to two dollars a week. Mr. Carte
declined to grant it, and Mansfield quit.

But, on the strength of his first engagement, it was not a heaven and
earth raising matter to secure a second, and, like all the rest of his
ambitious British brother actors, he steered his course across the
Atlantic. He found a chance to appear as _Dromez_ in the comic opera "Les
Manteaux Noirs," which was done in New York at the Standard Theater, now
known as the Manhattan.

This was in the early eighties. His next venture was _Nick Vedder_ in a
musical setting of "Rip Van Winkle," after which he returned to the
Gilbert and Sullivan line and appeared as the _Lord Chancellor_ in
"Iolanthe."

A Lucky Misfortune.

And right here steps in one of the luckiest misfortunes that ever befell a
man. For had Mansfield not turned his ankle while dancing as the
_Chancellor_ in Baltimore he _might_ have remained in comic opera until he
disputed twentieth century honors in the field with De Wolf Hopper and
Jeff De Angelis.

The accident put him out of the cast and sent him back to New York, right
in the path of A.M. Palmer, who happened to be looking for somebody to do
_Tirandel_ in "A Parisian Romance." This was a small part, but, being in
straight drama rather than comic opera, was regarded by Mansfield as a
step upward, and he did not hesitate about accepting the engagement.

What followed has been told so often from the Mansfield side that the
reader may be glad to get the story in the words of the man who made it
possible for a fellow actor to lift himself in a night from obscurity to
fame. I quote from "Recollections of a Player," by James H. Stoddart,
whose last creation on the boards was _Lachlan_, in "The Bonnie Brier
Bush," and who is now living in retirement at his home in Sewaren, New
Jersey.

From the Memoirs of James H. Stoddart.

"After the reading of the play the company were unanimous in their opinion
that 'A Parisian Romance' was a _one-part piece_, and that part the
_Baron_, and all the principals had their eye on him. After some delay and
much expectancy, the role was given to me. Miss Minnie Conway, who was a
member of the company and had seen the play in Paris, said that she
thought the _Baron_ a strange part to give me.

"'It's a Lester Wallack part,' she said.

"This information rather disconcerted me, but I rehearsed the part for
about a week, and then, being convinced that it did not suit me, I went to
Mr. Palmer an