The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1902-12-26
SHE s.w THE NAME ON THE OUTSIDE
COVER OF THE PART.

Nofi-h OI liiIA AMI
| first ime over the parts he showed
that lie knew what the center of the
stage was. and he got it every time,
and yhen they discovered that he knew
all tie business, and Temples business
at tint they naturally wondered where
Busioe had found him.
| Bit BuScoe was not a talkative stage
manager. He sat at the prompt table
and held the book, but he had nothing
to say TO Hampton. He had evidently
said i. before he called the first act
None in the company knew him. A
man with !. sick wife on his hands and
! five gears of one night stands on the
road as his latest record usually isn't
on intimate terms with a picked cast
for a big metropolitan revival. But
Bueoe knew him. Buscoe and Hamp-
| ton had done one nights together more
| than five years ago, and Buscoe knew
| thd Hampton's one ambition was TO
| pliy Temples part just as well as
Hampton knew that Buscoe's hope was
| trip to London to stage some big
! production or other. Naturally enough,
| when Temple wired that he couldn't 90
On that night, Buscoe had telephoned
| to the agencies, located Hampton and
two hours afterward handed him Tenn
| Jle's part.
Hampton took the part home and
| laid it on ,Jennie's bed. Then he cried.
| Jennie had been crying a good deal
| anyway, because she felt herself slip
! ping away from the world. She saw
| the name on the outside cover of the
lIpart She knew that the biggest re-
vival of the season was being played
and that Temple had made the hit of
| his career by simply reading that thir
tytwo pages of manuscript She had
never ceased TO be sure that if Dick
ever had chance he would do the
same thing. 1t meant good deal to a
sick woman who hadn't much longer
to wait for him to get the part.
And it meant a good deal to him, too,
since he had rehearsed ii with her
times innumerable in the certain hope
that some day he would be given
chance TO play it. Five years of one
nights didn't seem long just then. To
morrow, after he had made his one hit,
1t would be almost a joke After they
had finished 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 ask
ed for the first cue. So the rehearsal
that Hampton had that afternoon at
the theater wasn't by any means the
first one.
Hampton was fairly startled when
the overture began. 1t may have been
because on the one nights he was ac-
eustomed to two violins and 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 prompter 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 10
think an explanation necessary. and of
course Hampton couldn't explain it if
he tried
The one big scene that Temple had
ut the end Of the third act fell fiat
played by Hampton. 1t went over the
audiences head or was thrown too di-
rectly into their teeth. Anyway when
Hampton made his exit there was nc
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 perform
ance. Everybody knew that. Temple
used to say that a photograph WOULD
get 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 spelling the scene, since he had
had but one rehearsal. And Buscoe