mid the portrayal of the scene my imagination had
taken an allotted part.

"If you like to provide them, and don't set the bally show on fire," he
replied. "Anyhow, these two aren't supposed to notice anything even when
the row gets louder. Then it drops and you are heard outside talking in
whispers to the others--words of command and telling them to keep back
half-a-mo, and so on. See?"

"Doubtless introducing a spoken charm and repeating the words of an
incantation against omens, treachery, and other matters."

"Next a flap of the tent down on the floor is raised, and you
reconnoitre, looking your very worst and holding a knife between your
teeth and another in each hand. Wave a hand to your followers to keep
back--or come on: it makes no difference. Then you crawl in on your
stomach, give a terrific howl, and stab me in the back. That rolls
me under the curtain, and so lets me out. The missus ups with the
wood-chopper and stands before the cradle, while you yell and dance
round with the knives. That ought to be made 'the moment' of the whole
piece. The great thing is to make enough noise. If you can yell louder
than the talking-machine outfit on the next pitch we ought to turn money
away. While you are at it I start a fresh row outside--shouts, cheers,
groans, words of command and a paper bag or two. Seeing that the game
is up you make a rush at the old woman; she downs you with the chopper,
turns the lamp up full, shakes out a Union Jack over the sleeping
infant, and finally stands in her finest attitude with one hand pointing
impressively upwards and the other contemptuously downwards just as Rule
Britannia is played on the cornet outside and I appear at the door in a
general's full uniform and let down the curtain."

For acting in the manner designated--as touching the noises both inside
and out, the set dance with upraised knives, the casting to earth of
himself, and being myself in turn vanquished by the aged female, with
an added compact that from time to time I should be led by a chain
and shown to the people from a raised platform--we agreed upon a daily
reward of two pieces of silver, an adequacy of food, and a certain
ambiguously-referred-to share of the gain. It need not be denied that
with so favourable an opportunity of introducing passages from the
Classics a much less sum would have been accepted, but having obtained
this without a struggle, the one now recounting the facts raised the
opportune sug