can
+see it. Oh, you're the same as ever, my poor Lily--extravagant habits,
+dresses--and here you are, penniless, left to yourself with your expensive
+tastes. You'll die in poverty one day, without a Pa or Ma. Come back to
+us, Lily."
+
+"To make nothing? No, thank you!"
+
+"Who says so?"
+
+"Oh, I know! Ten shillings a week, eh? Family life, as that old beast of a
+Fuchs says!"
+
+"Lily," said Ma severely, "don't insult decent people! Have some respect,
+at any rate."
+
+But Lily had no respect left for anybody. Pas, Mas, Trampies, Nunkies, one
+and all, were so many slave-drivers!
+
+"And yet it's quite true, I'm penniless," thought Lily to herself. "I, who
+have earned a fortune for you!" she grumbled under her breath, stifling a
+sob.
+
+"You're mad, my poor Lily! All that we have will be yours some day. You
+never think of the future; you spend your last penny."
+
+"I earn and I spend!"
+
+"And suppose you fell ill, my poor Lily?"
+
+"Hospitals aren't made for dogs! Besides, I have friends. And then, at
+least, I shall have had some fun for my money, while you, if you died
+to-morrow, Pa would marry another woman, who would spend all your savings,
+all the money I have earned for you."
+
+"Lily," cried Mrs. Clifton, "you're insulting your father!"
+
+"I'm telling you things as they are; and I won't come back to you, because
+I can make more elsewhere! Every one for himself!"
+
+"But you don't make a penny!" said Ma, gradually getting angry. "You heard
+Trampy, just now. He called you an idler. Your Pa, at least, used to make
+you work. You're trying to bluff us with those stories of your successes.
+I dare say you'll be glad, one day, of a crust of bread with us."
+
+"Ma!"
+
+"Your contracts," said Ma, "you're always talking of your contracts. I
+should like to see them and your programs too."
+
+"Certainly," said Lily. "I'll show them to you: Munich, Berlin, Hamburg.
+I've had successes everywhere, engagements everywhere! I make more by
+myself than all Pa's troupe put together!"
+
+"Yes, but how do you get your engagements?" said Ma, pale with anger,
+seeing that Lily was escaping them and, this time, for good. "Tell me how
+you get them?"
+
+"Why, through my talent, I suppose."
+
+"Your talent! Pooh! You've none left! You get them through your friends:
+through your Jimmy, your gentlemen friends...."
+
+"That's a lie!"
+
+"You get them ... by looking pretty and getting round the men ... you ...
+you ... you...."
+
+"Mother!"
+
+Lily drew back her shoulder, her arm stiff, ready to strike; but a sense
+of respect withheld her.
+
+"Stop!" she cried to the cabman, in a hoarse voice.
+
+And, without even waiting for the cab to pull up beside the curb, Lily
+jumped out in the roadway, into the mud.
+
+"Mother," she said to Mrs. Clifton, "mother, I shall never forget this!"
+
+And, mechanically, in her haste to get away, she handed the man what money
+she had left, made a sign to him to go on and, without saying good-by,
+Lily saw the cab drive off. It was evening, in a quiet street: where was
+she? Lily did not know; her head was in a whirl. She recognized Old
+Compton Street: had they gone no farther? It seemed to her that she had
+been riding for an hour ... but no, barely a few minutes....
+
+Alone in London, without money, in the mud, in the dark, oh! she wished
+she could be swallowed up in the sewer. She felt like killing herself.
+
+"If I walk toward the Thames," she muttered, "I am done for!"
+
+And she took a street on the left, leading in the direction of the
+embankment. The movement restored her to her self-consciousness.
+
+An idea came to her, a distant hope, a glimmer, very faint at first, which
+suddenly grew in dimensions within her and lit her up in every particle.
+Jimmy! He appeared to her, all at once, like a giant eight feet high, as
+on his posters. Ah, people seemed to associate her life with his, to
+presume all sorts of things ... though he had never even kissed her! Yes,
+he had ... on the stage ... in Berlin, but that was before everybody! And
+everything drove her toward him, she always found herself on his path:
+Jimmy was everywhere, always. And Jimmy was powerful and he was
+good-looking and he loved her! He loved her! To keep straight was no use.
+Why, all of them, all of them, including her husband, that footy rotter,
+who was jealous of Jimmy without reason: she'd give him cause for jealousy
+soon, if it killed him with rage, him and all the rotten lot. And she'd do
+it that very moment! At two minutes' walk from where she stood, in
+Whitcomb Mansions! She was not one of those women whom you can drive to
+despair with impunity: she had her vengeance ready....
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+Jimmy was alone in his room; his table was covered with books and papers.
+He was still at his great plan.
+
+Jimmy sat plunged in work, without the least thought of what was happening
+near him: in fact, he did not even know that Lily was in London. His
+installation of "Bridging the Abyss" at the Hippodrome had taken him the
+whole day. There was a scenic effect to contrive with the manager: a
+"hydrodrama" ... bridging the abyss over a torrent ... with a waterfall
+behind ... and the whole thing set and framed in a pantomine, which was
+ready for production, because Jimmy had been expected for a month; in
+short, it would go of itself.
+
+And under the peaceful light he resumed his compasses, or else flung
+himself back in his chair, lit a cigarette, followed the smoke with his
+eyes....
+
+Poor Lily, what was she doing, over there, in Berlin, thought Jimmy. She
+deserved something better than Trampy, that adorable Lily, to whom he,
+Jimmy, would gladly have devoted his life ... and whom he felt as it were
+swelling up inside him ... in his heart ... in his brain ... in spite of
+himself! That poor Lily! To think that he could do nothing for her, that
+he almost regretted having done her a service, after the short scene which
+he had had the day after with Trampy, blinded with jealousy, because he,
+Jimmy, had visited Lily during his absence; the reproaches which that
+simple action had earned for him:
+
+"Look here, you righter of wrongs, you who preach to others and go making
+love to their wives!"
+
+To have put himself in a position that he could be spoken to like that, in
+a position to have Lily suspected! What a shame! Oh, the worries it would
+cause her! Yes, he had been imprudent, perhaps: it was all his fault;
+another man's wife....
+
+[Illustration: "Oh, you mean cur!" roared Lily.]
+
+A tap at the door. It was opened behind him, before he had time to say,
+"Come in," and Lily walked up to Jimmy, who sat dumb with surprise: a
+strange Lily, feverish, distraught with passion. At any other time, she
+would have felt constrained, because of the thousand marks, or proud to
+show off her dress. Perhaps also she had prepared things to say. But all
+that was forgotten, gone, blown away, like a straw in the storm, for
+nothing came from her but this, in an anxious voice:
+
+"Tell me, Jimmy, is it true that you love me?"
+
+"Why," said Jimmy, perceiving Lily's agitation, without guessing the
+reason: oh, but for Lily to do a thing like that! How she would regret it
+later; it was terrible this time really. He saw all that at a glance; a
+great pity invaded him; and yet he was a man of flesh and blood and felt
+stirred to the marrow. "Why," he began, in a voice which he strove to make
+friendly, no more, "why, Lily, who told you that? Why really ... I...."
+
+"Jimmy," she cried, fixing her eyes, like two flaming swords upon him,
+"answer me! Do you love me or not?"
+
+Jimmy, turning as pale as a corpse, looked at her without flinching and
+shook his head in sign of no.
+
+"Oh, you mean cur!" roared Lily.
+
+And she struck him on the face with her clenched fist.
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then she went out without a word, ran down the stairs, out into the blaze
+of Leicester Square, made for the dark streets and plunged into the
+night....
+
+
+
+
+INTERMEZZO
+
+I
+
+
+The artistes' special left Euston at noon that Sunday. The Three Graces
+were the first to arrive; then the waiting-rooms, until lately deserted,
+began to fill with silent groups of five or six persons at a time, who
+had, no doubt, arranged the night before, at the theater, to travel
+together and avail themselves of the reduction allowed to members of the
+M. H. A. R. A.: a reduction of at least a third, provided there were five
+in the party. They now swarmed into the station from every side: pale
+faces, under huge feathers; wrists hooped round with bangles; breasts
+bristling with gollywogs and lucky charms. There were little girls with
+bows over their ears, dressed in plush and velvet and following their Pas
+and Mas. There were troupes of carpet acrobats, with low foreheads, broad
+shoulders and bow legs; and profs, bosses and managers, recognizable by
+the richness of their watch-chains, looked after the luggage. Theater-vans
+discharged immense basket trunks, marked with letters a foot
+high--"Brothers This ... Sisters That ... So-and-so Trio ... Miss
+Such-and-such"--and bearing on the handles, on the yellow labels of the M.
+H. A. R. A., addresses of Empires and Palaces and of Grand Opera-Houses
+and Grand Theaters, too, for there were not only "artistes," but singers,
+actresses, "chicken-necks," "woolly-legs," who rubbed shoulders with the
+muscular acrobats. All of them crowded round the booking-office; they
+handed in professional cards, helped one another, among pros; those who
+were traveling alone borrowed tickets to enable them to get their
+over-weight luggage labeled: complicated pieces of apparatus,
+nickel-plated rods wrapped up in sacking, equilibrists' perches; the
+coaches, which were carried by assault, were encumbered with hand-luggage,
+bags, parcels, picture-frames containing photographs for the doors of the
+theaters, heaped up in the racks, under the seats, in the corridor; and
+there was a constant fire of "Hullo, girls! Hullo, boys!"
+
+The Three Graces, standing before the carriage-door, now that their things
+were settled, watched this tumult sadly, especially Thea. What was it?
+Nunkie's absence? No, but poor Lily had been kicked out by her husband, so
+they heard, and turned out by her mother as well: was it possible? Lily
+was dead or vanished, they didn't know which; they were told about it at
+the theater; a stagehand had met her near St. Martin's Lane, in a small
+street, with her hair undone and her hat on the back of her head, crying,
+biting her handkerchief, drunk, apparently, and running in the direction
+of the Thames. And, since then, they had had no news of her.
+
+"Poor Lily, what can she have done, what can have happened?" sighed Thea.
+"Poor Lily, she was always so nice!"
+
+Thea could have cried for sadness.
+
+The start caused a diversion. The collector punched the tickets:
+
+"Blackpool? Glasgow?"
+
+The Three Graces stepped in, the engine whistled. But a porter rushed
+past, pushing before him, with a rumbling like thunder, a huge trunk on a
+barrow. Thea turned her head and a name in scarlet letters caught her
+eyes: "Miss Lily!" And, running after the trunk, magnificently bedecked,
+in a hat all feathers and gold tassels, who? What? Lily! Lily herself, red
+and out of breath, leading her bike with one hand, carrying an umbrella in
+the other, and Glass-Eye, her arms stretched wide with parcels, following
+in her train! Just time to throw her bike to the porter in the luggage-van
+and quick, quick, Lily came scudding back, hustled along by the
+train-master! She would have missed the start, were it not for Thea, who
+opened the door and, with her arms of steel, gripped her as she passed:
+
+"Hullo, Lily! That's a good girl! Quick!"
+
+Lily leaped into the carriage with a bound. Glass-Eye, entangled in her
+parcels, had, amid general laughter, to be dragged by main force, through
+the narrow doorway, like a piece of luggage. Oof, just in time ... Off
+they were!
+
+In the railway-carriage was nothing but gaiety and handshaking and
+ingenuous questions:
+
+"Traveling by yourself? Where's Trampy? And your Pa and Ma? So you're not
+dead, eh?"
+
+"Certainly not," said Lily. "If they had come to annoy me at the station,
+I'd have shown them if I was alive or dead! I was ready for them!"
+
+And she brandished her umbrella.
+
+Then she had to make herself comfortable, to find room for all her
+belongings as best she could. Lily pushed Glass-Eye about, like a fine
+lady used to being waited on:
+
+"Here, take my hat, Glass-Eye; hang it up. Take my wrist-bag. Wait, give
+me my handkerchief first!"
+
+To look at Lily, all fresh and rosy, one would never have suspected the
+trials she had passed through, but a few days ago. Still quite flustered
+with that hurried departure, she smiled as she watched the Three Graces,
+who, on their side, were carefully folding up their cloaks. And the train
+rushed on, rushed on through deep cuttings, dashed through deserted
+stations ... and then, suddenly, entered a tunnel. Lily, but for the noise
+of the wheels, would have seen herself as she had been that night. Oh, she
+would never forget it! It clutched at her heart. She clenched her fists
+with anger. Turned out by Trampy! Insulted by her Ma! Flouted by Jimmy,
+that mean cur! Oh, when she left his place, a few days ago, she felt like
+a madwoman! Her first idea was to disappear, to take a header into the
+black water! But, ugh, the mud, the cold! And then the hospital, with
+those people who cut you up! She must also show Pa and Ma whether it was
+through her gentlemen friends that she meant to earn more by herself alone
+than they and all their rotten troupe put together. Perhaps Pa and Ma
+would come to her, one day, to beg their bread! But Ma must first ask
+Lily's pardon on her knees. On her knees, damn it! And, in despair,
+inwardly raging, her chest aching with grief and spite, Lily, penniless,
+but brave for all that and ready for the fray, returned to her hotel,
+where, to her great surprise, she found some one waiting for her, with a
+parcel in her hand.
+
+Lily recognized Glass-Eye.
+
+It was, indeed, poor Glass-Eye. When she heard what had happened and that
+Lily would starve in London and a jolly good thing too, that she could
+sleep in Leicester Square for all they cared: when she heard this behind
+the door, Glass-Eye almost fainted. Without a word to a soul, she had
+packed up her parcel and gone to join Lily; and Lily, in her misery, cried
+for joy when she saw the decent girl, who offered her her savings, twelve
+shillings in all, saying:
+
+"Take me with you, Miss Lily; I'll wait on you for nothing. Take me, take
+me!"
+
+Oh, not to feel alone, to have some one beside you who loves you: that had
+consoled Lily....
+
+The next day, accompanied by Glass-Eye, she called on the agents, in the
+Leicester Square quarter, at the risk of meeting Pa, or Trampy, or Jimmy;
+but who cared? With her umbrella in her hand, she feared nobody and did
+not give a fig for any of them.
+
+Nothing for her at Harrasford's, where the Warwicks were starring. Very
+well, she'd come back again some other time! And straight on to Bill and
+Boom's in Whitcomb Mansions, below Jimmy. As she climbed the stairs, Lily
+screwed up her eyes, like a short-sighted person, for fear of meeting
+Jimmy, prepared a haughty attitude; but she saw no one. She was not kept
+waiting, was shown in at once to Boom's office. Lily Clifton? the New
+Zealander on Wheels? Straight away a contract! And Lily left with twenty
+music-halls in her pocket! Liverpool, Birmingham, Sheffield and so on: a
+week in each town, beginning on Monday next. And that was how she got
+engagements through her gentlemen friends!
+
+The next day, she borrowed some money on her contracts from the Brixton
+financier: "loans from five pounds upward, in the strictest confidence."
+Then, proposed and seconded by two artistes, she joined the Variety
+Artistes' Federation and, in return for ten shillings, received the red
+card of membership. She paid another ten shillings and the same for
+Glass-Eye, her maid, to the M. H. A. R. A. and obtained the right, for one
+year, to travel at reduced fares, including an insurance against
+accidents: five hundred pounds to her heirs in case of death--her
+heirs!--and two hundred and fifty pounds if she lost a hand or foot in a
+railway accident; and one hundred and fifty for a serious injury. Then she
+bought a big gollywog, for her dressing-room, and a little lucky charm for
+her watch-chain--a closed black hand, with the thumb between the fingers,
+as a preservative against falls--and with that and her bike she would have
+set out for India and Australia as calmly as she might have taken the
+omnibus to Earl's Court.
+
+Oh yes, she had done a deal in those few days and, above all, she had got
+out of her difficulties, thanks, to a certain extent, to Glass-Eye, who
+had comforted her. And besides, hang it, that was all over now! The
+worries were forgotten, and, as the train emerged from the tunnel, Lily,
+with her arm round Glass-Eye's waist, was patting that decent girl and
+Glass-Eye lifted her one good eye to Lily, while the other, the glass one,
+gazing fixedly at the door, reflected the thinly scattered houses and the
+beginning of the country.
+
+Lily, when she had recovered a little from her mad rush, lay down at full
+length among her bags, parcels and bandboxes. She laughed with the Three
+Graces; and there was no one there to interfere with them; there they
+were, by themselves, among themselves, alone in the compartment, a
+regular, rollicking school-girls' picnic. Lily made them scream by telling
+them about her life since they had last seen her. She felt a need for a
+reaction of gaiety, after her sadness of the days just past. The Graces
+fixed their round eyes upon her, upon that Lily who was so thoroughly up
+in all sorts of things which they knew only by hearsay: men, love. A life
+fit to kill a horse; and a very nice girl, for all that: a kind of
+forbidden fruit, pink and fair-haired, soft to the touch; and no jealousy
+between them, friendship rather, a rare thing, in the "Profession"....
+
+Lily grew excited in talking, told of her successes, the receptions, the
+teas she used to give in her drawing-room, in Berlin, when she was ill.
+Jossers, according to her, would have paid any price to have been there!
+It would form a subject of conversation over there for many a long day to
+come. And then her journeys, her impressions of the continent--"Jam with
+your meat, my dear!"--and such clean dressing-rooms in Germany; very
+severe managers, though: gee, harder than Pas. But very good to her, all
+the same. The Battenberg at Leipzig: nothing but leading turns; and she
+had topped the bill at Leipzig! And to see all those people eating, during
+the show, when you were hungry yourself, had a very funny effect upon you.
+By the way, she didn't like that system of being lodged and boarded by the
+management; it was all very well for those people; but none of that for
+her: give her a nice flat in town or a smart hotel! Once she was started,
+Lily never stopped, called Glass-Eye to witness, went on telling of her
+life in Berlin; how Jimmy had fallen in love with her when he saw her on
+the stage, and he had the cheek to want her to run away with him; but who
+got a box on the ear that day, eh? She perhaps: yes, rather, over the
+left! And Jimmy and Trampy had fought for her! So had all the pros, worse
+than dogs in September!
+
+"What a rotten lot!" concluded Lily.
+
+"My, how you've changed!" said Thea. "You used to be so fond of men."
+
+"I give it them where they deserve," said Lily, slapping her firm, round
+hips.
+
+And they laughed noisily at Lily's anger when, with her shoulder drawn
+back and her arm ready to strike, she spoke of breaking the jaws of those
+two scoundrels.
+
+"Go it! Hit me!" said Thea, putting forward her deltoid muscle. "Hit away!
+You'll only smash your wrist!"
+
+And then those Spartans calmed down, asked one another for news of absent
+friends, talked about different people they had known, all over the place,
+on the stage: their conversation always came round to the profession.
+Lily, with greater refinement, sometimes tried to discuss dress: tulle
+ruches were to be worn this year, she heard; feather boas. The Graces knew
+nothing about that, stuck to their "Did you ever know...? Do you
+remember...?" And every part of the world was mixed up in their talk:
+India, Tasmania, Mexico, South Wales, New South Wales, York, New York,
+Hampshire, New Hampshire.
+
+"Did you know Ave Maria?" asked Lily.
+
+"No."
+
+But they mentioned other friends, like school-girls living in the same
+quarter; only, for them, the school, the quarter was San Francisco,
+Chicago, Berlin, and the schoolmates were the girl in a knot, who had sold
+her skeleton in advance to the Medical College: Marjutti, the
+double-knotted girl, to whom the South Kensington Museum offered five
+hundred pounds for a cast of her figure; the Pawnees, who had just won a
+treble beauty prize; and the Laurence girl, whose cruelly daring
+performance was forbidden by the Manchester police; and heaps of others
+whom they had known and who, at that moment, were asleep at the antipodes,
+right under your feet, or waking up in the Far West, or going to bed in
+the Far East, or pitching on the ocean, or rolling in express trains
+toward the five corners of the earth. And their own traveling adventures,
+the Graces' and Lily's: broken railway-bridges! ships on fire at sea!
+towns blazing up in the night! ropes breaking, falls head-first, my! One
+would have thought that these girls of seventeen to twenty were South Sea
+pirates, talking of hangings and tortures, or, rather, children playing at
+frightening one another. Lily, for instance, in India: two eyes glaring at
+her in the dark, gee! And, in New York, a fall into a mirror; all over
+blood; half dead. She grew excited, in her desire to outdo Laurence and
+Crack-o'-Whip: the steel-buckled belt, the kicks in the ribs! Stories of
+brutal treatment picked up on every side--from the Gilson girl, from Ave
+Maria, from all the boys and all the girls and all the monkeys who had
+been through the mill--she made every one of them her own, served them up
+hot and hot to the astounded Graces, talked of whole days spent in
+practising on rough, uneven boards--"And given no food, was I,
+Glass-Eye?"--so much so that she would sometimes get up in the night and
+go and pick up the crusts under the table, gee! Lily reveled in the
+pitying expressions of the Three Graces and her heart swelled with pride
+when Thea, greatly touched, remarked that, in such cases, it would have
+been better not to be born.
+
+"You're quite right," said Lily, with a drooping air; but she burst into a
+peal of fresh, young laughter when she saw Glass-Eye overcome with
+emotion. "What's that?" asked Lily, giving her a thump in the ribs.
+"Crying? You silly cuckoo!"
+
+If it hadn't been for her Ma's insults and Jimmy's and Trampy's--when it
+all came back to her, it was like a needle stuck in her heart!--Lily would
+have been in the seventh heaven! No more Pa, no more Ma, no more anybody;
+no boss, no prof, no husband, nothing, all alone ... with her maid!
+Certainly, there would be the worry of business, looking for her "digs,"
+seeing the agents, writing letters and so on; but she would know how to
+put herself forward, how to make the most of her work; and she smiled as
+she reflected how little all those worries meant, compared with her past
+life: and she would be free, free, free at last. She was going to earn
+money, to enjoy life.
+
+And the train rushed on, rushed on through the fields. Glass-Eye, with her
+nose glued to the window, was astonished to find everything so large
+outside of London: red villages decked the green country-side; and then
+came empty railway stations. Sometimes the train slowed down:--a large
+silent town lay spread in the valley, white smoke rose from the endless
+roofs; homes, more homes; the air of rest, the empty streets and the
+indistinct chimes of the church-bells proclaimed to the pale heavens the
+majesty of prayer. Lily listened with a dreamy air; it all reminded her of
+things:
+
+"It's like the American engines," she said to the Three Graces, "that used
+to ring their bells when they passed through Syracuse."
+
+But the train rushed on, rushed on.... And they again began to talk shop,
+as always: with, here and there, an excursion into the cost of food. The
+Graces, just then, were unpacking their lunch; and Lily fetched her
+traveling provisions from her bag in the corridor. There was a sound of
+clattering plates from end to end of the train, in a mist of
+tobacco-smoke. Lily rejoined the party very quickly, to avoid coming in
+contact with the pros, and, waited on by Glass-Eye, attacked her meal and
+broke her bread so heartily that the crusts flew to the ceiling. They
+drank out of the same cup, took their meat in their hands, Lily saying
+that fingers were made before forks. They chattered noisily, with the
+time-honored jokes about apples and bananas. They made Glass-Eye talk a
+lot of nonsense. Lily, flinging back her head, laughed full-throated, held
+her sides.
+
+"My!" said the Graces. "What a pity that we are separating! It would have
+been so nice to travel together; one's never bored with you. What a
+tomboy!"
+
+"'K you!" said Lily, greatly flattered, with a stage curtsey.
+
+Unfortunately, they would have to part at Warrington. The Graces were
+going on to Glasgow, Lily was changing for Liverpool; a few moments more
+and it was good-by, until chance....
+
+At Lily's request, the Graces gave her a few last words of advice,
+explained the system of the pass-book of the Artistes' Federation: the
+sixpenny stamp to be stuck in the little square every week; the extra
+stamp at each death of a member, for the benefit of the heirs. They talked
+to her of the Friday meetings at Manchester, at which every artiste can
+speak and see himself printed afterward in the London _Performer_.
+
+"Good!" thought Lily. "I may have things to say. There will be news for
+somebody!"
+
+The Graces had a "three years' book," the professional _agenda_, with
+nothing but Mondays marked on it for the weekly engagement: 8 January, 15
+January and so on.
+
+"Yes, I know," said Lily. "Mine's full for months ahead!"
+
+They showed her, on theirs, the last pages containing portrait
+advertisements of famous artistes: the Pawnees, Marjutti, Laurence.
+
+"Oh, if I could get there one day!" thought Lily. "I'd post it to Pa; it
+would be the death of him!"
+
+And then followed the thousand and one details of the wandering life: your
+name on the red list, the list handed in at the station; the journeys at
+reduced fares; the music for twelve instruments, forty executants, sent on
+to the theater a fortnight in advance.
+
+"And matinees are paid for now. And you know, Lily, in the Federation you
+can get a solicitor free."
+
+"That's a good thing to know," thought Lily, "for my divorce from that
+rusty biker!"
+
+Oh, how she hated pros, now! The sight of them in the corridor, looking at
+her with glistening eyes, made her want to put out her tongue at them! But
+she preferred not to see:
+
+"I don't like to seem stuck-up with them, it's not polite," she observed.
+
+Nevertheless, she shrugged her shoulders when one of them who, no doubt,
+had known her when she was "that high," blew kisses to her from the tips
+of his fingers, with a gesture straight at her heart, through the window.
+
+And the train rushed on, rushed on. They were nearing Warrington. The
+slopes, on either side, bristled with chimneys and houses, houses, endless
+roofs ... a Lancashire rid of its black smoke, like an extinct and silent
+crater ... Warrington!
+
+A few minutes' wait. There was a general hustle, pros stretching their
+legs, running to the refreshment-room for a drink, some seeking seats in
+the train, others saying good-by:
+
+"Write to me, eh? Cathedral Hotel, Melbourne."
+
+And a shake of the hand; so long; perhaps for ever. More basket trunks
+were being trundled down the platform. A wife was leaving her husband: six
+months, twelve months, without meeting; who could tell? Or else, perhaps,
+between two trains, as the luck of the tours would have it; and they
+seemed very fond of each other, too; Lily thought it very pretty. But she
+had other things to do than sentimentalize. She handed out her parcels to
+Glass-Eye and then, standing on the platform, said good-by to the Three
+Graces:
+
+"Hope you'll have a good journey! _Au revoir_! Send me some post-cards,"
+said Lily. "Address them to the theater, I love that! Good-by! Ta-ta!"
+
+The train started. Lily waved her handkerchief to the Three Graces.
+
+One more separation; one more little rent: Lily had had so many in her
+life. As far back as she could remember there had been heads at the
+carriage-window, like that; ships standing out to sea; trains rushing into
+the night. But, this time, she was alone, with her maid. And she drew
+herself up proudly, like a lady who had a sense of her responsibilities. A
+new life was opening before Lily, as before a girl just coming out. Poor
+Lily, a girl still, in her way, yes, with, for her portion, a feather in
+her hat, a gollywog in her trunk, a pair of supple legs and nerves of
+steel, unerring and exact, trained to turn round and round....
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+"Liverpool! Come along, Glass-Eye!" said Lily, jogging her maid in the
+ribs.
+
+Glass-Eye, half asleep, clumsily gathered up her parcels, while Lily
+looked round for the baggage-man. On the platform was an avalanche of
+bags, boxes, picture-frames, as at the departure from Euston; the basket
+trunks were being piled up in the theater-vans. Lily pointed out her
+hamper and her bike to the boy from the theater, who had come to meet the
+"program" at the station.
+
+"Are you the bicyclist?"
+
+"I am," replied Lily modestly.
+
+She gave her address: not the pros' boarding-house, but private "digs"
+which had been recommended to her in London, with a note of introduction.
+Then she walked out of the station, followed by Glass-Eye.
+
+Lily knew Liverpool, vaguely, as she knew all the towns of the United
+Kingdom and those of America, too, and Australia and India and Germany and
+Holland and elsewhere. They were all muddled up in her memory, she had
+seen so many, and made as it were one great city, but for occasional
+salient points, as in the towns which you came to in a boat, or those in
+which you had a circus parade, or others still, here and there: Glasgow,
+where she had fallen and broken a tooth; Blackpool with its ball-rooms,
+its tower and a "contract!" Sheffield, with its smoking chimneys;
+Washington, with a dome at the end; New York, with its sky-scrapers. The
+towns of her early childhood, leaning against mountains, buried under
+trees, were more remote, more like a dream. Elephants, monkeys, harnessed
+buffaloes; and then Mexico and Ave Maria, London and those footy rotters!
+
+Liverpool was Lime Street: Lily remembered a sort of round church; when
+you got to that, you turned to the left. She soon found the house and
+received from a huge, full-blown lady the friendly welcome which Lily's
+artless air and fair curls always insured her. No gentleman with them? All
+alone by themselves? A room with a big double bed, a little parlor with a
+bow-window; sixteen shillings a week, including the use of the kitchen.
+Just then, the baggage-man arrived, took the trunk up to the room and went
+on with the bike to the pros' boarding-house and the theater. Lily,
+assisted by Glass-Eye, fixed herself up for the week: her dresses on the
+pegs, her linen safe under lock and key in the hamper. Then she made a
+special parcel of things for the stage: paper flowers, ostrich feathers,
+white laced boots.
+
+"There, wrap that up in my petticoat," said Lily. "And the music and the
+gollywog: you can bring all that to my dressing-room to-morrow morning."
+
+Next, Lily made herself look smart, freshened up her two bows, threw her
+green muslin scarf over her shoulders and went down to the parlor to pick
+out her favorite tune--_The Bluebells of Scotland_--with one finger on the
+piano. Meanwhile, the landlady spread the cloth: bread, marmalade,
+watercress, two eggs. Then, according to instructions received, Glass-Eye
+announced to Miss Lily that tea was ready. Lily affably invited Glass-Eye
+to sit down to table with her; and the two ate away like friends. Lily
+took the opportunity to settle her expenses; for instance--and this she
+insisted upon--if she, Lily, took a maid, she wouldn't have her for
+nothing; she intended to pay her some small monthly wage.
+
+"And a good many little perquisites besides, you understand, Glass-Eye; my
+old frocks, my hats."
+
+Glass-Eye did not ask that, would have given her other eye to serve Miss
+Lily.
+
+Lily was still asleep, at twelve o'clock the next morning, when Glass-Eye
+entered the room. She had lost her way, had walked miles, had been to the
+landing-stage of the music-hall....
+
+"At what time's rehearsal?" asked Lily.
+
+"At one o'clock, Miss Lily."
+
+"And you let me sleep till twelve, when I have so much to do!" said Lily.
+"Go and get breakfast ready ... or you'd better mind yourself!"
+
+And Lily put out her hand to lay hold of a boot; but Glass-Eye was gone.
+
+[Illustration: GLASS-EYE MAUD]
+
+Lily, while dressing, reflected upon her new responsibilities, upon the
+way in which servants should be treated. No familiarity; not too severe,
+either; and no smackings ... that is to say ... however ...
+
+"I must dress her simply," thought Lily. "My hats, but without the
+feathers; coarse thread gloves; and she must always carry a parcel."
+
+Lily was eager to go to rehearsal, accompanied by her maid. There is no
+rehearsing at "rehearsal:" the "times," the scenic effects are settled
+with the conductor of the band; there are no bare arms or bloomers
+practising on their carpets: a few dark groups, in ordinary walking dress;
+others, in their shirt sleeves, are opening boxes, and no mystery, no
+shifting lights: the stage and the house one wan hole, except the red and
+gold note of the curtain and the black mass of the musicians, with the
+gleaming brasses.
+
+The artistes went up to the conductor, one after the other, and explained
+their "turns:"
+
+"When I come on, this tune, soft, six times, to begin with; then, once,
+loud. When I go off ... a roll of drums."
+
+The band, each time, played two or three bars, mechanically, at sight;
+then it was understood and ... next, please.
+
+Lily had seen this before, but not under these conditions; not dressed as
+at present; not accompanied by a maid. She listened as hard as she could
+when she walked on to the stage, caught the remarks, enjoyed the
+impression which she produced. They seemed to ask:
+
+"Who is it? A singer? A dancer?"
+
+"No, Lily; Miss Lily, you know."
+
+She guessed all that. Then:
+
+"My score, Maud!"
+
+And, leaning toward the orchestra, she explained, in her turn: pizzicati,
+mazurka, frog, swan, back-wheel, the waltz for the twirls, the march for
+the exit. And Lily withdrew with a half-curtsey and a pretty smile. Next,
+she put out her things in her dressing-room, on the table, before the
+looking-glass: brushes, pencils, grease-paints, strings of pearls for her
+hair. She hung a cord from the door to the window, to dry her tights on,
+when she washed a pair in the basin. She got out her little work-box, in
+case of anything tearing, threaded a needle, freshened up the knots of her
+ribbons, pinned photographs and p.-c.'s on the wall. And, over all, she
+hung her gollywog, a hairy doll, white-collared, red-waistcoated, with, in
+its black face, under the bristling hair, two shining tacks by way of
+eyes. It was the protecting idol. Not that Lily, ever faithful to the
+Church of England, believed much in gollywogs; but, like most music-hall
+people, she felt safer when she knew it was there. And her dressing-room,
+with the spangled skirts and the tights hanging down like flayed skins,
+suggested some strange, exotic chapel in which a fetish sat enthroned.
