Copyright, 1913, by
JOHN LANE COMPANY

TO
MY FATHER

CONTENTS

PART I
IN REHEARSAL
(New York)
CHAPTERPAGE
I.The Cast[3]
II.Convenience vs. Culture[16]
III.Off Duty[30]
IV.Miss New York, Jr.[44]
V.Matrimony & Co.[59]
PART II
THE CURTAIN RISES
(Paris)
I.On the Great Artiste[77]
II.On Her Everyday Performance[90]
III.And Its Sequel[107]
PART III
THE CHILDREN’S PERFORMANCE
(Vienna)
I.The Playhouse[127]
II.The Players Who Never Grow Old[139]
III.The Fairy Play[153]
PART IV
THE BROKEN-DOWN ACTOR
(Madrid)
I.His Corner Apart[173]
II.His Arts and Amusements[187]
III.One of His Big Scenes[205]
IV.His Foibles and Finenesses[215]
PART V
IN REVIEW
(London)
I.The Critics[235]
II.The Judgment[248]

ILLUSTRATIONS

An American Allegory[Frontispiece]
FACING PAGE
Afternoon Parade on Fifth Avenue[10]
A Patch of the Crazy Quilt[14]
“New York’s Finest.”[30]
American Woman Goes to War[58]
The Triumphant “Third Sex” Takes Washington[66]
Open-Air Ball on the 14th July[82]
L’Heure du Rendez-vous[110]
The Soul of Old Spain[173]
The Queen of Spain and Prince of Asturias[184]
Fair Enthusiasts at the Bull-Fight[190]
The Supreme Moment[192]
A Typical Posture of the Spanish Dance[204]
The Royal Family of Spain after a Chapel Service[210]
King Alfonso Swearing-in Recruits, April 13, 1913[212]
“The Restful Sweep of Parks”[235]
London: The Empire Capital[252]
The Great Island Site[256]
Linking the New Era and the Old[258]

PROLOGUE

A play is a play in so much as it furnishes a fragment of actual life. Being only a fragment, and thus literally torn out of the mass of life, it is bound to be sketchy; to a certain extent even superficial. Particularly is this the case where the scene shifts between five places radically different in elements and ideals. The author can only present the (to her) most impressive aspects of the several pictures, trusting to her sincerity to bridge the gaps her enforced brevity must create. And first she invites you to look at the piece in rehearsal.