A few memories

lG4 A FEW MEMORIES
at the possibility of being hit by his opponent's sword, that even before it had crossed his own he invariably fell stiffly upon the stage. He was told that he was not to drop dead until he had been struck; but he continued doing so, and finally, losing his head entirely, ran wildly upon the stage and fell before the fight had even begun. The stage manager's angry " There's that infernal corpse again !" put an abrupt end to Pat's engagement.
The Edinburgh public is free from the indiscriminate enthusiasm of the Irish, and yet never falls into the constraint and formality of the provincial English theatre-goers. It was to me the most delightful of all audiences: always attentive, breathlessly silent during the development of a situation, waiting not only until the climax was readied, but until it was finished, before bursting into a recognition as spontaneous as it was intelligent. They gave their tears as generously as their laughter, and it was not only a pleasure but a help and an incentive to one's best efforts to appear before them. As half of a poem lies with the reader, so half of an actor's effects lies with his audience, and often the best half.
The historic and romantic interest attached to