with the wisdom of a Cassandra. Bergman had taken one look at
Lorelei upon their first meeting, then his glance had quickened.
She had proved to have at least an average singing-voice; her
figure needed no comment. Her inexperience had been the strongest
argument in her favor, since Bergman's shows were famous for their
new faces. The result was that he signed her promptly, and mother
and daughter had walked out of his office quite unconscious of
having accomplished the unusual. At first the city had seemed
strange and bewildering, and Lorelei had suffered pangs at the
memory of Vale, for at her age the roots of association strike
deep; but in a short time the novelty of her new life proved an
anodyne and deadened acute regrets, while the vague hazard of it
all kept her at an agreeable pitch of excitement.

Moreover, she took naturally to the work, finding it more like
play; and, being quite free from girlish timidity, she felt no
stage-fright, even upon her first appearance. Her recognition had
followed quickly--it was impossible to hide such perfection of
loveliness as hers--and the publicity pleased her. In due course
rival managers began to make offers, which Mrs. Knight, rising
nobly to the first test of her business ability, used as levers to
raise her daughter's salary and to pry out of Bergman a five-year
contract. The role of the Fairy Princess was a result.

Thus it was that without conscious effort, without even a proof of
merit beyond her appearance, Lorelei had arrived at the point
where further advancement depended upon study and hard work; but,
since these formed no part of the family program, she remained
idle while Mrs. Knight and Jim arranged so many demands upon her
time that she had no leisure for serious endeavors, even had she