The Minneapolis journal., 1902-04-22
HIS ONE HI T..
BY RICHARD KANN.

= ~ !. g.
she had never ceased to be sure that if Dick
ever had a chance he would do the Same
thing. 1t meant good dealto sick woman
who haentt much longer to wait for him to
get the .s)art. ~
And it meant a good deal to him, too, sincs
he had rehearsed 1t with her times nnumer.
able, in the certain hone that some day hS
would be given chance to play it. Five
years of one nights didn't seem long Just then
Tomorrow after he had made his one sit, it
would be almost joke. After they had fn-
ished crying Dick kissed her. and they both
laughed, Dick with a laugh he had used for
two seasons in THE Red Scarf
Then he propped her up in the bed handed
to her the manuscript and asked her for the,
first cue. So the rehearsal that Hampton had
that afternoon at the theater wasn't by any
means the. first one.
EH|
Hampton was fairly startled when the over.
ture began. It may have been because on the,
one nights he was accustomed to two violins
and a piano, or maybe only to piano. Then
he pulled himself together, and when the boy
called places he stood in the side entrance
as cool as the Dromoter and waited for the
drop to go on. The next minute he heard his
cue. Well, what happened after that no one
has ever tried to explain. No one in the com.
pany ever thought enough about it to think
an explanation necessary, and of course
Hampton couldn't explain if he tried. g
The one big scene that Temple had at the
end Of the third act fell fiat played by Harp-
ton. 1t went over the audiences head or was
thrown too directly into their teeth. Anyway
when Hampton made his exit there. was no
applause except from the back of the house,
and Hampton had been in the business long
enough to know what that meant. Even on
the one nights the ushers were worthy of
their hire.
Temple had been getting at least three
curtain calls at every performance. Every
body knew that. Temple used to say that
phonograph would get a round on his last
speech And Hampton, after ten years of
work, got the ushers.
! Every one in the company was sure he was
pleased since he got through it without spoil.
| ing the scene, since he had had but one re.
hearsal. And Buscoe was not to- be found. for
the first time in his life, when the drop went
| up on the fourth act.
Hampton wasn't on in the fourth, but he
took such time to get into his street clothes
that he wasn't ready to leave until the others
were, and he went out with his hat in his
hand. Grasping the cold iron rail, he guided
himself to the blaze of electric lights that
marked the lobby entrance and seemed to be
spelling out the name upon it. That was the
| last time the company saw him.
+ If it hadn't been for Mrs. Bowler from
whom Hampton rented his little fiat, and il il
hadn't been that fats built With thin
walls, the company would have altogether
I forgotten about Hampton. But Mrs. Bowler
knew Buscoe, aud she came down the next
afternoon with message. Mrs. Jennie
Hampton was dead.
Mrs. Bowler had heard Hampton como in
4 about half past IL the night before. She had
heard the doctor, who was still there, tell
him something. Then it became quiet that
she fell asleep, although she had intended to
/ remain awake. and offer what help she could
l if anything happened. She didn't awaken
until the sun crept through the window in tbs
morning, Still it was quiet in the next room.
Then she said, Hampton began to speak.
Mrs. Bowler couldn't repeat what he said,
but she knew that he explaining about
} 1.-the play the night before-how, at the end OF
the third act, the audience called for him: /:
how they acalled for him until the curtain was
!; raised and he bowed to them; how he took
t the leading woman by the hand and led her
| to the footlights, and finally how he had gone
out in front of the curtain and bowed to
them again. Mrs Bowler knew enough about
!, the theater to know what curtain calls were,
and Hampton was telling Jennie that he had
;, six, while: the, most that Temple ever had
was four In fact, Mrs. Bowler became so
; bexcited that she actually went into the room
to congratulate Hampton upon his success.
t When she opened the door, she saw Jennie
: smiling feebly and Hampton at the foot of the
bed animated earnest, convincing happy.
And Jennie was beaming. She was still smil-
ing, Mrs. Bowler said, when she fell back
on the pillow and closed her eyes. Hampton
Z shivered and stopped his story.
So Mrs. Bowler came down for Hampton
e to tell Buscoe that Jennie was dead and to
f bring one other message, which no one but
e Buscoe seemed to understand AS she told
y it, it was like this: Tell Buscoe that I've
made my one hit