rson made her first great
theatrical tour through the States. In spite of now and then a cold, or
even hostile press, her progress was very like a triumph. In many places
she created an absolute _furore_, hundreds being turned away at the
theater doors. Indeed, it was no uncommon occurrence for an ordinary seat
whose advertised price was seventy-five cents to sell at as high a premium
as twenty-five dollars. The management reaped a rich harvest, and Mary
Anderson played on this Southern trip to more money than any previous
actor, excepting only Edwin Forrest. There was still one drop of bitter in
this cup of sweetness and success. The company, jealous of the prominence
given to one whom they regarded as a mere untried girl, proceeded to add
what they could to her difficulties by "boycotting" her. There were two
exceptions among the gentlemen actors; and we are pleased to be able to
record that one of these was an Englishman. The ladies were unanimous in
proclaiming a war to the knife!

Needless to say the impassioned youth of the New World now and then
pursued the wandering star in her travels at immense expenditure of time
and money, as well as of floral decorations. This is young America's way
of showing his admiration for a favorite actress. He is silent and
unobtrusive. He makes his presence known by the midnight serenade beneath
her windows; by the bouquets which fall at her feet on every
representation, and are sent to the room of her hotel at the same hour
each day; by his constant attendance on the departure platform at the
railway station. We are not sure that this silent worship which so often
persistently followed her path was displeasing to Mary Anderson. It
touched, if not her heart, yet that poetic vein which runs through her
nature, and reminded her sometimes of the vain pursuit with which
Evangeline followed her wandering lover.

Manager Ford had taken Mary Anderson through the South with great profit
to himself. In this she had had no direct pecuniary interest beyond her
modest salary. She had, of course, greatly enriched her reputation if not
her purse. She had become at home in her parts, and even added to her
_repertoire_, the manager's daughter, with whom she played Juliet and Lady
Macbeth alternately, having translated for her "La Fille de Roland," in
which she has since appeared with great success. She was then but
seventeen and a half, and had never possessed a diamond, when on returning
home fr