Page:Our Little Girl (1923).pdf/59

 a little flat downtown, and—this was important—to work with a teacher who could make lessons something more than a series of calisthenics? That would be a thrilling adventure, and all great singers had had thrilling adventures. But how? Her checking account couldn’t last very long, and then-

Well, next fall it would be different. There would be no starting “in earnest,” with Madame Schneider. She would find some way of changing. What had Madame Schneider accomplished, anyhow?

Dorothy was discouraged when she went to Poole’s Orchard, Maine. She was anxious to know what all these strange contortions with the breath and the chest muscles had to do with singing the surprisingly strong and bright tones which Madame Schneider produced now and then without any apparent effort. One Sunday morning she tried to let out her voice at the local Baptist Church. She desisted when she saw several worshipers turn to stare at her and shake their heads mournfully.

“Do you know, Dorothy?” said her mother, that afternoon. “I was surprised when I heard your voice in church this morning. It’s such a beautiful voice—but——”

That “but” was, to Dorothy, a complete criticism of the methods of Madame Schneider. Her momentary mood of despair over her mother's discovery that were was something wrong with her singing gave way quickly was a brilliant idea presented itself. Here was an opportunity to get rid of Madame Schneider! Of course, it would take a careful approach to convince her mother, yet Soedlich was already appearing on the horizon.

"I don't think I'll ever make it as a singer," Dorothy sighed hypocritically.

Her mother stared at her in surprise.