The Lincoln County leader. [volume] (White Oaks, Lincoln County, N.M.) 1882-189?, 1883-06-23
THE BAD BOY.

W." NNHNi ~ on "N.l"hNb ~ IiN
stage. A supe is a fellow that
assists the stars and things, carrying
chairs and taking up carpets, and
sweeping the sand off the stage
after a dancer has danced a JIG,
and he brings beer for the actors,
and helps lace up corsets, and any
thing that he can do to add to the
effect of the play. Privately, now
| have been acting rs q supe for a
long time, on the sly, and my folks
don't know anything about it, but
since | reformed and decided to be
good, | felt my duty to tell pa and
ma about it. The news broke ma
all up, at first, but pa said some Of
the best actors in the country were
supes once, and some of them were
now, and he thought suping would
be the making up Of me. Ma
thought going on the stage would
be my ruination. She said the
theater was the hotbed of sin, and
brought more ruin than the church
could head off. But when [ told
her that they always give a supe
two or three extra tickets for his
family, she said the theater had
some redeeming features, and
when | said my entrance upon the
stage would give me a splendid
opportunity to get the recipe for
face powder from the actresses, for
ma, and | could find out how the
actresses manage to get a number
four foot in anumber one shoe, ma
said she wished | would commence
suping right off. Ma said there
are some things about the theatre
that are not so alfred bad, and she
wants me to get seats for the first
comic opera that comes along. Pa
wants it understo0d.with the man
ager that a supe's father has Alright
to go behind the scenes to see that
no harm befalls him, but | know
what pa wants. He may seem
pious and all that, but he likes to
look at ballet girls better than any
meek and lowly follower | ever see,
and some day you will hear music
in the air. Pc thinks theatres are
very bad, when he has to pay a
dollar for a reserved seat, bat
when he can get in fornothing, as a
relation Of one Of the ~''perfesh,'
the theatre has many redeeming
qualities. Pa and ma think | am
going into the business fresh and
green, but | know all about it.
When | played with Mccullough
here once"
"Oh, what you giving U.S." said
the grocery man in disgust, "when
you played with Mccullough
What did you do!"
What did l do2 Why you old
seed cucumber, the whole play
conferred around me. Do you re
member the scene i'll the Roman
forum, where Mccullough address.
ed the populace Of Rome. ] was
the populace. Don't you remem.
Der a small Teller standing in fr0nt
of the Roman orator taking it in.
with a night shirt on, with bare
legs and arms? That was me, and
everything depended On me. Sup
pose | had gone off the stage a
the critical moment, or laughed
when | should have looked fierce
at the inspired words ofthe Roman
senator, it would have been q dead
give away on Mccullough. AS the
populace of Rome | consider my.
self a glittering success, and Me
took me by the hand when they
arried Caesars dead body out, and
he said, us three did ourselves
proud Such praise from Nc
Cullough is seldom accorded to {
supe. But | don't consider the pc
pulace of the imperial city Of Rome
my master piece. Where | exec
is in coming ont before the curtain
between the acts, and unlocking
the carpet. Some supes go out auC
turn their backs to the audience
showing patches on their pants
and rip up the carpet with &c stylC
about them, and the dust flies, anC
the BOYS yell 'supe,' and the SUPP
gets nervous and forgets his cue
goes off tumbling over the carpet
and the orchestra leader is afraiC
the supe will fall on him. But
go.out with a quiet dignity that i
only gained by experience, and
take holdofthe carpet the way Ham
let takes up the skull Of Yorick, ant
the audience is paralized. | knee
down on the carpet, to unlock it