Every line of the face and figure, every article of clothing, bespoke the fifth rate, seedy actor who has parted in his time with most things, except his self-conceit.
The idlers on the bench stared at him, then at the newcomer, and regarded with lazy curiosity the meeting between the two: for this gentleman in the tall silk hat and fur overcoat was Mr. Jack Jacobus, come to claim Mr. P. Gordon, the new member of his company.
If it had been possible for Loveland"s heart to sink lower--which at the moment he did not believe--it would have sunk at sight of Miss de Lisle"s manager. But, he asked himself, what else had he a right to expect from the advertis.e.m.e.nt, and Bill"s a.s.surance that it would be useless to demand a higher weekly screw than ten dollars, the management paying board?
One quick glance, and the gla.s.s-grey eyes had taken in each detail of Loveland"s appearance, from the smartly made travelling cap, which still kept its shape, down to the neat brown boots. He approved all, it was evident, except the battered gladstone bag which Bill Willing had bought extraordinarily cheap at a p.a.w.nbroker"s sale, as a gift for his friend Gordon. This Loveland carried in his hand, and he saw the actor-manager"s gaze rest sardonically upon it.
In a deep, measured voice, as theatrical as the rest of his personality, Mr. Jacobus enquired if he had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Perceval Gordon. Then when answered in the affirmative, he delivered himself of a few polite words of greeting.
"Glad you got here all right. Don"t know what we should have done if you hadn"t turned up. Our juvenile lead came down with typhoid at our last week"s stand, and we"ve been fakin" our best ever since--any old play we could, that had the fewest men, and the lot of us doublin" parts till we was ready to drop on the stage with the curtain. Got the checks handy for your big baggage?"
Loveland had to explain that he had no big baggage, and under the changing, freezing eyes of Jacobus felt as insignificant as a crushed worm. Until very lately he had not known the meaning of this sensation; now, he was becoming accustomed to it as to a daily worn coat; but never perhaps had his pride been more flatly ironed out than in this brief instant.
"What--no wardrobe?" demanded the manager; his tone of friendly condescension to a new member of his company altered to one of bullying suspicion.
"My wardrobe is here," said Loveland, holding out Bill"s present.
"Sorry I forgot to bring a magnifying gla.s.s," sneered Jacobus. "But see here, I call this false pertences. How are you going to play a new part every night of the week, some of "em costoom ones, all out of a grip no bigger than your pocket? You ought to have told me what you _didn"t_ have--if it wouldn"t have taken you too long."
"_You_ ought to have told me I had to play a new part every night," said Loveland, and the young man and the middle-aged one, looking each other straight in the eyes, conceived for one another an intense dislike. "I was given to understand by a person of experience, that I should have enough to get on with until I could buy something--if necessary."
"Well, that depends on how soon you buy," returned Jacobus, less bitterly. "You knew very well that you"d have me on the leg, once you got out here at this G.o.dforsaken place, with your ticket paid. Our show ain"t made of money, especially the past two weeks. Heavens! What a frost! We"ve been livin" on our gleanings from last month (when we were going like smoke) and countin" on the new juvenile lead to help work up better business. That"s why I"m so sore at your cheek, Mr. Gordon, shootin" yourself out West with what you stand up in. But as you _are_ here, we must make the best of a bad business. The girls may like you even with whiskers on your shirtcuffs, and I suppose among us, we"ll rig you up somehow, out of our theatre trunks. That"s what you were layin"
for, eh?"
"Look here, if you"re going to insult me much more, I shall turn round and go back, if I have to walk," said Loveland, cold, hungry, tired and miserable, but with just spirit enough left in him to be furious.
Jacobus saw that he had gone too far, if the juvenile lead were not to slip through his fingers. He did not want that to happen, though he already had an uneasy jealousy of P. Gordon. So used was he to bullying the members of his company, male and female, that he had hardly realised what was likely to be the effect of his sarcasm, until he saw the expression of the newcomer"s face.
"Pshaw!" he exclaimed, laughing. "Don"t you know a joke from an insult in your part of the country? It give me a start to see you land without a wardrobe, and I have a right to be mad; but I"ve just said we"d make the best of it, and help you out all we can. What can we do more? I suppose you don"t grudge me a bit of fun? Come along to the great and glorious city of Modunk, which must have as many as one thousand inhabitants. Hope you don"t mind goin" on Shanks"s Mare? It"s the only kind we"d get in this town--even if we ran to something better; but it ain"t far--about a mile and a half; and your grip can"t weigh much."
Loveland wished that he had no heavier burden to carry than his bag, but he kept the thought to himself, and trudged off with the arbiter of his destiny. The loungers on the bench, too far away to overhear the conversation, guessed that it was not altogether of a friendly nature, and transferred their quids of tobacco to their cheeks, in order to discuss the situation with a new, if fleeting, animation. As he pa.s.sed them to descend the platform steps to the muddy country road, Loveland caught the words, "Show folks."
"Show folks!" Yes, he was one of the show folks.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The Dignity and Delight of Being a Juvenile Lead
"Show folks--show folks! Say, come look at the show men!" Impish little boys and girls yelled to each other, taking up the refrain from cottage to cottage along the roadside, on that Via Dolorosa which led to the town of Modunk.
