A COMEDIAN’S REVENGE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1200, 27 February 1885, Page 3

A COMEDIAN’S REVENGE.

In Rouen, s mo years back at the Theatre des Arts, tho leading comedian gave sn much trouhl to the management by hilaziness and general neglect of duty that, after having recourse to the powers of law, the engagement of the refractory artiste was cancelled. Thus cast upon the world, the actor vowedreiengo, and an opportunity soon presented itself for carrying out his purpose. Tho director announced his first appearance in the principal rdle of a tremendous sensational dram a. in five or six acts and innumerable tableaux. The .piece began, and all progressed merrily to the middle of the third act, when the manager who was the heavy villain, occupied the stage alone, and went through an interminable soliloquy. A door at the back suddenly opened, and, to hia astonishment, the comedian he had dismissed from the theatre slowly stalked down to the footlighs, dressed in deep black, with long ringlet®, Hessian boots and Ins make up in a most e daverous fashion. In sepulchral tones he addressed tho furious impressario Thou did’stnot expect me I” ‘ ‘ Get away 1” roared the other, foaming with rago. “’Tis well,” said the actor, unmoved ; “ Igo, but I will soon return. Ha, ha 1 and he slowly made a majestic exit. Tho public were delighted with the new character, as they thought, aud amused themselves between tho acta by trying to guess who this mya*

tenons visitor won!' turn out to be - Directly the curtain came down, tlie manager, half crazy, soa one I everywhere, ami threatened to ilisulurcm eveiv-U)e in the theatre,but without auai ; no one -corned to know where this tormentor was hidden The fourth aot was nearly over, and onc.i more the traitor of the play was alone o i the stage. A trap door opened almost beneath bis feat, and the incorrigible comedian again appeared paler and more sombre looking than ever. “ I said T would coma back.,.behold me !” he exclaimed. The enraged lessee began to have enough of a joke, and, an idea suddenly striking him, he resolved to put an end to the visits of the strange personage. Taking from bis breast a pistol, which he was to use in the concluding scene he aimed it at the actor. “ Angel or demon whatever thou art, persecute me no more ! ’ He then pressed the trigger, and the malicious comedian, who had not counted upon the presence of mind of his victim, could do nothing better than pretend to fall moitally wounded As for the spectators, they were completely dazed ; the plot of the drama itself was extremely complicated, without the addition of a character whose appearance succeeded in sending them home in a state of seeming perplexity bordering on insanity. The company laughed heartily at the fun ; and the manager obliged to join in the genemirth, thought that the only way to get rid ■>f so dangerous an adversary was to reengage him, which he accordingly did, and the two became f is' friends.