Then they moved to the next theatre, and the first performance showed even Mr. Author that all the work had been wise.  Now he was even more anxious than Mr. Producer to make the many changes by which this week was marked.  And by the end of the week “Success” looked like—­success.

They were preparing for a week of great things in the next town, when Wednesday night a cancellation notice came for that precious week.  Something had gone wrong, and the pencilled date had to be rubbed out.  Of course, by all the laws of the legislatures that week should never have been rubbed out, because there was a contract fully binding on both the theatre and Mr. Producer.  But the week was rubbed out of sight, nevertheless, and Mr. Producer—­knowing vaudeville necessities and also knowing that only the most dire necessity made Mr. Booking Manager “do this thing to him”—­forgave it all with a smile and was quite ready to get back to town when Monday morning rolled around.

But Monday morning there occurred a “disappointment” at another theatre in a town only a few miles away.  The act that was to have played that date was wrecked, or had overslept itself.  Anyway. the resident house manager telephoned to the Booking Offices that he was shy one act.  Now it happened that the act that “disappointed,” was of the same general character as “Success.”  The Booking Manager knew this, and remembered that “Success” was within a few miles and with an open week that ought to have been filled.  Therefore, just as Mr. Producer and Mr. Author were leaving the hotel to join the other members of “Success” at the railroad station.  Mr. Producer was called to the telephone—­long distance.

In less time than it takes to recount it, the resident manager who was suffering from a disappointment, and Mr. Producer, suffering from the lack of a playing week, were both cured of their maladies at the same time.  And so, instead of going back to town, “Success” rushed to the next city and played its week.

Now, in this last week of breaking-in, Mr. Author realized one fact that stands out rather prominently in his memory; it is a simple little fact, yet it sums up the entire problem of the show business.  Perhaps the rush of events had made it impossible before for the truth to strike home as keenly as it did when there suddenly came to him a tiny little bit of business which made a very long speech unnecessary.  He explained it to Mr. Producer, and Mr. Producer seized on it instantly and put it into the act.  That night the act went better than it had ever gone before.  This little bit of condensation, this illuminating flash which was responsible for it, “punched up” the big scene into a life it had never had before.  Then it was that there also flashed upon Mr. Author’s mind this truth: