The Irish standard., 1890-05-10
lIllsII IS 4. IRY

E$yOQr properties aES IL
81 he Will be the death ~ you. ' h
The night came and n n Al
crossed fayorably until the co,ln ~
scene. One Of the characters here, -
inp overcome with nervousness, s..
versed his questions to Metamor a, CIV
ing the wrong lines, and OF course r.
ceiyinP an absurd answer. The audi
ence, recognizing the conf fusion q the
dialogue, began to laugh, and OF conrs !.
this made matters worse. The aos
terminates with the Indians great
speech: From the east to the west, from rom
the north to the south, the loud cry q
vengeance shall be heard, and here ne
hurls his knife into the center OF the
stage, where it quiyers q defiance as the ne
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 the
audience.
"
burst in earnest, and that total
wreck would soon follow. knowing
that could not avert the catastrophe,
and having no desire to face the
tragedian's wrath, like a polite but dis
LOYAL captain 1 deserted the ship and
went in front to see it go down. Byron.
says of battle: ooh, what sight t..
him who has no friend or brother thereF,
to which Prentice adds, and is not there.
himself The latter was now my case.
was not there myself, and did not In.
tend to be, so from the secure corner OF:
an upper private box I watched the
progress of the most disastrous perform.
ance bad ever seen. ::
Gas 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 redskin over it, but the
entire tribe followed, tumbling head
over heels into the middle Of the stage,
/ trembled now lest the big Injun'
would refuse to put in an appearance.
At last, to my relief, the audience
quieted down and Forrest strobe upon
the stage. If 1 remember the story, at
this point Metamora's wife and children
had been stolen away and murdered.
His pathos was fine, and by his magnitf- .
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 )
I was thankful to know had nearly
| reached it's climax.
ga 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 it down so unsteadily that
large sponge saturated with flaming
alcohol tumbled off, and rolled down the o
| stage, leaving a track Of fire in its wake. :.
! Put it out!' said Forrest, put it outP
! 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, ana began 10 Oreah 1of1n IA
laughter. Let the theater burn! roareds
| Forrest.
cat 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 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 ?
| furious exit; the curtain was dropped.
and the public, in perfect good natures,
dispersed. I mingled with the crowd
as it went forth and I never saw an audi
ence at the end of fve-act comedy
| wreathei in s71ch smiles -