And so the end came.
It was the moment before the curtain fell, when the whole company were grouped upon the stage in the final tableau, that—a startling interruption occurred.
A deputy sheriff, with his aids, strode upon the stage, and clapped his hand on the shoulder of Clifford Standish.
"You are my prisoner!" he said, sternly; and added: "I have a warrant for your arrest for deserting your wife."
It was like a thunder-clap, so sudden and so startling.
The actor, at that moment, was holding Geraldine's hand in a fervent clasp, and he felt it turn cold as ice as she drew it from him in trembling horror.
He grew lividly pale beneath his stage make-up, but he tried to brazen it out by saying:
"Officer, you have made a mistake. I am not the man."
"Oh, yes, you are, Clifford Standish, and you must come with me to the Tombs at once," returned the deputy sheriff, with a satirical smile.
"I tell you it is a mistake; I have no wife, and this is a base attempt to injure an innocent man. I will prove it in court to-morrow," exclaimed the actor, putting on an air of injured innocence.