The evening world. Newspaper, September 27, 1911, Page 15

Wednesday, September 27, “Bought and Paid For’’ By O. ‘EY CHARLES DARNTON. A QURIOUS thing happened at the Playhouso last night—the comedy element tn @ serious play ran away with the play without tn the least impatring its serious value. This was explained by the fact that George Broad- burat, In writing “Bought and Paid For,” had not taken himself too sertouely, returning instead to the vein of humor which made his eariler farces so rich in fun, and by the added happy circumstance of having @ common type of clerk played by the undistinguished Frank Craven as simply and naturally ee though he had just come in from the street with mud on his shoes. Because it is both human and humorous, “Bought and Pata For’ te Broad- hurat'®’ bést play, and moreover, it takes first rank among the Amertoan playe of the season, Notwithstanding its commercial title ft Isn't one of those ttre- some business plays in which the stock-ticker plays the villain. There's no business, except the trafficking in a woman's {deals, and these in the end rise Superior to mere dollars. In an atmosphere that is sordidly New York-ish, the author allows the principle of self-respect to flourish before the curtain go down for good. The poor little telephone git! who marries a rich man for his money, even after hay- tng had her eyes opened to his deploradie taste in “home decorations,” may remind you of a Taura Joan Libbey hero- ino, but Mr. Broadhurst Protects himself by hav- ing her olster. aay as much. There's nothing ike writing @ play and @ eriticiom with a ain Ble. eweap of the pen! On the subject of Ib- sen and that incident of the alcove in “Ghosts” the author ts silent. But Rovert Stafford suggesta something of the sort when he comes home amlably drunk and tn- siete upon his wife's siiling up ana arinking champagne with him. He ts quarrelsome only when she oan no longer endure his alcoholic ca- Tewes. Then he re- minds her that he has bought and paid for her and smashes in the door of her bedroom, ‘This 19 too intimate to be pleasant, but it's convincing end the| scene holds the atten- tion. «It gives the play a sex quality that makes for strength and the dramatic thrill comes as a matter of course, Telephone girl though ehe was, Virginia de velops into a woman who fs big: enough to assert herself. For once Mr. Broad- hurst has succeeded in creating a real woman—two real women, for that matter— s Virginia's more common though equally human sister Fanny. Except moral platitudes about “a good woman's principles” ‘and ‘the legal Inia seems genuine, and Miss Julia Dean plays the role with under- 1 emotional discretion, But when she leaves her husband she weare t difficult to take her seriously. Mr. Broadhurst should steal that hat to Jail for tt. Tie husband becomes tiresome and artificial at times, through no fault of les Richman, but the measure of the man ts taken very well !n motor cars, yaelss and Jewels, In piling up her gems before leaving, however, Virginia rather overdovs the thing, especially in the sentimental matter of the wedding ring. She looks very poor Indeed when she goes to the Bronx with her sister. And when you hear that she {s wor In @ more you are prepared for the worst. Put pepplly the fourth act ts the most naman and humorous of all, thanks to} Virginia's youthful brother-in-law, Jimmie, full of “bright ideas” that his prac- | tcal wife never appreciates, {8 so much a character and #0 true to his ty as played by Mr. Craven, he swings the balance of “Bought and Paid 1 to the comedy side. Yet the fact that {t {s he who brings the husband to take back his wife makes Serve a serious purpose that adds to the interest of the play. This character {3 a real achievement for Mr. Hroadhurst, while Craven turns it into a triumph for himself. Fanny goes hand-in-hand with Jimmie es @ real character, and Miss Marie Nordstrom 1s #0 successful in making here tower of domestic atrength and ccmmon sense that she shares honors with Mr, Craven. “Bought end Paid For" ought to lead to the general distovery of the Play house, for there is every reason to believe that {t will prove a big popular success, that clouded thetr paste when | united hecame only Ralf ae dense in- | ated of darker. One day @ steamer hove in the offing. When the steamer was near enough, wise ones prociaimed that she was the Pajaro, bound up-ooast from Callas to Panama, | ‘The Pajaro put on brakes @ mile off |ghora Soon a boat came bobbing shore- | ward. Merriam strolled down on the the Carib saliors sprang out and | dragged the boat with @ mighty rush to the firm shingle, Out climbed the ploughing thelr way through the deap | mand toward the hotel. terest due to strangers. {of one of the passengere, He looked | again, and blood seemed to turn to ‘awbarry ice cream in his veina, Bur- ly, arrogant, debonatr as ever, It Ferguson Heda killed, wae coming toward him ten feet away, When Hedges saw Merriam his face flushed a dark red, ‘Then he shouted tn | hia old, biuft way: “Hello! Merriam, | Glad to see you. Didn't expect to find you out here, Quinby, thie ts my old friend Merriam of New