red calico to be used as a curtain.

"I'll be thar from the time hit opens 'til it's over an' thar'll be no
wall-paper show clo's in it nuther, ye see ef thur is. Mary, ye needn't
be skeered, jes res' easy, I'll see hit's all es proper es eny meetin'
or Sunday School an' ef they don't like it, be dog-goned ef I don't make
Alfurd gin the money back."

This last declaration did more to allay the worry of the mother than
anything that had been said before. The mother actually so forgot her
fears that she assisted Lin in sewing the curtains.

Old man Risbeck, a neighboring farmer, not only loaned Alfred the lumber
to build the platform, or stage, but assisted in building it.

Park McDonald, another farmer, a little the worse for hard cider, also
assisted, with a great deal of advice which was not followed.

The teacher dismissed school at noon Friday that all might be in
readiness for the big show Saturday night. Alfred was not altogether
pleased with the idea of Lin bossing the whole job, fearing that many
members of his troupe would be disgruntled over her domineering manner.
However, she was so enthusiastic and inventive he refrained from doing
or saying anything that would impair her usefulness. Lin was very
sensitive and somehow Alfred felt that the success of the great
undertaking required Lin's help.

Alfred had worked all night setting type and working off a small, square
bill, printed in black ink on pink paper. He would have used red, blue
or any other highly colored ink if it had been in the office.

The bill read:

HATFIELD AND STOREY'S
ALABAMA MINSTRELS
REDSTONE SCHOOL-HOUSE
EARLY CANDLE LIGHT
COME ONE--COME ALL
ADMISSION PRICE
25 CENTS FOR
MEN AND WOMEN
TWELVE AND A HALF CENTS
FOR CHILDREN.

[Illustration: Alfred as a Bill Poster]

Alfred not only set up and printed the bills announcing his first
minstrel show but distributed them, tacking them up in conspicuous
places.

The first bill was tacked on Mart Claybaugh's blacksmith shop near the
old Brubaker Tavern. Alfred then continued out the pike to Searight's
Tavern. At Uncle Billy Hatfield's a great display was made on barn,
blacksmith and harness shop. When Uncle Billy returned home and read the
bill headed "Hatfield and Storey's Alabama Minstrels," he first imagined
that his political enemies were working something off on him. Cousin
Will's explanation did not sat