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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:21:57 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:21:57 -0700 |
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diff --git a/26242-h/26242-h.htm b/26242-h/26242-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ed3dcf --- /dev/null +++ b/26242-h/26242-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13569 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<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> + +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p {margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: 0.5em;} + body {margin-left: 11%; margin-right: 10%;} + a {text-decoration: none;} + .figleft {padding: .5em .5em 0 0; float: left;} + h3 {text-align:center; font-weight:normal; font-size: 1.2em} + hr.full {width: 100%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both;} + .pncolor {color: silver;} + div.ce p {text-align: center; margin: auto 0;} + .captionc {font-size: 90%; text-align:center;} + .figcenter {margin: 2em auto 2em auto; text-align: center;} + div.la p {text-align: left; margin: auto 0;} + .figright {padding: .5em 0 0 .5em; float: right;} + .caption {font-size:.8em} + hr.tb {width: 35%; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both;} + .blockquot {margin-left:5%; margin-right:5%;} + .pagenum {display: inline; font-size: x-small; text-align: right; position: absolute; right: 2%; padding: 1px 3px; font-style: normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration: none; background-color: inherit; border:1px solid #eee;} + div.ra p {text-align: right; margin: auto 0;} + hr.major {width: 65%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both;} + hr.silver {width: 100%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver;} + h2 {text-align:center; font-weight:normal; font-size: 1.4em} +// --> +/* XML end ]]>*/ +</style> + +</head> +<body> + + +<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 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, +“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.</p> +<p>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 +<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’s first memories as a four-year-old +were:</p> +<p>“I was sitting on Ma’s shoulders, Ma on Pa’s and Pa +on the bike.”</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, “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.</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 “set.”</p> +<p>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 +<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’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>“Star light! Star bright!”</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>“Oh, <i>so</i> sorry!”</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,—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 “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:</p> +<p>“Flip! Flap! Lively now! Jump!”</p> +<p>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.</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’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>“What next, Lily! An artiste like you!”</p> +<p>And Ma adopted a sarcastic air and congratulated +“mademoiselle” as she threw the white wrapper over +“mademoiselle’s” 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’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—“Oh, <i>so</i> +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....</p> +<p>“And suppose Lily had broken her leg with her nonsense?” +asked Ma indignantly. “Where would your New +York be?”</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 ’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>“Damn your laws!” snapped Pa furiously. “Do you +think we make stars to hide them under bushels?”</p> +<p>And whoosh! Off for Mexico, where children are allowed +to perform.</p> +<p>Now, in Arizona, near Phœnix, 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—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:</p> +<p>“Hullo, Trampy! Have a drink, Trampy!”</p> +<p>And Trampy accepted:</p> +<p>“With you, my lord! As soon as I’ve done, my lord!”</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>“All right.”</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’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, +<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’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>“Look here!” said Pa, pointing to Trampy. “What he, +a man, does, you can do! I’ll see to that!”</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’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>“Come along, Lily ... to work! Show what +you can do!”</p> +<p>Trampy, in this country of <i>mañolas</i>—“Grand, by +Jove!”—came round about eleven; and Pa, all out of +breath, passed Lily on to him:</p> +<p>“You have a go at her, Trampy! I give up, she won’t +do what I say!” +<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, “Come along, Lily!” 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>“Eh, Lily? Eh?”</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>“Time for a cigar, I guess,” said Trampy, as soon as +Clifton was gone.</p> +<p>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.</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>“There, like that, Lily, or I’ll smack you!”</p> +<p>“That’s right,” said Pa. “Make her work!”</p> +<p>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 +<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>“Oh, Pa, he’ll kill her!” whispered Lily, when she saw +Ave Maria practising.</p> +<p>“It’s none of our damned business,” replied Pa curtly.</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“Pa, I can’t! Pa, I can’t!”</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“But Pa, I’m not Ave Maria!” she said. “I’m not a +Dago.”</p> +<p>And she raised her little rebellious face to him. He +humbled her with a smack on the cheek:</p> +<p>“On the saddle! Up! Quick!”</p> +<p>The child, mastered by her Pa’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>“I’ll dress you in velvet and satin!” he said, in his enthusiasm. +“I’ll cover you with diamonds.”</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 “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:</p> +<p>“Run away and play with your girls, by Jove! Or +whatever you please! Good-by! Ta-ta!”</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 “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 +<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: “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 <i>petit chéri</i>, and, with their painted +mugs, kissed her full on the lips.</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>As for practising, permission or none, that was nobody’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—“Poor child, you’ll be the death of her!”—Pa +sent the old sheep to eat coke; and it was:</p> +<p>“Up, Lily! Get on your bike! Look alive!”</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>“What a tomboy!” Ma cried.</p> +<p>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....</p> +<p>“What smackings that must have taken!” thought Pa.</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“The old rogue!” said Pa enviously. “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 ...!”</p> +<p>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! +<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’s niceness.</p> +<p>“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!”</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 ’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 +<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’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—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!</p> +<hr class='tb' /> + +<p>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; +<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—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.</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’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’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!</p> +<p>“That little monkey has seen everything in her time,” +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—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....</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>“Lily ... who’s Lily? A New Zealander: really? +Ah well, we will look into the matter; it will be settled +later on ...”</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’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?</p> +<p>“Engagement not valid. Ought at least to have waited +for the London agency’s signed contract before leaving!”</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’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>“Lily? Who’s Lily? A Maori? Let’s see the photograph.”</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>“She’s too thin, that Lily of yours!” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span> +“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.</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’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—and +signed—of an engagement in eight months’ 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’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.</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’-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—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....</p> +<p>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!</p> +<p>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 +<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’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 “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:</p> +<p>“Train apprentices? What’s the good? Run a troupe? +Pooh, madness!”</p> +<p>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!</p> +<p>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.</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’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.</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’d +show them, jolly soon!</p> +<p>Mrs. Clifton was terrified at her husband’s boldness, +but dared not protest; however, she observed that it was +a big undertaking.</p> +<p>“We shall have five apprentices,” interrupted Clifton, +“six including Lily. We must find lodgings.”</p> +<p>“But, dear...!”</p> +<p>“Don’t you think...?”</p> +<p>“Yes, dear.”</p> +<p>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 <i>The Daily Mail</i>—“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.</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—two shillings a day those guttersnipes +expected—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, “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.</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;'> +“TAKE ME, TAKE ME!”<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’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’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 “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.</p> +<p>“Pack up, my lady,” 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’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!</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’s ulster and a tam-o’-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’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’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.</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’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’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>“Don’t eat chocolates while you’re dancing, you, Eva! +Hi, you, Gwendolen!”</p> +<p>And, to emphasize his remarks, he threw his felt hat at +them.</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“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!”</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’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’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!</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 “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:</p> +<p>“Why don’t you do as I say when I tell you, damn it!”</p> +<p>“But, Pa, I can’t!” protested Lily.</p> +<p>“You can, if you like,” 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’s threatening movement, had fallen flat down.</p> +<p>“Maud again! That damned Jonah!” cried Pa, going +up to her. “Well, Miss Woolly-legs, do you mean to +stay there all night?”</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>“Let’s look!” 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’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?</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>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....</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’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>“That’ll do,” said Pa, dropping into the easy-chair in +the dining-room. “I’m worn out. If you’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”—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?”</p> +<p>“Yes, dear.”</p> +<p>“Come along, then, all of you Woolly-legs,” 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—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!</p> +<p>“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?”</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>“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.</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>“So what you want is to stay with us?” asked Pa.</p> +<p>“Oh!” gasped Maud.</p> +<p>“Well, then, stay! But no more bike; you shall be +Lily’s lady’s maid,” 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’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?</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’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 ...</p> +<p>“Lily won’t sit twiddling her thumbs for all that, will +you, Lily?” 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’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>“Lily!”</p> +<p>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.</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,—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 +<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 “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. +<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’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>“What do you want with that? My poor Lily, you +must be mad! That’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’t suit you at all. Why, if we +listened to you, we’d soon be in the workhouse!”</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—who +could have learned +the business and later on +have starred by herself!—she +had heard that “old +sheep” say, speaking of +her:</p> +<p>“What a shame to dress +her like that! A girl who +brings them in capital to +invest!”</p> +<p>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 +<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. “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.... +<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>“Get up, Lily,” said one of them, laughing and raising +her sturdy little hand. “Get up, or....”</p> +<p>“No,” said Lily, “let me alone, I’m dead.”</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—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.</p> +<p>“Lily!”</p> +<p>“Yes, Ma!”</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>“Lily, you light the fire.”</p> +<p>“What about Maud?” said Lily. “Why can’t Maud +do it?”</p> +<p>“You young impudence,” ... said Ma; “Maud +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span> +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!”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“Why!” cried Lily. “She’ll explain everything wrong +to Jimmy, and the bike will be no use!”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“Yes, Ma.”</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’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—scenery, +curtain, lime-light—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 “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. <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—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....</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>“Great success! Trampy Wheel-Pad!! At the Kingdom!!!” 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>“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?”</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’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’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’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.</p> +<p>“I thought as much,” said Lily, laughing. “That’s why +I came.”</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>“Always fresh tricks, Lily?”</p> +<p>“Always, Jimmy. No end of bruises, I tell you!”</p> +<p>“It’s part of the game,” said Jimmy.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“Pooh!” said Jimmy. “One can’t expect a white skin +at the game.”</p> +<p>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! +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span></p> +<p>“I’m glad I’m not your daughter!” she said. “My! +You’d be harder than Pa.”</p> +<p>“Your Pa is hard, sometimes; but he’s very fond of +you, for all that.”</p> +<p>“Of course,” said Lily, “he wouldn’t like me to break +my neck; I bring him in too much for that, eh?”</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>And he rummaged among his tools, looked for loose +pieces, showed them to Lily, while thinking of other +things:</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“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!”</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 “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.</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 “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 +<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’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.</p> +<p>“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!”</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>“He’s drunk,” 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’t got to practise so hard; +she only complained that they didn’t treat her “fair” at +home:</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“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 ...”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“A sweetheart? You? Lily?”</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“And your father and mother know nothing about it?” +insisted Jimmy, nonplussed.</p> +<p>“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.” +<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>“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!”</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>“No,” he said briskly, “I shan’t tell; don’t be afraid, +Lily; only ...”</p> +<p>“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....”</p> +<p>“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....”</p> +<p>“Don’t talk to me about marriage! No, not that. +Gee!”