"I've come to interview one of Bergman's 'types'; that new beauty, Miss
Knight. Is she here yet?"
"Sure; her and the back-drop, too. She carries the old woman for
scenery." Mr. Regan took the caller's card and shuffled away, leaving
Pope to watch 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 them were overdressed in the extremes of fashion;
a few quietly garbed ladies and gentlemen entered the lower
dressing-rooms reserved for the principals.
It was no novel sight to the reviewer, whose theatrical apprenticeship
had been thorough, yet it never failed to awaken his deepest cynicism.
Somewhere within him was a puritanical streak, and he still cherished
youthful memories. He reflected now that it was he who had laid the
foundation for the 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 latest acquisition; and once
New York had paused to look carefully at this fresh young new-comer,
her fame had spread. But he had never met the girl herself, and he
wondered idly what effect success had had upon her. A total absence of
scandal had argued against any previous theatrical experience.
Meanwhile he exchanged greetings with the star--a clear-eyed man with
the face of a scholar and the limbs of an athlete. The latter had
studied for the law; he had the drollest legs in the business, and his
salary exceeded that of Supreme Court Justice. They were talking when
Mr. Regan returned to tell the interviewer that he would be received.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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