show which Dr. Curtis
staged in New York. There were tableaux and songs and recitations, all
for charity, and then came the puppet show itself, in which I appeared
as Calve in a "Carmen" costume.

Imagine a long stretch of painted canvas across the stage, with the
costumes painted grotesquely beneath openings through which the
performers' heads appeared. Dr. Curtis himself assumed the role of
Maurice Grau, director of the Metropolitan, and his make-up was
splendid; various other amateurs impersonated Melba, Jean de Reszke, and
other stars. The idea of the skit was to show the trouble Mr. Grau had
in managing his company of stars. There was much amusing dialogue, and I
remember my complaint, as Calve, was that I was asked to sing for
nothing at all-too-many benefits.

[Illustration: DR. HOLBROOK CURTIS]

In Dr. Curtis's office I soon afterward met Mrs. Grau, wife of the
famous director, and she insisted that I should sing for her husband. It
was proposed to stage a big special performance of "Mignon" at the
Metropolitan, with Melba as "Philine," and a star cast, for the benefit
of the families of the victims of the Maine disaster, and Mrs. Grau
thought that should I please her husband he might consider the occasion
a propitious one to introduce me in grand opera, as the role of "Mignon"
was admirably suited to my youth and vocal abilities. I had studied
"stage deportment" with Victor Capoul, and knew the opera backward and
forward in both French and Italian.

I own I was greatly tempted, and eager to make so auspicious a
beginning. Such an offer to a sixteen-year-old girl, I think, would be
calculated to twist any young woman's head awry. Fortunately, upon
reflection, good sense intervened and saved me from what might have been
a very unwise step. Granted that I made a successful appearance, at best
it could be but the sensation of a few hours; and I had no mind to be a
singing Cinderella for one night. When my triumph should come, if it
ever did, it must be the beginning of a well-defined career, and I was
far too young and ignorant to tread this difficult and dazzling path so
soon.

Nevertheless, Mrs. Grau made an appointment for me to sing for her
husband--privately, as I thought. But when I appeared on the stage of
the Metropolitan, I found him surrounded by a great many people, members
of the Metropolitan Company, business associates and advisers, and
others. What my emotions were when I passed in through the