Cinder Path Tales

AND EVERY ONE A WINNER 185 the old lady, though shewas old enough to be his grandmother, Jim's censorious re­ marks were, however, more than offset by Harry, who, at the other end of our line, applauded so vociferously that Annette re­ warded him with a direct and beaming smile when she made her last bow. Then followed " Leslie and Manning, Knock-about Grotesques," " Cora, the Queen of the Slack Wire," and " Sam Berne, the Dutch Monarch; " the last of whom first convulsed us by asking Tom, in a sepulchral whisper, to " Please wake your friend," pointing to Paddy, who was indeed asleep; and then had a very funny dialogue withthe piano-pounder, in which they bothpretended to get in a towering passion over the question as to whether the singing orthe accompani­ ment was the worse. The delights of the play-bill were now well-nigh exhausted, the next to the last on the list being " Alice Wentworth,America's Most Dashing Soubrette." She appeared to the tune of some gay waltz notes from the long-suffering piano. Alice was a slender girl, with brown hair and large, dark eyes. I doubt she could ever have been " dashing," though pretty she certainly had been. There were also signs that " once she had seen better- days," as the old song goes. But