On one occasion Cooke and two or three
friends secreted themselves beneath the stage, in the hope of stealing
out during the performance and joining the audience by means of an
opening in a dark passage leading to the pit. Discovery and
ignominious ejection followed upon this experiment. Another essay led
to a curious adventure. Always on the alert to elude the vigilance of
the doorkeeper, the boys again effected an entrance into the theatre.
The next consideration was how to bestow themselves in a place of
concealment until the time for raising the curtain should arrive, when
they might hope, in the confusion and bustle behind the scenes, to
escape notice, and enjoy the marvels of the show. "Cooke," records his
biographer, "espied a barrel, and congratulating himself on this safe
and snug retreat, he crept in, like the hero of that immortal modern
drama, 'Tekeli.'" Unfortunately this hiding-place was one of
considerable peril. Cooke perceived that for companion tenants of his
barrel he had two large cannon-balls--twenty-four pounders; but being
as yet but incompletely initiated into the mysteries of the scene, he
did not suspect the theatrical use to which these implements of war
were constantly applied.
Pages:
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477