Susan'' kept her name in the background, that she
might not array against these projects the opposi-

tion of those prejudiced against woman suffrage.
We both spoke at the meetings, however, as I have

already explained, and one of our most chastening
experiences occurred on ``Actress Night.'' There

was a great demand for tickets for this occasion, as
every one seemed anxious to know what kind of

speeches our leading women of the stage would make;
and the programme offered such magic names as

Helena Modjeska, Julia Marlowe, Georgia Cayvan,
Clara Morris, and others of equal appeal. The hall

was soon filled, and to keep out the increasing throng
the doors were locked and the waiting crowd was

directed to a second hall for an overflow meeting.
As it happened, Miss Anthony and I were among

the earliest arrivals at the main hall. It was the
first evening we had been free to do exactly as we

pleased, and we were both in high spirits, looking
forward to the speeches, congratulating each other

on the good seats we had been given on the plat-
form, and rallying the speakers on their stage fright;

for, much to our amusement, we had found them all
in mortalterror of their audience. Georgia Cayvan,

for example, was so nervous that she had to be
strengthened with hot milk before she could speak,

and Julia Marlowe admitted freely that her knees
were giving way beneath her. They really had

something of an ordeal before them, for it was de-
cided that each actress must speak twice going

immediately from the hall to the overflow meeting
and repeating there the speech she had just made.

But in the mean time some one had to hold the im-
patient audience in the second hall, and as it was a

duty every one else promptly repudiated, a row of
suddenly imploring faces turned toward Miss An-

thony and me. I admit that we responded to the
appeal with great reluctance. We were SO com-

fortable where we were--and we were also deeply
interested in the first intimateglimpse we were

having of these stars in the dramatic sky. We saw
our duty, however, and with deep sighs we rose and

departed for the second hall, where a glance at the
waitingthrong did not add to our pleasure in the

prospect before us.
When I walked upon the stage I found myself

facing an actuallyhostileaudience. They had come
to look at and listen to the actresses who had been

promised them, and they thought they were being
deprived of that privilege by an interloper. Never

before had I gazed out on a mass of such unresponsive
faces or looked into so many angry eyes. They

were exchanging views on their wrongs, and the gen-
eral buzz of conversation continued when I appeared.

For some moments I stood looking at them, my
hands behind my back. If I had tried to speak they

would undoubtedly have gone on talking; my si-
lence attracted their attention and they began to

wonder what I intended to do. When they had
stopped whispering and moving about, I spoke

to them with the frankness of an overburdened
heart.

``I think,'' I said, slowly and distinctly, ``that you
are the most disagreeableaudience I ever faced in

my life.''
They gasped and stared, almost open-mouthed in

their surprise.
``Never,'' I went on, ``have I seen a gathering of

people turn such ugly looks upon a speaker who has
sacrificed her own enjoyment to come and talk to

them. Do you think I want to talk to you?'' I de-
manded, warming to my subject. ``I certainly do

not. Neither does Miss Anthony want to talk to
you, and the lady who spoke to you a few moments

ago, and whom you treated so rudely, did not wish
to be here. We would all much prefer to be in the

other hall, listening to the speakers from our com-
fortable seats on the stage. To entertain you we

gave up our places and came here simply because
the committee begged us to do so. I have only one

thing more to say. If you care to listen to me
courteously I am willing to waste time on you; but

don't imagine that I will stand here and wait while
you criticize the management.''

By this time I felt as if I had a child across my
knee to whom I was administering maternal chastise-

ment, and the uneasiness of my audience underlined
the impression. They listened rather sulkily at first;

then a few of the best-natured among them laughed,
and the laugh grew and developed into applause.

The experience had done them good, and they were
a chastened band when Clara Morris appeared, and

I gladly yielded the floor to her.
All the actresses who spoke that night delivered

admirable addresses, but no one equaled Madame
Modjeska, who delivered exquisitely a speech writ-

ten, not by herself, but by a friend and country-
woman, on the condition of Polish women under

the regime of Russia. We were all charmed as we
listened, but none of us dreamed what that address

would mean to Modjeska. It resulted in her banish-
ment from Poland, her native land, which she was

never again permitted to enter. But though she
paid so heavy a price for the revelation, I do not

think she ever really regretted having given to
America the facts in that speech.

During this same period I embarked upon a high
adventure. I had always longed for a home, and

my heart had always been loyal to Cape Cod. Now
I decided to have a home at Wianno, across the Cape

from my old parish at East Dennis. Deep-seated
as my home-making aspiration had been, it was

realized largely as the result of chance. A special
hobby of mine has always been auction sales. I

dearly love to drop into auction-rooms while sales
are in progress, and bid up to the danger-point,

taking care to stop just in time to let some one else
get the offered article. But of course I sometimes

failed to stop at the psychological moment, and the
result was a sudden realization that, in the course

of the years, I had accumulated an extraordinary
number of articles for which I had no shelter and

no possible use.
The crown jewel of the collection was a bedroom

set I had picked up in Philadelphia. Usually,
cautious friends accompanied me on my auction-