The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1901-07-18
A PAIR OF vAGABONDS.

red hot provincial melodrama, in
which Alcibiades, as the dog was called,
and his master were engaged for kind
of speciality part.
1t was a shockingly ridiculous piece,
badly put on the stage and villalnously
acted was manager myself and L
played the chief part, so l ought to
know-but there was one item in our
entertainment which was worth all the
money charged at the doors. l mean
the performance given by old Billy
Ecclestone and his dog.
The part supported by Billy Ecclestone
was that of drunken, lazy, kindly old
vagabond, who supported himself by
means of a performing dog. There was
no need for him to act. All that he had
to do was to be natural. AS the author
said at rehearsal: Don't try to be more
of vagabond than you really are, Billy.
You'll overdo it"
So Billy used to loaf on the stage just
as he loafed in public house bar-the
dog did the rest.
You talk about acting-I only wish
YOU could have seen old Billy's dog.
That animal combined the intelligence
of 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 complicated
performance with unnatural ACTIVITY
and dash.
| suppose the shiftv, rowing life had
weakened the dogs moral nature: put l.
can only say that he rose to heights OF
deception which | thought were only
possible to human beings. He would
shoulder arms ''march to war, ana
''die for his country in the presence OF
a district visiting 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
desire for social reform just when he
liked.
| remember seeing an old woman so
carried away by the dogs air OF noble
patience that she gave old Billy SIX
pence, and then CROPPED blindly in her
bag for 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 temper
ance 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
ewes. which reminded me of the ex-
preston on a parsons face when the
plate is being carried round: but when
The tract was produced the old mission
airy expression returned, and with a
glance at the heading he carried 1t 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 public house.
But when AlcibiadeS went through
his performance in a music hall his
manners were quite different. The look
of noble resignation gave way to one
of reckless and diabolical enjoyment.
There was a SLY twinkle in his eye
that suggested comic songs with double
meanings, and he seemed to be on the
point of telling a yarn compared with
which a French farce would be innocent
and pure.
| am confident that if the abandoned
tAHlCSSlOIl vi UlldU Jug law Ieeee VIM
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
breaking up of our provincial melo-
drama and my next encounter with
Billy and his dog | believe they rubbed
along in their usual fashion. Alcibiades
was dog of some resource. When
things were very bad, he was capable
of abstracting a piece of meat from a
butchers shop and bringing it in tn
umph to Billy's lodgings. His master
would then gravely reprove the dog and
cook the meat.
Once Billy sold him to a young dog
trainer, who thought Alcibiades would
exercise a good moral influence over his
younger pupils. The price agreed upon
was e5, but within week Billy bought
the old sinner back for twenty 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 valuable fox terrier
| came across them again at Brighton.
Billy and his dog were giving brief per
formances on the beach. They both
lOoheu lllJle OluoI, anu d IIUle Nl0heu-
er. Poor old Billy was going downhill
rapidly. Strange as it may sound, he
was a man 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 degenerated into a
thorough vagabond.
1t was rather a pitiable spectacle to
see the good-natured, weak old fellow
and his dog going through the same
tricks; Alcibiades looking as pious and
vigilant as ever, but little more ragged
and trifie stiff in the joints.
But it was here that Alcibiades put
the finishing touch to a remarkable
career. 1t was a GROWING stroke of
diplomacy and sagacity, for which at
least three people owe him an everlast-
ing debt of gratitude.
II happened that at that time | was
working extremely hard to win the
affections of a certain young woman,
who weighed me in the balance with a
judicial exactness which was rather ex-
asperating.
However, we had at least one common
peculiarity-a profound respect for dogs
and when I told her of Alcibiades and
his master, who were then performing
on the beach, and how, at one time, l
had been their comrade and companion,