Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-12-24
AN EPISODE.
CHRISTMAS OF THE JoLLITY THEATER STOCK
COMPANY.
TCopyright, 1904, by James L. Ford


Three weeks before the holidays, and
the outlook for 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 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 lin a
hole again.
The piece which occupied the boards
had proved a 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 am 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 2 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 a serious talk
about the 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 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, 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 ~ rejoined Tom, with emphasis.
"I 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 q
quarter for you, Tom, and you'd better
keep il 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.
81 fancy see a gleam Of light on the
distant horizon, " remarked the vener-
/ able Mr.. Borders in a 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 raft in midocean on the
/ lookout for a passing sail. elm the
meantime, he added, 81 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 well, and SO MIR. Borders em-
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 were in even
more deplorable financial straits than
they were at the present moment.
It was his reputation as q mascot fully
as much as his remarkable talents which
caused the whole avant scene to brighten
up at the news Of his presence in the
theater, for playfolk are notoriously su-
perstitious and have an unbounded and
childlike faith in the efficacy Of mascot
| as well as in the destructive qualities Of
| Jonah. =
Just as the curtain fell ON the second
act Mr.. Freelance appeared behind the
scenes and received the rapturous greet
ings Of the company. Then Miss Liv-
ingstone took him by the arm, detached
him from the little group which sur
rounded him, led him gently but firmly
into her dressing room, placed him on
her zinc trunk, and standing before him