A Pirate of Parts

By RICHARD NEVILLE

NEW YORK
The Neale Publishing Company
1913

All rights reserved

To my sister, Mrs. Mary Hughes, who for years has been associated with several of the most notable presentations on the American stage and with many of the most prominent and talented of American players, both male and female.

"BILL OF THE PLAY"

I.—Is all our company here?—Shakespeare
II.—What stories I'll tell when my sojerin' is o'er.—Lever
III.—Come all ye warmheart'd countrymen I pray you will draw near.—Old Ballad
IV.—Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of ground.—Shakespeare
V.—I would rather live in Bohemia than in any other land.—John Boyle O'Reilly
VI.—What strange things we see and what queer things we do.—Modern Song
VII.—He employs his fancy in his narrative and keep his recollections for his wit.—Richard Brindsley Sheridan
VIII.—Every one shall offer according to what he hath.—Deut.
IX.—One man in his time plays many parts.—Shakespeare
X.—Originality is nothing more than judicious imitation.—Voltaire
XI.—All places that the eye of heaven visits are happy havens.—Shakespeare
XII.—There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio.—Shakespeare
XIII.—Life is mostly froth and bubble.—The Hill
XIV.—Nature hath fram'd strange fellows in her time.—Shakespeare
XV.—Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day.—Shakespeare
XVI.—A new way to pay old debts.
XVII.—The actors are at hand.—Shakespeare
XVIII.—Twinkle, twinkle little star.—Nursery Rhymes
XIX.—Experience is a great teacher—the events of life its chapters.—Sainte Beuve
XX.—I am not an imposter that proclaim myself against the level of my aim.—Shakespeare
XXI.—I'll view the town, peruse the traders, gaze upon the buildings.—Shakespeare
XXII.—Is this world and all the life upon it a farce or vaudeville.—Geo. Elliott
XXIII.—All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players.—Shakespeare
XXIV.—There's nothing to be got nowadays, unless thou can'st fish for it.—Shakespeare
XXV.—Joy danced with Mirth, a gay fantastic crowd.—Collins
XXVI.—Say not "Good Night," but in some brighter clime bid me "Good Morning."—Barbauld

A Pirate of Parts

CHAPTER I

"Is all our company here?"

—Midsummer Night's Dream.

Yes, he was a strolling player pure and simple. He was an actor by profession, and jack of all trades through necessity. He could play any part from Macbeth to the hind leg of an elephant, equally well or bad, as the case might be. What he did not know about a theatre was not worth knowing; what he could not do about a playhouse was not worth doing—provided you took his word for it. From this it might be inferred he