+
+After that, Lily had nothing left to do. She went out with Glass-Eye and
+walked round to the front to look at her lithos. She saw to her annoyance
+that a serio was topping the bill--and a comic singer middling it and a
+cinematograph bottoming it. But no matter, she had a good place, just
+under the bill-topper.
+
+Next came shopping, through the windows. She bought a pair of thread
+gloves for Glass-Eye at Lewis's and then went in and lay on her bed,
+feeling ever so tired from getting up late that morning. She dreamed and
+dreamed, while Glass-Eye went marketing. As soon as Lily was alone, the
+thought pricked her like a pin: looking pretty, indeed! Her gentlemen
+friends! Jimmy, that traitor, and Trampy! Trampy would be sure to play her
+some dirty trick. Oh, if she could get a divorce from him, in spite of
+all! She had made inquiries in London. She would want a solicitor. She
+must have one, to set inquiries on foot.... She could have as many
+witnesses as she pleased: all those girls ... and the stage hands ... and
+two artistes, on the day when Trampy, in his fury, had flung his bike at
+her on the stairs; the pedal had grazed her temple, yes, at Dresden. That
+wasn't the way to treat a lady. Everything that had happened was his
+fault; and they'd see who won the day, he or she. Her forehead wrinkled up
+with anger when she thought of it. She bit her lips and clenched her fists
+and then ... and then ... enough of that! She'd see to-morrow. And other
+cares came to bother her: the indispensable things which she would have to
+buy at the end of the week out of her salary; open-work stockings, an
+aigrette for the theater, a little black bog-oak pig to wear at her wrist.
+And Jimmy's thousand marks ...
+
+"Damn it, let him wait!" And, with her hand on her lucky charm, Lily fell
+asleep.
+
+In the evening, at the theater, she forgot everything. She felt a longing,
+a fevered desire to appear. When her turn came, after the xylophones, who
+seemed, behind their tables laden with bottles, to be keeping a bar of
+musical sounds; when the light shining on the great back-drop threw up
+into dazzling relief the blue sea, the blue sky and the white colonnade
+and terraces; when, amid the flash of the lime-light and the thunder of
+the orchestra, she made her entrance on the stage, Lily had a smile of
+triumph. Life was beginning for her at last! She could have cried out for
+happiness to that human mass which, behind the flaming streak of the
+footlights, spread itself, bare-necked and bedizened, in the warm shadow
+of the front boxes. And she directed a scarlet smile, set off with a glint
+of gold, to the audience.
+
+"I believe I was grand to-night," said Lily, as she went off, out of
+breath. "Oh, if there had been an agent in the house! But no such luck:
+they're never there when they're wanted! And those two fellows," she
+thought to herself. "If they had been there, they'd have died of
+jealousy."
+
+Everybody spoiled her. She needed a strong head to resist the flatteries
+with which she was overwhelmed, both as artiste and woman. For instance,
+when a row of Roofers were puffing away on the stage, some manager, who
+had known her when she was "that high," was sure to observe that her
+talent, her firm, round hips--"Eh, Lily, you've got plenty of that now!"
+... Lily blushed under the compliment--would make more impression than a
+whole herd of Roofers:
+
+"Eh, Lily? I say, what are you doing to-night? Come and have some ..."
+
+"Glass-Eye, my handkerchief," Lily broke in, suspecting an invitation to
+supper.
+
+Glass-Eye, in obedience to a gesture of Lily's, opened the wrist-bag, gave
+Lily the lace handkerchief and Lily hid her mocking smile in a scented
+gesture. Then:
+
+"Good-by. Ta-ta!"
+
+And they shook hands, like good friends, nothing more.
+
+Glass-Eye frightened off the admirers with her fixed stare. And Lily had
+no lack of them. She loved flirting. She wanted adulation, wanted to be
+made much of. She had a revenge to take, arrears to make up; she and
+sympathy had, till then, been strangers. She now took her fill of it, got
+carried away, saw nothing but lovers around her, three or four at a time,
+as when the comic quartet, the Out-of-Tunes, used to grin kisses to her in
+the street. It was for her that they were there, every one of them, down
+to the acting managers, who did not disdain to come round from the front
+and take a turn on the stage. It might be a question of steam-pipes or
+electric wires; no matter, Lily took it all to herself, made herself
+amiable toward their dress-coats and white shirt-fronts, and said "'K
+you!" with the great stage bow, the body bent in a sweeping curtsey, when
+they complimented her on her firm, round hips. She stabbed them with
+smiles, to make sure of complimentary phrases in their weekly reports to
+the central boards. All of them; the electrician, the conductor of the
+band, she had them all at her feet. It became a need for Lily to see
+people all around her dying for love. It gave her a feeling of mingled
+pride and remorse.
+
+"Can I help it, Glass-Eye?" she would ask, to quiet her conscience.
+"They're mad. They would leave their wives and children for me!"
+
+She had an autograph album filled with "thoughts" and declarations:
+
+"I love you! _Je vous aime! Ich liebe dich_!"
+
+[Illustration: In the pros' smoking-room.]
+
+Lily, now that the audience was good for invitations to supper, bouquets
+and sweets, occupied herself with that somber mass which, formerly, did
+not cause her so much uneasiness as the presence of her Pa. Lily, like a
+real stage-girl, who had beheld waves miles high between Harwich and the
+Hook of Holland, saw in a few flowers a bouquet large enough to fill a cab
+and the least little love letter grew, in her eyes, into an offer to
+present her with motor-cars and to abandon wife and child. If a gentleman,
+for once in a way, stood on the pavement waiting for her, she dreamed of
+an elopement. And there were pros, too, who prowled around her, in the
+half light of the wings, and came up to her with outstretched hand:
+
+"Hullo, Mrs. Trampy!"
+
+"Call me Miss Lily," she said, in a vexed voice. "That's the name I'm
+known by."
+
+And many of them did know her, in fact, from having talked about her in
+Fourteenth Street in New York, or in State Street at Sidney, or in the
+theaters in South Africa, for that story of the whippings had traveled all
+around the world, under the folds of the Union Jack. Some proposed to take
+her with them in their show, or to go with her to clean her bike, instead
+of Glass-Eye:
+
+"Is it a bargain?"
+
+"Yes, I _don't_ think!" said Lily.
+
+Another, just off for Melbourne, told her that, in Australia, you could
+find fire-escapes to marry you for half-a-crown. They joked without
+constraint, in the pros' smoking-room, a small and dark corner between the
+house and the stage.... All of them, all the pros, she had them all at her
+feet; but she didn't care for that sort and she sent them all to eat
+coke.
+
+The months all passed alike. She had finished the Bill and Boom tour. She
+continued in the private music-halls, from north to south, from east to
+west of England. In spite of Glass-Eye's impossible cooking and the
+everlasting ham sandwiches and pork-pies of the railway station
+refreshment rooms, Lily grew plumper and plumper, her nervous leanness
+filled out, with pigeon's eggs and ostrich's eggs everywhere, in front and
+behind. She did not kill herself with work. Once, in Glasgow, at a
+music-hall where, a few weeks earlier, Laurence had had a terrible fall,
+lying unconscious for two whole hours, the frightened manager said:
+
+"No dangerous tricks, mind! They only get us into trouble!"
+
+Another time, she was given only seven minutes, watch in hand, on the
+stage.
+
+"Couldn't you cut that little trick? You know the one I mean," said the
+manager.
+
+He called a little trick a performance which it had cost her eighteen
+months' hard practice and no end of bruises to learn. Lily did not wait to
+be asked twice. She cut as desired and thought it a jolly lot easier to
+trot round quietly, as though out for a ride, with pretty smiles to the
+audience. She ended by paying more attention to her dresses than to her
+work:
+
+"It's not so much what one does," she said, "as the way one does it."
+
+The sympathy with which she was surrounded unmanned the Spartan in her.
+She strove to please, no longer gave her performance for herself, like a
+machine, unerring and exact. Already in a few months, she was spoiled. She
+looked for adventitious successes. She said, "The audience is very cold at
+Birmingham," because she was not asked out to supper, and, "They do like
+artistes at Sheffield, gee!" because a gentleman had sent her champagne
+and flowers in her dressing-room.
+
+In the towns where she played three times a day--a matinee and two night
+turns--she gave half of her performance, cut whatever was dangerous or
+tiring. She never practised now; just went down in the morning to fetch
+her letters at the theater, where she loved receiving them, post-cards
+especially, which any one could read. She said to the jossers:
+
+"Send me lots; talk about motor-cars and champagne suppers: that drives
+the pros wild."
+
+She left them lying on the table, or else walked about on the stage, with
+her letters in her hand, like a lady overwhelmed with offers, with
+invitations. If, by any chance, she went to the practice at the end of the
+week, it was to display her hat, her new boots; and she laughed to herself
+when she saw the artistes, each on his carpet, fagging away like mad. She
+felt like a fine lady visiting a boarding-school, among those little girls
+practising their flip-flaps or gluing themselves to the wall to try their
+back-bendings. The pride of a Marjutti, who, they said, tortured her
+spinal column to achieve a double knot; the inordinate ambition of a
+Laurence, risking her life for the pleasure of risking it, were things
+which she did not understand. And then, all those accidents! Dolly Pawnee,
+the other day, had broken her arm at the New York Hippodrome; the Gilson
+girl had fallen on her head at Budapest. They were mad, thought Lily, to
+do all that without being obliged to! No, no; no more of that for her! The
+last thing she wanted was to spoil her face, seeing that she had nothing
+but her smile to keep her. And Lily grew timid, looked upon herself more
+and more as a very precious little thing. She gave herself terrible airs
+on rehearsal day; thought the stage too slippery, or too small. Lily
+wanted a stage thirty feet wide, no less; she who, in the old days, at a
+gesture from Pa, would have performed her whole turn, including the
+head-on-the-saddle, on the top of a cab or on the Stoke Newington
+pavement. Formerly, she used to think everything good, did not know what
+fatigue meant; now, in the middle of her turn, she would say to herself,
+sometimes with a feeling of discouragement:
+
+"I've only done half. I've still got this and that to do."
+
+And the audience itself seemed to act as her confederate. When she missed
+one of her tricks, Lily would lay her bike on the stage, step down to the
+footlights, bow with a confused air, beg pardon with a smile and receive a
+reassuring round of applause. Lily loved these refined audiences: _her_
+audiences, as she said; not the matinee audiences, with seats at reduced
+prices: to see your grocer or your butcher in the front boxes was rotten;
+and those people gave themselves such airs. A cheap way of doing the
+grand!
+
+And the landladies spoiled her, too; those worthy souls who treated her as
+their own daughter.
+
+"And a jolly sight better!" thought Lily.
+
+Others pitied her for the profession she followed, feared she would break
+something, one fine day. Lily thought that very sweet of them, would have
+liked to stay with them for ever; but there was the constant rent at
+parting, a bit of herself which Lily left behind her every week. And the
+bothers that Maud caused her! Her stupidity drove Lily mad: tickets lost,
+bags mislaid, disputes with the tradesmen, battles with the bike,
+scratches on the shins, on the hands, everywhere. Lily lost patience,
+threatened her with the leather belt, damn it!
+
+Sometimes, Lily became incensed with herself and everybody. Her divorce
+kept running in her head. And her three years' book, with its last pages
+unsoiled by engagements, also gave her cause for uneasiness; and yet the
+acting managers must have sung her praises, in their weekly reports,--the
+ones who came and made love to her on the stage!
+
+After different music-halls, she had done the Harrasford tour, but without
+any great success. People who had known her with the troupe thought that
+she had gone off. Lily was furious: if, on those evenings, she missed a
+trick, she would knock Glass-Eye about when she returned to the wings,
+storm at the stage--"Slippery as ice, damn it!"--fling her bike, which was
+not to blame, against the wall. Lily, in her pink tights, under the
+pendants of false pearls on her forehead, looked like an angry savage,
+ready to fly at your throat.
+
+That was her life. No adventures, really; theaters in which she caught on,
+theaters in which she didn't go down so well; more or less prolonged
+applause; an encore or two; and, here and there, a bouquet large enough to
+fill a cab: those were the great events. And it was always the same show,
+on the same stage, from one end of England to the other; theaters and
+theaters; so many theaters that, in her memory, they ended, like the
+towns, by making only one. It was always herds of Roofers, swaying in
+unison, with flaxen wigs, scarlet legs, boyish voices; and "families,"
+"sisters," "brothers," all different, but all alike, going up the
+staircase to their dressing-rooms in wraps, like gouty people at a spa,
+and serios, serios, with choruses emphasized by dances. Sometimes, a new
+attraction, a Venus without tights, or a bare-breasted Salome, would draw
+whole groups, boys and girls mixed, to the wings, with their necks
+stretched toward the stage. And there were exotic features, too: conjurers
+from Malabar; boomerang-throwing bush-men; the Light of Asia, a Chinese
+girl without arms, an artificial product, like those beggar-monsters whom
+they cultivate in pots in the mountains of Navarre. She saw the
+boy-violinist again. Since that bite in the seat of his trousers, at
+Budapest, he had abandoned all hope of fame and was looking for an
+engagement in the orchestra. She saw the female-impersonator with the
+green eyes. She saw numbers and numbers. She ended by seeing them all
+again, in the various greenrooms. She heard names mentioned. People were
+coming on all round: Tom, singing-girls, dancing-girls. She would have to
+do something, too, after all, to get herself talked about! She had
+received a shock on opening _The Era_: they had not taken out her name!
+There was still a Miss Lily at Rathbone Place: her cousin Daisy, it
+appeared, a stranger, was there in her stead, under her name! And they
+were stealing her idea! The New Zealanders were now called the New
+Trickers; no doubt the turn which she had described to Pa. Something new,
+something new was essential. She must manage to hit upon something! She
+turned it all over in her head. There were too many Lilies, Lilians,
+Lillians; you saw nothing but Lillians on the posters. But what about a
+Lilia Godiva, quite naked on her bike, like the other on her horse? She
+would mimic the scene, love and despair, and she would think of something
+to raise a laugh! Peeping Tom, for instance, stretching out his neck and
+stealing a kiss as she passed. Oh, she would find a way--trust her!--of
+showing them what she had in her! And Jimmy and Trampy pursued her
+incessantly with their hateful memory. Trampy, she was told, was still the
+darling of the fair.
+
+Lily was greatly astonished that he had not tried to obtain a divorce, on
+his side:
+
+"He's afraid," she said to herself.
+
+More than ever, she busied herself with collecting her witnesses; she
+would soon be rid of her tramp cyclist.
+
+People also talked about Jimmy, whose reputation was still increasing.
+After a triumphant season at the Hippodrome, he had left for America.
+Jimmy was becoming a national champion. An article in _The Era_ spoke of
+"our Jimmy."
+
+"He's a friend of yours, Lily," people said. "You ought to know all about
+him."
+
+Lily tossed her head, like one who could say a great deal if she
+would....
+
+Oh, how she longed for revenge when she thought of that! Oh, if she could
+only have served them out somehow! If she could get _The Performer Annual_
+to send her those questions to answer: "Q. Your favorite town? Your
+favorite audience? Your idea of marriage? Your pet aversion?" wouldn't she
+give it them hot, just! She thought of having her biography written, the
+real one. She herself sometimes jotted down things she remembered, on bits
+of paper, on the backs of envelopes, in her dressing-room; arranged her
+picture post-cards in order; called that writing her memoirs. She would
+crush them with her successes, give names and dates: that lord who wanted
+to travel with her, the fifty-pound diamond brooch he had given her. And
+bouquets, chocolates, sweets ... by the cart-load! That stage-manager who
+cried when she went away! All, all in love with her: yes, those and ever
+so many more!
+
+She had so much to say that she did not know where to begin. She knocked
+up against too many people, men and women, without counting monkeys,
+parrots, dogs, cats, ponies, elephants; it all ended by getting mixed up
+in her head, like the theaters and the towns. She grew quite bewildered,
+among so many different things. She had seen everything and done
+everything. Once, during a week when she was "resting," she had helped her
+landlady, who kept a public-house, to draw the beer and had waited on the
+customers, with her fifty-pound diamond brooch at her throat.
+
+At a benefit performance, one night, when they were drinking champagne on
+the stage, actors, singers, artistes, all together, her pink tights had
+excited the dress-coats. Lily had been "pressed in company," that is to
+say, surrounded till she did not know which way to turn, while her time
+was pretty well taken up with saying, "Paws off!" before, behind, on every
+side. She had triumphed at galas, above a tumult of heads and parasols: at
+Roundhay Park, among other places, beneath the motto, "Let Leeds
+flourish!" Feeling anxious about her future, she had consulted a "Zanzig"
+at Earl's Court. Each week brought its surprises, its fresh knowledge.
+Lily learned something every day: "If you see a lamb in the fields with
+its head turned toward you, that's lucky; if you see its tail first, it's
+a sign of bad luck," and the way of holding your hands, of placing your
+fingers, of whispering certain words in certain circumstances.
+
+She collected halfpennies with holes in them. In Ireland, she had kissed
+the Blarney stone and picked shamrock in the ruins. She had lost her
+little mother-of-pearl hunchback in the labyrinth of underground passages
+at the Blackpool Tower Circus. The loss of this lucky charm had damped her
+spirits for a week. And her profits were small and her "exes" constantly
+increasing: tips to the call-boy, who cleaned her bike; tips to the
+stage-manager; half-crowns and five shillings in every direction. As soon
+as she had put a trifle by, a week without an engagement made her hard-up
+again. Though she traveled at reduced fares and contented herself with a
+ham sandwich or a slice of pork-pie on the road, she would never, never be
+able to repay Jimmy that money: she had not even paid Glass-Eye yet! Her
+dresses for on and off the stage swallowed up everything. And yet she
+couldn't go about naked, like Lady Godiva!
+
+And time passed and passed. Lily was growing _old_: she was eighteen!
+There were girls of her age who were already beyond work, used up, like
+that girl contortionist who had just been cut open for a tumor; and Lily
+had as yet achieved nothing! Oh, she ought to have signed for America or
+Australia, or else for Russia, of which she had heard wonders--Poland, the
+Parisienne, had just returned from there covered with diamonds--theaters
+that played all night and did not close till dawn, to the clicking of
+champagne-glasses. Lily dreamed of it, ecstatically: England was no good
+to her now. The New Trickers, with their own cheap Lily, were working her
+idea on the Bill and Boom Tour! If only she could have the continent! They
+were talking of a new music-hall which Harrasford was to open in Paris. He
+meant to make a palace of it, they said, and he was also stretching out
+his arm toward Antwerp, Cologne, Lyons, Marseilles, a continental
+trust....
+
+"That's what I ought to have," thought Lily.
+
+Her present life seemed empty, notwithstanding its excitement: it was like
+the sound of a band; nothing remained of it. Departures, constant
+departures from one town to another, always leaving, never staying. But
+for Glass-Eye's company she would have cried, sometimes, for sheer
+melancholy, as at the sight of those really loving couples in the
+boarding-houses, on the stage itself; those babies in the arms of their
+Mas; it made her heart ache; the thought of it pursued her like the call
+of distant bells, while the train rushed into the darkness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+               "May joy and pleasure be your lot
+               As through this world you trot, trot, trot.
+
+                                                      "X."
+
+        "In the golden chain of friendship, regard me as a link.
+
+                               "Loving Pal (Palace, Sheffield)."
+
+There were pages and pages like this in Lily's autograph book. The last
+entry was that of a couple of friends, the dark one and the fair one:
+
+        "May success always follow you, and eventually a good
+        fellow collar you, is the sincere wish of the
+
+          "Sisters Arriett and Nancy--The ideal pair (of legs!)"
+
+Since Miss Lily's arrival in Paris, her collection had been increased by
+the addition of a fervent declaration from her friend, the architect. This
+had been her welcome in Paris, the good fellow, no doubt, prophesied by
+the ideal pair of legs; yes, she had hardly reached Paris and already
+there were people dying of love around her, already a man at her feet.
+
+Lily was delighted to meet this sincere friend again, a friend of her
+childhood, who, she said, had known her when she was "that high": one poor
+devil the more ready to leave wife and children for her sake. The evening
+before, in her dressing-room, at the Bijou Theater, she had told him the
+story of her life since leaving her parents. It made her forget to ask
+about Harrasford and the new theater which he was to open: was it ready?
+The architect ought to know better than anybody. She would ask him
+to-night. And Lily lay turning this over, in the morning, in bed,
+notwithstanding her other cares, for she must get clear somehow, must see
+the agents that afternoon. She had plenty to do beside her turn. She had
+to busy herself with those thousand and one details.... She would never
+have believed that it was so hard to fill her three years' book. Lily felt
+half-dead with fatigue before she started:
+
+"Let me sleep!" said Lily, stretching herself in the big double bed which
+Glass-Eye had just left; "clear out! Let me sleep!"
+
+But Glass-Eye made a rush at Lily, tickled her in the neck, stifled her
+laughter under the pillow: it was a necessity for them in the morning,
+those few minutes of horse-play, of thumps and smacks, which rang out on
+every side. Lily, at last, full-throated, with fluttering nostrils, cried
+out for mercy. The maid went off, Lily, now quite awake, remained alone,
+and her worries returned: no more love, no more music, as at the theater,
+no more purple rays, nothing but gloomy hours, a long day stretching out
+before her like a gray corridor. It was real life now: letters to write,
+costumes to mend, last night's tights to wash in the basin.... Lily,
+sitting on the edge of her bed, took her purse from where she had hidden
+it under the bolster--a habit she had acquired in marriage, because of
+Trampy's nightly ferretings--and emptied it on the sheets: one blue
+banknote; one, two, three gold coins. How much did that make in pounds,
+shillings and pence? Hardly seven pounds. It was all in vain for her to
+economize, like that Ma of a star, who counted the potatoes. It was all in
+vain for her to stint in every way, to keep back Glass-Eye's wages for
+over a year, saying that she would pay her in a lump: she would have
+almost nothing left after the purchases which she had to make. It was true
+that, to-morrow, she would receive her fortnight's pay; and she hoped for
+a renewal. She felt sure of it, if only because of the way in which the
+manager had taken her by the chin. Then a fortnight at the Brussels
+Alhambra--1 November, Flora, Amsterdam--10 January, Copenhagen--and, for
+the rest, her three years' book was empty and each empty page represented
+months without work--all her profits would be swallowed up by her enforced
+idleness. She would never clear herself, never be able to pay Jimmy. Oh,
+she was furious with him because she could not discharge her debt to him
+once and for all, fling his money in his face, show him if people remained
+penniless long when they had her talent! That idea comforted Lily. And it
+was important that she should look nice to-day, to go the round of the
+agents. Lily dressed quickly, cunningly puffed out her bows, a trick she
+had learned as a child, and then, before putting on her dress, cooked the
+food with Glass-Eye, who had just come in with her parcels.
+
+Then a dash of scent on the handkerchief, a touch of rouge on the lips
+and, leaving the room all untidy, she went out, followed by Glass-Eye,
+rigged out in a pair of thread mittens and carrying the sunshade and the
+wrist-bag. Quick, quick! For Lily knew by experience that it is well to be
+the first at the agent's or else there's nothing for you.
+
+She did not dislike those walks through the Paris streets:
+
+"Let's have some fun," she said to Glass-Eye.
+
+By this, Lily meant laughing at those "tiny Frenchies"; and, if they
+ventured to accost her, crushing them with a "_Vous hettes oun cochon_!"
+Although, among the people she mixed with, agents, artistes, stage-hands,
+everybody spoke English, Lily had not come to Paris without learning a few
+words, "_Oui_ ... _Non_ ... _Vous_ _hettes oun cochon_!" and so on, which
+were indispensable, she thought, to a girl who wanted to make herself
+respected on the continent, a girl alone, especially. And she loved to
+snub those damned _parley-voos_ who dared to accost ladies. It seemed to
+lighten those days of visits to the agents, the very prospect of which
+gave her a headache in advance, because one had to think of everything,
+lithos, photographs, programs; and, if the agent wasn't in, ruin one's
+self in correspondence; and puff one's self in every way, rub it into them
+that one was the cleverest person on earth....
+
+"If you're too modest," said Lily, "they'll take you at your word!"
+
+And the pay would drop, in consequence.
+
+"Never tell your salary!" was another of Lily's favorite maxims.
+
+She gave out that she made heaps, that a little star like her, the Marie
+Loyd of the bike, was only to be obtained for untold gold. But, at the
+agent's, she had to cut her prices: there was no hiding anything from
+them; it was like going to the doctor.
+
+"And, when you're in work, everybody wants you; and, when you're out of
+work, they have nothing for you: it's help yourself as best you may!" she
+said.
+
+She had to help herself now; and it was delicate business dealing with
+people who have only one idea in their heads, to swindle you, in order to
+curry favor with the managers by getting them cheap turns. They would have
+skinned you alive:
+
+"Two pounds a week. Do you accept?"
+
+"Go to Halifax!" Lily would reply in such cases, looking them straight in
+the face. It took courage to do that: the agent might grow bigger, become
+an enemy. She didn't care! She wasn't going to lower her price for
+anybody! And the commission she had to pay them was a torment to Lily;
+calculating the percentage made her head split--not to speak of the
+complicated nature of the contracts, worse than insurance policies. The
+poor artiste was bound down on every side, at the mercy of the manager;
+everything was foreseen, down to the prohibition of black tights, which
+concealed one's poverty. And it was bad enough in England; but in the Dago
+countries, on the continent, it was worse.
+
+"Can you understand a word of it, Glass-Eye?" asked Lily, explaining to
+her maid the tricks which the artiste had to fight against. "I don't know
+how the small turns manage," she concluded, in the tone of a woman who
+towers above all that.
+
+Lily's prettiness made the people in the street turn round to look at her.
+They would gaze at her cheeky feather, whisper, "You pretty, pretty
+darling!" in her ear. Lily, secretly delighted, held herself ready to
+crush the saucy rascal with a "How dare you?" like a lady who knows how to
+appreciate a compliment, without permitting the least familiarity. And
+when she approached the agency, she insisted on Glass-Eye's keeping by her
+side, asked for things: her wrist-bag, her embroidered handkerchief. And
+her way of walking in! Lily pretended to be short-sighted, so as to see no
+one in the rotten lot. She sent in her card, sat down in the waiting-room.
+It reminded her of the dentist's, with those pale people sitting on
+benches; those serio-comics, all over-fat; loud-voiced topical singers,
+who took the place of the real artistes, just like the bioscopes and
+cinematographs! There were also little families--small turns that had
+struggled hard to learn a few tricks--nobody wanted them, because they had
+no "chic" costumes, sometimes, or no lithos....
+
+Those were received like dogs: a wretched couple was just coming out, a
+man and a woman, sad with a humility accustomed to rebuffs; and the agent
+drove them toward the door, with his voice:
+
+"Eccentric mashers? No opening for you. Call again."
+
+Lily got a good reception, in the agent's room; but there was nothing for
+her. And the agent saw her to the door, with a satisfied air and a knowing
+wink, as though to make the others believe ... Lily didn't like that
+kind--her short-sightedness did not prevent her noticing it and blushing
+at it--but she was very pleased, all the same, to be seen to the door,
+before those small turns who were received like dogs....
+
+On the pavement outside, the wretched couple came up to her shyly:
+
+"Don't you know us, Miss Lily? The Para-Paras."
+
+She had to listen to a pitiful tale. She heard nothing but that, when she
+went on her rounds of visits to the agents. Oh, the distress which she
+beheld there! It made Lily feel quite ill at night. A little more and she
+would have said her prayers, before getting into bed, to thank God that
+she hadn't come to that. Poor Paras! Starving, no doubt, remaining for
+weeks in their garret, pretending that they had been performing in the
+provinces ... abroad.... Lily pictured them passing the stage-doorkeepers
+to whom they had sold their parrots and being greeted with a "What's for
+breakfast, Polly?"
+
+"Miss Lily," they confessed, in a whisper, "you know such a lot of people:
+if ever you hear of anything for us, never mind where ..."
+
+"Poor beggars!" thought Lily.
+
+And her Ma had prophesied to her that, one day, she would be worse off
+than they! No, she would never be half so badly off! Why, she could have
+had anything she wanted, motor-cars, Paris gowns, for the asking.
+
+[Illustration: THE PARA-PARAS]
+
+"Glass-Eye, my bag!" And, handing a small gold coin to the wretched
+couple, "There ... between artistes, you know ... give it back when you
+can; good-by. Did you notice, Glass-Eye," asked Lily, as she walked away,
+"how flattered they were when I said, 'Between artistes?' They looked
+quite touched."
+
+But there was no time to waste in nonsense, on a day when she was calling
+on the agents. The thing was to get there first; and Lily consulted her
+addresses....
+
+She was exasperated at being obliged, with her talent, to climb all those
+stairs, to hang about in the waiting-room, she, Lily Clifton! And it
+reeked of vice, stunk with the trashy scent of the "not-up-to-muches:"
+merely to look at them suggested faces seen in Piccadilly at night or in
+the Burlington Arcade.
+
+Lily sent in her card, threw a short-sighted glance around her and
+remained standing, like a lady who is never kept waiting and who is sure
+to be received at once. And, with her head bent down and her chin in her
+gold-spotted tie, she turned over the pages of _Le Courrier des Cafes
+Concerts_ on the table ... names which she didn't know ... the small
+"numbers" of the continent ... so much the better ... all the more chance
+for her. But the engagement which she dreamed of did not offer this time
+either. What the agent did propose to her, almost without lowering his
+voice, with the door open, before everybody, was the grated private boxes
+of South America ... the private rooms of Russia ... accompanied, at a
+startled movement on Lily's part, by this concession:
+
+"You needn't sleep there, you know!"
+
+To talk like that to a lady! Lily felt stifled. Was that what she had
+learned the bike for? To exhibit herself after the show, at the customers'
+disposal? Lily could have fainted on the stairs, as she went down.
+
+"One of those!" she said. "Not I!"
+
+And she continued her weary pilgrimage of stairs, from agent to agent.
+
+"I must have six months filled up in my book before to-night!" she said,
+determined to visit them all, small and large, rather than go back
+empty-handed.
+
+There were some who suggested to her that ten per cent. was really very
+little....
+
+"I like their style!" thought Lily. "They want an extra sop thrown to
+them: one might as well work for nothing!"
+
+She thanked them, nevertheless, so as not to make enemies of them--one
+never knows--and the agent doesn't matter so much; but the assistant, who
+happens to have known you when you were "that high" ... better give him a
+tip, lest he should round on you.
+
+She also saw a former artiste, a friend of Pa's, who had become an agent.
+
+"Miss Lily? Lily Clifton? What are you doing now? Won't you see my
+secretary? Leave your address with him."
+
+"Fellows whom Pa helped!" she grumbled angrily, as she went down the
+stairs. "They're the worst of all! They make you pay for the humiliation
+of their own failure on the stage!"
+
+Presently, she came to an agent who practised almost in the street, in an
+arcade somewhat like the Burlington, an agent for everything ... circus,
+music-hall, theater ... artistes formed in a week ... white flesh at
+famine salaries. There were all sorts of people there, a moving heap of
+frayed velvet and shabby plush. Lily passed by with great dignity. Next,
+she came to the big agent, with offices in Berlin and London ... the
+ting-ting of telephones, the tick-tack of typewriters all day ... business
+pure and simple, an exchange for supple loins, swelling biceps, muslin
+skirts, pigeon's eggs ... a sheaf of stars who, from there, radiated over
+Australia, America, England, the Eastern and Western Trusts, Bill and
+Boom, Harrasford, the continent. Lily felt a little ill at ease as she
+entered--she had a pain in the pit of her stomach, as when she used to
+expect a smacking--and again in the private office crammed with papers and
+registers, when alone with the agent, who looked at her card, he seated,
+she standing. Then, suddenly:
+
+"Lily? Miss Lily? Your price is two hundred francs a week, I believe."
+
+"What!" said Lily. "With a bike and a maid?"
+
+"It's what you had at Maidstone, so I was told."
+
+"What a lie!" said Lily. "Three hundred francs is the lowest I've ever
+had. I'll show you my contracts."
+
+"Don't trouble," said the agent. "I thought ... we can get plenty at that
+price, you know ... in your style...."
+
+"In my style, perhaps ... but not me."
+
+"Pooh, the audience doesn't know the difference." And he started looking
+through a register, turning over the pages and repeating mechanically,
+like a refrain or a lullaby, "The audience doesn't care a hang; it's all
+the same to the audience." And, suddenly, with his hand flat on the open
+book and the other ready to take up the pen, with a piercing eye fixed
+upon Lily, "I can give you a month at a thousand francs ... they want a
+girl in tights ... at Lisbon."
+
+"Lisbon?" said Lily. "That's at the Colosseo. A thousand francs to go to
+the Colosseo, with one's luggage and a maid?"