</p> +<p>“But—”</p> +<p>“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!”</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>“Where have you been?”</p> +<p>“Why, I’ve come straight from Jimmy’s, Ma.”</p> +<p>“That’s a lie! The butcher’s boy, who has just left, +saw you outside the Horse Shoe. Who were you waiting +for?”</p> +<p>“I wasn’t waiting for any one!” cried Lily, her eyes +blazing with anger.</p> +<p>“You devil!” 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>“My two china cups! You viper!” she yelled.</p> +<p>At that moment, the door opened; Clifton entered. +He seemed preoccupied; looked at his watch:</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>Ma grunted an explanation. Two cups broken, Lily a +gadabout who would bring them to the grave with shame!</p> +<p>“But, Pa, I was only looking at the posters.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span></p> +<p>“Posters?” repeated Clifton. “Which posters? What’s +all this nonsense?”</p> +<p>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!</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>“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.”</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>“Quicker, my Woolly-legs! No time to lose!”</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’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.</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 “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....</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;'> +“QUICKER, MY WOOLLY-LEGS!”<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’ 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’s head, sprang lightly to the stage, near +an old fellow in spectacles.</p> +<p>“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?”</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>“So this is your Lily,” said Fuchs, tapping her on the +cheek as she joined the group. “A real lady! And good, +eh?”</p> +<p>The Three Graces also congratulated Pa ... +kissed Lily:</p> +<p>“How sweet you’ve grown! Why, Lily, how pretty +you are!”</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>“What arms! What muscles!” Then, “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.”</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>“Yoop, up with you!”</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’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>“Hi, you there, Mary! I’ll pull your ear! Birdie, if I +take my belt to you!”</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’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.</p> +<p>“Stand up, Lily! Show pluck, Lily!” 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>“Nothing broken? A tiny scratch; it’s nothing. Tom, +the white stuff!”</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>“You see, Lily, you’re not dead yet! Nothing to be +frightened about. Come, try again!”</p> +<p>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!</p> +<p>She obeyed her Pa like an automaton, in her anxiety +to do well.</p> +<p>“More graceful! That’s it! Not so stiff!” said Pa.</p> +<p>“But, Pa, I can’t!” protested Lily, soaked in perspiration.</p> +<p>“But you’ve got to, my little lady!”</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’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>“Do your best, my Lily,” said Pa. “He’s watching +us.”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“How much for so many lamps? And that? What +does that come to, roughly?”</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>“But, Pa, I can’t!”</p> +<p>“But you’ve got to, my little lady!”</p> +<p>“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, +<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>“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!”</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>“Ten pullings-up with one arm, Nunkie! Ten without +stopping!”</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“Dear Nunkie!”</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’s presence. He quieted her with a gesture, +scolded her under his breath, kindly:</p> +<p>“Shut up, Lily!... Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, +Lily?”</p> +<p>And he looked at Nunkie with an air of saying:</p> +<p>“You old rogue!”</p> +<p>As for the Three Graces, it was a pleasure to watch +them: their pluck was infectious.</p> +<p>“To work!” said Pa. “Let’s have a somersault, eh?” +<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’t quite right.</p> +<p>“I can see,” said Pa, “you want to make me lose my +temper!”</p> +<p>“But, Pa, it hurts!”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>Then, suddenly, Lily succeeded magnificently.</p> +<p>“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.”</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>“Would you like to, Lily?” asked Pa.</p> +<p>“Yes, Pa.”</p> +<p>“Very well, then.”</p> +<p>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 +<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—“Zæo’s +year at the Aquarium:—that doesn’t make me any younger, +eh?”—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 “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:</p> +<p>“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,” and he looked at her gently +as if in regret at having been so harsh at practice.</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“Why not to-day?” 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>“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!”</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>“Five pullings-up with one arm at Boston. Six at +’Frisco. Eight when we got back to New York! Eight, +Lily! And to-day....”</p> +<p>“And your lover in America, tell me about your lover +...” interrupted Lily, pressing Thea’s arm.</p> +<p>“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.”</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>“And did you write to him?”</p> +<p>“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....”</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’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>“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....</p> +<p>“Look, Thea!” Lily broke +in, pointing through the plate-glass +to a heap of imitation +jewelry, lying, among watches, +on red and black velvet.</p> +<p>“Come on!” 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—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.</p> +<p>“Just as you please, my darling. I’ll do whatever you +like. I don’t know anything about it!”</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>“Your watch, Lily,” he said, opening the door and +pushing her in. “Now’s the chance to get it. Come, +choose for yourself!”</p> +<p>“Oh, Pa! Do you really mean it, Pa?” she said incredulously.</p> +<p>“Now look here, I’ll smack you, Lily! When your Pa +tells you a thing!”</p> +<p>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....</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’s arm, passed the draper’s shops with a +serious air.</p> +<p>“No, another time!” 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’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>“Why should writing a letter interfere with the trapeze, +when a girl has arms harder than a horse’s hocks?”</p> +<p>“What? What?” asked Pa, taken aback, and when +he understood, he would have held his sides for laughing, +if he had been at home:</p> +<p>“Oh, the old rogue!” he said admiringly. “He loves +his dear girls, does Nunkie!”</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>“Hullo, Clifton!”</p> +<p>Pa turned his head in surprise:</p> +<p>“Hullo, Trampy!”</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>“I congratulate you, Clifton; what a dear little wife!”</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>“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!”</p> +<p>“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. <i>Au revoir</i>.”</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>“<i>Au revoir</i>, old man; <i>au revoir</i>, my love, my little +peach!”</p> +<p>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....</p> +<p>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!</p> +<p>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!</p> +<p>“He laughs best who laughs last,” growled Ma.</p> +<p>“Just think, Ma,” said Lily, taking courage from Pa’s +merriment. “That old rogue forbids his daughter to write, +he pretends that....”</p> +<p>“And quite right too!” said Ma. “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’t mean Mr. Fuchs, I suppose?”</p> +<p>“Why, yes, Ma, old Fuchs.”</p> +<p>“Old Fuchs! You chit, to talk like that of respectable +people! Go to your room, impudence! Dry bread for +you!”</p> +<p>“But, Ma...!” said Lily rebelliously.</p> +<p>“That’s what comes of it,” said Mrs. Clifton, addressing +her husband, “when a mother no longer has the right to +correct her daughter.”</p> +<p>And she pointed to Lily, who persisted in remaining, +who was even beginning an explanation:</p> +<p>“But, Pa ... but....”</p> +<p>“Obey your mother first,” said Clifton.</p> +<p>“Yes, Pa.”</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’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!</p> +<p>“It’s an example you ought to follow, instead of laughing +at it, Mr. Clifton!”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“Then I give up!” said Ma, in a voice of exasperation. +“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!”</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>“Come down, my Lily! Your Ma says you may! The +cakes are on the table.”</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’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,—or the marriage,—of +the star....</p> +<p>“Lily has changed a good deal lately, dear, are you +sure she hasn’t a man in her mind?”</p> +<p>“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.”</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>“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.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span></p> +<p>“Call home work useless! A woman’s greatest charm!” +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’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>“Magneeficent!” he exclaimed, in his Franco-Belgian +accent. “How old is she: sixteen? seventeen?”</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“What, fourteen, Ma!” protested Lily.</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>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.</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’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—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 “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!</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 +“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.</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 “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!</p> +<p>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. +<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—three encores—Lily could have half a sovereign, +to buy a new hat in the Tottenham Court Road with, said +Pa.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“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!</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“They’re very nice, those bloomers; those little shirts. +Ask your mother.”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“And the troupe,” said Pa. “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’d be +no one but you!”</p> +<p>“Well, what harm would that do? I <i>am</i> the troupe!” +said Lily, tossing her obstinate forehead. “And all the +money you give them you could give me!”</p> +<p>“Lily,” said Pa, alarmed, “you deserve to be smacked +for that!”</p> +<p>“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.</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>“Wait a bit! You shall see if <i>I</i> would!”</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’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 +<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’s voice made her jump:</p> +<p>“What are you doing there, you good-for-nothing? +I told you to take your banjo!”</p> +<p>“Yes, Ma,” Lily replied mechanically, with her nose +glued to the window.</p> +<p>“Do you hear, Mr. Clifton?” said Ma furiously. “That’s +the way she obeys!”</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’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’t quite know what to say; there was a certain amount +of truth in it:</p> +<p>“But,” he persisted, “why should she go? She has +everything she wants here?”</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’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>“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?”</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’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’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:</p> +<p>“Are you ill, dear?”</p> +<p>Ma, without answering the question, pushed the ring +under his nose and screamed that she had told him so:</p> +<p>“An engagement ring, dear; an engagement ring! +Perhaps you’ll believe me now!”</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—brrr!—to +do a clog-dance!</p> +<p>“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!”</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>“Hullo! So it’s you now,” he couldn’t help saying.</p> +<p>“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.”</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>“There will be eight minutes of this,” said Jimmy, taking +out his watch. “What have you to say to me, Mr. +Clifton?”</p> +<p>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?</p> +<p>“Why, you know it is!” said Jimmy. “How would you +have me prevent it?”</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’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’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!</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>“Oh!” thought Jimmy. “If I could only climb the ladder +too!”</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’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—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.</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’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>“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.”</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!—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>“Rotten josser of a journalist!” 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 “partner,” +who were getting things ready for their performance—-some +little hoops, two cardboard bottles, gilt balls—and +then waited humbly in the shadow.</p> +<p>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. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span></p> +<p>“How poor she looks!” Lily could not help whispering +to Ma.</p> +<p>“You’ll be worse off yourself, some day,” said Ma, “if +you go on as you’re doing! Don’t laugh at other people.”</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’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.</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>“Your old sweetheart, eh, Lily?” 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 “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.</p> +<p>“Pooh! I have some one better than that,” exclaimed +Lily, excited by the proximity of the Roofers.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“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?”</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>“And try to do your best, my Lily.”</p> +<p>“Yes, Pa.”</p> +<p>“And try to behave.”</p> +<p>“Yes, Ma.”</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: “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, +<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’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!</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’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!</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>“Who were you laughing at?”</p> +<p>“I wasn’t laughing, Ma!”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“I wasn’t laughing, I wasn’t laughing, Ma!”</p> +<p>“That’s to teach you to lie!” 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—“Ugh! Ugh! +Ugh!”—Ma’s diligent fist “signed a contract on her +back”:</p> +<p>“And don’t you dare to cry out, or I’ll give it you +twice as hard!”</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’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.</p> +<p>“Come along,” said Ma. “Give me your arm, Lily.”</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, ’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—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.</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 “fascinating” and “bewildering;” he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span> +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.</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>“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>“<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Lily</span>.”</p> +</div> + +</div> +<p>By return of post, she received “a thousand kisses on +her rosy cheeks, on her fair tresses, everywhere,” kisses +without end.</p> +<p>“He’s mad,” thought Lily.</p> +<p>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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span> +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.</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“Yes,” replied Lily, “I know. It’s like Pa. He wasn’t +much before he got me into shape; and look at him now!”</p> +<p>This was said with an artless candor that enraptured +Jimmy.</p> +<p>“What a dear little girlie you are!” he said. “What +an adorable kid!”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“What’s that?”</p> +<p>“What I say, Jimmy.”</p> +<p>“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?” asked Jimmy, greatly +upset.</p> +<p>“Pooh!” said Lily. “I’m not quite sure.”</p> +<p>“But you wouldn’t marry him unless you loved him?”</p> +<p>“I should marry him to change my life.”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“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....”</p> +<p>“I adore the stage, for all that!” interrupted Lily.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“Why, yes, Lily, always learning, that’s life!” said +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span> +Jimmy. “But the other chap, of course, promises you +the earth! Some millionaire, I suppose: an admirer in +the front boxes?”</p> +<p>“He’s an artiste,” said Lily.</p> +<p>“Why,” said Jimmy, stepping back, without letting go +of her. “But, no, it’s impossible; you’re not thinking of +Trampy!”</p> +<p>“Why not?” said Lily angrily, trying to release herself +from Jimmy’s passionate grasp.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“What’s the good of talking?” said Lily. “He’s miserable. +He worships me. He drinks to forget. He told +me so himself!”</p> +<p>“But they say he’s married,” said Jimmy. “Why ...”