The Auction Block

t convention, and manifested this hostility in an exaggerated carelessness of dress and manner. It was perhaps his habit of thought as much as anything

and publicity agent for a circus, and finally as a Metropolitan reviewer, had destroyed his illusions and soured his taste for theatrical life. His

returned to his desk after each excursion into other fields. First-night audiences knew him now, and had come to look for his thin, sharp features. His shapeless, wrinkled suit that resembled a sleeping-bag; his flannel shirt, always tieless and frequently collarless, were considered attributes of

women in general and the painted favorites of Broadway in particular, he had forced himself to write the common laudatory stuff which the public demanded. Only once had he gi

his vaudeville days as "The Judge," answered hi

, Mr. Pope. Sam

idneys, i

I'm a beehive swa

man at the Columbus, who has the floa

xcesses. "He bilked you, Mr. Pope. He's the guy that put the kid in kidney. The

mber th

o." The Judge leaned forward, and a strong odor of whisky envel

for a change. It's better for you than these cheap ble

eezingly. "I do take

take a tumble, or Berg

r. Pope. Can't you find a job for a swe

is

's out with the 'Pe

Why, she's your

s good as she did when we worked together--after she gets warmed up--and she lo

ifle old, I

ome of the squabs in this troupe.

t you ask

make-up; he wants 'em with the dew on. They've got to look natural for Bergman. That's some of 'em now." He nodded toward a group of young, fresh-cheeked girls who had entered the stage door and were hurrying down the h

ergman's 'types'; that new beaut

the stream of performers as they entered and made for their quarters. There were many women in the number, and all of them were pretty. Most of the

he popularity of the girl he had come to interview; for he had picked her out of the chorus of the preceding Revue and commented so enthusiastically upon her beauty that this season had witnessed her advancement to a speaking part. Through Pope's column attention had been focused upon Bergman's

lete. The latter had studied for the law; he had the drollest legs in the business, and his salary exceeded that of

ctively figured cretonne over the entrance and over the wardrobe hooks fixed in the rear wall; but the result was hardly successful. The same material had been utilized to cover the shelves which were littered with a bewildering assortment of make-up tins, cold-cream cans, rouge and powder boxes, whitening bottles, wig-blocks, and the multifarious disordered accumulations of a dressing-room. The walls were half hidden behind photographs, impaled upon pins, like entomological specimens; photographs were thrust into the mirror frames, they were pr

er first-act costume of the Fairy Princess. Both she and her mother were plainly nonplussed at th

esterday. She was almost afraid to let you intervi

like bad women. New York never would have taken her up if she hadn't been advertised as the wickedest woman in Europe, for she can neither act, sing, nor da

ere faintly colored, that the lashes under the heavy beading were long and dark and sweeping. As for her other features, no paint could conceal their perfection. Her forehead was linelessly serene, her brows were straight and too well-defined to need the pencil. As for her eyes, too much had been written about them already; they had proven the despair of many

she told him, in reply to his last remark, "and I

ou and it will be satisfied--anyhow, it should be. Of cour

Lorelei has too much sense for that. She

king for types, and I seemed to suit, so I got an engagement at once. The newspapers began to mention me, and when he produced this show he

principals," her mo

're ambitious?

d any experience to speak of, but there's more than one manager that's got his eye on her." The

be studying har

shook

n voice

N

cing? No

N

u've no idea how popular sh

He, too, resented Mrs. Knight's share in the conversation. He did not like the elder woman's face, nor her voice, nor her manner. She impress

people," he said. "Tell me what you think of ou

raised a s

rinted anything I really told you. Good interviewers never do that. They come and talk about nothing, then go

tory about that Demorest

as bad as you

interview, so I built a story on the Broadway gossip. Inasmuch as she goes in for no

n, entered. She greeted Pope cordially as she removed her hat and hande

re her own mirrors, she dove into a cosmetic can and vigorously applied a priming coat to her features, while the dresser drew her hair back and secured it tightly with

r of them flocking to the Palace Garden just to see a woman who

ewels--the King's Cabach

I dare say they're as

With her war-paint only half applied and her hair secured closely to her smal

al enough. I go

l Pope

Seldovia? Didn't she wreck his th

ned his throne. But, you know, kings can d

a week, and won't go to supper with a man for less than five hundred dollars. She says if fellows want to be seen in public with he

is giving a big supper to some of his friends and we're going--Lorelei a

man?" queried the

. But nix on the newspaper sto

. "Scandal must never darken the soot of that village." He turned as Sl

-instantaneous hit, and a record for pulchritude in an aggregation where the homeliest member is a Helen of Troy. Every appearance a riot; stage-door Johns standing on their heads; members of our best families dying to lead her to the altar; under five-year contract with Bergman, and refuses to m

deprecated. "I know the story. Now I'm

like a subway station, and I've got so I could 'chang

l you?" Mrs. Knight implored. "In this bus

k it her lips parted in her ever-ready smile. "Nice girl, that

ei, Lilas, or the

choose THAT for a m

ble mysteries. But wait.

Who's

to the family, for he keeps 'em from getting too prou

s" descended from the enchanted regions above and scurried out upon the stage. Through

e, eh?" remarked Slosson, when the

ut of this kind of show. He's a fr

uties.' Twelve; count 'em! Any time you want to pull off a classy party for some of your bachelor friends let me know, and I'll supply the

dollars as a banquet favor; but the cost of living ris

tion favors. There's a good story in thi

curled, and he

tly, "because I have to, not because I li

ntertaining a crowd of other steel men, and a stag supper is either dull or devilish, so he has invited a

relei Knight a regular--er--

s part of

s

r. Old man Knight was run over by a taxi-cab last summer. It didn't hurt the machine, but he's got a broken back, or someth

flooded the regions at the back of the theater as the curtain rose and the cho

Two years ago she was a country girl; now she's a

on her trail. But her danger isn't so much from the people she meets with as the people she eats with.

e can have her choice o

son hastened to qualify. "

to the ring and the orange blossoms. But what's the difference, after all, Sl

returned to the front of the house. "I wish he wore

the stage door the Judge

for Lottie, won't you? Remember, the swe