Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-12-17
A TWILIGHT VISIT.

[ was an imaginative, romantic lad
of eighteen when I first met Sydney
Lorimer, and accepted him at once
with effusion as the hero / was wait
ing for. He was the very man to
captivate boys fancy at first sight,
especially boy whose soul was above
his surroundings, and who could rec
ogniza the gentleman under that care
less, reckless, Bohemian manner of
his. Lorinaer never gave himself any
airs, never asserted his supremacy; in
fact, he was hail fellow with
his all, from Barnebones Brotherton,
our leading tragedian, to little Tommy
Howard, the newest and raweSt of
our supers; but there was something
about him we instinctiveIy recognized
as superior to ourselves. Even the
manager, as big bully as ever
Dreathed, found fault with him in an
aBologetic sort of way, when obliged
to do so, very different from the tone
he took with the rest Of us. He had
an idea, I think. that Lorimer was
only doing a bit of acting for the love
of advenCventure, as SO many swells
do nowadays, and that at some future
time it might prove advantageous to
stand well 10 that quarter. 1t would
noJ be polite to offend a possible
Dukes son by swearing at hlm for I'm
pHnctuality or for not being we'll up
IN his part
And yet, after all, the poor mans
patience must have been tried many
and many time. for more careless,
erratic, unreliable fellow than Lori
mer never eXitsed. liked him better
than any one in the company, but |
could not help wishing he would De
steadier. There were times when it
really seemed as though the devil
entered into him; he could not rest,
he coEld not study, he must be in
some mischief or other.
'What is the use Of you talking to
me?" ne would say Ia answer to my
feeble remonstrances at such times.
you are only boy; you've never
lived yet. tell you | must have ex-
element of some kind Or I'll go mad.
must forget"
And What could [ say9 | was only
boy, and he was SO much older and
experienced that it seemed presumpt-
ion in me to preach prudence.
But still believe [ had a good in
fuence over him, though it might be
merely slight one. [ was the only
one of the company he ever talked to
about himself. He firted desperately
with the women, and he drank freely
with the men, and yet none of them
came near his real self but me,
Not that he was communicative
about his past life or his belongings;
only that he did not SEEM called upon
to keep me at such a distance as the
others, nor did he snub me for any
questions.,L mightask. To be sure, I was
not vulgar enough to go on showing
curiosity where I saw it hurt: and be-
sides | was, SIS said before, romantic,
ana rather liked an air of mystery to
surround my friend and hero
He was not, and never would be, a
great actor. Better for him in many
ways it would have been if he had
possessed that wonderful gift which,
for want Of anything better, we call
genius. So long as art IS LETT to a
true artist he can never be wholly and
entirely miserable. He can always
escape from q world which bores, or
digUsts, or pains, to happier, more
congenial one
Not so with poor LorImer. He was
very good-looking, and had charm
ingly sympathetic voice. He had
eYidently5 been well trained for the
stage, and was useful all-around
man for comedy or farce; but when
you said that, you said everything.
There was never a touch of passion or
Of tenderness in his acting-and he
knew It, His heart was not in his
work and never would be to the end
Of the time, We were a travelling
cOmpauy-not a frst-rate one, but
still fairly good, and our last venture
was q piece which had s great run III
the town. and we had played now in
the provinces, until we knew ali cur
parts by heart, and we were beginning
to get sick Of them. However it gave
us agreat deal of leisure, and as [ was
very fond Of walking, I saw a great
deal of the country in the pleasant
spring time. Lorimer joined me very
often IN those rambles, and we grew
closer friends than ever.
We had been about three weeks at a
very pretty country town in Somer-
~setshire, and were leaving for large
manufacturing city IL the north. It
was lovely weather, and we were
10th to leave our pleasant, quarters for
smoky B, with its whirr of ma
chinery and ugly surroundings; so
proposed that instead of going on
with the rest Of the company on Sun
day afternoon we should walk through
Leafham Woods and catch the night
train from Fareham, junction some
miles away.
We had very pleasant time of it,
and enjoyed our stolen walk amaz-
ingly. Everything combined to make
it harmonious; the blue sky overhead
With the sun coming through the
transparent green OF the young leaves
the joyous notes of the birds; the
flowers at our feet, and last, not least,
the cheerful mood Lorimer happened
to be in that day, which, fell in with
at 0npp