New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-02-28

seriously. In the words 81 the poet
Let us when and where we may
Bhthcly add the note Of cheer,
Charming WEAKNESS away,
Keeping back the ready tear.
III the lady can kick our audience to joyous
ness, she should be permitted nay even urged
20 do sD.'
I happened I, Ice standing near Richards,
who lnuttered. q" III help YOU To add the note
of cheer before l get through with you!'
WTILLIE was in no position to take very
w firm stand against the Doc, who thought
IL would bc well also for him TO work IN Il few
slcight OF hand tricks as the performance went
along. / had done up the company percent
age OF the money in q couple Of neat bundles,
which the wizard put IN his pockets, SAVING he
would settle with Willie and his people after
the show. \ good share II the receipts was IN
silver. so the Doc bulged considerably and
was badly weighed down. But ne was a patient
man IN some respects, and tins was one oil
them.
The audience went Wild in the second act. l
noticed that a good many of the men from the
pottery works had seats IN the gallery, and they
liked Miss FcunimOrc's singing and dancing SO
well that IL looked as If they would never let
her quit She was called out SO often that she
could hardly ct her breath, along toward the
last and there might have been serious results
II the Doc hadn't gone on the stage Wnle she
was fccbly trying to turn CartwheelS, and begun
picking QbAlAIN out OF lllC si4l- 4lAS INNI4N
turned their attention 10 him then, and after he
had done some card tricks which took very well
he got enthusiastic and called Tor 4 lady
watch. Somebody handed one over the foot
lights, and as he stood there holding 1t up ne
sad:
Ladies and gents this is not a regular part
Of the performance winch our splendid company
is in the habit of giving; but 1t IS our wish 10
show special favor to the people OF tins beau
tiful and progressive city We have become
81. for -ILI
propose now TO make this chronometer dlsap-
pear Ill thin air: but let me assure its fair owner
that it viii be returned TO her unframed.
Kindly watch me closely, ladies and gents, and
note the fact that have no confederate to
lust then he dropped out of sight Richards
> had let him through trapdoor, and ne
landed under the stage among some sawhoTSeS
and pieces of lumber that the carpenter hdd
left there When Angel Willie and found hlm
he was living on his side, reaching around IN the
dark for the watch and making remarks that
probably relieved him some but were not pleas
ant to hear. lie thought at first that one OF ms
legs was broken: but after trying several times
he was able 10 stand on it. Then he picked up
a piece of timber about SIX feet long and started
out TO find the property man. He had no luck.
Richards had severed his connection with the
Monte Cristo Company He hadn' even taken
the trouble to close the door OF the stage en-
trance after him when he went.
In the excitement over the Docs sudden de-
scent nobody had thought about lowering the
curtain, and the audience was yelling with
great enthusiasm, everybody suppOsIng the
wizard had gone through the trap on purpose
While Willie and the Doc and | were hunting
for the watch, the people above us were clap
ping their hands and yelling and stamping on
the floor, and pretty soon We heard Miss Fenni-
more starting to sing again. Finally we found
the watch with the crystal broken and one of
the hands missing. The thing had stopped tick
ing, too
willie" said the Doc as he looked at it. "a
strange feeling comes DER me. l fear we shall
have trouble before get through with this
performance. Perhaps it would have been bet
ter if we had taken your advice and chung to
the higher and nobler traditions of our art"
THERE was a roar when the wizard limped
out the stage again; but 1t seemed to
me that the audience had quit treating the
with as much respect as had been
shown at the start. When the Doc would begin
to speak any of his lines, the fellows in the gall
lery would interrupt him and call for more
magic He tried to be good natured about it
for awhile; but | could see that they were get
ting him worked into an ugly temper, and
things weren't helped much when the husband
of the lady who owned the watch got up while
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