+
+"Well?" broke in the agent. "And what do you want a maid for, you
+extravagant little beast? Why not your maid's family while you're about
+it? A thousand francs: will you take it? I've got some one who will, if
+you don't."
+
+Lily had to say yes or no quickly. Her forehead was wrinkled with the
+effort of turning the francs into shillings, the shillings into pounds.
+She consulted her book, like an artiste who doesn't know, who may not be
+free, for a whole month. She lowered her chin in her tie, but without
+smiling ... had a cramp in her stomach, rather ... at a pinch, by leaving
+Glass-Eye in Paris.... After Lisbon, one generally had Madrid and
+Barcelona and returned by Marseilles and Lyons. Friends of hers had done
+well like that. But to accept a lower salary once meant accepting it
+always, in establishments of the same class; it meant reducing her price,
+for always, by two pounds a week, at least.
+
+"A thousand francs: will you have it?"
+
+And Lily:
+
+"No, it's impossible! I can't take less than twelve pounds a week." And
+she began to sum up her proofs: "Look here, at the Hippodrome, Glasgow ...
+at the Palace, Leeds...."
+
+But the agent wouldn't listen, shut up the register, was sorry:
+
+"Can't do it ... bad season ... cyclists to be had for the asking.
+Good-by."
+
+"Good-by."
+
+And Lily went out, went down the stairs, feeling half-inclined to go back
+and accept; but no! Lower her prices? Never! Oh, those cheap artistes,
+those black-legs deserved to be hanged! Great lazybones who learn a few
+baby tricks on the bike or the tight-rope, back-shop acrobats, slop-shop
+Lilies, who practise at a safe distance, by watching you on the stage,
+through an opera-glass. They cut your prices by half; they would work for
+a handful of rice, like a monkey. They deserved to have the iron curtain
+come down on them, and flatten them out like black-beetles, the
+wind-bags!
+
+"I say, Glass-Eye, perhaps it's they who fell into the orchestra, was it,
+when I got my thighs full of lamp-glass from the footlights, eh? They copy
+you, think themselves artistes.... What! Yes? You say they are, Glass-Eye?
+Damn it, I'll have your eye out!"
+
+And Lily had a fit of laughing when she saw Glass-Eye, who hadn't said a
+word, raise her elbow in affright to ward off the blow.
+
+Lily held the banister with one hand, leaned on Maud's shoulder with the
+other and laughed and laughed, only to see her maid's terrified face, a
+regular fat freak shrinking before the belt. My! She would have fallen
+with laughing, if Glass-Eye had not held her up; she plugged her lips with
+her scented handkerchief, slapped her thighs. She had never laughed so
+much in her life. She already felt consoled for all her bothers:
+
+"Watch me, Glass-Eye! This is the way to go down-stairs!"
+
+And, nimbly as a bird, Lily hopped on the banister, with her back to the
+wall, and--w-w-w-w-whew!--slid down to the bottom, keeping her balance
+faultlessly, sprang to her feet on the last stair and, with a wave of the
+hand, as after a successful trick:
+
+"There! What do you think of that?"
+
+Lily was not given to long spells of sadness. Reaction always followed
+immediately upon her worries, made the thousand and one vexations of a day
+like this easier for her to bear. The compliments which caught her ear in
+the street comforted her too:
+
+"You pretty, pretty ..."
+
+But she had no time to listen. Six months in her book before night! As
+time passed, Lily would have been content with less. And trot, trot, trot:
+while she was at it; then she would end by seeing whether they would get
+her for a handful of rice.
+
+This idea amused her. Lily had confidence in her talent and continued her
+visits. She saw them all: other agents, former bosses or profs, who had
+sucked apprentices dry to the marrow and who continued their evil
+practices in their offices; this sort sized you up with the eye of a
+slave-dealer. There was also the lucky agent, who had started a
+sensational attraction, a Laurence or a Light of Asia. This agent had a
+touch of pride about him, with his eternal, "I gave her her first start!"
+as though to say:
+
+"They'll never find another like her, never! They don't turn them out like
+that now!"
+
+And all this was a pretext for offering you ridiculous terms, because you
+were neither Light of Asia nor Laurence. It was no use Lily's boasting of
+having declined Bill and Boom and Harrasford, pretending to be an artiste
+for whom the managers were competing against one another with sheaves of
+banknotes. There was nothing for her at this one's ... nothing for her at
+the others', either ... only a scrap of news of her family, through an
+artiste. The New Trickers were all the rage in Scotland, it seemed; an
+engagement in London, at the Palace, was waiting for them. When Lily heard
+that, she turned pale with envy: so it was on their account that she had
+been refused that tour in England, so that they might have it! Patience!
+Her
+
+[Illustration: LILY]
+
+day would come ... when she returned from the continent and, instead of
+Miss, called herself Mlle., like Adeline Genee and lots of others!
+Meanwhile, she had found nothing. Still, Lily knew that one sometimes had
+whole months of enforced idleness, without knowing the reason, and then,
+suddenly, one's luck returned. One only has to wait a bit, thought Lily,
+making herself very short-sighted as she passed before the arcade, the
+haunt of the out-at-elbow pros and of the piffling little agents, the
+jackals of the profession, on the lookout for a bone to gnaw. And it was
+not a little vexing to hear her name pass from mouth to mouth--"Mrs.
+Trampy, Mrs. Trampy"--and who could be drawing attention to her in that
+rotten lot? Was Trampy there, by any chance, pointing his finger at her?
+She felt inclined to go back to them, to tell them in two words what she
+thought of them. Mrs. Trampy, indeed! It was not for long, in any case.
+Her divorce was not far off!
+
+In the evening, at the theater, she forgot her bothers, as usual. The day,
+for that matter, was quite an ordinary one: it was the typical day, the
+trot, trot, trot, of the star alone, in search of engagements. And,
+thoroughly tired, in her dressing-room, she related in her own way the
+adventures which she had had since the morning, the compliments on her
+beauty; and at the agents', my! If she had liked, she could have filled up
+her three years' book! The architect came in her dressing-room for a
+moment: so interesting a Lily! so amusing, he thought, as funny, in her
+way, as Light of Asia, the Chinese girl without arms. Sitting on the big
+trunk, he admired by turns Lily and the disorderly dressing-table, its
+cracked looking-glass, scribbled over with names, and, under the glaring
+light, the grease-paints--red, white, black--the powder-puffs and hare's
+feet, the biscuits in the tray among the hair-pins, a bottle and glasses
+beside the powder-box. From nails on the whitewashed walls, scratched all
+over with inscriptions, covered with penciled dates, hung rainbow skirts,
+bodices with metallic flowers. The bike shone in a corner, half-buried
+under Lily's outdoor clothes. Tights hung beside it, like pink skins, gold
+spangles strewed the uncarpeted floor and scent hovered over
+everything.... Half-open doors admitted gusts of music from the orchestra;
+and Lily, opposite the glass, fumbled among her pots with the tip of her
+finger, stained her lips blood-red, fixed the rebellious curl to her
+forehead with a touch of gum. Outside, in the passage, was the row of
+doors, with spy-holes and visiting cards, half-sheets of paper, stuck down
+with wafers and bearing the names of the various occupants:
+
+"Prof. X. The Famous X. Family. Absolutely the best."
+
+There were others "absolutely the best."
+
+On Lily's door, her card--"Miss Lily"--and, under that, modestly:
+
+"And maid."
+
+Lily revived amid these surroundings; here she forgot her fatigue,
+blossomed out to her heart's delight. With her rainbow dress, her feathers
+and her pearl pendants, combined with her elaborate gestures as she made
+up her face in front of the gollywog, she resembled the officiating
+priestess of a strange religion, pacifying some angry-eyed idol to the
+sound of distant choirs.
+
+While finishing her make-up, Lily continued her stories, talked of her
+successes in England and here and there and everywhere ... and the lord
+who wanted to marry her and rained down presents upon her: fifty-pound
+brooches, diamonds.... Everybody in love with her: to listen to her you
+could have followed her traces like the passage of a cyclone ... men gone
+mad ... others blinded through weeping ... millionaires ruined in
+chocolates and sweets ... and flowers, my!
+
+"You could fill the Colosseum with them, couldn't you, Glass-Eye? I've
+been spoiled everywhere," continued Lily, "and I'm known everywhere! Even
+in Paris, to-day, there were a lot of ladies and gentlemen under an arcade
+and you heard nothing but 'Miss Lily, Miss Lily,' didn't you, Glass-Eye?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Lily."
+
+But these social successes did not make Lily forget her business affairs.
+Harrasford's new music-hall worried her: if she could only play there,
+only snatch it from the New Trickers! For they would certainly try to get
+there; and the architect, of course, knew ...
+
+But Lily was interrupted by the call-boy: time for her to go down to the
+stage!
+
+A hurricane came up from the orchestra, muffled, with beats of the big
+drum, like distant cannon. The curtain would go up soon; it was the time
+when Lily stretched her legs, before giving her performance, and took a
+breath of air in the painted forest. A click of the padlock and:
+
+"Come along, Glass-Eye, the bike!"
+
+Lily, in spite of her brilliant successes in England, was dead tired of
+tipping the boys; it ran away with all her money. As she allowed herself
+the luxury of a maid, by Gollywog, she might as well make use of her; she
+wasn't going to feed her to do nothing! And poor Glass-Eye attended to the
+bike, at the risk of putting out her other eye. Every day the struggle
+between Glass-Eye and the bike formed the joy and the delight of the
+passage. There were incredible swervings, scratchings of the wall,
+barkings of Glass-Eye's shins. Lily followed behind, bursting with
+laughter, warning Glass-Eye to take care or she would put the bike out of
+gear by knocking it about with her legs:
+
+"Oh, where's my belt?" she cried, patting the back of her hand.
+
+The artistes, attracted by the noise, half-opened the doors; laughing eyes
+gleamed at the spy-holes; voices cried:
+
+"Go it! Never say die!"
+
+Glass-Eye perspired like anything, pursed her eyebrows above her fat, red
+cheeks, grumbled, in her Whitechapel slang:
+
+"Kim up, you lousy moke! Igher up, Jerusalem, you pig-headed bag of
+tricks!"
+
+Lily lost patience, snatched the machine from her, ran it down the stairs,
+pushed the door of the "meat-tray," and found herself behind the scenes,
+the drops rising and falling, the nightly spectacle since she had been
+"that high," the land of the unreal lights. And the sudden glare from the
+reflectors set clusters of shoulders blazing with a silvery glow, brought
+up out of the shade the pale flesh of the dancing-girls, heaped up behind
+the pillars. It swarmed from every side, right and left--"Hi, there! Meat,
+meat!"--under the rush of the stage-hands shifting the wings. There were
+fleecy foams of fair wigs, smiles from kiss-me-quick lips, blinkings of
+made-up eyelids, a swarm of arms, thighs and necks, preparatory to a
+ballet, _Heures d'amour_, in which Poland, the Parisienne, triumphed with
+her costumes _Deshabille gallant, Dessous diaphanes, Le tub, Volupte,
+Dodo_, eight pantomimic scenes in a sumptuous setting, with girls to
+impersonate the Hours, from pale-pink flirtation to scarlet desire.
+
+Lily watched this familiar sight with a wandering eye; and suddenly she
+turned pale: what was that? Who was that? In the midst of it all, smiling
+to her from a distance, as though laughing at her, stood Trampy! My!
+
+"Here, hold my bike, Glass-Eye!"
+
+It was close on her turn, but, before going on, she had a word to say to
+the stage-manager and, walking up to him:
+
+"Do you see that josser looking at me?" said Lily, pointing to Trampy. "If
+he stays here, I ... to begin with, I shan't go on. I won't be humbugged
+by any one!"
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+"My husband!"
+
+"All right, darling," said the stage-manager and, suddenly, between the
+scene which was being hoisted up and the other let down on the silent,
+empty stage: "You there! Get out!"
+
+Trampy could not believe that the words were meant for him. He waited
+until the order had been twice repeated. He, an artiste, before those
+girls! He made a gesture as though to ask:
+
+"Do you mean me?"
+
+"Yes, you! No jossers here," said the stage-manager. "Sling your hook!"
+
+"Gee!" thought Lily, when he had gone. "This time you've been paid back in
+your own coin! So you kicked me out at the Horse Shoe, did you? It's my
+turn now, you damned tramp!"
+
+She exulted with delight, as she went through her performance. It was her
+first revenge! the other's turn would come next.
+
+"I don't forgive and I don't forget," she muttered to herself. "Every dog
+has his day."
+
+Oh, how happy she was! She was magnificent on the stage, under the
+flashing lights, and the dull sounds in the orchestra were to her as the
+throbbing of a riotous heart.
+
+"Well, Trampy, you got soaked to-night, to-night," thought Lily, as she
+might have said, "One, two!" to mark her times. "To-night, to-night. And,
+if you don't like it--one, two--you've only got to lump it! Divorce was
+made for men and women, not for dogs!"
+
+Lily was triumphant, laughed, winked her eye, as she rode past, at the
+stage-manager, who threw her a kiss and grinned. Immediately after her
+turn, she ran to her dressing-room, poured water on her steaming skin,
+while the make-up trickled in pink streaks down her face, and devoted an
+hour to the dainty care of her person, like a cat licking itself. And then
+Lily, without paint or powder--awfully ugly, not in the least pretty off
+the stage, as she said, smiling in her muslin tie with the gold
+spots--Lily went out by the front, to avoid the pros' corridor.
+
+The moment she was in the lobby, she assumed the air of a lady accompanied
+by her maid. She cast an indifferent eye at the string of carriages, like
+one who changes her mind and prefers to walk, a smile to the gentlemen at
+the _controle_, a nod to the Roofers going out, two by two, always, a dark
+one and a fair one. Lily stopped for a second, to look round....
+
+Then: "Let's go home, Glass-Eye!"
+
+She took a few steps along the street, but a jolly voice behind her
+cried:
+
+"Gee, what a spanking walk!"
+
+She turned round; it was Trampy again!
+
+"Ah, this time," thought Lily, "I shall have witnesses!"
+
+She expected blows! She would have given anything to be struck: her
+divorce, at last, would be hastened on! Cruelty, public insults! But no:
+
+"How's my dear little wife?" asked Trampy, with outstretched hand.
+
+Lily was so greatly surprised that it took her some seconds to recover her
+presence of mind; and then, without turning her head:
+
+"Come away, Glass-Eye," she said. "There are drunkards about."
+
+"Don't let us quarrel, little wifie. Aren't you my dear little wifie?
+Well, then...."
+
+And Trampy took her by the arm.
+
+"Let me go, or I'll break your jaw," muttered Lily, under her breath.
+
+Trampy seemed in a jovial mood, with his cigar in his mouth, his cheeks
+flushed with insolence, his eyes moist with libations.
+
+"Let's make peace," said Trampy. "Peace in the home: that's my motto!"
+
+"Divorce!" cried Lily.
+
+"Peace in the home for me!" rejoined Trampy, who grew the more radiant as
+Lily grew more and more incensed.
+
+"Let me tell you," he continued, puffing luxuriously at his cigar, "that
+divorce--why, how can you think of it?--means a public scandal, my name
+dragged in the mud...."
+
+"Footy rotter!" roared Lily.
+
+"Dragged in the mud; and my dear little wife left to her own resources,
+marrying again, as she feels inclined, marrying some one unworthy of her,
+perhaps. I won't have it! I'm responsible for you! I'm your natural
+protector! You're not Miss Lily, you're Mrs. Trampy. You've been in the
+wrong, certainly; you had me turned off the stage, me, your husband; but I
+forgive you."
+
+"And I ... take that!" Lily broke in, spitting in his face. "That's how
+_I_ forgive _you_! Take that! And that!"
+
+Trampy reveled with delight:
+
+"You _are_ my dear little wifie, aren't you? And you'll remain so ... and
+you'll never belong to any one else, do you hear? I am a faithful husband.
+You're trying for a divorce, I know, but you won't get it. The wrong is on
+your side and I'm not going to law, and you're Mrs. Trampy and Mrs. Trampy
+you'll remain! Will you come and have a drink, Mrs. Trampy?" he continued,
+lighting a fresh cigar. "Won't you? Very well. Good night, wifie!"
+
+And Trampy, turning his back to her, disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Lily came home and went straight to bed, without even waiting for supper,
+so great was her hurry to forget. It seemed to her that things had
+happened, things without end; that this day had been as long as a year.
+She simply could not understand Trampy. She could have imagined anything,
+except that! She racked her brain to conjecture how, why; and sleep
+quieted her till the next morning; and she woke up with teeth clenched and
+eyebrows set and ... why? Why? And again why? Did he still want to keep
+her?--after realizing in a hundred different ways that she did not love
+him, that she loathed him, that she had married him only to escape her
+whippings and that she had but one idea in her head: to divorce him!
+
+Now--only Lily could not know this--it was because of that very reason
+that Trampy clung to her, like a faithful husband: Jimmy, Jimmy was his
+bugbear. He believed Jimmy to be in love with his wife. Once Lily was
+divorced, Jimmy could marry her; and Trampy would see him further first!
+The greater Jimmy became, the more jealous Trampy grew. He knew the steps
+Lily had taken to obtain a divorce, the witnesses she had tried to secure.
+She was very keen on a divorce, was she? All the more reason for not
+gratifying her; and she wasn't going to get it. The witnesses, Trampy had
+just heard, declined to give evidence. They had seen nothing, heard
+nothing. A bike at her head? Maybe. They didn't know. A bit of a fuss
+between artistes, such as you see every day, and none of their damned
+business. Outside that, Lily had nothing to go upon; on the contrary. She
+had abandoned the conjugal home; all the wrong, apparently, was on her
+side. He, Trampy, alone was entitled to file a petition; but that never!
+He considered that Jimmy and Lily had trifled with him sufficiently. He
+could not swallow the idea that they were only waiting for the divorce to
+get married; the idea that Lily would be Mrs. Jimmy, of her own free
+choice, after marrying him, Trampy, to escape her whippings; no, he
+couldn't swallow that! Now it rested entirely with him to prevent that
+marriage. He had only to keep his dear little wife for himself. In that
+case, Jimmy, if he wanted her, would be obliged to do without her or else
+to "live with her" and set a bad example, lavish bestower of good advice
+that he was, the dirty hypocrite, preaching morality to others! That was
+what Trampy had determined to do. As for Lily, Trampy, who was incapable,
+at bottom, of either hatred or love, didn't care one way or the other. He
+was always sure to want for nothing, so long as there were girls on the
+boards and whisky in the bars.
+
+There was another reason still that urged him to let matters rest, without
+going further. To embark on a divorce-case, to have his name in the papers
+and his story hawked round the four quarters of the globe--"Trampy, you
+know. You knew Trampy, didn't you? The husband of Lily?" and so on--was
+what he didn't want at any price, for a reason known to himself. He had
+made inquiries, quite privately, at the beginning, when he thought of
+petitioning for a divorce; and what he had learned had made him prudent:
+his marriage in America was valid beyond a doubt. He was well and duly
+married, whether he liked it or not. By the common law, two wives meant
+bigamy; and bigamy meant prison, which was the last thing he wanted, as he
+himself said. But, so long as there was no scandal, he ran no great risk.
+He had lived on tenter-hooks at first, in Germany. Chance might have
+brought him face to face with Ave Maria, on the stage of a music-hall.
+This danger was not to be feared now, so far as he knew. Ave Maria and her
+brother Martello were no longer fit stars for Europe, nor for North
+America. He was too well known to the agencies; his brutality had produced
+too many complaints, too many denunciations to the police; it discredited
+any theater employing him. He might have come to Europe--who knew?--to try
+to get hold of the Bambinis, now that the old man had not much longer to
+live. But that was not very likely, either. An artiste, come across by
+accident, had seen the pair at Iquique, in a wretched circus that was
+doing the coast of Chili. He gave Trampy details: poor Ave Maria had grown
+very ugly; a body all skin and bone and nerves; no hips, no chest; nothing
+of the woman about her; in the last stages of consumption; and finished,
+as an artiste, done for; no spring left in her overworked thighs, no
+suppleness in her loins: even her brother, that brute, could get nothing
+out of her now. And Trampy, who knew Chili, followed them, in his mind, on
+their tour along the coast, from Iquique to Copiapo, to Valdivia: a trying
+climate, biting winds which would kill her on the spot, unless she went
+and perished in the fever-stricken plains of the Argentine.... When people
+had fallen so low as that, they did not rise again: there was nothing to
+fear from that side. But her presence was not necessary; the danger still
+existed. There were documents, in black and white. Their names were
+bracketed on a register somewhere or other: he knew where. It was better,
+therefore, in every way, not to call attention to himself. Meanwhile, he
+was playing a nice trick on Lily and her Jimmy. And Lily was Mrs. Trampy
+and Mrs. Trampy she would remain; and that was all there was about it.
+
+But it was no use for Lily to give herself a headache trying to make out
+why and how. She did not guess Trampy's secret thoughts, any more than he
+suspected the actual nature of her relations with Jimmy. For her, too, one
+thing was certain: Mrs. Trampy she was and Mrs. Trampy she would remain!
+She would never be free; she would always be chained to that tramp
+cyclist! And, if a match should happen to turn up for her among her
+admirers, the architect, for instance--you can never tell: plenty of
+others had already proposed for her hand in marriage, in England--she
+would be obliged to refuse! And, if some gentleman were to pay her his
+addresses, treat her like a lady, take her to choose a hat or a silk
+petticoat in a smart shop, there was somebody who would have the right to
+say to her, as she passed:
+
+"How's my little wife getting on?"
+
+Oh, those two Jim Crows round her, spoiling her future! Jimmy and Trampy!
+They would end by being the death of her. Oh, if she had had Thea's arm,
+what a blow in the jaw for one or both of them! And Lily, when she thought
+of it, wore the face which was hers on her bad days, teeth clenched,
+stubborn forehead. Glass-Eye shook in her boots when she saw it, for
+sometimes Lily vented her anger upon the poor girl with a smack,
+considering herself quits if she begged pardon after!
+
+"If it's one of those footy rotters," growled Lily, hearing a knock at the
+door, "smash a bottle over his head!"
+
+But no, it was simply her letters, sent on from the theater. Nothing of
+importance this morning; prospectuses, mostly: a wig-maker, special
+theatrical department; a manufacturer of traveling-hampers, for South
+Africa, Australia....
+
+"No use for them," thought Lily, with a sigh.
+
+[Illustration: A ROOFER GIRL]
+
+And, on opening _The Era_, she received that discouraging sensation:
+always so many names, and so many tricks, and all "the best;" new ideas
+and troupes, troupes, troupes; another new troupe of fat freaks, a very
+flood of them; and Roofers, Roofers; "Greater-Greater England Girls,"
+words and music guaranteed, with scarlet legs and muslin skirts, complete;
+page upon page of pink tights; and national troupes and colonial troupes;
+and one had to earn a livelihood and shine among all that! Lily was half
+crushed; and everybody she knew was triumphing: the Pawnees,--one hundred
+and thirty music-halls, the whole of the Eastern and Western Trusts, the
+great two-years' tour! The Three Graces also were continuing their
+triumphs. Lily, who felt herself the equal of any of them, held her breath
+as she read the news. Laurence had won her terrible bet that she would
+ride straight across Manchester and Salford on her bike, hands tied
+together, feet fastened to the pedals. At the Art Institute in Chicago,
+Marjutti had given a lecture on the art of contortion.
+
+"Some josser of a journalist wrote it for her," thought Lily.
+
+And _The Performer Annual_ had sent Marjutti its set of questions to
+answer, she had been published in print! And Lily was still waiting! And
+Tom? Tom was in England now, in the De Frece circuit; had had a triumph at
+the Portsmouth Hippodrome, as "Topsy Turvy Tommy," dancing a sailor's
+hornpipe on his hands. All, all were successful, including others even who
+were not so good as she was: one who obtained engagements because she had
+a nigger in her show; another because of a monkey.
+
+"And I've done nothing yet!" grumbled Lily.
+
+Oh, to be talked about in her turn, to achieve something, to become "our
+Lily!"
+
+"It's twelve o'clock and I'm still in bed!" she cried. "I ought to be
+practising!"
+
+It was just a flash of pride, mixed with remorse. She knew it well enough;
+often and often, she had reproached herself for her idleness, for her
+habit of sleeping till the middle of the day, of taking her meals before
+the performance; but she would make up for it to-morrow! It is the usual
+refrain of stars who have become detached from their troupes, far removed
+from regimental discipline, so to speak: without a Pa, without a boss, you
+can do nothing. You must have some one to force you.
+
+"A month on the three years' book before to-night!" prayed Lily, touching
+her lucky charm.
+
+And she studied the omens with an expert air, gave an ear to passing
+sounds, tried to catch the meaning of them, for she had visits to pay,
+letters to write, business, damn it!
+
+That was what Pa used to say before her. And it was not so easy to turn a
+letter prettily: that was Trampy's forte. She knew something about it.
+Lily, in her night-dress, with her elbows on the table, bit her pen,
+reflected, in a mental effort that gave her a headache. And that
+note-paper wasn't nice, either, without a heading; true, it only rested
+with herself; every day she was approached with offers of artistic
+photographs, even of tricks which she did not do: standing with one foot
+on the saddle, the other in the air and her arms stretched out before her,
+like a flying genius; or as Cupid, with his dart in his hand: impossible
+things which neither the Pawnees nor Laurence would have dared to attempt!
+But it would look well, with her name in red letters: "Miss Lily," or "La
+Belle Lily." Or else a photograph showing her strolling in a great park,
+with a palace in the background, taken from nature, followed by her maid,
+or by a footman, hired by the hour, for the occasion.
+
+"I think I shall select the governess," said Lily to herself, "because of
+my biography; it will be nicer, truer. Or I might be taken riding on the
+back-wheel, like a lady just leaving the house and doing that to amuse
+herself?"
+
+Lily, still undecided, took up the pen again: one foot on the saddle; six
+pairs of tights; three dresses; the theaters at which she had
+appeared....
+
+What a pack of jossers! She couldn't forgive the agents for her present
+want of success. She was exasperated. She felt inclined to go and see the
+managers themselves, those who had made love to her on the stage, and to
+send in her card to them--"Miss Lily"--just to teach those jossers of
+agents! Her independent ways had already made enemies for her: she knew
+that; but how could she help being angry? The tricks they played you, down
+to making you miss a marriage, as had happened in London, the other day,
+to the Three Graces, to one of them, who had been courted, during Mr.
+Fuchs' absence, by the boy-violinist. Their agent had launched into
+slanders and even insults to prevent the marriage, which would have split
+up the troupe and broken the contract....
+
+"What a pack of nigger-drivers!" thought Lily. "As long as they get their
+ten per cent., the rest can go hang, for all they care!"
+
+There was no doubt that Lily had got out of bed on the wrong side, at the
+thought of having to climb all those staircases again and to dance
+attendance with the rotten lot in the waiting-rooms. But, by Jove, she
+could have boxed the ears of the first agent she visited that afternoon!
+He had the impudence to offer her a magnificent engagement in the Indian
+show at Earl's Court, she to stain her skin brown, dye her hair black,
+with rings in her nose, at the wrists, at her ankles; a costume like Miss
+Ruth's, all in gauze; the nautch-girl on the bicycle; six times a day, in
+the open air, to the sound of tomtoms. Play the negress; that's what he
+offered her! She could not help laughing, in spite of her anger. But she
+became quite intractable and snubbed another agent who suggested a one
+day's billet in a tiny music-hall at a ridiculous price.
+
+"I don't give my performance under five pounds, or on a stage of less than
+thirty feet!" cried Lily.
+
+At last, luck seemed to turn; she settled for Spain and Portugal, and that
+same evening, at the Bijou Theater, she was offered another engagement,
+for three months hence. This contract would procure her others, after her
+spell of ill luck. Lily at once took courage again:
+
+"Oh, if I had the Astrarium!" she thought.
+
+Everywhere, at the theater, at the agents, people were talking of the new
+music-hall. It even became a current joke. They said, "So-and-So's
+performing at the Astrarium," as though to say, "He's not performing! He's
+living in a castle in the air!" Every one was talking of the great
+music-hall which was to open in a few months and which was not to be seen
+building anywhere. Some said that it was serious; they quoted engagements:
+Tom; the Three Graces; the impersonator; nothing but turns quite unknown
+to Paris; novelties, nothing but novelties: Marjutti; Laurence, perhaps;
+or the New Trickers. Lily shivered when she heard that!... She opened wide
+eyes, like Alice in Wonderland. Oh, to appear there! But she had performed
+in Paris. Then she would change her name; bike mixed with dancing; and her
+whole trick done backward, as Pa had once advised Trampy to do in Mexico!
+Oh, if she could have that! Lily Godiva, undressed on the bike! She'd show
+them she was a lady, not a performing dog! The Astrarium, that was
+certain, would open in Paris in a few months. Harrasford had said so
+himself. There was no doubt about it. They even told the name of the
+stage-manager, Joe Brooks, the cleverest of all. Lily felt herself carried
+away with ambition. Oh! to open there! Oh, if it were true! God grant that
+it might come true! Oh, if Daisy, their star, could only break a leg! The
+few days which Lily was still to remain in Paris, before leaving for
+Spain, she employed in obtaining further information. She learned the most
+exact particulars. Incredible though it seemed, the Astrarium was to open
+quite shortly! The blue-chins discussed the thing, amid clouds of tobacco
+smoke, in the bars, after the show. To allude to it now was not like
+talking of castles in the air; on the contrary. To tease a pal, one said:
+
+"You're opening at the Astrarium, aren't you? I _don't_ think!"
+
+Which was another way of saying:
+
+"The Astrarium's no place for you! They're taking nothing but bill-toppers
+there!"
+
+The new music-hall, even before it came into existence, was beginning to
+spread, like the story of the whippings; it would be talked about, all
+round the world, as something stunning, a more complete show than the
+Tivoli at Sidney or the New York Hippodrome. Harrasford was credited with
+designs for a palace in onyx and marble. He had bought or was going to buy
+a theater with the object of transforming it; names and prices were given.
+Everybody was interested in it. Just now, especially, when the bioscopes
+and the gramophones and the singers were taking the bread out of the
+"artistes'" mouths, it meant twenty turns more to receive princely
+salaries there; and, every month, that galaxy of stars, which Harrasford
+would send shooting to Paris, was to disperse toward Brussels, Antwerp,
+Marseilles, Hamburg: the European Trust, the Moss and Stoll tour of the
+continent, managed by Harrasford, the great English manager.
+
+To open at the Astrarium meant having work insured and your three years'
+book filled for ever so long; meant appearing in public, later, wearing on
+your chest the medal which they meant to distribute in memory of the
+opening. Gee, Lily had a pain in her side at the thought of it! The Three
+Graces, it was said, were on the program. Lily would have consulted
+them--there was no jealousy about the Graces--but they were not yet in
+Paris. Oh, Lily was longing and dying to be settled! Who was Harrasford's
+agent? If she had to go to London to see him, she would go.
+
+Why, damn it, she would go to Heaven itself to get the Astrarium!
+Anything, anything to open there! That dream of greatness made her endure
+her present vexations. Mrs. Trampy ... Mrs. Trampy ... She was addressed
+as Mrs. Trampy everywhere. Trampy must be telling the story, taking his
+revenge for the whippings, making little of her in his turn. One night
+even, the night before her departure for Spain, when the architect was to
+wait for her at the door of the theater, Lily, who had dressed herself in
+her best, once more had the humiliation of being accosted by Trampy in
+front of everybody.
+
+"Hullo, wifie! How are you, darling? All right?"
+
+Lily bristled with rage as she left Paris. Even when she was far away, she
+still felt that she was dragging a chain which lengthened out endlessly
+without breaking. Never, oh, nothing could ever get her out of that! Yes,
+a brilliant triumph. Then, at least, she could crush him from the height
+of her success, that footy rotter with his red-hot stove! Oh, what a
+grudge she bore him! Jimmy was different: that was a wound of her own and
+nobody would ever know; but Trampy, who laughed at her everywhere and
+called himself her husband! He would make her lose all her friends. To say
+nothing of the fact that those tales perhaps counted for much in her
+failure: they were repeated from mouth to mouth. Oh, her profession
+disgusted her at times! And to think that she, an English girl, was going
+to earn her bread among the Dagoes, instead of starring in England!
+
+Her wandering life continued; her journeys from town to town, in the
+Spanish provinces, her arrival in the chill of the morning, her anxiety
+about her salary, the hustle and bustle of departure and--trot, trot,
+trot!--lugged about in the railway-carriage, like a performing dog in his
+box.
+
+And what theaters! It was worse than Germany or even Paris. In England, on
+the Harrasford tour or the Bill and Boom, they had nice dressing-rooms,
+with a carpet, water hot and cold, quick attendance, stairs swept every
+day. Here, old plaster and those idiots who looked as if they understood
+nothing--it took three of them to shift a scene--Dagoes who asked her
+straight out, in Pidgin-English, if she was alone:
+
+"No man viz you?"
