A Gentleman Player

rst sight?"-Quoted in "As You Like I

ess; was built on a brick and stone foundation, and was encircled by a ditch for drainage. It was, in fact, the Globe Theatre; and the flag and trumpet meant that the "Lord Chamberlain's servants" were about to begin their performance, which, as the bill outside the door told in rough letters, was to be that of a new "Tragicall Historie of Hamlet Prince of Denmark," written by William Shakespeare. London folk knew

these was a raised platform divided into boxes called "rooms," whose fronts were hung with painted cloth. The stage and the actors' tiring-room behind it were under a roof of thatch. The boxes had the galleries for cover. But the great central O-shaped space, known as the "yard," where self-esteeming citizens, and assertive sc

anifestly there to get the worth of their eightpence or sixpence apiece, in solid entertainment. The apple-chewing, nut-cracking, fighting apprentices and riff-raff in the topmost gallery were turbulently ready for fun and tumult, whether in the play or of their own making. In the

room, which was the box immediately overlooking the stage; or would pass to a place on the rush-covered stage itself, he or his Page_bearing thither a three-legged stool, hired of a theatre boy for sixpence. There, on similar stools at the sides of the stage, he would

e, said, lispingly, to another, and with a ki

of Southampton shall again sit he

on of his friend, the Earl of Essex, who had died on the block in Febr

e rush with which he had been tickling a third lord's ear. "Don't you know, the chamberlain's actors are ord

allying at the feet of a gentlewoman in Blackfriars, the past

ds have new pieces ready for the country towns, especially for the universities. These chamberlain's actors were parlously thick with the Essex plotter

black drapery with which the stage was

ered to the country. Burn me if I know how a high-hearted knave like Shakespeare, that gentlemen admit to their company, and that has had

d as to the face, some walking to and fro, repeating their lines in undertones, with preoccupied and anxious air; and so well did Master Shakespeare overcome the agitations of an author who was to receive five pounds for his new play, and of a stage-manager on whom its success largely depended, that he seemed the least excited person in the room. He had put on the armor for the part of the gh

by ferry or afoot by London Bridge or from the immediate neighborhood. At sound of the trumpet, the crowd in the theatre uttered the grateful "Ah!" and other exclamations natural to the moment. From the tiring-room the subordinate actor who played the first sentinel had already passed to his post on the stage, by way of the door in the partition and of

high-placed narrow windows. It touched the face of one tall, slender young player, whose mustaches required a close inspection to detect that they were false,-for at that time, when the use of dye was general, it was common for natural beards to look artificial. The hair of this youth's head also was brown, but it was hi

eeled shoes,-who had been gliding about, now with every step and attitude of the gentle damsel he seemed to be, now

an Master Shakespeare himself, and he writ the play. See how he claps his head-piece on, to go a

ss; but seeing that the clever boy "Ophelia" was n

ront of the theatre,-a fellow with the world on his back. May I be racked if

ourneyman. God knows thou art bold enough in a tavern or a brawl! Look at Mr. Burbage,-

man, with a thoughtful face, a fine brow, a princely port; like Shakespeare, he was calm, but while Shakespeare had an eye for everything but apparently the part himself was to pl

who was gazing at him with a malicious smile evidently caused by Hal's ill-concealed disquietude

bore marks of dissipation, "I'm less like to deny having been a shoemaker, which

rol himself to retort, an actor in a rich robe and a false white be

ow it, if he doth at times assert his gentle blood, 'tis when forced to it; and then 'tis by act and ma

s, "Master Crowe had picked out the part of Laertes for himself; and because Mast

ling thy face for the play, I'd put thee in thy

ed Corambis (such was the name of Poloniu

mportant parts, lest the play be essenti

ntleman here will stay as late at the tavern, and be roar

ened Osric. Left to his thoughts, the Laertes, nervously twirling his false mustaches, followed the ex-shoemaker with his eyes, and meditated on the latter's insolence. The more he reviewed it, and his own failure to rebuke it properly, the more wrathful he inwardly became. His ange

rry? They wait for

in a kind of panic. The audience moved and murmured, restlessly, during the king's long speech, and Hal, imagining that his own embarrassment was perceptible to all, made an involuntary step backward toward the side of the stage. He thus trod on the toe of one of the noble spectators, who was making a note in his tables, and who retaliated with an ejaculation and a kick. Feeling that some means must be taken to attain composure, the more as his heart seemed to beat

