"What is the matter?" Havener again cried, getting hold of the thrashing youth. "What has happened?"
"Stop her!" roared Ephraim, realizing that some person had come and thinking instantly that the woman must be detained. "Don"t let her git erway!"
"Don"t let who get away?"
"The woman! Ow-wow! Bring a pail of warter an" let me git my head inter it! I must do somethin" ter put aout the fire! Oh, my eyes! my eyes!"
"What is the matter with your eyes?"
"She threw somethin" inter "em."
"She?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"The woman."
"What woman?"
"The veiled woman--the one that has made all the trouble fer Merry! Oh, this is jest awful!"
"What are you talking about?" demanded Havener, impatiently. "There is no veiled woman here! Have you lost your senses?"
Then, realizing that they were doing nothing to prevent her from making her escape, Gallup sat up and howled:
"She was here! I saw her comin" aout of a dressin" room. Oh, dear! Yow!
I tried to ketch her! Oh, my eyes! She flung somethin" inter my face an"
put both my eyes out!"
"Something has been thrown into his eyes!" exclaimed Havener. "It"s red pepper! He is telling the truth! Somebody get some water! Somebody run to a drug store and get something for him to use on his eyes!"
"Darn it all!" shouted Gallup. "Let me die, ef I"ve gotter! but don"t let that infarnal woman git erway!"
"I will try to see to that," said Havener, rushing away.
He dashed down to the stage door, but he was too late, for the doorkeeper told him the veiled woman had gone out.
"Why in the world did you let her in?" angrily demanded the irate stage manager.
"She said she belonged to the company."
"She lied! She has half killed one of the company!"
"I heard the shouts," said the doorkeeper, "and I thought somebody was hurt. But it wasn"t my fault."
"If she tries to come in here again, seize and hold her. I"ll give you five dollars if you hold her till I can reach her! She is a female tiger!"
Then Havener rushed back to see what could be done for Gallup.
Groaning and crying, Gallup was washing the pepper from his eyes, which were fearfully inflamed and swollen. He could not see Havener, but heard his voice, and eagerly asked:
"Did ye ketch the dratted critter?"
"No; she got out before I reached the door."
"Darn her!" grated Ephraim. "I say darn her! Never said ennything as bad as that about a female woman before, but I jest can"t help it this time!
I won"t be able to see fer a week!"
"Oh, yes, you will," a.s.sured Havener. "But I rather think your eyes will look bad for some time to come."
"Here is something he had in his hand," said one of the supers. "It"s her purse, I reckon; but there ain"t no money in it."
Havener took it.
"Are you sure there wasn"t any money in it when you examined it?" he asked, sharply.
The super seemed to feel insulted, and he angrily protested that he would not have touched a cent if there had been five hundred dollars in it.
"But I notice you had curiosity enough to examine the contents of it,"
came dryly from the stage manager. "I"ll just keep this. It may prove to be a valuable clew to the woman"s ident.i.ty."
Everything possible was done for Ephraim"s eyes, but it was a long time before he was much relieved from the agony he was suffering. Then he was taken to the hotel, with a bandage over his eyes, and a doctor came to attend him.
The physician said he would do everything possible to get Ephraim into shape to play that evening, but he did not give a positive a.s.surance that he would be able to do so. As soon as Frank heard of the misfortune which had befallen the Vermont youth, he hastened to the hotel and to the room where Ephraim was lying on the bed.
Gallup heard his step and recognized it when he entered.
"I"m slappin" glad yeou"ve come, Frank!" he exclaimed.
"And I am terribly sorry you have met with such a misfortune, Ephraim,"
declared Merry.
"So be I, Frank--so be I! But I"m goin" ter play my part ter-night ur bu"st my galluses tryin"! I ain"t goin" to knock aout the show ef I kin help it."
"That was not what I meant. I was sorry because of the pain you must have suffered."
"Waal, it was ruther tough," the faithful country lad confessed. "By gum! it was jest as ef somebody"d chucked a hull lot of coals right inter my lookers. It jest knocked me silly, same ez if I"d bin hit with a club."
"How did it happen? Tell me all about it."
Ephraim told the story of his adventure, finishing with:
"I kainder guess that red pepper warn"t meant fer me, Frank. That was meant fer yeou. That woman was in there ter fix yeou so yeou couldn"t play ter-night."
"It"s quite likely you may be right, Ephraim; but she had to give it to you in order to escape. But where is this purse you s.n.a.t.c.hed from her?"
"On the stand, there. Havener tuck possession of it, but I got him to leave it here, so yeou might see it right away when yeou came."