The Osceola times., 1888-08-04
Iuccessi7ely made tne,r .nroar,nc,

succesei7ely made their appearance,
with. one notable exception-namely,
Durand, whose presence as the princi.
pal fGurc In an important scene was in.
iispensable.
send round to his lodgings" ex-
claimed Latigues, annoyed at so fragrant
a breach of discipline, "snd let him
know we are waiting foe h,sn,n
He had scarcely issued the order,
when The entrance of middle-aged fc-
male, the FORTRESS of the theater, ac-
companied by strong odor Of garlic,
attracted his attention, What Is itpn
he impatieuily inquired.
IA le,'1r, to be delivered into Mon
sieur's own hands," replied Nine. Ger
perus, suiting the action TO the word.
Hastily opening tho envelope, and
glancing at one Of the Two papers il
contained, The manager, evidently not
" little astonishod, announced that an
unexpected matter of business would
prevent his being present at the re.
hearsal. You CON dc Without me-" he
said IN Millard. "If you want any
thing, you will find me in my room"
"A check for five thousand francsw
he muttered to himself when he had
reached his sanetum. "What on earth
oan " fiean?n Then, unfolding the
second paper and carefully smoothing
" out On The table, he read as follows:
DEAR MONSIEUR LARrIGuEs When you re.
ccive this shall have left vcillevilie--ra,her
unccremoniousiy you will say but under the
circumstances unavoidably. Jacques Durand's
dramatic career begin and ended last night;
the Arnold Of 'Suillauthe Tel' resilnes his
own ranie and profession ana were you again
70 meet him you would assuredly fail TO recog
nize him. Let ne explain. While attached TO
the Embassy at Ro-for ! really Uds there-l
occasionally prohte by the possession OF
tolerablc tenor voice to Join company OF ANA
teurs in the habit Of organizing operate per.
formances for the benefit OF local charities, and
on my return to France found that my reputa
ton as singer had preceded me thither. An
eccentric acquaintance OF wcll-known sporting
propensities came to me one day and proposed
the following singular wager. He offered to
bet me fifty thousand francs to FIVE thousand
that within six months would not undertake
10 sing first tenor part in an orerc Mt a lead
ing provincial thes,er without being Missed, as
su,ninf shaieyer name he nigh, choose and so
uisguisng my personal appearance as TO rem
der myself as repulsive as possible. Trusting
that my voice might Gerry me safely through
the ordeal and tempted BY the liberal odds at
stake, consented. and, after devoting three
months TO the study of half do,en parts, sue
ceeded through the medium of the agent, Co
lomhat, in obtaining an engagement at vie,lle
yillp, WITH what result yoh already know. My
ftend who took care TO be present at my
debut acknowledged that the bet was fairly
won; and, rs you are justly entitled to some
compensation for my abrupt departure, permit
me to request your acceptance of the enclosed
check, with my best wishes for the prosperity
OF your theater
olsros DE BtoNvAts
EN-attacho TO the Embassy at Rio Jhneito
"lSac d pdpteren exclaimed Lartigucs,
throwing down the letter in disgust.
"Another chance slipped through my
fingers, and one am not likely to see
again. Deduct five thousand francs
from fifty thousand this tarcew was
worth to me; total, dead loss Of forty
five thousand. Nothing to be done but
W NlIt W SOlbnlbdl ltf SuDciitutc,
and to fall back on comedy until one
turns up. Bagassoi II the story of the
bet gets wind, shall be the laughing
stock Of the town.
Somehow or other-as is generally the
case-the story did get wind, and the
unfortunate managers prediction was
fully realized. Moreover, the From
deurs. furious at having been, as they
Indignantly expressed it, duped by an
amateur, unanimously resolved to
make it hot for any future candidate
for the vacant post of tenor; and judg-
ing from the frequency Of NJ. Lartigue's
applications TO Colombat n Co. for
specimens of the rara dris in question,
II is prcsumabe that they kept their
word. Charles Herccy, IN Belgraria.