The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1883-12-27

tho mousse. ! snail not want yOh To uo
much for myself II yon will Just keep
the little place only, and get me some.
thing simple 10 eat nnd drink when /
want il, shall lN quite content. hut
] am particular nj on, tho boy. You
must not lct him get into harm of m,
kind. He il NIL now have in the world,
and II any grcnt harm cam. 10 him !
should break my heat"
The old woman promised, and kept
her promise faithfully ,lnr ny the tim,
she hal been with him.
AT Inst the great night Mes al hand
Walford was full Il spirits and conf.
dence. The rchealsals hid been most
satisfactory. E,cryoac connected with
tho theater Ind complimcnte,l him upon
his singing and acting IN the lm,t. and
the whole company were in the very
hest Of hnmor, for tie belief was rcn.
oral that the opera wou'd run n hundred
II ghts. nj least.
II was drcary, cold. dump. ,lishcart.
ening evening. when Walfoid prepared
To leave his home fer the thcatcr. Some
months age. when his wife died. he had
had IN engagement. Int il WAS now two
months since his latest appearance in
public.
"Now. Martha, said he on leaving.
you'll be k'ng rf tie castle while I'm
away. | shall no. lc mck till past
midnight. Noa need not Nit up for me.
shall get my supper in town, Its
time now. isn't it, for Freddy to go to
/ hed. lie took the 10y in his arms
and kissed him fondly, and stroked his
brown cnrls, and called HIM his Fred,
his little man, his tine boy. Then
added: Il think, Martha, IN honor Of
the occasion. | must give Freddy u
shilling"
The hoy clapr,d his hands with lie.
lght, and laughed, tic never had had
II whole shilling before. Pennies III
course often came his WY. and although
he had no definite idea Of the purchas.
ing powers of a shilling. le knew they
We're ,anch greater than those of Il
penny.
The father handed the hoy shilling,
AMI having kissed him again long and
lingelirgly, rosc " IA n sigh and said to
! Martha: y ou'il ttkc good care he gets
into no trouble while I'm away. The
safest place for him is in Md. Put him
to bed, Martha at once there's 4 good
sopl."
She promised To ,lo 81. aal he left
the house, got into IN omnibus. and
made his way as quickly rs possible tn
the Crcmona.
Here all MAS hustle aud excitement.
Everyone who was anyone was IN frcnt.
by the time he had dressed h. was told
TINT the house was TIL, 4 cramsnll. from
| top to bottom. ami TINT from the parts
where il was posSibl, to book seats
they had been turning money away.
Everyone behind was in the hest oi
good hnmor. and hc himself fcl, more
elated than "n any other q, casion since
! his wife's death.
Ii this piece were hit. and he s,,c.
9, IS in it, his upward progress in his
| profession would lie certain. He should
not only lie able to live in comfort. hut
! tn save up money for his hoy. AMI for
the time when that mist del.
| ica,e of NIL propertics, u tcner's voice
ceased to have market value. He
| st,ll lacked OF ~, anil with care he
! might cal, ulats on twenty wears lease
! of his Voice. Surprising his Voice lasted
| twenty years aud this opera gave him a
command in the market. in those twenty
| wears he could save enough money to
insure his old age against want and to
provide handsomely for his hoy,
lie uid not come on Very early i'm the
first act. He felt IN no way nervous
! He never VAS in better Voice aud the
part suited him perfectly, What more
could any tenor aesices
! There WAS, oi cour~ 4. an unler.studv
to his part. Mr., Gmt,in was the nm
der study. and. singular to SAY. he did
/ not arrive in the tlea.cr before the eur.
tain went up. This was grossly i'm.
proper. For, surprising any accident
had hap,en.a to Walford, there would
have been barely time tor Grattin tn
,lress and make up from the moment
the hell rang until the leading tenor
was required en the stage, Grat.in had
belonged to tho Crcmons company for
II considerable time, anl ,tn ing that
time lad always sung SECOND or third
tenor parts. He had lcen paid
! guineas week, ami for while there
had Seated before hSM the hope sha, he
might he promotel to n front place with
n salary III tan This horc hal lse,
dsp. lled when Walfard got the engage,
ment. and now he. Gratt,n. had nu
pant nj all, ami no chance Of an appear.
anec during the present rm, unless
Waltard broke down.
lust rs the curtain Mas r,,ny up there
was n great commation hchina. Grattin
had arrived In state of the highest tx.
citement, aud there were >oan,ls ot con-
sternatitn and dismsy f,an the mems
,lr, ) sing room. Before tie curtain had
heea up couple nj minutes the opera
was stopped, and the manager stepped
forward to explain that ewing to a sal
calamity. news ot which lmd reached
] tue theater Int that Ncr, moment. Mr..
Walford would not he able Ia appear
that evening. In the face of such n
misfortune, Mr., Gra,tia. with whom
they had se long been fa,oral,ly
familiar, hal kindly consented to sing
the part,
The manager said more. hut this i
ail that is material. The audience
were aocile, and accepted the situat ON
without II murmur.
= What had occurred hennd was this.
Grattin had. in state of widest eN.
ritement. rushed into the mems dress.
ng-room. end announced that Albany
Lodge was OH fre. a,li there was reason
to suppose the lazy had persisted in th.
ilaneS. Hs explained that wha, mus,
have been from three-,iuarters of al
hour tn aE nour after Nalsord left his
home, he. Gratsin. was pass ny hv with
the intention ot calling for MS friend
when he found a crowd around tn,
house, and flames bursting through th.
windows, He learned from the polio
thai from the first alarm il WAS inipos'
>ihlc To enter the house. Hence thei,
fear that the hoy and possibly the old
woman had perishea.
Ia the face Of such horrible events ii
VAS clearly impo sble for Walford Il
sing. Gra.sin had taken Il hansom tn.
Whole way down for tue sake al spec |
The best thing for Walforl la ao Wa
L. 4 4 A.