Loveland p.r.i.c.ked all over, as if with a million stabs of tiny pins, but Jacobus only laughed, and said that it was a good advertis.e.m.e.nt.
Business had been bad during the week at Modunk which would come to an end that night--Sat.u.r.day; but he attributed this ill luck to the fact that the company had been forced, for lack of a juvenile lead, to choose plays which were not the most popular in their repertoire. Things would be different next week, he hoped, when they were going across the river into Kentucky, to a small but lively show town, whence the advance-agent sent encouraging accounts.
He questioned Loveland sharply concerning his theatrical experience, seeming to incline towards distrust since the incident of the travelling bag. Very soon he found out, in all its nakedness, the truth which had been veiled in the letter dictated by Bill; that Mr. Perceval Gordon"s experience had all been as an amateur, and not very extensive at that.
However, as Bill had prophesied, he did not appear to think it mattered much, though he sniffed and "hum"d" a little, by way of curbing the new man"s self-esteem. "You"ve got a good stage presence and voice," said he, "though I don"t know what the folks here will think of that English accent of yours. Pity you can"t talk United States. They"re mighty sharp at guying anything foreign or affected, so don"t be knocked silly if the little boys in the dime seats mock you a bit. Just keep your hair on, and go along as if nothing had happened, and they"ll shut up in a minute or so, when they"ve got used to you."
This was--as Bill would have said--a new "proposition" to Loveland; that he had an "English accent," which might be objected to on the ground of affectation. He had heard a good deal in England about the American accent, and had chaffed Jim Harborough because of it, but as after all the English nation had more or less invented the language current on both sides of the water, he had supposed that theirs was, without question, the only right way of using it. However, opinion seemed to differ over here, and he did not choose to argue with Mr. Jacobus.
The actor-manager watched his new acquisition furtively as he plowed through the mud, and at last interrupted himself in describing with some acerbity the absent members of the company, to remark suddenly: "You look like a soldier."
"I am a soldier," Loveland replied before he stopped to think.
"Oh!" said Jacobus, regarding him keenly. "English army, of course?"
"Yes," answered Val shortly, regretting his frankness.
"H"m! What were you--sergeant?"
Loveland could have broken out into savage laughter. He, a lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards, asked by this seedy theatrical man if he were a sergeant! But he kept his countenance, for fear of committing himself unwittingly under the catechismal fire.
"No. I wasn"t a sergeant," he replied.
"H"m! See here. I hope you didn"t leave the army--er--on short notice, eh? You know what I mean?"
"Do you mean, am I a deserter?" Loveland flashed out, turning red.
"Well, excuse me if I"m offensive. But the arm of Edward is supposed to be a long one, if any of his red coats take a vacation without permission, and _I_ don"t want to get into no trouble with kings. We may not be Noo York stars, but we"re a pretty respectable crowd, take us all round."
"Well, set your mind at rest," said Loveland, swallowing his wrath. "I"m not a deserter, and I shan"t bring disgrace upon your company."
"All right, all right. I"ll take your word for it. I guess there"s nothing else to do, as you"re the only man on the spot. But say, the more I look at you, the more I have a kind of sneaking idea I"ve seen your picture lately. Did you get your photo stuck in any of the theatrical papers, since you landed?"
"No," Loveland replied; but flushed again, instantly guessing where and in what connection Jacobus must have seen his portrait--a sketch, or some snapshot, perhaps. Evidently the man did not yet a.s.sociate him with anything in particular, but the connection between the new juvenile lead and a certain Englishman made notorious by one or two New York papers might at any instant link itself in Mr. Jacobus"s head. This Loveland was far from desiring: not that he thought his value to the management would be decreased by the discovery--rather the contrary, judging by his experience with Alexander--but because he could not bear to repeat that experience.
Luckily, Jacobus did not pursue the subject, which apparently interested him less than others. When he had described the members of his company according to his own conception of their characters and social status, he went on to tell the new recruit something about the parts he would be required to play. Then it was that Loveland learned the esoteric difference between being a leading man, and a "juvenile lead."
Jack Jacobus was himself, it seemed, leading man for Miss Lillie de Lisle, the Little Human Flower: "Heavy Lead" he called it, but to the Heavy Lead apparently belonged all the really good parts in the company"s repertoire. Their productions struck Loveland as being wonderfully good for a strolling troupe, playing week by week in extremely small towns, but Jacobus laughed when he remarked that it must be expensive to obtain the rights of such popular pieces as Sidney Cremer"s, for instance, and to put them on the stage properly.
