Evening star., 1909-02-28
THE WINSOME WIZ ARD

o'clock the workmen came out in droves,
and we could tell by what they said and
by the way they hurried toward their
homes that they intended to go to the
show. At the hotel the boarders talked
about it, asking one another if they were
going. All of them were. The whole
town was stirred up. When the Doc came
down from his room, where he had spent
the afternoon, he rubbed his plug hat with
his sleeve, and smiled in the kind, benevo-
lent way he had, as he said:
Zachariah, / expect you to effect an
early settlement with the box Office to-
night, and you might bring our percentage
of the proceeds to me as soon as it has been
figured out | shall be too busy to look
after these small matters myself, and !
may say that your future usefulness as my
manager will depend largely upon the
manner in which you execute the orders /
have hastily given ! perceive that you
comprehend. Then all is we'll congratu-
late you
THINGS looked very encouraging up to
L within half an hour of the time for the
performance to begin. People crowded
around the ticket Office long before the
spirits, until the perfidy of Richards the
property man became known. The Doc
was about half made up for his part, when
the sheriff appeared and attached the re-
ceipts on behalf of Richards Angel Willie
threw up his hands and wilted Things
had been going against him SO regularly
that the poor boy had no spunk left. and
he walled:
Il knew it! / knew it was too good to
be true Oh, Lord! why didn't / take
Uncle Johns advice and buy candy
store instead of becoming a theatrical
manager?'
BE calm, my boy, be calm said the
wizard, who had come out of his dressing
room with his shoes in his hands and his
shirt hanging outside of his trousers
"You forget that l am the head of this
combination The money which our
genial property man has attached is mine.
Does he presume to say that | owe him
anything?"
The sheriff who was doing the attach
ing turned to Richards when he found out
how things stood and told him the papers
he had procured were worthless That
ended the attachment proceedings: but
| didn't like the way Richards looked
had a suspicion that he would do some
thing disagreeable before the show was
over, and would nave mentioned the mat
ter to the Doc if | hadn't been called
around to the front just then to settle
with the owner of the house Before |
could get back on the stage again the cur
tain was up and the performance had be-
gun. Richards played a small part; so
they had not been able to order him out of
the theater | found him sitting on soap
box back of the scenes, mumbling to him
self and looking as if he wanted to set fire
to something.
THE first act was hummer. was sur
prised at the Docs acting He hadn't
learned many of his lines; but he faxed
beautifully, quoting poetry in large hunks
and ringing in speeches from Hamlet y
every little while with great effect The
audience was one of the most enthusiastic
ever saw Everybody was in good hu
NOR This may have been partly on ac
count of the automobile that some one
was going to draw at the end of the second
act. There wasn't an empty seat in the
house
Angel Willie said it was the first time
since he had begun to be a manager that
such thing had happened. He was full
of enthusiasm, and wanted me to use my
influence with the Doc to get him to re-
main at the head of the cornDanv