Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1895-12-26
AN EPISODE.
CHRISTMAS OF THE JoLLITY THEATER STOCK
COMPANY
60. "a. Is. James L. Fora.I

the outlook for a merry Christmas was
a gloomy one, at least so far as the
members Of the stock company Of the
Jollity theater were concerned. Salary
day had come and gone, and as yet the
ghost had shown no disposition to walk,
and 1t was because of tHe nonappearance
Of that most welcome 6pecter Of stage
land that the rumOr had started and was
rapidly gaining ground that Nessrs
Hustle and Hardup, proprietors and man.
ayers of the Jollity theater, We're in
hole again. .
The piece which occupied the boards
/ had proved 4 fiat 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
I ed the leading female parts, down to lit
i tie Kitty Sullivan, vino Was only years
old and was in the depths of despair be-
g.
/ out of the bill. In short, every member
Of the company was IN a condition of
4 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 togetrt fT serious talk
about the situation, When Tom, the
programme boy, appeared suddenly be-
fore them in an almost breathless con-
dition and exclaimed: MIR. Freelance
is back from Chicago. He's in the office
with Mr.. Hustle. They've got both
doors locked !"
Mr.. Freelancel' cried Miss Living
stone, her face lighting up with joy,
precisely as it does III 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. Are you sure it was Mr. Free
lance, Tommy"
Sure y rejoined Tom. with emphasis.
II seen him meself 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 ON the second act. Here's a
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-
lily theater preserves.
Thank you, num-" said Tom as he
pocketed the coin, with grin.
Il fancy | see CLEAN of light on the
distant horizon, " remarked the yener-
able Mr.. Borders in tone similar to
that which he assumes in the great
nielodrama called THE Ocean Blue, =
in the scene in which he is discovered |
sitting on raft in midocean on the |
lookout for passing sail Gin the |
meantime, J" he added, Il think we had
better wait and hear what Billy has to |
say before we take any further action
in the matter. +"
Up to that moment they had taken |
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 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,
and that, too, when they We're i'll even
more deplorable financial straits than
they We're at the present moment.
lt was his reputation as mascot fully
as much as his remarkable talents which
caused the whole avant scene to brighten
up at the news of his presence ia the |
theater, for playfolk are VIGOROUSLY SUI
perstitious and have an unbounded and
childlike faith i'll the efficacy of a mascot
as we'll as in the destructive oualitie.l Of
Jonah. I"
just as the curtain fell ON the secUnd
act Mr.. Freelance appeared behind the
scenes and received the rapturous greet
ings of the company Then Miss Liv-
ingstone took him by ths arm, detached
him from the little group which sur
rounded him, led him gently but firmly
into her dressing roe.::, placed Kim ON
her zinc trunk. and standing before sim
with folded arms said, Billy, what's
going TO happen?"
My dear, replied Mr. Freelance
/ persuasively. everything is all right.
4 and just left Hustle for i've minutes
to come back here and tell You SO We
are going TO put OH a new piece, and
there's part in it that's simply great
1 out of sight, in fact. We are not quite
sure who Il be cast for the part because
! it's very heavy emotional one. and if
we put a woman in it who didn't know
how 10 read lines she would go all to
| XII So q