Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-05-01

your properties are In good condition,
Or he will be the death Of you
The night came and matters pro-
crossed fsvorably until the council
scene. Ono Of tho characters here, be-
ing overcome with nervousness, re-
vcrsed his questions to Metamora, Civ
ing the wrong lines, and of course re-
ceiving an absurd answer. The audi
ence, recognizing tho confusion Of tho
dialogue, began to laugh. and Of course
this made matters worse. The act
terminates with tho Indians great
speech: From the cast to the west, from
the north to the south, the loud cry Of
vengeance shall DO heard, and here he
hurls his knife into tho center of the
stage, where 1t quivers q defiance as the
curtain falls. In his anger and excite
ment the blade failed to stick in the
stage and bounded into the orchestra,
the handle hitting the double bass
player on the top of his head, which
was as innocent OF hair as billiard
ball, so as the curtain came down the
old fellow was stamping about and rub
bling his bald pate to the delight Of tho
audience.
II realized now that the storm had
OuA0S AA O1AACSO, anu GuA1 d VOC8I
wreck would soon follow. Knowing
that could not avert the catastrophe,
and having no desire to face the
tragedian's wrath, like polite but dis
loyal captain 1 deserted the ship and
went in front to see it 60 down. Byron
says of q battle: ooh, what a sight to
him who has no friend or brother therev
to which Prentice adds, and is not there
himself The latter was now my case.
I was not there myself, and did not in
tend to be, SO from the secure corner of
an upper private box / watched the
progress of the most disastrous perform
ance had ever seen.
"As the curtain rises on the last act
the tribe of Metamora should rush
through the opening in the woods as
their leader calls them; but by this
time the braves were SO frightened that
they had become demoralized, and as
the foremost rushed through the open
ing in the woods his long bow got cross
wise between two trees. This not only
precipitated the redslin over it, but the
entire tribe followed, tumbling head
over heels into the middle Of the stage,
1 trembled now lest the big Iniun'
would refuse to put in an appearance,
At last, to my relief, the audience
quieted down and Forrest strobe upon
the stage. If remember the story, at
this point Metamora's wife and children
had been stolen away and murdered.
His pathos was fine, and by his magnifi-
cent acting he reduced his audience to
attention and enthusiasm. All was
now going we'll, and looked forward to
happy termination of the play, which
l was thankful to know had nearly
reached it's climax.
IA funeral pile of burning fagots was
then brought on, at which some pale
face was to be sacrificed. The two In
dams in charge of this mysterious-look-
ing article set tdown SO unsteadily that
o large sponge saturated with flaming
alcohol tumbled of, and rolled down the
stage, leaving track of fire in its wake.
Put 1t out!' said Forrest, put 1t out!'
| whereupon the two Indians went down
| on their knees and began to blow al
| ternately in see-saw way, singeing each,
| others eyebrows at every puff. The
audience could not stand this comical
picture, and began to break forth in
laughter. Let the theater burnt roared
Forrest.
SAT last one tall Indian, supposed to
be second in command, majestically
waved off the two who were blowing,
and stamped his foot with force and
dignity upon the flaming sponge, at
which a perfect fountain of burning
alcohol spouted up his leather legs. He
caught fire, tried to put himself out,
rubbing and jumping about frantically,
and at last danced off the stage in the
most comical agony. Forrest made q
furious exit; the curtain was dropped,
and the public, in perfect good nature,
dispersed. I mingled with the crowd
as it went forth and never saw an audi
ence at the end of flve-act comedy
wreathed in such smiles"