Middletown transcript., 1895-12-21
AN EPISODE.
CHRISTMAS OF THE JoLLrTY THEATER STOCK
COMPANY.

Copyright, 1884, by James L. Ford.]
Three weeks before the holidays, and
the outlook for merry Christmas was
gloomy one, at least go far as the
members of the stock company Of the
Jollity theater were concerned. Salary
day had come and gone, and as yet the
i ghost had shown no disposition to walk,
and it was because of the enonappearance
of that most welcome specter Of STAGE
land that the rumor had started and was
rapidly gaining ground that Messrs
Hustle and Hardup, proprietors and man.
ayers of the Jollity theater, were Sin a
hole again..
The piece which occupied the boards
had proved a fat failure, and receipts
at the box Office had fallen in conse-
| quence to plane never before reached
in the history Of the house. Moreover,
no new play had as yet been put in re-
hearsal, and an 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
ed 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 a 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
the last day ON which salaries became
due.
On this particular night, which hap
pened to be one Of storm and rain, two
or three of the principal actors had
gathered together for serious talk
about tho situation, when Tom, the
programme boy, appeared suddenly be-
fore them in an almost breathless con-
dition and exclaimed "Mr. Freelance
is back from Chicago. He's in the Office
with Mr.. Hustle. They've got both
doors locked
"Mr. Freclance!' 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, or rather as it did light up
in that scene before the business became
SO bad. care you sure it was Mr.. Free
lance, Tommy?'
"Sure p rejoined Tom, with emphasis.
81 seen him mesef when he come 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 q
quarter for you, Tom, and you'd better
keep it as curiosity, for it's getting to
be very rare sort of bird in the Jol-
lity theater preserves.
THANK you, num-" said Tom as he
pocketed the coin, with grin.
ST fancy see CLEAN of light on the
distant horizon, remarked the vener-
able Mr.. Borders in tone similar to
that which he assumes in the great
melodrama called 1.-THE Ocean Blue,
in the scene in which he is discovered
sitting on a raft in midocean on the
lookout for passing sail. 'tIn Ahe
he added, 81 think we had
better wait and hear what Billy has to
say before we take any further action
in the NATTER y
Up to that moment they had taken
no action whatever, but the phrase
well, 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 the
theatrical affairs Of the town, and, as
every member of the stock company
Knew. he had on more than one previous
occasion come to the rescue Of his old |
friends, Messrs. Hustle and Hardup.
md that, too, when they were in even
more deplorable financial straits than
hey We're at the present moment.
1t was his reputation as mascot fully
Is much as his remarkable talents which
'aused the whole avant scene to brighten
lp at the news of his presence in the
heater, for playfolk are notorious1y su-
,erstitious and have an unbounded and
hildlke faith in the efficacy of mascot
s well as in the destructive qualities Of
"jonah. +"
just as the curtain fell on the second
ct Mr.. Freelance appeared behind the
Genes and received the rapturous greet
ngs OF the company. Then Miss Liv- ..
ngstone took him by the arm, detached
i'm from the little group which sur
ounded him. led him gently but firmly
nto her dressing room, placed him ON /.
er zinc trunk, and standing before him /.
nth folded arms said, "Billy, what's q
Ding to happen?'' "A
My DEAR replied Mr.. Freelance =
ersnasively, everything is all right.
nd I just left Hustle for five minutes i
come back here and tell you so. We T
70 going to put ON new piece, and b
here's q part in it that's simply great 4
-out of sight, in fact. We are not quite 9
ire who'll be cast for the part because
80 very heavy emotional one, and il &
g put woman in it who didn' 4 know v
ow to read lines she would "a. all to
The tiuck1o ,f TIC a;.,..~.=ax.s ~ + 8 81. Il