Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1883-08-01


pleasant for me to witness. Jealousy
and envy so stirred my bile that | was
inclined to regret the good old days OF
duelling, when might have picked a
quarrel with my rival, and so had a
chance Of removing him from my path.
But the way in which the odious
Irishman knocked over pheasants and
rabbits, and a particular snapshot,
fired from the hip, which was fatal to
a woodcock, forced me to own that
there was a deep truth in the ingen-
ious assertion so constantly repeated
in newspaper articles, that private
combat is a "cowardly practice"
The fine old hall of Winton park
was to be our theater, and it was my
particular province to take the best
advantage of the many natural facili-
ties of the place; to arrange about the
scenery; to find out what were the
proper dresses for the plays we were
to perform, etc, and Ada Dart, being
the only person whose counsel was Of
real service in case of Il difficulty, |
was perpetually obliged to appeal to
her. Dangerously intoxicating were
those conferences, which, l confess, |
prolonged needlessly; indeed, | used
sometimes to get up veXatious oppo-
sition to her wishes in order to give
our discussion matrimonial flavor.
Heigh-bo!
The plays selected were "The Belle
of Penzance," followed by the farce
of "Eyes and Nose,' and the distribu-
tion of parts was work for job and
Solomon, most of the company at first
declaring their Il ter inability to take
the simplest characters, and coming
round gradually to demanding the
principal roles. AT our first general
meeting it really seemed doubtful
whether it would be possible to cast
the mildest and lightest of pieces,
but at the end of fortnight if
"Othello' could have been rewritten
with three Moors, four Desdemonas
and two lagos, our little company chad
stomach for them ALL"
| was cast for Fortescue, which was
too prominent part for my taste; for
beside that, on principle, | very much
prefer that other people should amuse
me to reversing that proceeding; |
hated having so much to learn by
heart.
In little time matters began to
run smoothly and we had our first re-
hearsal. BY recalling to mind the diff
ferent actors | had seen in my part,
and endcavoring to initiate them, |
succeeded better than | had anticpa-
ted, and gained considerable applause.
"But," said O'Brian, "you must shave,
you know. The idea of FOrtescue
with those whiskers is too absurd"
Now, my whiskers were black, pen
dant, silky, and had cost me an infnity
of trouble. 1t had taken five years OF
constant care and scientific training to
bring them to their present state OF
perfection. Any one without expert
ence in the matter would scarcely
credit the amount of time and labor
not to mention the mere money, that
| had expended upon them. Little soft
brushes, delicate combs, bottles of a
peculiar oil, more delicate than is ever
used for the head, were appropriated
to their service. When | visited my
hair-cutter that artist would delibcr-
ate for at least five minutes before he
could come to a definite conclusion
upon the important point whether he
should take the "hends" off. When ]
took my walks abroad and the breeze
futtered them over my shoulders
scornful indeed was the beauty whose
eyes did not light up with admiration
as she passed. Even enyious men were
unable to withhold their tribute OF
praise.
"Cheevers, my boy" observed Riv,
ers, who has spent his own fortune
and is looking out for a wife, "my
figure is stwenty thousand, but, by CAD
if | had your face hair, I'd make it
forty"
You may Judge my feelings, then
when it was seriously proposed that
should shave. Irepudiated the notion
with a shuddering earnestness whicl
seemed to amuse some of the company
and they all set to work to argue mt
out of my objection to the sacrifice
"They will grow again. said ont
Miss Winton.
81 am sure Mr.. Cheever's face woul'
look better without them," added th'
other.
"Yes; there is particularly fn
contour, which is completely hiddeI
at present" said O'Brian.
"How do you know that, Paddy
Contour or not" said |, firmly, 81
you cannot put up with a whiskere'
Fortescue, some one else must tax
the part And to that resolution
stuck in spite of tlattery, persuasion
and satire for three days. And 60
it hot, too, at times.
First one and then another nal
visitor was tried in my part, and foun
wanting.
On the fourth morning after break
fast, Ada Dart expressed wish t