Willmar tribune., 1895-12-24
AN EPISODE.
CHRISTMAS OF THE JoLI1TT THEATER STOCK
COMPANY.
Copyright, 1894, by James L. Ford

~AAAsAoA ~ AAAA1AA
COMPANY.
copyright, 1884, by James L. Ford.]
Three weeks before the holidays, and
the outlook for a merry Christmas was
q gloomy one, at least so far as the
members Of the stock company of the
Jollity theater were concerned. Salary
day had como and gone, and as yet the
ghost had shown no disposition to walk,
and it was because of the nonappearance
Of that most welcome specter Of STAGE
land that the rumor had started and was
rapidly gaining ground that Messrs.
Hustl lc and Hardup, proprictors and man.
ayers Of the Jollity theater, were Gin
hole again.
The piece which occupied the boards
had proved g fiat failure, and receipts
at the box Office had fallen in conse-
quence to a plane never before reached
in the history of the house.. Moreover,
no new play had as yet been put in re-
hearsal, and all atmosphere of unmis-
taxable gloom and apprehension per-
vaded the region behind the footlights
and weighed heavily on the spirits of
every one there, from Pearl Livingstone,
the talented emotional actress who play
cd the leading female parts, down to lit
tie Kitty Sullivan, who was only years
old and was in the depths of despair be-
cause for fully three weeks she had been
out Of the bill In short, every member
of the company was in condition of
mingled uncertainty and curiosity in re-
gard to the future of the playhouse and
the projects Of its managers, who as yet
had given no sign Of their intentions
and had, in fact, been invisible to the
members of their artistic staff ever since
tho last day Oh which salaries became
due.
On this particular night, which hap
pened to be one of storm and rain, two
or three Of the principal * :ors had
gathered together for serious talk
about the situation, when Tom, the
programme boy, appeared suddenly be-
fore them in al almost breathless con-
dition and exclaimed: "Mr. Free]ance
is back from Chicago He'sin the office
with Mr.. Hustle. They've got both
doors locked"
"Mr. Freelance!" cried Miss Living
stone, her face lighting up With joy
precisely as it does in her scene in the
! second act where her lover comes back
from India, OF rather as it did light up
in that scene before the business became
so bad. "Are you sure it was Mr.. Free
lance, Tommy?'
"Sure!'' rejoined Tom, with emphasis
II S NJ him mese]f when he como in
"Then, Tom, you be sure and see
him when he comes out and tell him
that am particularly anxious to see
him back here as soon as the curtain
| goes down Oh the second act. Here's a
quarter for you, Tom, and you better
keep it as a curiosity for it's getting 70
be a very rare sort Of bird in the Jol-
hty theater preserves.
| "Thank you, num-" said Tom as he
pocketed the coin, with grin;
II fancy see gleam of light on the
distant horizon,' remarked the vener-
able Mr.. Borders III a tone similar tc
that which he assumes in the great
melodrama called "The Ocean Blue, -
in the scene in which he is discovered
sitting On q raft in nlidocean OH the
lookout for passing sail. "In tho
meantine," he added, II think we hac
better wait and hear what Billy has tt
say before we take any further actor
in the matter''
Up to that moment they had take1
no action whatever, but the phrase
sounded we'll, and SO Mr.. Borders EN-
ployed it.
Now, Mr.. William Freelance, called
by his intimates Billy, was and is today
one of the best known figures in tn,
theatrical affairs of the town, and, al
every member Of the stock company
knew, he had ON more than one previous
occasion come to the rescue of his olt
friends, Messrs Hustle and Hardup
and that, too, when they were in evel
more deplorable financial straits thar
they were at the present moment.
1t was his reputation as a mascot full.
as much as his remarkable talents which
caused the whole avant scene to brighter
up at the news of his presence in tn
theater, for playfolk are notoriously su
perstitious and have an unbounded ant
childlike faith i'll the efficacy Of amasco
as well as in the destructive qualities O
! a " jonah. 49, = \. z=s$= ~ T =. 5
! just as the curtain fell on ths secons
act Mrs. Freelance appeared behind th
scenes and received the rapturous greet
). in3s Of the company. Then Miss Liv
insstone took him by the arm, detache'
him from the little group which SUI
rounded him, led him gently but :frml
4 into her dressing room. placed him o
I her zinc trunk, and standing before hit