For a minute he did not guess the greatness of the disaster.  Then he realised that the theatre was intensely quiet, and that he would have to explain that the last item of his programme was even more of a fiasco than the rest.  Owing to a sudden indisposition—­his skin tingled at the thought of the hooting.  His tongue rasped upon cracking lips as he braced himself and bowed to the audience.

Then came the applause.  Again and again it broke out from all over the house, while the curtain rose and fell, and the conjurer stood on the stage, mute, uncomprehending.  What had happened?  At first he had thought they were mocking him, but it was impossible to misjudge the nature of the applause.  Besides, the stage-manager was allowing him call after call, as if he were a star.  When at length the curtain remained down, and the orchestra struck up the opening bars of the next song, he staggered off into the wings as if he were drunk.  There he met Mr. James Hennings himself.

“You’ll do,” said the great man; “that last trick was neat.  You ought to polish up the others though.  I suppose you don’t want to tell me how you did it?  Well, well, come in the morning and we’ll fix up a contract.”

And so, without having said a word, the conjurer found himself hustled off by the Vaudeville Napoleon.  Mr. Hennings had something more to say to his manager.

“Bit rum,” he said.  “Did you see it?”

“Queerest thing we’ve struck.”

“How was it done do you think?”

“Can’t imagine.  There one minute on his arm, gone the next, no trap, or curtain, or anything.”

“Money in it, eh?”

“Biggest hit of the century, I should think.”

“I’ll go and fix up a contract and get him to sign it tonight.  Get on with it.”  And Mr. James Hennings fled to his office.

Meanwhile the conjurer was wandering in the wings with the drooping heart of a lost child.  What had happened?  Why was he a success, and why did people stare so oddly, and what had become of his wife?  When he asked them the stage hands laughed, and said they had not seen her.  Why should they laugh?  He wanted her to explain things, and hear their good luck.  But she was not in her dressing-room, she was not anywhere.  For a moment he felt like crying.

Then, for the second time that night, he pulled himself together.  After all, there was no reason to be upset.  He ought to feel very pleased about the contract, however it had happened.  It seemed that his wife had left the stage in some queer way without being seen.  Probably to increase the mystery she had gone straight home in her stage dress, and had succeeded in dodging the stage-door keeper.  It was all very strange; but, of course, there must be some simple explanation like that.  He would take a cab home and find her there already.  There was a steak and onions for supper.

As he drove along in the cab he became convinced that this theory was right.  Molly had always been clever, and this time she had certainly succeeded in surprising everybody.  At the door of his house he gave the cabman a shilling for himself with a light heart.  He could afford it now.  He ran up the steps cheerfully and opened the door.  The passage was quite dark, and he wondered why his wife hadn’t lit the gas.