The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1894-10-26

Davies blood ran cod. TOO late ne
remembered that II was not the Dn-
gon's cue, and that he was making
havoc with his own professional re-
putatlon. Through the canvas he felt
the stern gaze of the actor-manager.
He thought of pricklng Jimmy only at
the bowling cues, but then the howl
thus produced was so superior to his
own. that II Jimmy chose to claim IL,
he might be at once engaged to re-
place him In the part. What dllem-
ma!
Far different emotions were felt at
the Dragons head. where Jlmmy's JOY
faded gradually away, replaced by q
passion of indignation, rs with love-
sharpened eyes he ascertalned for
himself the true relations of the actor
manager with his principal girl"
He saw from his colgn of vantage the
poor, modest, little thing shrinking be-
fore the cowardly advances of her
employer, who took every possible adj
vantage Of the stage potentlalities, In
ways the audience could not dlscrim-
mate from the acting. Alas! What
could the gentle little bread-w.nner do2
But Jimmy's blood was boiling.
royal between st. George and the Dra-
gon. Sabra. bewltching1y radiant in
white Arabian silk, stood under the
orange tree where the pendent fruit
was labelled three a penny. Here st.
George. in knightly armor clad, retired
between the rounds, to be sponged by
the fair Sabra. from whose lips he
took the opportunity OF drinking en-
cOuragement. When the umpire cried
"Timew Jimmy uttered lnarticulate
cries of real rage and malediction,
vomiting his squibs straight at the
CHAMPIONS eyes with intent to do him
grevlous bodily injury. But squibs
have their own way of jumping, and
the actor-manager's face was protect
ed by his gl,ttering burgonet
At last Jimmy and Davie were duly
despatched by ST. Georges trusty
sword, Ascalon, which passed right
between them and stuck out on the
other side amid the frantic applause
of the house. The Dragon reeled
sideways and bit the dust of which
there was plenty. Then Subra rushed
forward from under the orange-tree
and encircled her hero's hauberk with
stage embrace, while st. George,
lifting up his visor, ra!ned kiss after
kiss on Sabra's scarlet face, and the
gods" went hoarse with JOY.
"Oh. sir!' Jimmy heard the still
small voice of the bread-wlnner pro-
test feebly again and again amid the
thunder, as she tried to withdraw her.
self from her employers grasp. This
was the last straw. Anger and the foul
air of his prison wrought up Jimmy
to asphyXiat'o on point. What wonder
If the Dragon lost his head complete
ly?
Davie will never forget the horror
of that moment when he felt himself
dragged upward as by an irresistible
tornado. and knew himself for a ruin
ed actor. Mechanically he essayed to
cling to the ground, but in vain. The
dead dragon was on its feet In a mo-
ment; in another, jimmy had thrown
off the mask. showing a shock of hair
and a bNtched crimson face, spotted
with great beads of perspiration. I'M
of this eliminating outrage,
Davie made desperate prOds with his
pin, but Jimmy was equally uncon-
sciOus of the pricks. The thunder
d,ed abruptly. A dead silence fell
upon the whole house-you could have
heard Davies pin drop. st. George,
in amazed CONSERVATION, released his
ho'd on Sabra and covered back be-
fore the wild glare Of the bloodshot
eyes. "How dare you?" rang out ip
hOarse screaming accents from the
head, and with one terrific
blow OF its right fore-leg the hybrid
monster felled Sabra's insulter to the
ground.
The astonished st. George lay on his
back staring vacantly at the flies.
"Irl teach you how to behave to a
lady" roared the Dragon.
Then Davie tugged him frantically
but Jimmy cavorted OBJ
stlnately in the centre of the stage,
which the actor-manager had taken
even in his fall, so that the Dragons
hind legs trampled blindly on Davies
PROSTATE chief, amid the hysterical
of the house.
Next morning the local papers were
loud in their praises of the second
edition" of "St. George and the
Dragon" especially of the genuinely
burlesque and topsy-turvy episode in
which the Dragon rises from the dead,
to read st. George a lesson in chiv-
airy; n really side-splitting conception,
made funn:er by the grotesque revela-
tion of the constituents of the Dragon
just before it ret,res for the night"
The actor-manager had no option
but to adopt this reading, so had to be
hoofed and publicly reprimanded
every evening during the rest of the
season, glad enough to get off so
cheaply.
OF course Jimmy was dismissed, but
st. George was painfully polite to
Sabra ever after, not knowing but
what Jimmy was in the gallery with
a brlckbat, and perhaps not unim-
pressed by the lesson in chivalry he
was receiving every evening.
Perhaps you think the Dragon de-
served to marry Sabra, but that would
be really too topsy-turvy, and the
beast himself was quite
to have resued her from st.
George.
But the person who proflted most by
Jimmy's sacrifice was Davie, who
stepped into real speaking part,
from the obscurity Of his sur