And he may doubt, who never knew this master torment, that Field carried out his threat to appear at Crane’s “first night” with that low-cut satin vest and that speckled tweed suit, which did indeed make him a gaudy spectacle.  But his solemn face gave no sign that his mixed apparel was making him the cynosure of all curious eyes.

Mr. Crane suffered from the same digestive troubles that confined Florence to terrapin and champagne and Field to coffee and pies, and so the state of his health was a constant source of paragraphic sympathy in “Sharps and Flats.”  In such paragraphs the actor and President Cleveland were often represented as fellow-fishermen at Buzzard’s Bay—­Crane’s summer home being at Cohasset.  How they were associated is illustrated in the following casual item: 

Mr. William H. Crane, the actor, is looking unusually robust this autumn.  He seems to have recovered entirely from the malady which made life a burden to him for several years.  He thought there was something the matter with his liver.  Last July he put in a good share of his time blue-fishing with Grover Cleveland.  One day they ran out of bait.

  “Wonder if they’d bite at liver?” asked Crane.

  “They love it,” answered Cleveland.

  So without further ado Crane out with his penknife, amputated his
  liver, and minced it up for bait.  He hasn’t had a sick day since.

By way of introduction to a few words respecting the close, quizzical, and always sincere friendship that existed between Field and Helena Modjeska, the following invention of March 29th, 1884, may serve to indicate the blithesome spirit with which he tortured facts when racketting around for something to add to the bewilderment of his readers and his own relaxation: 

A letter from Mr. William H. Crane imparts some interesting gossip touching the Cincinnati dramatic festival.  It says that an agreeable surprise awaits the patrons of the festival in an interchange of parts between Madame Modjeska and Mr. Stuart Robson, the comedian; that is to say, Modjeska will take Mr. Robson’s place in the “Two Dromios,” and Robson will take Madame Modjeska’s place in the great emotional play of “Camille.”  It is well known that Modjeska has a penchant for masculine roles, and her success as Rosalind and Viola leaves no room for doubt that she will give great satisfaction in the “Comedy of Errors.”  Mr. Robson has never liked female roles, but his falsetto voice, his slender figure, his smooth, rosy face, and his graceful, effeminate manners qualify him to a remarkable degree for the impersonation of feminine characters.  Moreover, his long residence in Paris has given him a thorough appreciation and elaborate knowledge of those characteristics, which must be understood ere one can delineate and portray the subtleties of Camille as they should be given.  Those who anticipate a farcical treatment of Dumas’s creation at Mr. Robson’s hands will be most wofully surprised when they come to witness and hear his artistic presentation of the most remarkable of emotional roles.

[Illustration:  MODJESKA.]