</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>And with that she left him and went up to the dressing-room.</p> +<p>Jimmy was heartbroken.</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>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? +<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’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’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 “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.</p> +<p>“Who says so? It’s a lie!” Trampy hastened to answer.</p> +<p>“I mean your marriage,” replied Lily.</p> +<p>“I thought as much,” said Trampy.</p> +<p>“Tell me the truth,” persisted Lily innocently, looking +him straight in the eyes.</p> +<p>“If I was married, Lily, would I want to marry you?”</p> +<p>“Of course not,” said Lily, already shaken.</p> +<p>“Who’s been talking to you about that?” asked Trampy. +“Your Pa, eh? And Jimmy: I’ll bet that Jimmy ...?”</p> +<p>“Jimmy too.”</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“Yes, somewhere on the Western Tour.”</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>This was proof positive. Lily could find nothing to +answer.</p> +<p>“Come and have a drink, Lily?”</p> +<p>“They’re waiting for me at home,” 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’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 <i>entr’acte</i>, 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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span> +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.</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’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—<i>Engineering</i>, +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. +<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’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>“Suppose I was married,” he hinted, one day, “that +wouldn’t matter. Couldn’t we ... live together ... +eh?”</p> +<p>“I like your style!” said Lily, feeling slightly indignant +at such a proposal. “What do you take me for?”</p> +<p>“I was only joking,” Trampy hastened to say. “If +you want to be married, I’m quite agreeable.”</p> +<p>“I insist upon it!”</p> +<p>“So then you prefer to take strangers into our confidence?”</p> +<p>“What strangers?” asked Lily, in surprise.</p> +<p>“Why, the quill-drivers at Somerset House and those +damned fire-escapes.”</p> +<p>Lily had enough religion to know that the fire-escape +was the clergyman:</p> +<p>“As for that,” she said, “we shall see later; but I want +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span> +the registrar’s office. If I’m to be your little wife, I want +to be so for good and all: marriage or nothing!”</p> +<p>“I shall be delighted, Lily!”</p> +<p>“And I’m determined!”</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>“What a dear little wife she’ll make!” thought Trampy. +“And how she loves me!”</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:—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.</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—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!</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>“Lily, come down!” Pa’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’ room, she realized +what it was. Pa was holding a letter in his hand and +scowling at her.</p> +<p>“These are nice stories I hear!” he cried. “You let men +kiss you? You’ve got a love affair? Come, Lily, is this +true?”</p> +<p>“It’s Jimmy’s doing,” thought Lily. “The mean cur! +He’s given me away!”</p> +<p>Pa went on hotly:</p> +<p>“And you’re going to marry, are you? To marry +Trampy? Here, read that!”</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>“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!”</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>“It’s true then that you want to get married, you baggage!”</p> +<p>“Pa!” cried Lily.</p> +<p>But he, with an “Ah!” of rage, sprang upon her, +clutched her mass of hair, banged her head against the +wall:</p> +<p>“On your knees! Say, ‘I—beg—your—par—don—’”</p> +<p>And, Bang! Bang! Bang! The phrase was punctuated +with thumps.</p> +<p>“Oh, Clifton,” implored Ma, “stop! Not so hard!”</p> +<p>“Beg—par—don! Beg—par—don!” continued Pa, +without relenting.</p> +<p>Lily was half-stunned, the world throbbed before her +eyes, and, delirious with wrath, she hissed:</p> +<p>“Never!”</p> +<p>“But I say, I say you shall not marry him! I’ll kill you +first!”</p> +<p>“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!”</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—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>“A disgrace to the family! You’ll be the death of us!”</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>“I’m going out, or I’ll kill her!” 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’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.</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—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, +<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 ’EM IN</h2> +<h3>I</h3> +</div> + +<p>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 +<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’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>“A poor consolation,” thought Trampy. “The price of +a dog-license.”</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“It’s true what they said? You’re married?”</p> +<p>“Yes, I am.”</p> +<p>“Oh, I knew it!” said Lily, in despair. “But then +... if you are ... I’m not!”</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“Oh, how you frightened me!” said Lily, nestling +against him. “Oh, don’t ever let us part!” +<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’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>“With Pa,” said Lily, “it was not the same thing ... +and I’m not with Pa now.”</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—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’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 “Mdlles.;” or else, from time to time, some +josser, a friend of the manager’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>“Gee!” she sometimes heard a voice say behind her. +“Fancy owning a girl like that and not having the sense +to keep her!”</p> +<p>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.</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 “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 +<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>“Call me Mrs. Trampy,” 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’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>“Oh, dear! Oh, my!”</p> +<p>Then they would “talk shop” 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>“That’s just like it!” 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’s +eyes. Her Pa would never have permitted himself +... She was not accustomed ...</p> +<p>“That didn’t keep you from splitting your sides with +laughter,” said Trampy.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“Quite right!” 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’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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span> +husband’s neck, loved him, kissed him prettily, the great +silly: he knew better; he knew she never thought of +Jimmy:</p> +<p>“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!”</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’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>“I should have been better off, perhaps, at home,” she +thought. “If this is marriage, it’s not much.”</p> +<p>For, she saw it quite clearly, <i>that</i> 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:</p> +<p>“Girls, girls, my!”</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 “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.</p> +<p>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.</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>“They should have treated me like that,” she concluded, +“and I should have been at home still!”</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 “living together?”</p> +<p>“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!”</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 “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?</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: “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:</p> +<p>“Crrrra! Crrrra!”</p> +<p>“All that set-out for nothing!” said Lily to herself. +“It would be much simpler to have a little talent.”</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’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>“Hullo, old boy! Glad to see you, Trampy!”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“What!” Lily broke in, astounded at these manners. +“What number thirty-six, thirty-eight?”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“Oh, yes,” said Poland to Lily. “I did hear that you +ran away: tired of this, eh?”</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>“Yes, I was a bit,” said Lily, feeling rather proud than +otherwise. “I’ve been through the mill, I have!”</p> +<p>“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.</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>“Come along, Lily,” said Trampy. “Let’s go home.”</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 “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.</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>“Is it true?” 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>“And,” said Trampy, choking with shame, “you married +me for ‘that:’ me, Trampy!”</p> +<p>“Yes,” said Lily confusedly.</p> +<p>“Damn you!” cried Trampy. “Oh, if we weren’t married +for good, wouldn’t I just make you sleep out to-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_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> +<h3></h3> +</div> + +<p>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:</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“If you had more talent,” thought Lily to herself, “that +sort of thing wouldn’t happen. I’d like to see you with +Pa: <i>he’d</i> show you, <i>he’d</i> make you stir your stumps, you +rusty biker!”</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 “that!”</p> +<p>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!</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’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 +“fair.”</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 “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:</p> +<p>“Show it to me, you wench!”</p> +<p>“Shut up, you footy rotter!”</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’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 +<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’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—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!</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—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!</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—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?</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>In other words, Trampy, according to her, was a Jonah, +good only for playing the people in, if that!</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“None of that!” said Lily angrily, ready to fly at his +throat.</p> +<p>“A wife,” resumed Trampy, with great dignity, “helps +her husband, instead of insulting him.”</p> +<p>“We’re in for it, I suppose!” said Lily.</p> +<p>“Certainly, we’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’s no reason why you shouldn’t find one. Look +for one and work!”</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—the wife at home, as Jimmy said, +that josser!—but they were rare.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“But,” said Lily, “I haven’t a stage bike, and yours is +really too ugly.”</p> +<p>“I know of one for sale.”</p> +<p>“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!”</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—as in the time of her “French +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span> +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.</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>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.</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’t to be put out by a little thing like that:</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>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 <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’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>“Just you wait and see! It’s a trick to make a millionaire +of you or break your neck.”</p> +<p>“Will you make Miss Lily do it?”</p> +<p>“I’ll see, I’ll think it over,” 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>“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?”</p> +<p>“Oh, quite!” 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>“There you go again!” said Trampy. “Can’t you see +she’s humbugging you?”</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>“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 <i>can</i> say!”</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 “rubbed into +your skin” to be as clever as she +was.</p> +<p>“’K you!” 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. “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.</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’s name +on the posters and had come to say, “How do you do?” +to her.</p> +<p>And, amid the thunder of the band or the lull of the +<i>entr’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’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’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>“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.</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’s “fat freak” to take +Lily’s place. The reply ran:</p> +<p>“No, thanks, I’m all right where I am.</p> +<div class='ra'> +<p>“<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Fat Freak</span>.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The signature was underlined, for people had ended by +knowing about Pa’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>“I will come ... when you take to wearing +braces!” 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>“Bravo, girls!” 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>“Jimmy, that son of a gun!” 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’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>“Singing?” asked Lily.</p> +<p>“No, something to do with the bike.”</p> +<p>“What a fool!” thought Lily. “Fancies himself an +artiste because he used to mend my bike for me!”</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>“Those jossers!” 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>“What rot!”</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>“And the troupe?”</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’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>“I knew it,” said Lily; “I knew I had made his fortune! +Thousands of pounds, damn it!”</p> +<p>“Lily, don’t swear like that!” said Nunkie Fuchs. “It’s +not right!”</p> +<p>Lily lowered her head, taken aback; excused herself, +like a lady who knows her manners:</p> +<p>“And yet,” she said to herself, “if he had had my troubles, +that old rogue, perhaps he would have sworn, too!”</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’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.</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>Lily did not even answer.</p> +<p>“I’m speaking to you,” said Trampy crossly. “You +did nothing right to-night.”</p> +<p>“Yes, I know; that’ll do,” said Lily. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span></p> +<p>“It’s not a question of ‘Yes, I know,’ but of doing better +next time,” said Trampy.</p> +<p>“I’m not taking any orders to-night,” said Lily.</p> +<p>“No, darling, but there was an agent in the house. He +must have thought you bad.”</p> +<p>“That’s none of your business!”</p> +<p>“And, if you don’t get engagements, what’s to become +of us?”</p> +<p>“I don’t care a hang,” said Lily. “<i>I</i> can always manage.”</p> +<p>“You ... you ... and what about me? We’re +married, aren’t we?”</p> +<p>“But the money I earn’s mine,” said Lily. “I mean to +buy dresses and whatever I want to, with <i>my</i> 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?”</p> +<p>“What I’m saying,” said Trampy, aghast, “is for your +good, from the point of view of the business, the salary.”</p> +<p>“<i>My</i> business, <i>my</i> salary, damn it!” cried Lily. “<i>Mine, +mine</i>, do you understand? And it concerns nobody but +myself!”</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>“<i>My</i> pay, <i>my</i> work, <i>mine</i>!”</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>“What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,” +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. “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, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span> +but “<i>my</i> work, <i>my</i> salary, <i>mine</i>” 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 +“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!</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>“If only it would!” Trampy hoped.</p> +<p>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. +<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’t want to kill herself with work for nothing, +as she had been doing up to now:</p> +<p>“A lady isn’t a performing dog!” 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’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 +<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. “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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span> +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!</p> +<p>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 +<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>“She thinks more of him than of me,” 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 “missis” to come back:</p> +<p>“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!”</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—“Bridging the +Abyss!”—at the Kolossal!</p> +<p>“What’s that?” Lily asked herself.</p> +<p>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 <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> +“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 <i>hoch</i> for the Kolossal!</p> +<p>Trampy also was flabbergasted, when he read about +this:</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“I like your style!” said Lily. “You’d have made me +break my back in your stead! I know you!”</p> +<p>“Oh, but I shan’t swallow that,” said Trampy, in his +exasperation. “We shall see! I have my rights. I shall +enforce them!”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“Hang your Jimmy!”</p> +<p>“It’s not a question of <i>my</i> Jimmy,” retorted Lily, “but +of <i>my</i> money. I should simply have flung it away! You, +do a thing like that! You risk your skin! Rot!”</p> +<p>Trampy, in his rage, would have boxed Lily’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 “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!