York—Merriam, Mr. Quinby." Leaving Quinby at the bar, Hedges drew Merriam aside. “Now, what does thts meant” he aatd, with gruff kindness. “Are you aulking about that fool row we had?” “T thought,” atammerea Merriam—“T heart—they told me you were—that 1 nh | | Welt, you didn’t, and I'm not,” sald Hedges. “That fool young ambulance surgeon told Wade I was a candidate for a coffin Just because T'd got tired and quit breathing, f laid up in a| private hospital for @ month; but here Tam, kicking as hard as ever. Wade and J tried to find you, but couidn't. Now, Merriam, shake hands and forget it all, I was as much to blame as you were; and the shot really did me good— I came out of the hospital as healthy and fit as @ cab horse, come en; that rink's waiting.” “Old man,” sald Merriam, Drokenty, “I don't know how to thanks you-d~weil, you know" — “Oh! forget it," boomed Hedges. “Quinby4l die of thirst if we don’t join him.” Mra. Conant received her rot of newe- papers at four o'clock. T ANS L_ NorgostRot ing to her; they conveyed only @ visual- ined sense of familiarity. The largest Lloyd B, Conant secures than the subheadings: “Well-known Gaint Louis paint manu- facturer wins fult, pleading one yeare absence of wi “Her mysterious dit appearance recalled.” “Nothing hae been heard of her ainoe.”” ‘Twisting herself quickly out of the hammock, Mra, Conant's eye goon traversed’ the half-column of the "Re- call’ It ended thus: “It will be remem- bered that Mra, Conant @isappeared one evening in March of last year. It was ly rumored that her marriage with Lloyd B. Conant resulted tn much unhap- an’ wants ter make! jpinoss, Stories were not wanting to the! 2 effect that his cruelty toward his wifa had more than once taken the form of “Want to buy a dog, Mister?” “Why, what would | do with him?" “Oh, you could give him back to me!” “Say, Mame, would yer mind takin’ a ride around de block wit me friend Jimmie? He's had a scrap wit hie flanc her jealous!” happiness or absolute misery, And her state of mind depends “upon the ‘amount physical ate Fressve) hee Lvenscvded . ‘TX fi | ‘ec 4. full bottle ol Incture 0! , 2 i} r) of affection ehe bears her husband, Te eee i Seay ued Ino, ated The Day s Good Stories t ‘lod LNCe | Insists on Kissing Her. Proposal by Proxy. medicine cabinet in her bedroom. ‘This i | 2 ~) 7 otter “1 Nw ne his letter ‘3. | might have been an indication that ehe ’ | W eager oP Begs, moditated sutcide, It Je supposed that A Consistent Wonder. ‘e vat My Mier be liect: AG Le@ om A ae eee A a) Lied she abandoned such an intention ff she . iain tt off foF you” I know a young man and Itke Tam tn love with a girl, but I [him, but every time we are alone to- | Am too bas !ful to tell her fo, When we | | gether he Insists on kissing me. I have | ate together IT can scarcely speak |Temonetrated with hin but tt does no | Would tt possesed It, and left her home instead,”” Mra, Conant slowly dropped the paper, at on @ chair, clasping her hands vmay | &¥0ke were eo dramatic ter-| sheet which had secret that he wot only bec ror af evildoers, but an object of admiration, ty jand + proper to ask my atster to | [ bowing merr ly pin] “OC I her of my love?” ’ think—O God!—let me think,"* ‘he negross outed for the landlord, Pie | \t Let me , eciteennt from’ office he was at once| ‘What fs itt" querte ¢ from the stair | If the young man cannot treat you| N er how faltering your declara-|ghe whispered. ‘I took the bottle with “ after by those charged with crime, The) Mads, od ney iy, * | |with ¢he proper respect explain to him|tion I a e soung Indy would|me * * * I threw It out of the window firat, (mo casre, which he defended resuited in| Diver of pane to lock’ my bedfoous oor | Y dear girls, never marry the “second best” mam. lear you no longer desire his friendship, {rather hear {t from your ips than frem|of the train * © * I --- * * © there WORM Ales tad sataad his. proeerction j M Hf, for any reason, you cannot marry the man ; the tips of e third person, waa another bottle in the cabinet | (4 tn MeBtase Gocder end looked. om with equal =e eee eee you love, it would be better for you to remain| He Did Not Write. She Was Calied Away. He} . there were two, fide, by feet all inducted the defense, accosted 1 ° fe than to hon: PGS)! akin a the aconite—and the valet intern when "be conducted the di 30 ving the Problem. | ae toate a the days of your life than to marry « man whom Agog ae Fe ated OCU: ng, | tie potnlteand the valerian éhai I took | be ‘Basle, you eho’ le @ wonder, No matter t you merely Ike an . hopes n wh had secured writes al Lam giving you these few words of advice because of a letter 1 received this | Mn om in fove with a man and they to the pen just t | 8. writes: found the aconite be , full, we La f which, side pou's on. id a ee bee r “While in another city T met @|he 1s altve, of course--[ ga’ m only | \ sama,"—Case and Comment § x 40") orning, which seems to me to voice @ problem that comes into the lives of|T thought he cared for me, ae wo ace young man and learned to care tor him, |® harmless dose, of valerian Pte poke Gane. wad be nen of | many girls, It reads: enc ott owever, 1| Wy called away I