Left Behind Part 8

CHAPTER IX.

THE MOMENTOUS OCCASION.

However successful a venture the opening of a theatre might prove to the five boys interested, it was quite evident, before that eventful Sat.u.r.day had pa.s.sed, that it would seriously injure their regular business. At least half their time that day was spent in answering the questions of intending patrons, or those who had already purchased their tickets; and of course while they were thus engaged they could not sell papers or blacken boots. Therefore, when they stopped work at five o'clock, according to agreement, so that they would be sure to have time to dress before eight, they had not made more than ten cents apiece. They did not realize what this loss of time had cost them, for nearly all of the tickets had been sold, and in contemplating the theatrical receipts, those that should have come from the legitimate business were entirely lost sight of. There was every prospect that they would have a large audience, and when they went to Mrs. Green's they congratulated themselves on having thought of such a brilliant project.

That Mopsey was a thoughtful manager, as well as sparkling author, was shown by a notice which the boys found fastened to the street-door. It read:

DOReS opeN AT HARF PARsT seVeN

and had evidently been prepared in antic.i.p.ation of the rush of patrons which it was almost certain would fairly besiege the place before they were ready to receive them.

Once in the theatre, it was seen that d.i.c.key and Mopsey had not been wasting their time, for there was such a collection of cast-off uniforms and weapons as would have furnished a much larger company than theirs with outfits. The two who had gathered this remarkable collection together were standing over it in conscious pride; but Mopsey did not give them much opportunity for admiration.

"Now all hands turn to an' git dressed," he said, in a tone of authority, well knowing that his command would be willingly obeyed.

"We've got to be sure to be ready, an' we can eat dinner after we're rigged up jest as well as not."

As it was only too evident that Mopsey would be obliged to superintend the dressing of each boy, the party stood waiting for him to designate the one who should receive the first attention.

"We'll start on you, d.i.c.key," said Mopsey; and some of the party thought that while the two had been alone that day, Master Spry had stipulated that he should have the honor of being arrayed first.

d.i.c.key stepped in front of the busy-looking manager, his face beaming with delight, and his mouth open so wide that his smile seemed almost a grin.

Among the collection out of which Shakespeare's characters were to stalk into view were quite a number of Mrs. Green's kitchen utensils, and nearly all of the party were puzzled as to what was to be done with them when d.i.c.key's toilet explained everything. Two tin covers that had evidently been taken from the wash-boilers were fastened on Master Spry's chest and back, and Mopsey insisted on lashing them on so strongly, lest they should become displaced in the fight, that poor d.i.c.key found it impossible to hang his arms down by his side, but was obliged to hold them straight out, very much to his discomfort. A tin saucepan, somewhat the worse for wear, and well blackened, was placed on his head for a helmet, and in his hands a huge cavalry sabre. To throw a dash of color into what would otherwise have been a rather sombre-looking costume, Mopsey laced a quant.i.ty of red tape around each leg, which gave him a very striking appearance, to say the least.

But every rose must have a thorn, and d.i.c.key soon found out what particular thorn there was in wearing the costume of Macbeth. In the first place, since he could not use his arms sufficiently to bring them around in front of him, he was obliged to dispense with a shield, for it would have been worse than useless; and again, when he tried to sit down, after he had been admired by his companions, he found that the tin covers were so long that they doomed him to stand until the close of the performance. He would have liked a rest just then, for he was very tired, but the exigencies of the case, and costume, prevented him, and he leaned up in the corner, looking, save about the legs, like a turtle in a restaurant window.

Johnny was the next one who was to be made happy, and perhaps uncomfortable, by Mr. Dowd's idea of costume. But his was on an entirely different scale, since he was to play the part of Oth.e.l.lo. A pair of blue uniform trousers were first put on, and then pinned up, since they had originally been intended for a man; a broad leather belt was buckled tightly around his waist, and in this was placed a carving-knife, a pistol with no lock and but part of the barrel, and a jack-knife; an old sack of Mrs. Green's, made of red flannel and somewhat soiled, was put on as coat, and on the shoulders were pinned epaulets made of gilt paper. In addition to the weapons contained in his belt, Johnny had a genuine sword and scabbard fastened to his side, and an army musket to carry in his hands, that looked as if it might have been used in every battle during the late war.

It seemed singular that two should be condemned to stand, and through no one's fault; but Johnny also found it almost impossible to sit down, owing to the number of pins Mopsey had used, to make sure that the trousers would remain at the proper length, and he leaned against the wall by the side of d.i.c.key.

Ben's costume required very little care, since it was simply a sheet thrown over his head; but he insisted so strongly that a ghost had just as much right as anybody else to have his legs laced up with red tape, and to wear a sword, that Mopsey was obliged to give way, and do as he desired. A profusion of tape was tied around his legs; and in order to produce a pleasing effect in case his feet could be seen below the sheet, he insisted on having quite a number of ends hanging down from the ankles. He also had a belt, with a carving-knife, and a pistol in about the same state of repair that Johnny's was, stuck into it; and then, with the sheet over his arm, so that he could have it handy, he looked on while the others dressed, envied by d.i.c.key and Johnny because he could sit down so comfortably.

Paul made a very showy-looking Hamlet, to say the least. He wore a pair of rubber boots many sizes too large for him, with tops that reached his knees, and were ornamented with tissue-paper rosettes; a black frock-coat, which on close inspection proved to be Johnny's best one, that he had worn when he called upon Mrs. Green, hung about his shoulders, covering his hands completely with its profusion of sleeves, and giving him a singular, if not distinguished appearance.

This coat had been made more gorgeous than it originally was by having gilt paper pasted to each b.u.t.ton, and a red sash tied about the waist, in which were two table-forks and a wooden sword, the latter article interfering sadly with his knees when he walked. On his head he wore a huge paper cap that had been painted red, white, and blue, and ornamented with a tuft of feathers that had once done service in a dusting-brush. He also had a gun, and the weight of it was about as much as he could stagger under when he tried to carry it over his shoulder, so he dragged it along behind him, very much as a person of Hamlet's melancholy temperament would have been likely to do. He also could sit down, which was no small comfort.

All this costuming had taken some time, and Mrs. Green had already called up the staircase that dinner was nearly ready before Mopsey had commenced to clothe himself in such garments as he supposed Richard the Third wore. First he put on a thin pair of cotton pants that had once been white, but were now a drab, and which fitted quite closely to his skin. On the outside seams of these he pinned a strip of gilt paper, and then drew on a pair of boots, the tops of which came up quite as high on him as the rubber ones did on Paul. Around these boots was laced more red tape, until it would have been a difficult matter to have formed any idea as to what they might have been intended for originally. He had a broad leather belt, and outside of it was a red sash, with ends that nearly touched the floor. As weapons he wore a sword in a scabbard, a carving-knife, a portion of a pistol, and a table-fork. His coat was a soldier's overcoat, cut down to prevent it from trailing on the floor when he walked, and on his head was a paper cap nearly twice as large, and with very much more ornamentation in the way of feathers and red paint than had the one worn by Paul.

The company were now ready for their arduous duties on the stage, and could afford the time to go to dinner. More than once had Mrs. Green called out to them that that very important meal was ready, and should be eaten if they expected her to get the dishes washed in time to act as door-keeper. She had also become imbued with the excitement of this first performance, and had packed away her fruit-stand fully two hours earlier than usual, in order that she might first feed her actor-boarders, and then look out for their interest at the door.

It was a ferocious looking and, in at least two cases, an uncomfortable feeling company that filed down the stairs and into the dining-room, led by d.i.c.key, who was obliged to enter the door sideways, because his arms stuck out so straight as to prevent his moving through any aperture less than five feet wide in any other way.

"Gracious!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the startled landlady, as she saw this singular-looking object enter the room, followed by four others, more or less gorgeous, and all equally terrible. "How on earth did you contrive to make yourselves look so horrible?"

"Mopsey did it," squeaked d.i.c.key, piteously, as if he had been accused of some wrong deed, and earnestly wishing that he was the ghost.

"He's Macbeth," said Mopsey, in explanation, and anxious to show that he had only done his duty in thus making d.i.c.key so uncomfortable.

"That's pretty near the way Macbeth always gits hisself up."

"Poor man!" said Mrs. Green, sympathizingly, "it must have been terrible hard for him, an' he couldn't had a great deal of comfort with his arms." And then, as she looked over her spectacles pityingly at the miniature Macbeth, and noticed that it was the covers of her wash-boilers that he wore, she said, "You must be awful careful not to tumble down, d.i.c.key, for you never could get up; an' besides, if anybody should step on you they'd spoil them covers, an' one of 'em's 'most new."

d.i.c.key made no promise, but his face showed plainly that he appreciated the danger he would be in if he should fall over, and that he was determined to stand as straight as possible in the combat which would take place in the third act.

All of the company save d.i.c.key and Johnny seated themselves at the table, and began to make a hearty but hurried meal. Johnny stood up in a careful manner, and got along very well, but poor d.i.c.key could neither sit down nor help himself. He made one or two vain efforts to pick up a biscuit from the table, but his armor would not permit, and he was about to lean back against the wall in helpless indignation, when Mrs. Green noticed him.

"Poor child!" she said, in a motherly tone, "I do think it is a shame for Mopsey to rig you up in such a way that you can't eat, an' you do have such a good appet.i.te."

"He wanted to play Macbeth," said Mopsey, anxious to clear himself from any blame, "an' if he plays it he's got to go that way."