</p> +<p>And, one evening, behold Trampy returning in triumph +to the café where Lily awaited him:</p> +<p>“I knew it!” he cried. “I knew it wouldn’t go like +that!”</p> +<p>“Well, what?” asked Lily. “Have you got a number +thirty-seven? Thirty-eight? A fresh conquest? Something +quite out of the common?”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“Why, what’s happened?” 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 “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 +<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’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.</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>“Trampy Wheel-Pad, the tramp cyclist with the red-hot +stove?”</p> +<p>“That’s me,” said Trampy.</p> +<p>And, full of self-assurance, he explained the object of +his visit:</p> +<p>“I was the first to construct it; I patented it myself at +Washington; I will produce the documents!”</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—no damned lalerperloosers—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 “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!</p> +<p>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 +<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 “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.</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’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—and that was impossible—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’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.</p> +<p>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 <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 “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.”</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 “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; +<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 “playing humanity,” +with threats, clenched fists, broken crockery strewing the +floor.</p> +<p>“To humiliate me like that before Jimmy!” said Lily, +furious.</p> +<p>“Drop that about Jimmy!” snarled Trampy, green with +jealousy. “I won’t have you mention him!”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>Trampy strode up to her with his fist raised.</p> +<p>“If you touch me,” cried Lily, seizing the lamp, “if +you touch me, I’ll smash it over your head!”</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—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.</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 +“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.</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’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’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>“I knew you when you were ‘that high.’ You used +to sit on my knee. How beautiful you’ve grown!”</p> +<p>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.”</p> +<p>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.</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>“Oh,” she said, “he’s taking the very bread from our +mouths, with his lawsuit! And I haven’t a decent hat +to wear.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span></p> +<p>“He’ll drive us to the workhouse,” grumbled Trampy, +staring before him, with folded arms.</p> +<p>“It’s your fault!” Lily began, but soon stopped: the +subject led to a surfeit of quarreling.</p> +<p>But, in her own mind:</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“I go and see Jimmy?” exclaimed Lily. “What for?”</p> +<p>“To try and arrange things,” replied Trampy, dropping +his head. “No one but you could ...”</p> +<p>“I’ll think about it, I’ll see,” 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’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 “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.</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>“Hullo, Lily! Come in.”</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>“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.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“’K you,” said Lily, sitting down, feeling reassured +by his cordial welcome and thinking that, at least, he was +polite.</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“’K you,” said Lily.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span> +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.”</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>“<i>Who</i> stars?” asked Lily.</p> +<p>“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’t know what, but she returned to +the charge. She’s doing very well now. She tries to be +like you.”</p> +<p>“No! Impossible!” exclaimed Lily. “What, that fat +freak?”</p> +<p>“And your Pa will succeed,” Jimmy hastened to add. +“You’ll see. You ought to be proud of having a Pa like +that.”</p> +<p>“Yes, in a sense,” 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>“And ... Ma?” asked Lily.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“Forgiveness? What for? Of whom?” Lily inquired.</p> +<p>“Why,” said Jimmy, in a serious tone, “of whom do +you think people ask forgiveness, when they are alone, +on their knees?”</p> +<p>“Oh,” said Lily, greatly touched, “I understand! So +they didn’t put the blame on me?”</p> +<p>“What blame?”</p> +<p>“For my marriage,” said Lily, lowering her eyes.</p> +<p>“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.” +<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>“What!” said Jimmy. “You’re blushing! Do you regret +it?”</p> +<p>Lily did not reply.</p> +<p>“Then,” continued Jimmy slowly, “what they said—I +wouldn’t believe it, but you know they say a lot of +things—is it true?”</p> +<p>She nodded yes and raised her eyes to him with a sad, +weary smile.</p> +<p>“He doesn’t love you? And ... and ... +you, Lily,” asked Jimmy, taking her hand in his, “don’t +you love him?”</p> +<p>“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.</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’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? +<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’s marriage over there. So there seemed no way +out.</p> +<p>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!</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>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: +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span></p> +<p>“I hope he knows, Lily. We must have no secrets: +did you tell him?”</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“Ah! He did!” said Jimmy, a little surprised.</p> +<p>“Yes,” said Lily, “it’s about that lawsuit.”</p> +<p>“Speak quite frankly, Lily. Tell me everything,” said +Jimmy, very calm.</p> +<p>“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 ...”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“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 +<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>“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.”</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“What do you mean by ‘us’?”</p> +<p>“Trampy isn’t working,” continued Lily. “He hasn’t +done anything for a long time.”</p> +<p>“But then,” asked Jimmy, stopping in front of her, +“how does he live?”</p> +<p>“I ... I’m earning money,” 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, +“Business is business,” and to ask, “What would you do +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span> +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....</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“Pooh!” said Jimmy, lighting a cigarette. “I’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 ...”</p> +<hr class='tb' /> + +<p>“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.</p> +<p>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.</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>“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.”</p> +<p>“Afraid of what?” asked Lily, bewildered.</p> +<p>“Afraid of me. He knows it won’t pay to try my +patience too far!”</p> +<p>“Afraid? Jimmy?” said Lily, indignant at all that +foolery. “Do you think he’s done that because he’s +afraid?”</p> +<p>“And for what other reason would he have given in so +soon?”</p> +<p>“He did it to please me, he did it for <i>me</i>, damn it, for +<i>me</i>!” said Lily. “You’re rid of your lawsuit: you ought +to talk differently and thank me!”</p> +<p>“And why should he do it to please you? What is +there between you?” asked Trampy, looking her in the +face.</p> +<p>“You’re drunk!” said Lily furiously, with her hand +ready to scratch.</p> +<p>“No scenes in the street!” said Trampy. “We’ll go +into this at home ...”</p> +<p>“Then I shan’t come in!” said Lily, abruptly turning +her back on him. “I’m going to the theater!”</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>“You fool, if I catch you!” she said.</p> +<p>Then another idea passed through her brain. Oh, if +it were true! She would have danced for joy! Trampy’s +marriage in America.</p> +<p>“Is it true? Is it true? God above, grant that it be +true!”</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’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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span> +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!</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“Ave Maria? Don’t know the name. Ave Maria? +Haven’t seen her since ...”</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 “Bridging the Abyss,” it seemed; but nobody +knew what.</p> +<p>“I know!” 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>“Do you know Jimmy?”</p> +<p>“Ever since I was that high,” answered Lily. “He +used to hold me on his knees.”</p> +<p>“And what is his new trick?”</p> +<p>“I’m not allowed to tell. He asked me not to say.”</p> +<p>Everybody praised her for her discretion. The sympathy +with which she was surrounded increased.</p> +<p>“Jimmy,” they hinted. “Now there’s a fellow you +ought to have married, instead of your ...”</p> +<p>“Not a word against my husband,” she said, like a good +and devoted little wife. “I won’t have him insulted.”</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>“What a charming group!” said a voice behind her. +“If I were a painter, Lily, I would do you like that!” +<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>“Am I spoiling your game?” he asked. “It’s so pretty! +It makes me want to kiss the lot of you!”</p> +<p>“Well, booby!” said Lily, all excited and laughing. +“Why don’t you? You daren’t!”</p> +<p>“I daren’t! I’ll show you whether I dare ... +and ... I’m stronger than I look!”</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“Look what a dear little baby I’ve found! Isn’t she +sweet, eh?”</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>“Jimmy, her old friend,” they said, “knew her when +she was that high.”</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>“I’ve had enough of this,” he said. “I saw you, you +and your Jimmy! You can’t deny it this time!”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“I didn’t want to make a fuss.”</p> +<p>“You were afraid to. You’re afraid of him, that’s +what you are!”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“I can’t say,” sneered Lily, “that I remember running +after you!”</p> +<p>“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!”</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>“I’ll kill him like a dog, like a dog!”</p> +<p>“Pooh!” said Lily, who knew Trampy. “You talk too +much to act.”</p> +<p>“We shall see. Where’s your Jimmy hiding?”</p> +<p>“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.”...</p> +<p>“What’s that? Don’t you try to get at me!” said +Trampy.</p> +<p>“I tell you, he’s behind you, damn it! Turn round and +you’ll see ... if you have eyes to see with.”</p> +<p>Trampy turned round, half-reluctantly: he didn’t like +those jokes, but he didn’t wish to seem afraid.</p> +<p>“Where? Where do you see Jimmy?” he grumbled.</p> +<p>“There, in front of you,” insisted Lily, pointing with +her finger and pushing him by the shoulder. “Off you +go!”</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>“H’m, h’m. Have you got a light about you, Jimmy? +Give us a match,” 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 “contracts” with the steel buckle than +see that cowardice in her husband. She had her Pa’s +blood in her, damn it!</p> +<p>“What!” she thought. “He believes me to misconduct +myself with Jimmy, and he is too much of a coward to +object!”</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’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>“A married woman, on the stage, alone! I won’t have +any more of that!”</p> +<p>He hit upon a contrivance to be always with her: he +would be her “comic.” 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,—all the savings +gone....</p> +<p>Trampy, fortunately, found an engagement:</p> +<p>“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 ‘<i>my</i> money!’”</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>“I shall die of overdoing it, I know I shall,” she said. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span> +“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.”</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’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>“What nonsense!” Lily would say. “I’m not dead yet, +you know!”</p> +<p>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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span> +“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?...</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’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:</p> +<p>“The wind-bag!” 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>“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?”</p> +<p>“Hands off!” said Lily. “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’ll get a smacking!”</p> +<p>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....</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’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.</p> +<p>“Is that all you’ve got to show us, darling?” asked the +impersonator.</p> +<p>“You don’t want much, I <i>don’t</i> think!” 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>“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!”</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’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, “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.... +<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’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....</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>“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!”</p> +<p>And she coughed, with the embroidered handkerchief +at her lips.</p> +<p>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’.</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>“Good!” said Lily. “I’m with you!”</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>“Ah, Lily,” they said again, when he had gone, “that’s +the one you ought to have married, not the other!”</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 “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.</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’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:</p> +<p>“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!”</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’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>“There’s a man here!”</p> +<p>“You won’t find him; you can kill me if you do!” 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’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.</p> +<p>“There’s a man here!” 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>“You can’t deny it this time. Tell me where the money +comes from!”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“Oh, that’s another thing!” said Trampy, putting the +note in his pocket.</p> +<p>“Let the money be!” cried Lily, leaping out of bed. +“Don’t you touch it!”</p> +<p>“Everything here belongs to me, I should think,” 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. “Everything, even a dear little +wifie,” he continued, putting his snout under Lily’s disgusted +nose.</p> +<p>But she gave a movement of revulsion so spontaneous +that Trampy turned pale under the insult:</p> +<p>“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.”</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>“Where are you going?” asked Trampy.</p> +<p>“I’m off!” said Lily. “I’ve had enough of this!”</p> +<p>“What’s that?” said Trampy, dull-mouthed, flinging +his body across the bed. “What’s that? Say it again!”</p> +<p>“I say I hate the sight of you! I’m going back to my +Pa and Ma!”</p> +<p>“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....</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>“An insult like that!” she muttered. “I’d rather starve +than not give Jimmy back the money!”</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>“Lily!”</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>“Let’s see!”</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 +“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.</p> +<p>“Lily! Can I come in, Lily?”</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>“Pa, Where’s Pa?” asked Lily. “Tell him to come up.”</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“’K you!” +<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>“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!”</p> +<p>“And you were angry with us for teaching you your +profession,” said Ma. “You see now that it was for your +good.”</p> +<p>“But it depends on how it’s done,” said Lily. “If I +had always been treated like this, I should never have left +you.”</p> +<p>“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 <i>The Era</i>.”</p> +<p>“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.”</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’t in it, and +her Pa had to change apprentices.</p> +<p>“I was the troupe!” said Lily.</p> +<p>“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 ...!” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span></p> +<p>“But he had plenty!” said Lily.</p> +<p>“Oh, not much, not so much as you think!” Ma hastened +to say, thinking she saw a spiteful allusion in Lily’s +remark.</p> +<p>“Yes, all right, I know,” said Lily. “Never mind about +that. It’s my turn to make money now, for myself.”</p> +<p>“Still that independent spirit! We haven’t got her +yet!” thought Ma.</p> +<p>And she went on talking of the troupe, of the cousin +who played the star.</p> +<p>“Pooh!” said Lily. “A nice sort of star!”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“But I am married, Ma! I didn’t live with him! Do +you mean to say you think ...? Not I!”</p> +<p>“I know you’re married, but you can get a divorce. +Jimmy used to make love to you; now there’s a man +who ...”</p> +<p>“And you used to say he was a drunkard, Ma!”</p> +<p>“Never!” 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>“Those aren’t artistes, any of them!”</p> +<p>Programs, plays, songs: “<i>Why I Love Women</i>!” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span></p> +<p>“I know, you footy rotter!”</p> +<p>“<i>Is Marriage a Failure</i>?”</p> +<p>“I should think so!” thought Lily.</p> +<p>And articles, biographies ...</p> +<p>“Pack of lies!” thought Lily.</p> +<p>And pages of “Wanted ... Wanted ...”