The Press., 1889-08-08
a THRlTRICAL FIRsr NIGHT.

rites, that 1t became matter of common knowledge that of all the people to whom MT. Mash had caused himself to be intro duced, the men who had the readiest facul- ties for inventing spocryphal persons and places were thC6o who had, with that gen. tleman, the largest number of mutual &C., quaintances and subjects in common. However this may have been, he was un- doubtedly . fluent if not brilliant talker, an excellent host, and was, to boot, unde- niably well off. and, therefore. eligible as 2 partS.
 II The orphan and only son Of ci-devant wealthy East Indian, Mx. Nash Nas one of those individuals who. being blessed with more money than brains. and who, having lrealized that the next best thlng to pos. Isessing quality is an intimate association with people who do actually possess it, contrive to make. themseives unlimitedly useful and agreeable to . variety of people, so that at the age of % years he had snc- ceeded in being presented to most of the literary and artistic celebrities of the day, whom he henceforth alluded to as "my dear friend Johnny, Harry, Fred, Bertie, ]" land 50 on. The one distinction, however, for which he yearned with all the arilor of an ambitious soul was the title of sliterary lman ," and having bombarded with tspars. l" ,'the editors of The Magpie, The Tropical Gazette, The Revue San Stefano, and lDeath, and having ct least half sa dozen times seen the said paragraphs at the foot of the last columns of those journals, he had adopted mysterious manner, and when asked by discreet dowagers what were his daily occupations, would reply in an of. hand manner: tOhl write, you know" When further catechised ss to the sheets which were salted by his incis. i've pen, he would reply, with depreca. tory smile, "Oh we never disclose those things, you know. lone might suppose, made up in quantity 1 for what it lacked in quality and asmore than one theatrical manager was keenly lalive to the possibilities of utilizing him for purposes of walking advertisement, he soon began to look upon himself as g lperson marvellously well informed in the proceedings of the dramatic world. Es
 pecially was this footing established be-
 tween himself and Jimmy Claxton, the
 manager of the Atheneenm theater, and Ton 'l first nights at that temple of Hhespis as ; indeed, uron most first nights- MT. Mash might be observed 'sassisting, with the stolid indifference of the professional first Inighter. ..L .lt..,-.s..s ' ,.ly
 We have said that our hero was painful ly aware of his deficiency of brains, and deeply anxious to be thought on good terms with people of intellect. It had, therefore, not unnaturally, occurred to him that, though the wished for commodity could not be acquired by purchase, 1t was not beyond thelbounds of possibility that he might obtain it by marriage. Of all the young women upon whom he had looked with anapproving eye to carry out this idea, Miss Dorothy Trendlesham was to his mind the most suitable. Hand some, we'll connected, of independent lneans and of 4undonbted talent, Miss Tren. dlesham was,. perhaps, one of the best
 known young persons of the day, and many an ambassador and many g risine lyoung author or statesman would frequent Mrs. Trendlesham's salon in B. place on Saturday afternoons, far moro for the Ipurpose of getting five minutes' converse. tion with Miss Dorothy upon some sub Jject of immediate importance to himself than for inc sake of meeting the notabil lties who throngeds the rooms from until | We have it on the best authority that Miss Trendlesham was interested in MT. Nash, as she eonsjdeFed that his social Iqualities and large fortune might be made Ian excellent instrument for the furtherancl lOf the objects of her ssparty y"-for sshe VA Ia keen politician and she was determined that If he wished to make up for his def ciency of wits by a judicious use of hil
 money, he should not fail of his object fol Ithe want of encouragement. It would bt idle to pretend that the fair Dorothy wal
 unaware of Nash's sentiments toward her. land il would he equally idle to say she did fnot appreciate them. though she had cer
 tainly never given him the slightest en-
 couraeement. Besides this, she -was more than Interested in a third party, by name
 Ronald Neall, young journalist, who having started life with capital repre- lsented by the letter Q, had resolved tt
 make his talents appreciated by dint o sheer hard work and perseverance,.
 Now, MT. Richard R. Nash was fully sham for Ronald Neall, and he felt that | dwas peculiarly unjust that whilom penni
 less scribbler should possess the intellec the want of which made his ample meanl Eof comparatively 30 little use to him. IT view, however, of such opposition, he, af ter mature consideration, came to the con
 clusion that he must somehow or othel
 win the spurs with which he might out
 strip Neall in the race for fame and Doro thy Trendlesham. Trusting, therefore, t the good will of the managers whom hi
 had been won't to see round his festiv,
 board, he disappeared from London fol fawhile, returning with bundle of manu
 script, which was duly addressed to tn,
 manager of the Parthenen, for approval
 with a asstatement of terms. This done, h,
 presented himself in B. place, ant
 with an air of considerable confidence ana
 some triumph let fall some haphazard re ] marks anent "his play, which was ssshort ly to be produced here in town.'
 1Athousand congratulations MT. Nssh, !
 said Miss Trendlesha1n "When is tR,
 ffst snight?" st8Esfs Ek'
 "Nothing is yet fixed, Miss Trendle
 sham. only sent my play on approva
 "Whom to, MT. Nash ?"
 'sWe never disclose those things befor
 the time, you know, said Mir. Nash. wh,
 was not quite such a fool as to lose sight o
 possible fatalities.
 "Well, what is it about ?'' said the fai lquerist.
 seThat, also, is to be@a profound secret ' but will you premise me two things -ffrss
 to accept for yourself and Mrs. Trendle sham placesin my box for the first night and, secondly, not to breathe word eth