"
"That'll do to try," said Lange. "Begin!"
And after a little tuning and voice testing, Susan sang the
"Good Bye" with full orchestra accompaniment. It was not good;
it was not even pretty good; but it was not bad. "You'll do
all right," said Lange. "You can stay. Now, you and Johann
fix up some songs and get ready for tonight." And he turned
away to buy supplies for restaurant and bar.
Johann, deeply sentimental by nature, was much pleased with
Susan's contralto. "You do not know how to sing," said he.
"You sing in your throat and you've got all the faults of
parlor singers. But the voice is there--and much
expressiveness--much temperament. Also, you have
intelligence--and that will make a very little voice
go a great way."
Before proceeding any further with the rehearsal, he took Susan
up to a shop where sheet music was sold and they selected three
simple songs: "Gipsy Queen," "Star of My Life" and "Love in
Dreams." They were to try "Gipsy Queen" that night, with "Good
Bye" and, if the applause should compel, "Suwanee River."
When they were back at the restaurant Susan seated herself in
a quiet corner and proceeded to learn the words of the song and
to get some notion of the tune.
She had lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Lange and Katy, whose hair was
very golden indeed and whose voice and manner proclaimed the
Bowery and its vaudeville stage. She began by being grand with
Susan, but had far too good a heart and far too sensible a
nature to keep up long.
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