The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1871-04-28
ANoLD ACTORS STORY.
II &c Elections Of Jw;ta nean, MRS. pnn
and harIes Ke sn--The Sacred sword.

had fallen heir 20 small income and,
having pure English blood In bis veins,
retired on it and the best Of ale. He
! found ia me a splendid listener. 1 looked
up 10 him as the most wonderful of men.
With my youthful Imagination filled with
! the poetic scenes thestage creates, spoke
| face TO face with one who had been on
familiar terms with kings and queens, the
tragic lovers and the beautiful beloved,
and all the mysterious people OF The magic
| stage.
| Thad suspicion, since confirmed, that
old Buncastle had never held very high
position in his professor. lie had way
Of borrowing all my spare change and
singular habit of forgetting the little trans
| action. When possessed Of my means
through loan, he would change from ale
to brandy, and then passing TO the spir-
tied influence let out more than he wished
touching the facts OF his former life. At
one tune, under these circumstances, L
learned, for example, that his real name
was Bun-JAmcs Bun-and he had added
the Castle for euphony and grandeur. The
manner Of pronouncing 1t, however, rob
bed the name Of much Of its dignity. He
jammed it into "Bunkasc, with the stress
on the first syllable, very much as seafar-
ing men say 'forksale.'
He retained in private life the manner
of walking and speech acquired in his pro-
fession, which was exceedingly STACEY.
and imposing on everybody, save the bar
tender and landlord OF our village hotel.
These shrewd Observers Of human nature
| did not awe particle in the presence of
old Buncastlc, and would call him 10 his
face old Forrest or Julius Caesar, or some
other name indicating their contemptuous
| derision of his professions. j have seen
him stalk up 10 the bar with the swing
60 peculiar TO that distinguished Scotch
murderer, Macbeth, and in deep, solemn
| voice demand a glass of ale, when the ir-
| revercnt bartender would seize II well
worn account book and respond, Hold
hard old swallow-tail, till | see how VIC
| stand" ...
This dealer in liquid insanity never per-
mitted the old follow TO get beyond GER
tain allowance, well knowing that in such
! n case q set,lem ent became as dim and dis
tant as the day Of judgment. He bad an old
velvet-sheathed dress sword that he swore
had been presented him by the "grcat
Keanr after q successful performance of
Iago to the great actors Othello. that he
said was acknowledged by the best crit
les 10 have been unsurpassed for excellence
aud efis ct. He told me once. when some
what xcited by liquor, that when that
! "blasted old humbug gave him that sword
| he was so drunk that he didn't know him
self from general muster, and for a week
after he was blowin' up his property-man
for losing the tonsting-fork.'
This sword the old fellow sometimes put
in pawn, and he never rested until il was
redeemed. I. was the ambition OF my
early life 20 possess myselfof his sacred
relic. / believe | could have murdered
old Bun tn get it, but for the fact that his
death would have put an end TO my night
| " entertainments. On one occasion l.,
with deal of effort, had collected five
| dollars. Some Of this had been given me !;
| some of it had borrowed from an old,
unsus pecting maiden aunt, and part |
am ashamed TO confess had been intrusted
| 10 me to make the final payment on
pair of checkered pants an ingenious tailor
| had designed. II it were possible for
! pair of pants TO become the shirt Of Nessus
those pants bid fair to be that classical
garment. was pursued by the tailor,
bitteA heartless, consumptive son Of a
goose, as an avcnger and my earliest
hnanciering talents were developed in
preventing the wronged man Of shears
from coming to an understanding with
nv guardian. However, l offered the
immense sum to the old actor for the
sword.
"Five dollars for the sword once worn
by the great Kean Boy, thou dreamest
The untold wealth of the Indies would mo-
purchase that sacred relic. 1t shall be
buried with me-"
Ny heart sank into my boots ct this
But old Ben ended by borrowing my
money and loaning me the sword. Fol-
nearly month | was its happy possessor
Retiring to the dim lit garrett where
had arranged stage, | inveigled some
playmates to attend ms actors and audience
to assist me in scene from Richard the
Third. We had to speak our parts in
rather subdued voice, on account of my
maiden aunt occupying the room imme-
dately below US, and she, poor lady, being
pos sessed in her portly body of a perfect
hospital OF nervous diseases, quiet was ne
cessary to her continued existence. This
did not prevent our acting our seve-
raj parts with great vigor and at the
end of terrific combat between the
crooked-backcd t-rant and his stupid
Richmond, we stumbled and fell from the
piano-box or stage, "a part Of the garre'
/ where the plastering alone made the floor
and through this we broke, to our owl
horror and the CONSERVATION of the little
audience. Fortunately for us-unfortu
nately for my poor old auut-wc entered
the sacred privacy of her Nestal apart
ment Immediately above, the bed on which
she was reposing, thinking ms lit.le OF on
coming as she did Of the angel Gabriel
Through the rotten plaster, down upof
the slender canopy, with II chorus o
shrieks and yells and II cracking of sticks
5 we tumnbled onto, in, and over the poo
D old lady, who would have screamed ter
a rife scream but for the fact that we ha'
knocked the last bit Of wind out Of he
; ieshy feeble body X
: My aunt never recovered. She made |
APPOINT never to recovsr, Sho went into
decline, and declined for twenty years be
fore death came 60 her relief. tE
- Richmond had all his front teet
= knocked out and Richard IL an arm
: broken. While being nursed, old Bu
came to see me, and, taking advantage o
my kind guardians back, said to me, in
: stage whisper
}. "Ddst break the sacrs ID sword, you lit
= tie cuss2'
: did not, however, sit down to toll
If f..1