The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-07-06

1 first met the old man and his dog in a
red-hot provincial drama, in which Alci-
blades. as the dog was called. and his
master were engaged for a kind of spe-
cialty part.
1t was a shockingly ridiculous piece.
badly put on the stage and villainously
acted-I was manager myself and | played
the chief part. SO l ought 10 know-but
there was ono item in our entertainment
which was worth all the money charged at
the doors. i mean the performance given
by old Billy Eeclestone and his dog.
The part supported by Billy Ecclestone
was that OF a drunken. lazy. kindly old
vagabond. who supported himself by means
of i performing dog. There was no need
for him to act. All that he had 70 do was
10 be natural. AS the author said at re-
hearsal: Don't try 10 be more OF a vaga-
bond than you really are. Billy. You'll
overdo it"
So Billy used TO loaf on the stage just as
he loafed in a public house bar-the dog
did the rest.
You talk about acting-I only wish you
could have seen Billy's old dog. That ami
NAL combined the intelligence Of a senior
wrangler with the SNUG hypocrisy of a
Chadband. He could look miserable and
half-starved, walk dead lame. and 60 blind
one minute. and next time you met him he
would be going through a long and COM
plicated performance with unnatural activ-
iy and dash.
l suppose the shifty. rowing life had
weakened the dogs moral nature; but I
can only say that he rose to heights of
deception which | thought were only pos
III 4t
der arms march to war" and die for his
country in the presence of a district Wis
itinS old woman, with such a chaste air
Of pious resignation that l have seen tears
trickling down the spectators cheeks. In
some curious way that abandoned Old dog
could suggest holy martyrdom combined
with a desire for social reform just when
he liked.
1 remember seeing an old woman so car
ried away by the dogs air of noble patience
that she gave old Billy sixpence, and then
CROPPED olindly in her bag for a biscuit for
the dog. Whether she was so overcome
with emotion that she didn't notice what
she was doing L can't say, but, instead of
producing a biscuit. she handed the animal
a temperance tract, entitled, Shall / Get
Drunk Tonight"
The dog rose TO the occasion superbly. To
be sure, when she CROPPED in her bag. there
was a slightly worldly look in his eye,
which reminded me of the expression on
a parsons face when the plate is being
carried around; but. when the tract was
ACNaN0 thC OAa tARAC SolO c
turned. and with a glance at the heading
he carried it to his master and wagged his
tail.
l regret to add that as soon as the old
woman's back was turned Alcibiades led
the way to a bubble house.
But when Alcibiades went through his
performance in a music hall his manners
were quite different. The look Of noble res
ignation gave way to one of wreckless and
Twinkle in his eye that Suggested comic
songs with double meanings. and he seemed
to be on the point of telling a yarn COM
pared with which a French farce would be
innocent and pure.
/ am confident that II the abandoned ex-
preston on that dogs face had once caught
the attention Of the County Council they
would have refused TO renew the license of
every hall where he appeared.
Several years elapsed between the break
ing up OF our provincial melodrama and nv
believe they rubbed along I'm their usual
fashion. Alcibiades was a dog of some re-
source. When things were very bad. he
was capable OF abstracting a piece of meat
from a butchers shop and bringing 1t in
triumph to Billy's lodgings. His master
would then gravely reproye the dog and
cook the meat.
Once Billy sold him to a young dog
trainer, who thought Alcibiades would ex-
younger pupils. The price agreed upon
was e5. but within a week Billy bought the
old sinner back for 20 shillings. the reason
being that Alcibiades not only obstinately
refused to perform tricks of any kind for a
stranger. but displayed his annoyance at
things in general by killing a valuable fox
terrier. .rfTf
came. across them again at Brighton.
Billy and his dog were giving brief per-
formances on the beach. They both looked
a little older and a little wickeder. Poor
old Billy was going down hill rapidly.
Strange as IL may sound, he was a mar of
high education. and had once held a good
appointment as master In a public school.
The downfall had been brought about by
the usual causes. and now he had degener-
ated into a thorough vagabond.
II was rather a pitiable spectacle 10 see
the good natured, weak old fellow and his
dog going through the same tricks; Alci-
blades looking as pious and vigilant as
ever, but a little more ragged, and a trife
stin in the joints.
But it was here that Alcibiades put the
finishing touch TO a remarkable career. Ii
was a browning stroke of diplomacy and
sagacity, for which at least three people
owe him an everlasting debt of gratitude.
1t happened that at that time l was
working extremely hard to win the affec-
tions of a certain. young woman, who
weighed me in the balance with a judicial
exactness which was exasperating.
However. we had at least one common
peculiarity-a profound respect for dogs
and when | told her OF Alcibiades and his
master, who were then performing on the
beach, and how, at one time, | had been
their comrade and companion. she was de-
lighted. l had rather feared that her fas-
tidious little mind might have been shocked
at the notion OF my having once been init
mate with such a. pair of vagabonds. but.
on the contrary, she was rather pleased.
think she considered it a great honor fol-
any man TO be intimate with such a dog
as Alcibiades.
When we arrived on the scene Alcibiades
was extremely busy balancing a Japanese
umbrella on the end of his nose. He winked
at me, and dropped the umbrella, but re-
deemed his reputation by playing a concer-