Laertes?" the king was re

f dismay toward the entrance. His eyes caught those of Shakespeare, who had parted the arras curtains sufficiently to be visible to the players. Rather in astonishment than in repro

d my

favor to retu

hushed for a moment at the play's opening, and again at the appearance of the ghost, was not complet

fter the king and courtiers, he craved the pardon

happened to all o

self, and the stay he had caused in the play. His chagrin was none the less for that it was his friend and benefactor Shakespeare that had nominated him for the part of Laert

"Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord," Hal happened to let his glance wander past the old man, and across a surging mass of heads in a part of the y

st feminine beauty she had something of the uncurbed spirit and rashness of a fiery young gentleman. Her hair and eyes were dark, her skin fair and clear and smooth, her forehead not too high, her chin masterful but most exquisitely shaped, her cheeks rich with natural color. In fine, she was of pronounced beauty, else Master Marryott had not forgot himself to look at her. Upon her head was a small gray velvet hat, peak

and a masked lady, who shrank as far as possible into the shadow of the box corner. Standing in the yard, but clos

the lady, held the ravished Laer

phelia; and

ave said

nner, that the nearest auditors laughed. The Corambis and Ophelia, seeking the cause of his sudden lap

my memo

lf shall keep

y he backed toward the rear curtains, and was so slow in making his exit, that Corambis, whose next line required to be spoken in Laertes's

charming face. These drove away also all heed of the presence of Crowe. Hal would have liked to mount the steps to the balcony at the rear of the stage, in which the unemployed actors might s

ut, even when a breathless hush presently told of some unusual interest on the part of the audience; and he was then but distantly sensible

n as an attendant in the presence-chamber scene. His first glance was for the

s scene, to the blare of trumpet and the music of instruments in a box aloft,-violins, shawms, sackbuts, and dulcimers,-he saw that the lady was still masked. His presence on the stage t

ngs, when the king fled, could have been heard as far as the bear-garden." "But the stillness of both lords and groundlings before that," said Master Heminge,-"never was such stillness when To

of winning the young lady's applause, of hastening his own advancement to that fortune which would put him in proper state to approach a wealthy gentlewoman. Perhaps she was one of those who were privileged to attend the Christmas court performances. Could he first win her admiration in some fine part at Whitehall, th

ing on in undertone among the groups standing about, or sitting on the tables, chairs, stools, and chests that awaited their time of service on the stage,-for, although scenery was merely suggested by word or symbol, furniture and properties, like costume and makeup, were then used in the

cast one swift glance toward the lady's box, to see how she had

oking again and again to ascertain if his eyes had not deceived him; but neither was she there, nor the other lady, nor the gentleman, nor the Page_in green who had

and less interesting one that came almost immediately after. He carried this f

sion half amused, half sympathetic. At this, in place of which he had deserved a chiding, Hal was freshly stricken, and more deeply th

I swear I'll make amends

play was over. And, moreover, what a fool should he be, to throw away this chance of advancement that might equip him for some possible future meeting

this short scene so excellent a frenzy that, on coming off the stage, he was greeted with a quiet "Sir, that was well played," from Burbage himself, who had made exit a moment e

Gil's face sou

nd it instead in a single approbative look from Shakespeare; and then, choosing

nts, and before the memorable lawsuit with the Berkshire branch of the family had taken the ancestral roof from over his head, and driven him to London to seek what he might find, he had practised daily with the blade, under whatever tuition came his way. In London he had picked up what was to be learned from exiled Frenchmen, soldiers who had fought in Flanders and Spain, and other students of the steel,

to the facile play of the Laertes, who indeed had the skill to cover up his antagonist's deficiency with the weapon, and to make him appear really the victor. The courteous manner in which Hal confessed himself hit put the spectators into suitable mind for the better perceiving of his merit. There could be little doubt as to the outcome, had the fight been real

s coming, Master Marry

ards were in turn covered with dead bodies, when the curtains closed, and the audience could be heard bustling noisily out of the theatre, Hal partook of the general jubilant relief, and hoped the beautiful young lady had inde

eminge, Sly, Condell, and Laurence Fletcher, manager for the company of players. The six walked off together, across the trodden field and along the street or roadway, drawing their short cloaks tight around them for the wind. The Falcon tavern was at

s. "We may hear an opinion of the play. My lord Edg

tended to be reading one of thei

fustian! Noise for the rabble in the yard. 'Twill last a week, perchance, fo

is more liberal than Gil Crowe, who gives it but three afternoon

with wet blankets and cold water. On this occasion, though no one knew it at the time, you were a trifle out of your reckoning,-three hund