"Why, Mr. Breese," asked the young scribe, "did you come to leave Wilson?"
This was a poser for the Muenchausen who had never even been with the man
whom "Erminie" had made famous.
"Well, you see it was this way," replied Breese, speaking slowly, so as to
gain time to think. "There was a man named Plunkett in the company. He
became a good friend of mine. He came to me one day and said, 'Breese, I
want to warn you. You know you made a hit with the public and Wilson
doesn't like it. In short, he is jealous, and is apt to make things very
uncomfortable for you at a time when you are least prepared for it.' So I
decided it was better for me to quit when I saw my way clear to make
connections elsewhere."
The Eureka Springs reporter was duly impressed and went away to write up
an article in which merit sidetracked through envy was the keynote.
Meantime, Breese, who knew absolutely nothing about makeup, was
floundering through his preparations for the evening, in which the
learning of his lines was not the least of his troubles.
How he finally managed to "fix his face" he has no clear recollection. The
one thing that stands out in his memory is a period midway in one of the
early acts when he became conscious that he was absolutely ignorant of
what he had either to say or do next.
In this emergency he suddenly remembered that he had been told that he, as
the leading man, was to address the audience during the evening and tell
them what the program was to be for the remainder of the week, as was the
custom in repertoire companies. So what did he do, but step out of his
character then and there, and, walking up to the footlights, start to
apprise the spectators of what they would see if they came to the "opera
house" during the other nights of the Wild Rose troupe's engagement.
As it happened, there was no second performance, and Breese has now no
inkling of how that unhappy first one was ever brought to a conclusion. He
does know, however, that he never received any pay for his services, that
the company went smash then and there, and that the hotel held his trunk
for board.
By good luck he met a friend in the town who took him to his home to stay
until he secured connection with another management, and began a
legitimate career which brought him, by way of _Danglas_ and _Nortier_ in
"Monte Cristo" with O'Neill, on through the Indian and the football
trainer in "Strongheart," to _Jefferson Ryder_ in "The Lion and the
Mouse."