Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1885-10-03

The old waiter drew himself up, app&I-
emily resenting the stigma on the liJGle
watering place. ~ cry quiet sir, D4g
very select. But We shall be very nvo!y
now YOU have hOnOred as with 8 ylsLIs
siT9,, I failed to see how my tuglIiV5
debtor could add to the cheeTfulness OF
aDv Mace. but made no reply consider
inc the compliment would be charged
for in the bill. cts astonishing, SIR
vbot a difference the theatre makes
vybaD f. ia bopen.,, HBut SeamOuth can
not support q theatre" 1 replied. NO
sir honly when a star comes; FeLn5I1
her when I was a boy, seeing Mr. NC
Cready hact here; and people came Ia IA
and near to see i'm. Our yard was Hull
Of traps:of every description ana so II
will be hon Thursday next, Wnen
I Charles Mathews makes his appearance.
AS he said these words the old wafer
made a profound genuheCtlon and leIt
the room. A light daWned upon me;n my
name was identical with that OF the
great comedian. The waiter had READ
/ the name on the brass plate OF my trunk,
and had been mistaken Tor the coming
man. 7 was chuckling over the singular
error, and had resolved to d1saDuse the
staff Of the RED Lion" accordingly
/ whose curious reception OF me was now
explained. when a circumstance occur
red which caused me to change my res
olution. The window Ofthe room which
| r occupied commanded a view OF the
coach road leading to the nearest postal
town.
ASH reflected over the curious plum
der. I found myself mechanically watch
ing dog cart which was rapidly ap-
preaching the inn. 1t drew up to the
door, and from the vehicle descended a
stout, coarse looking man, wearing a very
bad hat and very seedy In his habit
ments in general. 1 was reading the ad-
vertisement, in the SeamOuth Express
which announced the appearance Of the
London actor in his celebrated character
of Sir Charles COldstream in Used Up on
Thursday next. This was one OF my
best impersOnatiOns as an amateur, and
I had made such a close study Of the
original representative that 1 could re-
produce every tone and glance and geE-
ture. Ny personal appearance was also
very similar. At this moment the wait
er entered the room, holding his hand
before his face and apparently conVuI-
sed with laughter.
81 beg pardon, sir, but you viii laugh
as much as me when L tell you, sir.
/ There is a sherif7s officer in the coffee
room, who wants to serve a writ on
! Charles Matthews; he inquired If gent
of that name was here. L told him yes
the noted hactor. He guy a sigh and
said he was not the gent he wanted. He
is going to stop here, as he knows for
certain that his man Is coming to sea
mouth directly, and he will watch the
arrivals by coach"
AS the waiter delivered this exordium
my mind was busy endeaVOTing to solve
the mystery of my hiding place being
discovered. "Nobbs"-that was the so
luton. On second thought he had dis
closed the place OF. my retreat to Blnks.
AS the waiter concluded, my determine
ton was taken. My natural love of fun
and adventure, combined with the IN
stinct of self preservation decided me to
accept the hOnOrs thus suddenly thur6t
upon me. I made no reference to the
walters story, treating it as too absurd
for discussion.
"I want to send a note round to the
lessee of the Theatre Royal"
Certainly, sir. The boots can take
it."
In few seconds I had scrubbed the
following
''Dear Bimpson-to quote the dukes
motto-I am here. VIII you call a re
hersal of Used Up for tomorrow at III
Yours faithfully, @. J. Matthews"
This characteristic note was promptly
dispatched, and I waited in serenity and
with keen sense Of approaching enjoy
ment the result.
In half an hour the answer came.
"Dear Mr.. Matthews, I am agreeably
surprised by your early arrival. as did
not expect you till the morning Of Thurs
day 1.-THE day of the performance L sup
pose the papers are in error in adVertis-
ing you at Plymouth to-day, Tuesday. 1
shall be very pleased to make your &C
quaintanee. Yours sincerely, Z. Simp-
son."
Nothing could be more fortunate. Mr..
Simpson had never seen the great come
dian, and / was safe till Thursday. The
reader may inquire, why did ] not make
my escape from SeamOuth while had
the opportunity? I can only reply that
nv love of adventure was responsible for
my conduct. I should infiict no harm
on any one; indeed, I was comforting an
actual benefit on the company Of the
Theatre Royal by affOrdiug them the
great advantage of an extra rehearsal.
And the actor himself would find his
task on Thursday considerably smoother
as all my business" was precisely the
same as he would adopt.
Punctual to the hour appointed, I made
my appearance at the stage door at IL
O'Clock on the following morning.
I at once addressed myself tOthe busi-
ness of the scenes, and really worked
very hard in putting the company
Through their facings. IL would not in
terest the general reader to mention in
detail the very natural shortcomings of a
scratch country company of strOlliug
players. But found them very dOeile
and extremely anxious to follow my di-
rections implicitly. Small as were my
available resources, L expended half 8
sovereign in refreshment, and their
Il countenances expressed their gratitude
even more than words. There was
another piece down for rehearsal, ''Msr-
ried for Money" but was totally unac-
lquainted with the piece, so / suggested
Il should be postponed till the morrow.
Toward the conclusion Of the rehearsal