The times., 1898-06-19
STAGE STORIES.
His NibIefs-

hdu Deen put on some time after the rest
of the animal was made and long. slim
nose that seemed fashioned especially for
fishing stray morseIs out of hidden cor
ners. He was blind in one eye, and the
pupil was of a whitish color, decidedly
disagreeable to see. The four legs of
which he was the sole owner stuck one
on each corner, and had way of wob-
bling like the worn-out wheels of an old
cart, while from his headquarters hung
a dejected-looking tale with the end gone.
Assuredly, the oldest friend of the fam
lily could never have accused His Niblets
Of being beauty.
Down in Virginia. where he was born.
there were many like HMM fact. the
little county town he claimed for home
possessed fully a hundred just as fair
to look upon-and yet when the Clara
Jennings Repertoire Company passed
through the district in hard luck, and
the dog, then nameless pup OF six
months old, followed the manager and
advance agent around for an hour or
so. they adopted him, gave him a name,
and kept him for a mascot.
1t was no easy matter-this bestowing
a name-and for time II looked as
though it might result in disbanding the
troupe. The star herself wanted to call
him Hero, but George Lipman, the leading
man, who had been professor OF histO-
ry in far away school before he became
an actor noticed the cruelty with which
the mongrel would play with the rats he
caught. and insisted that Nero was both
appropriate and high sounding Upon
this Miss Jennings asked very emphatical-
ly, in her unique way, who "bossed the
sheebang," and Lipnan succumbed. But
the affair was not settled so easily. The
manager was anxious that the beast
should be known as Mascot, the soubrette
wished 10 call il Dearest and Rufus
Winter the leader of the orchestra, would
be satisfied with nothing but the short.
practical title of Kid. For time IT look
ed as though everyone would call the dog
what he or she pleased. but in the middle
of the controversy some one proposed His
Niblets, and Immediately the whole party
went over 70 the dark horse and the dead
lock was broken.
Meanwhile the mascot went round with
his head low, thoroughly enjoying the new
comforts laid out for him and absolutely
regardless of the trouble he was causing.
He needed very little care. however for,
having early discerned the difference be-
tween his past and present life, he dectd-
ed that in all probability. he had uncon-
sciously died and was, as natural result.
enjoying the pleasures of q dogs heaYers
from which he absolutely refused 10 De
elected. He had rather a strong mind at
all times, and when he once made II up
/ Ii was worse than extracting teeth to per-
suade him 10 change it. He learned early
that his place was not on the stage, and
with the exception Of an ill-timed entry
during the death scene Of "OthellO" one
night. confined himself strictly 10 the
dressing-roOms during the performance
And yet II was a noticeable fact that
His Ni5lets lost popularity steadily after
his first week in the capacity OF mascot.
| The primary step in this direction was
made when his fondness for grease paint
was discovered, after the commodity had
been disappearing rapidly for a month.
Miss Jennings herself condescended 70
kick his floating rios around 20 another
! anchorage that night. but it seemed to do
| no good and after the leading man dis
/ covered the loss Of six sticks Of fesh-coI-
| ored and one of blue paint, not 10 speak
/ OF bottle Of glue and a wig used in play
! ing Romeo. the members Of the company
took to putting their makeup boxes out
of harms way. But that was not enough.
| Late in the season a restaurant keeper
| with experimenting turn OF mind
1 caught His Niblets out after hours and
/ filed him So full of whiskey and milk
! that he staggered home after I o'clock in
| the morning and raised the house 20 let
him in. Then he retired 10 the top hall
! anu AIOiil l4ldl punt VI NGLLaEE poured out
/ his sorrows 10 the world for fully two
1 hours. As a not unnatural result that
! portion of the world that was within ear
I shot replied with a vigorous fusiIiade OF
! bootjacks and hairbrushes that drove
| the enemy into a closet from which place
/ he steadfastly refused 10 retire until the
! landlord took the initiative and threw
/ him out Of the window
] After this incident there was cOrnpara-
! tive quiet for a month, marred only by
/ the brute's noisy repentance over his un-
1 fortunate drunk. But at the end of that
4 period he began TO make up for lost time
/ and the result was an epoch of more than
ordinary villainy. First he took it into
( his added brain to explore the region
( above the flies and dropped into the
/ throne room in Don Carlos squareiy on
( top of the don, just as he was emitting
! the famous line in regard to being to-
I tally without friends. The result was
! laughter down stairs and a riot in the
gallery that was only stiiled by the aid
( of three constables and the sheriff This
| was at the last stand in Maryland. and
at the first one in Pennsylvania His Nib
/ lets swallowed a wedding ring belonging
to the soubrette and narrowly escaped
/ death by vivisectiOn In POttsvfIIe he
| bit the manager of the theater, nearly
| choked to death eating the hair lying on
| the floor of a barber shop, and 10 CROWN
| the whole. slept an entire night on Miss
Jennings silk dress and was sternly re-
buked by that lady in language altogether
unfit for publication.
/ But it was as a mascot that he proved
an unexemplified failure. Two days after
| his capture Richelieu was taken with a
violent attack of the horrors, and the
| performance had to be postponed y
! week later the juvenile broke his leg and
the same day the jury returned a verdict
q o. inst rrrl Two III
| brette. Three weeks of bad business fol-
| lowed, and when the company reached
! Scranton, the point al which they had
| hoped TO recuperate their fallen fortunes.
| they had the consolation of finding that
the only two theaters in town had issued
| injunctiOnS against each others openings
! Without any doubt in the world the
Clara Jennings Repertoire Company would
have gone to pieces then and there had II
not been that the mother of the star sent
| on a substantial check which carried il
10 point where good business resumed
and food was cheap. Things began 10
look bright again and everyone was be-
ginning to feel that the dog was earning
its salt. when the manager gathered all
he could lay hands on and skipped to re-
| gions unknown to the police
! This time the show was rescued by a
| friendly railroad man, who furnished
| transportation to the next stand But
| on the way a trestle went down, and
when the players had finished the re-
mainder of the journey in hospital car.
| and had reached their destination. they
| found that the road was not liable for
damages when those damaged rode on
free tickets. WhereupOn the new mana
| ger took an inventory of the losses. and
found but one thing that pleased him
His Niblets was missing. But when a
car went back to gather what remained