The hours sped on. Charles asked a thousand questions, and Gustave filled him with facts as dawn broke and day came. It was nearly seven o"clock, time for his train for St. Paul to leave. Charles would not hear of having breakfast. He was too full of desire to get to work.
Among other things, Charles carried a letter from Gustave to Wallick, who was temporarily ahead of the show, which said:
_This is my brother Charles, who will take the advance in your place._
The first word that came from the young advance-agent announced action, for he wired:
_All right with Wallick. Have discovered River Falls._
River Falls, it happened, had been "discovered" before and abandoned, but Charles thought he was making route history.
Charles immediately set to work with the extraordinary energy that always characterized him. The chief bill-poster in St. Paul was named Haines. Charles captured him with his engaging smile, and he became a willing slave. It was Haines who taught him how to post bills. Later on when Gustave arrived with the show, he spoke of the boy with intense pride. He said:
"I have taught your brother Charley how to post bills. He took to it like a duck to water. He didn"t mind how much paste he spattered over himself. His one desire was to know how to do the job thoroughly. I am going to make him the greatest theatrical agent in the world."
Curiously enough, Haines lived to be a very old man, and in the later years of his life he was able to stick up the twenty-eight-sheet stands that bore in large type the name of the little chubby protege he had introduced to the art of bill-posting back in the long ago.
At St. Paul Charles had opposition--a big musical event at Ingersoll Hall--and this immediately tested his resource. He got his printing posted in the best places, went around to the newspaper offices and got such good notices that John Dillon was inspired to remark that he had never had such efficient advance work. It is interesting to remember that at this time Charles Frohman was not yet eighteen years old.
Now came the first evidence of that initiative which was such a conspicuous trait in the young man. He had come back to see the performances of his company, and had watched them with swelling pride.
Several times he said, and with pardonable importance:
"What _we_ need is a new play. _We_ must have something fresh to advertise."
The net result of this suggestion was that his brother obtained the ma.n.u.script of "Lemons," a comedy that, under the t.i.tle of "Wedlock for Seven," had been first produced at Augustin Daly"s New Fifth Avenue Theater in New York. A copy of the play was sent on to Charles to enable him to prepare the presswork for it, and it was the first play ma.n.u.script he ever read. "Lemons" vindicated Charles"s suggestion, because it added to the strength of the repertory and brought considerable new business.
Charles took an infinite pride in his work. He was eager for suggestions, he worked early and late, and when the season closed at the end of June he was a full-fledged and experienced advance-agent. With his brother he reached Chicago July 4th. In the lobby of Hooley"s Theater he was introduced to R. M. Hooley, who, after various hardships, again controlled the theater which bore his name, now Powers" Theater.
Out of that chance meeting came a long friendship and a connection that helped in later years to give Charles Frohman his first spectacular success, for it was Mr. Hooley who helped to back "Shenandoah."
On July 5th, six months after he had left the East for his first start, Charles appeared at his mother"s home in New York, none the worse for his first experience on the road.
* * *
Charles was soon eager for the next season. Gustave had signed a contract with John Dillon to take him out again, this time as part owner of the company. He and George Stoddart agreed to put up two hundred and fifty dollars each to launch the tour of the Stoddart Comedy Company with John Dillon as star. Charles was to continue as advance-agent.
It was a long summer for the boy. When August arrived and the time came to start west there was a financial council of war. Gustave counted on getting his capital from members of the family, but no money was forthcoming. Daniel had received no salary from Callender, and the great road project seemed on the verge of failure. Charles was disconsolate.
But the mother of the boys, ever mindful of their interest, said, in her serene way:
"I can get enough money to send you to Chicago and I will put up some lunches for you."
Charles was eagerly impatient to start. He nagged at his brother:
"Gus, when do we start for Chicago? Do we walk?"
He was sent down-town to find out the cheapest route, and he returned in great excitement, saying:
"The cheapest way is over the Baltimore & Ohio, second cla.s.s, but it is the longest ride. We can ride in the day-coach, and even if we have no place to wash we will get to Chicago, and that is the main thing."
When they reached Chicago the first of the long chain of disasters that was to attend them on this enterprise developed.
Stoddart was penniless. The two hundred and fifty dollars that he expected to contribute to the capital of the new combination was swept away in the failure of the Fidelity Bank. He had looked forward to Gustave for help, and all the while Gustave, on that long, toilsome journey west, was hoping that his partner would provide the first railroad fares. So they sat down and pooled their woes, wondering how they could start their tour, with Charles as an interested listener.
Every now and then he would chirp up with the question:
"How do I get out of town?"
Finally Gustave, always resourceful, said:
"You don"t need any money, Charley. I"ve got railroad pa.s.ses for you, and you can give the hotels orders on me for your board and lodging."