+
+It touched her on the raw. Lily lost all her cheerfulness: to begin with,
+that engagement was not a particularly brilliant one; it was not at all
+calculated to prompt her to do better, to introduce novelties into her
+turn. Besides, on stages not yet overrun with Roofers or fat freaks, an
+artiste performing by herself made an impression. Her old tricks sufficed;
+sometimes she topped the bill:
+
+"Theaters are the same everywhere; artistes the same everywhere, from New
+York to Bilbao. Topping the bill in one means topping the bill in the
+others ... doesn't it, Glass-Eye?"
+
+But she knew quite well that it didn't; and, besides, that satisfaction of
+her vanity put no money in her pocket. The amount she owed, my! She
+thought of the past, of what she had earned for "them" since Mexico. If
+she had only had half of it, a quarter, a quarter of a quarter, damn it!
+
+Meantime, she had to make herself respected. In those countries, where
+people used gestures when they spoke to you, a lady could not be too
+careful. Why, the men treated an English girl just as they treated their
+own women. She could have flung her bike at their heads! And they kept it
+up all night, as in Russia, all except the jewels; you had to stay till
+morning and were expected to accept invitations for supper, so as to keep
+the customer there and push business! A little more and she would have had
+to sleep there! She had threatened to tear up her contract, to complain to
+the consul. And what annoyed her also was being in the same dressing-room
+with singers who undressed without shame, while receiving their friends,
+and made eyes at Lily worse than the impersonator.
+
+And she had to have her food at the theater, no dessert, nothing but a
+biscuit or an apple; and, if she asked for a pear, it caused a terrible
+to-do. Rather than stand that, Lily went to the hotel, which put her to
+double expense, for the board at the theater was compulsory. She had to
+pay in any case; so that she went away without a farthing, thinking
+herself very lucky if the manager did not try to kiss her in his office.
+Oh, the things she saw, the things she rubbed shoulders with, the vice,
+the promiscuity, the rushes of girls in the passages before the onslaughts
+of footy rotters, direct propositions, with eyes looking straight into
+eyes, brief wooings on the stairs, behind the properties, between people
+just about to take the train, one east, the other west, and in a hurry to
+have done with it; a silent embrace in the dressing-room, a neigh, a kiss;
+and _au revoir_, ta-ta!
+
+And the conversations between the stage-girls, who were always surrounded
+by legends of the white slave-trade; stories of disappearances; of
+"engagements for Caracas" and finding one's self over there without
+resources, stranded in a bad house: like that poor girl, a Roofer, who had
+received a letter and some sweets in her slipper, which she had sent
+flying into the audience with a high kick--Lily remembered--well, she had
+disappeared in South America, somewhere; one or two despairing letters and
+then silence. And that other one, at Alexandria, who had called out for
+help, behind her green blinds; and ever and ever so many others, whom she
+had known slightly. Lily shivered: brrrrrr!
+
+She was sick to death of it. She had had enough of it, was fed up with it.
+She aspired to better things. Lily had hoped that her engagement in Spain
+would have marked the end of her bad luck; but no, nothing offered. She
+was sour, bitter, fierce; a wild bull, a stallion, as Ma used to say. And
+she became especially terrible now, when her energy was spent in neither
+work nor love, so much so that there was a cross against her name in the
+agents' books.
+
+Oh, she had often felt inclined to send them all to the devil: the made-up
+eyes, the kiss-me-quick lips, the tow wigs, the low jokes, the
+monkey-claws! There were some who had merit, no doubt, like that boy who
+was all over scratches, from head to foot, through training cats; but the
+rest, almost all of them, were a pack of good-for-nothings who copied
+their betters: amateurs, jossers all; and they had more work than she, who
+had taken such pains and who had made a fortune for her Pa. Oh, if that
+wasn't enough to make her chuck everything and see life, in her turn. She
+had only to choose ...
+
+These reflections came to her more particularly when she returned to
+Paris, after Brussels and Copenhagen, and was again performing at the
+Bijou Theater, where she had already appeared.
+
+"To make all that money," thought Lily, when she saw Poland again, "and
+never to have been through the mill!"
+
+She admired Poland for that, envied her good manners, her grace, the way
+she slipped on her dressing-wrap in the living picture, _The Bath_. She
+turned green with jealousy at the sight of Poland's motor-car, her
+thousand-pound ear-rings, her sable furs. It was not that Lily lacked
+admirers or sympathizers. She even had a little triumph at the Bijou
+Theater, one day when she passed round the hat for old Martello, who was
+ill in bed and penniless. Lily topped the bill in her own fashion, by
+putting her name at the head of the list, and the collection was a
+success, everybody contributed ... including the architect, who was still
+prowling round her, in the passages, on the stage, everywhere. Lily was
+decidedly courted: the rich bookmaker who ran the theater as his private
+harem, he, too, patted her cheek in a funny way, complimented her on her
+firm, round hips before the group of dancing-girls packed like poultry, in
+the shadow of the pillars. Gee, it only rested with herself to have as
+much of that as Poland! And everything reeked with love, amid the
+cannonade of the big drums and the clash of the cymbals, while the sudden
+flashes of the reflectors, moonlight-blue on one side, bright-red on the
+other, lit up all around her the herd of the languid Hours. But her heart
+swelled and puffed with pride. No, no, not that! She would succeed by her
+talent, damn it, not by getting round men! She, an English girl; she, Pa's
+daughter; she, who had gone through the mill, to sell herself like cat's
+meat! Never! And her Ma should beg her pardon on her knees, on her knees,
+damn it! The thought infuriated her.
+
+She was quite sincere with herself. It was all her fault. She ought to
+have worked and practised, practised every day, improved and improved her
+turn; but she would do so now, to-morrow. It was her last chance. She had
+hardly any money left; her three years' book was virgin once again,
+unsoiled by contracts; but she had a stage to practise on and she was
+going to practise to-morrow even if she had to pay somebody to run after
+her, with the belt, if need be! Lily had nothing but that in her head now:
+to get out of her present life, to get out of the mud, to reach the summit
+at a bound. Was it possible? She consulted the Zanzigs; she spent a
+fortune in penny-in-the-slot machines to learn the future, but always
+received the same reply:
+
+"You will marry the man who loves you. You will be very happy."
+
+She smiled with pity when she read that nonsense; to prophesy her
+marriage: how silly! She was only too much married! That was not what she
+wanted to know; but the Astrarium! the Astrarium! Would she be there or
+would she not? The New Trickers were plotting to get there, with a turn
+which she had given them, goose that she was; and Cousin Daisy, that
+farthing dip, would triumph and not she, a star, a real one! Lily was
+rather in the position of Pa, when he arrived in London from New York ...
+with this difference, that Pa had money and Lily had none. But there was
+the same display of energy, once her pride was aroused. Lily also had run
+round Paris like a mad thing: not to the agents!--with them it was: "Lily?
+Lily Clifton? nothing your way to-day!"--but to her friends and
+acquaintances, to find out about the Astrarium. Lily grew crazy at the
+idea that she might perform there, be there at the opening, ride over all
+of them, treat the New Trickers like so many fat freaks!
+
+"Oh, God, if it were true!" she cried, with her hand on her lucky charm.
+"God above grant that it may come true!"
+
+She was at the end of her tether. Nothing short of the Astrarium could set
+her on her legs again. She had no choice; it was either that or an
+absolute come-down: the nautch-girl on the bike, at Earl's Court, or else
+nights of dissipation, champagne and diamonds, like Poland; and Lily, like
+her Pa in the old days, clenched her fists and gnawed her lip as she went
+off to the Three Graces, who had their engagement and who would be able to
+give her some hints.
+
+Lily knew their hotel by reputation. Nothing but pros; a rallying-point of
+troupes, an hotel where nobody's skin was free from bruises and where,
+from morning until night, you heard the clatter of the clog-dancers'
+heels. It reeked of potatoes, of sleepers three in a bed; chests,
+strange-shaped packing-cases, ticketed with distant labels, made the yard
+look like the stage-entrance of a music-hall. Lily did not care for that
+sort of place: no matter; besides, the Bambinis were there and their mad
+rushes, their yells of mirth filled the gloomy house with gaiety. And Lily
+did not mind walking in with her gold-tasseled hat on. All those heads at
+the windows: it was just like a fine lady visiting the poor. And yet she
+was not proud now. Formerly, she would have laughed on learning the kind
+of life led by the Three Graces, those three girls who remained good so as
+not to break up the troupe and annoy Nunkie and who were said to spend
+their spare time in sewing and cooking and doing Sandow exercises and
+measuring one another round the biceps and the chest: simple joys, the
+only true ones.
+
+"They may be right, after all," thought Lily, who envied them from the
+bottom of her heart for having the Astrarium. "If I had only practised
+too! Practising is certainly better than attaching all that importance to
+dresses or sending those puff photographs to the agents!"
+
+A surprise awaited Lily when she entered the hotel; pros were talking with
+a mysterious air. There was muttering in the corners, a piece of news was
+going round: the Bijou Theater had closed, that very day; the treasury was
+empty, bankrupt; everything sealed up; just on the eve of pay-day too!
+
+[Illustration: THE BAMBINIS]
+
+"My! Is it possible?" thought Lily, distracted and forgetting the
+Astrarium and the Three Graces. "And what am I to do for food to-morrow?
+Come, quick, Glass-Eye!" she whispered, catching her a thump in the ribs.
+"To the theater, quick!"
+
+For Lily knew by experience that it was a good thing to be first. Her Pa
+had saved his salary once, in a similar case, at Perth, in Australia; but
+one must arrive in time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+There was a crowd in front of the Bijou when she arrived. They were
+commenting on a notice pasted on the door:
+
+"_Ferme_."
+
+What could that mean? Lily had not provided for this in her vocabulary of
+the French language; but the theater was closed until new arrangements
+could be made. It meant complete ruin, enforced idleness....
+
+"The rotten lot!" growled Lily. "Money, damn it, money! Pay up, you pack
+of thieves!"
+
+But Lily soon recovered herself, when she saw that there was nothing to be
+done. She had been through worse than that, when the iron curtain all but
+smashed her to a jelly, at Milwaukee, and when she tumbled into the
+orchestra, at Glasgow! Notwithstanding the anguish that wrung her inside
+and heralded the coming hunger, Lily put a good face on the matter before
+all those people, like a lady who is above that sort of thing: a
+disappointment, that was all.
+
+"But how will those small artistes manage?" she seemed to say. "Those
+families with babies?"
+
+Lily declared that it was very sad, called Glass-Eye to witness, as usual;
+but poor Glass-Eye remained dumb, reflected that she would never, never be
+paid, if this went on. Lily owed her eighteen months' wages now! True, she
+got enough to eat, or nearly; she traveled with Lily; and she wore her old
+hats.
+
+Meanwhile, the door opened; the artistes were allowed to take away the
+implements of their work, before the final closing. The move began: they
+fetched out basket trunks, hoisted packing-cases on to cabs. It was a
+heartrending sight, all those things, made for the glitter of the
+footlights, now displayed in the street. And everybody made such haste as
+he could, under the eyes of the inquisitive passers-by, for fear of a
+general execution, with every door sealed up and days to wait before one
+could recover one's property. Fellow-artistes from other theaters came to
+look on. Some were indignant that the Artistes' Federation could not take
+up the matter and hurl the experience of its lawyers at the heads of the
+proprietor or syndicate responsible, to say nothing of the moral weight of
+its five thousand members, who had already made the English music-halls
+come to terms by means of a wholesale strike. Others observed that it was
+a private theater, one of those theaters run, for the fun of it, by some
+prosperous gambler or lucky bookmaker; a sort of harem theater, with
+almost empty houses, but with swells on the stage, among the swarm of
+half-naked women; and no one responsible, the old boy ruined, the treasury
+empty, bankruptcy; couldn't be helped; take in your belt a peg, that's
+all!
+
+"What do you think of this, eh, Lily?" asked a voice. "Only yesterday we
+were passing the hat for others!"
+
+Lily still had the list; and the money was locked up in one of the
+dressing-rooms. Then it passed from mouth to mouth, like a watchword: they
+would give back the collection; but not in the street, not before
+everybody, for the honor of the profession. Lily, quite excited, entered
+the passage and there, in the dim light, assisted by two one-legged
+artistes, who called out the amounts and ticked off the names, she handed
+back the collection of the previous day. Some received their share with an
+air of furious determination; others looked shy and blushed; others,
+again, refused, Lily among them; and it was decided to go to the "Pros'
+Corner," or artistes' bar, near the stage entrance, to drink up what
+remained: the ups and downs of life, damn it! Your turn to-day, mine
+to-morrow; jolly lucky not to break a leg, after all! And their gaiety
+returned, amid the smoke and the glasses, through a need of reaction; and,
+after the first drink or two, came jokes, after-dinner stories, impromptus
+which had traveled ten times round the world and brought tears of laughter
+to the eyes of the audiences in thousands of music-halls, not to speak of
+the second-class cabins of every ship of every line and the
+smoking-carriages of every train, from the G. I. P. R. of Bombay to the S.
+F. of Buenos Ayres.
+
+                     "Owen Moore went West one day,
+                     Owing more than he could pay.
+                     Owen Moore came back to-day--
+                     Owing more!"
+
+And they joined in the chorus and they sang, "We all came into this world
+with nothing!" and the one-legged artistes beat time with their crutches,
+my! the pink Hour and the scarlet Hour, who were there, got a stitch in
+their sides. Lily, with her head flung back, full-throated, laughed
+nervously. Besides, as she said, artistes did as they pleased and didn't
+care a hang for anybody! All made plans for the morrow, all had been
+through that sort of thing before and much worse, too: six stories cleared
+at a bound, to escape from a theater in flames! Falls of seventy feet on
+one's head! And wrecks! And waves miles high! Already they began to talk
+of going away, of traveling; traced the route with their finger on the
+table: Cape Town, Australia, the States. To listen to them, those
+everlasting wanderers seemed to have pretty nearly the whole world under
+their hands. They spoke of taking a rest at their permanent addresses:
+good old London; good old Manchester; there was nothing like good old
+England, after all, eh? They'd had enough of the Dago countries!
+
+But enthusiasm broke out when the great news arrived, brought by some one
+straight from the agencies: Harrasford--"Guess, boys!"--Harrasford had
+bought the Bijou Theater! It was all signed and sealed. He was carrying
+out his program: and he wanted to open at once. For three months, it
+appeared, there had been a silent struggle between him and the unlucky
+bookmaker, who did not want to sell; and Harrasford had got it almost for
+nothing; he had practically won it, yesterday, at the races,--with Dare
+Devil, his wonderful horse. Dare Devil had beaten Cataplasm, his rival's
+colt, and the smash had followed at once: the Bijou closed; a forced sale;
+Harrasford had bagged it; and that was one, with more to come!
+
+The artistes were carried away by this daring stroke! Harrasford, a son of
+a gun, who could put them all in his pocket! The one-legged artistes
+fought a mock duel between France and England, the victor to marry Lily:
+what did they think of that? Hurrah!
+
+"Say, boys, which is the quickest way of dropping money?"
+
+"Fast women!"
+
+"No, slow horses!"
+
+It was grand. They drank to everybody's health. They drank to Harrasford;
+they drank to the Astrarium! They counted the money on the bar-counter;
+the amount of the collection had been greatly exceeded and somebody
+suggested that it was a nice thing, upon my word, yes, a very nice thing,
+what they were doing: having a good time, while the Bambinis, perhaps,
+were going to bed without any supper! The whiskies and sodas had warmed
+their hearts: my turn to-day, yours to-morrow, damn it! It might happen to
+any of them, to hop the twig and leave Bambinis behind him.
+
+"Lily, the hat!"
+
+And Lily handed round the hat again and collected more than on the day
+before, even among those who had had their money back.
+
+"Take that to the Bambinis," they said. "We've been behaving like Dagoes,
+damn it! Artistes ought not to act as such!"
+
+"'K you! 'K you!"
+
+And Lily Clifton walked off, very proudly, with her maid, to hand the
+money to Nunkie, who was acting as treasurer.
+
+"And, meantime, one's got to live," said Lily to herself, when she was
+outside.
+
+After the spurious gaiety of the moment, she seemed to be returning to her
+distress, with no work, no money, the Bijou closed, Harrasford taking
+possession of the theater. She revolved all this in her head, without
+succeeding in connecting the whole: rags of ideas hung in her brain, like
+the strips of scenery at the back of the stage. She had not even the
+courage to go and take her bike ... to-morrow ... to-morrow. The Hours,
+the pink one and the scarlet one, who came out of the bar also, resigned
+themselves gaily. Their salary mattered so little. As they explained to
+Lily, you're always well paid, when you have rich friends, and, if you
+haven't, all you have to do is to look out for them:
+
+"Like Poland, what! A fat lot she cares the old boy's ruined! All she will
+do is to find another, change her owner!"
+
+Lily had knocked up against everything, seen everything, heard everything,
+in her adventurous life; but this way of getting out of a difficulty
+always made her blush to her eyes. No, a triumph at the Astrarium: that
+was the only solution for her, Lily Clifton! She was eager also to hand
+the money to Nunkie. The Bambinis' money was a different matter from
+Jimmy's: they were hungry children. Nunkie must be at the theater now,
+with his Three Graces, quite close, and they were going to perform at the
+Astrarium. So it was not essential never to have appeared in Paris! That
+meant one more chance for her!
+
+"Come along, Glass-Eye!"
+
+They now passed into the noisy quarters. The Olympia opened its furnace of
+light before them. The Three Graces stood displayed in life-size on
+posters, with others beside them, names which Lily knew vaguely, as she
+knew them all, from seeing them somewhere,--as she knew the stage-entrance
+of the Olympia, by instinct, in the dark street, at the side: the mouth by
+which the monster nightly swallowed and rejected its fill of meat. A
+courtyard ... three steps up ... turn to the right ... Lily was at home
+again, amid rainbow lights.
+
+"Hullo, Lily!"
+
+It was Nunkie greeting her on the stage, while his dear girls were
+dressing in their room. He took the money for the Bambinis, congratulated
+Lily on the result of her collection, thanked her.
+
+"And what about the Astrarium?" asked Lily. "Do you know...?"
+
+Of course, Nunkie knew. His dear girls were engaged to perform there. And
+he had seen some one on his way to the theater: the opening would take
+place in a month ... in six weeks at the latest....
+
+The architect--"You know, Lily?" said Nunkie--the architect who used to
+hang about on the stage, in the passages, on some pretext or other--to
+make love to girls, apparently--was minding everything for Harrasford! He
+was taking measurements, drawing out plans:
+
+[Illustration: THE ARCHITECT]
+
+"Everything is ready in advance, everything's ordered; they've only got to
+put things in their places; the workmen will start to-morrow."
+
+"So that's what he came for!" thought Lily angrily. "The damned
+_parley-voo_!"
+
+"And your Pa, you know," continued Nunkie, "will be there too, with his
+New Trickers: it would have been easy for you to get there first," he
+added, with a meaning smile.
+
+"The New Trickers! Daisy Woolly-legs!" stammered Lily, turning pale. "Who
+told you so?"
+
+"I'm sure of it, I had it from Jimmy himself," replied Nunkie.
+
+"Jimmy told you? And what has Jimmy to do with it?" asked Lily,
+anguish-stricken.
+
+"What has he to do with it? Why, he's simply going to top the bill," said
+Nunkie. "And, besides, Harrasford has left it to him to make out the
+program. Why, didn't you know?... Your friend Jimmy...?"
+
+She was in the street once more, feeling weak-kneed and light-headed. She
+leaned on Glass-Eye's arm; she had a pain in her side from the emotion.
+She felt inclined to enter a cafe, to get drunk on champagne, to forget.
+
+The next day an awful headache made her keep her room.
+
+"To-morrow," she said to Glass-Eye, "to-morrow I will fetch my bike."
+
+She dared not go out; she felt as if it was written on her forehead:
+
+"The New Trickers at the Astrarium! Daisy Woolly-legs at the Astrarium and
+not you!"
+
+And, "to-morrow," again she spent the day stretched on her bed. And the
+next day, well, as she had to ... as her bike was her bread-winner, after
+all ... her only bread-winner, whatever happened!...
+
+"Come on, Glass-Eye! Let's go for the bike! I don't care if I do play the
+darky at Earl's Court!"
+
+But, on reaching the Bijou, she could not restrain a cry. Nunkie had
+spoken the truth; they were at work everywhere, unloading joists, running
+up scaffoldings, attacking the theater from every side. Her friend, the
+architect, passed, looking very busy, greeted her with a "Hullo, Lily!"
+But Lily did not even see him.
+
+"I hope our things are still in the dressing-room. Hurry up, Glass-Eye!"
+
+And Lily ran along the passage, where already sacks of plaster had taken
+the place of the velvet and nickel properties. She crossed the stage,
+which was still untouched, took the dressing-room corridor and there,
+almost before her door, met Jimmy! She felt like turning her back on him,
+after spitting on the floor, as a mark of contempt; but, after all, no!
+The coward! They'd see which of them should lower eyes first! And she
+planted hers straight in his face, like a blow of the fist!
+
+Jimmy, who was coming toward her, had a moment of hesitation ... but it
+did not last. He soon recovered himself. It would have been obvious to any
+one seeing that masterful face that here was a man cured of his love, a
+strong man and sure of himself, a man whom a kid like Lily--Lily had
+always remained a kid to him, and not Mrs. Trampy, not the wife of Trampy,
+that thief in the night!--a man whom a kid like Lily could not have at her
+beck and call. And he held out his hand, like a good friend, simply, among
+artistes:
+
+"How do you do, Lily? Delighted to see you."
+
+"Glass-Eye," said Lily, opening the door of her dressing-room, "Glass-Eye,
+my bag ... the key of my trunk ... get out the bike first. One can't turn
+in this rotten hole," she added, as she entered.
+
+And, as Glass-Eye seemed all day releasing the bike from the hooked-up
+skirts and tights hanging from the wall, to say nothing of the kicks which
+she received from the pedals, Lily, grumbling, snatched it out of her
+hands, and ordered her maid to go and wait for her in the street, great
+good-for-nothing that she was!
+
+"So you refuse to speak to me?" asked Jimmy.
+
+Lily lowered her head, took no more notice of him than if he had not been
+there, collected her clothes, pulled the gollywog from the wall without
+the slightest regard, heaped up everything promiscuously in the trunk,
+thumping it down with her fists, as though eager to have done with it.
+
+"Come, Lily, are you still angry with me?" asked Jimmy, quite at a loss.
+"When you took me by surprise that day, at Whitcomb Mansions ..."
+
+"A lot I care for your love!" growled Lily contemptuously.
+
+"But my friendship, Lily ..."
+
+"Your friendship," said Lily, "your friendship ... a rag! I'll show you
+how I value your friendship!" she said, flinging a dirty towel on the
+floor and stamping on it in her rage.
+
+"And that Daisy Woolly-legs!" resumed Lily, with an unspeakable expression
+of scorn on her face.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Jimmy, who did not understand.
+
+"Giving that shop to the New Trickers!" she continued violently. "You who
+always used to talk of my talent! Giving a shop like that to those New
+Trickers, who haven't as much talent among the six of them as I have in my
+little finger!... You! To treat me like that!... When I think," cried
+Lily, beside herself, "when I think that Pa and Ma will be here ... with
+tricks stolen from me! footy rotter that you are!"
+
+Jimmy understood that the engagement of the New Trickers exasperated Lily:
+a question of outraged pride, of professional jealousy. He tried to
+explain: she had already performed in Paris and Harrasford insisted on
+that. He, Jimmy, wasn't altogether the master. The New Trickers were very
+clever, very original, very new ...
+
+"And I'm only fit to throw to the dogs, eh?" cried Lily furiously. "And
+that rot about having performed in Paris. The Graces have performed in
+Paris and they're to be at the Astrarium and why not I? Because you're my
+friend, perhaps. Such a friend! When it would have been so easy for you to
+give me that pleasure. But no one will ever do anything to please me! Yes,
+strangers, gentlemen in the front boxes; but not friends like you! You
+always bore me a grudge for marrying Trampy.... And who knows what people
+say of me behind my back!... that I cut my turn ... that I do less than I
+might. You know what I can do, damn it! But it's work I want, do you hear,
+work! I'm not what you think!... One of those ... not I! I'd rather chew
+glass than take any of that!"
+
+And Lily spoke with nervous movements of the shoulder and fiery glances
+and she forced Jimmy to lower his eyes and she told him what she thought
+of him straight out, told him all her heaped-up, rankling spite, told him
+all she had at heart, in words round and solid enough to build a tower of
+Babel on!
+
+"And I would have given my life, yes, given my life to perform here!
+However, it's done now, isn't it? And it can't be undone," said Lily, more
+calmly, and two tears sprang to her eyelids.... Then, while Jimmy, plunged
+in his own thoughts, watched her without speaking and listened to her like
+a judge, "You've nothing to say to me, eh?" she continued, closing her
+trunk with a thump of the fist. "Nor I either. Then help me to carry down
+my hamper: you haven't helped me to get into the Astrarium; at least you
+can help me to get out of it. No? You refuse? And you so generous!" she
+said, with a scornful laugh. "Well, then, help me take it on my shoulders.
+No? Not even that? Then I must try by myself ... and never mind if I do
+get crushed! _That's_ all I care for my life now!" added Lily, snapping
+her fingers.
+
+"But, Lily," said Jimmy, taking up the hamper. "You're going out of your
+sense; you know that ..."
+
+Jimmy could find nothing to say. He was pained to the bottom of his heart
+... for the grief which he was causing her. The tone of feverish banter
+which Lily was adopting upset him more than her anger had done. He felt
+himself filled with pity for that poor little creature standing at bay.
+
+With a turn of the hip, Jimmy jerked to his shoulder the great basket
+trunk which contained all Lily's fortune. It was not very heavy: tights,
+spangled skirts, faded flowers. And, in the passage down-stairs, the
+astounded stage-doorkeeper saw the famous bill-topper submissively
+carrying the trunk of the bicyclist, who walked in front of him, wheeling
+her machine beside her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+The fortnight that followed upon this meeting was such a strenuous one for
+Jimmy, with eighteen hours out of the twenty-four spent at the Astrarium,
+among the day and night gangs; his life was such a slavery that he had
+hardly time to think of Lily. But he did think of her, for all that. He
+seemed to hear her still. Yes, he confessed to himself, he had, perhaps,
+believed ... he had, in fact, been told that Lily was Lily no longer ...
+But he had just been admiring her magnificent anger. He had seen her eaten
+up with ambition, quivering from head to foot, and that brave face lifted
+up to his. Twenty times over he was on the point of saying something to
+her; but he must see first ... Would she herself be willing? Even though
+she had seemed resolved to do anything?
+
+"Meanwhile," thought Jimmy, as on the former occasion, when she was ill,
+in Berlin, "how are we to help her out of this ... how?"
+
+And he was caught in the whirlwind again: it was Jimmy here, Jimmy there.
+He had to be in ten places at once. Not that he was manager or
+stage-manager: his was a special case. Since his return from America,
+Jimmy possessed an even more thorough knowledge of all the machinery of
+the theater. He had his memorandum-books filled with notes, his head
+crammed with new ideas. He had a smattering of everything, a vast amount
+of experience picked up in rushing about the world. After his triumphs
+with "Bridging the Abyss," the managers, knowing that he had prepared
+something different, something strange and terrible, without knowing
+exactly what, the managers had bombarded him with offers: Chicago, Berlin,
+London. A conversation with Harrasford, whom the Astrarium held body and
+soul, had determined the matter otherwise: he would open the Astrarium
+with Jimmy and remodel the theater from top to bottom in view of the new
+trick, the most sensational that had ever been seen. And Jimmy should make
+the necessary alterations, he should have a free hand.
+
+Jimmy accepted. To open in a theater made for himself seemed preferable to
+Jimmy to launching his new invention in a closed hall, such as the London
+Hippodrome, for instance, which did not provide the aperture in the roof,
+the door opening on to the stars, which he required to obtain his effect
+upon the crowd. And that was why, in the work at the Astrarium, everything
+turned upon Jimmy. He was responsible to both Harrasford and himself. For
+that matter, he was fully equal to the interests at stake. Harrasford, a
+great judge of men, intrusted everything to Jimmy, the sensational
+bill-topper, removed above all jealousy; and he left it to his experience
+to construct the program. Harrasford himself, the chief and master, rarely
+left London; he managed all his theaters from his office, with the 'phone
+at his ear, or else flew like the wind in every direction, buying a
+theater here, picking up a star there, on the wing. It was not until the
+third week that he came to see for himself how the work was doing and to
+discuss the accounts. His broad back was seen, followed by Jimmy, to
+plunge down the plastery corridors, to pass under the
+
+scaffoldings. He looked like a conqueror, tracing with his finger the plan
+of the palace that was to rise upon the ruins of the destroyed city; or
+else he would point out things with a jerk of the chin:
+
+"The proscenium pushed forward to here, eh, Jimmy? A cluster of electric
+lights here. Another there. And what about your trick, Jimmy?"
+
+"You must imagine the house in darkness," said Jimmy, "and blue and green
+rays falling on the stage from above. Through the blue, we send a great
+dazzling beam, from over there, lighting up every inch of the house, a
+terrific light, the light of the Last Judgment...."
+
+"Good!" said Harrasford. "We want two or three fits of hysterics at the
+opening, real ones, not hired at two bob a night," he added, with a wink.
+"They're working, up there," he continued, a piece of old plastering
+falling on his shoulder, as they crossed the floor of the house, denuded
+of its seats.
+
+"It's the opening in the roof," said Jimmy. "I should have liked to show
+you ... the staircase is blocked with scaffoldings ..."
+
+But Harrasford, at the risk of breaking his neck, had already grasped the
+rungs of a provisional ladder, made of spokes stuck through one of the
+four beams which rose from the floor to the ceiling and supported it,
+while the whole of the space between them was being opened. The architect
+was there when Harrasford came out on the roof. He showed him four piers
+of strong masonry which were being built against the outer walls,
+explained that two T irons of considerable strength would rest with their
+ends on the piers and run across the roofing from wall to wall. Two other
+irons, also parallel, but running lengthwise, would be bolted to the first
+two. This arrangement would make a horizontal frame of twenty by thirty
+feet. They would then remove the beams which supported the roof during the
+operations. When the plastering was finished and the gilding applied, this
+would form, as seen from below, a handsome frame to the sky. The architect
+also explained how the truncated roof would be secured to the frame,
+forming a whole as firm as a rock, and how a light iron sash, completely
+glazed, could be drawn along the two transverse T irons, thus opening or
+closing the hall as desired.
+
+"The whole thing's worked from below by electricity," said Jimmy.
+
+"How long will it take?" asked Harrasford.
+
+"It's all ready. It's only got to be fixed up," said the architect.
+
+"And how much? Give me the detailed account to-night, at the station. I'll
+study it on my way to Berlin." And, turning to the workmen, "_Faites vite!
+Depechez_!"
+
+They were the only words of French he knew, a vocabulary no more extensive
+than Lily's, but of a different kind.
+
+"And the lights?" asked Harrasford, before he went down again.
+
+"Here, there," said Jimmy, "on steel rods, connected by electric wires."
+
+"That'll dish the Berlin Winter Garden, with its stars set in black
+velvet," said Harrasford.
+
+And he followed Jimmy toward the stage wall, which stood out above the
+roof of the auditorium. Here some other workmen were cutting a doorway.
+
+"Let's go and see the floor now."
+
+And Harrasford plunged through the door, followed by Jimmy. They crossed
+the fly-galleries and
+
+made for the blocked staircases. Before they went down, Jimmy called his
+attention to a pulley which was being fixed to the ceiling and which was
+to carry a rope with a stirrup for the performer's foot, to enable him to
+reach the stage in a few seconds, after doing the trick.
+
+"Very good," said Harrasford.
+
+In half an hour, he had visited everything: the roof, the flies, the
+cellar, the auditorium, the front entrance. Workmen were hurrying
+everywhere. Harrasford encouraged them with a slap on the shoulder:
+
+"_Depechez! Faites vite_!"
+
+They were working at everything at once, from the new installation of
+electric light and the steam-heating apparatus, in the basement, to the
+emergency exits and the main lobby. Upholsterers were taking measurements
+in the front boxes. The sound of the hammer rang out from top to bottom,
+amid a cloud of dust; men climbed the scaffoldings, hoisted up things; and
+the sight of all this activity gave the impression of a plan thought out
+in advance, executed with great certainty, but incomprehensible to any one
+not in the secret. There could be no doubt but that the spectacle which
+was being prepared would be of a sensational character: even the back-wall
+of the stage, which was empty at that moment, had been altered. By
+clearing away a few dressing-rooms, they had raised the floor and ceiling
+of the huge property-entrance. It had been closed up at the back and
+fitted with a sliding door in front.
+
+"The bird's cage," said Jimmy, with a smile.
+
+"And how does he get out?" asked Harrasford.
+
+"Windlasses here ... a rope up above ... hooks," said Jimmy.
+
+"And when will it be fixed?"
+
+"Finished next week, everything's ready, the trials have been made. It
+will only need a little practice, here, on the spot, calculating the
+effort, getting used to the distance."