</p> +<p>Lily ran her eye down the columns: artistes’ boarding-houses, +<i>costumiers</i>, scene-painters, dancing-schools, every +town, every theater. Hullo!—she had turned the page—Tom, +the dancer—Hullo! At Milan!</p> +<p>“Bravo, Tom!”</p> +<p>Jimmy at the Hippodrome next week; private address, +Whitcomb Mansions.</p> +<p>“Pooh, he’s well off! What’s fifty pounds to him?”</p> +<p>Hullo! Miss Lily—Berlin—Permanent address, +Rathbone Place, London, W.</p> +<p>“Well done, Pa! Serve him right, the tramp cyclist!” +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—“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!</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’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 ...</p> +<p>After dinner, the apprentices retired, to finish sewing +some bloomers. Lily approved:</p> +<p>“Bloomers? Very nice ... for a troupe!”</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, “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:</p> +<p>“Lily has come back!”</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>“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!”</p> +<p>As for Lily, she thought only of showing herself:</p> +<p>“If Trampy could see me now!” she reflected. “And +Jimmy, if he could see me, in my fine dress, while it’s still +new!”</p> +<p>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.</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>“Made a bit, eh?” asked the manager, seeing her fine +dress. “Coming back for good, to star with the New +Zealanders?”</p> +<p>“I don’t know; I shall see.”</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’ performance with +the air of an expert:</p> +<p>“Not so bad; quite good ...” +<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’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>“Leave her to me, Pa; you’re making poor Cousin +Daisy quite nervous. She doesn’t know; I’ll show her!”</p> +<p>And, under her great waving feather, Lily, without +even taking off her gloves:</p> +<p>“There, put your foot there ... like that ... +and like that ... firmly. No, not like that!”</p> +<p>And, suddenly, stimulated with professional zeal:</p> +<p>“Wait, I’ll show you how it’s done!”</p> +<p>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 +<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>“Now then, I’ll show you!”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“Twirls are as easy as anything: you only have to +know how to do them. Come on! Have a try!”</p> +<p>And the other, encouraged by a friendly slap, tried in +her turn and—yoop!—succeeded ... very nearly.</p> +<p>Pa was enraptured at the mere sight of Lily’s little +curled nostrils and her earnest look:</p> +<p>“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!”</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>“Stay with us, Lily,” said her Pa, at home, after dinner, +when the apprentices had gone out. “Stay with us.”</p> +<p>“It’s your duty,” said Ma.</p> +<p>“If you stay,” continued Pa, “I’ll make you a present +of a brand-new banjo!”</p> +<p>“Thank you, no more banjo for me,” said Lily, laughing. +“I’ve had my share.”</p> +<p>“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!” +<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>“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!”</p> +<p>“But, Pa,” said Lily, very coldly, “I have business arrangements +of my own, more engagements than I want.”</p> +<p>“It’s a business arrangement I’m proposing to you,” +said Pa.</p> +<p>“And shall I come on in tights?”</p> +<p>“In tights, if you like.”</p> +<p>“And no other star but me!” continued Lily, explaining +her idea: undressing on the stage, or else the statue, +her own scenery ...</p> +<p>“Capital idea!” cried Pa.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“And what you make with us, won’t it be yours, one +day?” suggested Ma.</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“Or instead of remaining alone, which is even worse,” +Ma insisted. “You want us still, Lily ...”</p> +<p>“And you me! Let us talk business,” 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>“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?”</p> +<p>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!...</p> +<p>“You must go,” insisted Ma. “Don’t you like going +alone? Shall I come with you?”</p> +<p>“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.</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>“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.” +<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>“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—</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>“Sorry to disappoint you, Miss Lily. You hoped to +find some one else, eh?”</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>“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 ... +<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’t a rag to your back, +when you left me, and I find you dressed up like a Tottie. +My compliments, Miss Lily.”</p> +<p>“O God, strike him dead!” prayed Lily. “Strike him, +kill him, kill him!”</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>“Well,” she stammered, overcome with shame, “well, +we can be divorced ... if you like.”</p> +<p>“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!”</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>“Liar!”</p> +<p>“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....”</p> +<p>“Oh, let go, you’re crushing my sleeve!” 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’s side, without being asked to +step in, and she repeated:</p> +<p>“Lily, you ought to have ... Why did you let +him treat you like that? Is it true?”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“He’s a liar! I swear it!”</p> +<p>“And Jimmy’s thousand marks? What was that money +for? Why didn’t you give it back?”</p> +<p>“It’s a lie! It’s a lie!”</p> +<p>“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.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span></p> +<p>“To make nothing? No, thank you!”</p> +<p>“Who says so?”</p> +<p>“Oh, I know! Ten shillings a week, eh? Family life, +as that old beast of a Fuchs says!”</p> +<p>“Lily,” said Ma severely, “don’t insult decent people! +Have some respect, at any rate.”</p> +<p>But Lily had no respect left for anybody. Pas, Mas, +Trampies, Nunkies, one and all, were so many slave-drivers!</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“I earn and I spend!”</p> +<p>“And suppose you fell ill, my poor Lily?”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“Lily,” cried Mrs. Clifton, “you’re insulting your father!”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“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.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span></p> +<p>“Ma!”</p> +<p>“Your contracts,” said Ma, “you’re always talking of +your contracts. I should like to see them and your programs +too.”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“Why, through my talent, I suppose.”</p> +<p>“Your talent! Pooh! You’ve none left! You get +them through your friends: through your Jimmy, your +gentlemen friends....”</p> +<p>“That’s a lie!”</p> +<p>“You get them ... by looking pretty and getting +round the men ... you ... you ... you....”</p> +<p>“Mother!”</p> +<p>Lily drew back her shoulder, her arm stiff, ready to +strike; but a sense of respect withheld her.</p> +<p>“Stop!” 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>“Mother,” she said to Mrs. Clifton, “mother, I shall +never forget this!”</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>“If I walk toward the Thames,” she muttered, “I am +done for!”</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’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....</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 “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.</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>“Look here, you righter of wrongs, you who preach +to others and go making love to their wives!”</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’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;'> +“Oh, you mean cur!” 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, “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:</p> +<p>“Tell me, Jimmy, is it true that you love me?”</p> +<p>“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....”</p> +<p>“Jimmy,” she cried, fixing her eyes, like two flaming +swords upon him, “answer me! Do you love me or not?”</p> +<p>Jimmy, turning as pale as a corpse, looked at her without +flinching and shook his head in sign of no.</p> +<p>“Oh, you mean cur!” 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’ 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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span> +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!”</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’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.</p> +<p>“Poor Lily, what can she have done, what can have +happened?” sighed Thea. “Poor Lily, she was always so +nice!”</p> +<p>Thea could have cried for sadness.</p> +<p>The start caused a diversion. The collector punched +the tickets:</p> +<p>“Blackpool? Glasgow?” +<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: “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:</p> +<p>“Hullo, Lily! That’s a good girl! Quick!”</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>“Traveling by yourself? Where’s Trampy? And +your Pa and Ma? So you’re not dead, eh?”</p> +<p>“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!”</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>“Here, take my hat, Glass-Eye; hang it up. Take my +wrist-bag. Wait, give me my handkerchief first!”</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’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>“Take me with you, Miss Lily; I’ll wait on you for +nothing. Take me, take me!”</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’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!</p> +<p>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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span> +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.</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’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’ +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 “Profession”....</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—“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! +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span></p> +<p>“What a rotten lot!” concluded Lily.</p> +<p>“My, how you’ve changed!” said Thea. “You used to +be so fond of men.”</p> +<p>“I give it them where they deserve,” said Lily, slapping +her firm, round hips.</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“Go it! Hit me!” said Thea, putting forward her +deltoid muscle. “Hit away! You’ll only smash your +wrist!”</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 “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.</p> +<p>“Did you know Ave Maria?” asked Lily.</p> +<p>“No.”</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’ 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.</p> +<p>“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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span> +that?” asked Lily, giving her a thump in the ribs. “Crying? +You silly cuckoo!”</p> +<p>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.</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:—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>“It’s like the American engines,” she said to the Three +Graces, “that used to ring their bells when they passed +through Syracuse.”</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>“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!”</p> +<p>“’K you!” 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’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 <i>Performer</i>.</p> +<p>“Good!” thought Lily. “I may have things to say. +There will be news for somebody!”</p> +<p>The Graces had a “three years’ book,” 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>“Yes, I know,” said Lily. “Mine’s full for months +ahead!”</p> +<p>They showed her, on theirs, the last pages containing +portrait advertisements of famous artistes: the Pawnees, +Marjutti, Laurence.</p> +<p>“Oh, if I could get there one day!” thought Lily. “I’d +post it to Pa; it would be the death of him!”</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>“And matinées are paid for now. And you know, Lily, +in the Federation you can get a solicitor free.”</p> +<p>“That’s a good thing to know,” thought Lily, “for my +divorce from that rusty biker!”</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>“I don’t like to seem stuck-up with them, it’s not +polite,” she observed.</p> +<p>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.</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’ 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>“Write to me, eh? Cathedral Hotel, Melbourne.”</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>“Hope you’ll have a good journey! <i>Au revoir</i>! Send +me some post-cards,” said Lily. “Address them to the +theater, I love that! Good-by! Ta-ta!”</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>“Liverpool! Come along, Glass-Eye!” 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 “program” at the station.</p> +<p>“Are you the bicyclist?”</p> +<p>“I am,” replied Lily modestly.</p> +<p>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.</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 “contract!” 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’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.</p> +<p>“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.”</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—<i>The Bluebells of Scotland</i>—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—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.</p> +<p>“And a good many little +perquisites besides, you +understand, Glass-Eye; my +old frocks, my hats.”</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’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>“At what time’s rehearsal?” +asked Lily.</p> +<p>“At one o’clock, Miss +Lily.”</p> +<p>“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!”</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>“I must dress her simply,” thought Lily. “My hats, +but without the feathers; coarse thread gloves; and she +must always carry a parcel.”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>The artistes went up to the conductor, one after the +other, and explained their “turns:”</p> +<p>“When I come on, this tune, soft, six times, to begin +with; then, once, loud. When I go off ... a roll +of drums.”</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>“Who is it? A singer? A dancer?”</p> +<p>“No, Lily; Miss Lily, you know.”</p> +<p>She guessed all that. Then: +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span></p> +<p>“My score, Maud!”</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.’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—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’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’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 ...</p> +<p>“Damn it, let him wait!” 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>“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.”</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 “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:</p> +<p>“Eh, Lily? I say, what are you doing to-night? Come +and have some ...”</p> +<p>“Glass-Eye, my handkerchief,” Lily broke in, suspecting +an invitation to supper.</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“Good-by. Ta-ta!”</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 “’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.</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>She had an autograph album filled with “thoughts” +and declarations:</p> +<p>“I love you! <i>Je vous aime! Ich liebe dich</i>!”</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’ 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>“Hullo, Mrs. Trampy!”</p> +<p>“Call me Miss Lily,” she said, in a vexed voice. +“That’s the name I’m known by.”</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>“Is it a bargain?”</p> +<p>“Yes, I <i>don’t</i> think!” 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’ 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.</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’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:</p> +<p>“No dangerous tricks, mind! They only get us into +trouble!”</p> +<p>Another time, she was given only seven minutes, +watch in hand, on the stage.</p> +<p>“Couldn’t you cut that little trick? You know the one +I mean,” said the manager.</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“It’s not so much what one does,” she said, “as the way +one does it.”</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, +“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. +<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—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:</p> +<p>“Send me lots; talk about motor-cars and champagne +suppers: that drives the pros wild.”</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>“I’ve only done half. I’ve still got this and that to do.”</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>“And a jolly sight better!” 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’ 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!</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—“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.</p> +<p>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 +<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—trust her!—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>“He’s afraid,” 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 “our Jimmy.”</p> +<p>“He’s a friend of yours, Lily,” people said. “You +ought to know all about him.”</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: “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! +<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 “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.</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 “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.</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 “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!</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—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....</p> +<p>“That’s what I ought to have,” 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’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;'>“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;'>“X.”</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>“In the golden chain of friendship, regard me as a link.</p> +<br /> +<p style='text-align: right;'>“<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Loving Pal</span> (Palace, Sheffield).”</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>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:</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>“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;'>“Sisters Arriett and Nancy—The ideal pair (of legs!)”