Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1909-05-27

when it comes to throwing bouquets
to oneself-well, | fancy | deserve
some of the credit for the terrific
business this week. Wasn't all the
| town talking about me on Tuesday
morning?-how nearly frightened the
life out of professional boxing man,
! simply cowed him!" with rising
self-importance in his voice. Take
| it from me, that's what's drawn the
business, guv'nor. They wanted to
see me!''
There was a ripple of laughter from
! behind, and Joe turned sharply round,
to see Peggy Chatterton at the wings.
! They were on the stage; the morning
rehearsal was just over. Peggy
| laughed ali the more to see the come
dams frown.
1--WE are only thankful she cried,
mischievously, that there was any
Joe left to tell the tale-it seemed so
doubtful at one time"
Certainly the tale, as Joe now told
| it, was very much idealized version
of an incident that had marked the
opening night in Lendal.
There had been rather rOwdy ele-
ment in the tneater; a party OF noisy
sporting men drawn to the town by a
neighboring race meeting were among
the audience, who from the rising of
the curtain had disturbed the per-
| Torrance, ''guying'' the actors, inter
rupting the scenes with facetious COM
ments-such an audience as a theat-
rical company most of all breads.
| Then finally some one threw an
orange. 1t was when Joe was on the
stage; and it whizzd past his head,
missing it by an inch.
Joes irritation had been steadily
mounting; this was more than flesh
and blood could stand In his indig-
nation he cast prudence to the winds;
| Joe jumped over the footlights, his
! blood boiling, and made straight for
the man responsible for this browning
outrage, pushing his way among the
audience Before the man he had sin
| gled out quite realized what was hap
pening, almost before Joe quite re-
allied it himself, the comedian had his
| head in chancery, to the immense de-
| light of the surprised audienc.
But Joe's fires of enthusiasm died
out with remarkable abruptness. For
even as he was administering a very
unscientiic cuff to the head he had
| 'chanceried," he made the appalling
| discovery that its owner was en-
dowed with the physique of profess
sional man; and apparently his only
reason for not making an effort to de-
fend himself was that he was con-
yulsed with laughter
joe had the sudden sensation as of
cod water trickling down his spine.
HIS knees shook beneath him as the
man quite easily jerked himself free
from the relaxing grip.
you've done it this time Joel" was
the unhappy comedians thought,
beads of perspiration breaking through
the grease paint.
| No one could have been more sur
| prised than Joe to hear the others
first Words-articulated with diff
Guilty, because he was laughing so
| consumedly.
well, I'm blowed if that doesn't
fair cop the biscuit.' A chap like you
! to come and fetch mea smack on the
ear-me, Tom Ebbut, the light
weight" And he roared again. We'll,
you're real good plucked 'un,
| straight you are; and I'm sorry we
guyed you Shake hands"
"T-I haven't time to stop and talk
| just now" Joe stammered, taking the
extended brawny hand nervously.
I'm keeping the stage waiting
After that the play had gone splen-
didly to the end. There could not
| have been a more enthusiastic audi
ence; the pugilst and his friends
gave Joe a great reception every time
! he appeared: and the next day the
comedian had found himself unex-
| pectedly a hero. By the end of the
week Joe was quite ready to accept
| the popular verdict as correct and
gave himself airs on the strength
| of it,
He treated Peggy Chatterton's
! ironical remark now with a dignified
| silence, possibly because no effective
retort occurred to him; and he
stalked out of the wooden theater,
with the faithful Monty, to their ia
vorite bar, where the landlord was a
crony of theirs.
Ralph Strangways came in for
good deal of discussion in that bar
parlor, as, indeed, at all the hostelries
in the town, in which was a strong
| sprinkling Of the sporting element
! Contrary to expectation, there had
been reassuring reports as to the con-
dition of "the Squire as Mr. Strang-
ways was generally known, on the day
| after the doctor had been sent for
in such haste to the Grange.
The doctor passed the two actors
| as they walked down the street. He
was new to the neighborhood, a tall,
| clean-shaven man with a dark face,
about whom no one knew much. Old
Dr. Hill used to speak of him slight
| ingly-but then DR.. Hill was feeling
very sore. He had been a friend as
well as the medical adviser of Ralph
| Strangways until quite recently; ev-
cry one in the town had been sur
prised when they heard that his serv-
ices had been dispensed with and
| new doctor installed in his place.
81 warned Strangways that his
| chance of living till the day of the
city and suburban was of the slight
est" he would say bitterly; land we
have yet to see whether this man
he's called in, in defiance of all claims