"As if Mr Goble would refuse you anything after you have written a wonderful success for his theatre! And isn"t he getting his share of the profits? Directly after the performance, you must go round and ask him. Of course he will be delighted to give you the stage. I will be hostess," said Mrs. Peagrim radiantly. "And now, let me see, whom shall we invite?"
Mr Pilkington stared gloomily at the floor, too bowed down now by his weight of cares to resent the "we," which had plainly come to stay.
He was trying to estimate the size of the gash which this preposterous entertainment would cleave in the Pilkington bank-roll.
He doubted if it was possible to go through with it under five hundred dollars; and, if, as seemed only too probable, Mrs Peagrim took the matter in hand and gave herself her head, it might get into four figures.
"Major Selby, of course," said Mrs Peagrim musingly, with a cooing note in her voice. Long since had that polished man of affairs made a deep impression upon her. "Of course Major Selby, for one. And Mr Rooke. Then there are one or two of my friends who would be hurt if they were left out. How about Mr Mason? Isn"t he a friend of yours?"
Mr Pilkington snorted. He had endured much and was prepared to endure more, but he drew the line at squandering his money on the man who had sneaked up behind his brain-child with a hatchet and chopped its precious person into little bits.
"He is _not_ a friend of mine," he said stiffly, "and I do not wish him to be invited!"
Having attained her main objective, Mrs Peagrim was prepared to yield minor points.
"Very well, if you do not like him," she said. "But I thought he was quite an intimate of yours. It was you who asked me to invite him to Newport last summer."
"Much," said Mr Pilkington coldly, "has happened since last summer."
"Oh, very well," said Mrs Peagrim again. "Then we will not include Mr Mason. Now, directly the curtain has fallen, Otie dear, pop right round and find Mr Goble and tell him what you want."
2.
It is not only twin-souls in this world who yearn to meet each other.
Between Otis Pilkington and Mr Goble there was little in common, yet, at the moment when Otis set out to find Mr Goble, the thing which Mr Goble desired most in the world was an interview with Otis. Since the end of the first act, the manager had been in a state of mental upheaval. Reverting to the gold-mine simile again, Mr Goble was in the position of a man who has had a chance of purchasing such a mine and now, learning too late of the discovery of the reef, is feeling the truth of the poet"s dictum that of all sad words of tongue or pen the saddest are these--"It might have been." The electric success of "The Rose of America" had stunned Mr Goble: and, realizing, as he did, that he might have bought Otis Pilkington"s share dirt cheap at almost any point of the preliminary tour, he was having a bad half hour with himself. The only ray in the darkness which brooded on his indomitable soul was the thought that it might still be possible, by getting hold of Mr Pilkington before the notices appeared and shaking his head sadly and talking about the misleading hopes which young authors so often draw from an enthusiastic first-night reception and impressing upon him that first-night receptions do not deceive your expert who has been fifteen years in the show-business and mentioning gloomily that he had heard a coupla the critics roastin" the show to beat the band ... by doing all these things, it might still be possible to depress Mr Pilkington"s young enthusiasm and induce him to sell his share at a sacrifice price to a great-hearted friend who didn"t think the thing would run a week but was willing to buy as a sporting speculation, because he thought Mr Pilkington a good kid and after all these shows that flop in New York sometimes have a chance on the road.
Such were the meditations of Mr Goble, and, on the final fall of the curtain amid unrestrained enthusiasm on the part of the audience, he had despatched messengers in all directions with instructions to find Mr Pilkington and conduct him to the presence. Meanwhile, he waited impatiently on the empty stage.
The sudden advent of Wally Mason, who appeared at this moment, upset Mr Goble terribly. Wally was a factor in the situation which he had not considered. An infernal, tactless fellow, always trying to make mischief and upset honest merchants, Wally, if present at the interview with Otis Pilkington, would probably try to act in restraint of trade and would blurt out some untimely truth about the prospects of the piece. Not for the first time, Mr Goble wished Wally a sudden stroke of apoplexy.
"Went well, eh?" said Wally amiably. He did not like Mr Goble, but on the first night of a successful piece personal antipathies may be sunk. Such was his effervescent good-humor at the moment that he was prepared to treat Mr Goble as a man and a brother.
"H"m!" replied Mr Goble doubtfully, paving the way.
