Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-21

too much work. l will make an orchestra
tion for you
The girl almost Rugged me In her de-
light. for rehearsal hour was at hand.
"'oh. that will be lovely she cried. The
song is dead easy. How quick can you do
st.? I'll give you SO II you'll have II ready
for the rehearsal
81 glanced through the song with eyes
that saw not, stole some sheets Of blank
music paper from a nearby music stand and
asked for twenty minutes in private. Then
I shot out to a chophouse and scattered
notes over that OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES, any
old way, and on any old line or space. I
never once ran through the tune. What
was the use? knew no more about orches-
tration than does our hostess Japanese
spaniel. But | got the SO per agreement
and escaping the profuse thanks Of the
singer, slipped back into the street. There
would be no rehearsal for me. Three dol
lars in the hand was worth two prospective
variety engagements, and besides l did not
think 1t would be healthy for me when the
leader Of the orchestra tried that music.
"A little later ! slipped around to the
front Of the house, passed the scrub women
and secreted myself in the darkest corner
Of the auditorium. l will never again hear
such discord as when the orchestra started
In upon that singers turn; and the memory
Of the profanity which rent the air when
the leader realized the true state Of affairs
is unparalleled in my personal history.
Later, when good fortune came my way,
I sent the young woman her SO and ex-
planned ny desperate need at the time.
She's on Broadway now in a musical COM
edy. l dined with her the other night and
we made merry over the day when she had
money and l had none"
struck a Snap,
The tale Of woe was taken up by an actor
whose name appears In large type on the
play bills.
II, too, was once stranded in San Fran
cisco and had to choose between clean
linen and a square meal. The latter I
had not dared to take for more hours than
l cared to mention here, because l was
down to Just rs cents and was actually
afraid to spend It.
Blu I also realized that my soiled linen
advertised my dire straits to any man
ager l approached, 30 at last the scales
tipped In the direction of a clean shirt.
But how was l to get 1t, a collar and a
pair Of cuffs, for rs cents7 YEARLY l
walked the streets and at last found a
shirt in vivid red polka dots the size Of
a silver quarter which was so cheap that
l was enabled to invest in collar and cuffs.
! cannot tell you Of the Joy Of laying aside
my collar. which had been turned twice
already, and my shirt, which looked as IL
1t belonged to a weary willy.
Then, supperless but clean, / drifted
into a group Of newspaper men. who. with
characteristic open handedness, invited me
to have lunch with them. Among them
was a serious-minde chap who had writ
ten a play, but could secure no hearing
for It. l offered to read It, and as an
actor give him a few friendly tips. From
that instant he took me unto his bosom,
so to speak. Half Of what he had was
mine. including his hall bedroom. for which
l was most grateful.
Now, the funny part Of It was that the
play proved really good and by dint Of
hard work we secured an angel and
got together a company, most Of them
caught, like myself. on the coast, and we
toured the state. The angel never got
back his money. but the playwright re-
ceived his royalties and some local fame,
while I and my fellow players STAYED of
starvation until, one by one, we found
berths in good companies that were going
back to New York"