The times., 1898-06-19


the next day His Niblets was found sit
| ting astride OF burned beam. abreast Of
what had been the fourth story OF the
building. flirting with the next door neigh
bors sky terrier. He had no eye Iashes
to speak of. and most of his hair was
burned OFF. but 1t was unmistakably His
NibIets and no one else. The troupe rail-
lied bravely and after t:me managed to
move away, leaving the dog behind The
players rendered themselves a banquet in
Mannerfng in honor of having gotten rid
of him and were just toasting his memo
~. as the fire had come near toasting his
body. when he walked caimIy in and pro-
ceeded to annex ham sandwich from
the plate of the fngenue Then he chased
over TO the leading man and looked up
INTO mis- face with such pleading innocent
eyes that the soft-hearted fellow was won
over at once and allowed the animal to
ruin his best trousers without protest
BY this time the aspect OF his regal
highness. the mascot of the Clara Jen-
nings Repertoire Company. was changed
considerably. True. he remained of a dir
ty, yeilowiSh hue and still possessed the
angular landmarks of his old self. but the
ancient. hungry. humbled, one might say
dOgged. expression had vanished His
sides were well filled out and his legs
stronger. The pInched look of suffering
was gone and the decided aversion with
which he was held by the entire company
had no effect upon him whatever After
some unusually shameful escapades he
would dissemble for time out OF defer
ence TO public opinion. but he never fall
ed to come back promptly at meaItime
He seemed 10 feel keenly the weight OF
responsibility on his shouIderes and took
II into his head that his absence for any
considerable period would be thought OF
! as a lapse Of duty and a personal griev-
anee 70 every member Of the company.
Meanwhile his utter incapacity for the
work for which ne was taken became
even more manifest. The most unheard
of misfortunes happened to the organi-
zation. green advance agent was So
pleased with the reductions offered by a
rival railway that he contracted for mile
age to Virginia when the bookings were
in New York and the company was forced
10 choose between paying damages TO the
houses with which il had signed or TO
/ the road. A mistake in trains ar Grand
Junction took them away from an i'm
portant stand and made them miss the
date. and double contract brought them
into Newark the same week another rep
ertoire show had booked At DennisOn
a mob had objected to their posters and
I pulled them down, while Paterson had
/ law against wearing tights that pre-
vented the star from playing Romeo as
stipulated by the manager. Then the
I New York agency booked the show
I
/ II was along the entire route. Had the
I company been controlled by every con-
ceivable use OF the number thirteen
things could not have been worse and
as a result everyone was down on the dog
As 10 getting rid Of him, that was sim
/ ply impossible. Every known method
/ TniscarrieG, and only served 70 make the
brute happier The show remained in one
. town week, fOTsakiug other bookings.
. especially to give the dog-ca tchers "A
/ chance 20 impOund His Niblets. and after
. they reached the next stand a messen-
ger brought the animal back with a
/ note Of regret from the pound keeper
I who didn't know il belonged 10 the show
folks and hoped they would pardon the
mistake, as he sent the dog back''-C. o.
/ D.
But the climax came the week the sea
I son closed in Buffalo. The leading man
went 10 his room one night TO make up
for the part ne was 10 play. and had
. opened the door, when ne was greeted by
I a savage growl from the ever-before
friendly cur. The actor thought there
must be some mistake about the matter
and tried 10 make OverJures with the
/ sole effect of getting for his pains a bassO
prOfundo warning that His NibIets had
/ set up the room for his domain. and de-
/ cidedly resented any argument about the
matter. The Leading man secured the aid
. Of the stage-carpenter. who got a pole
. and pOked his way about until he was Bit
ten in the left leg and left the field. d de-
4 feated man He was taken 10 the hos
pital, and the elected performer borrowed
a pair of tights and a wOman's cape. with
which he made up for Othello in the ju-
yenile's room The next day Overtures
were made 10 His Nibs but without avail
The ordinarily friendly brute refused con-
! ISOLATION and assumed the defensive con-
sistently
That night the stage manager returned
with a shotgun and succeeded in running
the gantlet Of the leading mans ward
robe without moving the dog. VitrioI PROV
ed equally worthless. excepting that it
served to spoil the best pair Of tights in
the theater, and the leading man made up
in borrowed plumes again thai night. The
flag Of truce OF slice OF ham and the
negotiations OF an arbitration COMMITTEES
not being recognized on the following day
sulphur was tried so effecrually that it
drove His Niblets out and let the crowd
in. And when they got IN they found on
the floor, secure in the open trunk OF the
leading man and reposing gently on his
silk hat. a litter of eleven pups. His Nib
lets had been christened without any re-
gard 10 sex and had been unnOticed for
so long that the event was wholly unex-
pected- But the soubretJe declared Sc
riOusly that the dog knew the show was
about TO disband and purpoSely produced
[ for each member a fac-simile Of His Nib
lets.