. Harper's young people . or-bidden his attending this lower order of vulgar display,and Lance led too frank a life to do in secret what heknew his father and Phyllis would condemn. Some warehouses were at one side, and wedged in be-tween them Lance saw a narrow doorway with a flight of * Begun in No. 157, HARPERS YOUNG PEOPLE. steps leading under-ground. Above the door was writtenin half-legible characters, Stage-Entrance. No Admit-tance. The doctor, however, pushed oji, descending thestairs, followed by Lance. A rough-looking lad wasstanding at the foot of the steps, evidently on guard; butt
. Harper's young people . or-bidden his attending this lower order of vulgar display,and Lance led too frank a life to do in secret what heknew his father and Phyllis would condemn. Some warehouses were at one side, and wedged in be-tween them Lance saw a narrow doorway with a flight of * Begun in No. 157, HARPERS YOUNG PEOPLE. steps leading under-ground. Above the door was writtenin half-legible characters, Stage-Entrance. No Admit-tance. The doctor, however, pushed oji, descending thestairs, followed by Lance. A rough-looking lad wasstanding at the foot of the steps, evidently on guard; butthe doctor simply said, All right, and passed on, withLance close beside him. They groped their way along adark passage, to the left of which was a flight of ricketysteps, and up these they hurried, Lance wondering howsoon the air would feel anything but damp and lie had remarked various pieces of stage-carpentry,and Dr. Rogers explained to him that it was there thatmuch of the necessary stage-work was THE DOCTOR AND LANCE FIND MRS. TRAVERS. At the top of the staircasethey found themselves ina labyrinth of side scenes,beams, and pulleys — allthe mechanical part of theGrand Spectacular Dramaabout to be performed. Menwere running here andthere : from high up inwhat looked like scaffold-ings Lance could hear voices—the stage-carpenter call-ing out this and that direction with various strong ex-pressions— while already in the narrow spaces behindthe scenes the actors and actresses were beginning tomove about. There was some gas-light, but usually acold stream of daylight fell in upon the painted facesand tawdry-looking costumes, which would soon havethe aid of the foot-lights and the illusions of a happy 166 IIAPwPEIlS YOUNG PEOPLE. VOLUME IV. country audience. But here everything looked what itreally was; and oh, in spite of paint and powder, howweary some of the faces looked! A group of younggirls thinly dressed were gathered together near one ofthe sid
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1879
