soon reach the
frontier."

I may say without egotism, that I got through the part remarkably well,
and I certainly kept the audience in a continual roar of laughter. Mrs.
Raymond occupied a front seat;--and her encouraging smile sustained me
throughout the play. When the piece was over, I was loudly called for.

"Now, my boy," said Brother Pratt to me, "go in front of the curtain and
make a rip-staving speech--I know you can do it. Say that at the urgent
solicitation of the manager, you have consented to appear to-morrow
night as Jem Baggs, in the Wandering Minstrel."

"Very good," said I, "but these people will now want to see the ring
which Queen Victoria presented to me. How shall I manage that?"

"Easy enough," replied the Brother, as he drew from his pocket and
handed me a big brass ring ornamented with a piece of common glass about
the size of a hen's egg.

Out I stepped in front of the curtain. A bouquet as large as a cabbage
struck me in the face, and fell at my feet. The giver of this delicate
compliment was an ancient female very youthfully dressed. I picked up
the bouquet, and pressed it to my heart. This was affecting, it melted
the audience to tears. Silence having been obtained, I made a bombastic
speech, which Brother Pratt afterwards declared to be the best he had
ever heard delivered in front of the "green baize." I spoke of being a
stranger in a strange land, of the warm welcome which I received, of
eternal gratitude, of bearing with me beyond the ocean the remembrance
of their kindness, admitted that I was closely allied to the British
aristocracy, but declared that my sentiments were purely republican and
in favor of the "Star-Spangled Banner."

Here there was a tempest of applause and when it had subsided, the
orchestra, consisting of a fiddle and a bass-drum, struck up the
favorite national air which my words had suggested. Then I exhibited the
diamond ring which had been presented to me by the Queen of England;
and, as the spectators viewed the royal gift, the most profound silence
prevailed among them. When I had sufficiently gratified them by
displaying the lump of brass and glass, I remarked that I would appear
on the next evening as Jem Baggs in the Wandering Minstrel. This
announcement was received with shouts of approbation; and bowing almost
to the foot-lights, I withdrew.

The next night, the audience was equally large and enthusiastic, and my
"farewell speech" was so deeply a