ry, and under
his direction a large number of envelopes were carefully addressed. The
work went on systematically. Night at last arrived, and all hands
enjoyed a respite from clerical labor. At nine o'clock the company went
ashore, carrying with them their tent, costumes and properties--such as
they were. It was a busy night on land, and their strenuous exertions,
under the cover of darkness, accomplished wonders under Handy's
guidance. It was next door to daylight when they got back to the ship to
take a rest before the arduous work of the eventful day began.

Before noon the canvas showhouse on the corner was the principal subject
of conversation throughout the town. During the night the strollers had
set up their tent, and there was scarcely a house in town in which they
had not placed handbills and circulars announcing the coming
performance. No matter where an inhabitant wandered one of the "Humpty
Dumpty" programmes was sure to be found. The people at first glance
regarded the announcement with some degree of doubt, but the appearance
of the tent, with the flags flying, dispelled that fear. The tent seemed
to have got there by magic. Like the palace of Aladdin, it had sprung
into existence during the night. Its appearance excited curiosity and
provoked gossip, and the announcement of "Humpty Dumpty" was a puzzle.
With the most unparalleled nerve messenger boys were dispatched to the
fashionable cottages with circulars soliciting patronage and inviting
attendance, and a considerable number of the cottagers, attracted by the
novelty of the undertaking, concluded it would be a good joke to go to
see the extraordinary show.

"We'll paralyze 'em," said Handy to his fellow-players, as they were
grouped together on the stage preparing red lights, which he proposed to
use as a species of illumination. "Wait until I let the band loose in
the streets, and if it don't fetch 'em, well, I'll quit the business."

"Handy, methinks we made a bloomin' blunder," remarked the Little 'Un.
"We ought to have billed the town for a week."

"A week?" queried the property man in some surprise. "Why so, may I ask,
my noble critic?"

"Well, to be frank with you, because if we did, methinks after once or
twice having made acquaintance with our band, 'tis dollars to doughnuts
they would have substantially staked us to leave town."

Handy looked at the speaker with a glance of mingled cynicism and humor,
and turning to the treasurer inqui