No one had thought of lighting the main body of the hall until Ben and d.i.c.key noticed the omission, and supplied it by tying candles around two barrel-hoops, and hanging them up like chandeliers, which added greatly to the general appearance and finish of the place. After all these things had been inspected the party adjourned to dinner, in order to fortify themselves for the trying mental labor before them, and d.i.c.key remained as the guest of his partners, having been specially invited by them and Mrs. Green.

CHAPTER VIII.

AN AUTHOR'S TRIALS.

When the dinner was ended--and the members of the dramatic company made short work of it in order to begin their professional duties as soon as possible--Mopsey Dowd fully realized that he was about to pa.s.s in judgment before his partners. Whether he was ent.i.tled to it or not, he had some considerable fame as an author, and for that reason he had taken upon himself, voluntarily and even eagerly, the task of preparing an original play for the great event; which goes to show, perhaps, more than anything else, that Mopsey's fame resulted from chance rather than merit.

When he rose from the table he knew that every eye was upon him, and that each one present expected to hear him say something relative to the brain-effort he was making. He was a genius, and would be until his friends found him out, which occurrence would not be very far off if he should say anything then, for the very good reason that he did not know what to say. He knew that something must be done, and that speedily, which would bear out his claim to distinction, and, with a view to gaining time, he said:

"You fellers go into the theatre, 'cause I ain't quite ready yet, an'

I'll go up to my room to think over one or two things."

This speech was very much needed just then, for Mopsey had been so reticent as to his play that his partners were beginning to suspect that he was not all he claimed to be. But now perfect trust was restored by his words, and the proprietors of the theatre went up to their temple of art feeling every confidence in the author who was struggling in the privacy of his chamber for their success.

This delay in the beginning of the rehearsal was just what Nelly wanted, for it enabled her to add what she considered would be the crowning beauty of their decorations. She had conceived the idea only that afternoon, while engaged in the busy whirl of keeping the sound peaches at the top of the basket and the unripe ones at the bottom.

A friend of hers, whose mother kept a thread-and-needle emporium that was contained in a willow basket, and displayed to the public very near her fruit-stand, was skilful in the art of making paper flowers, and from time to time had presented Nelly with specimens of her skill, until everything in the house that could be pressed into service as a vase was filled with these never-fading and odorless roses.

It had occurred to her that these flowers might be so arranged on the wall as to form the word "Welcome;" and when she suggested her idea to the boys, after Mopsey had gone into his room, they were delighted.

Therefore the delay caused by the author enabled them to go to work upon this last and most beautiful of their decorations at once.

d.i.c.key went out for a paper of tacks, and Johnny drew on the wall, directly opposite the entrance of the hall, the outlines of the word to be filled up with the paper flowers. But there was a difference of opinion among those who were watching him as to how the word should be spelled. He had drawn out the letters "Welk.u.m," while Paul insisted that it was not right, spelling the word correctly, and referring the matter to Ben for arbitration.

Thus appealed to, as if he was an authority in such matters, Ben looked wonderfully wise, but refused to give any decision until after he had written the word down on a bit of paper, spelling it in various ways, that he might see which looked correct.

After some moments of anxious suspense for Johnny, for he had built a very frail stand to enable him to reach a point on the wall where it would be impossible for any of the audience to tear the flowers down, Ben announced that neither was correct, and that the word should be spelled "Wellcom." It was in vain that Paul insisted Ben was wrong.

The decision had been given, and the others decided that where a matter was left to a third party for adjustment all must be satisfied with the ruling. Therefore Johnny marked out the letters as Ben had said, and after d.i.c.key's return with the tacks the flowers were put up, forming a very gorgeous and badly spelled word.

Before the partners had finished admiring this very beautiful ornament on the wall of their theatre, a noise was heard on the stairs, and, on looking out, d.i.c.key announced, by many frantic gestures, that the author was coming. It was a moment of anxious expectancy, for at last they were to know the result of their partner's labors, and they were to be shown just what they were to do on the important occasion.

d.i.c.key was particularly anxious, probably fearing lest his part should not be such as would admit of his carrying a sword and shield.

Mopsey walked into the room with slow and measured step, as if he knew the weight of the words he was about to speak, and feared lest, being too heavy, they might topple him over. But Master Dowd was not one who did anything in a careless manner; he did not deign to speak until he had walked the length of the room, disappeared behind the scenery, and stalked out upon the stage, holding a huge sheet of paper in his hand as if it was a weapon with which he was about to strike any refractory member of the firm, should his play not be exactly to their liking.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "WHO PUT THAT UP?"]

"Fellers," he said, as he cleared his throat, and then noticing the female portion of his company, he corrected himself by saying, "Fellers an' Nelly: When we first made up our minds to build this theatre--" Here he waved his roll of paper around as if to designate which theatre he meant. The movement drew his attention to the new ornament, and caused him to forget what he was about to say.

"Who put that up?" he asked, almost angrily.

"I did," said Johnny, and then, anxious to shift any responsibility of the spelling to the shoulders on which it belonged, he added, "but Ben spelled it."

"Well, fix it," commanded the disturbed author. "If any of the fellers should see that they'd think we didn't know nothin' at all. Put it w-e-double l-k-o-m."

