n, baritone;
Frank Gilder, solo cornetist. With the sixth concert in the Y.M.C.A.
hall we found the hall too small for our audiences, and then went to
Platt's Hall. Not two-thirds of the people could get in. We tried
Pacific Hall, and that did for several times, and then there were
enough people on the outside to fill an ordinary hall. The theaters
were too expensive, so we went on the road. We gave two concerts in
Stockton theater to packed houses; two in Santa Cruz in the pavilion,
with great success; two nights in Vallejo, when every seat was taken,
the gallery packed and faces peeping in at the windows. A laughable
act not on the programme occurred that evening which, I think, Walter
Campbell and myself will never forget. We had a duet in which we
always claimed the house, and this evening when our number came Mr.
Gilder began his quaint Quaker march and Reuben was to come from one
side of the stage and Rachel, on the other, and meet in the center of
the stage like two prim Quakers. I took the steps with Mr. Gilder's
tom tom of quaint chords and I arrived in the front of the stage and
no Walter. I was in dismay and the people began to laugh, especially a
portly individual sitting directly in front of the orchestra. He
thought it was all in the bill; Madam Bishop, in the wings, feared the
performance was ruined. I tried with all my might to keep from
laughing at Mr. Gilder, who was keeping up the incessant march. At
last I turned and saw Walter Campbell standing beside me with a face
like a marble statue, still and pious as the most devout Quaker,
waiting for me to begin, rising and falling on his toes. I began my
song, "Reuben, I have long been thinking, etc." and the song went on,
and between each stanza the applause was deafening and continued until
the last too-ral-loo had died away. We received five recalls. The
paper came out with glowing accounts of the success Walter and I had
won and we were lionized the rest of the season. When we were allowed
to retire, Walter, in his quaint way, said to me, "Susan Jane, you
almost made me laugh. I never went through such an ordeal in all my
singing days. It seemed I was destined to stand there forever before
you began." I think we have laughed over that concert time and time
again. It is one of our best jokes between us when we recount the
enjoyment of our successful concerts given in California, Oregon and
British Columbia.

[Illustration:

Hugo Mansfeldt
J.H. Dohrma