+
+"House packed for six months!" said the manager. "Here's a cigar to your
+success, Jimmy! Come and let's have a drink at the bar; we'll settle the
+program over there."
+
+A moment later, the two entered the bar where, a fortnight earlier, Lily
+had handed round the hat a second time for old Martello and his Bambinis
+and where the artistes, who had already dispersed toward the four corners
+of Europe, had raised their glasses to the success of the Astrarium. And
+there, in the little back room, which was deserted by the artistes, now
+that the theater was closed, but which would soon again be the
+intersecting point of so many vagabond existences ... where the nigger
+cake-walker from Chicago would play poker with the equilibrist from Japan
+... where the profs and the bosses would exchange complaints about the
+strictness of the regulations concerning the work of apprentices ... where
+little girls, worth their weight in gold, would come, coyly, encompassed
+by Pas and Mas, but with glances askance at flight; in that corner where
+funny men would swallow mixed drinks and talk through their noses; there,
+under the frames containing row upon row of signed photographs of
+artistes: human pyramids, girls in a knot, foaming muslins, Apollos and
+Venuses all muscles; there, in Pros' Corner, Harrasford, the man for whom
+all those people toiled and moiled, head down or feet in the air, the man
+from whom one thousand persons drew salaries night after night, Harrasford
+lit his cigar and sat down at a table with Jimmy, over a
+
+bottle of beer, and, forthwith, pencil and note-book in hand:
+
+"Let's see the program."
+
+Jimmy, on his side, took a written list from his pocket and laid it on the
+table.
+
+It goes without saying that the select turns which they were about to
+discuss had long been engaged for Harrasford's different music-halls, some
+of them two or three years ahead, as often happens in the case of the
+great bill-toppers, and the question was to choose among the best, so as
+to insure the triumph of the opening night. For Harrasford, who had as yet
+appointed no one as manager or stage-manager, the thing was to settle a
+program which would discourage any attempt at competition, to have none
+appearing except stars, without counting those whom he held in reserve for
+the following month, before distributing them over his variety-theaters in
+England, or, later, to any part of Europe, in the "Great Powers Tour"
+which he proposed to create and of which the Astrarium would be a sort of
+"commodore" music-hall, or headquarters. Jimmy only gave his opinion,
+after which Harrasford would decide.
+
+Harrasford's dream was a model music-hall, something, in its own way, like
+the Grand Opera in Paris: a palatial edifice, in a new style of
+architecture, with friezes displaying bodies in contortion, caryatids,
+cast from life, supporting the springers of the arches, mixed groups of
+loins and chests with swelling muscles, under the electric lights, and, in
+the lobbies, a lavish display of African onyx, Scotch granite and Russian
+porphyry. The crowd would pass in between Venus and Apollo, holding
+flowers and lights; and there would be music everywhere; gaiety, noise,
+red and gold everywhere; all cares would be laid aside and forgotten on
+entering; it would be a hall containing every modern convenience, like the
+Iroquois at Buffalo or a 'Frisco sky-scraper: newspapers, cafe, bars,
+smoking-room, barbers' saloon, telegraph-office, telephone-office,
+messenger-boys, ticket-office, private rooms in which phonographs would
+shout out the latest news illustrated with telesteriography, from eight
+o'clock till midnight. The idea was to create, thirty years ahead of its
+time, the great popular music-hall, with its ball-rooms, as at Blackpool,
+its side-shows, a palm-garden, a roof-garden; to draw to the theater those
+who, on getting up from dinner, go to the cafe and stay there; to give
+them an atmosphere of mirth and jollity, of comforting lights, a sort of
+night forum, of People's Palace, with, in the middle, in the sumptuous
+hall, facing the furnace that was the stage, a long thrill of three hours'
+duration.
+
+And he would realize it next year, but he was in a hurry to open now, to
+plant his flag of victory:
+
+"_Faites vite! Depechez_!"
+
+Dare Devil had won the place for him and Jimmy was bringing him the
+sensational attraction, the inspired godsend which would pack the
+Astrarium for six months and fill its till and spread its name far and
+wide over Europe.
+
+Harrasford thought of this with a puff at his cigar, after glancing at the
+photographs on the wall, and then, suddenly:
+
+"Let's see the program."
+
+"Nothing but bill-toppers," said Jimmy. "Picked turns from the first to
+the last ..."
+
+"Which will be you," Harrasford broke in.
+
+"Yes ... I ... or somebody else ..."
+
+"What do you mean, somebody else?"
+
+"Perhaps," said Jimmy, "to heighten the effect of my turn ... for reasons
+which I'll explain to you ... perhaps it would be better to have a woman
+... better for the success of the attraction!" he hastened to add, at an
+astonished gesture of Harrasford's.
+
+"And ... are you sure?" asked the other.
+
+"I think so," said Jimmy.
+
+"The program first," said Harrasford, returning to his notes.
+
+"We open with a gallery in marble and gold, something showy and quaint, in
+the Potsdam style, with a negress inside."
+
+"I know. Light of Asia, eh? The armless Chinese girl whom I discovered at
+Poplar.... Music of cymbals and triangles, eh?"
+
+"No," said Jimmy. "I have something better ... more aesthetic, less cruel
+... a Soudanese woman from Chicago. She walks on to the stage in a
+low-necked dress ... a magnificent woman ... a creamy complexion, with a
+touch of pink ... and golden hair ..."
+
+"You said a negress," interrupted Harrasford.
+
+"Wait ... a splendid voice ... classical music ... then a wild African
+melody.... She feels a flutter of homesickness; the perspiration streams
+down her face; she presses the sponge soaked in water, hidden beneath her
+wig,--and the enamel, the white of the shoulders, the pink cheeks all
+trickle away and, finally she appears black as ebony, and, to the growl of
+the kettle-drums, does a disheveled dance, kicking up her legs like a
+puppet on a string ... Patti-Patty ... talent and absurdity mixed ... a
+crazy toy ... movement and noise, while the hall fills."
+
+"Next?" asked Harrasford.
+
+"Next, without any interval," continued Jimmy, "directly after that
+performance by the court fool before his majesty the audience, the curtain
+rises upon a park ... and the New Trickers chasing one another among the
+trees."
+
+"The New Trickers!" said Harrasford. "Bicyclists: that's very stale. And,
+besides, what about you?"
+
+"Has one ever," asked Jimmy, "seen a music-hall give two similar special
+turns, two bicycle turns, for instance, in the same show?"
+
+"Absurd!" said Harrasford. "Explain yourself."
+
+"It's to differentiate between my invention and trick-riding from the very
+first," replied Jimmy, "to show, once and for all, that mine has nothing
+in common with the ordinary turns you see on the stage: 'Bridging the
+Abyss' or 'Looping the Loop.'"
+
+"You may be right," said Harrasford, "it will prevent confusion; yours is
+purely scientific. And the New Trickers: tights? Bloomers?"
+
+"Skirts, all in white, Warwick style," said Jimmy. "A school-girls' spree:
+see-saw on the bike ... somersaults over the benches ... waltzes, lively
+tunes: an impression of gaiety and happiness. The star is a statue on a
+pedestal in the park. The others throw flowers to her. She wakes; steps
+down: 'Hullo, a bike!' And then a special tune for the star and a waltz on
+the back-wheel, amid the admiring circle of school-girls."
+
+"All right," said Harrasford. "And what's the price of the New Trickers?"
+
+"So much."
+
+And he jotted it down in his note-book, near the prices of Dare Devil and
+Cataplasm.
+
+Jimmy also took notes, mentioned the names of the great serio, the great
+comic singer, with their figures:
+
+"So much."
+
+"They earn their money pretty easily, those two!" grunted Harrasford. "But
+I've got to submit to it, I suppose. Next?"
+
+Jimmy only described the spectacular turns. Harrasford listened, saw it in
+his head: a corner of untamed nature, a valley in the mountains, blue
+distances, sunshine in the foreground. The Three Graces arrive all out of
+breath.
+
+"You understand," said Jimmy, "they are supposed to have been chasing the
+deer or hunting butterflies. As a matter of fact, Mr. Fuchs will have made
+them do their Sandow, before going on, to bring the blood to their cheeks;
+he's full of ideas, is Mr. Fuchs. On arriving, a moment's rest, an
+adorable group in all the splendor of the nude ... sweet, solemn music ...
+and then a glorious performance, a sort of human cluster hanging from the
+trapezes, something healthy and robust."
+
+"All right," said Harrasford, putting a cross in his note-book opposite
+the Three Graces. "And next?"
+
+With Harrasford it was always "And next?" like a man who never has more
+than just so many minutes to spare, because his train's waiting.
+
+It was a curious sight to see the two talking together in low voices, with
+an occasional glance at the door when some indiscreet person looked in.
+They might have been taken for a pair of conspirators plotting a move; no
+one would ever have suspected that they were composing a performance,
+unique of its sort, which would be famous to-morrow. Everything was
+provided for: scenery, music, the color of the dresses, effects of light,
+the alternate doses of laughter or grace or terror to be served up to the
+audience; everything was discussed then and there, in all its details,
+down to those two sketch-comedians, with faces streaked red and white,
+against a back-drop representing an old English street, two drunken
+sports, with hats mashed in, coats turned inside out, ten minutes of mad
+tricks and inhuman cries; for the audience must have its pittance of the
+grotesque as well.
+
+There was a herd of comic elephants, five enormous animals in a Hindoo
+setting; and no master on the stage, no boss, no prof: they all obeyed a
+whistle blown in the wings. And, conducting the orchestra with an air of
+unspeakable gravity, a monkey, Mozart II., a caricature of an infant
+prodigy, made the huge brutes perform their evolutions, to the Soldiers'
+Chorus from _Faust_. Then, in his enthusiasm, Mozart sent his desk flying
+into the air, followed by his coat, his shoes, his conductor's baton, and
+ended by seizing his tail in his hand and beating time with that.
+
+"That dishes Orpheus and Mad-darewski," said Harrasford. "And next?"
+
+The _entr'acte_ came next, with portraits and biographies of the artistes
+distributed among the audience.
+
+"Yes, yes," said Harrasford, laughing. "Old English families ...
+clergymen's daughters...."
+
+"Learned all that with their governesses, as a surprise for their Pa and
+Ma!" continued Jimmy. "Mozart II., a favorite of the king of Lahore;
+Patti-Patty, a descendant of the Queen of Sheba: we've got to do it.
+There's no getting away from it."
+
+"We must hide the bruises," said Harrasford. "And next?"
+
+"Next, I hope to have the Bambinis: ten minutes of rosy mirth; real
+biographical babies, born with that in their blood, brother and sister,
+two marvels. I shall obtain permission for them to appear, though they're
+under the age; the old father is dying, the famous Martello."
+
+"We must engage them for my tour," said Harrasford.
+
+"If the old man doesn't die first; in that case, there's a brother who
+will come and claim them, it seems. They're a fortune, the two Bambinis,
+to whomever secures them."
+
+"One dress-coat more on the stage," said Harrasford. "And next?"
+
+"Topsy Turvy Tom."
+
+"Oh, yes, I know!" said Harrasford, laughing. "The fellow who used to wear
+leaden armlets to harden his muscles and smash Clifton's jaw."
+
+"That's the one," said Jimmy, laughing in his turn. "A threat of
+Clifton's, who said that he would 'make him dance the hornpipe on his
+hands, damn it!' suggested the idea of a turn to him, so they say. He set
+to work with superhuman energy--and now he is a bill-topper...."
+
+"Well done!" cried Harrasford, banging his fist on the table. "There's no
+country but old England can turn out bulldogs like that, lads who jump
+from the gutter to the top of the bill! That's what I call a man! And
+what's his turn like?"
+
+"A scene of his own: the front of a palace. A pink marble figure, naked
+down to the waist, supports a huge cornice. A thunder of big drums, a
+flash of lime-light and the palace splits from top to bottom. The figure
+staggers, falls on its hands and gives a stupendous acrobatic performance:
+somersaults on the hands; waltzing; treading the ball: the 'hornpipe, damn
+it!' And then Tom stands on his feet, all in shadow. A powerful ray of
+light is thrown upon him, and you see the muscles of the abdomen slowly
+moving, the pectoral muscles quivering, the deltoids leaping and starting,
+the biceps swelling; and, when he turns round, the rhomboids hollowing
+out, the muscles of the back rolling: the triumph of the human machine ...
+and of Tom."
+
+"And of will," said Harrasford. "How much?"
+
+"So much."
+
+"It's worth it. And next?"
+
+"Roofers, high-kickers: the Merry Wives. We begin with dancing and end
+with dancing. The puppets make their bow to the public before being put
+away in their boxes ... the curtain falls ... and good night!"
+
+"And then you come!"
+
+"Then I come," said Jimmy. "Or she."
+
+"Your invention," said Harrasford seriously, "is not a music-hall
+entertainment. It is, undoubtedly, the greatest of all scientific toys, a
+marvel of modern ingenuity. Do you really want a pair of tights on the top
+of that? And, first of all, where will you find the woman who will dare?"
+
+"That's the question, obviously," admitted Jimmy.
+
+Not that Jimmy must have been in love with Lily, to think of her! It had
+first just passed through his head, no more. But, on reflecting, it had
+appeared to him that, in the theater, the beauty of a Lily would add
+greatly to the success of his attraction. To work his invention in public
+was different from experimenting with it in his shed in London. It was
+leaving the laboratory to take its place in life; and it would be a
+triumph to see the daring trick succeed, every day, at the fixed hour,
+within a restricted compass; to see it go through the opening above; to
+see that machine worked by a young girl in whom one would have suspected
+neither the strength nor the nerve: it would make the public infer the
+excellence of the engine. Now Jimmy was possessed, above all, of
+scientific enthusiasm. His machine before everything; not his personal
+triumph, his machine. He dreamed of giving that added grace to his
+diagrams; and he considered that there was no disadvantage in allowing
+science to be introduced by youth and beauty. Moreover, Jimmy was a little
+heavy for an apparatus in which he had even suppressed the motor, in order
+to make it more easily manageable ... a lighter body would perhaps be
+better ... Lily, Lily was the ideal operator; but was she capable of it?
+Jimmy had confidence in her. Jimmy, certainly, did not allow sentiment to
+mix in his affairs; there was the weight of his responsibility to
+consider. But then there was also his meeting with Lily in the
+dressing-room passage. And he had understood her mental agony. He had seen
+the gleam in her eyes and so great a display of energy in her face that
+Jimmy had resolved to try her; and he would judge her much better by the
+way in which she should face death.
+
+That is what Jimmy explained to the manager, leaving a good deal untold,
+of course, and Harrasford retired behind the smoke of his cigar, listened,
+approved.
+
+"It's your affair, when all is said and done. All you want is success, I
+suppose? And will you arrange with her ... with your ... what did you say
+her name was?"
+
+"Lily."
+
+"There are so many Lilies; and, if somebody has to break his or her back,
+I had rather it was a Lily, one out of the bunch, than you."
+
+Lily, meanwhile, was loitering outside. Harrasford and Jimmy had no notion
+that the girl about whom they were talking was quite close to them,
+thinking of them. Lily had heard an artiste say that Harrasford was
+visiting the Astrarium. She had come in all haste, impelled by some vague
+hope. Chance would have it that she was still in Paris. Everything,
+besides, seemed to be keeping her there: an agent, the day after her
+interview with Jimmy, had advised her to stay a few days longer; there
+might be something important for her. Lily could not understand in what
+way; however, she had stayed, though she was almost without means of
+support. She began by trying to sell her jewels, the fifty-pound diamond,
+among others, which that lord had given her in England: the jeweler handed
+it back to her, saying that it might be worth eight francs! That meant
+destitution. And yet hope always returned to her in one way or another.
+She had even received three blue banknotes, three hundred francs, in an
+envelope! Her fortnight at the Bijou! No doubt about it, they were paying
+the artistes' salaries; perhaps the Federation had taken the matter up?
+Three hundred francs; not enough to pay Glass-Eye or to give to Jimmy, but
+just sufficient to settle her small debts, buy some new dresses and go to
+London to play the darky at Earl's Court. Oh, what a ridiculous come-down!
+And so, when she learned that Harrasford was at the Astrarium, she took
+her courage in both hands: she would see Harrasford. She would try the
+fascination of her smile upon him. She would be settled at once and for
+ever.... When she thought of the New Trickers, her blood seemed to stand
+still in her veins: the New Trickers at the Astrarium! And Jimmy, the mean
+cur, not to have got her that shop, when she had such a splendid idea:
+Lady Godiva on a bike! And a scene of her own: the front of Peeping Tom's
+club, with all the boys at the windows!
+
+Just then, Harrasford came out of the bar. She hurried up to him and
+introduced herself:
+
+"Miss Lily."
+
+"Which one?" said Harrasford. "Excuse me; no time now. See Jimmy, will
+you?"
+
+And he plunged into a cab and shouted an address to his driver.
+
+Lily stood stupefied, as she watched the cab disappear. This time it was
+finished, quite finished.... She gave a last glance at the Astrarium and
+sighed....
+
+"Lily!" It was Jimmy coming out and crossing the street. "Hullo, Lily!"
+
+She did not reply.
+
+"Listen, Lily," said Jimmy, gently and gravely. "You wanted to get there
+the other day, didn't you? You told me you would do anything for that."
+
+"To take the place of the New Trickers, yes!" exclaimed Lily. "I'd have
+risked my life!"
+
+"The New Trickers are there," said Jimmy, "and are going to remain. Listen
+to me, what I have to propose to you is very serious: it's something
+else."
+
+"What else? You know that's all I'm good for ... to go round and round ...
+you know it quite well!" cried Lily, her face drawn with impotent anger.
+"I know what you can do. Look here: would you like to be above the New
+Trickers? Would you like to top the bill? Are you ready to do everything
+for that?"
+
+"May God forgive you for mocking at me!"
+
+"Will you top the bill?" asked Jimmy again, in an accent that sent a
+thrill down her back. "Answer me: yes or no?"
+
+"Yes," cried Lily. "My life, everything, damn it!"
+
+
+
+
+AMONG THE STARS
+
+I
+
+
+Jimmy was greatly excited when Lily had given him her answer and he led
+her to the Astrarium. To understand his feelings fully, one would have to
+know his life since the evening when, at Whitcomb Mansions, he had looked
+Lily in the face and told her no. He realized then, from the emotion which
+he experienced, how great a place Lily had filled in his heart, the little
+passenger from New York to Liverpool; the girl who came to see him in his
+shop in Gresse Street; the Lily whom he dreamed of "helping out of that"
+when he saw her on the stage, from up in the fly-galleries; the one whom
+he had tried to take away from Trampy; the poor sick girl in Berlin; those
+Lilies whom he felt moving inside him, around him, like a breath of April;
+all those Lilies, he had broken with them all! Oh, it was hard! Lily
+should never, never know what courage he had needed to keep silent, he,
+the man she thought so cold, nor what a tempest ... oh, if she could only
+have seen into him! And then ... he had not met her again....
+
+He, after his engagement at the Hippodrome, went off to America; Lily
+traveled on her part. Also, he was a prey to his fixed idea, his great
+project, always: his ambition increased, the same longing for success
+which, formerly, in Gresse Street, had made him spend nights in study
+after days of toil, at the time when, under Lily's influence, his roaming
+thoughts built castles in the air, when he felt awakening within himself
+his racial instinct as an heroic seeker after profitable adventures.
+
+And his ambition took great strides forward, was not limited, as in
+Clifton's case, to upsetting the fat freaks or training New Zealanders to
+spin round and round. He dreamed of a useful life, based upon his own
+efforts. He wished to found his future upon a discovery of his own, which
+had long haunted him and which had ripened in Berlin, between his flights
+in "Bridging the Abyss," a thing at which he worked incessantly in
+Whitcomb Mansions; and, this time, the stage prowlers, should not steal
+his idea. To begin with, apart from a few pieces of technical advice which
+he received from a friend of his, an engineer, nobody knew about it; and
+Jimmy felt sure that, even when the apparatus was at work, he would not
+fall a victim to the confraternity who, ever on the watch for new tricks,
+study them, judge of the weak points, copy whatever suits them, including
+scenery and music, and, sometimes, succeed in earning more money than the
+inventor himself; he would have nothing to fear from the Trampies, the
+pirates, the plagiarists, those plagues of the profession. Certainly,
+there were great bill-toppers, creators of sensations who discovered new
+things--terrifying feats of gyroscopic balancing, or flights through
+space, based upon principles of ballistics, assisted by the spiral
+spring--daring risk-alls, nerve-shakers, purveyors of thrills, turning to
+intelligent account the seductive power which dangerous feats exercise
+upon the public. Jimmy knew all about that. He was not the only one; but,
+this time, it was a question of a scientific application which would,
+beyond a doubt, place him at the head of that pick of the music-hall. It
+would be pure science and patient calculation: an algebraical hippogriff,
+with pluck in the saddle.
+
+Jimmy's plans resulted from intuition rather than real knowledge; but
+learning has nothing to do with the creative spirit. Now Jimmy, although
+he was unaware of it, possessed the genius that invents; and his
+comparative ignorance did him no great harm: his imagination, unhampered
+by theories, was all the freer for it. Jimmy had the higher instinct of
+the born machinist, who is content to use a bit of string where a
+school-bred engineer will cram every manner of gear, chains, pulleys and
+windlasses. It is true that he was assisted in his research by many
+experiments already tried elsewhere; but he dreamed of something different
+and, in the calm of Whitcomb Mansions, had studied without respite.
+
+"Pooh!" he reflected. "All those sails, all that weight! Boxes heaped one
+on the top of the other--cubes to catch the air--a man sitting inert in a
+basket, with his hand on a lever and a crank: it's as though one tried to
+make a stuffed bird fly! And what becomes of the man in all that: the back
+push, the daring stroke? The man has got to be the backbone of the
+machine, with his quick balancings, his bendings, which are worth more
+than any wheelwork."
+
+And, always, his inventive imagination built on without respite, pulled
+down, built up again.
+
+His daily success at the Hippodrome did not divert him from the end he had
+in view. "Bridging the Abyss," for him, was but a means of making money,
+to enable him to climb higher. He thought of nothing but that: getting on,
+climbing higher; and this obsession of the future made him scorn or rather
+overlook the temptations of the stage. He would only have had to choose
+among the lot. All, down to the great Parisienne, would have jumped at a
+champagne supper with Jimmy, the famous bill-topper, the man who looked
+like the swells in the front boxes and who made such a "pile." But Jimmy
+knew all about that: he left the theater in the quietest way, took a glass
+of ale with the boys or girls at the Crown, had a light supper and went
+home. And sometimes a frenzy for work made him rush to his table, as
+though the band of the Hippodrome were shaking his nerves:
+
+"Get to work," he would growl, "get to work, cheesy brain!"
+
+"But, Pa, I can't!"
+
+"But you've got to, my little siree!" he insisted, with a flickering
+smile.
+
+And he read treatises, made diagrams; took up his compasses again ... or
+else stayed as he was, with his chin in his hand, plunged in his thoughts,
+his mind soaring above London.... He seemed to fly over the huge city,
+whose distant rumbling rose up to him, similar to the roar of the sea....
+Oh, he would succeed, he knew he would! And he felt within himself an
+increasing will of so tenacious a character that he could have swung it,
+so it seemed to him, like a battering-ram against the obstacle to be
+overcome and then:
+
+"Damn it!" he would growl, banging his fist on the table. "That thief in
+the night! What a sweet wife he got hold of! Poor Lily, to fall into such
+hands! Ah, yes, she would have done better to stay at home!"
+
+And Jimmy got to work again, to forget Lily; and he kept on thinking of
+her:
+
+"Damn that girl!"
+
+What on earth did he think of her for ... when he didn't love her, after
+all?
+
+Even during his triumphal tour of the Eastern and Western Trust, that
+Lily, whom he did not love, haunted his memory. At first, he hoped to
+forget her in his life of excessive activity. And he saw so many theaters,
+as many as Lily did in England: so many artistes, on so many stages ...
+faces whom he had already met in England: fair wigs, scarlet legs, boyish
+voices; "Roofers," "brothers" and "sisters," returning from London,
+Manchester, or Glasgow. He would have ended by seeing them all again in
+time. There were other Lilies shooting up, Lilies "that high," elbowed by
+every vice, petted by every hand, kissed by every pair of lips. His
+sympathy went out to them all; and Lily had lived amid all that; it was
+just her life. He found something to remind him of her at every turn, on
+those stages on which she had performed. He seemed to see her near him,
+with her light walk, in her little black dress, looking so nice in her
+"performing-dog" toque: the poor little silly thing, running away with
+that thief in the night and left alone now, quite alone, it appeared,
+among the "rotten lot." The thought drove him mad:
+
+"Damn that girl!" he said to himself. "I don't love her. Then why am I
+always thinking about her?"
+
+And he rushed into work, into danger, when he thought of that; risked
+terrible leaps in "Bridging the Abyss." He sometimes felt as though he
+were rushing toward oblivion, into the jaws of death! And his great
+project also nearly outweighed Lily's influence:
+
+"What are the leaps in 'Bridging the Abyss,'" he thought, "if not a
+fractional flight? If I had two flat surfaces, one on either side, and a
+motor behind me, it seems to me that I should continue to go upward; and
+the best rudder would be the man riding it, with his flexible body, his
+springy back: a live weight is less heavy than a dead weight. How many
+hundred volts does pluck stand for ... or skill ... or hatred ... or
+love?"
+
+By dint of composing his machine in his head and studying it on paper,
+Jimmy grew calmer. He thought less about Lily, or, at least, thought about
+her only in her interest, not his. For instance, in that little town in
+the West which was not on his tour, but in which Trampy had appeared,
+Jimmy tried to obtain information. He went out of his way in order to make
+inquiries. A marriage with Trampy Wheel-Pad? It was impossible to discover
+anything; and he would not be able to make Lily the magnificent present
+which he had dreamed of: her divorce from Trampy!
+
+And "Miss Lily," Miss Lily, always; he was not satisfied with thinking of
+her, he heard her name mentioned. Boys and girls who had seen Lily in
+England and whom the chances of travel brought across his path in America
+told him with many amplifications, of her outrageous adventures, her
+passion for flirting. She no longer did all her turn. She paid more
+attention to her dresses than to her performance. She was extravagant,
+traveled with her maid, put up at the big hotels. She received bouquets,
+my, as big as cabs, and invitations to supper and post-cards covered with
+x x x x! She had an autograph-book full of declarations of love.
+Motor-cars, furnished houses: she was offered everything. The son of a
+lord had ruined himself in jewelry for her, the impersonator was nearly
+off his head for love of her, gee, she did have a good time! She spent her
+life receiving chocolates and sweets and distributing her photograph as
+Lady Godiva, with her signature. Lily, according to them, laid waste every
+heart; men had left wife and children for her sake; her love affairs were
+going the round of the world, like her whippings. Lily was the thing; and
+game and mustard for Jim Crow.
+
+These tales left Jimmy very sad. He made allowances for professional
+exaggeration in matters of love as of smackings, but, nevertheless, there
+must be some truth in what they said, for it reached him from various
+sides. Oh, he pitied that dear little Lily from the bottom of his heart!
+The harm was done, the theater had spoiled the woman. This time, he felt
+that it was finished, between her and him.... He, no doubt--who could
+tell?--would continue his forward progress, and, one day, he would have a
+wife of his own, a woman without a past, and he would take his stand
+firmly on the earth, with a home and love; and Lily, soon, would be little
+more than a dead memory....
+
+Meanwhile, his brain, redoubling in vigor amid those stormy squalls, took
+in everything, seized everything in a wide sense, became steeped in life,
+rejected bitterness and retained enthusiasm. He heaped up personal
+observations which he noted every evening, enough to build the ideal
+music-hall one day. Harrasford, he knew, was cherishing that plan. Perhaps
+they would realize it together? And the retreat for the aged and the home
+of rest for the sick, and, in each capital or large town, a local
+artistes' home--like the Sailors' Home--a little corner of England,
+providing comfort for the man and protection for the girl. And his scheme,
+his scheme was ripe now, the bold stroke which would enable him to realize
+all the rest later. He felt the strength within him, if not to succeed, at
+least to dare everything: "Brass Heart," as he had been christened at
+'Frisco. He had served an apprenticeship to will-power: he had bruised his
+ribs with a vengeance in a fall at the Columbia Theater at Cincinnati; he
+had nearly split his skull at the Milwaukee Majestic; he had shed his
+blood at the Washington Orpheum; and he was going to risk more with his
+new invention. No matter, he had now but one idea, to return to England,
+in spite of magnificent offers from Australia.
+
+The moment he reached London, he set to work. And he fixed up the whole
+apparatus at his leisure, in the shed which he had kept, notwithstanding
+the expense: a sort of large hall in which he had already rehearsed his
+"Bridging the Abyss." Here, with a couple of confidential assistants who
+had traveled with him in America, he worked from morning till night,
+correcting, revising, improving, in the midst of stretched cords and nets.
+And then came his interview with Harrasford, his engagement at the
+Astrarium, his meeting with Lily, in the dressing-room passage....
+
+And it was untrue! What they had said about her was a lie! Lily had not
+fallen! Jimmy, merely at that moment's sight of her, would have sworn it
+in the face of the whole world: the tales about Lily, due probably to
+professional boasting on her own part,--were false! He knew it, because he
+had seen her magnificent anger and the flash from her chaste eyes. And he
+would give Lily that joy--he owed at least as much as that to his dead
+love--and he would see that it was all right. It would not be a question
+of:
+
+"Pa, I can't!"
+
+"But you've got to, my little lady!"
+
+She would have to dare of her own accord, with a will of adamant, and Lily
+would do it, Jimmy was sure of that. He had found the partner wanted for
+his success and he rejoiced to the bottom of his heart as he led Lily to
+the stage of the Astrarium.
+
+Lily, on the other hand, felt an anxiety which made her sides ache and her
+heart beat:
+
+"What on earth can it be?" she asked herself.
+
+But, whatever it was, she would do it if it cost her her skin! And Lily
+did not even take the stage oath, so sincere and spontaneous was her
+resolve.
+
+"I'll show you, Lily," said Jimmy, seeing her look at the hall and the
+opening in the ceiling as she passed. "It's a new trick."
+
+"Yes," said Lily, "new: it'll be like the last, they'll take it from you
+as soon as it's out. It's like me, the tricks which Pa invented and which
+the fat freaks cribbed from me. Tricks are always copied, you know they
+are," continued Lily, who trembled at the thought of seeing others beside
+herself topping the bill with that.
+
+"You needn't be afraid," said Jimmy, "they won't take this one from me;
+and yet I hope, in a few years' time, to see it all over the place."
+
+"You hope to have it taken from you in a few years only, eh? But why?"
+
+"For all the world to profit by it."
+
+"All the world on the back-wheel!" protested Lily, who was always thinking
+bikes. "Then what will become of the artistes?"
+
+"In a few years, Lily, people won't go about on wheels," said Jimmy
+jokingly.
+
+"What will they do then?"
+
+"They'll fly!"
+
+Lily would have burst out laughing, in other circumstances; but they had
+now reached the stage. The iron curtain was down. She looked round with
+scared eyes for something out of the common. Jimmy, after making sure that
+they were quite alone, walked up to the monster's cage, slid back the door
+...
+
+The aerobike, with wings wide open, seemed to loom out of the darkness.
+
+"My!" cried Lily. "It's a bird! So that was your brain-work in Berlin and
+in ... What is it?"
+
+It was, in any case, a strange creature, with two inclined planes, one on
+either side, that looked like wings; and, at the back, it showed a
+screw-propeller sticking up in the air, like a tail. The whole thing
+rested on two wheels.
+
+"And it's a bike, too! I knew it!" cried Lily, clapping her hands. "Well
+done, Jimmy! And do you want me to get up on it? Come along! Just wait
+till I take my hat off," she went on, drawing out the hat-pins from under
+her big feathers.
+
+"Not so fast!" said Jimmy, laughing. "Keep calm! We'll start next week.
+There are a good many little things to make sure of first; and then I must
+put up a cable in case of a fall."
+
+"I don't care a hang for a fall," cried Lily, immensely excited. "You'll
+soon see if I'm afraid!"
+
+"Be serious, Lily. Listen to me," replied Jimmy. "Yes, you will have to
+stand on the back-wheel, but not to ride round the stage. You will have to
+start up at full speed and then go up and up, straight up, into space and
+then shoot out through a hole which they are making in the roof."
+
+"Yes," said Lily, "I saw. . . . My, that makes a good distance! And, when
+I'm through the hole, what do I do up there? Go on...!"
+
+"I'll explain all that to you," said Jimmy.
+
+"Dive into the street, eh?" asked Lily, in her Spartan voice. "Well, I
+don't care! Anything! I'll do anything! And I'll show them," she added, to
+herself, "if you can do _that_ through your gentlemen friends!"
+
+But she calmed herself: after all, she was going to top the bill; have her
+name in all the papers, with her portrait; see the walls covered with her
+posters. What a revenge for her! That was enough, for the moment. She did
+not want to appear surprised before Jimmy. The right thing was to take it
+as something very natural, like a lady who is used to the best.
+
+Jimmy, meanwhile, was explaining his trick:
+
+"We shan't fly at once," he said. "We shall practise on the stand to learn
+how the handles work. Oh, you'll have to think of everything during the
+few seconds that the flight lasts! The machine isn't perfect, it's a first
+attempt, it can only be ridden by a professional and a very clever one.
+Look here," he continued, "it's the principle of the back-wheel; you'll
+have to keep your side-balance and front and back, but you'll do it, I'm
+sure. _I've_ done it."
+
+"What you can do, a man," Lily interrupted, "I can do too. One can do
+anything on the bike!"
+
+The machine which Jimmy explained to Lily in detail was a bike just like
+another, with a few differences in its general construction, bearing upon
+the services which it was expected to perform. The saddle, for instance,
+was made to slide backward and forward, so that the center of equilibrium
+could be shifted with a push of the rider's back. The stability of the
+apparatus did not depend upon that alone. The ascensional rudder or
+screw-propeller, which was able to impart a speed of thirty miles an hour
+to the machine, was in the extension of the horizontal bar of the frame.
+It was fitted to a long piece of bent steel, pinned below the saddle,
+which, running beside the frame, ended by forming a pedal, so that, with a
+pressure of the foot, the rider could move it downward, at will, within an
+arc of some ten degrees. This propeller, which was small in dimensions,
+but endowed with enormous speed, was, in its normal position,
+perpendicular to the frame. The pressure of the foot raised it to its
+highest point. In this position, the propeller turned at full speed and
+therefore tended to descend and, consequently, to point the front of the
+aerobike upward. When brought still lower, its ascensional force increased
+and the front of the aerobike pitched downward. These two extremes would
+obviously serve only in sudden movements. In reality, the rider's skill
+would consist in moving the propeller only very slightly, in order to
+maintain a horizontal flight. As for the machine itself, Jimmy had
+rejected the cumbersome system of cells, which he compared to boxes:
+
+"The shape of a fish for the ship, the shape of a bird for the
+flying-machine," he said.
+
+He stuck to that principle and therefore he had added two enormous wings,
+one on each side. He had first experimented with reduced models, shaped
+like a bird, sending them up anyhow, to see, and he had ended by
+constructing one which preserved its stability when gliding over the
+atmospheric layers. He had thus been led to construct wings with a
+slightly rounded surface whose coefficient of yield was nearly double that
+of wings with flat surfaces. The width of these wings was about five feet
+and their length about sixteen. They tapered a little, were drawn out in
+front and widened at the opposite end, so as to get a more powerful hold
+of the air. They were made of double-milled canvas, stretched on curved
+ash and fastened to the sections by aluminum stays riveted with copper and
+clenched. They were as light as they were stiff. These two wings pointed
+slightly upward in front, parallel to the machine, and were fastened to it
+in the middle by means of an axis below the saddle-pillar, which brought
+their axis to the center of gravity. Other ingenious and quite individual
+arrangements made the apparatus very manageable. The resistance of the
+air, combined with the propelling power of the screw, exercised all its
+force in vain: the wings remained stationary. Their lines were carefully
+studied to facilitate the flow of the air, on the principle of Langley's
+kite: and the two of them presented a carrying surface of forty-nine
+square feet.
+
+"It's not much," Jimmy explained to Lily, who listened attentively. "If I
+carried my motor," he said, "I should have a bigger surface. The machine
+ought then, theoretically speaking, to rise when it is going at a rate of
+thirty miles an hour; with a good back push the front-wheel would leave
+the ground and continue its course upward. But, on the stage, we have no
+room to acquire speed: we shall get it from an inclined plane, as at the
+start of 'Looping the Loop.' As for the side steering, the front wheel has
+spokes fitted with canvas and offers resistance to the air: it will steer
+the aerobike to left or right at a touch of the handle-bar, as in ordinary
+riding, and there you are, Lily."
+
+"My!" said Lily, bewildered by all this complicated apparatus. "Did you
+work it all out on paper? It's enough to drive one mad!"
+
+"When you're on it, Lily," said Jimmy, smiling, "you'll have to work also,
+_I_ promise you. But, with your talent, ... you'll manage better than I
+should. And to-morrow," he added, "I will give you something on account of
+your salary."
+
+"No, I have money," said Lily, very proudly and fearing lest she should
+wear out her luck by adding that to it, by being paid for doing
+nothing....
+
+Lily spent the whole week in a fever of expectation; she did not know
+where she was for joy. But she stifled that within herself. And it was
+owing to her talent, all owing to her talent! When people wanted a
+difficult trick done, they did not go to Daisy or the fat freaks, no, they
+came to little Lily! And it was settled, she wanted no more familiarity,
+now that she was going to top the bill at the Astrarium! A lady should be
+more reserved in her friendships: she would make herself very
+short-sighted, so short-sighted as to be almost blind, when she met the
+rotten lot! Resolved, that she would give up saying, "Damn it!" give up
+talking of smackings and using vulgar expressions:
+
+"Do you hear, Glass-Eye?" she said, calling her maid to witness. "You're
+to box my ears if you catch me at it again!"
+
+The thought of having to handle that delicate machine increased Lily's
+importance in her own eyes. She had noticed that Poland, apart from an
+inordinate love of champagne suppers, had very nice manners: Lily would
+profit by her example and become more refined; she would show Pa and Ma
+the kind of Lily they had lost and she would crush them with the amount of
+her salary! She would earn more by herself than the whole troupe. She
+would let them know it, even if she had to do the trick for nothing, for
+glory, to see her Ma beg her pardon on her knees! She had recovered all
+the pride of her eighteen years, all her freshness, in a day: the touch of
+bitterness about her lips had changed into a smile. It would have taken
+very little more to make her dance for joy. But she restrained herself,
+dared not believe in her happiness; and she was quite decided not to
+accept anything from Jimmy before earning it. It was bad enough to owe him
+that thousand marks. She made herself a nice practising dress and spent
+the morning in bed reading a novel of fashionable life, of which the
+heroine was called Lily, like herself! And she, too, would become a
+society-girl, just to show them, damn it! But, suddenly, catching herself
+at fault, she laughed and asked Glass-Eye for a box on the ear; and a
+desperate pillow-fight ensued, in which they indulged whole-heartedly,
+like two regular tom-boys who loved to wrestle and punch each other. And
+it put her in a good humor for the rest of the day. She went shopping
+through the windows, only bought herself a spray of roses to fasten to her
+bodice. She went to the Astrarium, walked in as though the place belonged
+to her, followed by her maid. She examined the works with the eye of an
+expert. Three days, three days more and she would begin to rehearse! Her
+legs were itching to commence!
+
+The alterations to the stage especially interested her. The door of the
+cage remained closed and Lily looked at the auditorium:
+
+"Is it possible, after all?" she thought.
+
+And she measured the distance with her eye. It seemed enormous to her, but
+never mind, she'd do it! And she grew wildly enthusiastic in the midst of
+all that activity, of a theater which was being rearranged for her: "For
+me, Glass-Eye! All of it for me! From here," she said, stamping her foot
+on the stage, "from here to right up there!" And she pointed to the hole
+in the sky. "All that on the bike! A somersault miles high!"
+
+[Illustration: OLD MARTELLO]
+
+Glass-Eye opened two terrified eyes, wondered if Lily was going mad....
+
+Glass-Eye had become dulled through constant obedience, had lost her
+memory, mixed up her yeses and noes, like those actors who forget their
+parts through playing them too frequently; her recent life had excited her
+too much, and never a sou in her pocket, only barely enough to eat ... it
+was ten times worse than in Rathbone Place.... And then that new crotchet
+of Lily's.
+
+"Can I fly, Glass-Eye, or can't I? Am I a bird or am I not?" It was enough
+to make Glass-Eye lose her head....
+
+Glass-Eye was obliged to answer yes ... and that very quickly. But she
+kept on trotting behind Lily, who, realizing that she would soon be taken
+up with her rehearsals, took advantage of her last days of liberty to pay
+visits and show herself a little, accompanied by her maid, like the fine
+lady that she was. She went and took the Bambinis some candies. Poor kids!
+Their games and laughter no longer filled the hotel with mirth and gaiety:
+old Martello was getting worse and worse and was now not able to leave his
+room at all. Lily found a kind word for everybody and was grieved at not
+having any money, which would have allowed her to be generous. That would
+come later. She worked out a scheme for occupying herself with the
+children when the old man was gone, for having them always with her, like
+two dear little lucky charms. It was impossible, of course: never mind, it
+was the idea of a lady, which she would not have had in the old days, and
+Lily was pleased with herself for having entertained it.
+
+"I will speak about you to Jimmy," she said to the Bambinis. "I'll get you
+engaged at the Astrarium, eh?"
+
+And the old man trembled with delight, stammered out his thanks, tried to
+accompany her to the door, like a princess; and the little boy, to thank
+her, promised to teach her a way of standing on your head which he had
+learned all by himself!
+
+"Poor darlings!" thought Lily, as she left them. "If ever they fall into
+their brother's hands! They would be better dead! Luckily for them, he has
+disappeared for good; and his Ave Maria with him, unluckily for me!"
+
+For Lily understood how badly her position as a lady went with that name
+of Mrs. Trampy. It was like dragging a tin kettle at her skirts, to make
+the people in the street turn round and look at her.
+
+And, more than ever before, Trampy posed as a faithful husband. Nothing
+sufficed to take down his arrogance. Always the same old Trampy: great, by
+Jove! And, with his red lips, his glittering eye and the cigar stuck in
+the corner of his mouth, he made love to second-rate "sisters," inferior
+Roofers in red calico skirts. His glamorous title as the bill-topper's
+husband still won him a few conquests. And Trampy, especially since
+Jimmy's return, plumed himself more and more on the fact that he was the
+husband of his dear little wife!
+
+Lily knew all this and it made her fume with rage at heart; but she showed
+nothing, pretended, on the contrary, to treat it as a little matter of no
+account. For instance, after her visit to the Bambinis, as she passed an
+artistes' bar, quite close, there stood Trampy, lording it on the
+pavement, among a lot of unemployed pros. Lily made herself short-sighted
+to the point of absolute blindness. Trampy caught her, as she passed, with
+a:
+
+"Hullo, Lily! Hullo, my dear little wife!"
+
+But Lily behaved like a real fine lady who knows how to put people in
+their place without calling them names:
+
+"Hullo, Mr. Trampy!" she replied, in a sarcastic tone. "Still got your
+red-hot stove, Mr. Trampy? Still a success with the girls? Kind regards,
+Mr. Trampy!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+But Lily was grandest of all at the rehearsals. She was now no longer a
+lady: she once more became the Spartan, bare-necked, her hair undone, her
+body streaming with perspiration, and to work, to work, to make up for
+lost time! In the mornings, alone on the deserted stage, she practised and
+practised....
+
+"Come on!" said Jimmy. "And mind you do your work properly," he added,
+with a laugh, "or else, you know ..."
+
+And he patted the back of his hand.
+
+"I don't care!" said Lily.
+
+"You may break your head, you know," continued Jimmy, to try her.
+
+"It's none of your damned business if I do! Show me your tricks. To
+work!"
+
+And Jimmy showed her a movement to execute on her bike, which she had
+brought with her: balancings, as in "Bridging the Abyss," an excellent
+training for the aerobike. And Lily went about it clear-eyed,
+hard-cheeked, with all the little muscles contracted on her stubborn
+forehead, ready to butt at the obstacle. A few falls to begin with, but
+she jumped up again nimbly:
+
+"That's all right!" she said. "It's part of the game!"
+
+"But stop, stop," insisted Jimmy. "Be careful!"
+
+They were sometimes on the stage for hours at a time, but to Lily, all
+wrapped in her work, it seemed so many minutes. She understood the jerk
+which she was to give at the moment when, after rolling along the inclined
+plane, she should shoot out into space for the soaring flight of fifty
+yards:
+
+"The start, that's the great thing with the back-wheel," she observed.
+"The rest goes of itself."
+
+"Don't cry till you're out of the wood!" said Jimmy. "It'll be different
+when you're riding the aerobike."
+
+Lily was longing to begin that famous practice! And, a few days later, she
+at last had that delight, took that further step toward triumph. Jimmy
+removed the bird from the cage, fixed it on a stand. When Lily sat in the
+saddle, she was crimson with pleasure, prouder than a princess sitting on
+a throne for the first time:
+
+"There," she said. "Here I am! And what next?"
+
+Jimmy explained the complicated touches--"Press your left foot, there,
+like that, to make it point upward"--and showed how, explained why; then
+he passed to the working of the handle-bar--"There, like that, to turn it,
+there"--and how and why the saddle slipped backward and forward.
+
+"And then?"
+
+"That's all."
+
+"That's all?" repeated Lily. "That won't want any smackings! Let's see,
+like this, eh? Then that. Suppose I'm coming down at full speed. I throw
+myself backward, a back push, there, like that. A kick, gently, there,
+that's it. I'll do it as soon as you like! This minute, if necessary!"
+
+But Jimmy, without replying to these sallies, proceeded methodically. He
+made her practise again, standing still, with the motor going at
+half-speed. This was a different impulse: the displacement of the air
+raised a stormy wind, the dust flew, the scenery hanging from the flies
+waved to and fro and Lily shook in her saddle under the vibration of the
+propeller.
+
+"Well, Lily?" said Jimmy. "That shakes you up, eh? That complicates
+matters?"
+
+"Pooh!" said Lily. "And what about the boards? There are some of them that
+are pretty rough, too! At Pittsburg, you know, it's like riding over
+cobblestones. I prefer that to a stage that's too smooth: it's less
+treacherous."
+
+A few days later, Jimmy ran up a steel cable from the stage to the opening
+in the ceiling, which was now finished and covered with a tarpaulin; and
+Lily was to try the flying. At the time for practice, there was no one in
+the theater, from which the scaffoldings had been removed. There were no
+seats on the floor or in the boxes: everything was being made outside, and
+would be put in place in a day or two. In the afternoon, when there was no
+practice, the house was filled with workmen, painters, upholsterers,
+carpenters, whose places were taken by others at night, working by
+electric light. Ten days more and they would have the triumphal opening;
+already Paris was covered with picture placards: you saw Tom, as a
+caryatid, supporting the weight of a palace; the Three Graces entwined in
+their radiant nudity; the impersonator standing, like a Don Juan,
+surrounded by a bevy of women: the ballet-girl, the shop-girl, the fine
+lady; then, besides those, the New Trickers--"My idea!" thought Lily, but
+she didn't care a jot now--the New Trickers fluttered round Daisy. You saw
+the elephants; the monkey; Patti-Patty, the white negress; all, all, down
+to the Bambinis, whom Lily had "got" engaged. The whole program was
+reverberated on the walls and hoardings, like a thousand-voiced echo. An
+even larger poster than the others, all blue, strewn with stars, displayed
+the aerobike in full flight in the sky; and a human figure, seated upon
+it, lifted a hand filled with rays.
+
+The mere sight of the posters was enough to stimulate Lily to the maddest
+feats of daring. She felt herself firmer than steel, when she thought of
+the New Trickers and of Pa and Ma, who were coming with Daisy, their
+farthing dip!
+
+When everything was ready, Jimmy hung the aerobike to the steel cable by
+two ropes, ten feet long, ending in pulleys which ran along the cable.
+Each of these two ropes was looped up and the loop secured with thin
+twine: this was an infallible way of ascertaining if the aerobike weighed
+down upon them or if it was supporting itself in the air; the two cords
+acted as a spring balance registering the tension in the rope. Should the
+twine break, because the aerobike rested on the ropes, then the ropes
+would unloop and the machine remain hanging without any danger for Lily.
+This was the way in which Jimmy had worked when learning "his trade as a
+bird," as he called it; and Lily, he had no doubt, would succeed even
+better than he did, being more supple, lighter and quite as plucky.
+
+Oh, the rapture with which Lily bestrode the aerobike for the first
+flight!
+
+Jimmy and two confidential assistants hauled up the machine to the top of
+the inclined plane that gave it its impetus. Jimmy spent an endless time
+in verifying and testing everything. The electric wire that set the
+propeller in motion also caused him uneasiness. It had to unroll behind
+and follow the aerobike without weighing upon it, without retarding its
+flight; for the machine, which was necessarily a small one, to be able to
+move within a confined space, did not carry the additional load of a
+motor, but only a wire, as wireless transmission of power was not yet
+available. At last, when everything was provided for, Jimmy allowed Lily
+to make her trial. He trembled; not that she ran any danger, for a fall
+was impossible: the machine was stopped, up above, automatically, by a
+cable stretched crosswise and fastened to a strong spring, which slowed
+and stayed the flight within the space of a few yards. But if the two
+pieces of twine broke suddenly and if this happened several times in
+succession, the shocks might come to frighten Lily, for all her
+self-control.
+
+And Jimmy went on explaining.
+
+"I know," said Lily. "I quite understand. It's like this, like this, yes,
+I know. It's only a matter of trying! It's a trick I've got to do and
+that's all about it! Daisy would kill herself on it and so would the fat
+freaks, but I shan't! I shall succeed."
+
+"Well, then, steady!" cried Jimmy, and his voice rang through the empty
+theater. "Go!"
+
+The machine ran down with a swoop, the propeller whirred, Lily gave a
+magnificent back push, when she reached the bottom of the inclined plane;
+then she went straight up and the two pieces of twine snapped in two. Lily
+found herself hanging fifty feet in the air, the two pulleys glided slowly
+backward toward the stage. Jimmy stopped the machine.
+
+"That's wrong!" cried Lily. "Let's try again. I see what it was: I forgot
+to push down my foot to point the machine up. It was a slip."
+
+However, at the next attempt, it went better. The twine broke each time,
+but Lily rectified her movements:
+
+"It's my back push! It's the propeller! It's the front-wheel!"
+
+And, in fact, that was what it was. Jimmy and his assistants, who followed
+her with their eyes, had noted the fault and Lily, too, had observed it,
+in spite of the giddy flight. She was extraordinarily plucky and cool, her
+eight stone of flesh and bone, unerring and exact, seemed made for the
+aerobike.
+
+"Bravo, Lily! Hurrah!" cried Jimmy.
+
+She could have screamed for joy in the street, as she went out.
+
+Her unparalleled stroke of luck in being chosen tickled her heart. She
+felt her sense of responsibility increase and also her wish to do well; no
+sooner had she left off practising than she was seized with but one idea,
+to begin again:
+
+"Eight days more!" she thought.
+
+At night, she dreamed of backward jerks, of turning the handle-bar,
+pushing the pedal. Poor Glass-Eye, cowering in a corner of the bed, had
+terrible nightmares, and, in the morning, after Lily's kicks, she rose
+with her ribs smarting and her shins all black and blue. That was all her
+profit, for Lily had hardly any money left and was not yet drawing a
+salary.
+
+Lily submitted to all sorts of privation with a proud dignity. She would
+be beholden to nobody. Soon her whole fortune would consist of her box of
+lucky halfpence and a franc which she had won by turning a cartwheel, for
+a bet, among artistes, in the country, to stagger the jossers. And so
+their little evening meal was a scanty one. A sausage, a little fruit, a
+cup of tea ... and then to bed. That was better than listening to the
+owner of the Hours and all those men who propose things to you. Never,
+never! Her work, her work! Lord, after what she had seen of Poland and the
+Hours, it was much simpler to work, to be self-reliant. At night,
+sometimes, Lily would lie awake and think ... where did that three hundred
+francs of the Bijou come from? Not from the Bijou: Cataplasm's defeat had
+swallowed up everything and the theater had long been without a penny;
+they used to fill the house with paper distributed among the staff, with
+orders to get rid of it anyhow. They were not far short of inviting
+soldiers from the barracks. There had never been more than two hundred
+seats paid for of an evening; it meant flat bankruptcy. And she was the
+only one who had received anything: why? How? Then it must have been some
+admirer, but who? Not the architect, surely, that josser! Who then? And
+why had Jimmy engaged the Bambinis, when she asked him to? He did
+everything to please her. He was letting her top the bill: why? She made a
+heap of guesses, without getting at the exact truth ... Jimmy ... Jimmy
+... that man, with his coldness, interested her. While so many others were
+prowling around her, he alone seemed indifferent. She would have liked to
+see him in love with her ... to make him suffer a little in his turn! All
+the beauty-shows which Lily had seen, all the exhibitions of painted Hours
+had not spoiled her good taste: Jimmy pleased her, with that strong face
+of his. What an endless pity that she had married Trampy! She gave a
+scornful pout when she thought of it: she married to Trampy! Married to
+that soaker: she, a woman made for a man, a creature of flesh and blood,
+who admired fine muscles, rough sport and virile smackings! Gee, if she
+had been a man, it seemed to her that she would have enjoyed spoiling a
+little Lily: outside working hours, of course! And, if a little Lily had
+asked her, "Do you love me, yes or no?" she would never have answered no.
+To-day, she would have bitten off her own tongue rather than put that
+question to Jimmy! And yet Jimmy had a dignity about him that pleased her.
+She could see into the game of the others. The architect, for instance,
+would give her just a smile in passing, a pleasant word, as one performs a
+social duty, between two pieces of business. A little amusement, no more:
+that was all she was to him ... and to all of them. Jimmy seemed
+different. But, still, if he loved her, why hadn't he the courage to tell
+her so? And, besides, when all was said, she was sick and tired of men!
+Some of them ran after you like dogs; others, damn it, were icicles! A
+girl could have Marjutti's figure, Thea's arms, Nancy's legs, Lillian's or
+Laurence's face ... and still they would not be satisfied! And thereupon
+Lily pursed her brows, asked herself how and why and went to sleep like a
+baby.
+
+And the rehearsals continued every day, without respite. Lily became
+terrible the nearer she drew to success: her indomitable spirit mounted to
+her heart. Jimmy had difficulty in holding her in. She made twenty
+flights, thirty flights ... and the twine no longer broke. From that
+moment, she was sure of succeeding, always. When you have once succeeded,
+even if it be but once, you have no right ever to fail again. She had been
+brought up in those principles, had had them rubbed into her skin. She
+could not fail now, it was impossible! Even in her flight to the opening
+up above! She had learned her "times," she knew how to aim exactly at the
+right spot. Jimmy hastened to have the roof arranged for the final exit,
+when the aerobike would disappear before the eyes of the audience, in the
+star-strewn sky. All that remained was to get everything ready for the
+final rehearsal: the complete show, with all lights lit, as for a gala
+night. Lily seemed to see it all beforehand. On the day when she realized
+that no accident was possible, that it was a trick of which she was
+certain, she stifled a cry of triumph in her throat. She was afraid to
+believe in it herself, so greatly did it surpass her dreams. She would
+have stayed for days on the aerobike to experience the delight of the leap
+into space. It seemed to her as though she were becoming a bird and about
+to hover in mid-air and leave them all behind her, in the crowd below ...
+all, all ... and be a little Lily, flying away on the back-wheel before
+their noses.
+
+"You'll make yourself ill," said Jimmy. "Take a rest; there's no need to
+tire yourself; you do it as well as I."
+
+For Jimmy, of course, had done the thing too, if only to show Lily;
+besides, it was easy for him, who had had so much practice in London and
+who knew his machine from end to end. And he appreciated the difficulty
+all the more. He admired Lily's incredible pluck, her all-devouring
+ambition and that splendid determination to get out of her scrape, to be a
+little Lily earning her bread as she knew how, by her work, even if she
+had to break her neck in the doing of it! And proud to her finger-tips, in
+spite of the dog's life she had led.
+
+"If I had not procured her this delight," thought Jimmy, "I should never
+have forgiven myself to the end of my days."
+
+And, from working with her for hours and hours, from holding her by the
+waist at the first trials, from feeling that little body quiver under his
+hand, from seeing Lily rush at danger, Jimmy became madly in love with her
+again ... if he had ever ceased to be so! Ah, if Trampy...! But Lily was
+married ... the divorce depended on the husband ... and the husband
+wouldn't have it ... at any price: not for a million, he said, by Jove,
+would he be separated from a little wife whom he adored!
+
+"Poor Lily!" thought Jimmy sadly. "Will she always be doomed to drag that
+dead weight about with her?"
+
+During the intervals for rest, while Lily wiped the perspiration from her
+forehead, Jimmy talked to her ... at first, of insignificant things ...
+the name "Astrarium," for instance ... a place devoted to planets, to
+stars: as a palmarium is to palms. Stars ... that was to say,
+bill-toppers: the Three Graces; the Laurences; the Lillians; the
+Marjuttis; the Lilies ... yes, the Lilies! Then he pitied her for
+belonging to Trampy; and what a good little Lily she would have been if
+she had remained with her family!
+
+"But I _am_ a good little Lily!" she said, with a display of childish
+vehemence. "What more do you want? We artistes do what we jolly well
+please, and we don't care a damn for the rest!" And she had half a mind to
+tell him that it was all his fault! "I had to do a silly thing and I did
+it," she continued, with an expression of regret on her face. "I married
+without love, but lovers, my! I've had, I may say, as many as I wanted ...
+from the son of a lord down."
+
+And Lily, to excite him, told him the long array of her love affairs, as
+it was told everywhere, on the Bill and Boom Tour, on the Harrasford, on
+the Eastern and Western Tours, like the whippings and the rest.
+
+"Yes, I know," replied Jimmy, very coldly.
+
+"What, you don't believe me!" exclaimed Lily. "There were men who would
+have left wife and child for me! ... heaps of lovers, tons of them!"
+
+"My poor Lily, having so many is the same as having none at all," added
+Jimmy dreamily.
+
+But still he did not declare his love: besides, he had constantly to leave
+her, to go and give orders, or climb up on the roof, or look at the
+heating-apparatus, below.
+
+Lily watched him go, followed him with a sphinx-like glance, while a vague
+smile flickered about her lips....
+
+But she hardly had time to think of all this: the assistants replaced the
+bird in its cage, locked the door, opened that leading to the
+dressing-room passage and the artistes arrived and took up their places on
+their carpets.
+
+Lily had seen it a hundred times, a thousand times, "millions of times!"
+She never wearied of it. She spent the day there, among the groups of
+bloomers: the Three Graces, bare-armed, went to work, practised the human
+cluster; Nunkie kept an eye on his dear nieces and rehearsed the Bambinis,
+now that old Martello was keeping his room for good. Lily, who was almost
+reduced to eating dry bread, but who remained the fine lady nevertheless,
+brought them bags of sweets. Calmed by her work, she sat down in a corner,
+laughed, her head thrown back, full-throated, applauded the others with
+her thumbnail, shook hands with new-comers, made herself liked by all. And
+it was:
+
+"Hullo, girls! Hullo, boys! Dear old Blackpool! What's the news at the
+Palace? Who's topping the bill at the Hippodrome?"
+
+Lily, on her rickety chair, made as it were a little center at which the
+news was exchanged; to think that, instead of being there, at the top of
+the profession, she might have been at Glasgow, some twopenny theater,
+where ladies are admitted without shoes or stockings, or playing the darky
+at Earl's Court! Yes, but for Jimmy, that's where she would have been! Or
+else the Parisienne, in Russia! She, an English girl, my! And Lily
+fervently touched her lucky charm: oh, work, work, thank goodness for it!
+And Lily rendered homage to work and sprang from her chair to shake hands
+with Tom, who had come to see his palace unpacked:
+
+"Good morning, Tom! Welcome!"
+
+This Tom, who now topped the bill everywhere and had a permanent address
+and his own scenery: wasn't it wonderful? He was no longer her Pa's old
+servant: genius removes all distances; a man is what he makes himself! And
+they shook hands warmly, like equals.
+
+Lily, as a sensational bill-topper and a friend of Jimmy's, was always in
+great request. She talked nicely, without pose of any kind, like a woman
+who is sure of herself and knows things. The Astrarium ... the Astrarium
+... what did that mean? They asked Lily:
+
+"It's like ... a palmarium," she explained, "with sunflowers in it, all
+sorts of things ... girls ... stars ..."
+
+She described her journeys, storms, gee! Weren't there, Glass-Eye? People
+who had never been outside Europe and the States had no idea! Lily talked
+of India, Africa, Australia; talked of lions, which stand on their
+hind-legs when they're angry, and tigers, which lie down flat; mentioned
+stage friendships between elephants and camels and herself in the midst of
+it all: "That high!" lowering her hand to six inches from the floor;
+talked of animal-training: dogs, cats, sea-lions and that "great, big,
+wicked Australian rabbit" which boxed like a man. She was a well-informed
+person, was Lily. And a providence for her family also, to listen to her.
+When any one brought news of her Pa and the New Trickers, with Daisy as a
+statue on her pedestal, one of the successes of the year:
+
+"Yes," Lily replied, in a patronizing tone, "I know. It was my idea. I
+gave it to them!"
+
+They thought it very nice of her. She listened with great dignity to what
+they said about the New Trickers. They would not be at the Astrarium on
+the opening night. They were finishing an engagement on the Bill and Boom
+that same evening. They would be in Paris the next day. Mr. Clifton was
+reckoning on this appearance for the final triumph of his troupe ... and
+he deserved it. What a man, Mr. Clifton, what a man! "Not easy to please,
+eh, Lily?" And the inevitable gesture followed. But Lily would have none
+of that now, she would not hear her Pa spoken of as a brute! Did they take
+her for a performing dog? One was born with the gift or else one remained
+all one's life a Daisy or a fat freak! She was proud to have a Pa like
+hers. She wasn't a mountebank picked up on the road! Lily had a Pa and a
+Ma: a Ma of her own, a Ma whom she was certain about. She bore a
+well-known name. She belonged to the "father and son" aristocracy of the
+music-hall. She had never needed "that" to make her practice, she an
+artiste, brought up like a lady:
+
+"Wasn't I, Glass-Eye? Tom, wasn't I?"
+
+And the jewelry and the sweets her Pa bought her, my! Tons of it! Of
+course, he would stand no nonsense about behavior; and Lily made them all
+laugh till the tears came about that footy rotter who made love to her in
+London, before the time when drink made him look so disgusting, and, when
+she loitered in the street with him, Pa, the moment she reached the door,
+caught her such a blow that she took all the steps to the basement at one
+jump; and there found her Ma waiting for her ... gee!
+
+"And they were quite right, too! And ... do they know that I'm going to
+top the bill at the Astrarium?" she asked.
+
+"No, they think you're in Spain or somewhere."
+
+"Somewhere!" said Lily to herself, with a thrill at her heart. "I'll show
+them!"
+
+She choked with joy at the idea of the startled look on the faces of Pa
+and Ma when they saw her on the aerobike. An exuberant gladness filled her
+heart. And that feverish work, those laborers everywhere, the opening in
+the roof, the terrace up above, those posters all over Paris and there,
+behind the iron door, in the dark, the bird! It was all for her: a theater
+for herself! And she felt a need to leap, to laugh, to spread gaiety all
+around her; and she rushed about madly with the Bambinis, romped with them
+behind the pillars, rolled with them on the floor of her dressing-room,
+became once again the Lily who had played truant all around the world,
+inventing practical jokes in India and climbing apple-trees in Honolulu.
+She crossed the combs and tooth-brushes on the Roofer girls' tables,
+rushed into their room when they were undressed, drove the trembling herd
+of them distracted, talked of the thousand dangers that awaited them if
+they didn't mend their ways, made them fly to their lucky charms to ward
+off ill-luck, when she offered them a yellow flower, with great pomp, or
+some broken glass in a jewel-box. Then she talked to the Three Graces,
+those big girls who always astonished her with their cloistered
+existence--Nunkie before everything--and who amused themselves by
+measuring one another round the biceps, round the chest, or else, with
+their elbows on the table, played at who should first bend back the
+other's wrist. Lily sat down for a moment with them, then stopped,
+breathless with larking and talking, and went back to her dressing-room:
+
+"I shall have months to spend in here!" she thought.
+
+[Illustration: LILY'S GOLLYWOG]
+
+And, assisted by Glass-Eye, she pinned up bits of stuff, tied a silk bow
+to the back of the chair, put up nails for her costumes, laid out on her
+table long rows of post-cards, photographs of friends, all dispersed to
+the four quarters of the globe, some dead, others done for, all the poor
+witnesses of her life. Then she took her black gollywog from her trunk and
+kissed it passionately--"Darling! Darling! Darling!"--before hanging it up
+on the wall. And along the dressing-room passage and through the window
+came the sound of voices ... snatches of homesick tunes: _From Rangoon to
+Mandalay_ or _Way down upon the Suwanee River_ ... and "Hullo, Lily!
+Hullo, old boy!"... The female-impersonator walked into her room as though
+it were his own, sat down on the basket trunk, plunging his green eyes
+into hers.
+
+And sometimes Jimmy passed, always at a run: something had gone wrong
+somewhere, the heating apparatus, the electric light....
+
+"Hullo, Lily!" And he stopped for a moment, frowned at the sight of the
+impersonator. "Always busy?" he asked, seeing Lily, bare-armed, washing
+something in her basin.
