a brief stay was
made at the quaint city of Rouen. Joan of Arc's stake, and the house
where, tradition has it, she resided, were sacred spots to Mary Anderson;
and the ancient towers, the curious old streets, overlooking the fertile
valley through which the Seine wanders like a silver thread, are memories
which have since remained to her ever green. During her first visit to
England Mary Anderson never dreamt of the possibility that she herself
might appear on the English stage. Indeed the effect of her first European
tour was depressing and disheartening. She saw only how much there was for
her to see, how much to learn in the world of Art. A feeling of
home-sickness came over her, and she longed to be back at her seaside home
where she could watch the wild restless Atlantic as it swept in upon the
New Jersey shore, and listen to the sad music of the weary waves. This was
the instinct of a true artist nature, which had depths capable of being
stirred by the touch of what is great and noble.

In the following year, however, there came an offer from the manager of
Drury Lane to appear upon its boards. Mary Anderson received it with a
pleased surprise. It told that her name had spread beyond her native land,
and that thus early had been earned a reputation which commended her as
worthy to appear on the stage of a great and famous London theater. But
her reply was a refusal. She thought herself hardly finished enough to
face such a test of her powers; and the natural ambition of a successful
actress to extend the area of her triumph seemed to have found no place in
her heart.

CHAPTER VI.

SECOND VISIT TO EUROPE.--EXPERIENCES ON THE ENGLISH STAGE.

The interval of five years which elapsed between Mary Anderson's first and
second visits to Europe was busily occupied by starring tours in the
States and Canada. Mr. Henry Abbey's first proposal, in 1883, for an
engagement at the Lyceum was met with the same negative which had been
given to that of Mr. Augustus Harris. But, happening some time afterward
to meet her step-father, Dr. Griffin, in Baltimore, Mr. Abbey again urged
his offer, to which a somewhat reluctant consent was at length given. The
most ambitious moment of her artist-life seemed to have arrived at last.
If she attained success, the crown was set on all the previous triumphs of
her art; if failure were the issue, she would return to America
discredited, if not disgraced, as an actress. The very crisis