Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1886-09-24

y VII ~ MOI mnch of it) to
. BE- sent ftAr us
while we walked on to Paisley, where Pike
ha: a friend in the local TRACE iian, Mr..
JaTnieson-popularly known as LANG
Willie"--who would Re good for a SOW
ereign A as when we got to Pal" ley, We
fouul Lang Willie was under the
weather" him eff and the expected SOW
ereign dwin lied down to five shillings-
which was the entire amount of his nights
share for acting "Bertram," in the gloomy
but powerful tragedy of that name.
When the play was over Mr.. Jameson
took US to bis lodgings gave Us q hearty
welcome and hot supper, after which !
sat and listened while the veterans acted
their young encounters DER again" Amidst
their pleasant "reminiscences Pike happened
to rention the name Of "Curly." At the
sound Jameson became sad AMI silent
After while Pike inquired:
"Where is he the moor
God knowsr' repliel the other. 1--WE
not seen him for a month or more. He aye
bursts out when the anniversary Of that
awful time comes round. He generally
stays away for q month or six weeks, and
comes back without word, and resumes
his life where he left of. just as If nothing
had happened. Poor { rlyl Poor Flora!
But there; what is 1t Mistress Macl eth
says7--
Things without all remedy
Should be without regard; what's done is
DONE
80 sup up and clear out-that is, if you mean
togo to Klmarnock tomorrow. Gool-bve
young gentleman. ] hope you'll be iuc'lier
than this weather. beaten old villain and
myself Stick to the text; study night
and day; and, who knows, you may take
the world BY storm one Of these days"
'Pn try" said.
Good ladi Good ladi Remember, there's
20 such word as fall Goodbye, Pike; good
tnck to you at Kilmarnock"
And SO we took our leave Of LANG Will
Ge," and sought our humble hostelry, where
Ten minutes later Hay fast asleep, not even
dreaming Of the influence that accidental
encounter with Mr.. Jameson and another
yet to come were to have on my future de,.
tiny.
Next morning, after We had paid our
score, We had only eighteen pence left; but
what Is money when you have youth,
health, strength and ambitionl Thank
Godi / had all these; as for nv com.
panion, poor fellow, no had had SO many
rubs OF fortune that he was equal to any
fate. By the way. his name was not pike
at all: he had merely arrived at that
sobrlQuet from his marvellous voracity, anc
his extraordinary facial resemblance to the
pike hsh. He had fulfilled one short engage
ment in Edinburgh or Glasgow some thirty
years before ] met him, but all tina interreg-
mum bad been passed. vagabondizing about
IA halls ana barns in the small town, of
Scotland. BE was always in debt, always
IN difficulty, but somehow or other be always
kept aAoat, always kept light heart, and
always had pleasant word for every BODY.
Although 1t was in the month Of May, the
mow was on the ground; fortunately for us
it had been frozen into a fine crisp con-
sisfency. The sun flushed the horizon with
tender violet, lighting the hilltops with
lire, and making the distant road, which Law
betore N, alive with rubies and emeralds
and other precious stones, set in great
masses Of gold and silver OF course. when
We came up with them our magic Jewels
vanished-no, not quite vanished. they had
only gone little further of; and SO we fol.
lowell in their track, just Is the people fol.
low In the pursuit of pleasure in Noel
Paton's picture 1t was, indeed, a lovely
morning, and the young blood ran riot in
my veins while the birds chirpsd and sang
to rs from every hedge. was in love with
my art, and the present ordeal seemed to
me the rough brake through which great
ness must pass" Ifattered myself that I
was another Edmund Kean in embyro-be.
sides. was not about to open at the Theatre
ROYAL, Kilmarnock, in Romeol (Alasi this
Theatre Royal turned out to be b.rn over
s'ableD Twas Romeo already. l must
ccn.ess my mind was sorely xercissd as to
my future Juliet, Miss Madeline Moutmo-
Vac che c1,n~f toll II;
dark or fart q may as well state at once
tiat she turned out to be old enough for nv
mother. and wore false 'front.' SO l think
/. was called.) Twas to have a guinea a
week and benefit. all the receipts, after
the shares and stock debt were taken up
So, building these castles in the mir. |
trotted along, full Of the delightful antici.
pations Of youth and hope; while, as for
Pike, he was as jolly as usual About mid
cay we stopped at farmhouse little ont
OF tbs main road, where he negotiated a
lunch OF oatcake and milk for sixpence out
Of our little store. When we had done
ample justice to our frugal repast be took
pull at his pipe, AMI then we resumed our
journey, beguiling the time with snatches
OF song and theatrical reminiscence,. of
which be had an abundance incidentally
he mentioned the name Of Curly: then he
stopped and changed the subject. This re-
minded mo Of the hitch In the conversation
on tho preceding night so ventured to in
quirs who and what ''Curly" was. After
come hesitation Pike told me the story am
about to relate-a story remarkable enough
under any circumstances, but rendered still
more remarkable by an incident which
actually occurred during its narration. Had
1t no. been for this strange coincidence the
narrative would not have needed this in.
duction.