“When he is through in comes the soubrette, formerly a lady boilermaker in Canarsie, but now disguised as an adventuress, in search of the missing papers.

“She has the papers in a locket given her by her mother, but don’t know it until the comedian bites her on the neck in the third act and breaks the chain, when the locket falls to the ground and the papers fall out.

“The second act is a scene in Maxim’s, where the leading lady is washing dishes.  That gives more comedy, with the comedian as a dish.

“The American is hiding from his wife and goes to Maxim’s because he knows she’ll be there.  If she wasn’t, shucks!  There wouldn’t be no show.

“He does his specialty with a piece of cheese—­not the prima donna—­and after that the American Beauty Chorus comes in and does a refined can-can.

“My how I have run on!  I just know I’ll be late for rehearsal, but don’t forget the benefit.  We need the money, Wilbur and me.  So long!”

In which Sabrina prepares to leave town with the show, but pauses to pass a few remarks on love, comedians, murders, maids, spring millinery and the advisability of anyone marrying their first husband.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“Goodbye, dear,” said Sabrina, as we met her hurrying up Broadway.  “Our show leaves town to-morrow.  We got to get to Hartford in time for a dress rehearsal before the evening performance.  My, such a time we have had.  You know the comedian we had threw up the sponge at the last minute and we had to dig up another.  Thank goodness, this one is a gentleman and not getting fresh with the merry-merry every time he gets a chance.

“Oh, say, was you at the Friars’ Sunday Night in Bohemia a couple of weeks ago?  The Friars spend every night in Bohemia or the Knickerbocker bar, so Wilbur says.  But honest, this was a great stunt, seconded only by the Festival they are going to pull off in May.

“The curtain went up on what looked like a busy day in Childs’, and Wells Hawks was in the spotlight, surrounded by a bevy of blondes and empty champagne bottles.  They tell me that Gus Edwards had to blindfold Hawks to lead him up to the table where the empty bottles were, and as for the girls, it was with a great effort that they restrained themselves.

“All they could do was to look at the empty bottles, hold their noses and drink mineral water.  Ain’t it awful, Mabel?  Anyway, everybody had a good time, so what care they for gibes and jeers?  Many the time have I held a champagne cork to my nose, closed my eyes and dreamed that I was having a time.  Well, to continue about our show.  Wilbur says it will never go, because they only got block stands, and an agent ain’t got no show without at least one kind of a litho.  Wilbur said it hurt the artistic instinct of a billposter in these hick towns to put up all block stands, and you generally have