The sun., 1903-02-22
THE MISJUDGED
] WALKING GENTLEMAN.
A Reformed Bssnstofmes Tells OF .
Dramatic Wreck and It's Sur-
pfising Climax.

| said the Reformed DArnstormer. he GER
! tainly was a two-spot In workhouse deck
with all OF US.
From the property man, who looked upon
him M excess baggage, to the NV comedian u
who privately told all Of VA several times
a dsy that he would like to give him hoat-
ing rib, all hands OF the outfit had Crouch
against the walking gentleman. The lead
ing lady. a rather tempest uous. domine'r-
ing woman. oould barely remember her
lines when the walking gentleman was
strollinr, with his cane swinging ja,ntily.
across The stage. and II he had paid the
slightest attention to the daggers which she
looked at him every time he came within
the range Of her vision he would have shr'lnk
like brick baking gang drinking gourd.
But he didn't. He didn't pay much
attention to any Of US. in fact, and wouidn
be surprised but what that was why most
of US were aore on him.
Il must not fail to mention that another
reason why we regarded with him aversion
was that he possessed q very fine blue
white diamond ring. a sapphire and dia-
mond scaripin, and magnificent seal
lined ulster which he wore during his walk
il exercises on the stage. Most OF us re-
ub DOSScSStou VI s's'
especially after we drifted onto tho rocks.
az decidedly vulgar and indecent, consider-
ing that We ourselves had only the dogs
cared run-out tickets for our stun.
There were dozen Of US. all told. IN
cluding the walking gentleman. The COM
pany had been organized IN Chicago Tor
the Northwestern one-night stands. we
did The Rornany Rye The Lights o Lon
don, In the Ranks, and Ticket-o'-Leave
Man-all with about the same scenery ana
costumes. We weren't 70 bad, at that-fve
seen worse.
I'VE made the long haul from Chicago to
Portland, Ore. and started our tour there.
There wasn't enough in it from the jump
TO keep the bass fiddler In amber suds.
We couldn't get EN- in with bale hooks
in Portland. II was in q3. when tho whole
country was shy Of the pieces OF eight,
and at ,ha, time the Coast was worse than
at any other neck OF II.
we showed there for three nights to
the cubic feet t-of-air capacity OF the house.
and already our restless manager
was beginning to exudc the if-'his-thing-
keeps-up' brand OF caloric atmosphere
The an gel didn't accompany the company.
bu, before we broke out Of Portland the
manager began to drop the croak that If
business didn't pick up the angel was
whole lot liable to get the wing ache and
refuse to fiutter.
In Baker City. the next pause-one
night. with The Lights O London scheduled
to glitter-the manager counted the S0.35
In the house. told 'em that something was
wrong with the lights. gave them hack
their gold, and we slid on to Roseburg
A see.hing mob bought &s.7S worth Of seat
ing capacity there, and We cut The Ronany
Rye down to one act and three-eiGhths
and let them have 1t. For the 1855 in
dimes and nickels that flowed into the box
Office In walla Walla we sawed In the
Ranks down to a vaudeville sketch and
passed II over to them.
In the meantime, we were getting sorer
and sorer on the walking gentleman. He
didn't spend any time figuring out on his
cuffs how far 1t was from The Dalles 20
Chicago at 20 much per mile, az did all Of
the rest OF lis, and this callous and bruta
indifference on his part didn't get any cur
tain calls from US. Moreover. he still had
the rinR and pin and the seal-lined benny,
although tho ghost hadn't heel-and-toed
sincs we'd started out. and the rest OF us
had begun to part with vest or an alarm
clock here and there for laundry coin. We
soon began to attribute all OF the hard luck
10 the walking gentleman.
.I never saw yet a katink with those
| weather strips on the sides OF his map that
| wasn't a hoodoo,' said the low comedian
and for pipeful Of punk smoking tobacco
| I'd give him O caulifower ear or two-fiash-
ing those drosky lights Of his on people
| that haven't got, all clubbcd together, the
price OF taw moss aga:e!
| when We got to Boise City. the next
hesi,ating burg, we found that the thea. re
wouldn't he ready for three or four days
on accoun, Of some repairs that were being
| made. During the four days. that ensued
before We gave The Tickle. o Leave Man
| in one canto. and no epilogue or variations
to Si2 20 worth Of the Boise populace. ths
manager had been dropping a lot OF hints
to the effect that the angel back In Chicago
had already got sciatica OF the pinions to
such an extent that he had ceased soaring
altogether and then l. for one. began &c
examine the underneath running gear OF
the eastbound trains with considerable
interest. A conviction stole over me tina,
my ride back to the Lake Michigan bura
Of tho freshless smell was going to he rea
unassuming. not to say horizontally
secluded. one
The tavernkceper at Boise City pastec
attachments on our scenery ard trunk,
for the board bill right after the show. anc
II was both fms on the vertical for the
manager
I'm all in he said to us, when he hac
herded us up. except the price Of 20,
peoples tickets to Spokane, the next jump
You'd better start for there right away
leaving your gear behind. I'll stay be
hind myself and send wire to the ange
tonight. II he sees it and edges to the
van with dough-wire. III fetch the geal
along TO Spokane tomorrow. II not-er-
pardon me. you will observe that my ha
has Just blown Of. and he ran TO ohas,
1t, although it still remained on his head.
"we won't to Spokane that night. crouch
ing in one and OF the car to rap the man
ager and the walking gentleman all tn,
way.
III something's not doing tomorrow
the patrolline gent wants 70 stand BY 70
dented conk, that's all-those De Beer
deadlig ghts he's wearing 'ud just abou
| ,;d,, ,ha xhole outfit IN and NIT ia m ~,