+
+"Have to be," said Lily. "I always wash my little blouses; we do
+everything ourselves, don't we, Glass-Eye? And, when I'm performing, I
+have two pairs of tights to wash a day!"
+
+"Two pairs of tights!"
+
+"Why, of course, matinee and night! You have no idea, Jimmy ... the nickel
+... when I sit on the handle-bar, it makes a great mark ... just here,
+look!"
+
+And she laughed at Jimmy over her shoulder while she pointed to the place
+... and then blushed, like a frolicsome child that has been found out and
+is, oh, so sorry!
+
+"Every one's got to keep to his own dressing-room!" said Jimmy, feeling
+very uncomfortable, to the man with the green eyes. "You can't stay here;
+it's against the rules!"
+
+"We're doing no harm, please, Mr. Jimmy," retorted Lily, sitting down
+beside the impersonator and slipping her arm round his waist.
+
+"Poor Jimmy!" said the impersonator, when the other had left the room in a
+rage. "He's jealous, isn't he, darling?"
+
+"He jealous? Then why doesn't he say so? One can't guess a thing like
+that! When you're a man, you speak out!"
+
+And the architect appeared in his turn, he, too, running from one end of
+the theater to the other. He wore a bandage over one eye:
+
+"Knocked up against a beam ... a little accident. Have you seen Jimmy?"
+
+"He's over there, I think," replied Lily, without troubling to look at
+him.
+
+There was no jealousy about the architect. He stayed for a moment, sniffed
+at the scent-bottle, smiled at the photographs on the wall. A green-eyed
+impersonator, a blue-eyed impersonator: the room could have been full of
+impersonators, for all he cared. Dark girls, yellow girls, fair girls, so
+many playthings to distract him from his rules and compasses. He was bored
+at once; turned to another at once; and it was all so amusing! He was the
+typical lover of the woman of the stage, with his little surface passions.
+And very amiable withal, knowing them all, and friendly with them, a great
+purveyor of anecdotes:
+
+"The Para-Paras, you know, Lily, committed suicide in their room ... awful
+poverty. The wife wasn't ... Tottie enough ... and the husband was
+teaching the English accent to continental clowns! Poland? A magnificent
+engagement in Russia. Old Martello hasn't three days to live. Oh ... and
+Nunkie! There's news among the Three Graces! The troupe's done for this
+time!"
+
+And he told how, last night, poor Thea, while mending her uncle's
+overcoat, found in the lining an old letter from America ... from some
+swain she had had over there ... a letter glowing with love and regret.
+Yes, Nunkie knew how to hold his nieces, the architect explained, laughing
+... watched them like a Spanish duenna, confiscated the letters that came
+for them, if necessary, the old rogue, and calmed their ardors with a few
+drops of bromide in a glass of water, every evening, on the pretense of
+keeping them from catching cold in the drafts. Oh, the old rogue! And Thea
+had almost fainted with grief in her dressing-room when she read the
+letter.
+
+"Quite a business, Lily! A scandal in their little home! Very funny, eh?"
+he added, as he ogled Lily's pigeon's eggs and rolled a cigarette.
+
+Lily, who had seen poor Thea cry before and who knew to what extent her
+lover's treachery had humiliated her, was secretly furious to hear that
+josser talk carelessly of things like that: did he imagine, the idiot,
+that they weren't built like other people, in the profession, that they
+had no feelings? What need had the public to know about their lives? It
+was among themselves, quite among themselves, all that!
+
+"Get out of my sight, you damned josser!" said Lily. "Go and eat coke!"
+
+But the other, greatly amused, described his latest discovery, a pearl, in
+an out-of-the-way neighborhood ... at Vaugirard fair ... an extraordinary
+girl, showing off on a couple of trestles in front of a canvas booth, in
+which her man lifted weights to the light of the Argand burners:
+
+"Picture this girl, Lily," said the enthusiastic josser, "picture this
+girl on her trestles, doing weights, balancings, all sorts of things. A
+body like a boy's, all muscle, and thin: whew! Not _that_ much fat on her,
+no hips, arms and shoulders, like Michael Angelo's flayed model. And I
+talked to her afterward! And her man gave me a queer look you know ... I
+got a blow...."
+
+"Well done!" cried Lily, clapping her hands. "The beam, eh? That'll teach
+you to meddle in other people's business! Oh, you don't know those
+tenters! One of these days you'll be picked up with your face smashed in,
+or shot through the chest with a revolver."
+
+"I say, though," the architect interrupted, "that girl ... I don't know
+how we came to speak of you ... she knows you, Lily!"
+
+"That's right! Now I have mountebanks among my acquaintances!" said Lily,
+with an air of disgust. "Get out of this, I say!... You wanted Jimmy;
+there he is, look!"
+
+And Lily, furious, jerked her head toward the passage.
+
+When Lily went home again she did not even think of what she had just
+heard. The death of the Paras; the Graces ... Nunkie, that old rogue!...
+She forgot all about it.... She saw only that: the theater, the aerobike,
+the theater! Ah! she had it in her blood, in spite of those ugly stories!
+Even outside, when, upon Jimmy's advice, she went to take the air in the
+parks, under the great blue sky, she regretted the dark stage, the canvas
+landscapes of the back-drops; the open-air scenery appeared paltry to her,
+beside it. Between her and nature there was always the aerobike! In a few
+days ... was it possible? She clenched her little hands over an imaginary
+handle-bar, hardened her pigeon's eggs, made pedaling movements, in spite
+of herself, on the floor of the tram-car which she very soon took to get
+back to the theater again! It was her life, her joy, her suffering, her
+good and evil ... it was her field, her very own field, the field which
+she had sown with sweat that she might reap fame and glory.
+
+And, when she returned, she reveled in that smell of hot glue and tar and
+scent; oh, it was much nicer than the country! And more interesting, too:
+all the little drama that was being enacted among the Graces, for
+instance; Nunkie had lost his wonderful reputation, he was surrounded with
+less reverence; the story of the confiscated letters was beginning its
+round of the world. It was all very well for him to spoil his dear girls,
+to double his attentions, to treble the doses of bromide; there was no
+doubt about it, the troupe's days were numbered. The boy-violinist and
+others were making love to the Three Graces, fresh troupes were being
+formed, three more, any number! And they all talked freely, turned their
+backs without hesitation upon Nunkie, who was prowling round:
+
+"Well?" he asked. "What's the mystery?"
+
+"We were discussing marriage, Nunkie," the Graces answered.
+
+"That's right, my children," he replied, with a sigh.
+
+Lily, in all these plots and counter-plots, knew how to remain neuter and
+to be very nice to everybody; she had been trained from childhood to keep
+her opinions to herself; none of her damned business, all that; something
+that might have been foreseen and expected ... like the death of old
+Martello, which Jimmy told her of.... Yes, the old man had flickered out
+in his bed just like that....
+
+But she needed all her composure, indeed, when Jimmy told her that those
+dear little Bambinis ... ah, there was bad news for them, the poor loves!
+
+"What? What?" asked Lily.
+
+"Well, we are going to lose them; they've been claimed by their brother,
+it seems."
+
+"What!" cried Lily. "Their brother? The ... the Mexican one?"
+
+"Yes, I think so," said Jimmy. "He's come back from South America. He is
+in Paris now ... somewhere in a penny show, in the suburbs ... I don't
+know where ... with a girl."
+
+"With a girl!" thought Lily.
+
+Everything returned to her in a flash! The girl with the bruised skin ...
+that boy's body all muscle ... Ave Maria! Ave Maria! Not dead! She felt
+inclined to run up to Trampy, to fly at his throat, to bellow in his face
+that Ave Maria was here, just to see the effect! But she restrained
+herself. Suppose it were not true? Oh, she would soon know! That footy
+rotter, if it were true! O God, grant that it might be true!
+
+All this passed through her brain in less than a second.
+
+"Why!" said Jimmy, seeing her turn pale. "Does that affect you so much ...
+the loss of your little friends, the Bambinis? For you're going to lose
+them...."
+
+"No, Jimmy!" she replied indignantly. "You shall not give up the Bambinis
+to their brother, a cruel, cowardly brute like that, right at the bottom
+of the profession. I know ... I've seen.... You shan't do it, Jimmy, and,
+look here, I forbid you!"
+
+"Well, Lily, Lily, I'll do what I can, to please you, you know; I'll try;
+I'll see the police; you must give your evidence, if you have anything to
+say. Do you know, Lily, you are as good as gold. You're a good little
+Lily: hard upon herself and kind to others."
+
+But he was interrupted ... Jimmy here, Jimmy there ... he was wanted ...
+for the flies, for the roof.... Jimmy flew to the stage, bothered on every
+side, worried by the Astrarium ... and Lily. Lily! He could not escape her
+now, do what he might! He had her in his heart, in his brain, everywhere.
+She lived and existed in his breast, shot up there like a flame! Whatever
+he had been told about her he no longer knew, did not want to know. And,
+besides, even if it had been true, oh, he would have forgiven everything!
+He would have passed over everything! He would have plunged into the abyss
+to get Lily out of it, whatever she had done; yes! In spite of everything!
+in spite of everybody! In spite of Trampy, husband or not!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+To-morrow was to be the great day, the opening of the Astrarium, the first
+night; and Jimmy, more bustled than ever, forgot Lily ... almost ... on
+that evening, especially, the evening of the dress-rehearsal: not an
+ordinary rehearsal, with the band-parts handed to the conductor across the
+footlights--"A march here, please, a waltz there. 'K you"--no, the whole
+show, with orchestra and all complete; the stage flooded with light; each
+turn in its own setting: corridor, wood, room, palace. Jimmy multiplied
+himself in the final fever. The theater, arranged according to his ideas,
+was still encumbered with ladders and scaffoldings; but gangs of laborers
+were hard at work on every side. The obstructions all disappeared like
+magic, were juggled away. Jimmy had made sure that the roof was ready; he
+had run from the landing-point, out of sight of the audience, through the
+door contrived in the wall of the stage, crossed the fly-galleries, come
+down by the pulley-rope; the whole thing, from roof to stage, had taken
+him, watch in hand, thirty seconds. And Lily had done it also. It formed
+part of the turn, a sensational addition to the aerobike. All would be
+ready, all would go well, provided that Lily was not nervous that evening
+... and to-morrow especially! Those confounded crazy little girls! Crazy
+every one of them: Laurence herself, the bravest of the lot, had just had
+an awful fall, at Boston, in her excitement at losing her lucky charm. It
+was the event in the profession, the accident of the day. Lily might be
+frightened by it. Now it was essential that she should succeed and succeed
+at the first attempt. His fortune and hers, his future, the success of the
+Astrarium depended on it. And Jimmy, obsessed by his labors, had hardly
+time to think of Trampy, in the formidable effort of the eleventh hour.
+And yet, sometimes, he felt a pain at his heart. That adorable Lily! Would
+he succeed in making her love him? And now there was that impersonator!
+Oh, to work, to work! And he went at it, hammer and tongs, to make sure of
+the aerobike's success. To make them talk of him ... to achieve fame ...
+which was as sweet as love! And he was wanted from one end of the theater
+to the other. Oh, he might well look upon the Astrarium as his creation!
+Already, a few days before, rumors of a strike were current. The managers
+were boycotted by the artistes, in England.... Jimmy feared lest the
+Astrarium should feel the consequences, under the pressure of the
+Performers' Association, but he had arranged everything, seen each artiste
+separately, explained his plans: gala matinees, creation of an asylum, a
+home of rest ... a glory to help in such a task ... who could tell but
+that they were working for themselves by adding their stone to the
+edifice? He quoted the Para-Paras and their wretched end; old Martello,
+dead without leaving a penny; the Bambinis, homeless; Ave Maria,
+unprotected. The men listened, with serious faces. As for the girls, his
+words came straight from the heart. Those decent girls, who earned their
+living as they knew how and the living of others besides, they understood
+him at once; and Lily no longer laughed; on the contrary:
+
+"Me? Whatever you like! For nothing, if you like; rely on me, Jimmy!"
+
+And now the hour had come; they were to appear under the critical eye of
+Harrasford. The acting-manager had arrived from England that same day with
+the stage-manager, who was "behind." It made a strange impression, that
+huge red-and-gold house, glittering with light and sounding curiously
+empty to the thunder of the band. Everybody was at his post: the tall
+flunkeys stood motionless at the entrance-doors, in the promenades, as if
+the audience had been there, whereas there was practically nobody except
+Harrasford and the manager. And on the stage, which had been cleared of
+every superfluous piece of property, splendid order reigned: the
+scene-shifters, up above, had their hands on the windlasses; the two
+electricians, on their perches, turned the lime-light where it was to
+fall; the drops rose and fell without a hitch; the scenes slipped into
+their places, shifted, in the English fashion, by one man. For each turn
+on the stage, the next was ready to come on, no more; all the rest were in
+the dressing-rooms. But there, behind the iron curtain, one could picture
+staircases crowded with people running up and down, passages full of
+light, a flurried ant-hill, and feel that a ring of bells would be enough
+to bring tumbling on to the stage a whole glittering, grotesque or radiant
+world of people, from the monkey-faced comedian to Lily, in her pink
+tights, an image of Venus. There was electricity in the air of that empty
+house, in which all felt the presence of the powerful master, harder to
+please than a crowd! And rays of light ran along the stage, the back-drop
+seemed a cloud ready to split in the crash of the thunder, under the storm
+of the raging brasses. On the stage, the turns defiled in their order,
+under the shimmering lights: the Bambinis, brother and sister, supple
+grace and strength combined, filled the huge space with the free play of
+their rosy bodies and the brightness of their genuine gaiety. The Three
+Graces formed the human cluster, a hanging group of faces, figures,
+shoulders and glorious lines. The program poured out laughter, harmony,
+beauty, till, against the blue forest, came the scarlet step-dances of the
+Roofers. And then silence: the feature of the evening, the aerobike! There
+was a moment's anxiety. A net was stretched above the stalls, from the
+footlights to the opening in the roof. For the audience, at any rate, all
+danger was removed, even in case of a fall. Then the glass dome above
+opened, and the curtain rose on the Elysian glimmer of a scene studded
+with stars; and everything was empty, stage and auditorium. The distance
+seemed immense: "miles and miles!" The machine was to start out suddenly,
+rush through space, disappear up above, like a meteor that shoots out from
+infinity and returns to it.
+
+A few seconds passed, during which Jimmy gave Lily her last instructions:
+
+"You're not afraid, Lily? Would you like me to do it?"
+
+Afraid! She turned her calm face to him. Oh, she could have accomplished
+impossible and cruel things, braved torture, walked on burning coals! She
+felt herself made of supple steel, unerring and exact:
+
+"Up, quick, quick! Ready, Jimmy?"
+
+"Ready!"
+
+"Then ... GO!"
+
+The aerobike flashed like an arrow from the bow, raised itself with a
+magnificent jerk; the propeller hummed like a thunder-bolt, the wings
+rustled in flight, pointed toward the opening, went up ... up ... up ...
+disappeared in the star-strewn sky.... It was done! The band struck up the
+triumphal march, Harrasford, the manager, the few who were present all
+burst into cheers; and, suddenly, over the house plunged in darkness, from
+the back of the stage, came a burst of light. Lily, after running over the
+roof and sliding down the pulley, was descending against the blue
+back-drop, bringing with her the star! First, one saw the light breaking,
+then swelling and increasing in brilliancy, and Lily appeared, a starry
+Eve, holding, in her upraised hand, a dazzling luminary, a crystal globe,
+which an invisible wire from behind filled with an intensity of light. And
+powerful rays shot to every side, end-of-the-world coruscations, above the
+crater of the orchestra.
+
+"Splendid!" cried Harrasford. "That dishes the waterspouts at the
+Hippodrome, the avalanches, everything!" And, as Jimmy came up, "Good boy,
+Jimmy!" he said, catching him a great smack on the shoulder by way of a
+compliment. "And your girl ... your ... Maggy ... your ... what's her
+name? Lily ... glorious! Very good indeed! Couldn't be better! Capital
+idea!"
+
+He gave a quick glance at his watch, a few words to Jimmy, to the manager,
+over his shoulder, on the wing:
+
+"All the boxes booked three weeks ahead? All the stalls? That's right!
+Good-by, good luck!"
+
+Already his broad back was disappearing through the door; had to catch the
+midnight train for Cologne; presence indispensable.
+
+"Telephone to-morrow; let me know how things go. Ta-ta!"
+
+And Harrasford was far away.
+
+And Lily? Lily was in her dressing-room, stupefied with delight. How soon
+it was done! How simple it was! Jimmy, after all, with his scrawls and his
+scribbles, with his brain-work: what a discovery he had made! She would
+have liked it to last for ever, the flight on the aerobike; she still
+seemed to be rushing up to the stars, to feel the coolness of the night on
+her face. How funny it was, going up, up, up and out through that hole.
+She was still laughing at it, with little convulsive movements of the
+shoulders, and stammering out things.
+
+When she was dressed, she received Jimmy's congratulations and
+everybody's. They gave her a bouquet:
+
+"To our little favorite!"
+
+She answered, without knowing what she said; went home. Everything seemed
+to be turning round and round. She ate a few mouthfuls, washed down with a
+glass of milk; and then, suddenly, made a rush for Glass-Eye! A pillow
+fight followed:
+
+"Here, take that! Take that! And that! And that!"
+
+Ten minutes of an epic struggle, on the bed thrown into confusion and
+disorder, as after a murder; huge slaps on the firm, rounded forms; virile
+smackings; and Glass-Eye, breathlessly, had to own herself beaten, to beg
+for mercy.
+
+"That'll teach them!" cried Lily, falling on the bed, panting, drunk with
+joy, drunk with joy! Trampy, Mexico, Ma's insults, the jealousies, the
+grudges, Daisy, the fat freaks: pooh, none of that existed for her!
+Nothing remained but herself, drunk with an immense joy! She was almost
+delirious, in the excess of her great happiness:
+
+"I'll smash up their damned troupes, do you hear, Glass-Eye? There! Like
+that!" And she tried to renew the fight, but her strength failed her.
+"Dished and done for, their damned troupes!"
+
+And she laughed, she burst with laughing, when she thought of their
+eighteen feet of stage:
+
+"Stages as big as my hand, Glass-Eye, is what they've got to turn in!"
+
+Whereas, she went straight up in the air, up to the stars, miles high, up
+above everything! Bang! A smack for Glass-Eye, who was just taking off her
+skirt!
+
+"And I say, Glass-Eye! Ma, who said that I ... you know what she said! But
+wait till they see me in my grand dresses! I'll order them to-morrow; and
+my hats too. And I'll invite Pa and Ma to the hotel! And we'll drink
+champagne and I'll have fifty francs' worth of flowers on the table, just
+to show them! 'Our Lily,' that's what I'm going to be, 'our own Lily,'
+damn it!"
+
+Lily, when she was in bed, turned things over and over in her brain. Yes,
+her Pa was quite right. It was for her good, for her own good! Big
+salaries, which would all belong to her! And no more performing-dog
+toques, but big hats and feathers and motor-cars and furs, but no goggles!
+No, she must find something that wouldn't hide her face, so that people
+would recognize her and say:
+
+"That's Lily!"
+
+And the road behind her motor would be strewn with the bodies of pros who
+had died of jealousy!
+
+And she would consult Pa and Ma on the color of her liveries, on her
+crest: a wheel, with wings to it! And Lily dropped off into a sleep
+interrupted by awful nightmares, in which Ma was dead--poor Ma!--before
+witnessing her triumph--and in which elephants trumpeted in her honor and
+sea-lions applauded her with their finny fore-paws, all along a queer sort
+of Tottenham Court Road, paved with fat freaks, at the end of which a
+Horse Shoe, as big as the Marble Arch, opened out upon the stars.
+
+Poor Glass-Eye, on her side, had the most outlandish dreams. Her brain was
+turned from living in the midst of all that. She dreamed that she was
+flying, too; that she was Lily in her turn; that she was soaring over
+Whitechapel; but, from time to time, a nervous kick from Lily recalled her
+to the realities of life.
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Glass-Eye! There's a knock at the door, I think. Or else I'm dreaming.
+What's the time? Ten o'clock. Get up, Glass-Eye! If it's the landlady,
+tell her I'll pay her next week!"
+
+But Glass-Eye, who had gone to the door, shut it suddenly and came back to
+Lily, looking quite startled:
+
+"Miss Lily, there's some one, all in black, on the stairs; a ghost!"
+
+"If you're trying to frighten me," cried Lily, jumping out of bed, "I'll
+knock your other eye out! Take care!"
+
+She was choking with excitement. Lily was afraid of nothing. But those
+confounded ghosts: poor Ma, perhaps! And she quickly separated two fingers
+wide behind her back, so as to be on the safe side and ward off ill-luck:
+
+"Come with me, Glass-Eye; you go first!"
+
+And Lily, in her night-dress, half-opened the door, looked out.
+
+A thin woman, all in black, stood motionless. It was not Ma. Lily breathed
+more freely:
+
+"What do you want?" she asked.
+
+"I want to speak to Miss Lily," said the woman in black. "I went to the
+theater and they gave me your address. I came.... I suppose you don't
+remember me, it's so long ago. Ave Maria, on the wire in Mexico?"
+
+"Ave Maria! Come in," said Lily.
+
+Ave Maria, whom she had sought for so long. She would know at last! Oh, if
+it were true! God grant that it might be true! Lily, hardly recovered from
+her fright, quivered at the thought. And she devoured Ave Maria with her
+eyes. She recognized her, now that she knew: it was she indeed, but grown
+old before her time, looking wretched, thin, hollow-eyed, a face all skin
+and bone. And the two stood contemplating each other in silence.
+
+"How pretty you've grown!" whispered Ave Maria timidly. "No one would take
+you for a professional."
+
+But a sudden fit of coughing brought scarlet patches to her pale cheeks.
+
+"It catches me here," she said, pressing her hand to her chest. "It's
+damp, sometimes, in the tent. And then half-naked on those trestles. The
+work warms one, it's true. The other night I saw some one who knew you, a
+gentleman. I should have liked to ask him more, but my brother struck him
+in the face. I got my turn after. However, I wanted to see you. I went to
+the Astrarium. I asked them."
+
+"Go on," said Lily, who was burning to know, but did not want to show it.
+"Glass-Eye, give me my dressing-gown. Go on, please!"
+
+"I don't know that I dare," said Ave Maria, "now that I have seen you. You
+are so much better-looking than I am. Are you still living with him?" she
+asked, in a low voice, fixing two fiery eyes on Lily.
+
+"No," said Lily, "I am living with nobody!"
+
+"But they told me. I heard at Buenos Ayres ... the story of the whippings,
+your running away with him...."
+
+"What whippings? And I'm living with nobody!" retorted Lily, very
+haughtily.
+
+"But you have lived with him ... in Germany ... Trampy, you know."
+
+"No," said Lily, "I was married, wasn't I, Glass-Eye?"
+
+"But _I'm_ married to him!" Ave Maria broke in, more aggressively than
+before.
+
+"Oh, if it were true!" thought Lily. "Oh, if it were true!"
+
+She dared not believe it, it would have been too beautiful, beautiful
+beyond dreams. And, with her nerves stretching to breaking-point:
+
+"Prove it!" she said coldly, to Ave Maria.
+
+"Yes, I have my proofs," replied Ave Maria, shaken with a furious cough.
+"And I'll show them! Trampy belongs to me, not to you! He's in Paris, they
+tell me.... And I mean to have him, do you hear? I've suffered enough and
+to spare. I've done everything since he left me. Look here, at Caracas
+people used to offer me twopence to let them black my eye, sometimes, when
+my brother was locked up at the police-station. And there were the
+one-horse circuses where we slept in a heap on the straw, in Chili or some
+such country. And, sometimes, I lost my balance on the wire, because of my
+cough. And my brother: you know him! And the cattle-men, when they're
+drunk! One of them stabbed me here, with a knife, there, here, in the
+breast; they had to cut it off--the breast--later, at Montevideo, because
+of the gangrene. Yes, he stabbed me with a knife, because I wouldn't say,
+'I love you,' to him! Fancy my saying, 'I love you,' to any one but
+Trampy! Never! I would have let them jump on my chest with their hobnailed
+boots first! And, now that Trampy's here, I want him! He belongs to me and
+I mean to have him."
+
+"Well, take him, if he belongs to you!" said Lily. "I don't care a hang
+for your Trampy; I've turned him out long ago!"
+
+"So ... it's true? If he's no longer with you, I can have him again. I
+shall have him! I'll have my brother locked up, if necessary, to be free!
+I have only to say a word, not because of the story of that nose which he
+bit off at Rio: no, the other day, at Vaugirard, he used the knife. I'll
+tell everything, to have my Trampy back."
+
+And her rough voice became gentle now, in her Anglo-Italian jargon, with a
+dash of Spanish in it; everything became clear, everything yielded before
+the violence of that fierce love. Lily was astounded to hear it:
+
+"That's what I call love!" she thought. "I had no idea, my! And all for
+Trampy! It's worse than in the novels."
+
+And she was touched, in spite of herself, and, when Ave Maria cried, "Oh,
+how happy you must be, if he loves you!" Lily dared not protest that she
+didn't care a hang for that soaker, for fear of hurting the poor martyr.
+She replied, on the contrary, that Trampy was very nice, but that he was
+hers no longer, that he belonged to Ave Maria, since Ave Maria had the
+proofs ... _if_ she had the proofs.
+
+"I have them here, Miss Lily, my marriage-lines. I was able to get them,
+after he went. I had the certificate witnessed. My brother, when he came
+to fetch me, never knew about it. I sewed it into the lining of a
+portmanteau; no chance of losing it: here it is."
+
+And she produced a yellow document from her bodice and laid it on the
+table.
+
+Lily seized upon it ... read it at a glance ... it was quite regular! Oh,
+the footy rotter! Two wives! To say nothing of his thirty-six girls! And
+what a fine trick she would play him! At last, she was about to get rid of
+her festering sore! She could not breathe for happiness. And, as Ave Maria
+was watching her movements, lest she should keep the paper, Lily handed it
+back to her, certain that it was in good hands, that it would not be
+lost.
+
+Then and there an idea came to her. Trampy would be at the theater that
+afternoon with Tom, who, knowing little about all these stories,
+interested only in the condition of those biceps of his, had taken Trampy
+as his assistant and had told Lily so. And Lily had said nothing,
+reserving to herself the right to have him turned off the stage by Jimmy,
+with a smack in the eye, before everybody: the footy rotter, coming there
+to defy her! Well, there would be no smack in the eye; she would simply
+hand him over to Ave Maria, as one flings a lump of carrion to a tigress!
+
+"Wait a bit, you faithful husband!" she growled. "You'll see, presently!"
+
+And, first of all, when Ave Maria rose to go, Lily forbade her to do
+anything of the kind, for fear that the brother, who must be out looking
+for her, might drag her back to the booth at the fair and then take the
+first train to some other place, after getting hold of the Bambinis. And
+Lily meant none of all this to take place; she would rather go to the
+police and have the brute arrested!
+
+"Stay here, Ave Maria," she said. "I'll give you back your Trampy this
+afternoon."
+
+Oh, if she had been alone, how she would have flown at Glass-Eye, to work
+off her superabundant joy! It would have been a merciless fight, with
+slaps in the Mexican style! But a lady receiving her friends must set a
+good example. She contented herself with hustling Glass-Eye by word and
+gesture:
+
+"My new dress! My big hat!"
+
+Ave Maria, quite taken up with the excitement of seeing Trampy again, of
+having him back again, left herself in Lily's hands. She felt as if she
+were looking at a princess, when Lily made Glass-Eye spin round the room.
+She could not even help smiling when she saw Glass-Eye catch her foot in
+the dresses spread out on the floor, so much so that Lily asked her
+angrily if she meant to go on hopping about like that for ever, if she
+really wanted to have a candle lit in her glass eye to make her see that
+bodice, there, right in front of her nose, damn it! And Glass-Eye's
+fright, when she heard that ... though Glass-Eye was never surprised at
+anything that Lily said or did!
+
+Going to the Astrarium, Lily, followed by Glass-Eye, walked along the
+street with her cheeky feather waving like a flag in battle. Ave Maria, by
+her side, kept close to the wall, with frightened glances to right and
+left; Lily did not call her attention to the Astrarium posters for fear of
+humiliating her: she would have had to explain that she was topping the
+bill and poor Ave Maria, who was starring at the fair, would never have
+understood. A professional abyss separated the two of them. Lily saw this
+and had too kind a heart to let the other feel it. What a difference
+between them! Merely in the way in which Lily entered the theater and
+smiled to the stage-doorkeeper! Ave Maria followed very timidly, like a
+beggar-woman stealing into a palace. She felt out of her element in those
+big theaters, where she had not appeared for ever so long, having come
+down to the level of one-horse circuses, patched canvas tents, acrobatic
+performances in the open air, on the slack-wire stretched from tree to
+tree. Lily looked a princess beside her, really. Ave Maria was even
+surprised to see her address a gentleman who was there: it was the
+architect, with a bandage over his eye. Ave Maria recognized him; and he,
+rendered prudent by the blow which he had received from "her man," stepped
+back instinctively at the sight of her. But Lily caught him by the lapel
+of his coat:
+
+"You've been fooling me ... with your measurements," she said, "and there
+are certain things that jossers oughtn't to meddle with; and it serves you
+right, that black eye of yours; but I forgive you, because of the immense
+service you're doing me ... without knowing it ... you lover of
+second-rate goods!" she muttered, as she watched him slink off, taking her
+forgiveness with him.
+
+The stage was almost empty. Tom had come, not Trampy; so much the better,
+there would be all the more there presently, for the great scene!
+
+"Wait for me a minute," she said to Ave Maria. "Sit down over there, in
+the corner."
+
+And Lily went up to her dressing-room; she wanted to look her best, to
+bedizen herself ... a little red on her lips, a little blue on her eyelids
+... to make Trampy regret the more what he was going to lose. And, when
+she was ready, Jimmy passed and, icicle though he was, could not help
+paying her a compliment on her good looks. He appeared quite
+disconcerted:
+
+"Just imagine, Lily. What do you think happened to me, in the
+impersonator's dressing-room? I had something to say to him ... I walk in
+... see the impersonator half undressed ... and it's a woman, Lily, a
+magnificent woman! You never told me, you kiddie!"
+
+"Hush!" said Lily. "Don't give her away; it's a secret, it's her living,
+Jimmy."
+
+"Don't be afraid, Lily, I won't prevent any one from earning her living,
+as long as she does all right on the stage. But I don't know where I am
+now. That woman who came in with you, for instance," continued Jimmy
+jestingly, "she looks just like a man; there's no knowing; nothing would
+surprise me after that!"
+
+"She's a woman, Jimmy, a married woman! You'll see presently. We'll have a
+good laugh; mind you're there! I want everybody to be there! It's a
+surprise, Jimmy!"
+
+What a kiddie she was, thought Jimmy, as he went down the stairs. The
+architect, the impersonator: the two scandals of her life. That
+impersonator whom she kissed in front of him, a story that had gone round
+the world, Lily's love affairs, one more ready to leave wife and children
+for her sake: the exaggeration of the stage, always; professional
+boasting. Like the story of the whippings, like those girls whom she had
+described to him, and herself, with all over her skin--"Here, here, damn
+it!"--wounds that you could put your finger into. Or like those who were
+said to be done for, or burned alive, or drowned in shipwrecks, with waves
+miles high, all for the honor of the profession; when, perhaps, it was
+simply as good a way as another of retiring from the stage, to get
+married, with a flourish of trumpets! It wasn't true, all that, or their
+parade of vice either, all humbug, from end to end, their amorous
+conquests, their orgies, their escapades, like their ostrich-feathers,
+that long, or their sham diamonds, that big, and bouquets large enough to
+fill a cab. But they were decent-hearted girls, all the same: that Lily,
+what a kiddie, thought Jimmy, feeling quite comforted, quite glad on her
+account.
+
+And just then, as luck would have it, he met Tom, to whom Glass-Eye had
+brought Miss Lily's album, with a request for his autograph. Tom, whose
+formidable muscles were hardly capable of wielding a pen, especially to
+write "thoughts," was holding the album with a sheepish look, turning it
+round and round:
+
+"I say," he said, as Jimmy passed, "write something; for me!"
+
+"All right!" said Jimmy.
+
+And he lightly turned the pages of the album, the famous album, said to be
+crammed with passionate declarations. Not a bit of it! Nothing but foolery
+and childish nonsense:
+
+                    "May joy and pleasure be your lot
+                    . . . trot, trot, trot!"
+
+                      "... Regard me as a link.
+                                      Loving Pal."
+
+"_Un afetuoso saludo y un augurio de feliz viaje le desea Pedro y
+Paolo_."
+
+            "Hoping we shall meet again, if not here, there.
+
+                            "Joe Brooks."
+
+"_Puedo decir que nunca he visto yoo ... tan cuida y bella_...."
