During our brief stoppage at Denver one of the other sergeants had purchased him some medicine which he was in the habit of taking. About two o'clock in the morning he became very violent, and it was found necessary to cut the bell-cord running through the carriage in order to tie him down. I then gave orders to the sergeant-major to place him in a bed and have him watched by alternate reliefs of the other sergeants, changing every two hours.
About four in the morning, in the midst of a terrific thunderstorm, accompanied by torrents of rain, I was alarmed by the sudden entry of the sergeant-major, stating that the invalid under his charge had opened the window and taken a header straight out.
There was great difficulty in stopping the train in consequence of the absence of the bell-cord; but we ultimately succeeded in doing so. Numbers of us went out to look for the poor man's remains, the vivid flashes of lightning assisting us in our search. As the water on each side of the railway was several feet deep, and as the sergeant was nowhere to be found on the line, we concluded after three hours' search that he must be drowned, and again started the train, leaving word at the first station of the misfortune that had happened.
In consequence of this delay we did not reach Kansas City until half-past ten at night, when a portion of the public met us to express in rather a marked manner their extreme disapprobation. It was afterwards explained to me that nearly every seat in the house had been sold, and that had we arrived in time we should have taken at least £800, which, in my straitened circumstances, would have been of considerable assistance.
We prosecuted our journey straight through to Louisville, Kentucky. But here, too, we failed to arrive at the proper time. The train being so many hours late, we did not reach our destination till eleven o'clock at night, when the audience, who had been waiting some considerable time, had gone home very irate. Minnie Hauk having rejoined us the following evening we played Carmen to but a moderate house, in consequence of the public having lost all confidence in the undertaking. In settling up with the manager he deducted the whole of my share of the receipts, stating that they would partly compensate him for the losses incident to our non-arrival the first night, as well as on the previous night, and for the general falling off in the receipts caused by these mishaps. We afterwards went to the station to take the train for Indianapolis; but on arriving there I found that the Sheriffs had seized and attached, not only all the scenery, properties, dresses, and everybody's boxes, but the whole of my railway carriages; and it was only with the greatest possible difficulty, by giving an order on the next city, that I got the train released. I had, of course, to pay the Sheriff's costs, which were exceedingly heavy.
On arriving at Indianapolis very meagre receipts awaited us, these being absorbed entirely by the railway people on the order which I had given from Louisville. There were likewise sundry claims from San Francisco. During the whole of my stay in Indianapolis I was unable to obtain even a single dollar from the management. I, however, arranged by anticipating the coming week's receipts to clear up all my liabilities and get under way for Cincinnati, where the results of our engagement were something atrocious. The theatre was almost empty nightly, the public, by reason of the threatened riots, being afraid to go out in the streets.
I was now forced, in order to meet the large demands for railway fares, to drop at successive stations scenery, costumes, and properties. At one place an immense box, containing nothing but niggers' wigs, mustachios, and beards, made by Clarkson, of London, passed from my hands into those of the Sheriffs, who held an attachment against it. When I found it necessary to part at one station with L'Africaine, at another to separate myself from William Tell, and at a third to cast away the whole of Il Trovatore and a bit of Semiramide, I felt like the Russian mother who, to secure her own safety, threw her children one after the other to the wolves.
I cannot, however, say that the wolves of the law are worse in America than in other countries. They bear the same honoured names that one is accustomed to among the members of the profession in happy England. I was interested, moreover, to learn that the Levys, the Isaacs, the Aarons, and the Solomons of the United States are all related to the Levys, Isaacs, Aarons, and Solomons of our own favoured land. I had so much to do with them, from the beginning of the retreat from Frisco until my arrival at New York, and the eve of my departure for Europe, that they ended by treating me as their friend, and made me free of their guild. They entertained me also at dinner, and gave me a badge; and when my health was drunk I was assured that in future I should be treated like a brother: for, said the speaker, referring to the fact that I myself was now a Sheriff, "Dog doesn't eat dog."
To return to my story, contracts having been given out for repairing the roads and repaving the city, in consequence of some league amongst the various contractors all the streets had been left unpaved at the same time; and as soon as every paving stone was up a general strike took place. It was impossible for a carriage to pass along anywhere without getting upset by the hillocks of stones. Suddenly we heard that the anarchists were rising, and now the city was filled with State militia accompanied by numerous Gatling guns for the purpose of clearing the streets. These things in combination so injured the business of the Opera that the theatre was empty every night. In many instances choristers were afraid to go through the streets to fulfil their duties.
We were now rejoined by Mdlle. Fohström, also by Mdme. Nordica; but all looked very unpromising. Our previous mishaps had been so much written about, telegraphed, and in every way exaggerated by the various papers, that all confidence seemed to have been withdrawn from us, and it was with the greatest possible difficulty we could carry through our performances.