wrote him|am not @ murderese 4 Reasonable Request. the akse terrier, whith jameomed such an atun-| ANY SiN® Uy Veto saan, But he cares for me only asa friend, On the | asked him to call upon me and he ald | 5 times, but fe tas never ane| Ralph, T-O God, don’ let this be a rT julre ¢ | ance hair to give it re the appearance od J : e nA th 0 " oe | swered TR eR ad thas tone it he ook vearth-rug than @ worthy member of | other hand, there 4s @ man I care for only asa friend who wishes to marry me,|he would write and tel me when h 1 my letters. Do you think he |dream could come. He has never written nor | cares form called, What do you think?" | gat, seams I fear the young man was not as tn-| A008 Rot | terested in sou as you thought, and you | |, What shall I do?” And my answer to this girl, and to all young people who ask me a similar question, remains the same: Never marry any man but the man you love. be lodged for the wight, but was toformed that ft was full op. “But you must give me some sort of modation,” eald the stranger, ‘Surely you want me to Jeep under the starry but queried the red. ot hie companton, after having made a replied the other. “Tut 8 pin Anto ft, and m any m \ * R pet eee. ae Sings * i < ' |Fables of Ophelia; or, Wunst Up un a Time *& By Clare Victor Dwiggins Copyright, 1911, by The Press Publishing Co, (The yw York World), | DonT KNow WHERE SHE GETS (TS Wor ] Mp. So And Every Time sHe ET A muo Pie IT GoT DIRTIER AND DianerR TILL One DAY sHe HAPPENED TO GLANCE (NTO A LOCKING GLASS | ANO BANG! (T BROKE KER SMASH. AHO Then Sve Had Bad Wer WHAT WOULD N'T WASH HER EveRY Dat FOR SEVEN YEARs, FACE THE WORLD AND THE DOOR A Romance of a New York Exile and the SL Merriam | point of jgianced toward them “with the mild in. | dered. | There was 4t 6 o'clock, something familiar to him in the walk |Caft partly filled with straw inte the low 19112 Henry Mateo conaidered. “At Punta Retna, thirty smiles down the coast, senora,” he enewered, “there 19 & email steamer loading with cincRona and dyewoods, @he salle for gan Fran- eleco to-morrow at eunrican Bo says my brother, who arrived im his eleop te-dag, pasting by Punta Reina.” “You must take me in that steamer to-night, ie if beach to look on, In the shallow water | that?” “Perhaps” Mateo shrugged @ sestive shoulder. ‘Sire. Conant, took 's. handful of money from @ drawer amd purser, the captain and two passengers, | eave it to rm, “Get the patio here, and take my trunk te the sloop. There je more money yet, hurry.” For one time Mateo walked away with- the man he had | Out rhuffiing hin feat, “Angela,” cried Mra. almost ' fiercely, “come and help me lem foing away, Out with this trust, first. Gtir yourself. These vt final, the world tn. was not lessened; but it now appeared & hopeless and unrealizadle thing, The visions of thetr future that had seemed #0 bilseful and complete had vanished. She tried to assure herself that her reminctation wi her for his sake then for her own. Now that she was cleared of her burden—at least, tech- } nically—would not his own welgh too heavily upon him? If whe should cling to him, would not the difference forever @lently mar and corrode their happt- nese? Thus she reasoned; but there were a thousand little voices calling to her that #he could feel rather than hear, Mike the hum of distant, powerful ma- chinery—the little voices of the world, that, when raised in aniston, can send * b an ‘Mmeistemt call through the thickest joor, Once while packing, @ brief ehadow of the lotus dream came back to her. She held Merriam’e pioture ¢o her heart with hand, while ehe threw a pair of shoes into the trunk with her other, At @ o'clock Mateo returned ami re- ported the covered it with straw and conveyed {i+ p's for additional orders. ra. On her head was a small round hat and over it the apricot- colored Jace mantilia, tusk had quickly followed chert twilight. Mateo led her by ders’ and frast-grown streets toward the polat behind which the sloop was anchored, On turning @ corner they dehela the Hotel Orfila del Mar three atree nebulously aglow with tte array ef kero- sene lamps, Mi is i Quickly she inven by which she might speak yet make her departure knowing. Bhe would walk hotel, ask some one to call Aim talk @ few moments on some » leaving htm expecting at her home at seven, She unpinned her hat ang “Keep this, and walt bere uF i i z 323 ¢ HeEeek gs + ler. ane was ia oad oe bulky, white- clad figure of To Pancho etanding alone on the gallery. “Tio Pancho," ahe eaid, with @ charm- ing smile, “may I trouble you to ask Mr. Merriam to come out for just « fow moments that I may epesk with him?” Tio Pancho towed es an elepheat tardes, Senora Conaat,” Be said, a@ @ cavalier talks, Aad then he went on, lene at his ease: “Dut does not the senora Know that Senor Merriam sailed on the Pajaro for Panama at 3 o'clock this afternoon?” a She went into the part of the house | » me that the young man| that #he rented from the old Peruvian | \re for you as much as you|man and Dia wife, abut the door, and n and You would better not | walked up and down her room awiftly | ¢ lettera unt! he has/and feverishly for half an hour, Mer \ 1