Between You and Me

en; I could keep a bit o' the siller I earned, and I could think about singing once in a while. There were concerts, at times, when a contest was put on to draw the crowd, and whenever I compet

ng piece, but it meant as

f the other singers g

" he said. "There's th

certain to

always had folk I knew well, friends of mine, for my audience before, and it was a nerve racking experience. I dressed in character, and th

ld Toora

look im

chain are

cost eig

and coll

rs he's

stand as

oorall

was turned a bit. But I'd been thinking for some time of doing a rash thing. I was newly married then, d'ye ken, and I was thinkin' it

oing to chuck the mine

d's ma

d not stand in my way. I wish more wives were like her, bless her! Then there'd be fewer men moaning of their lost chances to win fame and fortune. Many a time my wife's saved me from a mistake, but she's never

m tellin' ye, before we quit and crept into bed

f every thing, and it can do no harm to try. If things don't

concert party that was about to mak' a Scottish tour. He wanted a comic, and, after we'd exchanged two or three letters we had an interv

he noo! And for me it was a fortune. I'd been doing well, in the mine, if I earned fifteen in a week. And this was for doing what I wou

hire. First, when we arrived in a town, I had to see that all the trunks and bags were taken from the station to the hall. Then I would set out with a pile of

k called for more ingenuity than I had ever before supposed that I possessed. But there was no rest for me, even then; I had to be back at the hall after tea and check up part of the house. And then all I had to do

t all my days underground. I welcomed the work that went with the engagement, for it kept me much out of doors, and even when I was bu

ver and go to sleep again! Then there was the travelling, too. I had always wanted to see Scotland, and now, in these fourteen weeks, I saw more of my native land than, as a miner, I

some in an audience seek me out and tell me that he or she heard me sing during those fourteen

the hall was crowded at every performance-though the management had raise

rd Harry si

her an

I ha

ill ye

as better than he is the noo, for twapence!

re she was'na richt! But d

st. I was nervous when the end came. I wondered if I would ever get another engagement. It seemed a venturesome thi

the money in my wife's lap. As for her, she behaved as if she thought her husband had come hame a millionaire. The new engagement was for onl

e advertisements, and answer everyone that looked as if it might come to anything. And then I'd sit and wait

as easy-aye, it was easier!-to work while I waited, since wait I must. I hauled down my old greasy working clothes, and went off to the pithead.

who had never liked me, was at pains to let me hear his opinion, which was that

than ever that I had it in me to make my mark as a singer of comic songs. I had listened to other singers now, and I was certain that I had a new way of delivering a song. My audiences had made me feel that I was going about the task of plea

as disappointed each evening. Then, finally, the letter I had been looking for came. It was from J. C. MacDonald, and he wanted to know if I could accept an engagement at the Gre

ctor wore a coat with a fur trimmed collar-it was almost like a badge of rank. And I maun be as braw as any of them. The wife smiled quietly as she sewed it on for me, and I was a proud wee man when I strolled into

for an engagement, and once more I went back to the pit. I folded the ast

re sae lang," I told the coat a

audiences. He used his influence and recommended me on all sides, and finally, and, this time,

itten to accept it, "I'm thinkin' it'll be sink or swim this

ooked

" I went on. "I'll stick to it this time and see whether I can mak' a living for us

he said: "It's yersel' ye must please

ns to an artist to open or close a bill? If ye're to open ye have to start before anyone's in the theatre; if ye close, ye sing to the backs of people crowdin' one another

usic Halls. It was at the Scotia that a man shouted at me one of the hardest things I ever had to hear. I ha

the pit, man!

and, somehow, I managed to go on. They weren't afraid, ever, in yon days, to speak their minds in the gallery-they'd soon let ye know if they'd had enough of ye and yer tur

four pounds a week-ten shillings more than before. And this time my position on the bill was much better; I neither closed nor opened the show, and so got more

t assured of a certain success then; I knew, at least, that I could alway

en afraid they'd think I was taking them seriously, and call me stuck up and conceited. But now I was getting near that great sum, and was sure to get all

I'm thinkin'. I was no satisfied at all wi' my prospects and I set