Los Angeles daily herald., 1885-12-20
CHAPTER TX

AULD REEKIE.
To be principal trageliau in the metropo-
lis Of his native land was "a great honor tor
Jameson, and the little dingy theatre which
stood at the foot Of the North bridge, on
the site now occupied by the general post
Office, appeared TO his unsophisticatei mind
a palatial temple Of the drama. Wh,n he
reported himself to the manager that gsn5le-
man was dignifiei an even autocrndc in
demeanor Ali ne youchsafel to say at the
first interview was:
kindly report yourself to the stage man
ager, sir, and be will Introduce you to the
greenroom.n The young man lookel little
blank at this cool reception, but wisely re-
inembering the adags "When at Rome do
as the Romans do he bowed himself out
and sought the stage m tnager He found
that worthy entrenched at his tabl5 on tls
stase, surrounded by the prompter, the call
boy. the scene painter, tbs carpenter, the
property man, etc. The moment was not
uropitious for an introduction, go Willie
bile1 his tims, waiting in the prompt en-
trance. The quick eys of the pOmpou7
official spotted him out however, IN n mo
ment, and without ceremony he desired ons
of his sateliite3 to inquire "What the
stranger wanted" ''lhe stranger did not
want self-re spsct, and he introduced him
self Mr. B. had been an officer in the
army. and was martinez. He rose, how
ever, bowed stifIly, AMI extending two fil-
gers. s1orseI, "Glal to form your acqusint-
unce sr This way, II you pleiss.' 50
sayin;. he lei the way.
As they approached, they heard the sound
of pleasaut voices and rippies Of laughter,
but when poor Willie and his cort ent red
the green DOM t5o called because there wal
nothing green in IL, except occasionally
come verdant ngsterl it might have been
Qnakef's meeting -hous8. There wer5
about twenty gentlemen, and tea or twelve
lalies, Of all ages aud comp.exions, all
more or lest styliih persons Mr.. B
merely said. "Lll.es aud gentlem m, p5f
init me to introduce gentleman who has
come TO Join us-Mr. Jameson, from The
Theatre Royal. Dundee Every one bowed
coldly none more coldly than the new
conner. The Captain retireI, AMI let
Jamie ;ou TO make his way as best he could.
Evid mt tue greenToom was not dispo Ell
to offer him a cordial welcome Theatres
are very conservative institutions, and the
corps dramatique regarded the stranger a
an interlOper, AM possible trespa5ser on
vested interests"
There was dead silence At last one in
solent young puppy, an incipient light com
edian, VITO hal teen taking stock Of jamie
son through his eyegiass, superciliouily re-
marked:
"Dundeei Hal hem There is such a
place omewhere. l believe it is devote en-
tirely to the manufacture of marmalade.n
Not entirely replied Willie. They
manufacture men there occasionally"
".Hen, STRIP echoed younl. hopeful.
'sYes, and very good men, too continual
Willie. with imperturba de gravity; ''out
they doit venture to compete with the
metropolis of the country in the manuiac-
ture Of puppiesT And, turning on his hee,
he left the room. The roar of lau htsr
which followed his exit told him That bis
trst shot had struck home.
After that the fast young men ''let him
severely alone. and the other members Of
the company, finding he was as modest aud
unass uming as be could lie puglaciouI wh.a
the occasion warranted, began TO thaw, b.
clms communicative and finally recs.vsI
him with c1r1ialty.
Every day and every night he visited the
srsenrooln for week or ten days, but no
IN Of his name appeared in any or the
clsi. At last, up went The Miller and
His Men," and be found himself down for
Grindof. Then Master Willie dill a very
rude thing. Before all Israel he smas be |
the cast of 1.-THE Miller ami His Men, tore
il in pieces, put it in the fire and stirred it
up with the poker.
imagine If you can The CONSERVATION Of
the court Of st. Petersburg upon beholding
Ivan lvanovitsch ensign in the lmper al
Guard, walking into the awful presence Of
the autocyat of all the Rassias, and tearing
up, under his very nose, the last imperial
ukase. Then you may form some faint idea
OF the Edinburgh greenroOm at this act Of
unparalleled audacity. At this moment the
| stage manager entered to put up the cali for
the rehearsal of The Miller AMI His Men"
on the following day. The gallant Captain
was as much astonished as the rest when
Jameson said, very quietly: You can
spare yourself the trouble Of putting up that
call, Captain; | shall not BE- here Make
my compliments to NJ, and say I don't
play Grindoffs, or melodramatic rufians OF
that description 1t was distinctly under
stood that was 10 open in Hamlet, and
| open in that part and no other. If don't
hear from you before IL O'Clock tomorrow
morning I'm off to London by ths mail
Good evening. sir; good evening, ladies and
| gentlemen.n The moment he left the room
the place was all alive with eagerness and
expectation
Old NJ ruled hispeople with rod Of
iron The means Of Communication with
England were so few, AMI the journeys so
expensive, that the majority Of the COM
pany had 10 grin and tear the managerial
caprice, however unjuss il Right be. No
one as vet had the pluck to bell the cat, -
hence everybody regarded Willie as the
champion of the company.
The stage manager pulled his white nous
| tache.
''Hml Mutfnyr' be growlei; but like
the lads spirit, and begid, the old beggaT
shall have it hotr' So saying he made his
way to the managerial sanetum, where he
gave Willie's message to tae autocrat, with
various verbal embellishments.
| Old M merely scratched his ear with
bis pen, and said, Dear mel dear me- a re
markable young mani Do you think he
means itf
! II don't think anything about it, sir, Tn
| quite sure OF Il. -
Dear me, dear me. What time does the
mail go tomorrow
Twelve o'clock
"Well, well; come to me in the morning
at II. Meanwhile, III sleep on it.
| Next day, at 11.S1, Jameson was at the
coach Office with his baggage. He waited
until II 80. then he booked for London and
paid his fare.
Twelve o'clock came. He took his seat on
the box Ieside the driver, the guard blew
his horn. the driver flu-ishe his whip, and
was about to start, when loi down L,ith
walk came the Captain, putting and blow
ing ike grampls Waving his ha5 aud
his handkerchief he called out, 'Stopl stopt'
The driver pullei up, exelaiming;
'Wbat the row n0wF
Nothing gasped the Captain: s'but
you, sir Mr.. Jemieson, come DOWN. want
your
Too late, Captain replied Willie.
'Drive on, eoaehy.'
But l tell you it's all rightr' reared the
Captain.
Hamlet or nothing said Jameson.
''Ohl Hamlet, othelo slacbath-the
whole lot OF them; only, ems down"
''On your honor, sirt'
''On my honor as a gsntieman!n
IAN rightln and Willie sprang down like
"a 2-year-old.n SEEING his oarpet-bag, b.
spun over half crown almost the last b,
bal lef0 10 the guard. and returned tri
umphantly to the theatre, where the boys
struck up See the Conquering Here
Comes,n to the intense annoyance OF Old
NJ. who couldn't avoid hearing thi.
spontaneous outburst Of musical mutinT
The following Monday Jameson oneleC
in Hamlet. AMI was received wish verg
great enthusiasm by crowded house. a
call before the curtain was then not so eheaI
an honor as it il nowadays, and when al
the end of the play be was eaIlei forward
he was more than delighted. Just as be
was about TO make his exit a lady seated in
tha private box to his risht threw hun 4
laurel wreath and disappeared as il Is
/ magic Although he had barely time e