Page:Once a Clown, Always a Clown.djvu/126

ONCE A CLOWN, ALWAYS A CLOWN I feared it might be so. "The Fortune Hunter" was in the midst of its long run at the Gaiety Theater, the same house that later saw the even longer runs of "Turn to the Right" and "Lightnin'." Jack Barrymore made one of his earliest successes in this play. I knew him and every one else in the cast with one exception. That was Charles Fisher, then a man of more than seventy, who played the banker whose convulsive twitching of the eye was so misinterpreted by Barrymore.

It was a sweltering night. There was not a breath of air in the theater unless it was the distingué air of the patrons, and that was hot air. During an intermission I went backstage to visit and found the cast all sitting in the alley, fanning and mopping. Some one introduced me to Mr. Fisher and I made a point of emphasizing my enjoyment of his work, really feeling very sorry for the old gentleman, who, on such a night, looked more nearly ninety than seventy.

"This is a very great pleasure, Mr. Hopper," the veteran told me. "I have wanted to know you for many, many years. My old father often has spoken to me of you and his friendship with you."

I maintained a commendable composure at