He had originally preferred
tragedy, but the first consideration was the getting upon the stage by any
means. Having industriously worked his way out of the chorus, he had been
reconciled by habit to his environment, and had come to aspire to eminence
therein. He had reached the standing of a secondary comedian,--that is to
say, a man playing secondary comic roles in the pieces for which he is
cast. He was useful in such companies as were directly or indirectly
controlled by their leading comedians, for there never could be any fears
of his outshining those autocratic personages. Only in his wildest hopes
did he ever look upon the centre of the stage as a spot possible for him to
attain.
His means of evoking laughter upon the stage were laborious on his part and
mystifying to the thoughtful observer. He took noticeable means to change
from his real self. It mattered not what was the nature of the part he
filled, he invariably assumed an unnatural, rasping voice; he stretched
his mouth to its utmost reach and lowered the extremities of his lips; he
turned his toes inward (naturally his feet described an abnormal angle) and
bowed his arms.
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