The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-06-22
THE UNDERSTUDY.

Well, gentlemen (the great TRACE
dams voice shook little as he put
down his glass in the silence), you
little know perhaps what a string
you touched upon when you coupled
my name with that Of the great
dead and gone actor, Franklin Hyde
II l closed my eyes for a moment, ]
could easily believe that this was all
q dream. When l think Of the
strange and unexpected incident
that sent me up the golden ladder
at a bound and Of the maxwell,
there. gentlemen. ] suppose few OF
you would credit that one night,
only is years ago, l WAS upon the
verge of suicide. N-
It was about as black as it could
be-partly, own, because my am
bition stood in my way. But when
a man has studied and dreamed of n
telling part in Drury Lane autumn
drama his soul not unnaturally
sickens at the thought Of reverting
to minor roles in second rate tour
ing companies That was it. l had
been promised the part of Julian
Armstrong in that immortal piece,
"Exiled, and then, when it came
to rehearsal, it turned out that by
some strange mistake the part had
already been allooated to another
man. That man was franklin Hyde,
and / am not sure that ! did not
hate him on the spot. True, re-
ceived a check as a set off, but it
seemed that my life chance had
been snatched away, and my debts
had mounted up again before / set
TO work to shake of the stupor of
that disappointment. And then l
1ound that I had let many other
chances slip.
Somehow-many Of you who saw
il played and recollect the great
possibilities it gave will understand
why-that part Of Julian Armstrong
had put q spell over me. got in
at a rehearsal. Standing by, sick
with jealousy and longing, / watch
ed Hyde's conception, and, great as
it was, ! believed my own was
greater, and a forlorn hope took
possession of me. l determined to
"understudy" him. Who knewf
The drama was down to run until
December. Might not some chance
come in the intervals Ifelt--I knew
that could play that part to the
life. When, swallowing my pride,
spoke to Hyde of it, he laughed Of
course.
Waste of time and talent, I'm
afraid, Mr.. Lorrimer. Still ! would
not check ambition. If anything
unforeseen should occur, and you
are still anxious-well, we might
think Of you. .
And for weeks ! was crazy enough
10 90 dreaming of that great posi-
bility. studied the part until l
seemed to be living a dual existence.
/ would wake up in the night and
shout out my lines. I would go to
the theater just to watch him and
sit filled with hunger Of longing
that could never put into words
lwould wait hours outside just to
see him step into his carriage, for
"Exiled" had taken the town by
storm, and he had a reputation now
to live up to.
And here-here was mid -Novem-
Der, and my young wife and ! liv-
ing-no, starving-on dreams. We
sat there in the dingy room that
night, and perhaps there was some
thing in my face, in my laugh, that
told her what had been in my mind,
for she did thing she had not done
all through that black time-came
suddenly behind me to put her arm
round my neck and burst into a pas
sion Of sobs-sobs that would have
frightened me at another time.
"Wilfred-don'tl III work-I1l
do anything, but don't look sol
Wilfred, it's no use-they will never
send to you to play Julian, and you
know it. Put it out of your mind
and think Of something else. Yes,
I know-l know what you could do
snd what il might mean for as in
ahe future, bat the people go now
60 sec Drauhain Hyde. not Julian
alone. Oh, if he knew! I don''
Wish it, nor do you, but if-if'-
She stopped short there, as with q
sudden instinct. "Wilfred!" she
breathed.
Why's Well, queer ideas had been
fitting in and out of my overtaxed
brain that night. / know got tc
my feet and held Maggie away by
the arm and stood staring past her
.Aye," I whispered, ito think
that there's only the one 'if' in the
way! I'm not mean nothing. But