Year: 1873




TIE Theater Royal, Barnchester, was a
prosperous establishment at the time, now
many years ago, when | was a member of
its company, and when the tragic event
occurred IN which | was most unWittinglv
concerned. BY the aid of strong corps
dramatique, backed up by London stars,
the business for several seasons was main
tanned in flourishing condition. In those
days | was supposed to he learning the
art which | have long since abandoned.
and to which [ took well; it matters moth
ing to my story why I took it. Many a
young fellow has, in his carly days, strut
led and frettcd for his hour upon the
stage andihen,i fortunately for himself and
others, been heard no morei


Our manager was also our stage mana
ger, and in these capacities was more sue
ccsstul than in that of an actor, in which
vocation he nevertheless labored. He was
always very civil to me; indeed he was
always very civil to everybody, and we
cot on capitally together. 1t may, there
fore, seem unreasonable to say that | never
liked him, but such, Notwithstanding, was
the case. Despite his general popularity
with his company, arising chiefly, | be
lieve, by the punctuality which he observ-
ed in all his payments, / fancied / saw u
sinister expression in his eye, and q sup
pressed tone Of savagery in his manner
when rufled, which betrayed a nature un-
safe to arouse to enmity, and capable of
nOurishing the direst feeling of revenge.
| believe my suspicious were finally veri-
fed; Heaven forgive me if | wrong him t.
but the circumstances which eventually
led to the termination of my career as an
actor will forever, in my mind, go far to
Justify the prejudice with which he inspir-
cd me, for they gave birth TO conviction,
which | have never been able to over
come, and, right or wrong, | shall see in
il To the end of my DAYS the reason why,
Us with the instinct of dumb animal,
disliked him from the first moment we
met


Life behind the scenes of country thea
ter is not perhaps, very refined. Much
that is Objectionable of course. is to be
found there; but, at the same time, much
that is honest, hard working, sincere, and
kind-hearted; and | am safe in asserting
that these virtues, and many more, were
combined in the person of Julia Hal
worth, our leading young lady, clever,
graceful novice, who was struggling hard
to maintain her widowed mother and three
younger sisters, and, if possible. to avoid
bringing the latter into a profession with
the drawbacks of which she was so well
acquainted Nevertheless her task was
not easy her salary was small. and she
had the greatest difficulty in eking out her
resources. 1t is not wonderful therefore,
that she was, by degrees, induced to listen
90 the ayowals of devotion made to her by
Mr.. Caugar, our manager He was old
enough to be her father, but he was in q
position to place her as his wife in com
paraUve comfort, for, unlike most men of
his capacity, he had been very careful,
and was supposed to he we'll off There
was whisper that he had not been over
scrupulous in the way he had made his
money. y little prlvateering during the
latter days of the great war. and since
then some successful smuggling transac.
tons had, it is said. contributed largely to
the wealth he had recently embarked in a
venture theatrical, for which, like many a
sailor, he had strong prediction, q GER
tain similarity existing between the man
ageme' of a ship and that of a theatre
/ could see that much maternal pressure
was used 10 induce Miss Halworth to rec.
ognlze the advantages of home such as
Caugar could give her, but | could also
see that, II she did so, it would be at great
personal sacrifice, for not only did she
seem TO share my own repugnance 10
the man, increased probably on her part
by the disparity Of their wears, bat |
strongly suspected there was an attach
ment elsewhere. Of this, indeed. | was
cvcntually convinced, and although |
never knew precisely what had passed. the
prologue of my tragedy had shaped itself
briefly into something of this kind


She had been induced to take up the no
HE art of acting by watching the success
tlll career Of a young fellow named Bernal
Rgtherstone, whom she had known from
4 atfN Il for II,
We're akin TO those she was making for her
own After winning fair reputation in
the provinces, he had made very favor
able impression on the London public, and
~ degrees had gained considerable fame
Ais progress had been very carefully
h"l 81, step by step, by Julia Haluorth
"l", added 70 her own natural love for The


aad inspired her with determination


"gtate herself 10 taa stage with tht