Johnny started to obey him, thinking with delight that he had been almost right before, and Mopsey continued:

"When we built this place I said I'd fix up a play myself, so's we'd be sure to have everythin' all right; but business has been so good, an' I had so much trouble with my pea-nut roaster--for I broke it twice, an' had to hire one offer the Italian that keeps across the street--that I thought we'd play somethin' the boys all knew, an' we'd kinder lay over anythin' they'd ever seen at the same time. So I thought we'd play the whole of Shakespeare, an' that would give everybody a fair show."

There was a look of disappointment on the faces of his hearers as he said this, and noticing it, he added, quickly,

"You see we couldn't get up a whole play new, an' give all hands a chance to do fightin'; an' then, agin, d.i.c.key wouldn't have a shield an' a sword any other way than this."

This last argument changed the look on d.i.c.key's face at once, and he was perfectly satisfied with any arrangement now, for he knew that his ambition was to be realized. The others were very careful to show no signs of approval until they were satisfied that they had been treated as well as d.i.c.key.

"Of course," continued Mopsey, as he looked around at his audience much as if he expected to hear some of them say that he couldn't write a play, "the first thing we had to have was a programme, an' I've made one out, so's you'll know jest what you've got to do."

Here Mopsey unfolded the paper he had carried in his hand, and displayed a bill of the play. It is unnecessary to say that this piece of literary work had cost the author a very great effort. Doubts as to the spelling arose at every turn, but the final result was as follows:

GRATE SHOW--At Mis GReNs. BoRDin HOUse THe HoLe ov SHAKspiR SATeRDAY NiTe, 8 in tHe evenin

RicHARD 3 MopseY DoWD MAKBeTH d.i.c.keY SPRY OTh.e.l.leR SHineR JoNes HAMLeT PoLLY WesToN THe GosT Ben TReAT A SiNGeR NeLLY GRen

PRiCe 5 cenTs. PreSeRVeD ceATS 8 cenTs

GRATe TiMe.

Mopsey waited patiently until all had read this wonderful production, and he was pleased to see that nearly all were satisfied with their parts. Ben Treat was the only one who appeared to think he had any cause for complaint, and he very soon made his grievance known.

"I can't play ghost," he said, fretfully; "I don't know nothin' 'bout it, an' I want more to do."

Mopsey had made up his mind as to what course he should pursue in case of any dissatisfaction, and he said to Ben, in tones of deepest scorn,

"A great feller you are to get up a fuss before you know what you've got to do! an' you oughter be ashamed of yourself. Why, you've got an awful lot to do. In the first place, you've got to come an' 'most scare the life out of Polly, an' then when he runs away you've got to do a song an' dance, an' turn three or four hand-springs before you sink right down through one of these holes, I don't know what you do want if that don't suit you, unless it is to do the whole play."

Ben had nothing more to say; he realized that his was really an important part, and he was abashed by the withering sarcasm of the angry author. Then each of the others, fearing lest they should not have as good an opportunity for the display of their talents, demanded to know what they were to do.

"Now I'll begin an' tell you the whole thing," said Mopsey, as he prepared to show how all of Shakespeare's plays could be performed on one evening by a small company. "In the first place, Nelly comes out, all dressed up, an' sings a song; then the play commences. I come out with a sword an' pistols, an' tell about my hoss runnin' away, an'

after I get through, Shiner comes out an' picks a fuss with me, an' I kill him."

Here the speaker was interrupted by the gentleman who had been selected to play the part of Oth.e.l.lo, with the remark that it was hardly fair to dispose of him at such an early stage of the performance, more especially on the first night.

"But you come on agin an' dance," said Mopsey, fretfully. "Why don't you wait till I get through? After I kill Shiner, d.i.c.key comes in an'

we two have a reg'lar fight, an' we both run away. Then Shiner jumps up an' dances just as long as he can, an' down comes the curtain. In the next act Polly comes out an' talks a lot of stuff; an' when he gets through, Ben comes right up through the floor an' scares him awfully. An' when he runs off, Ben does a song an' dance, an' that ends that act. Then Nelly sings another song, an' we all come out fightin'; an' when we get through, d.i.c.key dances a clog; an' if that ain't show enough for five cents, I don't know what is."

In fact the partners were of Mopsey's opinion, and since they were all to appear in the last act in a grand fight, they would not have complained even though it had been necessary for them all to die in the first scene. Even if Mopsey had not written an original play, he had covered himself with glory in this arrangement of Shakespeare's works; and if there had been any doubts as to the success of their enterprise, they were dispelled now.

Of course it was necessary to make some arrangements for costumes, and an exciting discussion began at once, during which Mrs. Green was called upon to see what she could do towards fitting the party out.

Mopsey proposed that a further a.s.sessment of twenty-five cents be made upon each of the company, and announced that, prosperous as business was just then, he had decided to shut up shop the next day, in order to give his whole attention to the important work of preparation.

d.i.c.key volunteered to sacrifice his business also, in order to aid him, and it was believed that with the funds just raised these two could buy and hire weapons enough to arm the entire party.

Mrs. Green had several things which it was thought could be used with good effect, and all hands went to work making wooden swords, in case there should be any trouble in finding the real articles. Nelly made more tickets, so that all who were anxious to witness the performance might at least have one, and Paul was given charge of the money that had been received thus far; for all were anxious to see the entire receipts of that night's performance in one unbroken whole, even if it was necessary to advance funds from each individual pocket in order to make the necessary purchases. And during the remainder of that evening Mopsey rehea.r.s.ed the different members of the combination separately, until he was convinced that they could carry out their respective _roles_ perfectly.