for the night, and then the veteran set to work
to concoct one of these very remarkable programmes for which his name
had become more or less famous in different parts of the country. It is
true he was considerably perplexed over the difficulties that confronted
him. Perplexities, difficulties, and Handy were old acquaintances,
however. They had met many a time and oft in the past, and he had
weathered the storm and as a rule came out a winner. It was hardly
possible that his customary good fortune would desert him on this trying
occasion. With the sole exception of Smith, he was absolutely
unacquainted with the theatric abilities of his company or how far he
could rely on them to carry into effect his stage directions. Daisey de
Vere, judging from the elaborate characteristic account Smith had given
of her, rather appealed to him. He felt satisfied she would fill her
place in the bill of the play, come what might. She had to. From the
diagnosis furnished by his lieutenant he thought she would pan out all
right. He knew he wasn't going to offer an entertainment to a houseful
of metropolitan first-nighters, with attendant critics from the
newspapers to display their erudition next morning in cold type and hot
words. He already considered Daisey as a chip of the old block.

It was well into the night when the indefatigable manager got through
with his pen, which at best was a work of labor to him--and hard labor
at that. It is only fair to admit that he had meager theatric resources
to draw upon and be able in any way to whip it into shape to fit the
exigencies of the approaching occasion. He derived considerable
comforting consolation from the reflection that Gotown was virgin soil
upon which he was called upon to operate theatrically. As the result of
pondering with his brain and manipulating with his pen, he succeeded in
evolving a draft of a programme as mixed and varied as might be expected
from the all-star company gathered together at short notice for a
benefit or testimonial for some popular unfortunate player--with several
loopholes for such changes, alterations, additions, subtractions,
multiplications, and divisions as might suggest themselves or be forced
upon him later on. From the coinage of his active brain he succeeded in
bringing forth and committing to paper something like the following as
his programme for the inauguration and opening night of the Gotown
Metropolitan Academy of Music:

IMPORTANT NOTICE