"Properly!" he echoed, grinning. "Well, that depends. Folks here ain"t perticular about scenery. They don"t travel, and don"t have no chance to see anything better than we give "em. I guess I may as well let you into the secrets of the prison-house, for you"re one of us now, and you"ll soon find out for yourself, anyhow, what we are, for good and bad. We carry six men in our show, counting me and you, and there ain"t many pieces we put on, except Sidney Cremer"s comedies, where there"s less than a dozen or fifteen male characters, sometimes more. We all double; sometimes each one of us--even me--the leading man, because I ain"t proud, and needs must when somebody drives--manages to do two or three small parts besides his own. It takes it out of us, but it"s all in the night"s work. What characters we can"t double we leave out. Same with the women. We carry four of them, counting Lillie herself, and they earn their money. You see, we _must_ bill popular pieces, melodramas and comedies mostly, or we shouldn"t get no houses; so we can"t choose plays with few characters to please lazy actors. As for the rights to produce--why, we don"t trouble ourselves about them, any more than we do about the pasts of our juvenile leading gentlemen. It simply don"t run to it. What we want we take. Good motto in this life, eh? There are fellows make their livin" by writin" down the words and biz of successful plays, in shorthand, copyin" "em out at home, and then sellin" "em on the sly to poor but honest show folks like us, who must live but can"t afford luxuries. It"s quite an industry. "Pirates," the Puritans call our sort, but it don"t kill us--or our business. And as we always work only the smallest towns, which the stage papers don"t touch, it ain"t as risky as you"d think, though once in a way the police do shove their noses in where n.o.body wants them, and I confess I"m a bit scared about Sidney Cremer"s new piece, which we"re just puttin" up.
Say, you"re lookin" kind o" sick. I hope _you_ ain"t one of the Puritans, are you? Don"t they have shows of our sort in your country?"
Loveland said he really didn"t know; but as he hastened to add he was not a Puritan, and anyhow, Mr. Jacobus"s business was his own, that gentleman did not feel called upon to translate into words the thoughts his eyes had begun to express.
Mr. Perceval Gordon, it appeared, was expected to play seven parts, at the least, during the season, and must be "letter-perfect" in the first one by that very night. It was, however, but a small role; that of an old man, who conveniently expired at the end of the first act in great agony. It was, the manager explained, a "fat acting part," though there weren"t many lines to speak; and--yes, certainly, a juvenile lead was occasionally expected to play old men or, indeed, to do anything he was asked to do; and an amateur like Mr. Gordon might think himself jolly lucky to get varied experience under such stage management as he would find in the Human Flower"s company. This particular piece, a melodrama called "The Dead Hand," had been chosen for the closing night of the engagement at Modunk because the part for the juvenile lead wasn"t too long or difficult to "get up in" with one rehearsal, which they would have after noon; and indeed the Dead Hand was to be that of Mr. Gordon himself. He would appear as a ghost near the end of the last act, and wave the said hand behind a gauze, with strong lime-light turned upon it; which was the scene which made the part so "fat." Also, incidentally, at a ball, he would be asked to "walk on" as a young gentleman of fashion. Could he waltz? Good! Then he should have Mrs.
Jacobus for his partner, as she liked a decent dancer in that scene, where she had experienced considerable trouble with awkward brutes who stepped on her "party dress." Mrs. Jacobus--known professionally as Miss Thora Moon, was--her husband went on to state--Miss de Lisle"s leading lady, who played adventuresses, villainesses, and important parts of that ilk, to the Human Flower"s soubrettes and ingenues.
"My wife had some money--when I married her," he mentioned, with an introspective look, accompanied by a faint sigh. Thus Loveland was enabled to guess how it was that Mr. Jacobus might have been induced to forget his early _penchant_ for Miss de Lisle, Bill"s "little gal."
A bitter wind was blowing, but exercise kept Loveland warm, and he did not envy Jacobus the overcoat, which the actor was obliged to hold together with one cold, red hand (as several b.u.t.tons were missing) while he frantically seized the brim of his silk hat with the other, each time they turned a corner. At last they came into the town of Modunk, which consisted of one long business thoroughfare, named, of course, Main Street, and various other avenues sacred to the home, branching off from it at right angles and regular intervals.
Main Street was paved with red brick, and most of the residence streets were content with a coating of tar, or else they wallowed in their native mud. The shops, or "stores," as Jacobus called them, appeared depressingly unattractive to Loveland, though they were not inferior to those in villages of the same size in England or Scotland. Millinery, "dry goods," and groceries were sold in the same establishments, and seemed to the uninitiated eye to be hopelessly mixed in some of the show windows. Most of the private houses were built of wood, painted white, brown, grey or pale green. They had outside shutters to the windows, such as Loveland a.s.sociated with Southern France, and stood surrounded with neat little "yards" fenced off from each other and publicity by painted or whitewashed palings. There were, however, a few more pretentious houses, rising from among less important neighbours, with the air of being mansions. They were of brick, or stone, but Loveland liked the little frame houses best, and was hoping he might be lodged in one of them, when Jacobus stopped in Main Street, in front of an ugly, new building constructed of wood and brick. There was a kind of veranda, above which appeared a large signboard with the words "Smith"s Hotel" in green and gold letters.
"Here we are," said Jacobus, sighing as he looked at his mud-encrusted patent leathers. "The whole crowd"s here. I"ll show you to your room, and by the time you"ve had a wash, if you want it, dinner"ll be ready. I guess you"ll be ready for _it_, too!"
"What--dinner at half-past twelve?" asked Loveland.