"Yes, I wanted to play it," said d.i.c.key, in a pathetic tone that told he would never want to do such an uncomfortable thing again. "I wanted to, but I didn't know I was goin' to be fixed so's I couldn't even wiggle."

Mrs. Green went without her own supper for the sake of giving d.i.c.key his, and she fed him patiently, while he stood with outstretched hands leaning against the wall, but able to eat all that was put in his mouth.

By the time the boys were through supper Nelly came into the room, dressed for her portion of the work in the evening's performance; and even Mopsey, who the day before had suggested that she should wear a sword, thought she looked charming in her white dress with blue ribbons.

It was very near the time set for opening the doors, and already they could hear a crowd of boys on the sidewalk, as they jostled and pushed in their efforts to enter before the managers were ready to receive them. Mopsey, excited at this clamor of the public, drove his company up-stairs, and hurried Mrs. Green to such an extent that she concluded to let her house-work go until after the performance, and went down to open the door.

CHAPTER X.

THE FIRST ACT.

The n.o.ble company of actors stood in breathless expectancy behind the scenes of their theatre, waiting for the sound of tramping feet that should tell of the rush of the public to witness their genius, as shown in this particular line of business. The interest was so great that even d.i.c.key forgot the discomfort of his Macbeth costume, and stood as near a crevice in the boards as possible, to see their patrons as they filed into the hall.

The auditorium was as near a scene of enchantment as tallow-candles could make it. The twelve bottle foot-lights flared and flickered as if they were conscious of the wonderful display of talent they were there to illumine, while the barrel-hoop chandeliers cast even a more brilliant light than one would have supposed. The flower decorations on the wall, forming the word that meant quite as much as if it had been spelled correctly, stood forth in all their beauty, even more prominently than if the light had been stronger.

That Mrs. Green had never acted in the capacity of door-keeper of a theatre before, was shown by the trouble she was having. It had been her purpose to open the street-door, and then go in advance of the crowd to the door of the hall, where she could receive either the money or the tickets of those who entered. But one look at the noisy throng was sufficient to convince her that more than half of them would distance her in the race up-stairs. She therefore changed her plan, and by exerting all her strength she was able to keep the door closed so far as to prevent more than one from entering at a time. By this means she succeeded in collecting tickets from nearly all who entered. As soon as she thought she could do so with safety, she ran up to the attic-door, where she could act the part of door-keeper with more comfort and dignity.

At least fifteen minutes before the advertised time for the performance to begin, every one of d.i.c.key's board-seats were filled with a noisy, perspiring crowd of boys, who found considerable amus.e.m.e.nt in swaying back and forth on the not very secure seats, until one of them would go down with a crash. This seemed to afford the greatest amount of amus.e.m.e.nt to those who were thus thrown to the floor.

Good Mrs. Green was thoroughly astonished by the amount of patronage bestowed that night; for after she thought that the audience was complete, boys of all sizes continued to pour in, until she had quite a pile of five-cent pieces in her ap.r.o.n, besides the tickets, and nearly one-half of those present were obliged to stand.

Although it was not eight o'clock, the audience suddenly came to the conclusion that it was time for the performance to begin, and they announced that fact by piercing whistles, furious stamping of the feet, and such gentle admonitions to the managers as, "Hurry up, Mopsey," "Give it to us now, Shiner," as well as other phrases betokening extreme familiarity.

The managers of this theatre were not unmindful of the fact that their audience must be obeyed, even if some of the rules were broken, and Ben and Paul were ordered by the author, who had taken upon himself the position of sole manager, to raise the curtain. Then Nelly came out and sang a melody that all were familiar with, being a.s.sisted by the audience in the chorus, until Mrs. Green was obliged to cover her ears with her hands, lest the great volume of music should give her a headache.

This portion of the entertainment was greeted with the wildest applause; and when Master Dowd, after Nelly had left the stage, attempted to appear in all the gorgeousness of his costume, he was plainly told to go back and let Nelly sing again--a command which he obeyed at once, lest some of his audience should take it into their heads to force compliance.

After Nelly had sung the second time the applause died away, as if the audience were willing that the regular business of the evening should proceed. All the actors were standing where they could go on to the stage at a moment's notice, save d.i.c.key, who was leaning against the wall, holding his sword straight out, at the imminent peril of hitting some one of his partners as they pa.s.sed.

"Now be all ready, d.i.c.key," said Mopsey, warningly, as he prepared to go on the stage.

"See here," whispered Johnny, "be kinder careful when you an' I fight, 'cause there's lots of pins in these pants."

Mopsey nodded his head, as much as to say that he would look out for such things, and in another instant he was before the foot-lights, receiving a storm of applause, although he was at a loss to know whether it was directed to him personally, or to the costume he wore.