</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>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.</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 “that high”: 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’ book. +Lily felt half-dead with fatigue before she started:</p> +<p>“Let me sleep!” said Lily, stretching herself in the big +double bed which Glass-Eye had just left; “clear out! +Let me sleep!”</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’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; +<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’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.</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’s or else there’s +nothing for you.</p> +<p>She did not dislike those walks through the Paris +streets:</p> +<p>“Let’s have some fun,” she said to Glass-Eye.</p> +<p>By this, Lily meant laughing at those “tiny Frenchies”; +and, if they ventured to accost her, crushing them with +a “<i>Vous hettes oun cochon</i>!” 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, “<i>Oui</i> ... <i>Non</i> ... <i>Vous</i> +<i>hettes oun cochon</i>!” 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’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....</p> +<p>“If you’re too modest,” said Lily, “they’ll take you at +your word!”</p> +<p>And the pay would drop, in consequence.</p> +<p>“Never tell your salary!” was another of Lily’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’s, she had to cut her +prices: there was no hiding anything from them; it was +like going to the doctor.</p> +<p>“And, when you’re in work, everybody wants you; +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span> +and, when you’re out of work, they have nothing for +you: it’s help yourself as best you may!” 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>“Two pounds a week. Do you accept?”</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>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 +<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’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....</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>“Eccentric mashers? No opening for you. Call again.”</p> +<p>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....</p> +<p>On the pavement outside, the wretched couple came up +to her shyly:</p> +<p>“Don’t you know us, Miss Lily? The Para-Paras.”</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’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?”</p> +<p>“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 ...”</p> +<p>“Poor beggars!” 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>“Glass-Eye, my +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span> +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.”</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 “not-up-to-muches:” 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’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:</p> +<p>“You needn’t sleep there, you know!”</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’ disposal? Lily +could have fainted on the stairs, as she went down.</p> +<p>“One of those!” she said. “Not I!”</p> +<p>And she continued her weary pilgrimage of stairs, +from agent to agent.</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>There were some who suggested to her that ten per +cent. was really very little....</p> +<p>“I like their style!” thought Lily. “They want an +extra sop thrown to them: one might as well work for +nothing!”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>She also saw a former artiste, a friend of Pa’s, who +had become an agent.</p> +<p>“Miss Lily? Lily Clifton? What are you doing now? +Won’t you see my secretary? Leave your address with +him.”</p> +<p>“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!”</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’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:</p> +<p>“Lily? Miss Lily? Your price is two hundred francs +a week, I believe.”</p> +<p>“What!” said Lily. “With a bike and a maid?”</p> +<p>“It’s what you had at Maidstone, so I was told.”</p> +<p>“What a lie!” said Lily. “Three hundred francs is the +lowest I’ve ever had. I’ll show you my contracts.”</p> +<p>“Don’t trouble,” said the agent. “I thought ... +we can get plenty at that price, you know ... in +your style....”</p> +<p>“In my style, perhaps ... but not me.”</p> +<p>“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.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span></p> +<p>“Lisbon?” said Lily. “That’s at the Colosseo. A +thousand francs to go to the Colosseo, with one’s luggage +and a maid?”</p> +<p>“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.”</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’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>“A thousand francs: will you have it?”</p> +<p>And Lily:</p> +<p>“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....”</p> +<p>But the agent wouldn’t listen, shut up the register, was +sorry:</p> +<p>“Can’t do it ... bad season ... cyclists to +be had for the asking. Good-by.”</p> +<p>“Good-by.”</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>“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!”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“Watch me, Glass-Eye! This is the way to go down-stairs!”</p> +<p>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: +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span></p> +<p>“There! What do you think of that?”</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>“You pretty, pretty ...”</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, “I gave her her first start!” as though +to say:</p> +<p>“They’ll never find another like her, never! They don’t +turn them out like that now!”</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’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 +<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’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!</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’, 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 +<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’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>“Prof. X. The Famous X. Family. Absolutely the +best.”</p> +<p>There were others “absolutely the best.”</p> +<p>On Lily’s door, her card—“Miss Lily”—and, under +that, modestly:</p> +<p>“And maid.”</p> +<p>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.</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>“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?”</p> +<p>“Yes, Miss Lily.”</p> +<p>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 ...</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>“Come along, Glass-Eye, the bike!”</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’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 +<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>“Oh, where’s my belt?” 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>“Go it! Never say die!”</p> +<p>Glass-Eye perspired like anything, pursed her eyebrows +above her fat, red cheeks, grumbled, in her Whitechapel +slang:</p> +<p>“Kim up, you lousy moke! Igher up, Jerusalem, you +pig-headed bag of tricks!”</p> +<p>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, <i>Heures d’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>“Here, hold my bike, Glass-Eye!”</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>“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!”</p> +<p>“Who is it?”</p> +<p>“My husband!”</p> +<p>“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!”</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>“Do you mean me?”</p> +<p>“Yes, you! No jossers here,” said the stage-manager. +“Sling your hook!”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>She exulted with delight, as she went through her performance. +It was her first revenge! the other’s turn +would come next.</p> +<p>“I don’t forgive and I don’t forget,” she muttered to +herself. “Every dog has his day.” +<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>“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!”</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—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.</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: “Let’s go home, Glass-Eye!”</p> +<p>She took a few steps along the street, but a jolly voice +behind her cried:</p> +<p>“Gee, what a spanking walk!”</p> +<p>She turned round; it was Trampy again!</p> +<p>“Ah, this time,” thought Lily, “I shall have witnesses!” +<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>“How’s my dear little wife?” 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>“Come away, Glass-Eye,” she said. “There are drunkards +about.”</p> +<p>“Don’t let us quarrel, little wifie. Aren’t you my dear +little wifie? Well, then....”</p> +<p>And Trampy took her by the arm.</p> +<p>“Let me go, or I’ll break your jaw,” 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>“Let’s make peace,” said Trampy. “Peace in the home: +that’s my motto!”</p> +<p>“Divorce!” cried Lily.</p> +<p>“Peace in the home for me!” rejoined Trampy, who +grew the more radiant as Lily grew more and more incensed.</p> +<p>“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....”</p> +<p>“Footy rotter!” roared Lily.</p> +<p>“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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_266' name='page_266'></a>266</span> +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.”</p> +<p>“And I ... take that!” Lily broke in, spitting in +his face. “That’s how <i>I</i> forgive <i>you</i>! Take that! And +that!”</p> +<p>Trampy reveled with delight:</p> +<p>“You <i>are</i> 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!”</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?—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—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. +<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’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.</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—“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 +<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—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 +<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’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:</p> +<p>“How’s my little wife getting on?”</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’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>“If it’s one of those footy rotters,” growled Lily, hearing +a knock at the door, “smash a bottle over his head!”</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>“No use for them,” 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 “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 +<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>“Some josser of a journalist wrote it for her,” 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 “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.</p> +<p>“And I’ve done nothing yet!” grumbled Lily.</p> +<p>Oh, to be talked about in her turn, to achieve something, +to become “our Lily!”</p> +<p>“It’s twelve o’clock and I’m still in bed!” she cried. +“I ought to be practising!”</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>“A month on the three years’ book before to-night!” +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’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.</p> +<p>“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?”</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’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 +<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’ +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>“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!”</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’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.</p> +<p>“I don’t give my performance under five pounds, or +on a stage of less than thirty feet!” 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>“Oh, if I had the Astrarium!” 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, “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, +<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>“You’re opening at the Astrarium, aren’t you? I <i>don’t</i> +think!”</p> +<p>Which was another way of saying:</p> +<p>“The Astrarium’s no place for you! They’re taking +nothing but bill-toppers there!”</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 “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.</p> +<p>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 +<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—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.</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>“Hullo, wifie! How are you, darling? All right?”</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—trot, trot, trot!—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—it took three of them to +shift a scene—Dagoes who asked her straight out, in +Pidgin-English, if she was alone:</p> +<p>“No man viz you?”</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>“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?”</p> +<p>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 +<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 “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!</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’ +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’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>“To make all that money,” thought Lily, when she saw +Poland again, “and never to have been through the mill!”</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’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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_282' name='page_282'></a>282</span> +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.</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’ 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>“You will marry the man who loves you. You will be +very happy.”</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!—with +them it was: “Lily? Lily Clifton? nothing your way +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_283' name='page_283'></a>283</span> +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!</p> +<p>“Oh, God, if it were true!” she cried, with her hand +on her lucky charm. “God above grant that it may come +true!”</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’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’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 +<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>“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!”</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>“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, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_285' name='page_285'></a>285</span> +Glass-Eye!” she whispered, catching her a thump in the +ribs. “To the theater, quick!”</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>“<i>Fermé</i>.”</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>“The rotten lot!” growled Lily. “Money, damn it, +money! Pay up, you pack of thieves!”</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>“But how will those small artistes manage?” she +seemed to say. “Those families with babies?”</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’ 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’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!</p> +<p>“What do you think of this, eh, Lily?” asked a voice. +“Only yesterday we were passing the hat for others!”</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 “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.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>“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—</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Owing more!”</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>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! +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_289' name='page_289'></a>289</span> +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!</p> +<p>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!</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>“Say, boys, which is the quickest way of dropping +money?”</p> +<p>“Fast women!”</p> +<p>“No, slow horses!” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_290' name='page_290'></a>290</span></p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“Lily, the hat!”</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>“Take that to the Bambinis,” they said. “We’ve been +behaving like Dagoes, damn it! Artistes ought not to act +as such!”</p> +<p>“’K you! ’K you!”</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>“And, meantime, one’s got to live,” 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’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:</p> +<p>“Like Poland, what! A fat lot she cares the old boy’s +ruined! All she will do is to find another, change her +owner!”</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’ 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!</p> +<p>“Come along, Glass-Eye!”</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,—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>“Hullo, Lily!”</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>“And what about the Astrarium?” asked Lily. “Do +you know...?”</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—“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:</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>“Everything is ready in advance, everything’s ordered; +they’ve only got to put things in their places; the workmen +will start to-morrow.”</p> +<p>“So that’s what he came for!” thought Lily angrily. +“The damned <i>parley-voo</i>!” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_293' name='page_293'></a>293</span></p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“The New Trickers! Daisy Woolly-legs!” stammered +Lily, turning pale. “Who told you so?”</p> +<p>“I’m sure of it, I had it from Jimmy himself,” replied +Nunkie.</p> +<p>“Jimmy told you? And what has Jimmy to do with +it?” asked Lily, anguish-stricken.</p> +<p>“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...?”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>The next day an awful headache made her keep her +room.</p> +<p>“To-morrow,” she said to Glass-Eye, “to-morrow I +will fetch my bike.”</p> +<p>She dared not go out; she felt as if it was written on +her forehead:</p> +<p>“The New Trickers at the Astrarium! Daisy Woolly-legs +at the Astrarium and not you!”</p> +<p>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!...</p> +<p>“Come on, Glass-Eye! Let’s go for the bike! I don’t +care if I do play the darky at Earl’s Court!”</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 +“Hullo, Lily!” But Lily did not even see him.</p> +<p>“I hope our things are still in the dressing-room. +Hurry up, Glass-Eye!”</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’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—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:</p> +<p>“How do you do, Lily? Delighted to see you.”