San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-08-02

ground or the twilight scene, Which had
topped over upon he, while roars of
laughter pealed from the delighted audi
ence To add to the Righteousness Of the
performance the scene shifter tried to let
the curtain down with dispatch, but only
the end opposite to me would descend,
and in doing so very Unexpectedly it left
one of our farm laborers on the outside,
near the footlights. This seemed TO in
crease the amusement Of the audience,
By the time the shifter got my end of
the curtain down was so exhausted with
my struggles and my emotions that had
to be carried bodily into the dressing
room. Brandy and other seductive restor.
atives were administered, and | finally
came to sufficiently to wipe the perspira.
ton from my brow and groan. Mean.
while the unfeeling audience was clamor-
ing for the play to proceed. All the
members of the company gathered around
and besought me tearfully not to give up
at this important juncture. They assured
M that the accident was by no means an
uncommon one; that the play need not be
spoiled by it if all else went well; and
they suggested that the audience would
be more than willing to pardon an episode
which had furnished so much innocent
merriment not down on the bills. Finally,
when the heroine, the lovely heroine, had
cast herself at my feet and clasped her
ciammy hands in my own, pleading with
irresistible eloquence of eye and lip,
consented to struggle through the re-
mainder of the play and then and there
close my histrionic career forever.
Once more the curtain rose and the play
went on Like man in a dream | came
and went, mumbling my lines and going
through my part in a wooden manner
which fairly made the audience frantic
But Kisses and groans moved me not; |
was past caring for criticism either favor
able or adverse. Only once did partially
wake up, when q small boy in the audi
ence struck me on the side of the head
with hen pear of the vintage of 1914
At last came the stabbing scene in the
lonely dell think never prepared to
kill person with so much dcliriOuS pleas
TIRE as prepared to put that heroine out
Of the way, AM thus hasten the cOnsum-
nation Of the play The audience seemed
to be slightly impressed once more as |
came on in my sable cloak and soiiloquized
before the dreadful deed.
The fateful moment arrived. The hero
inc was seen approaching through the
forest buried in the sweet thoughts of in
nocenco and love, hid behind the messy
trunk of a tree and awaited her coming.
Suddenly my head whirled and my mind
became total blank! | could not for the
l:f2 Of me recall the tragic words with
which | was to preface the bloody deed.
The heroine approached, passed the tree,
stopped for a moment in surprise, and
then kept on. did not step forward. |
still crOuched behind the tree. She
passed me again.. and as she did so gave
slight ahem to wake up her delinquent
assassin Then | sprang out and grasped
her by the hair | ought to have known
better but | was not in a condition to
know anything or care for anything. The
stage direction was: The william grasps
the lady by the throat. To be grasped
by the hair was evidently as far
from the expectation of the hero
inc as anything could possibly be, for,
with the most natural feminine gesture
in the world, she threw back both her
hands, uttered little scream of horror
and grasped at the departing wig! Too
late 100 late, There | stood with my
should be CORY hand filled with store hair,
while my right hand, clutching the bright
knife, hung sleeveless at my side. There
was moments awful hush, and then the
pathos of the scene burst upon the audi
ence and the barn was filed with thun-
ders of applause and demoniac yells. /
did not wait for the curtain to fall; in
fact, it did not fall, as the scene shifter
was not in condition to perform his &C
customed functions. | rushed for the
dressing room and hid myself under pile
of costumes.
Since that dreadful night l have never
been inside theatre, and the very sight
of barn makes me turn pale.-Drakes
Magazine.