when she has been in reality Wife No. 1, and all is joy. Now I need
scarcely point out to you that nothing like this has ever been seen on
the stage before. It is a marvel to me how Messrs. SIMS and BUCHANAN
came to think of such clever things.

[Illustration: An Altared Scene.]

But if it had been only the plot that was original, I should not have
been so anxious to direct attention to _The Trumpet Call_. But the
incidents and characters are equally novel. For instance, unlike _The
Lights o' London_, there is a caravan and a showman. Next, unlike
_In the Ranks_, there are scenes of barrack-life that are full of
freshness and originality. In _Harbour Lights_, if my memory does not
play me false, the hero enlisted in the Guards, in _The Trumpet Call_
he joins the Royal Horse Artillery. Then, again, unlike the scene in
the New Cut in _The Lights o' London_, there is a view by night of
the exterior of the Mogul Music Hall. Further, there is a "Doss House"
scene, that did not for a moment (or certainly not for more than
a moment) recall to my mind that gathering of the poor in the dark
arches of a London bridge, in one of BOUCICAULT's pieces. By the way,
was that play, _After Dark_, or was it _The Streets of London_? I
really forget which. Then, all the characters in the new play are
absolutely new and original. The hero who will bear everything for his
alleged wife's sake, and weeps over his child, is quite new. So is
the heroine who takes up her residence with poor but amusing showmen,
instead of wealthy relatives. That is also quite new, and there was
nothing like it in _The Lights o' London_. The villain, too, who will
do and dare anything (in reason) to wed the lady who has secured his
affections, is also a novelty. So is a character played by Miss CLARA
JECKS as only Miss CLARA JECKS can and does play it. And there are