</p> +<p>“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.</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>“So you refuse to speak to me?” 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>“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 ...”</p> +<p>“A lot I care for your love!” growled Lily contemptuously.</p> +<p>“But my friendship, Lily ...”</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“And that Daisy Woolly-legs!” resumed Lily, with an +unspeakable expression of scorn on her face.</p> +<p>“What do you mean?” asked Jimmy, who did not understand.</p> +<p>“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!” +<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’t altogether the master. The New +Trickers were very clever, very original, very new ...</p> +<p>“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!”</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>“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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_297' name='page_297'></a>297</span> +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! +<i>That’s</i> all I care for my life now!” added Lily, snapping +her fingers.</p> +<p>“But, Lily,” said Jimmy, taking up the hamper. +“You’re going out of your sense; you know that ...”</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’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>“Meanwhile,” thought Jimmy, as on the former occasion, +when she was ill, in Berlin, “how are we to help +her out of this ... how?”</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 “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.</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 ’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>“The proscenium pushed forward to here, eh, Jimmy? +A cluster of electric lights here. Another there. And +what about your trick, Jimmy?”</p> +<p>“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....”</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“It’s the opening in the roof,” said Jimmy. “I should +have liked to show you ... the staircase is blocked +with scaffoldings ...”</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>“The whole thing’s worked from below by electricity,” +said Jimmy.</p> +<p>“How long will it take?” asked Harrasford.</p> +<p>“It’s all ready. It’s only got to be fixed up,” said the +architect.</p> +<p>“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, “<i>Faites vite! Dépêchez</i>!”</p> +<p>They were the only words of French he knew, a vocabulary +no more extensive than Lily’s, but of a different +kind.</p> +<p>“And the lights?” asked Harrasford, before he went +down again.</p> +<p>“Here, there,” said Jimmy, “on steel rods, connected +by electric wires.”</p> +<p>“That’ll dish the Berlin Winter Garden, with its stars +set in black velvet,” 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>“Let’s go and see the floor now.”</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’s foot, to enable him to reach +the stage in a few seconds, after doing the trick.</p> +<p>“Very good,” 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>“<i>Dépêchez! Faites vite</i>!”</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>“The bird’s cage,” said Jimmy, with a smile.</p> +<p>“And how does he get out?” asked Harrasford.</p> +<p>“Windlasses here ... a rope up above ... +hooks,” said Jimmy.</p> +<p>“And when will it be fixed?” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_303' name='page_303'></a>303</span></p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“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.”</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’ 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>“Let’s see the program.”</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’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.</p> +<p>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 +<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 ’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.</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>“<i>Faites vite! Dépêchez</i>!”</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>“Let’s see the program.”</p> +<p>“Nothing but bill-toppers,” said Jimmy. “Picked +turns from the first to the last ...”</p> +<p>“Which will be you,” Harrasford broke in.</p> +<p>“Yes ... I ... or somebody else ...”</p> +<p>“What do you mean, somebody else?” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_306' name='page_306'></a>306</span></p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“And ... are you sure?” asked the other.</p> +<p>“I think so,” said Jimmy.</p> +<p>“The program first,” said Harrasford, returning to his +notes.</p> +<p>“We open with a gallery in marble and gold, something +showy and quaint, in the Potsdam style, with a +negress inside.”</p> +<p>“I know. Light of Asia, eh? The armless Chinese +girl whom I discovered at Poplar.... Music of +cymbals and triangles, eh?”</p> +<p>“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 ...”</p> +<p>“You said a negress,” interrupted Harrasford.</p> +<p>“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.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_307' name='page_307'></a>307</span></p> +<p>“Next?” asked Harrasford.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“The New Trickers!” said Harrasford. “Bicyclists: +that’s very stale. And, besides, what about you?”</p> +<p>“Has one ever,” asked Jimmy, “seen a music-hall give +two similar special turns, two bicycle turns, for instance, +in the same show?”</p> +<p>“Absurd!” said Harrasford. “Explain yourself.”</p> +<p>“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.’”</p> +<p>“You may be right,” said Harrasford, “it will prevent +confusion; yours is purely scientific. And the New +Trickers: tights? Bloomers?”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“All right,” said Harrasford. “And what’s the price +of the New Trickers?”</p> +<p>“So much.”</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>“So much.”</p> +<p>“They earn their money pretty easily, those two!” +grunted Harrasford. “But I’ve got to submit to it, I +suppose. Next?”</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>“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.”</p> +<p>“All right,” said Harrasford, putting a cross in his +note-book opposite the Three Graces. “And next?”</p> +<p>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.</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’ 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’s baton, +and ended by seizing his tail in his hand and beating +time with that.</p> +<p>“That dishes Orpheus and Mad-darewski,” said Harrasford. +“And next?”</p> +<p>The <i>entr’acte</i> came next, with portraits and biographies +of the artistes distributed among the audience.</p> +<p>“Yes, yes,” said Harrasford, laughing. “Old English +families ... clergymen’s daughters....”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“We must hide the bruises,” said Harrasford. “And +next?” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_310' name='page_310'></a>310</span></p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“We must engage them for my tour,” said Harrasford.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“One dress-coat more on the stage,” said Harrasford. +“And next?”</p> +<p>“Topsy Turvy Tom.”</p> +<p>“Oh, yes, I know!” said Harrasford, laughing. “The +fellow who used to wear leaden armlets to harden his +muscles and smash Clifton’s jaw.”</p> +<p>“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....”</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“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 ‘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.”</p> +<p>“And of will,” said Harrasford. “How much?”</p> +<p>“So much.”</p> +<p>“It’s worth it. And next?”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“And then you come!”</p> +<p>“Then I come,” said Jimmy. “Or she.”</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“That’s the question, obviously,” 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>“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?” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_313' name='page_313'></a>313</span></p> +<p>“Lily.”</p> +<p>“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.”</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’ 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 +<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’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>“Miss Lily.”</p> +<p>“Which one?” said Harrasford. “Excuse me; no time +now. See Jimmy, will you?”</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>“Lily!” It was Jimmy coming out and crossing the +street. “Hullo, Lily!”</p> +<p>She did not reply.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“To take the place of the New Trickers, yes!” exclaimed +Lily. “I’d have risked my life!”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“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. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_315' name='page_315'></a>315</span> +“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?”</p> +<p>“May God forgive you for mocking at me!”</p> +<p>“Will you top the bill?” asked Jimmy again, in an accent +that sent a thrill down her back. “Answer me: yes +or no?”</p> +<p>“Yes,” cried Lily. “My life, everything, damn it!” +<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 “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....</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’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’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, +<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’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>“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.”</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. “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 +<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 “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:</p> +<p>“Get to work,” he would growl, “get to work, cheesy +brain!”</p> +<p>“But, Pa, I can’t!”</p> +<p>“But you’ve got to, my little siree!” 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>“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!”</p> +<p>And Jimmy got to work again, to forget Lily; and he +kept on thinking of her:</p> +<p>“Damn that girl!” +<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’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; “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:</p> +<p>“Damn that girl!” he said to himself. “I don’t love +her. Then why am I always thinking about her?”</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“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 +<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?”</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 “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 +<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—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....</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’ 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 +<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: “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.</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 “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....</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“Pa, I can’t!”</p> +<p>“But you’ve got to, my little lady!” +<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>“What on earth can it be?” 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>“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.”</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“You hope to have it taken from you in a few years +only, eh? But why?”</p> +<p>“For all the world to profit by it.”</p> +<p>“All the world on the back-wheel!” protested Lily, who +was always thinking bikes. “Then what will become of +the artistes?”</p> +<p>“In a few years, Lily, people won’t go about on wheels,” +said Jimmy jokingly.</p> +<p>“What will they do then?”</p> +<p>“They’ll fly!” +<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’s +cage, slid back the door ...</p> +<p>The aerobike, with wings wide open, seemed to loom +out of the darkness.</p> +<p>“My!” cried Lily. “It’s a bird! So that was your brain-work +in Berlin and in ... What is it?”</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>“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.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“I don’t care a hang for a fall,” cried Lily, immensely +excited. “You’ll soon see if I’m afraid!”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“Yes,” said Lily, “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’m through the hole, what do +I do up there? Go on...!”</p> +<p>“I’ll explain all that to you,” said Jimmy.</p> +<p>“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 <i>that</i> through your gentlemen friends!”</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>“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>I’ve</i> done it.”</p> +<p>“What you can do, a man,” Lily interrupted, “I can do +too. One can do anything on the bike!”</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’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’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>“The shape of a fish for the ship, the shape of a bird +for the flying-machine,” 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’s kite: and the two +of them presented a carrying surface of forty-nine square +feet.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“My!” said Lily, bewildered by all this complicated apparatus. +“Did you work it all out on paper? It’s enough +to drive one mad!” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_329' name='page_329'></a>329</span></p> +<p>“When you’re on it, Lily,” said Jimmy, smiling, “you’ll +have to work also, <i>I</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.”</p> +<p>“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....</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, +“Damn it!” give up talking of smackings and using +vulgar expressions:</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>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 +<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>“Is it possible, after all?” she thought.</p> +<p>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: +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_331' name='page_331'></a>331</span> +“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!”</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’s.</p> +<p>“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....</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>“I will speak about you to Jimmy,” she said to the +Bambinis. “I’ll get you engaged at the Astrarium, eh?”</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>“Poor darlings!” thought Lily, as she left them. “If +ever they fall into their brother’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!”</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 +“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!</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’ 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>“Hullo, Lily! Hullo, my dear little wife!”</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>“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!”</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>“Come on!” said Jimmy. “And mind you do your +work properly,” he added, with a laugh, “or else, you +know ...”</p> +<p>And he patted the back of his hand.</p> +<p>“I don’t care!” said Lily.</p> +<p>“You may break your head, you know,” continued +Jimmy, to try her.</p> +<p>“It’s none of your damned business if I do! Show me +your tricks. To work!”</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“That’s all right!” she said. “It’s part of the game!”</p> +<p>“But stop, stop,” insisted Jimmy. “Be careful!”</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>“The start, that’s the great thing with the back-wheel,” +she observed. “The rest goes of itself.”</p> +<p>“Don’t cry till you’re out of the wood!” said Jimmy. +“It’ll be different when you’re riding the aerobike.”</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>“There,” she said. “Here I am! And what next?”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>“And then?”</p> +<p>“That’s all.”</p> +<p>“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!”</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>“Well, Lily?” said Jimmy. “That shakes you up, eh? +That complicates matters?”</p> +<p>“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.”</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—“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, +<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 “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.</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>“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.”</p> +<p>“Well, then, steady!” cried Jimmy, and his voice rang +through the empty theater. “Go!”</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>“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.”</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>“It’s my back push! It’s the propeller! It’s the front-wheel!”</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>“Bravo, Lily! Hurrah!” 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>“Eight days more!” 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’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’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, “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.</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 “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 +<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>“You’ll make yourself ill,” said Jimmy. “Take a rest; +there’s no need to tire yourself; you do it as well as I.”</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’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.</p> +<p>“If I had not procured her this delight,” thought Jimmy, +“I should never have forgiven myself to the end of +my days.”</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’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>“Poor Lily!” thought Jimmy sadly. “Will she always +be doomed to drag that dead weight about with her?”</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 “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!</p> +<p>“But I <i>am</i> 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.”</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>“Yes, I know,” replied Jimmy, very coldly.</p> +<p>“What, you don’t believe me!” exclaimed Lily. “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!”</p> +<p>“My poor Lily, having so many is the same as having +none at all,” 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, +“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:</p> +<p>“Hullo, girls! Hullo, boys! Dear old Blackpool! +What’s the news at the Palace? Who’s topping the bill +at the Hippodrome?”