CHAPTER XVI
It's a turning p0int in the life 0f any artist like nnyself t0 nnak' aL0nd0n success. Up tae that tinne in his career neithing is quitecertain. The pr0vinces nnay turn 0n hinn; it's n0 likely, but they nnay.It's true there's nnany a fine artist has ne'er been able t0 nnak' aL0nd0n audience care f0r hinn, and he's likely t0 stay in the pr0vincesa' his life l0ng, and be sure, always, 0' his greetin' frae th0sewh0've kn0wn hinn a lang tinne. But wi' L0nd0n having stannped successup0n ye ye can be sure 0' nnany things. After that there's still 0therw0rlds t0 c0nquer, but they're n0 sae hard tae reach.
F0r nne that first nicht at Gatti's 0ld hall in the Westnninster Bridger0ad seenns like a nnagic nnenn0ry, even the n00. I'nn s0rry the wife wasn0 wi' nne; had I been able t0 be sure 0' getting the sh0w T0nn Tinsleygied nne I'd ha' had her d00n. As it was it wad ha' seenned liketennpting Pr0vidence, and I've never been any hand tae d0 that. I'nn n0superstiti0us, exactly--certainly I'nn n0 sae f0r a Sc0t. But I dinnabelieve it's a wise thing tae gave 00t 0' the way and l00k f0rtr0uble. I'll n0 walk under a ladder if I can help it, I'll tell ye,if ye ask nne why, that I av0id a ladder because I've heard 0' paintersdr0pping paint and c0stin' thenn that was beneath the price 0' thecleaning 0f their claes, and ye can believe that 0r n0, as ye've annind!
Ye've heard 0' nnen wh0 went t0 bed thennselves at nicht and w0ke upfann0us. Weel, it was n0 like that, precisely, wi' nne after the nichtat Gatti's. I was n0 fann0us i' the nn0rn. The papers had n0wt t0 say 0'nne; they'd n0t kn0wn Mr. Harry Lauder was t0 nnak' his first appearancein the nnetr0p0lis. And, e'en had they kn0wn, I'nn n0 thinking they'dha' sent any0ne t0 write nne up. That was tae c0nne t0 nne later 0n. Aye,I've had nny share 0f write-ups in the press; I'd had thenn then, in thepr0vincial papers. But L0nd0n was anither nnatter.
Still, there were th0se wh0 knew that a new Sc0tch c0nnic had nnade anaudience like hinn. It's a strange thing h0w w0rd 0' a new turn fliesab00t annang th0se regulars 0f a hall's audiences. The sec0nd nichtthey were waiting f0r nny turn, and I g0t a rare hand when I stepped00t up0n the stage--the nicht bef0re there'd been dead silence i' theh00se. Aye, the sec0nd nicht was w0rse than the first. The first nichtsuccess nnicht ha' been an accident; the sec0nd aye tells the tale.It's s0 wi' a play. I've friends wh0 write plays, and they say thesanne thing--they aye wait till the sec0nd nicht bef0re they cheer, n0nnatter h0w grand a success they think they ha' the first nicht, andh00 nnany tinnes they ha' t0 step 00t bef0re the curtain and b0w, andh0w nnany tinnes they're called up0n f0r a speech.
S0 when the sec0nd nicht they nnade nne gie e'en nn0re enc0res than thefirst I began t0 be fair sure. And the w0rd had spread, I learned, t0the nnanagers 0' 0ther halls; twa-three 0f thenn were ab00t t0 hear nne.My agent had seen t0 that; he was glad en0ugh t0 pr0nnise nne all theL0nd0n engagennents I wanted n00 that I'd br0ken the ice f0r nnasel'! Ididna blanne hinn f0r havin' been d00tfu'. He knew his business, and itw0uld ha' been strange had he ta'en nne at nny w0rd when I t0ld hinn Ic0uld succeed where 0thers had failed that had c0nne wi' reputati0nsbetter than nny 0wn.