+
+There was page upon page, in this style, with, here and there, a rough
+sketch: a heart pierced by an arrow, signed, "Castaigne;" a dried
+shamrock: "Blarney Castle;" a bit of seaweed: "Dundee." Jimmy smiled to
+himself and especially at what he heard beside him, where Glass-Eye, while
+gazing wide-eyed at Tom's immense arms, was telling him all her troubles:
+quite mad, Miss Lily, ought to be locked up! And _she_ ought to know:
+never left her side since she began traveling by herself, day or night.
+
+"You're a lucky one, you are!" Tom broke in.
+
+"I should like to see you try it, just!" Glass-Eye retorted. "And meantime
+I get more smacks than halfpence. Oh, I know she'll pay me all in a lump,
+when she gets it! She's very generous, really. And her Pa and Ma ... yes
+... do you know what she means to do? She's not angry with them any
+longer. She's going to stuff them with turkey and pudding at the hotel and
+stand them fifty francs' worth of flowers. She's forgiven them!"
+
+"That's more than I have!" replied Tom. "Her Pa will know what I am made
+of to-morrow, the brute! He'll have one on the mug, for boxing my ears and
+kicking me out ... you know ... because of the letters from Trampy."
+
+"If you do that, Tom, you'll have Miss Lily to reckon with! What! You're
+laughing!" cried Glass-Eye angrily. "You don't know how it hurts ... on
+one's bones! And those pillow-fights: I've had my nose smashed in one of
+them before now! Nothing surprises me that Miss Lily says or does. Why,
+this very morning, she wanted to put a lighted candle in my glass eye!"
+
+"Eh, what? A light in your eye?" exclaimed Tom suddenly. "I wonder if one
+really could ... I say, Jimmy, could one?"
+
+"Yes," said Jimmy, greatly amused, "with an invisible wire under the
+dress...."
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Tom. "Would you like two shillings a day, Glass-Eye? And
+your food and clothes? You shall travel with me; you shall appear on the
+stage. Come along to the cafe, we'll sign the engagement!"
+
+"But what will Miss Lily say?" objected Glass-Eye, trembling at the idea
+of announcing her departure to her terrible mistress.
+
+"Well," said Tom, "I'll be nice to her Pa, if she's nice to you. Come
+along!"
+
+"But I don't know how to sign my name."
+
+"You can make your mark, before two witnesses. Come along!"
+
+Glass-Eye, dazzled and beglamored, followed Tom. She, an artiste! On the
+stage! At last! Going round the world with Tom ... living with him ...
+married ... almost!
+
+"That's come in the nick of time!" said Jimmy, as he watched her go off
+the stage. "Lily, perhaps ... in her new position ... will want a real
+maid, not a Glass-Eye! Lily ... why, she's perfection! To think of the
+abysses she has walked along without falling! There's more merit than one
+thinks in that kind of life. And how I should like to get hold of the
+people who talk ill of her. And that ... that ... oh, that one!"
+
+And Jimmy clenched his fists, at the thought of Trampy, and his heart
+burst forth: all his patient, brave, manly heart, now well nigh
+exhausted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Poor Ave Maria, indifferent to what was going on before her, was still
+waiting on the stage. For that matter, it was but a few minutes since Lily
+brought her there. Ave Maria felt inclined to go and meet Trampy on the
+pavement, to throw her arms round his neck as soon as he appeared. But
+Lily had earnestly recommended her not to move, whatever happened. So she
+remained in her corner and, under the pale light, with her back to the
+forest scene, in the shadow, Ave Maria looked like a lurking she-wolf,
+ready to leap out at any moment.
+
+[Illustration: AVE MARIA]
+
+As for Lily, she tripped down the stairs to the stage, for a few seconds
+contemplated all those bill-toppers at her feet, so to speak; but she took
+the last stairs at a bound: Trampy had just entered! Ave Maria, in her
+corner, behind the pillars and the confused heap of scenery, could not see
+him. Lily preferred that. She would manage everything her own way and get
+rid of him once and for all ... get rid of that footy rotter who had come
+there to jeer at her. He stepped along, with his hat on one side and a
+dead cigar between his teeth. Trampy, broken, diseased, done for, was
+jubilant for all that; turned his broad smile from girl to girl, winked
+his eye gaily at the Roofers, who drew back in disgust, and, with
+outstretched hand:
+
+"How d'you do, Lily? How's my dear little wife?"
+
+He enjoyed the humiliation which he was inflicting upon her, would have
+liked his clothes to be still shabbier, his shoes more down at heel, so
+that he might thoroughly disgrace his dear little wife--that great
+bill-topper, who was leaving the pink of husbands in such a state of
+destitution. And he threw out his chest, increased his familiarities, and
+even pretended to kiss her, pushed his blotched and pimpled mug close to
+that charming face. Jimmy gave a bound: Trampy! On the stage! Lily's
+tormentor! Jimmy, pale with fury, walked up to him, stiff-armed, ready to
+break the jaw of that thief in the night and chuck him into the street,
+without more words! But Lily stopped him with a quick gesture:
+
+"Why, Jimmy," she said, "would you keep a man from earning his living? Do
+you find fault with a husband for loving his little wife? I am your little
+wife, am I not?" she continued, tantalizing Trampy with her peach-like
+cheek, tickling his nose with her fair curls. "Don't you deserve a dear
+little wife?"
+
+"Why, of course I do!" Trampy agreed, surprised, all the same, at this
+loving reception from his dear little wife.
+
+"There!" cried Lily, unable to restrain herself any longer and giving him
+a box on the ears. "That'll teach you to call me your little wife, you
+damned tramp cyclist! I've never been your little wife. I'll show you your
+little wife, the real one. Come along, Ave Maria! Here's Trampy!"
+
+"Eh, what?" said Trampy, turning color. "Ave Maria? I don't know any Ave
+Maria."
+
+But already Ave Maria was upon him, pressing him in her arms: her Trampy!
+And her cough brought pink-red patches to her hectic cheeks.
+
+"What's this mean? I don't know you," he stammered, gazing horror-stricken
+at this old, lean woman, who was taking possession of him before
+everybody, taking possession of him who cared only for plump little
+things, sultan that he was. "I don't know her, I don't know her!"
+
+"Here!" cried Lily, snatching the paper from Ave Maria's bodice. "Do you
+know that? Can you read? Now will you deny that she's your wife ... your
+wife ... your wife?" she repeated, rejoicing in being able to hurl the
+word to Trampy, who turned pale with fright.
+
+"We'll try and arrange it," whispered Jimmy, still hardly recovered from
+his surprise. "A divorce in Lily's favor first! She'll dictate your answer
+for you; you've only got to say yes to everything. And then you can be off
+somewhere; to West Australia. I'll pay your expenses. And don't you ever
+dare to show your face again! Never! Do you understand?"
+
+"And that'll teach you to make little of people!" cried Lily. "Let's drink
+to the health of Trampy, the faithful husband! I'll stand champagne all
+round to the health of good old Trampy and his dear little wife!"
+
+But, without waiting for the champagne, already Ave Maria was dragging
+Trampy to the door and the Roofer girls gave him a triumphal exit. They
+sent him to Halifax, they sent him to Coventry. They flourished things at
+his head, amid an uproar of jolly hootings, and took aim at him--"Ping!
+Ping!"--and pinched him, as the Merry Wives did Falstaff in Windsor
+Forest. And they slipped off their shoes in honor of his wedding, by Jove!
+And Trampy fled under a shower of boots and slippers, fled like mad, as
+though the devil were after him.
+
+Jimmy did not know if he was on his head or his heels for joy:
+
+"I'll stand the champagne!" he said. "To Miss Lily's health!"
+
+So much had happened in those few minutes: Lily free again ... and no
+scandal ... the divorce assured ... Trampy admitting his misdeeds,
+inventing them, if necessary, confessing anything they asked him to, as
+long as they did not mention bigamy.... Jimmy, had it been possible, would
+have offered a general picnic to the whole company. He, usually so calm,
+felt inclined to sing, to laugh. Never would he have dared to hope.... And
+it had all come so simply, like the things that are bound to happen. Lily
+was free!
+
+"Bring the bottles up here," he said to the call-boy, "and biscuits and
+cakes. We'll drink it here! We'll christen the stage, as if we were
+launching a ship ... in champagne, here, by ourselves! among ourselves!
+Here's to the stage-manager! Here's to all of us!"
+
+Lily, happy as happy could be, shook everybody by the hand, distributed a
+"'K you" here and a "'K you" there. She would have liked to have Glass-Eye
+by her side, to keep her in countenance, open her bag, give her her
+handkerchief ... liked to be a little lady who can't do without her maid
+... but, damn it, where was Glass-Eye? And Lily clenched her fist when she
+saw her return with cakes in her hands, escorted by Tom, who helped to
+carry the champagne.
+
+"Where have you been, Glass-Eye?" asked Lily severely. "What have you been
+doing with Tom? Give me my handkerchief, Glass-Eye."
+
+"Here's your bag, Miss Lily," said Glass-Eye excitedly. "I'm going to
+leave you, Miss Lily."
+
+"What for?" said Lily, feeling vexed. "Because I owe you a few little
+things?"
+
+"Oh, no, not that! I'm going to be a star, too; on my hands: Demon Maud,
+the lady with the flaming eye; a candle in my glass eye ... before two
+witnesses ... I made my mark at the bottom."
+
+"She's drunk!" cried Lily, utterly dumfounded. "Or else she's going mad.
+Jimmy! Tom! Glass-Eye's going mad!"
+
+But, when Tom had explained, Lily approved. Glass-Eye wasn't stupid,
+really; very intelligent, though you'd never think it. Glad to see her
+engaged.... And she shook her by the hand, like an old friend and comrade,
+glad to hear of the success of others ... among artistes....
+
+And, suddenly, with head thrown back, full-throated, her feather nodding
+hysterically on her head, Lily laughed ... laughed ... laughed!
+
+Maud an artiste! On her hands! A candle in her eye! One fat freak the more
+on the stage! Gee, they must drink to Glass-Eye's health: Glass-Eye, the
+bill-topper!
+
+They were all laughing now, filling their glasses at a table in the middle
+of the stage, eating cakes, amusing themselves with the corks, which went
+pop, like toy guns, and applauding with their thumb-nails. To the
+Astrarium! And long live jollity! That night, they would one and all risk
+their skins. They were like soldiers drinking to their sweethearts, in the
+trenches, before the battle. And everything promised well; already a
+legend was forming among the painted faces: the booking office besieged;
+ladies and gentlemen in motors; motors in a row, miles and miles of
+motors; the street bursting with people who had come to book seats! And
+champagne on the stage, cakes, my, for the asking! An orgy which would
+start its trip around the world to-morrow, with those few bottles
+transformed into a Niagara of champagne, enough to flood every greenroom
+from the Klondike to Calcutta!
+
+They all enjoyed themselves and let themselves go. And the Roofers, who
+worshiped Lily, in spite of her abominable tricks, raised their glasses to
+her health, crowded round her, smiled merrily at her with their white
+teeth, congratulated her for sending that footy rotter packing:
+
+"Here's to Miss Lily! And a round on the thumbnail in honor of Miss
+Lily!"
+
+This christening of the Astrarium was turning into a triumph for her; and
+there was the evening to come ... the evening! It made her forget Trampy,
+Jimmy, Glass-Eye, everybody. And ... the next day ... her Pa, her Ma, the
+New Trickers would be at her feet! Oh, she would give ten years of her
+life if to-morrow could be there now!
+
+And the evening came. Lily did not leave the theater. She walked nervously
+from her dressing-room to the stage, inspected the final operations,
+interested herself in everything, stopped the boy-violinist, who was
+crossing the stage with the other members of the band, congratulated him
+on his approaching marriage with one of the Graces. She talked to the
+artistes going up to their dressing-rooms, bestowed a smile upon Jimmy,
+another on the stage-manager, joked with the limelight-men working their
+apparatus on either side of the stage. The footlights lit up with a row of
+flames, the storm approached. There was a ringing of electric
+bells--"Ting! Ting! Ting!"--as in the machine-room of a ship before the
+tempest; the orchestra roared; and, as though at a thunder-clap, the
+velvet curtain split asunder: Patti-Patty was revealed on the stage, while
+the band played as if possessed. Lily, in the shadow of the wings, put her
+hand to her heart; her veins were ablaze. And that audience, at which she
+peeped through a crack in the scenery; that audience was hers, with its
+rustling silks, its bare shoulders, its diamonds, its flowers! She would
+have liked to step forward, to say:
+
+"Here I am!"
+
+She felt herself excited by a curious feeling; an aggressive mood, which,
+no doubt, came from all the healths she had drunk: to the Astrarium, to
+this one, to that one, to all of us! Gee, what fun it had been: champagne,
+cakes, my, tons of cakes! And Lily, who had long been unused to any such
+excess, felt her head splitting. A fever seemed also to reign all over the
+dressing-rooms and passages. They talked of front boxes reserved at a
+thousand francs by the Aero Club; stalls at fifty francs; every seat in
+the house filled; and the best people, nothing but the best! Lily, in her
+exalted condition, took it that they had all come for her; and she had to
+dazzle them all! And soar above them all! To a hurricane of applause from
+"her favorite audience," the Astrarium audience, on a first night!
+
+And she felt so gay that she was not angry when Glass-Eye asked her, now
+that _she_ was an artiste, too, to teach her her stage-smile.
+
+"Why, of course, Glass-Eye! I owe you that, to say nothing of the rest!
+But you won't lose by waiting! Take my word for it: among friends, you
+know!..."
+
+And she kissed her maid, felt inclined to cry, became quite sentimental at
+her going....
+
+She was less amiable to Nunkie, who was prowling around near her. Oh, how
+angry she felt with that old rogue! Because of Thea, first of all; and
+then it was he who gave her away, not Jimmy! Tom had told her. Nunkie
+mumbled something to her: his dear girls; ungrateful creatures who were
+leaving him! His poor life shattered! His pigeons, he had his pigeons
+left; yes, and his home; but what was that compared with loving hearts?
+And, as she was on such good terms with Jimmy and everybody, couldn't she
+use her influence? Oh, if he could have the Bambinis, be appointed their
+guardian! "He would bring together such a nice little family troupe: all
+the joys of home!
+
+"You old wretch!" cried Lily, in a threatening voice. "Just go and look,
+at the corner of Oxford Street and Newman Street, if you can see me! You
+old snaky! You old bromide merchant! Hiding letters, too, you
+nigger-driving humbug! Oh, you're sure to get the Bambinis, I _don't_
+think!"
+
+"_Ver-r-rdammt_!"
+
+Nunkie turned on his heel, shaking the passage with tremendous oaths.
+
+"I thought," Lily shot at him from behind sarcastically, "I thought one
+ought never to swear! It's wicked to swear, Mr. Fuchs!"
+
+In her dressing-room, she went on laughing at Nunkie and his
+"_Donner-r-r-wetter-r-r_!" and his "_S-s-satan_! _S-s-satan_!" It made her
+comb her hair all awry and apply the grease-paint to her cheeks with a
+trembling hand. She felt a buzzing in her head: that confounded music
+which seemed to come from everywhere and hissed in her ears! But, when her
+turn came, she'd show them! Never had she felt so light. She was sure of
+herself, strangely sure. It seemed to her that, if need be, she'd have
+shot up to the stars, damn it!
+
+As soon as she was ready, she went down to the stage. She didn't know why.
+It was her wish to be everywhere, her craving for movement. The aerobike
+had been taken from its cage, behind the back-drop; the stage-manager,
+Jimmy and Jimmy's assistants were standing round it. Jimmy was testing
+everything, for the last time, making sure that there would be no hitch:
+
+"Hullo, Lily!" he said, when he saw her. "Are you ready?"
+
+"Ready?" said Lily. "Look!"
+
+And she flung back her wrap with her two bare arms and stood, a figure all
+charm and grace, with youth, joy and courage sparkling in her eyes. In the
+mysterious half-light, amid the endless sounds from the band, Lily seemed
+to shed rays. Jimmy, dazzled, looked at that dainty form, that delicate
+breast, those rounded shoulders, that splendid body fashioned by years of
+Spartan life, each muscle of which was quivering with enthusiasm. And she
+laughed ... laughed ... head thrown back, full-throated; told the story of
+Nunkie, with furious gestures, as though she were strangling the old
+beast. And then came sudden displays of feeling, for the Three Graces and
+the Bambinis.
+
+Jimmy had never seen her like that. The stage-manager also thought her
+queer, for he looked at Jimmy as though to ask what on earth was the
+matter with her. And, going up to him, he said:
+
+"Look how she's trembling! One would think she had a fever."
+
+"It's quite true," said Jimmy.
+
+And the two stared at each other in consternation when Lily, stooping to
+pick up her cloak, was nearly losing her balance and coming to the ground.
+They exchanged a few words in a whisper. Then the stage-manager said:
+
+"Go up to your dressing-room, Miss Lily. You mustn't stay here, you know.
+We'll send for you when the time comes. Go and put your hair straight."
+
+It was only a pretext; but the same thought had passed through both their
+minds: it was the champagne! Lily, who was accustomed to drink nothing but
+water, was ... if not exactly drunk ... well ...
+
+Thereupon, in an instant, Jimmy made up his mind: it was finished and
+settled, irrevocably, as though he had spent hours in reflecting. The
+newspapers had expressed doubts; there had been suggestions of trickery.
+An immediate, brilliant success was essential, to carry the thing off: a
+hitch and all was lost and the luck of the Astrarium and his own fame
+vanished in smoke! Lily was out of the question that night: she was
+bubbling over at every pore with unnatural excitement ... she was not
+Lily,--was not herself ... it meant certain death to her, the aerobike
+smashed to pieces, the end of all things! Lily would do it to-morrow, the
+next night; but not to-night.
+
+He had just time to go to his dressing-room and put on his white sweater,
+black breeches, black stockings: an athletic costume which he always kept
+at the theater in case of need. And quick, in the saddle: the moment had
+come! He must succeed, now or never! And Jimmy, calm and sure of himself,
+took his seat on the aerobike. A great silence followed....
+
+Lily, at that very minute, anxious at not being sent for in her
+dressing-room, was going back to the stage, but she was stopped at the top
+of the stairs by the stage-manager, who said that he had received an order
+by telephone from Cologne, from Harrasford: Lily not to perform that
+night....
+
+"Let me pass," cried Lily, laughing in spite of everything. "That's enough
+of a joke. It's time for me to go on, I say! Are you mad? I tell you, it's
+my turn!"
+
+But she ceased, as though struck by thunder. The aerobike, with wings wide
+open, was taking flight toward the stars, in a tempestuous wind.
+
+It was done! The thing had shot past her very nose! She thought that she
+would fall, so great was the pain at her heart.
+
+"No! No!" she gasped, with dilated eyes.
+
+And, suddenly, she understood and uttered a cry of rage!
+
+But she could have shouted, "Murder!" and it would have sounded as the
+buzzing of a bee amid that explosion of cheers. And the orchestra grew
+like a flame and the light appeared, increased and shone all over the
+house.
+
+Lily flung herself back, closed her eyes so as not to see, fled to her
+dressing-room with a shriek like a wounded beast's....
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+She dropped into her chair, stopped up her ears; but the cheers never
+ceased, kept on increasing, filled the theater with a roar as of thunder!
+Oh, it seemed to her that her chest was on fire, that they were pounding
+her heart; that some one was taking her by the hair and banging her head
+against the walls! And that storm of applause kept on and kept on ... but
+it wasn't for her! It was for Jimmy all the time: they had tried it with
+her, that was all! To see if it worked! And she, she, she who, only just
+now, was giving herself airs with the others: a poor rag, yes, that was
+all she was, less than anybody; less than Tom, her old servant, less than
+Glass-Eye, that idiot, less than Ave Maria, less than a performing dog,
+less than anything, worse than anything, perhaps! Mad with rage she jumped
+at her gollywog, pulled down the white-eyed idol--the traitor!--spat on
+it, crushed it on the floor with her heel, furious, beside herself; and
+then dropped into her chair again, with her two arms flat on the table,
+her head between her arms, among the grease-paints, the powder, the
+overturned box of spangles, which rolled about everywhere and strewed the
+floor. She felt inclined to bite into her flesh to relieve herself, she
+clenched her fists and dug her nails into her skin. Oh, she would have
+liked to die, to die! It was so fierce a longing, so desperate a cry that
+the force of her prayer ought to have struck her dead where she sat. And
+suddenly the tears began to flow and she cried and cried, all convulsed
+with sobs, floored, shipwrecked, done for. She cried and cried, as though
+stupefied, saw nothing save through a thick veil of water, like a person
+drowning, sinking. It seemed to her as if the tears would groove her face,
+for always. Oh, what would she give to be at home, in bed! Never, never
+again would she have the strength to do a thing. She was done for, buried
+alive. And that coward of a Jimmy, to obey Harrasford's order! Oh, the
+harm he had done her! She would rather have died smashed to a jelly on the
+stage: she would have suffered less! Oh, to behave like that: to flash so
+much before her eyes; and then to fling her to the ground! Oh, when she
+had thought that he loved her and that she loved him also, perhaps! And
+Lily cried and cried....
+
+                    *       *       *       *       *
+
+Meanwhile, in front, the aerobike was receiving endless applause. The
+disappearance through the opening, the plunge into space, the star
+snatched from up above, that piece of theatrical symbolism filled the
+audience with enthusiasm. The aerobike brought down the house, its success
+surpassed all expectation, and the Astrarium was opening with a victorious
+clamor.
+
+"Yes, but at what a cost!" said Jimmy to himself, in spite of the cheers.
+
+And, as soon as he was able to escape, putting off for a few minutes his
+replies to the cards that poured in--the chairman of the Aero Club,
+journalists begging for interviews--Jimmy had but one idea, to console
+Lily for her disappointment of that evening: poor Lily!
+
+His heart was beating very loudly as he went to her dressing-room. Jimmy
+was no longer the fellow who knew no fear. To fly away on the aerobike, to
+risk his skin was easy, for him at least; but to face Lily ... to explain
+to her ... with all those things seething within him ... and, oh, the pain
+he was causing her! How could he approach her after that? And could he
+ever get her to love him? Ah, perhaps it would have been better if he had
+gone and broken his neck in the street, on the pavement! Jimmy was
+trembling like a child; in his perturbation, he even forgot to knock at
+the door ... turned the knob ... entered....
+
+Lily heard nothing, seemed crushed into her chair, with her face buried in
+her right arm folded on the table, while the left hung lifeless by her
+side. Her whole attitude expressed abject misery, profound despair; she
+seemed extinguished in a terrifying calmness.
+
+Jimmy, to attract her attention, closed the door noisily. Lily stirred no
+more than a wax figure: one might have thought her dead.
+
+He shivered; and, stepping forward, leaning over to her, anxiously, he
+placed his hand on her shoulder.
+
+It was like a spring that is suddenly released! Lily threw up her
+sorrow-stricken face, down which the tears, mingling with the red paint,
+flowed like blood, looked at him for a few seconds with a wandering air
+and then leaped at him, as though she meant to bite him in the face; but
+her lips shriveled up in silence, nothing came from them; and she crushed
+Jimmy with an unspeakable look of terror and contempt.
+
+Jimmy did not flinch:
+
+"You must not be angry with me," he said gently. "I was bound to do it,
+Lily; I had to save the theater."
+
+"And get rid of me!" cried Lily, wild-haired, hard-eyed, hoarse-throated,
+with the tears drying on her red-hot cheeks.
+
+Jimmy was pale as death. Ah, all his dreams, too, were fading away!
+
+"Lily," he said, in a voice which he strove to make firm, but which
+trembled with emotion. "I have done my duty to everybody, yourself
+included! But for me, you would be lying dead at this minute and the
+Astrarium would be ruined. You were not in a state to appear in public ...
+this evening ... believe me, Lily. The stage-manager himself...."
+
+Lily lowered her head under his calm gaze....
+
+"But you'll do it to-morrow," continued Jimmy, very quickly, "before Pa
+and Ma! To-morrow and the following days ... and always! Your name will be
+right at the top of the bill! Do you hear? To-morrow ... and always!"
+
+"But what...? Why...?" asked Lily, as though stupefied.
+
+"Poor Lily," he replied, gently raising that face all distorted with
+grief. "Poor little Lily! I have caused you a heap of pain."
+
+Lily, for her sole answer, gave a convulsive sob; a tear leaped to her
+eyelids.
+
+"Don't cry," whispered Jimmy, "don't cry any more. It will be your turn
+to-morrow, before the New Trickers. To-morrow! Every night!"
+
+"Every night?" asked Lily, still incredulous and yet transfigured with
+hope. "You're saying that, Jimmy; but...."
+
+"Do you doubt my word, Lily?" he replied, pressing her gently to him.
+"What, I, your best friend, your only friend ... I who ... haven't I
+always loved you, Lily? Do you think I've changed?... I love you more than
+ever I did! I will explain everything later. And you doubt me ... who
+would give my life for you; yes, life without you means nothing to me,"
+continued Jimmy, in a stifled voice and clasping Lily in his arms.
+
+Lily quivered in his embrace, hid her blushing features on his breast,
+where she heard great dull throbs. She trembled from head to foot. Her
+quickened senses seemed to perceive everything now; the passing
+indisposition from which she had suffered, without knowing it, the light
+fumes of the champagne: all that had suddenly gone, was far away; she had
+never felt more lucid; she saw, she understood and was overcome with
+delight, overcome with a delight beside which her enthusiasm of the
+previous day seemed dark and dreary. The ardor of her eighteen years
+swelled her breast. Success, in any case! To-morrow! And that man was
+hers, that heart was hers! It was a dream, an enchantment! Her head rolled
+back, a smile drew up her lips, her eyes, through her tangled curls,
+seemed all ablaze. Jimmy bent his glowing face over her. Lily, on the
+point of swooning, raised her lips to his.
+
+Vanished around them the low ceiling, the scratched walls, the shabby
+rags. Standing on the wretched spangles that strewed the dusty floor,
+Lily, drunk with joy ... Jimmy, distraught with pride ... seemed like
+youth and love, in mid-sky, among the stars!
+
+CURTAIN
+
+[Illustration: Lily quivered in his embrace.]
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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+
+
+Marcaria. By Augusta J. Evans.
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+Marriage A La Mode. By Mrs. Humphry Ward.
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+Uncle William. By Jennette Lee.
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+Last Voyage of the Donna Isabel, The. By Randall Parrish.
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+
+Anna the Adventuress. By E. Phillips Oppenheim.
+Ann Boyd. By Will N. Harben.
+At The Moorings. By Rosa N. Carey.
+By Right of Purchase. By Harold Bindloss.
+Carlton Case, The. By Ellery H. Clark.
+Chase of the Golden Plate. By Jacques Futrelle.
+Cash Intrigue, The. By George Randolph Chester.
+Delafield Affair, The. By Florence Finch Kelly.
+Dominant Dollar, The. By Will Lillibridge.
+Elusive Pimpernel, The. By Baroness Orczy.
+Ganton & Co. By Arthur J. Eddy.
+Gilbert Neal. By Will N. Harben.
+Girl and the Bill, The. By Bannister Merwin.
+Girl from His Town, The. By Marie Van Vorst.
+Glass House, The. By Florence Morse Kingsley.
+Highway of Fate, The. By Rosa N. Carey.
+Homesteaders, The. By Kate and Virgil D. Boyles.
+Husbands of Edith, The. George Barr McCutcheon.
+Inez. (Illustrated Ed.) By Augusta J. Evans.
+Into the Primitive. By Robert Ames Bennet.
+Jack Spurlock, Prodigal. By Horace Lorimer.
+Jude the Obscure. By Thomas Hardy.
+King Spruce. By Holman Day.
+Kingsmead. By Bettina Von Hutten.
+Ladder of Swords, A. By Gilbert Parker.
+Lorimer of the Northwest. By Harold Bindloss.
+Lorraine. By Robert W. Chambers.
+Loves of Miss Anne, The. By S. R. Crockett.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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+Stooping Lady, The. By Maurice Hewlett.
+Subjection of Isabel Carnaby. By Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler.
+Sunset Trail, The. By Alfred Henry Lewis.
+Sword of the Old Frontier, A. By Randall Parrish.
+Tales of Sherlock Holmes. By A. Conan Doyle.
+That Printer of Udell's. By Harold Bell Wright.
+Throwback, The. By Alfred Henry Lewis.
+Trail of the Sword, The. By Gilbert Parker.
+Treasure of Heaven, The. By Marie Corelli.
+Two Vanrevels, The. By Booth Tarkington.
+Up From Slavery. By Booker T. Washington.
+Vashti. By Augusta Evans Wilson.
+Viper of Milan, The (original edition). By Marjorie Bowen.
+Voice of the People, The. By Ellen Glasgow.
+Wheel of Life, The. By Ellen Glasgow.
+When Wilderness Was King. By Randall Parrish.
+Where the Trail Divides. By Will Lillibridge.
+Woman in Grey, A. By Mrs. C. N. Williamson.
+Woman in the Alcove, The. By Anna Katharine Green.
+Younger Set, The. By Robert W. Chambers.
+The Weavers. By Gilbert Parker.
+The Little Brown Jug at Kildare. By Meredith Nicholson.
+The Prisoners of Chance. By Randall Parrish.
+My Lady of Cleve. By Percy J. Hartley.
+Loaded Dice. By Ellery H. Clark.
+Get Rich Quick Wallingford. By George Randolph Chester.
+The Orphan. By Clarence Mulford.
+A Gentleman of France. By Stanley J. Weyman.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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+Abner Daniel. By Will N. Harben.
+The Far Horizon. By Lucas Malet.
+The Halo. By Bettina von Hutten.
+Jerry Junior. By Jean Webster.
+The Powers and Maxine. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.
+The Balance of Power. By Arthur Goodrich.
+Adventures of Captain Kettle. By Cutcliffe Hyne.
+Adventures of Gerard. By A. Conan Doyle.
+Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. By A. Conan Doyle.
+Arms and the Woman. By Harold MacGrath.
+Artemus Ward's Works (extra illustrated).
+At the Mercy of Tiberius. By Augusta Evans Wilson.
+Awakening of Helena Richie. By Margaret Deland.
+Battle Ground, The. By Ellen Glasgow.
+Belle of Bowling Green, The. By Amelia E. Barr.
+Ben Blair. By Will Lillibridge.
+Best Man, The. By Harold MacGrath.
+Beth Norvell. By Randall Parrish.
+Bob Hampton of Placer. By Randall Parrish.
+Bob, Son of Battle. By Alfred Ollivant.
+Brass Bowl, The. By Louis Joseph Vance.
+Brethren, The. By H. Rider Haggard.
+Broken Lance, The. By Herbert Quick.
+By Wit of Women. By Arthur W. Marchmont.
+Call of the Blood, The. By Robert Hitchens.
+Cap'n Eri. By Joseph C. Lincoln.
+Cardigan. By Robert W. Chambers.
+Car of Destiny, The. By C. N. and A. N. Williamson.
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+Conquest of Canaan, The. By Booth Tarkington.
+Courier of Fortune, A. By Arthur W. Marchmont.
+Darrow Enigma, The. By Melvin Severy.
+Deliverance, The. By Ellen Glasgow.
+Divine Fire, The. By May Sinclair.
+Empire Builders. By Francis Lynde.
+Exploits of Brigadier Gerard. By A. Conan Doyle.
+Fighting Chance, The. By Robert W. Chambers.
+For a Maiden Brave. By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss.
+Fugitive Blacksmith, The. By Chas. D. Stewart.
+God's Good Man. By Marie Corelli.
+Heart's Highway, The. By Mary E. Wilkins.
+Holladay Case, The. By Burton Egbert Stevenson.
+Hurricane Island. By H. B. Marriott Watson.
+In Defiance of the King. By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss.
+Indifference of Juliet, The. By Grace S. Richmond.
+Infelice. By Augusta Evans Wilson.
+Lady Betty Across the Water. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.
+Lady of the Mount, The. By Frederic S. Isham.
+Lane That Had No Turning, The. By Gilbert Parker.
+Langford of the Three Bars. By Kate and Virgil D. Boyles.
+Last Trail, The. By Zane Grey.
+Leavenworth Case, The. By Anna Katharine Green.
+Lilac Sunbonnet, The. By S. R. Crockett.
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+Millionaire Baby, The. By Anna Katharine Green.
+Missourian, The. By Eugene P. Lyle, Jr.
+Mr. Barnes, American. By A. C. Gunter.
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+Partners of the Tide. By Joseph C. Lincoln.
+Phra the Phoenician. By Edwin Lester Arnold.
+President, The. By Alfred Henry Lewis.
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+Princess Virginia, The. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.
+Prisoners. By Mary Cholmondeley.
+Private War, The. By Louis Joseph Vance.
+Prodigal Son, The. By Hall Caine.
+Quickening, The. By Francis Lynde.
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+Rose of the World. By Agnes and Egerton Castle.
+Running Water. By A. E. W. Mason.
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+Seats of the Mighty, The. By Gilbert Parker.
+Sir Nigel. By A. Conan Doyle.
+Sir Richard Calmady. By Lucas Malet.
+Speckled Bird, A. By Augusta Evans Wilson.
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+status under the laws that apply to them.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #26242 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26242)