The Auction Block | Page 9

passed out through the stage door the Judge called hoarsely
after him:
"You'll keep your eye skinned for a job for Lottie, won't you?
Remember, the swellest legs in burlesque."

CHAPTER III
In his summary of Lorelei's present life Slosson had not been far wrong.
Many changes had come to the Knights during the past two
years--changes of habit, of thought, and of outlook; the entire family
had found it necessary to alter their system of living. But it was in the
girl that the changes showed most. When Mrs. Knight had forecast an
immediate success for her daughter she had spoken with the wisdom of
a Cassandra. Bergman had taken one look at Lorelei upon their first
meeting, then his glance had quickened. She had proved to have at least
an average singing-voice; her figure needed no comment. Her
inexperience had been the strongest argument in her favor, since
Bergman's shows were famous for their new faces. The result was that
he signed her promptly, and mother and daughter had walked out of his
office quite unconscious of having accomplished the unusual. At first
the city had seemed strange and bewildering, and Lorelei had suffered
pangs at the memory of Vale, for at her age the roots of association
strike deep; but in a short time the novelty of her new life proved an
anodyne and deadened acute regrets, while the vague hazard of it all
kept her at an agreeable pitch of excitement.
Moreover, she took naturally to the work, finding it more like play; and,
being quite free from girlish timidity, she felt no stage-fright, even
upon her first appearance. Her recognition had followed quickly--it was
impossible to hide such perfection of loveliness as hers--and the
publicity pleased her. In due course rival managers began to make

offers, which Mrs. Knight, rising nobly to the first test of her business
ability, used as levers to raise her daughter's salary and to pry out of
Bergman a five-year contract. The role of the Fairy Princess was a
result.
Thus it was that without conscious effort, without even a proof of merit
beyond her appearance, Lorelei had arrived at the point where further
advancement depended upon study and hard work; but, since these
formed no part of the family program, she remained idle while Mrs.
Knight and Jim arranged so many demands upon her time that she had
no leisure for serious endeavors, even had she desired it. Proficiency in
stage-craft of any sort comes only at the expense of peonage, and this
girl was being groomed solely for matrimony.
The principals who topped the Bergman bill were artists--men and
women who had climbed through years of patient effort; toward their
subordinates they maintained an aloofness that is peculiar to the show
business. They moved in a world apart from the chorus: the two classes
impinged briefly eight times a week, but outside the theater they never
saw each other. Even Labaudie, the doll- like danseuse, looked down
upon Lorelei and Lilas almost as she looked down upon the members
of her ballet. Out of all the big company there were perhaps a
half-dozen chorus men and women who had eyes definitely fixed upon
a stage career; the rest, like Lorelei and Lilas, regarded the work simply
as an easy means of livelihood.
The theatrical profession is peculiar to itself. It is a world with customs,
habits, and ambitions differing from those of any other sphere. That
division of stage life to which Lorelei Knight belonged--that army of
men and women from shows like Bergman's-- constitutes a still more
distinctive community--a community, moreover, that is characteristic
of New York alone. Its code is of its own making; its habits of life are
as individual as its figures of speech. Although at first all this
bewildered the country girl, at length she had come to adopt the new
ways as a matter of course. From the association she had learned much.
She had learned how to reap the fruits of popularity, how to take
without giving, how to profit without sacrifice; and under her mother's

influence she was not allowed to forget what she had learned.
With the support of the family entirely upon her shoulders, she had
been driven to many shifts in order to stretch her salary to livable
proportions. Peter was a total burden, and Jim either refused or was
unable to contribute toward the common fund, while the mother
devoted her time almost solely to managing Lorelei's affairs. Presents
were showered upon the girl, and these Mrs. Knight converted into cash.
Conspicuous stage characters are always welcome at the prominent
cafes; hence Lorelei never had to pay for food or drink when alone, and
when escorted she received a commission on the money spent. She was
well