It was a custom in those days for advance-agents to give orders for their obligations--hotel, rent of hall, bill-posting, and baggage--upon the company that followed. Hotels in particular were willing to accept orders on the treasurer of a theatrical company about to play a date, because, in the event of complete failure, there was always baggage to seize and hold.
So, armed with pa.s.ses and with the optimism of youth and antic.i.p.ation, Charles set forth on what became in many respects the most memorable road experience in his life. The first town he billed was Streator, Illinois. Then he hurried on to Ottawa and Peoria, where they were to play during fair week, which was the big week of the year. Misfortune descended at Streator, for despite the lavish display of posters and the ample advance notice that Charles lured the local editors into publishing, the total receipts on the first night were seventy-seven dollars. This, and more, had already been pledged before the curtain went up, and Gustave was not even able to pay John Dillon his seven dollars and seventy cents, which represented his ten per cent, of the gross receipts.
By "traveling on their baggage," which was one of the expedients of the time and a custom which has not entirely pa.s.sed out of use, the company got to Ottawa, where Charles joined them. Here, in a comic circ.u.mstance, he first developed the amazing influence that he was able to exert on people.
Although an admirable actor with a large following and the most delightful and companionable of men, John Dillon had one unfortunate failing. He was addicted to drink, and, regardless of consequences, he would periodically succ.u.mb to this weakness. At Ottawa, the town crowded with visitors for the annual fair, Dillon fell from grace. The bill for the evening was "Lemons," and there was every indication that the house would be sold out. The receipts were badly needed, too.
Late in the afternoon came the terrifying news that Dillon lay stupefied from liquor in his room. Everybody save Charles was in despair. Dillon had conceived a great fancy for Charles, and he was deputized to take the actor in hand, get him to the theater, and coerce him through the play.
Charles responded n.o.bly. He aroused the star, took him to the theater in a carriage, and stood in the wings throughout the whole performance, coaching and inspiring his intoxicated star. By an amusing circ.u.mstance, Dillon was required to play a drunken scene in "Lemons." He performed this part with so much realism that the audience gave him a great ovation. The real savior of that performance was the chubby lad who stood in the wings with beating heart, fearful every moment that Dillon would succ.u.mb.
* * *
New and heavier responsibilities now faced Charles Frohman. The company was booked to play a week in Memphis, Tennessee, the longest and most important stand of the tour. In those days the printers who supplied the traveling companies with advertising matter were powers to be reckoned with. When the supply of printing was cut off the company was helpless.
Charles H. McConnell, of the National Printing Company, who supplied the Stoddart Company with paper, was none too confident of the success of that organization. When he heard of the Memphis engagement he insisted that Gustave, who was older and more experienced, be sent ahead to pave the way. Charles was sent back to manage the company, and now came his first attempt at handling actors. He rose to the emergency with all his characteristic ingenuity.
He began at Champaign, Illinois. The first test of his resource came at a one-night stand--Waupaca, Iowa--where "Lemons" was billed as a feature. The prospects for a big house were good. Board and railroad fare seemed a.s.sured, when just before supper-time John F. Germon, one of the company, approached Charles in great perturbation.
"We can"t play to-night. Mrs. Post is sick."
Mrs. Post played the part of the old woman in the play, and it was a very important role.
Charles Frohman only smiled, as he always did in an emergency. Then he said to Germon:
"You"re a member of the well-known Germon family, aren"t you? Then live up to its reputation and play the part yourself."
"But how about my mustache?" asked Germon.
"I will pay for having it shaved off," replied Frohman.
The net result was that Germon sacrificed his mustache, played the part acceptably without any one in the audience discovering that he was a man masquerading as an old woman. Charles put Wallick, who was acting as stage-manager, in Germon"s part. Thus the house was saved and the company was able to proceed.
With his attractive ways and eternal thoughtfulness Charles captivated the company. He supplied the women with candy and bought peanuts for the men. On that trip he developed his fondness for peanuts that never forsook him. He almost invariably carried a bag in his pocket. When he could not get peanuts he took to candy.
A great friendship struck up between Frohman and Stoddart, who, in a way, was a character. He played the violin, and when business was bad and the company got in the dumps Stoddart added to their misfortunes by playing doleful tunes on his fiddle. But that fiddle had a virtue not to be despised, because it was Stoddart"s bank. In its hollow box he secreted his modest savings, and in more than one emergency they were drawn on for company bed and board. When the organization reached Memphis Charles had so completely won the affections of the company that they urged him to stay on with them. But business was business, and he had to go on in advance.
Charles now went ahead to "bill" Texas. The reason for the expedition was this: