The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1882-02-16


besieged by eager crowds. And when at
last they we're flung open, the house
was speedily filed from door to ceiling.
"You stand there, Bob, aud you will
be able to hear all :" said Tom Bing AS he
of the wings, and Bob, who was O great
lover of music, promised not to move.
Soon, above the roar of orchestra. came
those sounds so dear to the debutante,
the sounds of thorough English well
come. Signor Pertolli had introduced
his pupil and adopted child, Miss Rose
Pertolli. And Blind Bob, thinking of
other times, and forgetting what he then
was, clapped his hands heartily.
And now the audience settled them
selves, the conductor of the orchestra
raised his baton, and the plaintive notes
OF "Home, Sweet Home" stole softly
through the house. Blind Bob started
violently, then his hands dropped to his
sides, and down his rugged cheeks fell
tear after tear. No sooner did Miss Per-
TOLL open her lips than all felt she was
brilliant vocalist. Every eye was fixed
upon her beautiful and expressive face,
but none saw the excited attitude of
man by the wings.
"Be it ever so humble, there no place
like home," came softly and tenderly
from the lips of the vocalist, and no
sooner had it left them than most awful
shrek rang through the house, and
Blind Bob, holding out his arms. tot
tered on the stage, crying:
my child! my child my Rose! my
Miss Rose Pertolli dropped the music,
and, rushing into the arms OF Blind
Bob, uttered but one word Father
before she fell insensible at his feet. The
orchestra had stopped, and the public
were standing, looking silently on the
move, scene. Fortunately the manager
of the hall retained his presence of mind,
and while Blind Bob was bending over
his newly found child and frantically kiss
ing her, the curtain dropped. After a few
moments Pertolli came forward and
apologized ana stated that with their per-
mission Miss Rose Pertolli would ap-
pear later on.
At the expiration of u wick the public
were made acquainted with the particu-
lars of the scene at Royal Concert Hall.
They we're as follows: On the night
when Blind Bob and Rose lay under the
hedges some gypsies had passed, and
seeing Rose and thinking that she would
be source of profit to them, they
quietly enveloped her in sack, and de-
spite her struggles carried her off. In
one of their vans they kept her for some
weeks, and eventually she was brought
forth and compelled to join them in their
Entertainments" But Ross pinned and
frettei to such an extent after her father
that they began to get alarmed, and the
gypsies to stop this, caused a letter to be
forged announcing her fathers death.
After two years with these gypsies, Rose
made her escape, and after travelling
first to one place and then to another, she
fell in with the manager of one of the
provincial theaters. Liking her appear
ance, he took her in hand, and intro
duced her on the stage, where she APP
peared in pantomime. Now, it so hap
pened that she was allotted a singing
part, and at one of the performances
at which Signor Pertolli was
present. He made inquiries respect
ing her, and eventually paid a sum of
money to the manager to cancel her
engagements and hand her over to him.
On his return to Italy, a month after, he
took Rose with him, educated her, and
some years after introduced her to an
American audience. Then, ss we have
seen, he brought her to England. Signor
Pertolli knew the whole of her history,
and he endeavored to find out whether
her father was really dead, but failed.
Blind Bob lived for many years to en-
joy the society Of his daughter. who soon
made q great name in England. She
had plenty to do at her various engage
ments; but, nevertheless, she always
found time to sing to her father; and OF
all her songs no Their delighted him 30
much as Home, Sweet Home"