. The century illustrated monthly magazine . his distinction,however — he was required to pay his passage, it being understood between him and the cap-tain that we should stop a night in Utica andone in Syracuse, give a theatrical entertainmentin each place, and hand over the receipts inpayment of our fare. We acted in Utica for one night, and the re-ceipts were quite good. My father and motherwere in high spirits, and there is no doubt thatthe captain had hopes that the next nightsentertainment in Syracuse would liquidate ourliabilities, for there was a visible improvementin the coffee at bre
. The century illustrated monthly magazine . his distinction,however — he was required to pay his passage, it being understood between him and the cap-tain that we should stop a night in Utica andone in Syracuse, give a theatrical entertainmentin each place, and hand over the receipts inpayment of our fare. We acted in Utica for one night, and the re-ceipts were quite good. My father and motherwere in high spirits, and there is no doubt thatthe captain had hopes that the next nightsentertainment in Syracuse would liquidate ourliabilities, for there was a visible improvementin the coffee at breakfast, and an extra pieceof pie all around for dinner. The next night,unfortunately, the elements were against us;it rained in torrents and the attendance waslight, so that we were short of our passagemoney about ten dollars. The captain being a strict member of the church, he could not attend either of the performances, and as he was in his heart mostanxious to see what acting was like, he pro- 12 THE A UTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSEPH CORNELIA JEFFERSON (MOTHER OF JOSEPH JEFFERSON) AS JESSICA. (AFTER THE PAINTING BY NEAGLE.) posed that if the company would cut upfor him and give him a private show in thecabin he would call it square. Our actors, be-ing highly legitimate, declined; but my mother,ever anxious to show off the histrionic qualitiesof her son, proposed that I should sing somecomic songs for the captain, and so ransomthe rest of the actors. The captain turned itover in his mind,— being, I am afraid, a littlesuspicious of my genius,— but after due con-sideration consented. So he prepared himselffor the entertainment, the cook and my mothercomprising the rest of the audience. The actorshad wisely retired to the upper deck, as theyhad been afflicted on former occasions. I nowbegan a dismal comic song called The Deviland Little Mike. It was not very brilliant butquite long, some twenty-five verses, each onecontaining two lines with a large margin of whack fol d
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectamerica, bookyear1882
