The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-01-19
THE HIRED GUESTS.
ONE OF THEM TELLS ABOUT THE
} TRICKS OF THE TRADE.

They Gee Engagements Through tho ~Upi.
versal Previder." With Whom They Reg.
istsr-Must he Well Informed and More
! or Less Accomplished.
"It was not till prevailed upon Mr..
Whiteley Of Westbourne Grove to place my
name ON the register he keeps for supply.
ing people with evening guests that rec.
ognized the justice of the appellation, tht
universal provider, said gcntlemanly
looking man recently.
"My first engagement was at the houst
Of rich provincial manufactures, W no,
having made a fortune, had left his native
town and started an establishment in the
west end. Some friends--for a considera
tion, you may be sure-introduced him t.
so many good people that he at last ven
itured to issue invitations for q dinner,
with ball to follow, but the day before
the event the poor man had such a number
Of refusals that he had to apply to Mr..
Whiteley, and ], among others, helped to
dll the vacancies
"It must not be supposed that the part
OF a hired guest Is an easy one to play. The
conversational tastes Of the people we Wis
1t are so varied that ! have not only to
keep myself posted on all questions and
gossip of the day, but be prepared to set
the ball rolling on all sorts of abstruse top
les from theology to spiritualism.
"As q rule, 1 generally get my instruc
tions some days beforehand, but II they
don't come to hand either call or write
Public questions require very delicate
handling. For instance, II the discussion
turns on the wretched Armenian business,
find that tho ladies are for interference
at all costs, while the gentlemen are not.
From dining out so much have nat
urally cultivated a very fastidious palate
This Is Fortunate for were i to eat other
wise than sparinRly the brilliancy OF my
conversation would be sadly dimmed Din
ner conversation requires considerable
management. When first started, used
to let of some of my best jokes to while
away that melancholy half hour which
precedes the dinner. They were Invariably
so utterly wasted that / now never joke
till after the first course, and then only
slightly, till see how the dinner is appre-
ciated.
although do well during the season,
think like Christmas best. Strange as
IL may seem, there are still number Of
families who love to keep Christmas Ia
the old fashioned way.
mot long since one Of the sons of my
host blurted out during the evening that
1t was his last night at home, as next
morning pal and himself intended start
ing for South America, and, after making
their way to the Amazon river, start or
child hunting to make their fortunes
"Being the favorite son, the family, Of
course, were greatly disturbed at the news,
seeing which calmly announced that dur
ing my travels in South America had
personally explored every inch OF the river.
, you are too late my boy, said. All
the naturalists met last year were terribly
disappointed. The country has been liter
ally stripped. You won't find an orchid
there, can promise you ---
~ 1.-THE grateful look the mother gave me
pleased me almost as much as the a5 note
my host slipped into my hand at parting.
''The growing dislike Of patrician young
men to dancing sends many a Belgravian
footman to Whiteley's during the season.
Although we hired guests are treated with
the most charming courtesy In high life
indeed, the higher we go the nicer find
the people are-still some of our tasks are
far from pleasant Look here, Mr. -
young Lord - once said to me: My sis
ter's been and fallen in love with a cad Of
fellow hate. Now, want you to cut
him out. You're good looking fellow, so
think you II succeed. If you try, but fail,
I'll give you go; If you succeed, III make
1t geo.
~ did succeed, but my rival took 1t out
of mo in Regent street the night after he
got his congo. am bit Of a bruiser my
self, but he was q better.
"Two other hired guests and myself
were once the means Of bringing about the
marriage of very accomplished, amiable,
but dreadfully plain girl. At the house
where Twas engaged noticed that not on
ly was she not asked to dance, but was
completely ignored by all the marriageable
men present. But after the hired guests
there were three of us-had trotted her out
dozen times and whispered 1t about the
room that she was a very nice girl and
not q bit ugly when you came to talk to
her, other fellows took her on.
"When l met her at a ball six months
later, was glad to hear she was engaged.
ga distinctly unpleasant episode occur
red to me last Christmas. One Of the
daughters at a house where was engaged
to dance lured me during the evening into
violent Irritation AS she knew who
was her conduct naturally surprised me.
s'Still, the way In which she encouraged
me was SO unmistakable that at last de-
cided she was really In love. For cutie q
couple Of hours I debated with myself
what to do, deciding that 1t would be my
duty to tell her during the next dance that
an impossible gulf separated rs.
Il might have saved myself thotrouble,
for after a short conversation " tn goes
looking fellow she had not spoken to dur.
ing the evening she came 10 ,ue and s;i'd:
please forgive me. 1t was very wroD::, I
know, but I have only been flirting with
you to make Charley Jealous. had row
with him yesterday. think I'll make it
up now. Don't say word. told Charley
you were South African millionaire.
Please don't tell him who you really are. !"