last moment to take all the credit for it, while actually doing almost nothing), he insisted on obtaining, and did obtain, acceptance of his resignation. The Mallorys themselves were the next to leave the Madison Square, and on March 13, 1885, Palmer became sole manager of that theatre. A LABORIOUS INTERLUDE.--LYCEUM THEATRE. After leaving that house Belasco for about two years worked as a free-lance in the theatrical arena. One plan which he seriously entertained and strove to accomplish in that interval was the formation of a theatrical company, headed by himself as a star, to traverse the country, presenting “Hamlet,” or a new, sympathetic, popular drama of his own fabrication,--possibly to present both those plays,--in which he might, perhaps, make a personal hit [Illustration: DAVID BELASCO AS _HAMLET_ “_Since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is ’t to leave betimes?_” --Act V. sc. 2 Photograph by Houseworth, San Francisco. Original loaned by Mrs. David Belasco.] and become as prosperous as certain other actors then were,--notably Jefferson, as _Rip Van Winkle_, and John S. Clarke, as _Major de Boots_. “I was keen to _act_ then,” he said to me, “and sometimes now I wish I had stuck to it.” With him as with most other persons, however, the path that he should tread was ordained by the iron force of circumstance. He did whatever work he could find to do, and his occupations were various. He trained members of an amateur society, in Brooklyn, called “The Amaranth.” He revised a play called “Caught in a Corner” (it had previously been tinkered by Clay M. Greene, and it was produced in New York, Belasco’s arrangement, November 1, 1887, at the Fourteenth Street Theatre) for Maurice Bertram Curtis, an actor now dimly remembered for his performance in “Sam’l of Posen,” with whom he had, in 1878, been affiliated as a member of the “Frayne Troupe,” travelling in California. More particularly he became associated with Steele Mackaye, in the Lyceum. That theatre was situated in Fourth Avenue, next to the old Academy of Design, which stood on the northwest corner of Twenty-third Street and Fourth Avenue. It was built, on ground leased from William Y. Mortimer, by Philip G. Hubert, Charles W. Clinton, and Michael Brennan, and it was opened by Mackaye on April 6, 1885, with a play called “Dakolar,” which he had “conveyed” from “Le Maître de Forges,” by Georges Ohnet. The chief parts were played by Robert B. Mantell, John Mason, Viola Allen, and Sadie Martinot. Belasco’s position at the Lyceum was that of assistant stage manager and general helper for Mackaye, whose signal ability he appreciated and admired. He was engaged at a salary of $150 a week,--which, however, he never received,--was installed in a private office, and, for a short time, was happy because deluded as to what he was about to accomplish. In his “Story,” referring to the play of “Dakolar,” he relates that, prior to its production,