</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’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:</p> +<p>“Good morning, Tom! Welcome!”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“It’s like ... a palmarium,” she explained, “with +sunflowers in it, all sorts of things ... girls ... +stars ...”</p> +<p>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 +<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>“Yes,” Lily replied, in a patronizing tone, “I know. +It was my idea. I gave it to them!”</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! “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:</p> +<p>“Wasn’t I, Glass-Eye? Tom, wasn’t I?”</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>“And they were quite right, too! And ... do +they know that I’m going to top the bill at the Astrarium?” +she asked.</p> +<p>“No, they think you’re in Spain or somewhere.”</p> +<p>“Somewhere!” said Lily to herself, with a thrill at her +heart. “I’ll show them!”</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’ 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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_348' name='page_348'></a>348</span> +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:</p> +<p>“I shall have +months to spend in +here!” 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’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—“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: <i>From Rangoon to Mandalay</i> +or <i>Way down upon the Suwanee River</i> ... +and “Hullo, Lily! Hullo, old boy!”... 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>“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.</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“Two pairs of tights!”</p> +<p>“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!”</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>“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!”</p> +<p>“We’re doing no harm, please, Mr. Jimmy,” retorted +Lily, sitting down beside the impersonator and slipping +her arm round his waist.</p> +<p>“Poor Jimmy!” said the impersonator, when the other +had left the room in a rage. “He’s jealous, isn’t he, +darling?”</p> +<p>“He jealous? Then why doesn’t he say so? One +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_350' name='page_350'></a>350</span> +can’t guess a thing like that! When you’re a man, +you speak out!”</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>“Knocked up against a beam ... a little accident. +Have you seen Jimmy?”</p> +<p>“He’s over there, I think,” 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>“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!”</p> +<p>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 +<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>“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.</p> +<p>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!</p> +<p>“Get out of my sight, you damned josser!” said Lily. +“Go and eat coke!”</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>“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 <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’s flayed model. +And I talked to her afterward! And her man gave me +a queer look you know ... I got a blow....”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“I say, though,” the architect interrupted, “that girl +... I don’t know how we came to speak of you +... she knows you, Lily!”</p> +<p>“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!”</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’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, +<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’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>“Well?” he asked. “What’s the mystery?”</p> +<p>“We were discussing marriage, Nunkie,” the Graces +answered.</p> +<p>“That’s right, my children,” 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>“What? What?” asked Lily. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_354' name='page_354'></a>354</span></p> +<p>“Well, we are going to lose them; they’ve been claimed +by their brother, it seems.”</p> +<p>“What!” cried Lily. “Their brother? The ... +the Mexican one?”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“With a girl!” thought Lily.</p> +<p>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!</p> +<p>All this passed through her brain in less than a second.</p> +<p>“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....”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“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.”</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—“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 +<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’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: +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_358' name='page_358'></a>358</span></p> +<p>“Me? Whatever you like! For nothing, if you like; +rely on me, Jimmy!”</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 “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, +<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’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.</p> +<p>A few seconds passed, during which Jimmy gave Lily +her last instructions:</p> +<p>“You’re not afraid, Lily? Would you like me to do it?”</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>“Up, quick, quick! Ready, Jimmy?”</p> +<p>“Ready!”</p> +<p>“Then ... GO!”</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>“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!”</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>“All the boxes booked three weeks ahead? All the +stalls? That’s right! Good-by, good luck!”</p> +<p>Already his broad back was disappearing through the +door; had to catch the midnight train for Cologne; presence +indispensable.</p> +<p>“Telephone to-morrow; let me know how things go. +Ta-ta!”</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’s congratulations +and everybody’s. They gave her a bouquet:</p> +<p>“To our little favorite!”</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>“Here, take that! Take that! And that! And that!”</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>“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:</p> +<p>“I’ll smash up their damned troupes, do you hear, +Glass-Eye? There! Like that!” 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. “Dished and +done for, their damned troupes!”</p> +<p>And she laughed, she burst with laughing, when she +thought of their eighteen feet of stage:</p> +<p>“Stages as big as my hand, Glass-Eye, is what they’ve +got to turn in!”</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>“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!”</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’t hide her face, so that people would recognize +her and say:</p> +<p>“That’s Lily!”</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—poor Ma!—before witnessing +her triumph—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>“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!”</p> +<p>But Glass-Eye, who had gone to the door, shut it suddenly +and came back to Lily, looking quite startled:</p> +<p>“Miss Lily, there’s some one, all in black, on the stairs; +a ghost!”</p> +<p>“If you’re trying to frighten me,” cried Lily, jumping +out of bed, “I’ll knock your other eye out! Take care!”</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>“Come with me, Glass-Eye; you go first!”</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>“What do you want?” she asked.</p> +<p>“I want to speak to Miss Lily,” said the woman in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_364' name='page_364'></a>364</span> +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?”</p> +<p>“Ave Maria! Come in,” 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>“How pretty you’ve grown!” whispered Ave Maria +timidly. “No one would take you for a professional.”</p> +<p>But a sudden fit of coughing brought scarlet patches +to her pale cheeks.</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“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. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_365' name='page_365'></a>365</span></p> +<p>“No,” said Lily, “I am living with nobody!”</p> +<p>“But they told me. I heard at Buenos Ayres ... +the story of the whippings, your running away with +him....”</p> +<p>“What whippings? And I’m living with nobody!” retorted +Lily, very haughtily.</p> +<p>“But you have lived with him ... in Germany +... Trampy, you know.”</p> +<p>“No,” said Lily, “I was married, wasn’t I, Glass-Eye?”</p> +<p>“But <i>I’m</i> married to him!” Ave Maria broke in, more +aggressively than before.</p> +<p>“Oh, if it were true!” thought Lily. “Oh, if it were +true!”</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>“Prove it!” she said coldly, to Ave Maria.</p> +<p>“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, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_366' name='page_366'></a>366</span> +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.”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“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.”</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>“That’s what I call love!” she thought. “I had no +idea, my! And all for Trampy! It’s worse than in the +novels.”</p> +<p>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 +... <i>if</i> she had the proofs.</p> +<p>“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.”</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>“Wait a bit, you faithful husband!” she growled. +“You’ll see, presently!”</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>“Stay here, Ave Maria,” she said. “I’ll give you back +your Trampy this afternoon.”</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>“My new dress! My big hat!”</p> +<p>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!</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 +“her man,” stepped back instinctively at the sight of her. +But Lily caught him by the lapel of his coat:</p> +<p>“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.</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>“Wait for me a minute,” she said to Ave Maria. “Sit +down over there, in the corner.”</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>“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!”</p> +<p>“Hush!” said Lily. “Don’t give her away; it’s a secret, +it’s her living, Jimmy.”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“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!”</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’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, +<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’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’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:</p> +<p>“I say,” he said, as Jimmy passed, “write something; +for me!”</p> +<p>“All right!” 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;'>“May joy and pleasure be your lot</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>. . . trot, trot, trot!”</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>“... Regard me as a link.</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'> <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Loving Pal</span>.”</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>“<i>Un afetuoso saludo y un augurio de feliz viaje le +desea Pedro y Paolo</i>.” +<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;'>“Hoping we shall meet again, if not here, there.</p> +<br /> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'> “<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Joe Brooks</span>.”</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>“<i>Puedo decir que nunca he visto yoo ... tan cuida y +bella</i>....”</p> +<p>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 <i>she</i> ought to know: never left her +side since she began traveling by herself, day or night.</p> +<p>“You’re a lucky one, you are!” Tom broke in.</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“If you do that, Tom, you’ll have Miss Lily to reckon +with! What! You’re laughing!” cried Glass-Eye angrily. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_373' name='page_373'></a>373</span> +“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!”</p> +<p>“Eh, what? A light in your eye?” exclaimed Tom +suddenly. “I wonder if one really could ... I say, +Jimmy, could one?”</p> +<p>“Yes,” said Jimmy, greatly amused, “with an invisible +wire under the dress....”</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“But what will Miss Lily say?” objected Glass-Eye, +trembling at the idea of announcing her departure to her +terrible mistress.</p> +<p>“Well,” said Tom, “I’ll be nice to her Pa, if she’s nice +to you. Come along!”</p> +<p>“But I don’t know how to sign my name.”</p> +<p>“You can make your mark, before two witnesses. +Come along!”</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>“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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_374' name='page_374'></a>374</span> +talk ill of her. And that ... that ... oh, +that one!”</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>“How d’you do, Lily? How’s my dear little wife?”</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—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:</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“Why, of course I do!” Trampy agreed, surprised, +all the same, at this loving reception from his dear little +wife.</p> +<p>“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! +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_377' name='page_377'></a>377</span> +I’ve never been your little wife. I’ll show you your little +wife, the real one. Come along, Ave Maria! Here’s +Trampy!”</p> +<p>“Eh, what?” said Trampy, turning color. “Ave Maria? +I don’t know any Ave Maria.”</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>“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!”</p> +<p>“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.</p> +<p>“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?”</p> +<p>“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!”</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—“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.</p> +<p>Jimmy did not know if he was on his head or his heels +for joy:</p> +<p>“I’ll stand the champagne!” he said. “To Miss Lily’s +health!”</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>“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!”</p> +<p>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 +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_379' name='page_379'></a>379</span> +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.</p> +<p>“Where have you been, Glass-Eye?” asked Lily severely. +“What have you been doing with Tom? Give +me my handkerchief, Glass-Eye.”</p> +<p>“Here’s your bag, Miss Lily,” said Glass-Eye excitedly. +“I’m going to leave you, Miss Lily.”</p> +<p>“What for?” said Lily, feeling vexed. “Because I +owe you a few little things?”</p> +<p>“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.”</p> +<p>“She’s drunk!” cried Lily, utterly dumfounded. “Or +else she’s going mad. Jimmy! Tom! Glass-Eye’s going +mad!”</p> +<p>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....</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’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>“Here’s to Miss Lily! And a round on the thumbnail +in honor of Miss Lily!”</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—“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:</p> +<p>“Here I am!”</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 “her favorite audience,” 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>“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!...”</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’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!</p> +<p>“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 <i>don’t</i> think!”</p> +<p>“<i>Ver-r-rdammt</i>!”</p> +<p>Nunkie turned on his heel, shaking the passage with +tremendous oaths.</p> +<p>“I thought,” Lily shot at him from behind sarcastically, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_383' name='page_383'></a>383</span> +“I thought one ought never to swear! It’s wicked +to swear, Mr. Fuchs!”</p> +<p>In her dressing-room, she went on laughing at Nunkie +and his “<i>Donner-r-r-wetter-r-r</i>!” and his “<i>S-s-satan</i>! +<i>S-s-satan</i>!” 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!</p> +<p>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:</p> +<p>“Hullo, Lily!” he said, when he saw her. “Are you +ready?”</p> +<p>“Ready?” said Lily. “Look!”</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>“Look how she’s trembling! One would think she had +a fever.”</p> +<p>“It’s quite true,” 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>“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.”</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,—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>“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!”</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>“No! No!” she gasped, with dilated eyes.</p> +<p>And, suddenly, she understood and uttered a cry of +rage!</p> +<p>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.</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’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’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 +<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’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>“Yes, but at what a cost!” 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—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!</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>“You must not be angry with me,” he said gently. “I +was bound to do it, Lily; I had to save the theater.”</p> +<p>“And get rid of me!” 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>“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....”</p> +<p>Lily lowered her head under his calm gaze....</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“But what...? Why...?” asked Lily, as +though stupefied.</p> +<p>“Poor Lily,” he replied, gently raising that face all +distorted with grief. “Poor little Lily! I have caused +you a heap of pain.”</p> +<p>Lily, for her sole answer, gave a convulsive sob; a tear +leaped to her eyelids.</p> +<p>“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!”</p> +<p>“Every night?” asked Lily, still incredulous and yet +transfigured with hope. “You’re saying that, Jimmy; +but....”</p> +<p>“Do you doubt my word, Lily?” he replied, pressing +her gently to him. “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’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.</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’ 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. 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By Katherine Cecil Thurston</p> +<p style=' margin-left:2em;'>(author of “The Masquerader,” “The Gambler”).</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’s Good Man</b>. By Marie Corelli.</p> +<p><b>Heart’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>. 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