The All-Around Athlete

# The All-Around Athlete, or the Stage-Detective's Ten-Strike by Albert W. Aiken

This serial romance is set backstage at New York's Academy of Music theater during a performance of The Black Crook. English actor Chandos Richmond, playing the lead role of Rudolph, becomes jealous after witnessing actress Florence Ballentine (Amina) apparently receive attention from an audience member. After publicly criticizing her behavior, Richmond turns his anger toward fellow performer Blondell, who plays the Black Crook character. When Blondell accepts Richmond's challenge with measured courtesy, the comedian Billy Wilkins warns Richmond that Blondell is a seasoned "Hey Rube" fighter from circus circuits with a fearsome reputation. Despite Wilkins's cautions, Richmond proceeds to the trap cellar beneath the stage where approximately thirty theater workers gather to witness the quarrel resolve into a formal boxing match under Marquis of Queensberry rules, with the master carpenter officiating.