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
Saturday had passed, 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 anticipation 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 Dickey 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, Dickey," 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.
Dickey 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 Dickey'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
Dickey 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 quantity 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 Dickey 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 Othello. 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 Dickey.
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 Dickey 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 button, 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 Dickey, 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!" ejaculated 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 Dickey, 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 Dickey 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, Dickey, 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."
Dickey 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 Dickey 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 Dickey 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 appetite."
"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 Dickey, 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 Dickey
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.