"What are you h"ming about?" demanded Wally, astonished. "The thing"s a riot."
"You never know," responded Mr Goble in the minor key.
"Well!" Wally stared. "I don"t know what more you want. The audience sat up on its hind legs and squealed, didn"t they?"
"I"ve an idea," said Mr Goble, raising his voice as the long form of Mr Pilkington crossed the stage towards them, "that the critics will roast it. If you ask _me_," he went on loudly, "it"s just the sort of show the critics will pan the life out of. I"ve been fifteen years in the ..."
"Critics!" cried Wally. "Well, I"ve just been talking to Alexander of the _Times_, and he said it was the best musical piece he had ever seen and that all the other men he had talked to thought the same."
Mr Goble turned a distorted face to Mr Pilkington. He wished that Wally would go. But Wally, he reflected bitterly, was one of those men who never go. He faced Mr Pilkington and did the best he could.
"Of course it"s got a _chance_," he said gloomily. "Any show has got a _chance!_ But I don"t know ... I don"t know ..."
Mr Pilkington was not interested in the future prospects of "The Rose of America." He had a favor to ask, and he wanted to ask it, have it refused if possible, and get away. It occurred to him that, by subst.i.tuting for the asking of a favor a peremptory demand, he might save himself a thousand dollars.
"I want the stage after the performance tomorrow night, for a supper to the company," he said brusquely.
He was shocked to find Mr Goble immediately complaisant.
"Why, sure," said Mr Goble readily. "Go as far as you like!" He took Mr Pilkington by the elbow and drew him up-stage, lowering his voice to a confidential undertone. "And now, listen," he said, "I"ve something I want to talk to you about. Between you and I and the lamp-post, I don"t think this show will last a month in New York. It don"t add up right! There"s something all wrong about it."
Mr Pilkington a.s.sented with an emphasis which amazed the manager. "I quite agree with you! If you had kept it the way it was originally ..."
"Too late for that!" sighed Mr Goble, realizing that his star was in the ascendant. He had forgotten for the moment that Mr Pilkington was an author. "We must make the best of a bad job! Now, you"re a good kid and I wouldn"t like you to go around town saying that I had let you in. It isn"t business, maybe, but, just because I don"t want you to have any kick coming, I"m ready to buy your share of the thing and call it a deal. After all, it may get money on the road. It ain"t likely, but there"s a chance, and I"m willing to take it. Well, listen, I"m probably robbing myself, but I"ll give you fifteen thousand, if you want to sell."
A hated voice spoke at his elbow.
"I"ll make you a better offer than that," said Wally. "Give me your share of the show for three dollars in cash and I"ll throw in a pair of sock-suspenders and an Ingersoll. Is it a go?"
Mr Goble regarded him balefully.
"Who told you to b.u.t.t in?" he enquired sourly.
"Conscience!" replied Wally. "Old Henry W. Conscience! I refuse to stand by and see the slaughter of the innocents. Why don"t you wait till he"s dead before you skin him!" He turned to Mr Pilkington.
"Don"t you be a fool!" he said earnestly. "Can"t you see the thing is the biggest hit in years? Do you think Jesse James here would be offering you a cent for your share if he didn"t know there was a fortune in it? Do you imagine ... ?"
"It is immaterial to me," interrupted Otis Pilkington loftily, "what Mr Goble offers. I have already sold my interest!"
"What!" cried Mr Goble.
"When?" cried Wally.
"I sold it half way through the road-tour," said Mr Pilkington, "to a lawyer, acting on behalf of a client whose name I did not learn."
In the silence which followed this revelation, another voice spoke.
"I should like to speak to you for a moment, Mr Goble, if I may." It was Jill, who had joined the group unperceived.
Mr Goble glowered at Jill, who met his gaze composedly.
"I"m busy!" snapped Mr Goble. "See me tomorrow!"
"I would prefer to see you now."
"You would prefer!" Mr Goble waved his hands despairingly, as if calling on heaven to witness the persecution of a good man.
Jill exhibited a piece of paper stamped with the letter-heading of the management.
"It"s about this," she said. "I found it in the box as I was going out."
"What"s that?"
"It seems to be a fortnight"s notice."
"And that," said Mr Goble, "is what it _is!_"