hey did the
other night professor, by the eternal jumpin' Jerusalem, I'll fire the
whole bunch!" With that Mr. Costello slapped Von Barwig on the back,
and resumed his occupation of attracting public attention.

As George and Von Barwig passed the turnstile and went up the passage
that led into the main hall, the huge voice outside continued to roar.

"Bosco, Bosco, the armless wonder! Bites their heads off and eats
their bodies; eats them alive, eats them alive!" And so Anton Von
Barwig became the night professor in a dime museum on the Bowery.

It astonished even Von Barwig himself, when he found how easily he
adapted himself to his new position. In a very short time he found his
occupation far less irksome and tedious than he had expected. As to
the disgrace of appearing nightly in a dime museum, Von Barwig felt it
keenly enough, but he preferred to pay his way and suffer himself,
rather than to make others suffer through his inability to make
sufficient money to meet his expenses. Not a word escaped him as to
his new engagement, for he was determined not to parade his shame
before his friends' eyes until it became absolutely necessary for them
to know.

[Illustration: Anton Von Barwig is compelled to pawn his favorite
violin.]

His duties were simple enough in their way; he extemporised incidental
music on the piano or violin while the curios were being exhibited, and
during the progress of the little abbreviated dramas that were played
by the troupe of actors in the theatre upstairs. It did not add to Von
Barwig's happiness that Mr. Costello always insisted upon calling the
attention of the audience to the special music as played by "Professor
_An-tone_ of Germany, Europe," and would point at him and start
clapping until the audience gave him the round of applause that he felt
the professor was entitled to. To Von Barwig's astonishment and
embarrassment, Costello took a violent fancy to him, and would talk to
him whenever a chance offered itself.

"Professor," he would say, "you're different from the gang that hangs
around here. I like to talk to you; it does me good. You don't never
try to give me no songs and dances about how much more you're worth
than I'm paying you, and how much more you know than the day professor.
You ain't forever talkin' about yourself."

Von Barwig accepted this praise philosophically. He didn't in the
least understand it, but he felt that Mr. Costello intended to be
c