The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-10-24

Donald was an aSiIUuOuS ulneT-Cut, Steat ~
balls and parties, PLAYED capital game az
billiards, went to the theatre frequently.
and sedulousl; cultivated the acquaintance
of the players, among whom he posed him
self as man with expectations In person
he was young Apollo, tall and straight as
dart, fair complexioned, a pure Creek
face straight nose, eyes blue rs sapphire,
and bright as damon Is, head of sunny
hair which fell in mass of golden curis
about his neck. Yes, the hair was very
beautiful, but unfortunately there was not
much worth speaking about under 1t. His
inca and his hair were very much admired
tho latter obtained for him the sobriquet
of Curly" IA cognomen which clung to him
throughout his life.
This in eresSing young gentleman gener-
ally began the day by shaking hands with
himself. and admiring his handsome face in
! the glass Then he cOndescended to permit
the poor fond mother to worship him during
| his breakfast, after which he sallie out for
his morning game of billiards. In the after
noon he summed himself in Princes street,
'to give the girls a treat as he modestly
put IT, After that an early dinner Gn those
days late dinners were not in vogue), then
the theatre or the dance, whichever pre-
scented the greater attraction.
Usually his poor stupid head had room
only for one idea; but at last he mana -ed to
smugpla in two ut one and the same time.
His first idea was, on the strength Of his
handsome face and comely carcass, to make
wealthy marriage. In order TO enable
him to carry out tins highly laulable object,
he managed, through his father name and
his mothers influence, to get hun elf nOm-
mated for a coruetcy in the Midlothian vol
uncers: AMI very pretty figure he nude
in his uniform whenever he had chance OF
airing IT. His sacon l., AM it must be con-
fessci most dominant, idea was to 90 on the
stage and make his fortune. Others had
done 81, why should not he:
At that period there were nOt-at least
not in Curly's set many narliageable
young ladies OF large fortune, so he con-
templa;ci SEEKING fresh woods and pas
lures new But there was difficulty not
wholly unconnec ed with coin of the realm,
80 he was condemned to vegetate in Aud
Reekie," at least for the present
He was now five or six and twenty and
had never done n hands turn to make him
self useful In his life; nor indeol, had he
the slightest intention Of SO dong. His
mission was to be ornamental, and Ee knew
IT, Could he only o tain an opportunity OF
Displaying his manly beauty on the stage,
the women-hciresses especially ould bow
down before and worship him. Sublime in
spirat'on! He would get up an amateur
performance for the purpose of providing
the Highlandcrs Of the Hebrides with
breaches. To illustrate the importance OF
small clothes, the comedy Of "The Bellies
Stratagem" was selected, and Curly was
to he Doricourt. He had alighted on his
feet. He was born com dian-he had ami
NAL spirits in abun lauce-his laughter WAS
contag Gus, and he was sublmely and I'M
CONSCIOUSLY impu len That he was good
looking no one could deny. In fact, when Sir
George TonchwoDd exclaimed: "Confouul
the dog, how handsome he look Il" every
one indor,el the opinion. Next day the
blockAea Is IN the papers pronounced him
genius ful-hcdgel in fact, he had
only to sh him elf in Lon Ion TO extin-
guish Charles Knmbc, Elliston, Jones and
the rest OF ths London PLAYERS. The resi-
dent hcht coined an was very distin-
guishrl actor, but, Of course, he wasn't to
comptre with the new Doricourt!
Curly, mother, strict Presby terrain by
no ,rcans approved of her darinE'3 dis,
gracing the house o. Campbell by exhibit
ing h nsef as n STAGE player, and several
differences of opinion arose between them
On the SUBJECT. These iangleS eliminated
in a fit of apoi lexy which cut short the Old
ialy's life and his means If living, as Of
course, his mothers annuity tei minated
with ler existence. To do the lad Justice,
he was very fo:d Of his mo ther and her
loss was a great blow to him. She had left
him small hoard of two or three hundred
pounds which she had sCraped together
with great d I'll ulty; but he soon mad,
ducks and brakes Of that, AM it was
melting away rapidly when Harry John
ston, the Scotch Ro'cus,' "a he was called,
camo down from London for few nights
to star" in his native city. Johnston was
a worry hand Some man and very fine actor.
His acting was n revelation to Curly, who
became relhot partisan, and distinguished
him elf bv tie demOnstrative feryor Of his
admiration On the last nlght of his engage
ment the ROscius intmatel that he had
been driven cut Of London in consequence
Of having taken the liberty to thrash that
"fat Adonis Of forty" the Prince Regent,
for insulting his tJohnston's) wife, and that
he had taken the theatres at Aberdeen and
Dundee, aud was now gong to settle down
in MANAGEMENT in his native land. Next
DIV Curly got one of the actors to intro
ducc him to tn new manager, AMI sue
cccded there and then III obtaining an en-
gagemnnt He had achieved one stop on the
road to fortune.