Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1885-09-02
sured me by his account Of Mr.. Black

that the affair should be forgotten.
lie was most civil to me, and. when
your message arrived, saying you weie
too unwell to attend, he exple5Sed his
regrets quite III an ordinary way. He
is gong to play Othello magnificently
too; could see that even al the first
rehearsal, although the scenes with
Desdemona We're omitted this mornir g.
Old Gosling is in tremendous state of
excitement; nearly all the seats for the
best part of the house are booked al
l5ady for Blackburn's benefit. and they
expect to have to turn half-a-doZen rows
of the pit into stalls. Just think of
that at the Theatre Royal AltOnl
hear too that the mayor and corpora
tion is coming in body, as a sort of
official demonstration of their respect
and admiration for him. There is no
doubt he has become great favOrrte
here; and No wolder-he is certainly a
fine actor! Another report which is
I going about, which is still more inter-
estlng to us, Is that Mr.. Seaman is COM
ing from London TO see the performance.
| expect he has heard of you and Black
burn; wouldn't it be delightful if he
engaged you for his grand autumn re-
vIval of Ottello at the Royal7 l should
positively go down on my knees to him
TO take me also. So, darling, you must
cheer up, and determine to make bril-
liant success as Desdemona.
We had the day to ourselves, So as
To be quite fresh for the evening of the
benefit, and | went down TO the theatre
feeling better and less apprehensive
than l had expected. George, who
played Cassie, came and knocked at
my dressing room door before the cur
tain rose, that he might inspect me in
the new dress | had bought to do honor
to the occasion.
"'You are lovely he said-'rather
too pale perhaps. Can't you heighten
your color littlep'
"'No, said l, Il cannot. Whatever
I do, it appears to me look ghastly.'
THAT'S absurdr said George laugh
ing. 4 thought you were only trifle
pale; but perhaps 1t is more interesting
Heaven bless you, my darlingl A great
deal may depend upon tonight for US
both; do yourself juStice-that is all |
ask
HE kissed me and we went TO the
stage together. Mr.. Blackburn was on
the stage when we reac ed it, and i'm
mediately advanced toward US.
"'Good luck, said he-'go0d luck to
you bothl This will be a night you
will remember as long as you live-as
long as you live. he repeated impress
sively.
ale turned away, and George said
"'How well he loOksl Thank good
ness he seems quite himself againl'
"The play commenced. Mr.. Black
burn had magnificent reception, and
seemed determined to surpaSs himself
| At last came the scene in which Desde-
mona appears.
NOW saIJ- IagO, who was wait
ing for the cue to take-nE on-'now
comes the tug of wall If he is all right
with you it must De an eheFmous sue
cess. Why, you are nervous!'-he ad-
ded, taking my icy hand. iGheer up;
! you are quite Safep
"The moment arrived which aston
| ished everybody but me. Far from be-
ing apathetic, Blackburn electrified us.
His acting with Des1emona was pro-
nounced on all sides to be perfect, and
| myself was almost frightened by his
earnestnesS. There was d tremendous
recall at the end of the act, which We
acknowledged together, his hand burn
ing more and more.
"The second act went well until the
entrance of OthellO. To my intense
alarm. the embrace when Othello and
DesdemOna meet was so genuine that
almost tainted. need not tell you
that kisses are not considered allowable
on the stage; imagine my horror when
he kissed me again and again, his lips
almost scorching mine. l should have
fallen had he not held me so tightly.
"When we were OF the stage, |
TUNED TO reprove him for the insult he
had offered me; but there was such a
look Of malignant joy on his face that
the words frOze on my lips, and L hur-
ried away from HIM. Heaven help
me!' thought ]. How shall | get
through the remaining three acts? He
surely must be intoXicatedl'
SIN my next scene with Cassieo he
stood close to the stage and watched us
and | saw him muttering to himself.
Once L walked close to where he stood,
to find if could hear what he was say
ing; to my terror, he was repeating
again and again, with his eyes fixed on
George and me-
''For the last time, for the last timeI'
directly | had an opportunity,
sent for George, and said did not
think the play ought TO proceed, for |
was certain there was something wrong
with Mr. Blackburn.
"'Wrongp said George. have never
seen such acting in my hfe!'
"'Then told him all that had oc-
CURED and he only laughed at my
fears.
"It seems TO me you have got into
such nervous condition that you ex-
aggerate everything, | have talked to
him good deal tonight, and he has
been most pleasant, asking when we are
going to lie married, hoping that our
good fortune may date from tonight
and all sorts of kind things
"'But cannot you see that all this is
not natural?' cried /. 1T alarms me
dreadfully, j believe he has some fear
full scheme in his headr
"'What scheme can he have my dear
hdlCE DDu VI
sympathetic; but you really must strug-
gle against this feeling-you are letting
it get quite an upper hand of you, You
need never have anything TO do with
him again, but tonight you must go
through with your character
Il said no more, but determined
that, happen what might, would
make no further complaint. My reso-
luton failed me at the end of the fourth
act, Mr.. Blackburn's acting had been
exceedingly violent, and | was bruised
my the manner in which he flung me
on the floor. This violence was alter
mated with the most demonstrative af-
fectIon. could endure it no longer
and had sent for Mr. Gosling, when l
came upon Blackburn standing in a
brown study, in one of the entrances.
He was again muttering to himself;
but this time he was feeling the edge
of the dagger which formed part of his
dress. l tried to get past without at
tracing his attention; but my clothes
caught on nail in the scene. and he
saw me. He stared guiltily, and hasti-
ly returned the dagger to its sheath.
This incident, crowning all the |
others, had such an awful effect upon |
me that, when Mr.. Gosling came, |