Belasco left the “Frayne Troupe” about the end of January, 1878, and returned to San Francisco. There I trace him first at the Bush Street Theatre,--where he performed as _James Callin_ and as _Pablo_, in the prologue and drama of “Across the Continent,” then first presented, by [Illustration: Photograph by Sarony. Author’s Collection. HELENA MODJESKA Soon after her first appearance in New York, 1877] Oliver Doud Byron, in San Francisco,--and, a little later, back again at the Baldwin Theatre. He labored there, with short intermissions, as actor and stage manager, from March 26, 1878, to the latter part of September, 1879. On the former date the New York Union Square Theatre Company emerged at the Baldwin in “Agnes,” in which Belasco played _Rudolphe_. During the engagement of the Union Square Company “One Hundred Years Old,” “Saratoga,” “A Celebrated Case,” and Joaquin Miller’s “The Danites” were presented under Belasco’s direction, and, in each of them, he acted a subsidiary part. His services as director proved so valuable that when the engagement was ended and the company made a tour of Pacific Slope towns an arrangement was effected with Maguire whereby Belasco accompanied it. The tour lasted until the end of May, and it was followed by a brief return season in San Francisco. At its close the company, which included O’Neill, Charles B. Bishop, Rose Wood, and F. F. Mackay, presented to Belasco a purse of $200 in gold “as an expression of appreciation of his services and esteem for himself.” The presentation was made, in presence of the assembled company, on the stage of the Baldwin Theatre, by F. F. Mackay, who, in making it, read the following letter: (_F. F. Mackay, for the New York Union Square Theatrical Company, to David Belasco._) “DEAR MR. DAVID BELASCO:-- “In behalf of the members of the Union Square Company, I extend sincere thanks for your unvarying courtesy and for your able direction of our efforts. With our thanks are mingled a large measure of congratulations for your ability. Your quick apprehension and remarkable analytical ability in discovering and describing the mental intentions of an author are so superior to anything we have heretofore experienced that we feel sure that the position of master dramatic director of the American Stage must finally fall on you. Personally, I take great pleasure in thus expressing the feelings and the wishes of the company, and have the honor to subscribe myself, “Yours truly, “F. F. MACKAY.” “OLIVIA” AND “PROOF POSITIVE.”