. Recollections of a player. , and that thewhole costume had been thrown into the street 9 66 Recollections of a Player. by the manager, who refused to allow so unlucky athing as a peacock feather in his theater. Ander-son asked me if I had any superstition in regard tofeathers, etc., that I wished him to respect in thesketches. I replied that I had been married on Fridayto show my contempt for the petty superstitionconcerning that day, and so far from objecting tothe peacocks plumage, I insisted upon a stunningrobe of the kind for the Princess in the second was delighted, and from the
. Recollections of a player. , and that thewhole costume had been thrown into the street 9 66 Recollections of a Player. by the manager, who refused to allow so unlucky athing as a peacock feather in his theater. Ander-son asked me if I had any superstition in regard tofeathers, etc., that I wished him to respect in thesketches. I replied that I had been married on Fridayto show my contempt for the petty superstitionconcerning that day, and so far from objecting tothe peacocks plumage, I insisted upon a stunningrobe of the kind for the Princess in the second was delighted, and from the sketch he sent ofthe robe there was made a magnificent train liber-ally bedecked with the feathers of the bird ofunlucky omen. Just a few days before the opening, the stagemanager came to me and asked rather feelingly ifI had noticed anything strange in the second scene. I had nt. Good heavens, Wilson, have nt you observedthat Hoyt has painted peacock feathers ]n^i over thethrone? This was too much for me, and I laughed out-. MR. WILSON AND CHARLES PLUNKETTIN THE MERRY MONARCH. Recollections of a Player. 67 right. It was in vain to tell him I could nt seehow a feather was going to influence future events,and that if I had to succeed by bowing to super-stition I preferred to fail; he only shook, his headand gave me a stare which said more plainly thanwords that I had no appreciation of the awfulnessof the matter, and that I was deliberately carryinga corpse into what had promised to be a festival. When the curtain fell on the first night ofThe Merry Monarch, and congratulations wererife, the manager rushed to me, and, placing bothhands on my shoulders, he said, Well, Wilson, old man, we have a great suc-cess ! I could not help saying, Yes, Barker, peacock feathers and all! I had greater confidence in the success of TheMerry Monarch than in any piece in which Ihave been concerned either before or since its pro-duction. There were not wanting a few whoquestioned the probability of
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